 | Miscellany Poems |  |
xviii
To Mr. Heyrick on his Excellent Poems.
I
Nature , from whose Indulgent HandWe all, that we esteem, do take,
Doth Costly Births of Worthless Matter make:
Doth Noble Forms upon them lay:
The charming Visions rise at her Command
Though their Materials be but Dust and Clay.
You greater Wonders to the World impart;
Your Learned Pen exceeds her Best of Art.
Her shapeless Chaos You anew Create,
Her Meanest Subjects from Your Wit grow Great
Mortall, Imperfect, all her Products are:
Deathless You render them, and in Perfection Fair.
II
The Proud Pellæan Youth, that cry'd—Had rav'd,—More Worlds for to subdue,
Had he liv'd now, t'have been outdone by You.
Who scorn the Bounds, that Him confin'd,
Pass o're the Rubicon, his Arms defi'd,
And please with Wonders of the Deep Your Mind.
You once-Renowned Drake's Great Acts outdo;
He the Gulph's Surface, You its Bottom, view.
Bold Curtius's Deed with Yours runs Parallel;
Who scorn'd the Acherontick Jaws of Hell!
Both leap'd the Gulph, Both to the Gods were Dear;
You best-Belov'd, whom They and Ravenous Seas did spare.
xix
III
Who then am I; that dare deviseWith my Unhallowed Verse to come,
Where Nobler Muses are with Wonder Dumb?—
In vain We strive to praise the Sun
Whose Worth above Expression's Power doth rise;
And's best by silent Adoration shown.—
The Mighty B****s can onely sing Your Praise,
The Tunefull B****s, just Partner of Your Bays!
Great Homer's far-sung Fame to Him is due,
And Pindar's Song does seem reviv'd in You:
And surely He, that would such Worth comprise,
Must have a Soul, like Yours, Great, Boundless, Sharp & Wise.
George Walker of Emmanuel College in Cambridge.
| Miscellany Poems | |