Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock :: :: University of Virginia Library

Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock

Together with an Essay on the Education of the Blind. To Which is Prefixed A New Account of the Life and Writings of the Author

Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791)

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To Mr. THOMAS BLACKLOCK.

AN EPISTLE FROM Dr. BEATTIE, TO THE Reverend Mr. THOMAS BLACKLOCK.

POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.

HORACE, ODE I. IMITATED.

PSALM I.

An HYMN to the SUPREME BEING,

PSALM CXXXIX.

An HYMN to DIVINE LOVE.

An HYMN to BENEVOLENCE.

An HYMN to FORTITUDE.

THE WISH SATISFIED.

To HAPPINESS.

On EUANTHE's ABSENCE.

To a Young Gentleman bound for Guinea.

An IRREGULAR ODE.

To a COQUETTE.

On the Refinements in Metaphysical Philosophy.

To Mrs. R--- On the Death of a promising Infant.

An ODE.

To HEALTH:

To a little Girl whom I had offended:

To LESBIA.

A TRANSLATION of an Old SCOTTISH SONG.

SONG

The RAVISH'D SHEPHERD.

A PASTORAL SONG.

On the Death of STELLA;

A PASTORAL.

The PLAINTIVE SHEPHERD.

DESIDERIUM LUTETIAE;

PHILANTHES:

The WISH: An Elegy.

On the Death of Mr. POPE.

ELEGY:

A SOLILOQUY

Miss ------ to the AUTHOR.

To Miss A. H. on her Marriage.

To the Reverend Mr. Jameson.

An EPITAPH, on his Father.

To Mrs. Anne Blacklock, the Author's Mother.

PROLOGUE to OTHELLO

PROLOGUE to HAMLET

To a Gentleman, who asked my Sentiments of him.

The Author's PICTURE.

ADDRESS TO THE LADIES,

HORACE, Ode XIII. Book I.

To a LADY, With HAMMOND's ELEGIES;

ODE to AMYNTA.

An ELEGY.

To John M'Laurin, Esq; (now Lord Dreghorn, one of the Senators of the College of Justice).

EXTEMPORE VERSES,

To the Reverend Mr. Spence, late Professor of Poetry at Oxford.

To Dr. BEATTIE.

To the Rev. Dr. OGILVIE.

To a FRIEND, of whose Health and Success the Author had heard, after a long Absence.

The GENEALOGY of NONSENSE.

ODE, on Melissa's Birth-day.

ODE to AURORA.

To Dr. EVANS.

To Mr. DALZEL, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh.

To Dr. DOWNMAN, in London.

To the SAME.

To MELISSA.

On Dr. BLACKLOCK's Birth-day.

From Dr. DOWNMAN to Mrs. BLACKLOCK.

From Dr. DOWNMAN to Dr. BLACKLOCK.

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191

To the Rev. Dr. OGILVIE.

I decus, i, nostrum, melioribus utere fatis.
Virgil.

Dear to the Muses and their tuneful train,
Whom, long pursu'd, I scarce at last regain;
Why should'st thou wonder, if, when life declines,
His antiquated lyre thy friend resigns.
Haply, when youth elate with native force,
Or emulation fires the generous horse,
He bounds, he springs, each nerve elastic strains,
And if not victor, some distinction gains;
But should the careless master of the steed,
Cherish no more his mettle, or his speed,
Indignantly he shuns all future strife,
And wastes in indolent regret his life.
Such were his efforts, such his cold reward,
Whom once thy partial tongue pronounc'd a bard;
Excursive, on the gentle gales of spring,
He rov'd, whilst favour imp'd his timid wing:
Exhausted genius now no more inspires,
But mourns abortive hopes and faded fires;
The short-liv'd wreath, which once his temples grac'd,
Fades at the sickly breath of squeamish taste;
Whilst darker days his fainting flames immure
In chearless gloom and winter premature.

192

But thou, my friend, whom higher omens lead,
Bold to atchieve, and mighty to succeed,
For whom fresh laurels, in eternal bloom,
Impregnate heav'n and earth with rich perfume;
Pursue thy destin'd course, assert thy fame;
Ev'n Providence shall vindicate thy claim;
Ev'n nature's wreck, resounding thro' thy lays,
Shall in its final crash proclaim thy praise.