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University of Virginia Library

Poems

Chiefly Written in Retirement, By John Thelwall; With Memoirs of the Life of the Author. Second Edition

Thelwall, John (1764-1834)

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EFFUSIONS OF SOCIAL and RELATIVE AFFECTION.

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ELEGY On the death of a favourite Schoolfellow, Phillip Bonafous, who died of the small pox, in 1785.

Elegy, written during the Festival of Christmas, 1785.

Elegy, written in 1786, at a time when the subject of Imprisonment for Debt was much discussed.

Sonnet to the Nightingale. 1788.

Lines presented by the Author, to his Mother, together with a crutch stick.

Stanzas On a clay candlestick, given to the Author by an esteemed and valuable friend.

EXTEMPORE, On receiving a Rose from his Sister.

The Invitation.

STANZAS written in 1790.

EPISTLE to MERCUTIO.

Invocation to Poetry.

STANZAS To Rosa Bella Bianca, on her Birth-day.

To Stella in the Country, Dec. 1796.

The Tartan Pladdie.

Lines, written at Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, on the 27th of July, 1797; during a long excursion, in quest of a peaceful retreat.

On leaving the Bottoms of Glocestershire; where the Author had been entertained by several families with great hospitality.

To the Infant Hampden.—Written during a sleepless night.

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PATERNAL TEARS.

I.

EFFUSION I. Llys-Wen, Feb. 1800.

II.

EFFUSION II. In the Vale of Taff. May 13, 1800.

III.

EFFUSION III. On the Banks of the Wye. May 15, 1800.

IV.

EFFUSION IV. During a severe Indisposition. May 18, 1800.

V.

EFFUSION V. In the Vale of Taff. June, 1800.

VI.

EFFUSION VI. On returning from a Journey to Merthyr Tydfil. June, 1800.

VII.

EFFUSION VII. On Stella's leaving me, to Visit some Friends, at Hereford, with a View to the Restoration of her Health. Llys-Wen. June, 1800.

VIII.

EFFUSION VIII. At Merthyr Tydfil. June, 1800.

IX.

EFFUSION IX. After having spent a Part of the preceding Day in cheerful Society. Llys-Wen. Sept. 14, 1800.

X.

EFFUSION X. CERRIG-ENION:

The HARP on the WILLOW.

INVOCATION TO HEALTH.

THE ORPHAN BOY.

Amatory Sonnet.

THE FALL OF EGYPT;

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Specimens of THE HOPE OF ALBION;

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THE HOPE OF ALBION.

1.

BOOK THE FIRST.

2.

BOOK THE SECOND.

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EFFUSION VII. On Stella's leaving me, to Visit some Friends, at Hereford, with a View to the Restoration of her Health. Llys-Wen. June, 1800.

WELL thou art gone—gone to the City's throng,
My soul's sad partner! mid the generous cares
And kind solicitudes of pitying friends
To sooth thy bosom's anguish. Be they blest
Who in the wounds of thy affliction seek
To pour the healing balm! and may they not
The task of Love ply vainly. Me, the while,
Here shall heart-eating Solitude consume—
O'er saddest thoughts still brooding; or afar
(Call'd by life's busy turmoil) over heights
Of Alpine dreariness, my feet shall climb,
To the once-peaceful vale, where sinuous Taff,
(Stunn'd by Vulcanian clamour) writhing, shifts
His devious course, and seeks for peace in vain.
As vainly I. Nor this sequester'd cot,
Mid circling scenes romantical, embower'd—
Once how belov'd!—nor Taff's remoter vale,
Late, by the magic of Vulcanian art,
Grown populous—nor busy cares of Life—
No—nor the Muse's song, in this sad heart
Shall ever more its wonted calm renew.
Lost is the charm of Life—the treasur'd hope
That, o'er our shipwreck'd fortunes buoyant still,
Sooth'd our lone bosoms. She, alas! is gone

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In whom (to every other comfort dead)
Fondly we liv'd, and, in a dream of joy,
Dwelt on the bliss-foreboding charms that bloom'd
In her all-graceful form, and gracious mind—
Perfection's germe!—deeming our night of life
For such entrancing vision all too short.