The works of Allan Ramsay edited by Burns Martin ... and John W. Oliver [... and Alexander M. Kinghorn ... and Alexander Law] |
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TO Mr. ALLAN RAMSAY, ON HIS Richy and Sandy.
By Mr. BURCHET
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 | The works of Allan Ramsay |  |
112
TO Mr. ALLAN RAMSAY, ON HIS Richy and Sandy.
By Mr. BURCHET
Well fare thee, Allan, who in Mother Tongue,
So sweetly hath of breathless Addy sung.
His endless Fame thy nat'ral Genius fir'd,
And thou hast written as if he inspir'd.
Richy and Sandy, who do him survive,
Long as thy rural Stanza's last, shall live.
The grateful Swains thou'st made, in tuneful Verse,
Mourn sadly o'er their late—lost Patron's Hearse.
Nor would the Mantuan Bard, if living, blame
Thy pious Zeal, or think thou'st hurt his Fame,
Since Addison's inimitable Lays
Give him an equal Title to the Bays.
When he of Armies sang, in lofty Strains,
It seem'd as if he in the hostile Plains
Had present been. His Pen hath to the Life
Trac'd ev'ry Action in the sanguine Strife.
In Council now sedate the Chief appears,
Then loudly thunders in Bavarian Ears;
And still pursuing the destructive Theme,
He pushes them into the rapid Stream.
Thus beaten out of Blenheim's neighb'ring Fields,
The Gallic Gen'ral to the Victor yields,
Who, as Britannia's Virgil hath observ'd,
From threatn'd Fate all Europe then preserv'd.
So sweetly hath of breathless Addy sung.
His endless Fame thy nat'ral Genius fir'd,
And thou hast written as if he inspir'd.
Richy and Sandy, who do him survive,
Long as thy rural Stanza's last, shall live.
The grateful Swains thou'st made, in tuneful Verse,
Mourn sadly o'er their late—lost Patron's Hearse.
Nor would the Mantuan Bard, if living, blame
Thy pious Zeal, or think thou'st hurt his Fame,
Since Addison's inimitable Lays
Give him an equal Title to the Bays.
When he of Armies sang, in lofty Strains,
It seem'd as if he in the hostile Plains
Had present been. His Pen hath to the Life
Trac'd ev'ry Action in the sanguine Strife.
In Council now sedate the Chief appears,
Then loudly thunders in Bavarian Ears;
And still pursuing the destructive Theme,
He pushes them into the rapid Stream.
113
The Gallic Gen'ral to the Victor yields,
Who, as Britannia's Virgil hath observ'd,
From threatn'd Fate all Europe then preserv'd.
Nor dost thou, Ramsay, sightless Milton wrong,
By ought contain'd in thy melodious Song;
For none but Addy could his Thoughts sublime
So well unriddle, or his mystick Rhime.
And when he deign'd to let his Fancy rove
Where Sun-burnt Shepherds to the Nymphs make Love,
No one e'er told in softer Notes the Tales
Of rural Pleasures in the spangled Vales.
By ought contain'd in thy melodious Song;
For none but Addy could his Thoughts sublime
So well unriddle, or his mystick Rhime.
And when he deign'd to let his Fancy rove
Where Sun-burnt Shepherds to the Nymphs make Love,
No one e'er told in softer Notes the Tales
Of rural Pleasures in the spangled Vales.
So much, Oh Allan! I thy Lines revere,
Such Veneration to his Mem'ry bear,
That I no longer could my Thanks refrain
For what thou'st sung of the lamented Swain.
Such Veneration to his Mem'ry bear,
That I no longer could my Thanks refrain
For what thou'st sung of the lamented Swain.
| The works of Allan Ramsay | |