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University of Virginia Library

The Works of William Mason

... In Four Volumes

Mason, William (1725-1797)

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I.

TO ROBERT EARL OF HOLDERNESSE, BARON D'ARCY, MENIL AND CONYERS, LORD WARDEN OF HIS MAJESTY'S CINQUE PORTS, AND GOVERNOR OF DOVER CASTLE.

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I.

ODE I. TO MEMORY.

II.

ODE II. TO A WATER-NYMPH.

III.

ODE III. ON LEAVING ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 1746.

IV.

ODE IV. ON EXPECTING TO RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE, 1747.

V.

ODE V. FOR MUSIC.

VI.

ODE VI. TO INDEPENDENCY.

VII.

ODE VII. TO A FRIEND.

VIII.

ODE VIII. ON THE FATE OF TYRANNY.

IX.

ODE IX. TO AN ÆOLUS'S HARP

X.

ODE X. FOR MUSIC. IRREGULAR.

XI.

XII.

ODE XII. TO THE NAVAL OFFICERS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

XIII.

XIV.

ODE XIV. TO THE HON. WILLIAM PITT.

XV.

ODE XV. SECULAR.

XVI.

ODE XVI. PALINODIA.

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I.

ELEGY I. TO A YOUNG NOBLEMAN

II.

ELEGY II. ADDRESSED TO MISS PELHAM ON THE DEATH OF HER FATHER.

III.

ELEGY III. WRITTEN IN THE GARDEN OF A FRIEND.

IV.

ELEGY IV. TO THE REV. MR. HURD.

V.

ELEGY V. ON THE DEATH OF A LADY.

VI.

ELEGY VI. WRITTEN IN A CHURCH-YARD IN SOUTH WALES, 1787.

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I.

SONNET I. SENT TO A YOUNG LADY WITH DODSLEY'S MISCELLANIES.

II.

SONNET II. PRESENTED TO A FRIEND ON THE MORNING OF HIS MARRIAGE.

III.

SONNET III. AUGUST, 1773.

IV.

SONNET IV. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THE BISHOP OF LICHFIELD AND COVENTRY, PREFIXED TO THE DRAMATIC POEM OF CARACTACUS, WHEN ALTERED FOR STAGE REPRESENTATION.

V.

SONNET V. TO A VERY YOUNG PAINTER.

VI.

SONNET VI. TO GEORGE BUSSY VILLIERS EARL OF JERSEY, &c. &c. AND GEORGE SIMON HARCOURT EARL HARCOURT, &c. &c.

VII.

SONNET VII. FEBRUARY 23, 1795. ANNIVERSARY.

VIII.

SONNET VIII. FEBRUARY 23, 1796. ANNIVERSARY.

IX.

SONNET IX. TO THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER, SENT TO HIM WITH THE PRECEDING SONNET.

X.

SONNET X. FEBRUARY 23, 1797. ANNIVERSARY.

XI.

SONNET XI. OCCASIONED BY A LATE ATTACK ON THE PRESENT TASTE OF ENGLISH GARDENS.

XII.

SONNET XII. TO A GRAVEL WALK, RELATIVE TO THE PRECEDING SUBJECT.

XIII.

SONNET XIII. OCCASIONED BY A DIDACTIC POEM ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVIL SOCIETY.

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EPITAPHS AND INSCRIPTIONS.

I.

EPITAPH I. ON MRS. MASON,

II.

EPITAPH II. ON MISS DRUMMOND,

III.

EPITAPH III. ON JOHN DEALTRY, M. D.

IV.

EPITAPH IV. ON MRS. TATTON,

V.

EPITAPH V. ON MR. GRAY,

VI.

EPITAPH VI. ON THOMAS FOUNTAYNE, ESQ.

VII.

EPITAPH VII. ON LAUNCELOT BROWNE, ESQ.

VIII.

EPITAPH VIII. ON MRS. ANN E. MORRITT,

IX.

INSCRIPTION IX. ON A TRIPOD TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, ESQ. P. L.

X.

INSCRIPTION X. UNDER A PICTURE OF THE EDITOR OF SHAKSPEARE'S MANUSCRIPTS, 1796.

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THE BIRTH OF FASHION: AN EPISTOLARY TALE.

AN EPISTOLARY ADDRESS TO THE AUTHOR'S FATHER, SENT FROM LONDON IN THE YEAR 1746.

STANZAS, WRITTEN ON THE BANKS OF THE CAM, 1746.

PROTOGENES AND APELLES.

SONG OF HAROLD THE VALIANT.

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THE ENGLISH GARDEN:

1.

BOOK THE FIRST.

II.

BOOK THE SECOND.

III.

BOOK THE THIRD.

IV.

BOOK THE FOURTH.

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RELIGIO CLERICI.

I.

PART THE FIRST.

II.

PART THE SECOND.

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HYMNS, AND SELECT PSALMS VERSIFIED.

HYMN BEFORE MORNING SERVICE.

HYMN BEFORE EVENING SERVICE.

PART OF PSALM XVIII.

A COMPRESSED METRICAL VERSION OF PSALM CIX.

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II.

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ARGENTILE AND CURAN:

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I.

I.

II.

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II.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

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III.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

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IV.

I.

II.

III.

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V.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

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PRELIMINARY SCENE.

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I.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

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II.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

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III.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

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III.

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THE ART OF PAINTING, OF CHARLES ALPHONSE DU FRESNOY;

EPISTLE TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

THE ART OF PAINTING,

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III. 1.

Is it not virtue to repine,
When thus transform'd the scene?

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“Ah! no,” replied, in strain divine,
The heaven-descending Queen.
And, as she sung, she shot a ray,
Mild as the orient dawn of May,
Enlight'ning while it calm'd my brain:
“Now purg'd, my Son! from error, own
“My blessings ne'er were meant to crown
“The vicious, or the vain.

III. 2.

“'Tis only those of purer clay
“From sensual dross refined,
“In whom the passions pleas'd obey
“The God within the mind,
“Who share my delegated aid,
“Through Wisdom's golden mean convey'd
“From the first source of sov'reign good:
“All else to horrid license tends,
“Springs from vindictive pride, and ends
“In anarchy and blood.

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III. 3.

“Had France possess'd a sober patriot band,
“True to their own, and nation's weal,
“Such as, fair Albion, bless'd thy favour'd land,
“When Nassau came thy rights to seal;
“She might—but why compare such wide extremes,
“Why seek for reason in delirious dreams?
“Rather consign to exile and to shame
“Her coward princes, her luxurious peers,
“Who fed the hell-born hydra with their fears,
“That now usurps my hallow'd name.”

Cui meliore Luto finxit præcordia Titan. So Milton in his 12th Sonnet, speaking of liberty, says, “But who loves that, must first be wise and good.”

Mr. Pope uses this Platonic phrase for conscience. —See Essay on Man, Ep. II. p. 204, with Warburton's note upon it, where the learned critic says justly that it admits a double meaning. —It is in its latter practical, or rather Christian sense, that I here employ it, to convey the important truth delivered by St. Paul, “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”