Poems on Several Occasions With some Select Essays in Prose. In Two Volumes. By John Hughes; Adorn'd with Sculptures |
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TO Mr. CONSTANTINE, On his PAINTINGS. |
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
TO Mr. CONSTANTINE, On his PAINTINGS.
While o'er the Cloth thy happy Pencil strays,
And the pleas'd Eye its artful Course surveys,
Behold the magick Pow'r of Shade and Light!
A new Creation opens to our Sight.
Here tufted Groves rise boldly to the Sky,
There spacious Lawns more distant charm the Eye;
The Chrystal Lakes in borrow'd Tinctures shine,
And misty Hills the far Horizon join,
Lost in the azure Borders of the Day,
Like Sounds remote that die in Air away.
The peopled Prospect various Pleasure yields,
Sheep grace the Hills, and Herds or Swains the Fields;
Harmonious Order o'er the Whole presides,
And Nature crowns the Work, which Judgment guides.
And the pleas'd Eye its artful Course surveys,
Behold the magick Pow'r of Shade and Light!
A new Creation opens to our Sight.
Here tufted Groves rise boldly to the Sky,
There spacious Lawns more distant charm the Eye;
The Chrystal Lakes in borrow'd Tinctures shine,
And misty Hills the far Horizon join,
liv
Like Sounds remote that die in Air away.
The peopled Prospect various Pleasure yields,
Sheep grace the Hills, and Herds or Swains the Fields;
Harmonious Order o'er the Whole presides,
And Nature crowns the Work, which Judgment guides.
Nor with less Skill display'd by Thee appear
The different Products of the fertile Year;
While Fruits with imitated Ripeness glow,
And sudden Flow'rs beneath thy Pencil blow.
Such, and so various thy extensive Hand,
Oft in Suspence the pleas'd Spectators stand,
Doubtful to chuse, and fearing still to err,
When to thy self they would thy self prefer.
So when the Rival Gods at Athens strove,
By wondrous Works their Pow'r Divine to prove,
As Neptune's Trident strook the teeming Earth,
Here the proud Horse upstarted to his Birth;
And there, as Pallas bless'd the fruitful Scene,
The spreading Olive rear'd its Stately Green;
In dumb Surprize the gazing Crouds were lost,
Nor knew on which to fix their Wonder most.
The different Products of the fertile Year;
While Fruits with imitated Ripeness glow,
And sudden Flow'rs beneath thy Pencil blow.
Such, and so various thy extensive Hand,
Oft in Suspence the pleas'd Spectators stand,
Doubtful to chuse, and fearing still to err,
When to thy self they would thy self prefer.
So when the Rival Gods at Athens strove,
By wondrous Works their Pow'r Divine to prove,
As Neptune's Trident strook the teeming Earth,
Here the proud Horse upstarted to his Birth;
And there, as Pallas bless'd the fruitful Scene,
The spreading Olive rear'd its Stately Green;
In dumb Surprize the gazing Crouds were lost,
Nor knew on which to fix their Wonder most.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |