Poems on Several Occasions In which are included, The Toilette and The Fall. By Joseph Thurston ... The Second Edition |
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| I. |
| II. | BOOK II. |
| III. |
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
116
BOOK II.
Now o'er the plains of heav'n's unmeasur'd height
The genial morn diffus'd her chearful light;
To grateful toil arose the healthful swain,
Hail'd the fair East, and sought his humble gain;
While night's polluted sons, a worthless crew,
With faithless steps their homeward path pursue,
Secret to drown the not-returning day,
And sleep the bounty of the gods away:
When Jove all-conscious, where he sits on high
'Mid'st the bright train who crown his subject sky,
With silence heard, with distant awe beheld,
The sacred counsels of his mind reveal'd.
The genial morn diffus'd her chearful light;
To grateful toil arose the healthful swain,
Hail'd the fair East, and sought his humble gain;
While night's polluted sons, a worthless crew,
With faithless steps their homeward path pursue,
Secret to drown the not-returning day,
And sleep the bounty of the gods away:
When Jove all-conscious, where he sits on high
'Mid'st the bright train who crown his subject sky,
With silence heard, with distant awe beheld,
The sacred counsels of his mind reveal'd.
117
“Ye guardian Pow'rs, who, ceaseless to bestow,
“Protect the thankless race of man below;
“You whose dread arm maintains successful war,
“While the vain victor climbs th' insulting carr;
“Or You, who wakeful prop the falling throne,
“While statesmen swear the miracle their own;
“A while neglect your charge, and jointly try
“The softest task that e'er employ'd the sky.
“See, yet unrival'd, young Florella reign,
“Toast of the court, and goddess of the plain;
“Her finish'd mind, and faultless form declare
“Our scatter'd attributes united there;
“Sure fate from each a ray immortal stole,
“And molded her the extract of the whole.
“And yet, oh Beauty! thou ill-fated prize,
“Sport of the fool, and tyrant of the wise!
“Too fine thy texture to be fram'd secure;
“Twould pose Omnipotence to stamp thee sure!
“Protect the thankless race of man below;
“You whose dread arm maintains successful war,
“While the vain victor climbs th' insulting carr;
“Or You, who wakeful prop the falling throne,
“While statesmen swear the miracle their own;
“A while neglect your charge, and jointly try
“The softest task that e'er employ'd the sky.
“See, yet unrival'd, young Florella reign,
“Toast of the court, and goddess of the plain;
“Her finish'd mind, and faultless form declare
“Our scatter'd attributes united there;
“Sure fate from each a ray immortal stole,
“And molded her the extract of the whole.
“And yet, oh Beauty! thou ill-fated prize,
“Sport of the fool, and tyrant of the wise!
“Too fine thy texture to be fram'd secure;
“Twould pose Omnipotence to stamp thee sure!
“Know then, Florella loves, unhappy fair!
“So late my pride, my wonder, and my care!
“Fond Sex! I meant them but to urge desire,
“Not feel themselves a passion, but inspire;
“By tears, by smiles, by nameless arts to move;
“But oh! I meant not they should ever love.
“Love was a check, which I from first assign'd
“To Man's unpolish'd force, and brutal mind.
“To cheat herself does the Hyæna cry?
“By her own poison does the Viper die?
“Should fate events so unforeseen ordain,
“Ourself may sleep, and Providence be vain:
“But say; (Th' expecting world our doom attend)
“Yield we the beauteous Victim, or defend?
“So late my pride, my wonder, and my care!
“Fond Sex! I meant them but to urge desire,
“Not feel themselves a passion, but inspire;
“By tears, by smiles, by nameless arts to move;
“But oh! I meant not they should ever love.
“Love was a check, which I from first assign'd
“To Man's unpolish'd force, and brutal mind.
118
“By her own poison does the Viper die?
“Should fate events so unforeseen ordain,
“Ourself may sleep, and Providence be vain:
“But say; (Th' expecting world our doom attend)
“Yield we the beauteous Victim, or defend?
