Original poems on several subjects In two volumes. By William Stevenson |
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 | II. |
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| AN ELEGY ON THE Cutting down of an Oak.
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
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 | Original poems on several subjects |  |
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AN ELEGY ON THE Cutting down of an Oak.
In Three Parts.
—Lignator agrestis ------
------ Nemorisne sacri vastabit honores,
Facundam violans umbram ------
Nempe focum ut cumulet pretioso robore vilem?
Anon.
------ Nemorisne sacri vastabit honores,
Facundam violans umbram ------
Nempe focum ut cumulet pretioso robore vilem?
Anon.
I. PART I.
Now pale Aurora, after long delay
From eastern climes to usher in the day,
On Night's dark face reflects a transient glance,
Which scarce perceiv'd spreads through the murk expanse;
Till, from the dewy radiance of her eyes,
Another ray, and yet another, flies.
These gradual, from the same effulgent store,
Succeeded still to infinite by more;
Till all the air, unbounded to the sight,
Seems one continu'd stream of orient light.
Meantime, the forest dun, and mountain blue,
Rise in uncouth magnificence to view;
The city next, the villa, cottage, fold,
And landscape, far as eye can well behold;
The cottage, villa, forest, landscape wide,
Stript by the rig'rous North of all their pride.
No jocund call of music loving Spring
As yet invites the feather'd tribe to sing.
Winter his frown delights still to assume,
Wrapt dreary round in congregated gloom.
A sullen stillness universal reigns,
And hushes all the mirth-abandon'd plains.
A lifeless torpor, centre-felt, invades
The woods and groves, unconscious of their shades.
With ev'ry blast unusual coldness chills,
And deep-form'd mists invest the naked hills.
From eastern climes to usher in the day,
On Night's dark face reflects a transient glance,
Which scarce perceiv'd spreads through the murk expanse;
Till, from the dewy radiance of her eyes,
Another ray, and yet another, flies.
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Succeeded still to infinite by more;
Till all the air, unbounded to the sight,
Seems one continu'd stream of orient light.
Meantime, the forest dun, and mountain blue,
Rise in uncouth magnificence to view;
The city next, the villa, cottage, fold,
And landscape, far as eye can well behold;
The cottage, villa, forest, landscape wide,
Stript by the rig'rous North of all their pride.
No jocund call of music loving Spring
As yet invites the feather'd tribe to sing.
Winter his frown delights still to assume,
Wrapt dreary round in congregated gloom.
A sullen stillness universal reigns,
And hushes all the mirth-abandon'd plains.
A lifeless torpor, centre-felt, invades
The woods and groves, unconscious of their shades.
With ev'ry blast unusual coldness chills,
And deep-form'd mists invest the naked hills.
On a fine eminence, of slow ascent,
The landscape round stretch'd to a vast extent;
An ancient Oak its infant juices drew,
And to full majesty of stature grew.
Of bulk immense crouds yearly flock'd to see
In leafy pomp the celebrated tree;
Charm'd to contemplate Nature's giant-son,
Fed by the genial seasons as they run.
The landscape round stretch'd to a vast extent;
An ancient Oak its infant juices drew,
And to full majesty of stature grew.
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In leafy pomp the celebrated tree;
Charm'd to contemplate Nature's giant-son,
Fed by the genial seasons as they run.
Some tell of elves, and fairy people, seen
Here dancing round their little-bodied queen,
In antic measures and vagaries light,
While conscious shines the kindred orb of night;
Of rites perform'd, with odd romantic signs,
Mysterious circles, and fantastic lines:
Others, of voices heard, and accents strange,
Confus'dly mix'd in busy interchange,
Still render'd stranger by invention's pow'r,
Assisted by the silent, solemn hour.
Here dancing round their little-bodied queen,
In antic measures and vagaries light,
While conscious shines the kindred orb of night;
Of rites perform'd, with odd romantic signs,
Mysterious circles, and fantastic lines:
Others, of voices heard, and accents strange,
Confus'dly mix'd in busy interchange,
Still render'd stranger by invention's pow'r,
Assisted by the silent, solemn hour.
How proud its summits mount into the sky,
As if the rage of tempests to defy!
The circuit of its branchy arms how wide,
In leafless pomp diffus'd on ev'ry side,
Which now thrice thirty summer-suns have seen,
O'erspread luxuriant with returning green!
Vain ostentation! unavailing state!
Which serve but to accelerate its fate!
The hind, unconscious, from his hostile stand,
Whirls round the guilty hatchet in his hand,
Anon to strike the unrelenting blow,
The trunk that severs from its root below.
So, when his stern commission Death receives,
When hope itself the sick man's pillow leaves;
In vain would Fortune her first offers make,
No bribe the king of terrours deigns to take.
The pomp of palaces, the glare of state,
And all the proud regalia of the great,
May add distinction to Death's gloomy hour,
But not prevent the triumph of his power:
His dart once pointed, must unerring fly,
One victim perish, or a thousand die.
As to the prize, his arrows love the dark,
To him alike the mean and noble mark,
The lowly cottage, and the lordly dome,
Which kings or simple peasants make their home.
As if the rage of tempests to defy!
The circuit of its branchy arms how wide,
In leafless pomp diffus'd on ev'ry side,
Which now thrice thirty summer-suns have seen,
O'erspread luxuriant with returning green!
Vain ostentation! unavailing state!
Which serve but to accelerate its fate!
The hind, unconscious, from his hostile stand,
Whirls round the guilty hatchet in his hand,
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The trunk that severs from its root below.
So, when his stern commission Death receives,
When hope itself the sick man's pillow leaves;
In vain would Fortune her first offers make,
No bribe the king of terrours deigns to take.
The pomp of palaces, the glare of state,
And all the proud regalia of the great,
May add distinction to Death's gloomy hour,
But not prevent the triumph of his power:
His dart once pointed, must unerring fly,
One victim perish, or a thousand die.
As to the prize, his arrows love the dark,
To him alike the mean and noble mark,
The lowly cottage, and the lordly dome,
Which kings or simple peasants make their home.
Now all about the previous circlet made,
Through its firm vitals cuts the keen-edg'd blade;
Or in its side, drawn by alternate toil,
The sharp-tooth'd saw sinks deep with slight recoil.
A thousand echoes, from their slumbers woke,
Lend their reluctant ears to ev'ry stroke;
And mix their voices sad, to tell around
The woods, what means each unaccustom'd sound.
The woods throughout return the loud uproar,
By rocks and hills repeated o'er and o'er,
While all abrupt afford it ampler swell,
Struck from each cliff, and shook in every dell.
Each woodland youth the din confus'd enjoys,
And with redoubled pith his axe employs.
Through its firm vitals cuts the keen-edg'd blade;
Or in its side, drawn by alternate toil,
The sharp-tooth'd saw sinks deep with slight recoil.
A thousand echoes, from their slumbers woke,
Lend their reluctant ears to ev'ry stroke;
And mix their voices sad, to tell around
The woods, what means each unaccustom'd sound.
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By rocks and hills repeated o'er and o'er,
While all abrupt afford it ampler swell,
Struck from each cliff, and shook in every dell.
Each woodland youth the din confus'd enjoys,
And with redoubled pith his axe employs.
Inhuman wretch!—but why this hated name?
Let those receive who justly merit blame—
The plexus spun so admirably fine,
The net-work pipes, and tubes in artful twine,
Through which Earth's vegetative fluids glide,
By heat fermented to a living tide;
The strongly-woven tunics wrapt about,
And exquisite contexture form'd throughout;
These hid from common observation lie,
Nor court the wonder of the vulgar eye.
Few daring minds are born sublime to range
Yon argent fields, where orbs successive change;
On ev'ry planet's fiery axle hurl'd,
To make the tour of the celestial world:
Few chosen spirits form'd divine to know
The secret wonders of our earth below;
Surpassing wonders, wisdom's nicer work,
That through the vegetable kingdom lurk!
Let those receive who justly merit blame—
The plexus spun so admirably fine,
The net-work pipes, and tubes in artful twine,
Through which Earth's vegetative fluids glide,
By heat fermented to a living tide;
The strongly-woven tunics wrapt about,
And exquisite contexture form'd throughout;
These hid from common observation lie,
Nor court the wonder of the vulgar eye.
Few daring minds are born sublime to range
Yon argent fields, where orbs successive change;
On ev'ry planet's fiery axle hurl'd,
To make the tour of the celestial world:
Few chosen spirits form'd divine to know
The secret wonders of our earth below;
Surpassing wonders, wisdom's nicer work,
That through the vegetable kingdom lurk!
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Next, to the lofty stems the cordage fix'd,
The lofty stems with clouds aspiring mix'd,
To try what strength still unsubdu'd remains,
What vigour swells its yet unmangled veins,
Convuls'd throughout, it totters on its base,
Reluctant to forsake its native place,
That airy station it enjoy'd so long,
A kind asylum to the feather'd throng,
Where ever their Vertumnal strains began,
Safe in its bosom from the grasp of man!
Where oft beneath its mantle hung of green,
From noon's intrusive glance a present screen,
The shepherd wander'd with his fleecy care,
To breathe the cooly fragrance of the air!
Softly to warble, on sylvestran reed,
While round his lambs, as if attentive, feed,
Such simple notes as rural love inspires,
The blooming lass his witless heart admires;
Perhaps, in some close shelter out of sight,
By her regarded with a fond delight.
The lofty stems with clouds aspiring mix'd,
To try what strength still unsubdu'd remains,
What vigour swells its yet unmangled veins,
Convuls'd throughout, it totters on its base,
Reluctant to forsake its native place,
That airy station it enjoy'd so long,
A kind asylum to the feather'd throng,
Where ever their Vertumnal strains began,
Safe in its bosom from the grasp of man!
Where oft beneath its mantle hung of green,
From noon's intrusive glance a present screen,
The shepherd wander'd with his fleecy care,
To breathe the cooly fragrance of the air!
Softly to warble, on sylvestran reed,
While round his lambs, as if attentive, feed,
Such simple notes as rural love inspires,
The blooming lass his witless heart admires;
Perhaps, in some close shelter out of sight,
By her regarded with a fond delight.
But what avails this fond indulg'd delay?
Can it the rage of furious axes stay?
Alas! expectant of its speedy doom,
The frighted birds depart with undress'd plume.
The cattle fly ingrate the luckless spot,
Their former stated haunts at noon forgot.
Men too predictive prudently withdraw,
Waiting the final stroke with silent awe.
What then remains, abandon'd thus by all,
But a mark'd victim in despair to fall?
Can it the rage of furious axes stay?
Alas! expectant of its speedy doom,
The frighted birds depart with undress'd plume.
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Their former stated haunts at noon forgot.
Men too predictive prudently withdraw,
Waiting the final stroke with silent awe.
What then remains, abandon'd thus by all,
But a mark'd victim in despair to fall?
Thus on the man, beneath misfortune's frown,
The supercilious eye looks meanly down,
That once (so Fortune's changing wheel requires)
Sparkled with Adulation's partial fires.
Amid the sunshine of a monarch's smile,
While slaves approach'd his seat with fulsome style,
How did each sycophant dance in his train,
Of but a look's unguarded wafture vain!
With what respectful air each dangler trips!
What smooth-form'd speeches flutter on his lips!
How shines each Proteus-feature with esteem!
What he is not the labour great to seem!
But lo! the tide of royal favour ebbs,
A passing breath breaks Grandeur's court-spun webs;
Where now the venal tribe, the courteous race?
Gone to the levee of the next—in place.
The supercilious eye looks meanly down,
That once (so Fortune's changing wheel requires)
Sparkled with Adulation's partial fires.
Amid the sunshine of a monarch's smile,
While slaves approach'd his seat with fulsome style,
How did each sycophant dance in his train,
Of but a look's unguarded wafture vain!
With what respectful air each dangler trips!
What smooth-form'd speeches flutter on his lips!
How shines each Proteus-feature with esteem!
What he is not the labour great to seem!
But lo! the tide of royal favour ebbs,
A passing breath breaks Grandeur's court-spun webs;
Where now the venal tribe, the courteous race?
Gone to the levee of the next—in place.
With frequent look the workman lifts his eye,
Long anxious the declining top to spy;
Nor is his worn-out patience further tried,
The feeble structure seems to lean aside.
From the pent clouds a sudden gust descends,
And full among the boughs its fury spends;
Weak and more weak the wounded fabric grows,
Strong pulls the rope, and blows succeed on blows:
The shock conjoin'd unable to sustain,
It stoops, it groans, it thunders to the plain;
A cumb'rous ruin wide extended lies,
Thrown from the middle region of the skies.
Long anxious the declining top to spy;
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The feeble structure seems to lean aside.
From the pent clouds a sudden gust descends,
And full among the boughs its fury spends;
Weak and more weak the wounded fabric grows,
Strong pulls the rope, and blows succeed on blows:
The shock conjoin'd unable to sustain,
It stoops, it groans, it thunders to the plain;
A cumb'rous ruin wide extended lies,
Thrown from the middle region of the skies.
But shall the conscious muse unmov'd remain,
Nor mourn its fate in elegiac strain?
To verse still consecrated trees have stood,
And oaks are styl'd the monarchs of the wood.
Let then in pity her sad numbers flow,
And heave her bosom with ingenuous wo.
Late trembling she essay'd the Dorian lyre ,
By Thomson erst wak'd to unusual fire;
With trembling pencil, caught on Fancy's wing,
Sketch'd an imperfect landscape of the Spring.
Delightful task! to mark the new-blown flow'r,
The fragrant herb, and plant of healing pow'r;
The shoot of forward growth, and turgid stem,
Sparkling with dew conglob'd in many a gem;
Prolific clouds in kindly rain dissolv'd,
Soft months return'd, and genial suns revolv'd!
Delightful task! with curious eye to trace
Each change progressive on Creation's face;
In numbers art to make like nature look,
To imitate the murmur of the brook;
The love-sigh wafted through the green alcove,
The zephyr's plaint, and warble of the grove!
Delightful task! attentive to survey
Winter as he from earth directs his way;
To see him all his icy chains unloose,
And lessen his impetuous rains to dews;
To hear his storms, still'd their sonorous roar,
Sink to the breeze that pants along the shore;
To see gay Spring, invok'd long to appear,
Succeed the gloomy tyrant of the year;
Beauty and Youth her handmaids from the sky,
Health in their look, and radiance in their eye:
While sun-warm'd gales shed odours from their wings,
And ev'ry thicket, clad in verdure, sings.
Ah! now, a sad reverse her strain demands,
Not plenty lavish'd with unsparing hands,
Not Beauty's touches exquisitely just,
But her first glory levell'd with the dust!
