Poems, chiefly dramatic and lyric :: :: University of Virginia Library

Poems, chiefly dramatic and lyric

by the Revd. H. Boyd ... containing the following dramatic poems: The Helots, a tragedy, The Temple of Vesta, The Rivals, The Royal Message. Prize Poems, &c. &c

Boyd, Henry

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TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE COUNTESS OF MOIRA, BARONESS HASTINGS, &c. &c

TO THE REV. EDWARD BERWICK,

THE HELOTS. A TRAGEDY.

II.

II.

III.

II.

IV.

THE TEMPLE OF VESTA, A DRAMATIC POEM.

II.

II.

II.

III.

IV.

II.

II.

IV.

III.

II.

III.

IV.

II.

III.

IV.

III.

PRIZE, POEMS, ODES, ELEGIES, &c. &c.

HYMN TO SILENCE,

THE GENIUS OF THE WHITE ROSE,

WOODSTOCK.

THE WANDERER,

ODE THE FIRST. THE SHEPHERD'S DREAM.

ODE THE SECOND. THE SHEPHERD'S NUPTIALS.

ODE THE THIRD. THE SHEPHERD'S VOYAGE.

ODE THE FOURTH. THE SHEPHERD'S RETURN.

ON THE BIRTH DAY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF MOIRA, BARONESS HASTINGS, &c. &c.

ON THE BIRTH DAY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE COUNTESS OF MOIRA, BARONESS HASTINGS, &c. &c.

ON THE BIRTH DAY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF MOIRA, BARONESS HASTINGS, &c. &c.

TO CHARLES WILLIAM BURY, ESQ. ON HIS RETURN FROM ITALY, 1789.

VERSES, LEFT AT THE REV. PETER TURPIN'S,

TO JOSEPH COOPER WALKER, ESQ. M. R. I. A.

TO JOSEPH COOPER WALKER, ESQ. M. R. I. A. &c. &c.

TO WILLIAM PRESTON, ESQ. ON HIS TRAGEDY, ENTITLED DEMOCRATIC RAGE.

ELEGIES.

TO THE REV. JOHN SMYTH, ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG FRIEND, 1779.

HENRIETTA,

ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. THOMAS STEWART,

TO THE REV. DR. LESLIE,

ON THE DEATH OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR JOHN RAWDON, LATE EARL OF MOIRA,

SPECIMEN OF THE CAPTIVES,

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF CHARLEMONT, &c.

TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THOMAS PERCY, LORD BISHOP OF DROMORE,

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498

ODE THE SECOND. THE SHEPHERD'S NUPTIALS.

I.

Citadel of freedom, hail!
Majestic rising o'er the tempest-beaten main
Who to the persecuted train
On every blast, from every shore
Where regal frenzy dips his foot in gore
Giv'st an asylum in thy wave-worn pale
And beckonest with dumb welcome o'er
The far-discovered sail!
And not for nought,—for soon at hand
Yon pinace furls her sail, the Exile seeks the land.
Oh England! if thou lik'st to sleep
In tranquil slumbers folded deep
And hatest proud innovation's name,
Her lifted ax, her brandish'd flame,

499

Send, oh send, again to sea,
The moody wanderer far from thee!
For this is he whose chanted psalm
Broke old Uris holy calm
In Berne the flag of freedom wav'd
And Rome's cowl'd squadrons singly brav'd
Loos'd the charms that lock'd the mind
And from thick films the mental eye refin'd
The chief to thee is fled, but leaves behind
Discord's rage that drowns the wind
Fierce debates, and wordy wars
Faction's feuds and kindred jars.
Till dear-bought freedom sends again
Her holy calm to bless her mountain reign.

II.

Has no sign his coming told
No cause the refluent surge controll'd
No meteor fir'd the angry air
No comet stream'd a length of hair?—
Time should now affrighted stand
His idle weapon in his hand
The sun should halt in mid career
To see the wond'rous birth appear.—
His coming by no sign is told
The refluent surge is uncontroll'd.
No meteor fires the angry air,
No comet streams a length of hair,
Nor Time astonish'd seems to stand
Nor holds his scythe with idle hand,