So spake the sire; when from the cirque below,
Soft rose the Goddess of the silver Bow:
“My sire, she said, if grateful to thy eyes
“O'er heav'ns pale arch my ev'ning beams arise;
“Or if I grace thy delegated sway,
“O'er realms impervious to the blaze of day;
“From her vain self, and man than her more vain,
“Save thou the first, the fairest of my train:
“Ev'n now soft dreams her balmy slumbers move,
“She sighs, one ceaseless sacrifice to love.
“Thou know'st, oh father, poison to our kind!
“If passion once invade the female mind,
“(Tenacious sex!) in vain would mortal art
“Wrench the warm weapon from the bleeding heart.
“Let now thy own remembrance rise my aid,
“What millions won, forsaken and betray'd!
“To mimic courts beneath our native sky
“(How sure to be convinc'd!) direct thine eye;
“There see what shoals obey your Cupid's call,
“What half-grown hecatombs successive fall!
“By thy own arts, (a blushful tale I tell)
“Thy proper prize, my much-lov'd Io fell;
“In my own shape didst thou Calisto bend,
“And doubly rob me of my form and friend;
“And now (vain gift!) unheeded from afar,
“She dimly shines a prostituted star.
Soft rose the Goddess of the silver Bow:
“My sire, she said, if grateful to thy eyes
“O'er heav'ns pale arch my ev'ning beams arise;
“Or if I grace thy delegated sway,
“O'er realms impervious to the blaze of day;
“From her vain self, and man than her more vain,
“Save thou the first, the fairest of my train:
“Ev'n now soft dreams her balmy slumbers move,
“She sighs, one ceaseless sacrifice to love.
“Thou know'st, oh father, poison to our kind!
“If passion once invade the female mind,
“(Tenacious sex!) in vain would mortal art
“Wrench the warm weapon from the bleeding heart.
“Let now thy own remembrance rise my aid,
“What millions won, forsaken and betray'd!
“To mimic courts beneath our native sky
“(How sure to be convinc'd!) direct thine eye;
“There see what shoals obey your Cupid's call,
“What half-grown hecatombs successive fall!
119
“Thy proper prize, my much-lov'd Io fell;
“In my own shape didst thou Calisto bend,
“And doubly rob me of my form and friend;
“And now (vain gift!) unheeded from afar,
“She dimly shines a prostituted star.
“'Tis trifle all—but let thy mercy spare
“This one distinguish'd, one unequall'd fair:
“Yet if, as all must yield to thee and fate,
“She bow submissive to the social state,
“At least let Hymen wait the bridal call,
“Adorn the cheat, and sanctify her fall.
“This one distinguish'd, one unequall'd fair:
“Yet if, as all must yield to thee and fate,
“She bow submissive to the social state,
“At least let Hymen wait the bridal call,
“Adorn the cheat, and sanctify her fall.
She spake; but Venus, blushing heavenly red,
Indignant tost her fair resenting head;
While, from those lips where endless graces dwell,
These gentle accents sweet-succeeding fell.
Indignant tost her fair resenting head;
While, from those lips where endless graces dwell,
These gentle accents sweet-succeeding fell.
“Could fond Conceit, and quaint remonstrance move,
“In vain were Providence, in vain were Jove:
“Why should One nymph, deserter from her kind,
“Evade the frailties of the human mind?
“For man, and man alone, the sex was made,
“His soft incumbrance, and his dear bought aid;
“For him the planets roll, the suns arise,
“The roses brighten, and the virgin sighs.
“And why should Hymen wait the bridal call?
“Is nature error, or to love to fall?
“Hymen! the terror of each earthly dame!
“Curs'd be his feeble torch and and winking flame!
“(Witness our deathless selves!) how hard his chain,
“Which half our synod groan to quit in vain!
“In vain were Providence, in vain were Jove:
“Why should One nymph, deserter from her kind,
“Evade the frailties of the human mind?
“For man, and man alone, the sex was made,
“His soft incumbrance, and his dear bought aid;
“For him the planets roll, the suns arise,
“The roses brighten, and the virgin sighs.
120
“Is nature error, or to love to fall?
“Hymen! the terror of each earthly dame!
“Curs'd be his feeble torch and and winking flame!
“(Witness our deathless selves!) how hard his chain,
“Which half our synod groan to quit in vain!
Thus they; when Hebe with officious haste
Girt her fair vest, and minister'd repast:
Down sate the glitt'ring choir in meet array;
For such their antient wont, at noon of day.
Florella now by custom prone to rise,
With one sweet sigh unveil'd her languid eyes;
Not sighs so sweet, where eastern breezes move,
Wake the still ev'ning in Arabia's grove,
When the young winds the fragrant scent exhale,
And crouded odours swell the balmy gale.
Girt her fair vest, and minister'd repast:
Down sate the glitt'ring choir in meet array;
For such their antient wont, at noon of day.
Florella now by custom prone to rise,
With one sweet sigh unveil'd her languid eyes;
Not sighs so sweet, where eastern breezes move,
Wake the still ev'ning in Arabia's grove,
When the young winds the fragrant scent exhale,
And crouded odours swell the balmy gale.
As when the sun from regions far away
Cross the grey lawn directs his level ray;
When half reveal'd he rears his beamy head
From the wide ocean's cooly breathing bed;
So (but that view what mortal strength can bear!)
In gradual beauty rose the melting fair.
Cross the grey lawn directs his level ray;
When half reveal'd he rears his beamy head
From the wide ocean's cooly breathing bed;
So (but that view what mortal strength can bear!)
In gradual beauty rose the melting fair.
Soon as she left her couch, and touch'd the ground,
A gleam of silent joy diffus'd around;
Bright, and more bright, the rich-wrought tap'stry shone,
Inspir'd with lustre to the loom unknown;
Glow'd every thread with animated hue,
And each full form projected to the view.
So where some genius haunts the lonely glade,
A deeper green adorns the sacred shade;
Obedient nature pours her sweets around,
And smiles distinguish'd on the chosen ground.
A gleam of silent joy diffus'd around;
121
Inspir'd with lustre to the loom unknown;
Glow'd every thread with animated hue,
And each full form projected to the view.
So where some genius haunts the lonely glade,
A deeper green adorns the sacred shade;
Obedient nature pours her sweets around,
And smiles distinguish'd on the chosen ground.
But wayward dreams had robb'd Florella's rest,
And naughty visions rack'd her gentle breast;
A wild disorder, and unguarded air,
Flush'd her fair cheeks, and discompos'd her hair.
So, where the sounding North untimely blows,
In balmy ruins curls the silken rose;
It's luscious folds a threefold sweet bestow,
And the ripe colours in the conflict glow.
And naughty visions rack'd her gentle breast;
A wild disorder, and unguarded air,
Flush'd her fair cheeks, and discompos'd her hair.
So, where the sounding North untimely blows,
In balmy ruins curls the silken rose;
It's luscious folds a threefold sweet bestow,
And the ripe colours in the conflict glow.
Yet how, when lock'd in sleep the virgin lies,
Delusive charms should swim before her eyes;
How forms which not exist, but merely seem,
Cause the soft murmur, and extatic dream,
Let sages write; I boast not to divine
(A task unworthy of the tuneful Nine.)
Delusive charms should swim before her eyes;
How forms which not exist, but merely seem,
Cause the soft murmur, and extatic dream,
Let sages write; I boast not to divine
(A task unworthy of the tuneful Nine.)