Nor mourn its fate in elegiac strain?
To verse still consecrated trees have stood,
And oaks are styl'd the monarchs of the wood.
Let then in pity her sad numbers flow,
And heave her bosom with ingenuous wo.
Late trembling she essay'd the Dorian lyre ,
By Thomson erst wak'd to unusual fire;
With trembling pencil, caught on Fancy's wing,
Sketch'd an imperfect landscape of the Spring.
Delightful task! to mark the new-blown flow'r,
The fragrant herb, and plant of healing pow'r;
159
Sparkling with dew conglob'd in many a gem;
Prolific clouds in kindly rain dissolv'd,
Soft months return'd, and genial suns revolv'd!
Delightful task! with curious eye to trace
Each change progressive on Creation's face;
In numbers art to make like nature look,
To imitate the murmur of the brook;
The love-sigh wafted through the green alcove,
The zephyr's plaint, and warble of the grove!
Delightful task! attentive to survey
Winter as he from earth directs his way;
To see him all his icy chains unloose,
And lessen his impetuous rains to dews;
To hear his storms, still'd their sonorous roar,
Sink to the breeze that pants along the shore;
To see gay Spring, invok'd long to appear,
Succeed the gloomy tyrant of the year;
Beauty and Youth her handmaids from the sky,
Health in their look, and radiance in their eye:
While sun-warm'd gales shed odours from their wings,
And ev'ry thicket, clad in verdure, sings.
Ah! now, a sad reverse her strain demands,
Not plenty lavish'd with unsparing hands,
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But her first glory levell'd with the dust!
This is a subject unessay'd before,
Catastrophes far other we deplore;
Things animate alone engage our sigh,
Or draw the tear impassion'd to our eye.
Yet shall the Muse a rule establish'd break,
And boldly teach Creation dumb to speak;
Converse with Nature's silent offsprings round,
And tread, though cautious, on forbidden ground.
Nor rashly blame, upon a slight review,
Uncommon things seem censurable too.
Catastrophes far other we deplore;
Things animate alone engage our sigh,
Or draw the tear impassion'd to our eye.
Yet shall the Muse a rule establish'd break,
And boldly teach Creation dumb to speak;
Converse with Nature's silent offsprings round,
And tread, though cautious, on forbidden ground.
Nor rashly blame, upon a slight review,
Uncommon things seem censurable too.
O! could I boast his more than mortal art,
To touch the noblest springs that move the heart;
Finely instruction with delight to mix,
Convince the judgment, and the fancy fix;
Who bade, though dead some thousand years before,
Mæonides revive on Albion's shore,
Mæonides, whate'er fam'd test we seek,
Not less renown'd a Briton, than a Greek!
Or could I soar, like his rapt muse sublime,
Unfetter'd by the stiff restraints of rhyme,
Who, with the swell of music on his tongue,
The Pleasures of Imagination sung;
And while he sings, displays her finest pow'rs,
Which, tracing out, we wish devoutly ours;
Virtue's own feelings to our sense conveys,
His polish'd diction but his second praise!
To touch the noblest springs that move the heart;
Finely instruction with delight to mix,
Convince the judgment, and the fancy fix;
Who bade, though dead some thousand years before,
Mæonides revive on Albion's shore,
Mæonides, whate'er fam'd test we seek,
Not less renown'd a Briton, than a Greek!
Or could I soar, like his rapt muse sublime,
Unfetter'd by the stiff restraints of rhyme,
Who, with the swell of music on his tongue,
The Pleasures of Imagination sung;
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Which, tracing out, we wish devoutly ours;
Virtue's own feelings to our sense conveys,
His polish'd diction but his second praise!
Of Virtue too I sing, Celestial Pow'r,
That still befriends us in the pressing hour!
Fir'd by whose beauty, and beneath whose smile,
Would I my thoughts improve, correct my style.
He merits fame, who writes on Virtue's plan,
The friend of Virtue, is the friend of man.
O Virtue! source of chaste refin'd desire,
Thee when I cease to honour and admire;
Cease, though in poor endeavours, to practise
Thy laws, and recommend them to the wise,
Or, when with doubts perplex'd, from Reason stray'd,
Cease to implore thy guidance and thy aid;
May my ungrateful heart forget to throb,
And life end in one agonizing sob!
Shall that vain thankless being be prolong'd,
By whose existence Thou art basely wrong'd?
—But let the elegiac strain begin,
At least the prize of meaning well to win.
That still befriends us in the pressing hour!
Fir'd by whose beauty, and beneath whose smile,
Would I my thoughts improve, correct my style.
He merits fame, who writes on Virtue's plan,
The friend of Virtue, is the friend of man.
O Virtue! source of chaste refin'd desire,
Thee when I cease to honour and admire;
Cease, though in poor endeavours, to practise
Thy laws, and recommend them to the wise,
Or, when with doubts perplex'd, from Reason stray'd,
Cease to implore thy guidance and thy aid;
May my ungrateful heart forget to throb,
And life end in one agonizing sob!
Shall that vain thankless being be prolong'd,
By whose existence Thou art basely wrong'd?
—But let the elegiac strain begin,
At least the prize of meaning well to win.
Had the dire axe, O much lamented Oak!
That gave thy aged form the mortal stroke,
Remain'd yet unattemper'd in the mine,
Unwhetted for so cruel a design;
Far other scenes the Muses now had sung,
To sadness the according lyre unstrung:
Of Nature, form'd in all her works alike
To fix the judgment, and the fancy strike;
Of Merit, plac'd in infinite degrees,
Such as the eye by Truth's fair optics sees;
Of Friendship, manly, gen'rous, and refin'd,
The gentle inmate of the noble mind;
Of Beauty, heighten'd by the blushing charm
Of Modesty, which tyrants must disarm;
Of Fame, dispensing to her votive croud
The laurel crown, with sound of clarions loud.
But though a mangled carcase on the ground,
Thy honours scatter'd in disgrace around;
Immortal shalt thou live, renown'd in song,
If to the verse immortal can belong—
For here the Muse would intermit her grief,
A glorious scene supplies a kind relief.
To Britain sacred be the patriot strain,
And who in Britain's ear would dare complain?
That gave thy aged form the mortal stroke,
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Unwhetted for so cruel a design;
Far other scenes the Muses now had sung,
To sadness the according lyre unstrung:
Of Nature, form'd in all her works alike
To fix the judgment, and the fancy strike;
Of Merit, plac'd in infinite degrees,
Such as the eye by Truth's fair optics sees;
Of Friendship, manly, gen'rous, and refin'd,
The gentle inmate of the noble mind;
Of Beauty, heighten'd by the blushing charm
Of Modesty, which tyrants must disarm;
Of Fame, dispensing to her votive croud
The laurel crown, with sound of clarions loud.
But though a mangled carcase on the ground,
Thy honours scatter'd in disgrace around;
Immortal shalt thou live, renown'd in song,
If to the verse immortal can belong—
For here the Muse would intermit her grief,
A glorious scene supplies a kind relief.
To Britain sacred be the patriot strain,
And who in Britain's ear would dare complain?
By thee supported, O imperial tree,
Through ev'ry age invincible by thee,
Albion the fam'd, the great, the mighty, reigns
Unrivall'd empress of the watery plains;
In floating bulwarks, Freedom's flag unfurl'd,
Points the wing'd thunder, and o'erawes a world.
Hence to her sceptre kings shall subject be,
And haughty tyrants bend on suppliant knee.
Hence shall her empire through the earth extend,
And only with time's latest period end.
Through ev'ry age invincible by thee,
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Unrivall'd empress of the watery plains;
In floating bulwarks, Freedom's flag unfurl'd,
Points the wing'd thunder, and o'erawes a world.
Hence to her sceptre kings shall subject be,
And haughty tyrants bend on suppliant knee.
Hence shall her empire through the earth extend,
And only with time's latest period end.
O! let Britannia still her oak revere,
Her chief defence should claim her chiefest care.
The naval pillar that her throne supports,
Her wave-built castles, her breeze-wafted forts;
Her magazines of death, with canvas wings,
Should still to Britons be momentous things.
While other nations lie expos'd a prey
To tyrants bent on universal sway;
Nature bestow'd, rais'd at her own expense,
To Britons wooden walls for their defence.
Let Britons then within these walls reside,
Their strength combin'd no factions to divide;
Defend with valour, guard with watchful eye,
As if an angel, beck'ning each, stood by;
Valour with unanimity, that boast
The noblest deeds, where dangers threat the most.
Britannia, long superiour to decline,
May with her oak her diadem resign;
As heroes by some vulgar shaft may die,
When, too secure, their armour they lay by;
Fate wills them on each other to depend,
As one at first, to meet one common end.
Her chief defence should claim her chiefest care.
The naval pillar that her throne supports,
Her wave-built castles, her breeze-wafted forts;
Her magazines of death, with canvas wings,
Should still to Britons be momentous things.
While other nations lie expos'd a prey
To tyrants bent on universal sway;
Nature bestow'd, rais'd at her own expense,
To Britons wooden walls for their defence.
Let Britons then within these walls reside,
Their strength combin'd no factions to divide;
Defend with valour, guard with watchful eye,
As if an angel, beck'ning each, stood by;
Valour with unanimity, that boast
The noblest deeds, where dangers threat the most.
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May with her oak her diadem resign;
As heroes by some vulgar shaft may die,
When, too secure, their armour they lay by;
Fate wills them on each other to depend,
As one at first, to meet one common end.
Illustrious tree! what honours on thee wait,
The sov'reign's safety, and a kingdom's fate;
That glory which prosperity attends,
Which age to age, increasing still, extends!
As thou art timely summon'd to our aid,
Fame's circling laurels bloom afresh, or fade;
The gem in Albion's crown looks doubly bright,
Or foully tarnish'd to the Patriot's sight
Once too, within thy hospitable trunk,
Faint thro' fatigue, and with misfortunes sunk,
A monarch rested, friendless and alone,
A solitary exile from his throne.
A kind retreat thy loyal arms supply,
Where injur'd Majesty secure may lie;
Hither no traitor foe his step directs,
No hostile eye the royal shade suspects.
The sov'reign's safety, and a kingdom's fate;
That glory which prosperity attends,
Which age to age, increasing still, extends!
As thou art timely summon'd to our aid,
Fame's circling laurels bloom afresh, or fade;
The gem in Albion's crown looks doubly bright,
Or foully tarnish'd to the Patriot's sight
Once too, within thy hospitable trunk,
Faint thro' fatigue, and with misfortunes sunk,
A monarch rested, friendless and alone,
A solitary exile from his throne.
A kind retreat thy loyal arms supply,
Where injur'd Majesty secure may lie;
Hither no traitor foe his step directs,
No hostile eye the royal shade suspects.
Ye monarchs, hear! ye scepter'd sons of pride,
Who haughtily Europa's states divide!
Be the vain competition heard no more,
Your lordly claims, your boasted triumphs o'er,
Whose shall the empire of the ocean be,
Bestow'd on Albion, by divine decree.
And justly too the diadem she craves,
Who dwells, her native clime, amid the waves;
Guarded by rocks projecting o'er the deep,
Banks inaccessible, and mountains steep;
Tremendous bulwarks rear'd by Nature's hand,
Against Ambition's proud assaults to stand;
To check each tyrant's insolent approach,
Who would on Freedom's darling spot encroach;
A spot mark'd out by Heav'n's approving eye,
To share the choicest blessings of the sky;
Albion the just, whom Fate below employs,
To keep the interests of a world in poise;
No diminution e'er her power to know,
Till oaks themselves in forests cease to grow.
Who haughtily Europa's states divide!
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Your lordly claims, your boasted triumphs o'er,
Whose shall the empire of the ocean be,
Bestow'd on Albion, by divine decree.
And justly too the diadem she craves,
Who dwells, her native clime, amid the waves;
Guarded by rocks projecting o'er the deep,
Banks inaccessible, and mountains steep;
Tremendous bulwarks rear'd by Nature's hand,
Against Ambition's proud assaults to stand;
To check each tyrant's insolent approach,
Who would on Freedom's darling spot encroach;
A spot mark'd out by Heav'n's approving eye,
To share the choicest blessings of the sky;
Albion the just, whom Fate below employs,
To keep the interests of a world in poise;
No diminution e'er her power to know,
Till oaks themselves in forests cease to grow.
Thus on thy fame the Muse would fondly dwell,
Thus would thy praise in faithful numbers tell;
Thy praise, that must descend through ev'ry age,
While British deeds adorn the lib'ral page.
But ah! how short the respite now enjoy'd!
The plaintive lyre must be again employ'd
At sight of thee thrown headlong on the plain,
Pity renew'd demands the mournful strain.
For, whether youthful in Vertumnal bloom,
Wisdom solac'd beneath thy solemn gloom;
Or stretch'd the earth, a rootless trunk, along,
Still art thou form'd alike to live in song.
Thus would thy praise in faithful numbers tell;
Thy praise, that must descend through ev'ry age,
While British deeds adorn the lib'ral page.
But ah! how short the respite now enjoy'd!
The plaintive lyre must be again employ'd
166
Pity renew'd demands the mournful strain.
For, whether youthful in Vertumnal bloom,
Wisdom solac'd beneath thy solemn gloom;
Or stretch'd the earth, a rootless trunk, along,
Still art thou form'd alike to live in song.
Thus he, deep learn'd in Virtue's sacred lore,
Who practises her precepts o'er and o'er;
Whose bright example daily shows mankind,
How near perfection brought the human mind;
Alive or dead, with equal merit draws,
Claims our esteem, and rivets our applause;
For though depriv'd of temporary breath,
He speaks in silence, and he lives in death.
Who practises her precepts o'er and o'er;
Whose bright example daily shows mankind,
How near perfection brought the human mind;
Alive or dead, with equal merit draws,
Claims our esteem, and rivets our applause;
For though depriv'd of temporary breath,
He speaks in silence, and he lives in death.
No more shall Spring thy torpid roots revive,
Pervious thy tubes, thy dormant sap alive.
No more expand thy cold-contracted pores,
Pointing the ray thy freshness that restores.
No more shall moisture through thy bark transude,
Or summer-heats thy infant stems protrude.
No more soft foliage mantle thee around,
To cast refreshing shadows on the ground.
No more the bees thy close recesses haunt,
With honey homeward bound for future want.
No Zephyr flutter through thy umbrage dun,
To cool the fervours of the noontide sun.
Music no more attentive nature charms,
From the hid centre of thy circling arms,
While Echo, mindful of the list'ning swain,
Repeats the dying cadence of each strain.
No more the rook, returning home, shall see
Far off her airy build aloft on thee,
Lin'd warm within from incommoding air,
A fit example of parental care;
No more her down-cloth'd young with rapture view,
Agape for food, her labours to renew;
Now, taught their nests instinctive to forsake,
Around its edge the offer'd morsel take;
Now hopping, half afraid, from spray to spray,
Ere through mid-air they dauntless wing their way.
Pattern to man, ere launch'd out any length
In bold designs, to estimate his strength.
Pervious thy tubes, thy dormant sap alive.
No more expand thy cold-contracted pores,
Pointing the ray thy freshness that restores.
No more shall moisture through thy bark transude,
Or summer-heats thy infant stems protrude.
No more soft foliage mantle thee around,
To cast refreshing shadows on the ground.
No more the bees thy close recesses haunt,
With honey homeward bound for future want.
167
To cool the fervours of the noontide sun.
Music no more attentive nature charms,
From the hid centre of thy circling arms,
While Echo, mindful of the list'ning swain,
Repeats the dying cadence of each strain.
No more the rook, returning home, shall see
Far off her airy build aloft on thee,
Lin'd warm within from incommoding air,
A fit example of parental care;
No more her down-cloth'd young with rapture view,
Agape for food, her labours to renew;
Now, taught their nests instinctive to forsake,
Around its edge the offer'd morsel take;
Now hopping, half afraid, from spray to spray,
Ere through mid-air they dauntless wing their way.
Pattern to man, ere launch'd out any length
In bold designs, to estimate his strength.
Nor let it pique his pride, that tow'rs aloft,
To learn from instinct, though despis'd so oft.
Instinct, howe'er fam'd moralists define,
Is reason, but a little less divine,
More circumscrib'd, or languid in its power,
Though not less steady in the trying hour.
For travel its dominion, you will find,
It differs in degree, but not in kind;
As stars, of various distance through the skies,
Or diamonds, not in water, but in size.
Descend then, man, from insolence and scorn,
Reason, your boast, is but the elder born;
One common parent both respective claim,
Alike in nature, though distinct in name;
For though vain man so arrogantly wise,
Instinct itself may reason oft advise.
Nor instinct only, trees may silence break,
And to mankind's confusion learn to speak.
To learn from instinct, though despis'd so oft.
Instinct, howe'er fam'd moralists define,
Is reason, but a little less divine,
More circumscrib'd, or languid in its power,
Though not less steady in the trying hour.
168
It differs in degree, but not in kind;
As stars, of various distance through the skies,
Or diamonds, not in water, but in size.
Descend then, man, from insolence and scorn,
Reason, your boast, is but the elder born;
One common parent both respective claim,
Alike in nature, though distinct in name;
For though vain man so arrogantly wise,
Instinct itself may reason oft advise.
Nor instinct only, trees may silence break,
And to mankind's confusion learn to speak.
Trees represent the characters of men,
Beyond the vulgar daubings of the pen.
Spread out in full luxuriancy of shade,
Which vainly storms and hurricanes invade,
We in the oak's strong lineaments behold
The brave, unshaken, masculine, and bold.
The flexile, wav'ring, and enervate heart,
Subject at ev'ry accident to start,
At trifles scar'd, as at death's final stroke,
Boast no resemblance to the manly oak.
When the warm sun advances in his signs,
And with invigorating radiance shines;
When nipping frosts and blasting winds are gone,
Last of the grove his raiment he puts on;
Or when the lord of day his heat withdraws,
And seasons change by universal laws;
Last of the forest too, with decent pride,
His robes of shining green he lays aside.
Thus he, the rational consistent man,
Who acts on Virtue's fair and steady plan,
Feels no abrupt elation in his mind,
When Fortune, fickle favourite, is kind;
Nor mean depression, though her wheel cast up
Some evil to embitter life's sad cup.
Some men, quite soft and feminine in make,
At common things prophetically quake.
If but disease attacks his neighbour's fold,
Or on his barns the casual flame takes hold;
If an eclipse (foretold) the welkin shrouds,
Or thunders burst from agitated clouds;
If but a meteor shoots across the sky,
Or some untimely funeral passes by:
His mind with omens and forebodings swells,
And ev'ry look his superstition tells.
Such in the Oak no pleasing likeness find,
Foes to themselves, nor friends to humankind.
Beyond the vulgar daubings of the pen.
Spread out in full luxuriancy of shade,
Which vainly storms and hurricanes invade,
We in the oak's strong lineaments behold
The brave, unshaken, masculine, and bold.
The flexile, wav'ring, and enervate heart,
Subject at ev'ry accident to start,
At trifles scar'd, as at death's final stroke,
Boast no resemblance to the manly oak.
When the warm sun advances in his signs,
And with invigorating radiance shines;
169
Last of the grove his raiment he puts on;
Or when the lord of day his heat withdraws,
And seasons change by universal laws;
Last of the forest too, with decent pride,
His robes of shining green he lays aside.
Thus he, the rational consistent man,
Who acts on Virtue's fair and steady plan,
Feels no abrupt elation in his mind,
When Fortune, fickle favourite, is kind;
Nor mean depression, though her wheel cast up
Some evil to embitter life's sad cup.
Some men, quite soft and feminine in make,
At common things prophetically quake.
If but disease attacks his neighbour's fold,
Or on his barns the casual flame takes hold;
If an eclipse (foretold) the welkin shrouds,
Or thunders burst from agitated clouds;
If but a meteor shoots across the sky,
Or some untimely funeral passes by:
His mind with omens and forebodings swells,
And ev'ry look his superstition tells.
Such in the Oak no pleasing likeness find,
Foes to themselves, nor friends to humankind.
170
II. PART II.
The grandee from his palace casts his eye,
To view his noble group of objects nigh;
The time-rent ruin, with huge turrets fac'd,
The temple on some elevation plac'd;
The woody lab'rinth planted without bound,
The costly buildings scatter'd all around;
From smoke the city rising by degrees,
The hamlet shaded by surrounding trees;
The lofty bridge, whose arches proudly rise,
The distant ocean mixing with the skies;
The round fir clump, cloth'd in perennial green,
The cloud-topt mountain, through perspective seen;
The gilded steeple far-remote beheld,
The river in broad sheets of water swell'd;
—The well-known oak—but ah! no oak appears,
Beneath the load of venerable years—
“What! gone?—impossible!”—amaz'd he cries,
“Sure some unusual languor dims mine eyes;
“Say not, admir'd but some few hours before,
“The beauty of the landscape is no more.”
Again, he looks incredulous to all,
Too soon convinc'd of thy untimely fall,
A solitary prospect only left,
Of every wonted ornament bereft.
He shuts his window with indignant haste,
Disgusted at man's poverty of taste;
Whose narrow views still point at sordid pelf,
Of mankind fond, but fonder of himself.
To view his noble group of objects nigh;
The time-rent ruin, with huge turrets fac'd,
The temple on some elevation plac'd;
The woody lab'rinth planted without bound,
The costly buildings scatter'd all around;
From smoke the city rising by degrees,
The hamlet shaded by surrounding trees;
The lofty bridge, whose arches proudly rise,
The distant ocean mixing with the skies;
The round fir clump, cloth'd in perennial green,
The cloud-topt mountain, through perspective seen;
The gilded steeple far-remote beheld,
The river in broad sheets of water swell'd;
—The well-known oak—but ah! no oak appears,
Beneath the load of venerable years—
“What! gone?—impossible!”—amaz'd he cries,
“Sure some unusual languor dims mine eyes;
“Say not, admir'd but some few hours before,
“The beauty of the landscape is no more.”
171
Too soon convinc'd of thy untimely fall,
A solitary prospect only left,
Of every wonted ornament bereft.
He shuts his window with indignant haste,
Disgusted at man's poverty of taste;
Whose narrow views still point at sordid pelf,
Of mankind fond, but fonder of himself.
Around this amply-branching shade, how oft
With bended neck, or proud head toss'd aloft,
Has the young steed, of gen'rous birth, regal'd
On succulent repasts that never fail'd?
From hence led forth, obedient to the sign,
To form in rich caparison the line;
Unmov'd from stern disdain and martial pride,
Though cohorns burst in thunder at his side;
The coronet-adorn'd machine to grace,
With lordly port and art-conducted pace;
To run the stated course's crouded round,
Scarce left a foot-track loit'ring on the ground;
Or stretch, o'er yonder heath's unmeasur'd space,
Each swelling muscle in the jovial chace,
While hopes of triumph strange delight impart,
And with big tumults heave his bounding heart.
With bended neck, or proud head toss'd aloft,
Has the young steed, of gen'rous birth, regal'd
On succulent repasts that never fail'd?
From hence led forth, obedient to the sign,
To form in rich caparison the line;
Unmov'd from stern disdain and martial pride,
Though cohorns burst in thunder at his side;
The coronet-adorn'd machine to grace,
With lordly port and art-conducted pace;
To run the stated course's crouded round,
Scarce left a foot-track loit'ring on the ground;
Or stretch, o'er yonder heath's unmeasur'd space,
Each swelling muscle in the jovial chace,
While hopes of triumph strange delight impart,
And with big tumults heave his bounding heart.
172
But let the muse describe, with grateful strain,
The noblest animal that feeds the plain.
How his brac'd nervous sinews swell with strength!
How graceful in his shape, his height, his length!
How elegantly careless flows his mane!
How sweeps his tail luxuriant on the plain!
How smooth the glossy polish of his skin!
How prompt each various gait he wantons in!
How vigour his broad turgid chest expands!
How swiftly he careers! how firm he stands!
His ears how exquisitely pair'd alike!
How equally his limbs in motion strike!
How from his nostrils, in successive wreaths,
Efflux of life, the fire ethereal breathes!
Beyond whate'er resemblance can imply,
How bright the vital fluid of each eye!
How airy, how vivacious, how alert,
His fearless spirit, and unconquer'd heart!
Ah! now, around the well-remember'd tree,
No more to frisk, from the rude snaffle free!
No more, with heat and food luxurious cloy'd,
Prefer its shade to suns and meads enjoy'd!
The noblest animal that feeds the plain.
How his brac'd nervous sinews swell with strength!
How graceful in his shape, his height, his length!
How elegantly careless flows his mane!
How sweeps his tail luxuriant on the plain!
How smooth the glossy polish of his skin!
How prompt each various gait he wantons in!
How vigour his broad turgid chest expands!
How swiftly he careers! how firm he stands!
His ears how exquisitely pair'd alike!
How equally his limbs in motion strike!
How from his nostrils, in successive wreaths,
Efflux of life, the fire ethereal breathes!
Beyond whate'er resemblance can imply,
How bright the vital fluid of each eye!
How airy, how vivacious, how alert,
His fearless spirit, and unconquer'd heart!
Ah! now, around the well-remember'd tree,
No more to frisk, from the rude snaffle free!
No more, with heat and food luxurious cloy'd,
Prefer its shade to suns and meads enjoy'd!
Where shall the reapers now their revels hold,
With passions all of one attemper'd mold;
No more, each with his smirking, red-cheek'd maid,
To feast beneath this hospitable shade;
Where, gather'd in the produce of the soil,
They erst relax'd themselves from annual toil;
Where peals sonorous of broad laughter rung,
Each told his tale, and each his sonnet sung;
Where inoffensive jokes ran quick as thought
From mouth to mouth, as by infection caught;
Where copious draughts dissolv'd each heart in mirth
And gave a thousand pleasing frolics birth:
Where shall the reapers now, at noon, resort,
To share returns of such unenvy'd sport?
With passions all of one attemper'd mold;
173
To feast beneath this hospitable shade;
Where, gather'd in the produce of the soil,
They erst relax'd themselves from annual toil;
Where peals sonorous of broad laughter rung,
Each told his tale, and each his sonnet sung;
Where inoffensive jokes ran quick as thought
From mouth to mouth, as by infection caught;
Where copious draughts dissolv'd each heart in mirth
And gave a thousand pleasing frolics birth:
Where shall the reapers now, at noon, resort,
To share returns of such unenvy'd sport?
Round Celadon, the universal friend
Of all that once to merit could pretend,
(If we may here, licens'd by critic's law,
From things inanimate resemblance draw)
The social circle thus were wont to sit,
Charm'd with his manly eloquence and wit;
To hear him, not like learning's pedant tribe,
Virtue in her own native form describe,
Which ravishes the more, the nearer seen,
No veil scholastic, no disguise between.
With what a graceful ease his language flow'd,
Which not by starts, but uniformly glow'd!
A nicety those never can practise,
In pomp of words whose only merit lies.
Now all the senses seem an eye ingross'd,
Now in an ear with equal wonder lost.
His style by study haply might be caught,
But not his simple elegance of thought.
There he excell'd, unrival'd and alone,
With fancy, manner, sense, and taste, his own.
He scorn'd that formal disingenuous part,
To point out virtues strangers to his heart.
On those that grac'd his life he only dwelt,
And ev'ry sentiment he painted, felt.
Each fine emotion he judg'd friendship by,
Smil'd in his cheek, or sparkled in his eye.
Of all that once to merit could pretend,
(If we may here, licens'd by critic's law,
From things inanimate resemblance draw)
The social circle thus were wont to sit,
Charm'd with his manly eloquence and wit;
To hear him, not like learning's pedant tribe,
Virtue in her own native form describe,
Which ravishes the more, the nearer seen,
No veil scholastic, no disguise between.
With what a graceful ease his language flow'd,
Which not by starts, but uniformly glow'd!
174
In pomp of words whose only merit lies.
Now all the senses seem an eye ingross'd,
Now in an ear with equal wonder lost.
His style by study haply might be caught,
But not his simple elegance of thought.
There he excell'd, unrival'd and alone,
With fancy, manner, sense, and taste, his own.
He scorn'd that formal disingenuous part,
To point out virtues strangers to his heart.
On those that grac'd his life he only dwelt,
And ev'ry sentiment he painted, felt.
Each fine emotion he judg'd friendship by,
Smil'd in his cheek, or sparkled in his eye.
He that a name for virtue would acquire,
Must do far more than merely to admire.
Fools may admire, but none, except the wise,
Know where the duty, or the merit lies;
And knowing, with refinement shar'd by few,
Perform the one and claim the other too.
He that loves Virtue, for pure Virtue's sake,
Would her prefer, though crowns themselves at stake.
Such more respect by one good action pays,
Than who compiles a volume in her praise.
To think, and act well, are two distinct things,
That oft from pride, this but from wisdom springs.
A man, by thinking, oft becomes a fool,
With all the boasted learning of the school;
While he whose thoughts but the bare surface skim,
Is justly styl'd a Socrates to him.
Virtue resides not in the head, but heart,
The man of theory loves her but in part,
Or loves, as men love courtiers, for their place,
As on his ethics she confers a grace.
Not for herself does she his value win,
But for the garb his pride arrays her in.
In the profound of thought he loves to sink,
And pities those that tarry on the brink,
He dives for treasure, but his depth exceeds,
And finds himself involv'd in mire and weeds;
While he, who only walks along the shore,
A diamond spies, or meets with golden ore.
The man, whose life's a transcript of his heart;
Acts both a selfish, and a gen'rous part;
Above the bait of honour and of pelf,
He cheats no mortal, nor deceives himself.
Such Celadon, the gentle and the kind,
His morals faultless, as his taste refin'd.
Him no false lights, no empty theories led
From Virtue's fane, from Wisdom's fountain-head.
By truth's unerring optics still he view'd
The path of life, and viewing it, pursu'd.
Must do far more than merely to admire.
Fools may admire, but none, except the wise,
Know where the duty, or the merit lies;
And knowing, with refinement shar'd by few,
Perform the one and claim the other too.
He that loves Virtue, for pure Virtue's sake,
Would her prefer, though crowns themselves at stake.
Such more respect by one good action pays,
Than who compiles a volume in her praise.
175
That oft from pride, this but from wisdom springs.
A man, by thinking, oft becomes a fool,
With all the boasted learning of the school;
While he whose thoughts but the bare surface skim,
Is justly styl'd a Socrates to him.
Virtue resides not in the head, but heart,
The man of theory loves her but in part,
Or loves, as men love courtiers, for their place,
As on his ethics she confers a grace.
Not for herself does she his value win,
But for the garb his pride arrays her in.
In the profound of thought he loves to sink,
And pities those that tarry on the brink,
He dives for treasure, but his depth exceeds,
And finds himself involv'd in mire and weeds;
While he, who only walks along the shore,
A diamond spies, or meets with golden ore.
The man, whose life's a transcript of his heart;
Acts both a selfish, and a gen'rous part;
Above the bait of honour and of pelf,
He cheats no mortal, nor deceives himself.
Such Celadon, the gentle and the kind,
His morals faultless, as his taste refin'd.
176
From Virtue's fane, from Wisdom's fountain-head.
By truth's unerring optics still he view'd
The path of life, and viewing it, pursu'd.
But Celadon, though thus admir'd by all,
Got to his native skies an early call.
Merit, or virtue of sublime degree,
Men are below permitted but to see,
Not claim, as property transferr'd to them
Like the rich spotted fur, or costly gem.
So, in the compass of a thousand years,
The comet, glorious stranger, just appears,
Then, on his journey, worlds regret his stay,
Through depths of ether sweeps his dazzling way.
Blessings and talents, of superiour kind,
Seldom for long duration seem design'd;
Angels to such their fond pretensions make,
With mortals here ambitious to partake.
Ah! how unequal, whatsoe'er the prize,
The rival claim between the eath and skies!
Hence Celadon, few thus resign their breath,
Was snatch'd by sudden, not unwelcome death;
Snatch'd to those regions of eternal day,
Where worth and virtue bloom without decay.
At noon he heard the summons, and obey'd,
Without one murmur, ere the evening-shade;
More hasty not the unexpected blow
That laid this Oak's umbrageous honours low.
Got to his native skies an early call.
Merit, or virtue of sublime degree,
Men are below permitted but to see,
Not claim, as property transferr'd to them
Like the rich spotted fur, or costly gem.
So, in the compass of a thousand years,
The comet, glorious stranger, just appears,
Then, on his journey, worlds regret his stay,
Through depths of ether sweeps his dazzling way.
Blessings and talents, of superiour kind,
Seldom for long duration seem design'd;
Angels to such their fond pretensions make,
With mortals here ambitious to partake.
Ah! how unequal, whatsoe'er the prize,
The rival claim between the eath and skies!
Hence Celadon, few thus resign their breath,
Was snatch'd by sudden, not unwelcome death;
Snatch'd to those regions of eternal day,
Where worth and virtue bloom without decay.
177
Without one murmur, ere the evening-shade;
More hasty not the unexpected blow
That laid this Oak's umbrageous honours low.
No more shall punctual lovers here repair,
The faithful shepherd, nor unconscious fair,
To interchange each other's soft desires,
In accents such as purest love inspires;
To form their tender wishes in a sigh,
To speak the melting language of the eye;
Or sweetly, in alternate measures, sing
That mutual passion whence their transports spring:
While May's gay songsters, with unwearied throats,
Warble their finely-modulated notes;
While gales in scarce-heard whispers fan them round,
Breathing the odours of the flowery ground,
And every moment with unusual speed,
As envious, seems its fellow to succeed.
The faithful shepherd, nor unconscious fair,
To interchange each other's soft desires,
In accents such as purest love inspires;
To form their tender wishes in a sigh,
To speak the melting language of the eye;
Or sweetly, in alternate measures, sing
That mutual passion whence their transports spring:
While May's gay songsters, with unwearied throats,
Warble their finely-modulated notes;
While gales in scarce-heard whispers fan them round,
Breathing the odours of the flowery ground,
And every moment with unusual speed,
As envious, seems its fellow to succeed.
Hail Love! whose subtile essence can pervade
The deepest solitude and thickest shade;
Like lightning with ethereal swiftness dart
Through the recesses of the human heart,
Each appetite to thy subjection bring,
Guide Life's chief movements, touch its every spring!
Nor only, in the summer of our days,
Thy active magic its effects displays,
When Youth's keen wishes sparkle in the eye,
And with wild throbs the conscious pulse beats high.
Our Winter owns thy vivifying ray,
When worn-out Nature feels a quick decay.
The frozen current, stagnate in our veins,
A new-excited undulation gains;
Life's half-spent lamp renews its languid fires,
And strange delight each feeble sense inspires.
But for that gentle charm deriv'd from thee,
What perfect savages would mortals be?
Less tame than yonder tenants of the wild,
For beasts themselves by thee are render'd mild;
The lion fierce stills his appalling roar,
And wolves forget to stain their jaws with gore.
Oh! may my bosom still thy transports know,
There may thy milder ardours ever glow,
Free from the torments, nothing can assuage,
Of disappointed hope and jealous rage;
Free from the dry reserve, the cool disgust,
And guilty tumults of licentious lust.
So shall the same kind venerable tree
Of seeming opposites productive be
That lambent flame, which it provok'd before,
Now happily refrain, to rise no more.
Thus the same ray, that scorches up the plains,
Cools the thin juices in the melon's veins.
The same kind lunar orb, with occult powers,
Directs the ebbing and the flowing hours.
The deepest solitude and thickest shade;
Like lightning with ethereal swiftness dart
Through the recesses of the human heart,
Each appetite to thy subjection bring,
Guide Life's chief movements, touch its every spring!
178
Thy active magic its effects displays,
When Youth's keen wishes sparkle in the eye,
And with wild throbs the conscious pulse beats high.
Our Winter owns thy vivifying ray,
When worn-out Nature feels a quick decay.
The frozen current, stagnate in our veins,
A new-excited undulation gains;
Life's half-spent lamp renews its languid fires,
And strange delight each feeble sense inspires.
But for that gentle charm deriv'd from thee,
What perfect savages would mortals be?
Less tame than yonder tenants of the wild,
For beasts themselves by thee are render'd mild;
The lion fierce stills his appalling roar,
And wolves forget to stain their jaws with gore.
Oh! may my bosom still thy transports know,
There may thy milder ardours ever glow,
Free from the torments, nothing can assuage,
Of disappointed hope and jealous rage;
Free from the dry reserve, the cool disgust,
And guilty tumults of licentious lust.
So shall the same kind venerable tree
Of seeming opposites productive be
179
Now happily refrain, to rise no more.
Thus the same ray, that scorches up the plains,
Cools the thin juices in the melon's veins.
The same kind lunar orb, with occult powers,
Directs the ebbing and the flowing hours.
Ah! hapless tree! each circling season spent,
How many will thy absent shades lament;
Kind refuge to the apprehensive swain,
When thunder-clouds dissolv'd in hasty rain!
How many will thy absent shades lament;
Kind refuge to the apprehensive swain,
When thunder-clouds dissolv'd in hasty rain!
So, when some gen'rous guardian of mankind,
Deceas'd, leaves weeping half the world behind;
Our thoughts no other subject can ingross,
We speak but to deplore the general loss.
Time, place, and circumstance, recall to mind
His presence, with officiousness unkind.
Who now like him, benevolent to all,
A friend, a guardian, at soft pity's call,
To screen Misfortune in whatever form,
As once this tree a covert from the storm?
As it the foremost beauty of its kind,
So he the glory of his race design'd.
Deceas'd, leaves weeping half the world behind;
Our thoughts no other subject can ingross,
We speak but to deplore the general loss.
Time, place, and circumstance, recall to mind
His presence, with officiousness unkind.
Who now like him, benevolent to all,
A friend, a guardian, at soft pity's call,
To screen Misfortune in whatever form,
As once this tree a covert from the storm?
As it the foremost beauty of its kind,
So he the glory of his race design'd.
The youthful shepherd pensive and forlorn,
Long tyrant Love's unworthy shackles worn,
Henceforth no more, with ready hand, shall mark
The dear initials on thy tender bark;
The dear initials of his charmer's name,
Ah! unaffected by a mutual flame!
Happy, each early morn, or closing eve,
To read the well-known characters, and grieve;
With all his passions melting in his eyes,
The only comfort his hard lot supplies.
Long tyrant Love's unworthy shackles worn,
180
The dear initials on thy tender bark;
The dear initials of his charmer's name,
Ah! unaffected by a mutual flame!
Happy, each early morn, or closing eve,
To read the well-known characters, and grieve;
With all his passions melting in his eyes,
The only comfort his hard lot supplies.
No more the sprightly circle shall be seen
Beneath thy shady canopy of green;
Pleas'd to run through, with intermingled glance,
The mazy evolutions of the dance;
While graceful every limb obsequious moves,
As each with self-applauding smile approves;
Pleas'd to detect, what each would fondly hide,
From arch reserve, or bashful maiden pride.
Pleas'd their flush'd charms should have this twain effect,
All to behold, not one the art suspect.
How fresh, how virid look'd thy pensile gloom!
Amongst thy boughs how zephyrs breath'd perfume!
No more in leafy pomp to wave above,
The youthful sports of innocence and love!
Beneath thy shady canopy of green;
Pleas'd to run through, with intermingled glance,
The mazy evolutions of the dance;
While graceful every limb obsequious moves,
As each with self-applauding smile approves;
Pleas'd to detect, what each would fondly hide,
From arch reserve, or bashful maiden pride.
Pleas'd their flush'd charms should have this twain effect,
All to behold, not one the art suspect.
How fresh, how virid look'd thy pensile gloom!
Amongst thy boughs how zephyrs breath'd perfume!
No more in leafy pomp to wave above,
The youthful sports of innocence and love!
What mighty revolutions hast thou seen,
Thy shoot of infancy and fall between,
While monarchs to inexorable death,
Resign'd at once their sceptre and their breath;
Others advanc'd successive in their room,
Victims ere long to the same common doom.
What changes from unapprehended springs,
What unexpected turns of human things,
While millions of the blust'ring sons of Pride,
That seem'd the world by suffrage to divide,
Strutted with rude insulting air a while,
Then dropt forgot, amid ev'n Fortune's smile?
So insects sport in yonder noontide ray,
Swept by the first inclement blast away.
So painted mushrooms rise with morning-light,
And disappear ere the approach of night.
So bubbles on the pool, beneath a show'r,
Vanish and swell, ten thousand in an hour.
But now with them thy triumph's likewise o'er,
To mark time's strange vicissitudes no more.
To mark the labours of vain plodding man,
The sons to finish what their fires began;
To mark those deep designs late time unfolds,
That daily conflict Vice with Virtue holds,
Though from the field compell'd oft to remove,
Virtue, at last, sole conqueror to prove.
Such the reflections, at the Muse's call,
That shall, auspicious tree, attend thy fall;
Such moral hints hence in gradation rise,
As school-bred Learning may not blush to prize.
Thy shoot of infancy and fall between,
181
Resign'd at once their sceptre and their breath;
Others advanc'd successive in their room,
Victims ere long to the same common doom.
What changes from unapprehended springs,
What unexpected turns of human things,
While millions of the blust'ring sons of Pride,
That seem'd the world by suffrage to divide,
Strutted with rude insulting air a while,
Then dropt forgot, amid ev'n Fortune's smile?
So insects sport in yonder noontide ray,
Swept by the first inclement blast away.
So painted mushrooms rise with morning-light,
And disappear ere the approach of night.
So bubbles on the pool, beneath a show'r,
Vanish and swell, ten thousand in an hour.
But now with them thy triumph's likewise o'er,
To mark time's strange vicissitudes no more.
To mark the labours of vain plodding man,
The sons to finish what their fires began;
To mark those deep designs late time unfolds,
That daily conflict Vice with Virtue holds,
Though from the field compell'd oft to remove,
Virtue, at last, sole conqueror to prove.
182
That shall, auspicious tree, attend thy fall;
Such moral hints hence in gradation rise,
As school-bred Learning may not blush to prize.
But ah! no swain henceforward shall behold
Thy early summits ting'd with liquid gold,
Propitious sign that, to expecting eyes,
The lord of day will visit soon the skies:
Or when the moon, pale majesty of night,
Effusive spreads abroad her sacred light,
No late-returning hind shall see display'd
In waving silver thy expansive shade;
Kind hint, no longer on vain cares to roam,
But hasten to his wishing consort home.
Thy early summits ting'd with liquid gold,
Propitious sign that, to expecting eyes,
The lord of day will visit soon the skies:
Or when the moon, pale majesty of night,
Effusive spreads abroad her sacred light,
No late-returning hind shall see display'd
In waving silver thy expansive shade;
Kind hint, no longer on vain cares to roam,
But hasten to his wishing consort home.
Thus he whom true philosophy styles wise,
A rational expectant of the skies;
Who walks in Virtue's consecrated ways,
Amid the sunshine of his Maker's praise;
Who earth contemns, and as immortal lives,
Though nearer death each round the dial gives;
Such shines a living proof, some ages past,
No longer this uncertain state shall last;
This state of anarchy, of guilt and doubt,
Where wrapt in night poor mortals grope about,
Grope round for happiness, but never trace,
Or grasp a lifeless phantom in her place;
Each scene from errour and confusion freed,
Eternal day unclouded shall succeed:
Why Virtue, else, unworthily distress'd,
Worn out with trouble, and with grief oppress'd?
Why still successful and triumphant Vice,
Her very smiles esteem'd at Virtue's price?
To each a friendly warning, to forsake
That course commenc'd from folly or mistake;
From laws of moral force misunderstood,
From false conceptions of the only good;
From voluntary sloth, to guilt akin,
From loose abandon'd principles within;
From prepossession, caprice, or from pride,
That all alike the footsteps turn aside:
By such a noble effort of the mind,
His nature's highest happiness to find;
His wishes bounded by time's narrow span,
To rise an angel, though inhum'd a man.
A rational expectant of the skies;
Who walks in Virtue's consecrated ways,
Amid the sunshine of his Maker's praise;
Who earth contemns, and as immortal lives,
Though nearer death each round the dial gives;
Such shines a living proof, some ages past,
No longer this uncertain state shall last;
This state of anarchy, of guilt and doubt,
Where wrapt in night poor mortals grope about,
183
Or grasp a lifeless phantom in her place;
Each scene from errour and confusion freed,
Eternal day unclouded shall succeed:
Why Virtue, else, unworthily distress'd,
Worn out with trouble, and with grief oppress'd?
Why still successful and triumphant Vice,
Her very smiles esteem'd at Virtue's price?
To each a friendly warning, to forsake
That course commenc'd from folly or mistake;
From laws of moral force misunderstood,
From false conceptions of the only good;
From voluntary sloth, to guilt akin,
From loose abandon'd principles within;
From prepossession, caprice, or from pride,
That all alike the footsteps turn aside:
By such a noble effort of the mind,
His nature's highest happiness to find;
His wishes bounded by time's narrow span,
To rise an angel, though inhum'd a man.
But did we here that happiness define,
Which best deserves the epithet, divine;
For which mankind ten thousand projects try,
Contented live, and almost bear to die;
Not at the Cynic's threshold should we stumble,
But call it, in plain language, being humble.
Let empty sophists various styles bestow,
This one word names all happiness below.
Here let the judgment rest, conjecture cease,
And here be ev'ry passion lull'd to peace.
With confidence let man depend alone
Upon himself, and trust his bliss to none.
This reason dictates, prudence recommends,
Prudence and reason ever mutual friends;
This common sense approves, that never looks,
For obvious truths, to colleges or books;
Convinc'd from Nature's fair and ample page,
Not the vain guesses of bewilder'd sage.
Some wits, in letters of gigantic size,
Who view plain things with scientific eyes,
Take mighty pains a needless fact to prove,
Because to wrangle such supremely love;
And still they learn'dly write, as if we doubted,
Till volumes swell, about it and about it.
Such are indeed a harmless set of men,
That wield, but not offensively, the pen.
The injury is to themselves they do,
Theirs is the toil, but not the profit too;
Theirs many a restless night, and anxious day,
No laurel crown their service to repay,
For few buy works, conceit with trifling mix'd,
To fix a faith, that never was unfix'd.
Which best deserves the epithet, divine;
For which mankind ten thousand projects try,
Contented live, and almost bear to die;
184
But call it, in plain language, being humble.
Let empty sophists various styles bestow,
This one word names all happiness below.
Here let the judgment rest, conjecture cease,
And here be ev'ry passion lull'd to peace.
With confidence let man depend alone
Upon himself, and trust his bliss to none.
This reason dictates, prudence recommends,
Prudence and reason ever mutual friends;
This common sense approves, that never looks,
For obvious truths, to colleges or books;
Convinc'd from Nature's fair and ample page,
Not the vain guesses of bewilder'd sage.
Some wits, in letters of gigantic size,
Who view plain things with scientific eyes,
Take mighty pains a needless fact to prove,
Because to wrangle such supremely love;
And still they learn'dly write, as if we doubted,
Till volumes swell, about it and about it.
Such are indeed a harmless set of men,
That wield, but not offensively, the pen.
The injury is to themselves they do,
Theirs is the toil, but not the profit too;
185
No laurel crown their service to repay,
For few buy works, conceit with trifling mix'd,
To fix a faith, that never was unfix'd.
III. PART III.
Thus truths, not unimportant to the wise,
From unsuspected sources may arise.
On the bare lonely strand, or rocky height,
A costly diamond oft arrests the sight;
On mountains wild, or desert-tracts below,
Herbs of inestimable virtues grow.
Let none pronounce the subject barren then,
Trees may be taught sometimes to lecture men;
The vegetable world those thoughts inspire
That love from poring sages to retire;
Deride the vaunted knowledge of the age,
Learn'd from conceit, not Nature's sacred page.
These, taught in some sublime didactic lay,
Might mend our manners by the surest way;
Force our tumultuous passions to subside,
And humble the aspiring brow of pride.
From unsuspected sources may arise.
On the bare lonely strand, or rocky height,
A costly diamond oft arrests the sight;
On mountains wild, or desert-tracts below,
Herbs of inestimable virtues grow.
Let none pronounce the subject barren then,
Trees may be taught sometimes to lecture men;
The vegetable world those thoughts inspire
That love from poring sages to retire;
Deride the vaunted knowledge of the age,
Learn'd from conceit, not Nature's sacred page.
These, taught in some sublime didactic lay,
Might mend our manners by the surest way;
Force our tumultuous passions to subside,
And humble the aspiring brow of pride.
186
But though enrich'd by these, still in the gross
Our profit's nearly balanc'd by the loss.
No more the youth, by love of science smit,
Shall under thy leaf-wove umbrella sit;
Charm'd with the wide diffusion of thy sprays,
Impervious to the noontide-pointed rays;
No care-form'd wrinkles on his brow imprest,
That mark the anxious thoughts estrang'd to rest;
That mark the inward bias disinclin'd
To study, and the pursuits of the mind;
Those objects that assimilate the taste
To Nature's standard, ever rightly plac'd;
Stamp on the passive heart each soft impress,
And bounds prescribe to ev'ry wrong excess;
Render the thoughts capacious, to extend
Not merely to existence, but the end;
Not to a moment's unsubstantial good,
But lasting, as by Virtue understood.
Distinguish'd thus, the studious youth no more
Shall here advance in Wisdom's hallow'd lore.
No more consult each deeply-labour'd page,
The well-collected knowledge of an age;
Where Nature's grand arcanas lie explain'd,
Where manners glow depicted as they reign'd;
Mark'd all the changes of this lower ball,
While in succession empires rise or fall;
Kings are dethron'd, or slaves to monarchs rais'd,
Those lights extinguish'd that superiour blaz'd;
Lights of the church, the cabinet, and field,
Immortal names, that only once could yield!
Lights, far remov'd from Fame's illustrious strife,
That shone in circles of domestic life;
Though fainter their restricted radiance glows,
These not less glorious to a state than those.
No more, with eye elate, and kindled thought,
To relish beauties by example taught,
Shall he in thy romantic gloom peruse
The fine descriptions of the moral muse;
Where wit and humour charm with native ease,
By stealth surprise us, and by magic please;
Where delicately sketch'd each object looks
As drawn from living nature, not from books;
Where fancy's gay ideal pictures shine,
And manly sense inspirits ev'ry line:
While taste, as eyes illuminate the face,
Throws over all an elegance and grace.
Our profit's nearly balanc'd by the loss.
No more the youth, by love of science smit,
Shall under thy leaf-wove umbrella sit;
Charm'd with the wide diffusion of thy sprays,
Impervious to the noontide-pointed rays;
No care-form'd wrinkles on his brow imprest,
That mark the anxious thoughts estrang'd to rest;
That mark the inward bias disinclin'd
To study, and the pursuits of the mind;
Those objects that assimilate the taste
To Nature's standard, ever rightly plac'd;
Stamp on the passive heart each soft impress,
And bounds prescribe to ev'ry wrong excess;
Render the thoughts capacious, to extend
Not merely to existence, but the end;
Not to a moment's unsubstantial good,
But lasting, as by Virtue understood.
Distinguish'd thus, the studious youth no more
Shall here advance in Wisdom's hallow'd lore.
No more consult each deeply-labour'd page,
The well-collected knowledge of an age;
Where Nature's grand arcanas lie explain'd,
Where manners glow depicted as they reign'd;
187
While in succession empires rise or fall;
Kings are dethron'd, or slaves to monarchs rais'd,
Those lights extinguish'd that superiour blaz'd;
Lights of the church, the cabinet, and field,
Immortal names, that only once could yield!
Lights, far remov'd from Fame's illustrious strife,
That shone in circles of domestic life;
Though fainter their restricted radiance glows,
These not less glorious to a state than those.
No more, with eye elate, and kindled thought,
To relish beauties by example taught,
Shall he in thy romantic gloom peruse
The fine descriptions of the moral muse;
Where wit and humour charm with native ease,
By stealth surprise us, and by magic please;
Where delicately sketch'd each object looks
As drawn from living nature, not from books;
Where fancy's gay ideal pictures shine,
And manly sense inspirits ev'ry line:
While taste, as eyes illuminate the face,
Throws over all an elegance and grace.
In such a shade, still sacred to the Nine,
Was wont the Mantuan poet to recline;
While Fancy round spread her aëreal wings,
Fancy to view that earth's each beauty brings,
Howe'er dispers'd, beneath whatever suns,
As each soft smiling month its progress runs.
To shepherds and their flocks his lute he strung,
Of sylvan scenes, of groves, and fountains sung.
Taught husbandmen, in highly-polish'd strains,
How to improve the culture of their plains;
Behold their lusty herds innumerous thrive,
And whence Autumnal treasures to derive.
In such a shade the Caledonian fam'd
Was early by the partial Muses nam'd,
To paint the Seasons, that in turns appear,
To sing the glories of the circling year.
From his fine pen what apt descriptions flow!
What finish'd landscapes from his pencil glow!
The charms of Nature were but rudely known,
Till graceful in his matchless numbers shown:
Scarce fairer they our naked eyes attract,
Than in his soft embellishments when deck'd.
Was wont the Mantuan poet to recline;
188
Fancy to view that earth's each beauty brings,
Howe'er dispers'd, beneath whatever suns,
As each soft smiling month its progress runs.
To shepherds and their flocks his lute he strung,
Of sylvan scenes, of groves, and fountains sung.
Taught husbandmen, in highly-polish'd strains,
How to improve the culture of their plains;
Behold their lusty herds innumerous thrive,
And whence Autumnal treasures to derive.
In such a shade the Caledonian fam'd
Was early by the partial Muses nam'd,
To paint the Seasons, that in turns appear,
To sing the glories of the circling year.
From his fine pen what apt descriptions flow!
What finish'd landscapes from his pencil glow!
The charms of Nature were but rudely known,
Till graceful in his matchless numbers shown:
Scarce fairer they our naked eyes attract,
Than in his soft embellishments when deck'd.
What noble themes the silent gloom inspires,
Genius awake with all her kindred fires!
What visions prompt the bard ecstatic laid
Beneath some full-spread oak's umbrageous shade,
Like that the Muse has now essay'd to sing,
No more the boast of Culture and of Spring.
Genius awake with all her kindred fires!
What visions prompt the bard ecstatic laid
Beneath some full-spread oak's umbrageous shade,
189
No more the boast of Culture and of Spring.
No more to thee, at Evening's wish'd return,
While sacred ardours in her bosom burn,
Shall rapt Philosophy her footsteps bend,
Intent on man, his origin and end;
The glories of his intellectual frame,
Transcendent as that Being whence they came;
That point him out, his fetters left behind,
For Heaven and immortality design'd;
His senses, all the wonders of his make,
That of a nature less sublime partake;
Yet not less necessary, as they tend
To one just, sapient, well-adapted end:
Why sent below, a moment or an age,
To act his part on life's oft-trodden stage;
The appetites and passions in his train,
With dignity the drama to sustain;
With dignity, while Virtue over-rules,
And their internal fire excites or cools;
Then steal behind the scene from human eyes,
The gaze of fools, or wonder of the wise:
What renders him with reptiles on a par,
Reason to instinct oft inferiour far;
Or lifts him in the scale of beings high,
Angels his kindred, his retreat the sky,
Fain to secure the harbour of the grave,
Toss'd to and fro on life's tempestuous wave.
Such objects, by thy gloom inspiring caught,
No more rush boundless on her crouded thought.
While sacred ardours in her bosom burn,
Shall rapt Philosophy her footsteps bend,
Intent on man, his origin and end;
The glories of his intellectual frame,
Transcendent as that Being whence they came;
That point him out, his fetters left behind,
For Heaven and immortality design'd;
His senses, all the wonders of his make,
That of a nature less sublime partake;
Yet not less necessary, as they tend
To one just, sapient, well-adapted end:
Why sent below, a moment or an age,
To act his part on life's oft-trodden stage;
The appetites and passions in his train,
With dignity the drama to sustain;
With dignity, while Virtue over-rules,
And their internal fire excites or cools;
Then steal behind the scene from human eyes,
The gaze of fools, or wonder of the wise:
What renders him with reptiles on a par,
Reason to instinct oft inferiour far;
190
Angels his kindred, his retreat the sky,
Fain to secure the harbour of the grave,
Toss'd to and fro on life's tempestuous wave.
Such objects, by thy gloom inspiring caught,
No more rush boundless on her crouded thought.
No more night's solemn birds, at twilight gloom,
Amid thy boughs their doleful notes resume;
That give an irksome melancholy joy
To whom lone Solitude's still cares employ.
Such, musing, as disconsolate deplore
A parent, or a consort, ah! no more;
Or, with remembrance that surpasses all
Distress, a bosom friend's untimely fall!
Whose hopes, pursuits, and wishes were the same,
Honest alike in mutual praise, or blame;
Whose kindred souls bore one impressive stamp,
No sordid strife their social joys to damp;
To disunite that union, which below
None but sublime congenial spirits know.
Amid thy boughs their doleful notes resume;
That give an irksome melancholy joy
To whom lone Solitude's still cares employ.
Such, musing, as disconsolate deplore
A parent, or a consort, ah! no more;
Or, with remembrance that surpasses all
Distress, a bosom friend's untimely fall!
Whose hopes, pursuits, and wishes were the same,
Honest alike in mutual praise, or blame;
Whose kindred souls bore one impressive stamp,
No sordid strife their social joys to damp;
To disunite that union, which below
None but sublime congenial spirits know.
When, on his mid-day throne, the sun displays
His centre-felt refulgency of blaze,
Attracted by thy moist expanse of shade,
No more beneath the poet shall be laid.
To celebrate his Maker's glorious praise,
Whose consummate design each scene displays,
Whether the contemplation-wafted glance
Traverses earth, or yonder blue expanse;
Whose wisdom, goodness, and resistless pow'r,
Shine worthy of the Godhead ev'ry hour;
And all for man, fair offspring styl'd his own,
His image, the free subject of his throne.
No more each season's mild approach to sing,
The sheaf-crown'd Autumn, or the flow'r-wreath'd Spring,
With all the gay attendants in their train,
That jocund trip the cowslip-broider'd plain.
No more, if Love's heart-kindled passion warms,
Inspir'd by Beauty's fascinating charms,
To paint the exquisite sensation felt,
Sigh in soft measure, or in numbers melt.
Hail gen'rous ardour of the soften'd heart,
Which more implies than language can impart;
From whose kind impulse rather than be free,
We had at once much better cease to be;
Relinquish all that mortals good define,
Fame's circling laurel, and the golden mine.
His centre-felt refulgency of blaze,
Attracted by thy moist expanse of shade,
No more beneath the poet shall be laid.
191
Whose consummate design each scene displays,
Whether the contemplation-wafted glance
Traverses earth, or yonder blue expanse;
Whose wisdom, goodness, and resistless pow'r,
Shine worthy of the Godhead ev'ry hour;
And all for man, fair offspring styl'd his own,
His image, the free subject of his throne.
No more each season's mild approach to sing,
The sheaf-crown'd Autumn, or the flow'r-wreath'd Spring,
With all the gay attendants in their train,
That jocund trip the cowslip-broider'd plain.
No more, if Love's heart-kindled passion warms,
Inspir'd by Beauty's fascinating charms,
To paint the exquisite sensation felt,
Sigh in soft measure, or in numbers melt.
Hail gen'rous ardour of the soften'd heart,
Which more implies than language can impart;
From whose kind impulse rather than be free,
We had at once much better cease to be;
Relinquish all that mortals good define,
Fame's circling laurel, and the golden mine.
Henceforth no painter, on some hillock plac'd,
Shall view the landscape by thy presence grac'd;
In deep-green majesty of foliage drest,
On humbler shoots a kind protection cast.
No more his pencil guide the glossy ink,
Hills here to raise, and valleys there to sink;
Transfer thy beauties to his fine-sketch'd view,
To wave in miniature, and bloom anew.
Uncouth would now appear his objects drawn,
Absent thy shades, the glory of the lawn.
Shall view the landscape by thy presence grac'd;
192
On humbler shoots a kind protection cast.
No more his pencil guide the glossy ink,
Hills here to raise, and valleys there to sink;
Transfer thy beauties to his fine-sketch'd view,
To wave in miniature, and bloom anew.
Uncouth would now appear his objects drawn,
Absent thy shades, the glory of the lawn.
Thus, to depaint the manners of the times,
Diversify'd by virtues and by crimes;
Figures in ev'ry attitude beheld,
Persons and things, that variously excell'd,
Assum'd new faces, acted different parts,
Fashions, and humours, policies, and arts;
How naked, how impoverish'd would appear
The awkward portrait of each busy year,
If that fine character which Virtue draws,
Stamp'd with a nation's suffrage of applause,
Did not within the artist's compass fall,
To throw a glow of beauty over all?
For he, the good, the wise, the godlike man,
Who from a worthy, settled, vigorous plan,
Not merely to be popularly great,
Promotes the native welfare of a state;
He casts a charm o'er the historic page,
A lustre that reflects on every age;
As once these branches venerable threw
A certain grace o'er the surrounding view,
Diversify'd by virtues and by crimes;
Figures in ev'ry attitude beheld,
Persons and things, that variously excell'd,
Assum'd new faces, acted different parts,
Fashions, and humours, policies, and arts;
How naked, how impoverish'd would appear
The awkward portrait of each busy year,
If that fine character which Virtue draws,
Stamp'd with a nation's suffrage of applause,
Did not within the artist's compass fall,
To throw a glow of beauty over all?
For he, the good, the wise, the godlike man,
Who from a worthy, settled, vigorous plan,
Not merely to be popularly great,
Promotes the native welfare of a state;
193
A lustre that reflects on every age;
As once these branches venerable threw
A certain grace o'er the surrounding view,
Soon as abroad, the softer season past,
Forth issues winter's unauspicious blast,
The tender shrubs their orphan state bemoan,
Deny'd their wonted shelter round them thrown;
Deny'd thy genial moisture shed about,
When heat unsufferably glows without;
When vegetable life seems half destroy'd,
No cooling breeze, no lenient show'rs enjoy'd.
Forth issues winter's unauspicious blast,
The tender shrubs their orphan state bemoan,
Deny'd their wonted shelter round them thrown;
Deny'd thy genial moisture shed about,
When heat unsufferably glows without;
When vegetable life seems half destroy'd,
No cooling breeze, no lenient show'rs enjoy'd.
So mourns the man, with sorrow-streaming eyes,
When his much-honour'd benefactor dies;
Whose bounty, with no mean restrictions shown,
Soften'd his cares scarce sufferable grown;
Bade Plenty smile, each pleasing comfort felt,
Where Want before emaciated dwelt.
Oh! sad reverse! each species of distress
Assails him, now, despairing of redress;
Save from an equal virtuous calm within,
A peaceful conscience unalarm'd by sin.
Nor sinks the noble soul beneath his load,
On whom such liberal blessings are bestow'd.
An accident may him of wealth deprive,
But not of hopes immortal, still alive.
He ne'er repines for ease enjoy'd erewhile,
But turns the frown of fortune to a smile.
When his much-honour'd benefactor dies;
Whose bounty, with no mean restrictions shown,
Soften'd his cares scarce sufferable grown;
Bade Plenty smile, each pleasing comfort felt,
Where Want before emaciated dwelt.
Oh! sad reverse! each species of distress
Assails him, now, despairing of redress;
Save from an equal virtuous calm within,
A peaceful conscience unalarm'd by sin.
Nor sinks the noble soul beneath his load,
On whom such liberal blessings are bestow'd.
194
But not of hopes immortal, still alive.
He ne'er repines for ease enjoy'd erewhile,
But turns the frown of fortune to a smile.
Man seldom with consistent thought attends,
Still on himself how much through life depends,
To find that happiness he would attain;
Hence his laborious search so often vain.
Ten thousand schemes invention fond employs,
We range life's circle of phantastic joys;
Immerge in cares, to distant climates roam,
To seek that treasure, only found at home.
Would you be happy, nor oblig'd to pelf?
Forsake the croud, and live within yourself.
There you a world in miniature will find,
Though not exact in bulk, exact in kind;
The various passions, bred in Wisdom's school,
Or Errour's, that the multitude o'er-rule.
From these then disciplin'd your peace derive,
Nor other means of happiness contrive.
Men take indeed, but rarely men bestow,
As rivers to their springs ne'er backward flow.
From home-set graftures your contentment shoots,
Tho' flourish trees sometimes from borrow'd roots;
Not so our sturdy oak, aloft it grew,
Nor juices save from native tendrils drew.
Still on himself how much through life depends,
To find that happiness he would attain;
Hence his laborious search so often vain.
Ten thousand schemes invention fond employs,
We range life's circle of phantastic joys;
Immerge in cares, to distant climates roam,
To seek that treasure, only found at home.
Would you be happy, nor oblig'd to pelf?
Forsake the croud, and live within yourself.
There you a world in miniature will find,
Though not exact in bulk, exact in kind;
The various passions, bred in Wisdom's school,
Or Errour's, that the multitude o'er-rule.
From these then disciplin'd your peace derive,
Nor other means of happiness contrive.
Men take indeed, but rarely men bestow,
As rivers to their springs ne'er backward flow.
From home-set graftures your contentment shoots,
Tho' flourish trees sometimes from borrow'd roots;
195
Nor juices save from native tendrils drew.
Each season, as it runs its destin'd race,
Passing shall miss thee in thy wonted place;
Spring to prepare thy verdant suit, anon
Presented thee by Summer to put on;
Autumn thy little progeny to bid
Cling to each suckling branch, in embryo hid;
Winter, attended by his blasts, to throw
Around thy naked arms his sheets of snow.
The ivy, late thy waist fond clasp'd around,
Shall unambitious creep along the ground,
Till, in her progress, some majestic tree
She haply meets; of tow'ring growth like thee;
To tell, if such her happy fortune spies,
How low reduc'd, and seek his aid to rise.
Passing shall miss thee in thy wonted place;
Spring to prepare thy verdant suit, anon
Presented thee by Summer to put on;
Autumn thy little progeny to bid
Cling to each suckling branch, in embryo hid;
Winter, attended by his blasts, to throw
Around thy naked arms his sheets of snow.
The ivy, late thy waist fond clasp'd around,
Shall unambitious creep along the ground,
Till, in her progress, some majestic tree
She haply meets; of tow'ring growth like thee;
To tell, if such her happy fortune spies,
How low reduc'd, and seek his aid to rise.
Thus merit, elevated once on high,
Attracting the fond gaze of every eye;
When by inextricable causes thrown
From that superiour rank where late she shone;
(For errour, doubt, and accident involve
The noblest purpose, and the best resolve)
Passes her days in some sequester'd spot,
Despis'd her former grandeur, or forgot;
Obscure her home, which trees in friendship hide,
Far from the insolent approach of Pride;
Perhaps beneath the pressure of distress,
Till some reverse of Fortune make it less;
Some cast thrown up on her fantastic wheel,
Whence mortals half their joys and sorrows feel,
Sets her reluctant in her pristine state,
Not likely then more happy, though more great.
Attracting the fond gaze of every eye;
When by inextricable causes thrown
From that superiour rank where late she shone;
(For errour, doubt, and accident involve
The noblest purpose, and the best resolve)
Passes her days in some sequester'd spot,
Despis'd her former grandeur, or forgot;
196
Far from the insolent approach of Pride;
Perhaps beneath the pressure of distress,
Till some reverse of Fortune make it less;
Some cast thrown up on her fantastic wheel,
Whence mortals half their joys and sorrows feel,
Sets her reluctant in her pristine state,
Not likely then more happy, though more great.
But now the Muse too much protracts her song,
To simple themes thoughts simply turn'd belong;
And while on such we brevity preserve,
Haply from critic's precepts less we swerve.
Yet if instruction points the tedious lay,
Why not for once uncensur'd disobey?
If such strict laws utility condemn,
Say, why not decently dissent from them?
Unauthoriz'd by use, though pride of schools,
What merit boasts a set of formal rules?
A clock, with all the workman's finest art,
Finish'd in ev'ry nice-adjusted part,
Without the pendulum, to make it go,
Were but a school-boy's toy, a rareeshow.
To touch the heart's more glorious, reason says,
Than set to work ten learn'd heads in our praise.
That source of tender feeling, friendship, love,
Where Life's quick subtile springs concenter'd move,
Could but the numbers, with soft impulse, make
To melt in sorrow, or to rapture wake;
Critics unnoted should dispute the causes,
In Learning's court, of syllables and pauses.
From thee then, Oak, though long in ruins sunk,
A sapless, bare, unanimated trunk,
Mankind, with admiration and surprise,
To bind my brows, should see the laurel rise.
To simple themes thoughts simply turn'd belong;
And while on such we brevity preserve,
Haply from critic's precepts less we swerve.
Yet if instruction points the tedious lay,
Why not for once uncensur'd disobey?
If such strict laws utility condemn,
Say, why not decently dissent from them?
Unauthoriz'd by use, though pride of schools,
What merit boasts a set of formal rules?
A clock, with all the workman's finest art,
Finish'd in ev'ry nice-adjusted part,
Without the pendulum, to make it go,
Were but a school-boy's toy, a rareeshow.
To touch the heart's more glorious, reason says,
Than set to work ten learn'd heads in our praise.
197
Where Life's quick subtile springs concenter'd move,
Could but the numbers, with soft impulse, make
To melt in sorrow, or to rapture wake;
Critics unnoted should dispute the causes,
In Learning's court, of syllables and pauses.
From thee then, Oak, though long in ruins sunk,
A sapless, bare, unanimated trunk,
Mankind, with admiration and surprise,
To bind my brows, should see the laurel rise.
Henceforward, at the soft return of Spring,
With frequent chirp, and rapture-quiver'd wing,
No birds conven'd shall croud thy naked boughs,
To interchange their hymeneal vows;
All eager with their fellow-mates to pair,
One common fortune through the year to shate;
In sweet domestic cares, and scenes of joy,
Their task-appointed moments to employ;
No cool reserve, no loud contentious strife,
To mar the comforts of their quiet life.
With frequent chirp, and rapture-quiver'd wing,
No birds conven'd shall croud thy naked boughs,
To interchange their hymeneal vows;
All eager with their fellow-mates to pair,
One common fortune through the year to shate;
In sweet domestic cares, and scenes of joy,
Their task-appointed moments to employ;
No cool reserve, no loud contentious strife,
To mar the comforts of their quiet life.
And shall the feather'd tribe examples prove
To those made one by wedlock—not by love?
Shall such o'erspread the virgin's cheek with shame,
Conscious her words or actions merit blame?
Shall sullen frowns becloud that beauteous face,
Where we should ever the soft sun-beam trace?
Shall wrath distort those features, moulded smooth
By Nature's hand, to soften and to soothe?
Shall fragrant cherry lips dispart, to show
Teeth clos'd with rage in double ivory row?
Shall eyes, which meekly radiant should be found,
Sparkle with ire, or flash the lightning round?
Shall that inchanting tongue o'erflow with gall,
Whence honey should alone effusive fall?
That dove-like bosom with commotions swell,
Where peace, and joy, and hope should only dwell?
That graceful presence, that angelic form,
Be furious toss'd in passion's self-rais'd storm?
To those made one by wedlock—not by love?
Shall such o'erspread the virgin's cheek with shame,
Conscious her words or actions merit blame?
198
Where we should ever the soft sun-beam trace?
Shall wrath distort those features, moulded smooth
By Nature's hand, to soften and to soothe?
Shall fragrant cherry lips dispart, to show
Teeth clos'd with rage in double ivory row?
Shall eyes, which meekly radiant should be found,
Sparkle with ire, or flash the lightning round?
Shall that inchanting tongue o'erflow with gall,
Whence honey should alone effusive fall?
That dove-like bosom with commotions swell,
Where peace, and joy, and hope should only dwell?
That graceful presence, that angelic form,
Be furious toss'd in passion's self-rais'd storm?
With all the gentle virtues in her train,
That love to give delight, but never pain;
With all the modest ornaments of pride,
Nor to expose her beauties, nor to hide;
With all her charms of manner, form, and mien,
To gain respect, not barely to be seen;
Her sweetness, candour, delicacy, ease,
And graces inexpressible to please;
Woman seems Heaven's first fairest gift to man,
The consummation of her Maker's plan.
