Poems By Mr. Polwhele. In three volumes |
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CANTO THE FIFTEENTH.
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| III. |
 | Poems |  |
231
CANTO THE FIFTEENTH.
ARGUMENT.
1. Miss Prue, Jenny Jerkairs, and Alice, assembled at Andarton—Surprized by the sudden Appearance of Allan and his Bride, and Herbert and the old Nurse of the Abbey. —2. Allan, introducing Emma to the astonished and disconcerted Females as his Wife, and the Heiress of Landor.— 3. The Genius of Andarton addressing Allan, foretelling the Prosperity of his House.
Loud thro' Andarton's hall re-echoed mirth,
Such as to hollow pleasure owes its birth;
While now the conscious couple strove to kill
The creeper Time, anticipating ill.
Such as to hollow pleasure owes its birth;
While now the conscious couple strove to kill
The creeper Time, anticipating ill.
232
There Alice, who had join'd the plotting pair,
Their feverish dissipation prompt to share,
At Allan's boyish whims appear'd to flout,
In wonder at his odd Quixotic route;
And bore in each surmize an active part—
Whilst inbred terror quiver'd at her heart.
Their feverish dissipation prompt to share,
At Allan's boyish whims appear'd to flout,
In wonder at his odd Quixotic route;
And bore in each surmize an active part—
Whilst inbred terror quiver'd at her heart.
Tho', as obstreperous laughter follow'd wit,
Conjecture triumph'd in the lucky hit;
Yet apprehension seem'd to wrap the room,
At many a silent pause, in murky gloom;
Till Jerkairs thro' the cloud, like lightning broke,
And thus address'd her tabbies half-in joke:
“Ah! my poor pets! ah! whither shall we go—
“Where shun the vengeance of the menac'd blow;—
“Ye dear companions of my earliest age
“Who my sick mind from sorrow disengage;
“Whether you purr, applausive of my wit,
“Or strike your feet in ire, or hiss and spit,
“Wash your prim cheeks, as brooding tempests move,
“Or, vagrants of the night, make cruel love;
“Or flash your glaring eyeballs in the dark,
“Or from your back emit the electric spark!
“But, thee my bosom-sighs, Grimalkin! hail—
“(Why wag, my Tabby, that indignant tail?)
“Thee, with thy springset claws in velvet sheath'd,
“And coat so sleek and whiskers finely wreath'd!
“Whom oft with silver whitings have I fed,
“Then bore thee to thy sweet Valerian bed.”—
Thus o'er their wanton tricks and dark amours
Glib as she ran; at once the unfolding doors
Disclos'd, in wondrous picture, to the view
A groupe, divine as Raffael ever drew—
The heroic Allan and his Abbey-bride!—
(Sunk into silence every murmur died—)
And Herbert and the Nurse!—without a sound
Each tongue, suspense terrific trembled round.
Conjecture triumph'd in the lucky hit;
Yet apprehension seem'd to wrap the room,
At many a silent pause, in murky gloom;
Till Jerkairs thro' the cloud, like lightning broke,
And thus address'd her tabbies half-in joke:
“Ah! my poor pets! ah! whither shall we go—
“Where shun the vengeance of the menac'd blow;—
“Ye dear companions of my earliest age
“Who my sick mind from sorrow disengage;
“Whether you purr, applausive of my wit,
“Or strike your feet in ire, or hiss and spit,
“Wash your prim cheeks, as brooding tempests move,
“Or, vagrants of the night, make cruel love;
233
“Or from your back emit the electric spark!
“But, thee my bosom-sighs, Grimalkin! hail—
“(Why wag, my Tabby, that indignant tail?)
“Thee, with thy springset claws in velvet sheath'd,
“And coat so sleek and whiskers finely wreath'd!
“Whom oft with silver whitings have I fed,
“Then bore thee to thy sweet Valerian bed.”—
Thus o'er their wanton tricks and dark amours
Glib as she ran; at once the unfolding doors
Disclos'd, in wondrous picture, to the view
A groupe, divine as Raffael ever drew—
The heroic Allan and his Abbey-bride!—
(Sunk into silence every murmur died—)
And Herbert and the Nurse!—without a sound
Each tongue, suspense terrific trembled round.
Yet, as with searching looks the demon pair
Stray'd o'er the beauties of the blushing fair,
View'd her bright form that mock'd the roseate hours,
And ey'd her golden tresses twin'd with flowers;
Lo, by a sudden gust of joy o'erborne,
They recogniz'd the peasant bride with scorn,
And by a beam of bastard pity, mix'd
With malice (as it were) the youth transfix'd.