“Phillis, with sighs began the pensive fair,
“Methought—(but first adjust my rumpled hair)
“Methought I sat within a sable grove,
“Sacred to rites obscene, and lawless love,
“When strait my girdle without human hand
“Unbuckling, faithless loos'd its guardian band;
“Loose flew my robes, as when the flow'rs display
“Their full blown softness to the blaze of day:
“Each rebel pin at once associate fled
“From stays, from gown, from ruffles, and from head;
“From that small train whose fairy ranks uphold
“The cobweb-burden of the mechlin fold,
“To the tough corkin, whose unequall'd strength
“Props the superior plaits enormous length:
“When now the gales, which had at random stray'd,
“On me united their invasion made;
“With lawless licence at discretion press'd,
“Pour'd on my lips, and quiver'd in my breast;
“I shriek'd, and yet methought 'twas not severe,
“A Force too gentle ev'n for Maids to fear:
“I wak'd, uneasy at my peevish scream;
“For silence best becomes the virgin's dream.
“Methought—(but first adjust my rumpled hair)
122
“Sacred to rites obscene, and lawless love,
“When strait my girdle without human hand
“Unbuckling, faithless loos'd its guardian band;
“Loose flew my robes, as when the flow'rs display
“Their full blown softness to the blaze of day:
“Each rebel pin at once associate fled
“From stays, from gown, from ruffles, and from head;
“From that small train whose fairy ranks uphold
“The cobweb-burden of the mechlin fold,
“To the tough corkin, whose unequall'd strength
“Props the superior plaits enormous length:
“When now the gales, which had at random stray'd,
“On me united their invasion made;
“With lawless licence at discretion press'd,
“Pour'd on my lips, and quiver'd in my breast;
“I shriek'd, and yet methought 'twas not severe,
“A Force too gentle ev'n for Maids to fear:
“I wak'd, uneasy at my peevish scream;
“For silence best becomes the virgin's dream.
“Quoth Phillis, dreams are whims, and seldom more,
“(I value not a rush Artemidore)
“From different food the different fancies flow,
“Alert, uneasy, phlegmatic, or slow.
“Hence sullen Prudes may in a vision smile,
“Warm with the joys which waking they revile.
“And to the brain as various fumes succeed,
“Rakes marry, Bullies fight, or Critics read:
“Reflect, and you may soon an instance see;
“The nymph who sups upon quadrille and tea,
“In sleep, affected by the cogent streams,
“Of full canals, and falling waters dreams;
“If sullen coffee close the sober night,
“Dark walls, and abby-grates amuse the sight;
“But dreams of most import (if late apply'd)
“In chocolate's productive fumes reside.
“This by the bye—but dreams there are (besure)
“That can the test of prophecy endure:
“Such once was mine—in regions far away,
“Near the fair borders of the silver Tay,
“My father dwelt, a priest of homely kind,
“And worthless—save the merit of the mind.
“To this world's good so little was his view,
“He deem'd it robbery to force his due;
“In vice so little read, he scarce did know
“The various masks that screen'd his ghostly foe,
“So fought a random field, and blindfold dealt the blow.
“A clerk he had, a youth of sprightly mien,
“Whom would I had or gain'd, or never seen.
“Once after sauntring supperless to bed
“It chanc'd I dreamt this clerk of ours was dead;
“Methought they buried him in meet array,
“My father with an hatband led the way;
“A holy book he held expanded wide,
“And ever as he reads, the people cry'd:
“Loud knoll'd the bell, and from the graves around
“The trembling earth return'd a sullen sound.
“Next, by the sad supporters born on high,
“In air slow-sliding mov'd the coffin by;
“Black was the pall as night, and all below
“A snow-white sheet to grace the horrid show.
“The moon shone full, and to my tortur'd brain
“Fantastic gleam'd the visionary train:
“I wak'd, and oh! reverse of equal fate!
“I heard this clerk of ours had married Kate.
“(I value not a rush Artemidore)
“From different food the different fancies flow,
“Alert, uneasy, phlegmatic, or slow.
“Hence sullen Prudes may in a vision smile,
“Warm with the joys which waking they revile.
123
“Rakes marry, Bullies fight, or Critics read:
“Reflect, and you may soon an instance see;
“The nymph who sups upon quadrille and tea,
“In sleep, affected by the cogent streams,
“Of full canals, and falling waters dreams;
“If sullen coffee close the sober night,
“Dark walls, and abby-grates amuse the sight;
“But dreams of most import (if late apply'd)
“In chocolate's productive fumes reside.
“This by the bye—but dreams there are (besure)
“That can the test of prophecy endure:
“Such once was mine—in regions far away,
“Near the fair borders of the silver Tay,
“My father dwelt, a priest of homely kind,
“And worthless—save the merit of the mind.
“To this world's good so little was his view,
“He deem'd it robbery to force his due;
“In vice so little read, he scarce did know
“The various masks that screen'd his ghostly foe,
“So fought a random field, and blindfold dealt the blow.
“A clerk he had, a youth of sprightly mien,
“Whom would I had or gain'd, or never seen.
“Once after sauntring supperless to bed
“It chanc'd I dreamt this clerk of ours was dead;
“Methought they buried him in meet array,
“My father with an hatband led the way;
124
“And ever as he reads, the people cry'd:
“Loud knoll'd the bell, and from the graves around
“The trembling earth return'd a sullen sound.
“Next, by the sad supporters born on high,
“In air slow-sliding mov'd the coffin by;
“Black was the pall as night, and all below
“A snow-white sheet to grace the horrid show.
“The moon shone full, and to my tortur'd brain
“Fantastic gleam'd the visionary train:
“I wak'd, and oh! reverse of equal fate!
“I heard this clerk of ours had married Kate.
Scarce had she spoke, when at the gate below,
Arriv'd a greeting from the love-sick beau;
In mystic characters his flame he told,
In virgin sheets contain'd, and edg'd with gold;
Bold stood each letter in grotesque array,
Unconscious of the pen's presuming sway;
Nor square, nor round, nor long, nor large, nor small;
For neither did they seem, and yet were all.
So lawless comets strike th' astonish'd eye;
So sure prognosticate a ruin nigh,
Not twelve sleek chaplains could have read the page,
Twelve full-fed chaplains of our modern age;
Yet she at sight the secret meaning knew:
For love, who dictates, will unriddle too.
Arriv'd a greeting from the love-sick beau;
In mystic characters his flame he told,
In virgin sheets contain'd, and edg'd with gold;
Bold stood each letter in grotesque array,
Unconscious of the pen's presuming sway;
Nor square, nor round, nor long, nor large, nor small;
For neither did they seem, and yet were all.
So lawless comets strike th' astonish'd eye;
So sure prognosticate a ruin nigh,
Not twelve sleek chaplains could have read the page,
Twelve full-fed chaplains of our modern age;
Yet she at sight the secret meaning knew:
For love, who dictates, will unriddle too.
125
But now for dress our busy Nymph prepares,
(That curs'd addition to the female snares!)
And strait at once appears in order gay,
Each kind assassin of the languid day:
The fairy shoes to clasp her tender feet,
The snow-white stocking, elegantly neat;
The garter wont it's circling folds to tie
Round the fair surface of the polish'd thigh;
The combs to part, and regulate with care
The rich profusion of her swelling hair;
The soft pomatum, and the patch-box vain,
The pin insidious to the heedless swain;
The ribonds, red, blue, yellow, white, and green;
The glass, amusement of the prude in spleen;
The stays unyielding, and the stiff brocade,
The dog, the cat, the monkey, and the maid.
(That curs'd addition to the female snares!)
And strait at once appears in order gay,
Each kind assassin of the languid day:
The fairy shoes to clasp her tender feet,
The snow-white stocking, elegantly neat;
The garter wont it's circling folds to tie
Round the fair surface of the polish'd thigh;
The combs to part, and regulate with care
The rich profusion of her swelling hair;
The soft pomatum, and the patch-box vain,
The pin insidious to the heedless swain;
The ribonds, red, blue, yellow, white, and green;
The glass, amusement of the prude in spleen;
The stays unyielding, and the stiff brocade,
The dog, the cat, the monkey, and the maid.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |