 | New Poems by George Crabbe |  |
“Lives yet a Man who to an Office came
“—And dwelt among us—I forget his Name,
“A Man of Business as it seemed, but one
“Whose Call to Duty was—it must be done?
“He loved it not, but looked as if his Place
“Might be convenient, but it brought Disgrace.
“We knew not what could lead him to dispise
“The humble Profits that from Office rise,
“But he contemptuous spoke of Customs and Excise.
“This, at a time when One on whom the Muse
“Show'red her rich Gifts, would not the Boon refuse;
“Yet well might He disdain his Country's Thrift,
“Proud of her Poet, sordid in her Gift.
“Nor this our Stranger seemed the Muse to slight,
“At least if Walks and Solitude invite.
“His business done, he no Companions knew,
“Lonely his House, and his Domestics two,
“A Widow in her 50th Year, a Boy,
“Her Son, both taught and trained for their Employ;
“Silence of her was asked, and of her Youth
“Respect, Obedience and Regard for Truth.
“In Hours of Leisure, when from Duty freed,
“He walked or read, and oft would, walking, read,
“His Haunts the distant Wood, the neighbouring Shore,
“The winding Bank that bounds the Marshy Moor,
“Nor less the River's strong and sweeping flood,
“Bare to the blast, but chos'n for solitude.
“—And dwelt among us—I forget his Name,
“A Man of Business as it seemed, but one
“Whose Call to Duty was—it must be done?
“He loved it not, but looked as if his Place
“Might be convenient, but it brought Disgrace.
“We knew not what could lead him to dispise
“The humble Profits that from Office rise,
“But he contemptuous spoke of Customs and Excise.
“This, at a time when One on whom the Muse
“Show'red her rich Gifts, would not the Boon refuse;
“Yet well might He disdain his Country's Thrift,
“Proud of her Poet, sordid in her Gift.
“Nor this our Stranger seemed the Muse to slight,
“At least if Walks and Solitude invite.
“His business done, he no Companions knew,
“Lonely his House, and his Domestics two,
“A Widow in her 50th Year, a Boy,
“Her Son, both taught and trained for their Employ;
“Silence of her was asked, and of her Youth
“Respect, Obedience and Regard for Truth.
“In Hours of Leisure, when from Duty freed,
“He walked or read, and oft would, walking, read,
“His Haunts the distant Wood, the neighbouring Shore,
“The winding Bank that bounds the Marshy Moor,
“Nor less the River's strong and sweeping flood,
“Bare to the blast, but chos'n for solitude.
“His Books we knew not, but with us were found
“Some who conceived their Tenets were unsound;
“The Care he took that None those Books should find
“Were held as Proof of their pernicious Kind.
“His Sabbaths all to him were Days of Rest,
“He no Religion had, or none profest,
“Seldom at Church, he never found a Seat
“Where Congregations of Dissenters meet;
“Hence as an Atheist they the Man reviled,
“Who at their Censures and their Judgment smiled,
“For well he knew how they the Man condemn,
“The Wretch, who walks not in their Path with them.
“Some who conceived their Tenets were unsound;
“The Care he took that None those Books should find
“Were held as Proof of their pernicious Kind.
“His Sabbaths all to him were Days of Rest,
“He no Religion had, or none profest,
“Seldom at Church, he never found a Seat
“Where Congregations of Dissenters meet;
“Hence as an Atheist they the Man reviled,
“Who at their Censures and their Judgment smiled,
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“The Wretch, who walks not in their Path with them.
“Yet was there Sadness in his Look, like One
“Who evil Things had suffered, feared or done,
“But in his Actions was there nothing traced
“That the Good Subject or the Man disgraced.
“Who evil Things had suffered, feared or done,
“But in his Actions was there nothing traced
“That the Good Subject or the Man disgraced.
“Him in our Walks I met, but neither spoke,
“His Pace was quickened, and severe his Look,
“Nor sought I him, for it appeared to us
“That We had nothing pleasant to discuss.
“Once on the shore, hard by that cheerless Home,
“We met, both musing in the Evening Gloom,
“Nor staid I then, but I perceived he cast
“A Look of Kindness on me as I past,
“Then hurried on, as it appeared, lest I
“Should to a short and muttered Speech reply.
“His Pace was quickened, and severe his Look,
“Nor sought I him, for it appeared to us
“That We had nothing pleasant to discuss.