Stray'd o'er the beauties of the blushing fair,
View'd her bright form that mock'd the roseate hours,
And ey'd her golden tresses twin'd with flowers;
234
They recogniz'd the peasant bride with scorn,
And by a beam of bastard pity, mix'd
With malice (as it were) the youth transfix'd.
But, struck by a keen shaft from conscience pale,
Old Geoffrey's wife her sins essay'd to veil
In a broad stare; then, starting from the crone,
And starting from the bride, look'd woe-begone.
Old Geoffrey's wife her sins essay'd to veil
In a broad stare; then, starting from the crone,
And starting from the bride, look'd woe-begone.
“Hear” (as they shook with sympathetic fears)
He cried—“a tale to tingle in your ears!
“Well, Alice! may thy nerves with horror start
“To front this witness to thy treacherous heart!—
“Thou, who, the blackest schemes inur'd to brood
“The base goatsucker of thy brother's blood,
“Couldst a poor babe yet breathing vital breath
“Eject, and in thy breast consign to death—
“Couldst spurn, with beggar-girls condemn'd to roam,
“This rightful owner of the abbey-dome—
“Couldst Laura foster with perfidious smiles,
“ To snare her virtue ply thy secret wiles,
“And with malignant hope the moment wait
“To cast the spurious offspring from thy gate,
“Then at the abbey grasp, thy guilty claim,
“To elevate with heiress—Juliet's name—
“In Emma see thy niece! In Emma own
“That heiress!—tho' thy crime can aught atone?
“Lo every scheme recoiling on thy head—
“'Twas by thy artifice that Emma fled!
“Nor, fell detractors! had the wandering-fair
“By slander pierc'd, abandon'd to despair—
“Nor had she, reaching her paternal home,
“Her nurse discover'd in the cloyster-gloom;
“Had not the banisht Herbert, to reclaim
“His broken fortune and his injur'd fame,
“Her route by chance pursued, and where she stray'd,
“With friendly succour cheer'd the drooping maid.”
He cried—“a tale to tingle in your ears!
“Well, Alice! may thy nerves with horror start
“To front this witness to thy treacherous heart!—
“Thou, who, the blackest schemes inur'd to brood
“The base goatsucker of thy brother's blood,
“Couldst a poor babe yet breathing vital breath
“Eject, and in thy breast consign to death—
“Couldst spurn, with beggar-girls condemn'd to roam,
“This rightful owner of the abbey-dome—
“Couldst Laura foster with perfidious smiles,
“ To snare her virtue ply thy secret wiles,
235
“To cast the spurious offspring from thy gate,
“Then at the abbey grasp, thy guilty claim,
“To elevate with heiress—Juliet's name—
“In Emma see thy niece! In Emma own
“That heiress!—tho' thy crime can aught atone?
“Lo every scheme recoiling on thy head—
“'Twas by thy artifice that Emma fled!
“Nor, fell detractors! had the wandering-fair
“By slander pierc'd, abandon'd to despair—
“Nor had she, reaching her paternal home,
“Her nurse discover'd in the cloyster-gloom;
“Had not the banisht Herbert, to reclaim
“His broken fortune and his injur'd fame,
“Her route by chance pursued, and where she stray'd,
“With friendly succour cheer'd the drooping maid.”
Torn by the fangs of rancour, shame, remorse,
Now poppy-flusht, now pallid as the corse,
The females from his aweful presence fled;
Not as the roebuck seeks the sheltering glade,
But, as the tigress from the hunter flies,
Still flashing vengeance from her sanguine eyes.
Now poppy-flusht, now pallid as the corse,
The females from his aweful presence fled;
Not as the roebuck seeks the sheltering glade,
236
Still flashing vengeance from her sanguine eyes.
'Twas at the vernal prime, when zephyrs meet
With feeble wing the winter's arrowy sleet,
Light o'er the unclosing leaf, the purpled spray
A moment tremble, and a moment play,
And, raindrops tinkling thro' the sylvan calm,
Dart the quick blush, and breathe the fleeting balm.
With feeble wing the winter's arrowy sleet,
Light o'er the unclosing leaf, the purpled spray
A moment tremble, and a moment play,
And, raindrops tinkling thro' the sylvan calm,
Dart the quick blush, and breathe the fleeting balm.
To Allan's eye yet full the foliage flow'd;
Along the lawn a green luxuriance glow'd;
While airs favonian over carmine blooms
Shook the rich nectar from their streaming plumes.
Along the lawn a green luxuriance glow'd;
While airs favonian over carmine blooms
Shook the rich nectar from their streaming plumes.
With transitory murmurs tho' the blast
Thro' the hush'd air a chilling shadow cast,
Where the cold lilacs shew'd the uncertain scene,
And the first spring-flowers shivering peep'd between;
To Allan smil'd the ethereal arch more blue,
And each soft shrub was cloath'd in amber dew;
The primrose glow'd in golden radiance bright,
And snowdrops dipp'd their bells in ruby light.
Thro' the hush'd air a chilling shadow cast,
Where the cold lilacs shew'd the uncertain scene,
And the first spring-flowers shivering peep'd between;
To Allan smil'd the ethereal arch more blue,
And each soft shrub was cloath'd in amber dew;
237
And snowdrops dipp'd their bells in ruby light.
With cool and fragrant fingers, Twilight pale
Drew o'er the extensive lawn her gradual veil,
While Allan, in the long still gallery stole
A calm delicious to the flutter'd soul;
A sweet repose elysian to allay
The intenser feelings of too blest a day—
And, as he caught from pictur'd eyes the glance,
Met the rais'd truncheon, or the kindling lance,
And saw the glistening of a golden ray
Soft o'er the portrait of the castle stray;
From a kind power he heard, or seem'd to hear
These grateful accents whisper'd in his ear:
“Ere yet thy soul dissolve in amorous fires,
“Attend, fair offspring of time-honour'd sires!
“Long with fond care thy conflicts have I view'd,
“Where rude plebeians scoff'd at generous blood.
“Oft have I bade thee, like a cuirass, brace
“Thy virtue, to contend with Pleasure's race,
“And to the luxuries that around thee clos'd,
“The sterner manners of thy house oppos'd!
“'Twas I that urg'd, to wake thy slumbering flame
“Chivalric, down the glen the falcon's aim!
“'Twas I, that, as thy dubious steps advanc'd,
“O'er the grey fane a sudden sunbeam lanc'd.
“'Twas I, while demons urg'd their circling flight,
“That brought the fleeting posey to thy sight.
“'Twas I that suffer'd necromantic forms
“To try thy powers in fogs, and fires, and storms;
“When the dark fiends, still aiding all I schem'd,
“Misled thy footsteps as they vainly deem'd,
“Hurl'd o'er thy head the surge with fearful shock,
“And barr'd thine egress from the haunted rock.
“And, lo! thy virtues, nerv'd amidst the fight
“With double strength, and drest in lovelier light,
“Tho' oft the lurking demon dealt the blow,
“Have triumph'd over each insidious foe
“Thus thine own oak, to earth by tempests bow'd,
“Elastic springs, nor heeds the threatening cloud—
“Thus, tho' awhile by rushing rains deprest,
“Lifts to the expanding skies a greener crest.
“Lo, while thy neighbours, lur'd by Fashion's glare,
“Scatter their patrimonial wealth in air,
“Then curse the suppleness that pleas'd the great,
“And hollow friendships mourn, unmask'd too late;
“Be thine to rear again, auspicious youth,
“And lighten with the smiles of cordial truth
“Andarton's stately fabric, as portray'd
“On yonder tablet, ere the model fade;
“Borne from the monkish walls that Tamar crown,
“There fix each holy relic of renown;
“Nor scorn the sabre's venerable grace
“That in thine armoury claims the central place.
“So, while the patriarch arms again shall meet
“Thine helmet erst to boyish pastime sweet,
“That abbey crumbling by the Tamar's side,
“And old Tintadgel's monumental pride
“Shall, each, the deep regard of ages claim,
“In ruin sacred to the Andarton-name.
“Go then, by wealth, but more by Emma blest,
“Go hail thy bride, caressing and carest!
“I mark'd the hour, when Pity's touch betray'd
“Thy heart unconscious to the cottage-maid!
“I mark'd, tho' long thy bosom was deceiv'd,
“The first warm sighs thy infant passion heav'd!
“I mark'd thee first suspicious of her power,
“Asham'd and cursing that inglorious hour!
“I saw thee from thy vulgar fetters break,
“And visit Juliet, still for Emma's sake!
“I saw thee, lull'd in love's delicious dream,
“On Emma doat, tho' Juliet was the theme;
“And long I welcom'd Emma, thine alone,
“Thy sole possessor to thyself unknown!
“And, as thy fancy would, unask'd, compare
“The form, the virtues of the rival fair;
“'Twas I display'd, before thy partial eyes,
“Thy Emma, drest in more attractive dyes.
“To fan thy love for Emma to a blaze,
“I shew'd thee Juliet's light capricious ways.
“But, as thy candour saw her freakish youth
“Erring, yet still reclaim'd to love and truth,
“And tho' it waver'd oft, the needle view'd
“With all its inbred qualities endued;
“I shew'd the secret that possess'd her soul,
“The unvarying needle, and its proper pole.
“Hail happy Pair! May wealth, by merit won,
“Grace your calm bowers, and glide from Sire to Son!
“And, whilst thy conduct meets applause,
“May Allan! stedfast in the glorious cause
“Of ancient faith, and eager to oppose
“The modish arts of innovating foes;—
“O may thy pattern of distinguish'd worth
“Restore to kind regard the claims of birth;
“Till Public Virtue from oblivion raise
“The hereditary fane of former days!”
Drew o'er the extensive lawn her gradual veil,
While Allan, in the long still gallery stole
A calm delicious to the flutter'd soul;
A sweet repose elysian to allay
The intenser feelings of too blest a day—
And, as he caught from pictur'd eyes the glance,
Met the rais'd truncheon, or the kindling lance,
And saw the glistening of a golden ray
Soft o'er the portrait of the castle stray;
From a kind power he heard, or seem'd to hear
These grateful accents whisper'd in his ear:
“Ere yet thy soul dissolve in amorous fires,
“Attend, fair offspring of time-honour'd sires!
“Long with fond care thy conflicts have I view'd,
“Where rude plebeians scoff'd at generous blood.
“Oft have I bade thee, like a cuirass, brace
“Thy virtue, to contend with Pleasure's race,
238
“The sterner manners of thy house oppos'd!
“'Twas I that urg'd, to wake thy slumbering flame
“Chivalric, down the glen the falcon's aim!
“'Twas I, that, as thy dubious steps advanc'd,
“O'er the grey fane a sudden sunbeam lanc'd.
“'Twas I, while demons urg'd their circling flight,
“That brought the fleeting posey to thy sight.
“'Twas I that suffer'd necromantic forms
“To try thy powers in fogs, and fires, and storms;
“When the dark fiends, still aiding all I schem'd,
“Misled thy footsteps as they vainly deem'd,
“Hurl'd o'er thy head the surge with fearful shock,
“And barr'd thine egress from the haunted rock.
“And, lo! thy virtues, nerv'd amidst the fight
“With double strength, and drest in lovelier light,
“Tho' oft the lurking demon dealt the blow,
“Have triumph'd over each insidious foe
“Thus thine own oak, to earth by tempests bow'd,
“Elastic springs, nor heeds the threatening cloud—
“Thus, tho' awhile by rushing rains deprest,
“Lifts to the expanding skies a greener crest.
239
“Scatter their patrimonial wealth in air,
“Then curse the suppleness that pleas'd the great,
“And hollow friendships mourn, unmask'd too late;
“Be thine to rear again, auspicious youth,
“And lighten with the smiles of cordial truth
“Andarton's stately fabric, as portray'd
“On yonder tablet, ere the model fade;
“Borne from the monkish walls that Tamar crown,
“There fix each holy relic of renown;
“Nor scorn the sabre's venerable grace
“That in thine armoury claims the central place.
“So, while the patriarch arms again shall meet
“Thine helmet erst to boyish pastime sweet,
“That abbey crumbling by the Tamar's side,
“And old Tintadgel's monumental pride
“Shall, each, the deep regard of ages claim,
“In ruin sacred to the Andarton-name.
“Go then, by wealth, but more by Emma blest,
“Go hail thy bride, caressing and carest!
“I mark'd the hour, when Pity's touch betray'd
“Thy heart unconscious to the cottage-maid!
240
“The first warm sighs thy infant passion heav'd!
“I mark'd thee first suspicious of her power,
“Asham'd and cursing that inglorious hour!
“I saw thee from thy vulgar fetters break,
“And visit Juliet, still for Emma's sake!
“I saw thee, lull'd in love's delicious dream,
“On Emma doat, tho' Juliet was the theme;
“And long I welcom'd Emma, thine alone,
“Thy sole possessor to thyself unknown!
“And, as thy fancy would, unask'd, compare
“The form, the virtues of the rival fair;
“'Twas I display'd, before thy partial eyes,
“Thy Emma, drest in more attractive dyes.
“To fan thy love for Emma to a blaze,
“I shew'd thee Juliet's light capricious ways.
“But, as thy candour saw her freakish youth
“Erring, yet still reclaim'd to love and truth,
“And tho' it waver'd oft, the needle view'd
“With all its inbred qualities endued;
“I shew'd the secret that possess'd her soul,
“The unvarying needle, and its proper pole.
241
“Grace your calm bowers, and glide from Sire to Son!
“And, whilst thy conduct meets applause,
“May Allan! stedfast in the glorious cause
“Of ancient faith, and eager to oppose
“The modish arts of innovating foes;—
“O may thy pattern of distinguish'd worth
“Restore to kind regard the claims of birth;
“Till Public Virtue from oblivion raise
“The hereditary fane of former days!”
| Poems | |