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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551

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

ON HIS RETURN FROM THE CONTINENT, Oct. 1792.

I.

The muse, that on thy parting prow,
Her votive tablet laid,
And fill'd the gale, that on thy streamers play'd,
With many a fervent, heartfelt vow.—
Like the night-warbling bird, that 'plains
Her absent mate, in melting strains;
Now, as the soaring lark that meets the morn,
(Had she her fluent note,) would sing thy wish'd return!

II.

You saw the martial pageant spread,
Along proud Rhine's pavilion'd shore;
You saw the tempest lift its head,
Where, in terrific slumbers glowing,
(The sullen East the signal blowing)
You spy'd th'exterminating fire;

552

You heard the thunders, muttering long, conspire
To roll the trembling nations o'er.—
While vengeance seem'd to load the gale,
Which brought the threat'ning gloom afar;
And, while o'er Belgia's wat'ry pale
In rude shock of alternate war.
Contending nations, won and lost,
The batter'd wall, the bloody post;
And death, between the Maese and Rhone,
O'er gasping legions roll'd his moving throne.

III.

What spell, by gifted wizard wrought,
Thro' that long pass of perils brought
My friend?—What secret prayers had power
To ward the dangers of the hour?—
What still, small voice was heard so high,
When Discord shook the vaulted sky;
When royal threats, and clamours loud,
Sent from the wild, misgovern'd crowd,
In general peal was heard to swell,
And Blasphemy, with Stygian yell,
Seem'd to call down the bolt of Fate
To sweep from earth the guilty state?—
—It was the orphans pious prayer,
That rose, like incense, on the air,

553

And, thro' the congregated gloom,
Fraught with woe, and clogg'd with crimes,
(Where millions seem'd to read their doom)
Sprung up to those Elysian climes,
Where high above the mad debate,
Virtue's guardian holds his state;
Nor was the seraph slow to send
A convoy to the orphans' friend.

IV.

'Cross the martial pomp it goes,
Thro' horrent spears, and glittering files,
And where the Suevian ensign glows,
Nor at the dreaded scene recoils.
The Red Cross Knight the vanward leads,
A train of sainted dames succeeds;
While Britomart, with awful charms,
Moves behind, in lucid arms.
The trumpets pause, the clarions cease,
Bellona sinks in sullen peace,
While, amid the transient calm
Rises the slowly chanted psalm.
Th'unbodied choirs respondent share
The praise of him, whose pious care,
For their forsaken, friendless race,
Life's various chart has deign'd to trace,

554

And mark'd the shoals, and shifting sand,
And currents, with a master's hand.
Such was your guard, thro' fields of gore,
With you they left the Celtic shore,
And with mild gales thy canvass bend
Propitious to the orphans' friend.

V.

Ere yet to graver tasks confin'd,
Thy nascent energy of mind
Reviv'd the harmony of Tamor's hall,
(Silent for many an age)
And in thy classic page
O'er her fallen poets flung a richly figur'd pall.
Why need I tell the plans thy genius drew
To rouse her slumbering sister at the view.
What scenes, to charm her from the tomb?—
What spells, to break her cloister'd gloom?—
O may thy public spirit, fraught
With all that Florence knew and taught;
With all that Buonarotti dar'd,
With all of Heaven that Raffaelle shar'd.
With Guido's grace, and Rosa's fire,
Brood o'er the formless mass,
The noble outline trace,
And bid the glowing seeds of genuine art conspire!

Mr. Walker visited the camp of the Confederates in the summer of 1792.

See the speeches of Dupont, and other members of the National Assembly and Convention of France.

See Hints for the Education of Female Orphans, &c. by Mr. Walker.

The Patron of Religion. See Spenser, Legend the first.

Patroness of Chastity. Spenser, Legend the third.

Mr. W's History of the Irish Bards.

See a plan published by Mr. Walker, for the encouragement of Painting in Ireland.