“Once on the shore, hard by that cheerless Home,
“We met, both musing in the Evening Gloom,
“Nor staid I then, but I perceived he cast
“A Look of Kindness on me as I past,
“Then hurried on, as it appeared, lest I
“Should to a short and muttered Speech reply.
“‘Art thou too thrown upon the Waves to’—sink
“He meant to say, but was content to think,
“Then left me pacing on that wintry Shore,
“Our parting Scene: for him I saw no more—
“He meant to say, but was content to think,
“Then left me pacing on that wintry Shore,
“Our parting Scene: for him I saw no more—
“To me he seemed a Being placed where none
“Could share his feelings, doomed to think alone,
“Above his Fortune, but without the Mind
“That can its Comfort in the humblest find,
“Without Resources, save in Books that fed
“The Ills and Sorrows of his Fortune bred.
“Could share his feelings, doomed to think alone,
“Above his Fortune, but without the Mind
“That can its Comfort in the humblest find,
“Without Resources, save in Books that fed
“The Ills and Sorrows of his Fortune bred.
“He was not One who could his Mind amuse
“With Woods or Waters, vast or pleasant Views,
“Could not on Earth beneath or Heaven above
“Find Ought to stir his Wonder or his Love.
“With Woods or Waters, vast or pleasant Views,
“Could not on Earth beneath or Heaven above
“Find Ought to stir his Wonder or his Love.
“He saw with some Contempt and some Surprise
“Those who on Beetles doat and Butterflies,
“The Moss exploring, Shell-collecting Tribe,
“That Learning stoops to class and to describe,
“Pickers of Lichen from old Walls and Trees
“And weeds cast up, the Refuse of the Seas,
“Fanciers of Fossils, Watchers of the Worm
“Enshrined to see it in its flying Form,
“Gazers on Cliffs and Quarries to behold
“Wrecks of old Worlds and Calculate how old,
“Smellers of Mould and Fungus that display
“Their pois'nous Stems where nobler Plants decay,
“And Florists pleased, with idle taste to see
“The barren Petal where the Fruit should be,
“With all those patient Triflers who acquire
“On easy terms the Fame which they desire.
“Those who on Beetles doat and Butterflies,
“The Moss exploring, Shell-collecting Tribe,
“That Learning stoops to class and to describe,
“Pickers of Lichen from old Walls and Trees
“And weeds cast up, the Refuse of the Seas,
“Fanciers of Fossils, Watchers of the Worm
“Enshrined to see it in its flying Form,
“Gazers on Cliffs and Quarries to behold
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“Smellers of Mould and Fungus that display
“Their pois'nous Stems where nobler Plants decay,
“And Florists pleased, with idle taste to see
“The barren Petal where the Fruit should be,
“With all those patient Triflers who acquire
“On easy terms the Fame which they desire.
“Poor as he was, and, as I much suspect,
“Could tell sad Stories of the World's Neglect,
“Yet has he Kindness to a Sufferer shown,
“And eased their Grief, though burthened with his own.
“Not that the Good alone his Bounty shared;
“For Woes, not Virtues, he his Pittence spared.
“Could tell sad Stories of the World's Neglect,
“Yet has he Kindness to a Sufferer shown,
“And eased their Grief, though burthened with his own.
“Not that the Good alone his Bounty shared;
“For Woes, not Virtues, he his Pittence spared.
“Perhaps he thought, with Justice Shallow's Man,
“Knaves cannot beg as honest paupers can;
“An honest Man in Want can boldly plead,
“When a poor Rogue has of Assistance need.
“But I digress, forgive me, and relate
“Of this Recluse—for you have heard—the Fate,
“From whence his Cares arose, and what the End
“Of him who here had neither Foe nor Friend.
“Yet thou mayst know”—
“Knaves cannot beg as honest paupers can;
“An honest Man in Want can boldly plead,
“When a poor Rogue has of Assistance need.
“But I digress, forgive me, and relate
“Of this Recluse—for you have heard—the Fate,
“From whence his Cares arose, and what the End
“Of him who here had neither Foe nor Friend.
“Yet thou mayst know”—
—“Yea, truly! so incline
“Thine Ear, and I will make my Knowledge thine.
“Thine Ear, and I will make my Knowledge thine.
| New Poems by George Crabbe | |