500

Nor halts the sun in mid career
To see the wond'rous birth appear.—
The simple train, that sees him land
With rustic welcome line the strand.
Nor, tho' he wears a look severe
His unthought coming seem to fear.
For not on them his coming lours
Who pass their spotless hours
In hamlets poor, an harass'd train
Up the hill, or o'er the plain.
No—yonder Flamen's proud abode
Fanes, which belie the name of God
Cloister'd cells, where prison'd deep
The mental powers in Lethes' sleep
Repose, or pamper'd passions rave
Like pent up storms in Æol's cave
Where Luxury pants, and oft by stealth
Draws a blinded nation's wealth,
They may fear, but they are drown'd
By wayward Fate in sleep profound
Nor mind (by torpid Sloth subdued,)
The menace of the mountain flood
Fed by many a secret rill
As the dews of evening still.
But soon the thund'ring tide will sweep
Their golden harvests to the deep

501

And yonder snows, that, hoarded high
For many a winter seem to lye
Shall join the torrent's rapid flow
And lay your haughty fabrics low
For now the stranger in the wild
Late from Uris' bounds exil'd
Far within a sacred glade
Where hawthorns grew, a fenceful shade
Found a weeping widow, late
Sever'd from her faithful mate,
Her faithful mate, by cleric spite
(She thought) had sunk to endless night,
And now resolv'd to quit the shore
The reliques of their ancient store
They glean'd, resolv'd to cross the main
With her young blooming orphan train
Of these, a maid with heav'nly charms
The stranger's rugged bosom warms.
His suit the young Helvetian prest
And form'd an interest in her breast.
The matron heard the lover's prayer
And soon consenting blest the pair.
She seem'd her longing to retain
Of following Fate across the main,

502

Yet staid, till Time her round had run
And the blest exile clasp'd a son,
Short liv'd joy, to anguish turn'd!
Soon his loss the parents mourn'd.
Whether by vagrant thieves purloin'd
Who chanc'd the wand'ring boy to find,
Or moonlight fays (from bless exil'd)
Who fear'd the fortunes of the child
Not yet was known, And loud and long
His parents wail'd, by anguish stung
And both at once devoutly swore
To leave that sad, ill-omen'd shore,
They hoist the sail and court the wind
Leaving their eldest hope behind.

III.

Their eldest hope, an ancient crone
Had borne away to glins unknown.
Skill'd in witching love was she
Her cot was by the ancient Dee,
Ancient Dee, of wizard name
Where still the fays their sabbath claim,
There, beneath the moony light
O'er the watry mirrour bright
Oft he saw his sires advance
Gleaming in the lunar glance,
Warriours old of Saxon brood
Who the tyrant sway withstood.
Now in wild, expressive strains
Bloody fields and broken chains.

503

Oft, and oft, he heard them sing
Circling round in mazy ring.
The boy attends with sparkling eyes
To dauntless deeds of high emprize,
The glorious visions haunt his sleep
And shed th'infusion full and deep.
Now of heavenly truths she tells
Taught in hamlets, and in cells
By the Arimathæan old
Wafted here in times of gold.
Nothing now he seems to breathe
But ancient freedom, ancient faith,
Ancient laws, and ancient tales
And spreads them thro' the list'ning vales,
Like his restless sire of yore
Round old Leman's winding shore.
Soon the simple swains began
To crowd around the wond'rous man
And propagate his rapt'rous strains
O'er Britannia's list'ning plains.
Despotic power, with wild alarm
Call'd her levied bands to arm,
And bar'd her blade, and wav'd her brand
To drive the rebels from the land.
Captivity disclos'd her glooms
And peopled all her noisome rooms.

504

But Bondage, sword, and Fire were vain
To crush the still encreasing train,
Who claim'd their rights, and knew their force,
Their bard had taught the sacred source
From which they drew their charters old
By ancient Monemon's care enroll'd.
But ah! too feeble is my song
To sing the conflict stern and strong,
The stratagems, the rage employ'd
The mighty quarrel to decide.
And now the roving muse the flight explores
Of that desponding pair who left Britannia's shores.

England.

Influence of the Reformation on the liberties of England.

Origin of the puritanic spirit occasionally augmented by a communication with Geneva, and from a dislike of ecclesiastical government, causing frequent emigrations to New England and Pennsylvania, during the reigns of James the First and Charles.

Tyranny of the Star Chamber and High Commission Courts.

The epithet despotic will not be thought too severe for the 12 first years of Charles First's reign, distinguished by arbitrary taxation, and a difuse of Parliament.