 | To Mr. John Saunders |  |
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TO Mr. JOHN SAUNDERS,
On Seeing His PAINTINGS IN CAMBRIDGE.
Welcome, nice Artist, to these learn'd Retreats,
The Springs of Science, and Apollo's Seats!
Think not, my Numbers shall prescribe a Law,
And, like bold Marvel, teach Thee, how to draw:
I only would my Thoughts, sincere, impart,
And, without Flattery, praise a Sister-Art.
The Springs of Science, and Apollo's Seats!
Think not, my Numbers shall prescribe a Law,
And, like bold Marvel, teach Thee, how to draw:
I only would my Thoughts, sincere, impart,
And, without Flattery, praise a Sister-Art.
Let Others in Italian Climates rove,
To raise their Fancy, and their Taste improve;
Rich without foreign Aid, Thou need'st no Rule
From the proud Lombard, or proud Roman-School:
Still thro' thy Works, with Pleasure, I admire
An untaught Beauty, and a native Fire.
To raise their Fancy, and their Taste improve;
Rich without foreign Aid, Thou need'st no Rule
From the proud Lombard, or proud Roman-School:
Still thro' thy Works, with Pleasure, I admire
An untaught Beauty, and a native Fire.
Here, in Festoons the purple Grapes surprize;
We stretch our Hands, deluded by our Eyes:
Zeuxis of old could Birds with Paint deceive,
Zeuxis Himself, These, Clusters would believe.
We stretch our Hands, deluded by our Eyes:
Zeuxis of old could Birds with Paint deceive,
Zeuxis Himself, These, Clusters would believe.
Thy curious Crayons as much Life bestow,
As ever liquid Colours taught to glow:
But Thou, un-sated with one glorious Name,
From the stain'd Canvass call'st a second Fame.
There, sheath'd in Steel, shines Charles great Van-Dyck's Boast!
Nor in Thy Copy is great Van-Dyck lost:
He would, if living, still his Thoughts refine,
Or form the Cuirass, and the Mein from Thine.
Had Charles so look'd in Arms, so fiercely bold,
One Frown rebellious Nations had controul'd;
Fortune, and Victory, had chang'd their Side,
And not a Stuart, but a Cromwel dy'd.
As ever liquid Colours taught to glow:
But Thou, un-sated with one glorious Name,
From the stain'd Canvass call'st a second Fame.
There, sheath'd in Steel, shines Charles great Van-Dyck's Boast!
Nor in Thy Copy is great Van-Dyck lost:
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Or form the Cuirass, and the Mein from Thine.
Had Charles so look'd in Arms, so fiercely bold,
One Frown rebellious Nations had controul'd;
Fortune, and Victory, had chang'd their Side,
And not a Stuart, but a Cromwel dy'd.
What in thy Art's deserv'd Applause is said,
Would cast no Shade around th'illustrious Dead;
Van-Dyck in Fame shall bloom, for ever young,
By his own Pencil, and by Waller's Song.
Would cast no Shade around th'illustrious Dead;
Van-Dyck in Fame shall bloom, for ever young,
By his own Pencil, and by Waller's Song.
Thy noblest Labour still behind remains,
A Labour, worthy of immortal Strains!
See! See! the Saviour of the World pourtray'd!
A thousand Glories in One Face display'd!
O! happy Mixture of due Shade, and Light!
Grave without Gloom, and without Glaring bright!
Thy Strokes are not too bold, nor yet too faint,
And Rome bow'd never to more beauteous Paint,
A Paint, so beauteous, shall at once prevail,
Where Eloquence, and Truth, and Reason fail;
The vain Socinian, starting with Surprise,
Shall own his Thoughts confuted by his Eyes,
While thro' a Flesh, so exquisite, are show'd
Bright Emanations of th'united God.
A Labour, worthy of immortal Strains!
See! See! the Saviour of the World pourtray'd!
A thousand Glories in One Face display'd!
O! happy Mixture of due Shade, and Light!
Grave without Gloom, and without Glaring bright!
Thy Strokes are not too bold, nor yet too faint,
And Rome bow'd never to more beauteous Paint,
A Paint, so beauteous, shall at once prevail,
Where Eloquence, and Truth, and Reason fail;
The vain Socinian, starting with Surprise,
Shall own his Thoughts confuted by his Eyes,
While thro' a Flesh, so exquisite, are show'd
Bright Emanations of th'united God.
Trinity College. November 22, 1725.
LAURENCE EUSDEN.
| To Mr. John Saunders | |