But when fierce passions in her breast engage,
With ev'ry burst of agitated rage;
Throw into ferment her serener frame,
Nor redden once her cheek with conscious shame,
(The maid grown bold to run pert Folly's range)
What bosom sighs not at the striking change?
Now, she appears than mortal somewhat more,
And smiles, that we may Indian-like adore;
Now, in our wonder something less she seems,
While all may pity, but not one esteems.
Would female hearts with true ambition glow,
Know Nature, and still practise what you know.
This will Ardelia's boasted art outvie,
And charm beyond the twinkle of an eye;
This Livia's cheek with finer red will flush,
Than the vain carmine's artificial blush;
This will give native grace to Celia's air,
And make Aminta something more than fair.
To all the charms of person and of face,
Interiour sweetness, and external grace;
Did but the fair endeavour to excell
By thinking justly, whence flows acting well;
How would each youth low paltry pelf contemu,
Possess'd of more than gold, possess'd of them!
This Lucia finds, a pattern to the fair,
And this will all who her discretion share.
That love to give delight, but never pain;
With all the modest ornaments of pride,
Nor to expose her beauties, nor to hide;
With all her charms of manner, form, and mien,
To gain respect, not barely to be seen;
Her sweetness, candour, delicacy, ease,
And graces inexpressible to please;
Woman seems Heaven's first fairest gift to man,
The consummation of her Maker's plan.
199
With ev'ry burst of agitated rage;
Throw into ferment her serener frame,
Nor redden once her cheek with conscious shame,
(The maid grown bold to run pert Folly's range)
What bosom sighs not at the striking change?
Now, she appears than mortal somewhat more,
And smiles, that we may Indian-like adore;
Now, in our wonder something less she seems,
While all may pity, but not one esteems.
Would female hearts with true ambition glow,
Know Nature, and still practise what you know.
This will Ardelia's boasted art outvie,
And charm beyond the twinkle of an eye;
This Livia's cheek with finer red will flush,
Than the vain carmine's artificial blush;
This will give native grace to Celia's air,
And make Aminta something more than fair.
To all the charms of person and of face,
Interiour sweetness, and external grace;
Did but the fair endeavour to excell
By thinking justly, whence flows acting well;
How would each youth low paltry pelf contemu,
Possess'd of more than gold, possess'd of them!
200
And this will all who her discretion share.
Nor do harsh frowns become his lofty brow
Who fond with her partakes the nuptial vow.
His temper, less by gentle methods rul'd,
Should by reflection be discreetly cool'd.
With headstrong passions, Nature gave him too
Reason their rage licentious to subdue.
Else things inadequate had she bestow'd,
And goodness less than wanton malice show'd.
Though styl'd the lord of earth, with haughty claim,
Of both the just authority's the same;
A right to rule he boasts on no pretence,
Unless from knowledge or superiour sense;
And who would not with promptitude obey,
When wisdom or when virtue bears the sway?
Who fond with her partakes the nuptial vow.
His temper, less by gentle methods rul'd,
Should by reflection be discreetly cool'd.
With headstrong passions, Nature gave him too
Reason their rage licentious to subdue.
Else things inadequate had she bestow'd,
And goodness less than wanton malice show'd.
Though styl'd the lord of earth, with haughty claim,
Of both the just authority's the same;
A right to rule he boasts on no pretence,
Unless from knowledge or superiour sense;
And who would not with promptitude obey,
When wisdom or when virtue bears the sway?
Hail sacred state! where each a treasure finds,
Marriage, thou cement of congenial minds!
Hail fate-tied knot, death can alone undo!
Hail rite mysterious to make one of two!
Pleas'd would the Muse thy mystic charms define,
If not digressive from her main design;
The gloomy Muse, whom elegy detains
In joyless numbers and lugubrious strains.
Marriage, thou cement of congenial minds!
Hail fate-tied knot, death can alone undo!
Hail rite mysterious to make one of two!
Pleas'd would the Muse thy mystic charms define,
If not digressive from her main design;
The gloomy Muse, whom elegy detains
In joyless numbers and lugubrious strains.
201
Nor tears alone o'erflow her grief-swoln eyes,
When worth deceases, or a Stella dies;
An insect crush'd presented to her eye,
Can lift her tender bosom to a sigh;
The fate untimely of a new-blown flow'r,
Or tree luxuriant that was wont to tow'r.
When worth deceases, or a Stella dies;
An insect crush'd presented to her eye,
Can lift her tender bosom to a sigh;
The fate untimely of a new-blown flow'r,
Or tree luxuriant that was wont to tow'r.
Ill-fated Oak! could not thy matchless size,
So vast an object to admiring eyes,
Thy knotty firmness opportune have sav'd
Thy form with such pre-eminence that wav'd?
Thou, whose hard sides can forceful balls repel,
Brave the rough wintry surge and tempest fell;
Support the mighty palace, yet at length
Ages to view thee unimpair'd in strength;
What shall a hatchet's momentary blow
Lay all thy proud display of grandeur low?
So vast an object to admiring eyes,
Thy knotty firmness opportune have sav'd
Thy form with such pre-eminence that wav'd?
Thou, whose hard sides can forceful balls repel,
Brave the rough wintry surge and tempest fell;
Support the mighty palace, yet at length
Ages to view thee unimpair'd in strength;
What shall a hatchet's momentary blow
Lay all thy proud display of grandeur low?
So have we seen an impious monarch pale,
His courage faint, his limbs beneath him fail;
Seen his teeth chatter, swim his troubled sight,
His looks aghast, his hair on end with fright,
His countenance in dumb amazement fall,
When he beheld the writing on the wall:
The haughty look fled from his princely brow,
His meanest slave seems scarce beneath him now.
Yet danger he could face, superiour far,
And plunge amid the thickest storms of war;
Without a shrink see Death tremendous slay
His thousands and ten thousands in a day;
The spear extended to destroy oppose,
And meet the arrow pointed by his foes.
But through his vitals dire dismay now reigns,
A gelid torpor creeps along his veins;
Though spirit erst through all his actions ran,
Now he appears an object less than man.
His courage faint, his limbs beneath him fail;
Seen his teeth chatter, swim his troubled sight,
His looks aghast, his hair on end with fright,
His countenance in dumb amazement fall,
When he beheld the writing on the wall:
The haughty look fled from his princely brow,
His meanest slave seems scarce beneath him now.
202
And plunge amid the thickest storms of war;
Without a shrink see Death tremendous slay
His thousands and ten thousands in a day;
The spear extended to destroy oppose,
And meet the arrow pointed by his foes.
But through his vitals dire dismay now reigns,
A gelid torpor creeps along his veins;
Though spirit erst through all his actions ran,
Now he appears an object less than man.
Whate'er the previous trials that befall,
Death, in approach, is terrible to all.
With great or less dismay his arrows strike,
Haply the dread but in degree unlike.
Nature recoils at the severe decree,
Howe'er incurr'd, by which we cease to be;
The brain thought and sensation to convey,
The lungs to vibrate, and the heart to play.
Death, in approach, is terrible to all.
With great or less dismay his arrows strike,
Haply the dread but in degree unlike.
Nature recoils at the severe decree,
Howe'er incurr'd, by which we cease to be;
The brain thought and sensation to convey,
The lungs to vibrate, and the heart to play.
How startled vitious minds with shrouds and urns!
Death the vain boaster to a coward turns.
The impulse of an agitated vein,
Supply'd with sudden transports from the brain;
The start of vengeance, or the flash of ire,
May temporary courage oft inspire;
When danger lessens to the blinded eye,
And the impassive soul could bear to die:
But let the temper's partial warmth abate,
And coolly gain its ordinary state;
Let the swoln passion's ebulitions sink,
Give leisure to remonstrate, time to think;
Let Silence seem to listen with dread awe,
And Darkness round her midnight curtain draw:
Let Virtue her affronted rights assert,
And conscious guilt sting his detected heart;
How like a poltroon looks the hero fam'd,
His manhood vanish'd, his proud spirit tam'd!
Death the vain boaster to a coward turns.
The impulse of an agitated vein,
Supply'd with sudden transports from the brain;
The start of vengeance, or the flash of ire,
May temporary courage oft inspire;
203
And the impassive soul could bear to die:
But let the temper's partial warmth abate,
And coolly gain its ordinary state;
Let the swoln passion's ebulitions sink,
Give leisure to remonstrate, time to think;
Let Silence seem to listen with dread awe,
And Darkness round her midnight curtain draw:
Let Virtue her affronted rights assert,
And conscious guilt sting his detected heart;
How like a poltroon looks the hero fam'd,
His manhood vanish'd, his proud spirit tam'd!
Valour, that no mean diminution knows,
Whate'er camps boast, alone from Virtue flows;
Fix'd, unappal'd, beneath habitual rule,
Ardent as noon, yet as the twilight cool;
Which instant dangers render more alert,
And no cross accidents can disconcert.
No task too complicated to surmount,
Hardships and toils esteem'd of no account;
Or if esteem'd, the prize but to enhance,
Not to retreat incentives, but advance.
Such valour like some wave-unshaken rock,
Bears the approach unmov'd of every shock.
Firm against fate, in each terrific form,
As forest-oak that scorns the rushing storm.
Ah such wert thou, unrival'd of thy kind,
Whose loss now mourns the flock-entrusted hind,
As by thy ruins he directs his way,
Join'd by the Muse's sympathetic lay!
Whate'er camps boast, alone from Virtue flows;
Fix'd, unappal'd, beneath habitual rule,
Ardent as noon, yet as the twilight cool;
Which instant dangers render more alert,
And no cross accidents can disconcert.
No task too complicated to surmount,
Hardships and toils esteem'd of no account;
Or if esteem'd, the prize but to enhance,
Not to retreat incentives, but advance.
Such valour like some wave-unshaken rock,
Bears the approach unmov'd of every shock.
204
As forest-oak that scorns the rushing storm.
Ah such wert thou, unrival'd of thy kind,
Whose loss now mourns the flock-entrusted hind,
As by thy ruins he directs his way,
Join'd by the Muse's sympathetic lay!
Thus, in some silent solitary shade,
When moonlight shadows croud the lonely glade,
Bewails the bard, invited by the gloom,
His darling maid cut off in early bloom;
Cut off, her faded honours round her thrown,
Ere youth's fair-opening blossom fully blown;
As yonder lily fades, unkind the skies,
Declines her head, shrinks, languishes, and dies.
Nor let his tears of anguish cease to flow,
His bosom cease from the big swell of wo.
For who would give his gen'rous sorrows o'er,
The first, the best of womankind, no more?
The first in station; but her praise ascends
Above what to the vilest chance intends.
The first in merit, from the heart deriv'd!
Merit, her death seal'd eye-lid that surviv'd!
Merit, by Truth's own signature imprest,
Which few sepulchral honours dare attest!
Merit, alone by Him distinctly seen,
Who objects views, no medium false between!
Merit, that labours brighter to appear,
As closing life's momentous scene draws near;
Like stars the eye increas'd in lustre sees,
The darker night advances by degrees!
When moonlight shadows croud the lonely glade,
Bewails the bard, invited by the gloom,
His darling maid cut off in early bloom;
Cut off, her faded honours round her thrown,
Ere youth's fair-opening blossom fully blown;
As yonder lily fades, unkind the skies,
Declines her head, shrinks, languishes, and dies.
Nor let his tears of anguish cease to flow,
His bosom cease from the big swell of wo.
For who would give his gen'rous sorrows o'er,
The first, the best of womankind, no more?
The first in station; but her praise ascends
Above what to the vilest chance intends.
The first in merit, from the heart deriv'd!
Merit, her death seal'd eye-lid that surviv'd!
Merit, by Truth's own signature imprest,
Which few sepulchral honours dare attest!
205
Who objects views, no medium false between!
Merit, that labours brighter to appear,
As closing life's momentous scene draws near;
Like stars the eye increas'd in lustre sees,
The darker night advances by degrees!
Like yon smooth stream that uniformly glides,
Yon noontide ray no watery medium hides,
Her temper in one happy tenour flow'd,
Her breast with every gentle virtue glow'd;
No sudden flight, beyond cool reason's curb,
Her settled calm of spirit to disturb;
No twitch of envy, no false sting of pride,
Between extremes her passions to divide;
Criterions of a soul ignobly born,
An object, or of pity, or of scorn.
Her heart love's tenderest ardours ever felt,
Form'd exquisitely sensible to melt,
When gentle Nature touch'd, with impulse kind,
Its soften'd springs, to action still inclin'd.
Whom obloquy herself could seldom tax
With vanity, the foible of her sex;
Unless her acts of bounty made her vain,
To soothe affliction, and alleviate pain;
Vain, that the blessing heart, and grateful eye,
Could ne'er divine whence each well-tim'd supply.
Can limits grief for such a maid require,
While mankind virgin excellence admire?
Shall Female Virtue draw her latest breath!
Shall Beauty languish in the arms of Death!
Shall Innocence descend to grace the urn!
Shall blooming youth to vulgar dust return!
Shall with Amanda all that's sweet depart!
Nor yet one pang of sorrow pierce the heart!
Yet Elegy the stroke afflictive bear,
With cruel eyes scarce moisten'd with a tear?
Yon noontide ray no watery medium hides,
Her temper in one happy tenour flow'd,
Her breast with every gentle virtue glow'd;
No sudden flight, beyond cool reason's curb,
Her settled calm of spirit to disturb;
No twitch of envy, no false sting of pride,
Between extremes her passions to divide;
Criterions of a soul ignobly born,
An object, or of pity, or of scorn.
Her heart love's tenderest ardours ever felt,
Form'd exquisitely sensible to melt,
When gentle Nature touch'd, with impulse kind,
Its soften'd springs, to action still inclin'd.
Whom obloquy herself could seldom tax
With vanity, the foible of her sex;
Unless her acts of bounty made her vain,
To soothe affliction, and alleviate pain;
206
Could ne'er divine whence each well-tim'd supply.
Can limits grief for such a maid require,
While mankind virgin excellence admire?
Shall Female Virtue draw her latest breath!
Shall Beauty languish in the arms of Death!
Shall Innocence descend to grace the urn!
Shall blooming youth to vulgar dust return!
Shall with Amanda all that's sweet depart!
Nor yet one pang of sorrow pierce the heart!
Yet Elegy the stroke afflictive bear,
With cruel eyes scarce moisten'd with a tear?
What horrours crouded to the lover's thought!
How did he gaze, as to a statue wrought!
What pangs endure, too mighty for relief!
What feelings of unutterable grief!
When, trembling, he her clay-pale cheek beheld,
That once the rose-bud's painted blush excell'd!
Saw her lips fetch the last returns of breath,
And quiver in the agonies of death!
Saw (his full soul elapsive in a sigh)
The heav'nly beam leave her benighted eye!
Expression falters to describe his wo,
Which those who ever felt can only know.
How did he gaze, as to a statue wrought!
What pangs endure, too mighty for relief!
What feelings of unutterable grief!
When, trembling, he her clay-pale cheek beheld,
That once the rose-bud's painted blush excell'd!
Saw her lips fetch the last returns of breath,
And quiver in the agonies of death!
Saw (his full soul elapsive in a sigh)
The heav'nly beam leave her benighted eye!
Expression falters to describe his wo,
Which those who ever felt can only know.
207
But whither has the Muse digress'd so long
On subjects that seem foreign to her song?
But why digress'd? thy fate, O luckless tree,
And fair Amanda's, ah too well agree!
Thy fall, by the fix'd mandate of the skies,
Though undiscern'd by superficial eyes,
Is emblematic of that final hour,
When Death exerts—no spot-restricted power,
But universal as existence runs,
Where-ever worlds roll round their central suns.
—But here the thought must not subsist too long,
Again resum'd to close the plaintive song.
On subjects that seem foreign to her song?
But why digress'd? thy fate, O luckless tree,
And fair Amanda's, ah too well agree!
Thy fall, by the fix'd mandate of the skies,
Though undiscern'd by superficial eyes,
Is emblematic of that final hour,
When Death exerts—no spot-restricted power,
But universal as existence runs,
Where-ever worlds roll round their central suns.
—But here the thought must not subsist too long,
Again resum'd to close the plaintive song.
Here, of its wonted shade superb bereav'd,
To molehills shall the sordid earth be heav'd;
That earth whose juices, by attraction soft,
Once rose meand'ring to thy stems aloft;
Now to give many a foul production birth,
While Sorrow smooths the dimpled cheek of Mirth;
For thus in dust dissolves the human frame,
Congenial dust, whence it but lately came;
Their fatness hence impov'rish'd soils derive,
Hence worms regale, and vegetables thrive.
Blush, blush! ye sons of levity and mirth!
The monarch's death is but the reptile's birth,
To molehills shall the sordid earth be heav'd;
That earth whose juices, by attraction soft,
Once rose meand'ring to thy stems aloft;
Now to give many a foul production birth,
While Sorrow smooths the dimpled cheek of Mirth;
For thus in dust dissolves the human frame,
Congenial dust, whence it but lately came;
Their fatness hence impov'rish'd soils derive,
Hence worms regale, and vegetables thrive.
Blush, blush! ye sons of levity and mirth!
The monarch's death is but the reptile's birth,
208
No plant shall henceforth here her balm bestow,
No herb arise, no root salubrious grow;
No May-flowers, dress'd in suits of virgin gold,
With conscious pride their dew-dropt leaves unfold;
No cowslip ope her bosom to the gale,
No primrose her ambrosial sweets exhale.
From these cut veins shall short-liv'd mushrooms sprout,
Toads loathsome creep, and bloated snails crawl out.
The russian spider here shall fell reside,
With subtile guise along his lines to glide.
Thy sacred root, whence sap concocted flow'd,
And verdure to thy graceful form bestow'd,
Hither from surly Winter to withdraw,
Emmets shall pierce with unrelenting gnaw:
While he, whom vagrant Fancy leads this way,
Shall, with a sudden burst of anguish, say,
“Ah! what a change! how desolate the place,
“Where flourish'd one of Nature's tallest race,
“In verdant Summer's silken livery clad,
“And by the Seasons periodic fed!
“Beneath the covert of whose outstretch'd arms,
“Suckled by Spring in green display of charms,
“Earth's smaller-statur'd sons spontaneous grew,
“Catch'd the live breeze, or sipt the dulcet dew!
“But whither ah! those lovely objects gone,
“All now a naked waste I tread upon?
“This spot no trace of beauty now retains!
“Nought save the juiceless barren trunk remains,
“Which, with quick lapse, a prey to vermin, must
“Fall to decay, and mix with putrid dust!
“Such characters of death just Heav'n inscribes,
“With deep impress, on all earth's various tribes;
“Such the almighty Fiat of the sky,
“Let all things live in turn, let all things die.”
No herb arise, no root salubrious grow;
No May-flowers, dress'd in suits of virgin gold,
With conscious pride their dew-dropt leaves unfold;
No cowslip ope her bosom to the gale,
No primrose her ambrosial sweets exhale.
From these cut veins shall short-liv'd mushrooms sprout,
Toads loathsome creep, and bloated snails crawl out.
The russian spider here shall fell reside,
With subtile guise along his lines to glide.
Thy sacred root, whence sap concocted flow'd,
And verdure to thy graceful form bestow'd,
Hither from surly Winter to withdraw,
Emmets shall pierce with unrelenting gnaw:
While he, whom vagrant Fancy leads this way,
Shall, with a sudden burst of anguish, say,
“Ah! what a change! how desolate the place,
“Where flourish'd one of Nature's tallest race,
“In verdant Summer's silken livery clad,
“And by the Seasons periodic fed!
“Beneath the covert of whose outstretch'd arms,
“Suckled by Spring in green display of charms,
“Earth's smaller-statur'd sons spontaneous grew,
“Catch'd the live breeze, or sipt the dulcet dew!
209
“All now a naked waste I tread upon?
“This spot no trace of beauty now retains!
“Nought save the juiceless barren trunk remains,
“Which, with quick lapse, a prey to vermin, must
“Fall to decay, and mix with putrid dust!
“Such characters of death just Heav'n inscribes,
“With deep impress, on all earth's various tribes;
“Such the almighty Fiat of the sky,
“Let all things live in turn, let all things die.”
Thus men, in nonage, infancy, or prime,
By quick disease, or slow-consuming time,
Howe'er high-plac'd on Fortune's partial wheel,
Must Fate's decisive stroke promiscuous feel.
Grandeur's gay plume, the native bloom of health,
The charm of beauty, and the bribe of wealth,
In vain, with all soft eloquence can say,
Solicit Death to turn his dart away.
Monarchs themselves, tho' prostrate at their throne
Obsequious millions their allegiance own;
Though distant regions tremble at their name,
And Parian statues eternize their fame;
From all their arrogated height of pow'r
Must fall, when Heav'n appoints the destin'd hour.
Nor kings alone; empires that fix'd we deem,
Beyond Time's utmost reach that vainly seem,
Shall by some hidden spring be overturn'd,
Their basis shaken, and their lords inurn'd.
By quick disease, or slow-consuming time,
Howe'er high-plac'd on Fortune's partial wheel,
Must Fate's decisive stroke promiscuous feel.
Grandeur's gay plume, the native bloom of health,
The charm of beauty, and the bribe of wealth,
In vain, with all soft eloquence can say,
Solicit Death to turn his dart away.
Monarchs themselves, tho' prostrate at their throne
Obsequious millions their allegiance own;
Though distant regions tremble at their name,
And Parian statues eternize their fame;
From all their arrogated height of pow'r
Must fall, when Heav'n appoints the destin'd hour.
210
Beyond Time's utmost reach that vainly seem,
Shall by some hidden spring be overturn'd,
Their basis shaken, and their lords inurn'd.
But why on trifles dwells the local Muse,
Why stoops she small comparisons to use,
As thy misfortune typify'd alone
The downfal of a kingdom, or a throne?
These, though momentous in the lists of Fame,
Of lofty import, of high-sounding name;
Though haughtily enlarg'd from pole to pole,
Are nothing, when contrasted with the whole.
Like thee—no narrow despicable spot,
Seiz'd by Ambition, parcell'd out by lot;
But all Creation shall be overthrown,
And Nature's self heave her expiring groan.
Why stoops she small comparisons to use,
As thy misfortune typify'd alone
The downfal of a kingdom, or a throne?
These, though momentous in the lists of Fame,
Of lofty import, of high-sounding name;
Though haughtily enlarg'd from pole to pole,
Are nothing, when contrasted with the whole.
Like thee—no narrow despicable spot,
Seiz'd by Ambition, parcell'd out by lot;
But all Creation shall be overthrown,
And Nature's self heave her expiring groan.
See! from the bosom of a mantling cloud,
A seraph, cloth'd in light, procaims aloud,
Myriads of spirits round, a radiant band,
And Fate's dread book extended in his hand;
“Be life with all its various labours o'er,
“Henceforth for ever time shall be no more.
“Let yonder sun's proud glory cease to blaze,
“In night extinguish'd his officious rays.
“Cease yonder silver moon full-orb'd to rise,
“Cease every star to twinkle through the skies.
“Beneath my feet, contracted like a scroll,
“Let these expanded heavens together roll.
“To ruin be earth's mighty fabrics hurl'd,
“And raz'd the pillars that support the world.”
A seraph, cloth'd in light, procaims aloud,
Myriads of spirits round, a radiant band,
And Fate's dread book extended in his hand;
“Be life with all its various labours o'er,
“Henceforth for ever time shall be no more.
“Let yonder sun's proud glory cease to blaze,
“In night extinguish'd his officious rays.
211
“Cease every star to twinkle through the skies.
“Beneath my feet, contracted like a scroll,
“Let these expanded heavens together roll.
“To ruin be earth's mighty fabrics hurl'd,
“And raz'd the pillars that support the world.”
Thus, from her silent offsprings, Nature, fond
Her works with human acts should correspond,
With them, our duty fitly understood,
Would teach the truest wisdom, being good,
Or bless'd, for though dissimilar in name,
Wisdom and happiness are still the same;
Nought can divide what Heav'n's fix'd laws connect,
That as the cause, or this as the effect;
Titles or epithets can never change
Objects and things, though they may disarrange:
Not in some fine-spun theory it consists,
Which varies as the writer's fancy lists,
As interest or caprice directs his pen,
The smiles or frowns of fallible, mere men;
Not in the senseless pedantry of schools,
Where men the knack of trifling learn by rules;
Find out the glorious path, with much expense
Of time and brains, that leads from common sense;
Not in the idle subtilties of law,
That oft from equity and Nature draw,
The bounds of right and wrong explain away,
Though obvious and distinct as night and day;
Not politics, where most deserve to rise,
That is, rear'd on a gallows, to the skies,
While each, through villany, black crimes, and sins,
Almost a traitor, his fell purpose wins:
But, to comprise the sum of human good,
In Virtue, Virtue rightly understood;
Virtue, not as proud states or courts devise,
But stamp'd with the broad signet of the skies;
Or, as the moon shines by imputed light,
In fair Religion's unstain'd glory bright.
Her works with human acts should correspond,
With them, our duty fitly understood,
Would teach the truest wisdom, being good,
Or bless'd, for though dissimilar in name,
Wisdom and happiness are still the same;
Nought can divide what Heav'n's fix'd laws connect,
That as the cause, or this as the effect;
Titles or epithets can never change
Objects and things, though they may disarrange:
Not in some fine-spun theory it consists,
Which varies as the writer's fancy lists,
As interest or caprice directs his pen,
The smiles or frowns of fallible, mere men;
Not in the senseless pedantry of schools,
Where men the knack of trifling learn by rules;
Find out the glorious path, with much expense
Of time and brains, that leads from common sense;
212
That oft from equity and Nature draw,
The bounds of right and wrong explain away,
Though obvious and distinct as night and day;
Not politics, where most deserve to rise,
That is, rear'd on a gallows, to the skies,
While each, through villany, black crimes, and sins,
Almost a traitor, his fell purpose wins:
But, to comprise the sum of human good,
In Virtue, Virtue rightly understood;
Virtue, not as proud states or courts devise,
But stamp'd with the broad signet of the skies;
Or, as the moon shines by imputed light,
In fair Religion's unstain'd glory bright.
But say what Virtue's sacred name implies,
So much esteem'd and valued by the wise.
A treasure, all should study to obtain,
Rather without it than a sceptre gain;
A treasure riches seldom can procure,
Grandeur monopolize, or fame ensure;
A treasure that outweighs the regal gem,
By clowns possess'd, though kings look down on them;
A treasure, whose intrinsic value lies
Less obvious oft to learn'd, than vulgar eyes.
Contentment, that forsakes the cloyster'd cell,
With artless pure Simplicity to dwell.
A cordial, that supports us in distress,
Beyond the pride-swoln philosophic guess.
A temper, at each crisis of our fate,
We fond would purchase, whatsoe'er the rate.
A friend, that with us through Life's morning stays,
Nor leaves us in the evening of our days;
But, though of Earth's resplendent orb bereft,
Bids brighter suns arise than that we left,
Kindly from death's surrounding gloom to save,
And gild the dreary mansions of the grave.
A secret, sages never could unfold,
That turns each baser metal into gold;
That sets in motion. Pleasure's finest springs,
Or casts a shade on all sublunar things.
So much esteem'd and valued by the wise.
A treasure, all should study to obtain,
Rather without it than a sceptre gain;
A treasure riches seldom can procure,
Grandeur monopolize, or fame ensure;
A treasure that outweighs the regal gem,
By clowns possess'd, though kings look down on them;
A treasure, whose intrinsic value lies
Less obvious oft to learn'd, than vulgar eyes.
213
With artless pure Simplicity to dwell.
A cordial, that supports us in distress,
Beyond the pride-swoln philosophic guess.
A temper, at each crisis of our fate,
We fond would purchase, whatsoe'er the rate.
A friend, that with us through Life's morning stays,
Nor leaves us in the evening of our days;
But, though of Earth's resplendent orb bereft,
Bids brighter suns arise than that we left,
Kindly from death's surrounding gloom to save,
And gild the dreary mansions of the grave.
A secret, sages never could unfold,
That turns each baser metal into gold;
That sets in motion. Pleasure's finest springs,
Or casts a shade on all sublunar things.
Labour, then, all true Virtue to acquire,
That or to Heaven or happiness aspire.
Thus may a falling tree those rules comprise,
That make us humble, while they make us wise.
Thus shall the Muse attain her noblest aim,
Howe'er low-station'd in the rolls of Fame;
Visit no more with Elegy the urn,
But her sad song to panegyric turn.
That or to Heaven or happiness aspire.
Thus may a falling tree those rules comprise,
That make us humble, while they make us wise.
Thus shall the Muse attain her noblest aim,
Howe'er low-station'd in the rolls of Fame;
Visit no more with Elegy the urn,
But her sad song to panegyric turn.
| Original poems on several subjects | |