The Amaranth Or, religious poems; consisting of fables, visions, emblems, etc. Adorned with copper-plates from the best masters [by Walter Harte] |
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THE COURTIER AND PRINCE:
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 | The Amaranth |  |
117
THE COURTIER AND PRINCE:
A FABLE.
119
Put not your trust in Princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Psalm cxlvi, v.3.
Now behold, thou trustest upon the staff of a
bruised reed—on which if a man lean, it
will go thro' his hand and pierce it: So is
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, unto all that trust in him.
2 Kings Ch. xviii, v. 21.
120
With diffidence, O Muse, awake the string;
Proba , Her self a Muse, commands to sing:
Divest thy self of thy pretended bays,
And crown'd with short-liv'd flow'rs present thy lays:
From female archives stol'n, a Tale disclose,
Verse-tortur'd into rhymes from honest prose.
Short fables may with double grace be told;
So smallest glasses sweetest essence hold.
Proba , Her self a Muse, commands to sing:
Divest thy self of thy pretended bays,
And crown'd with short-liv'd flow'rs present thy lays:
From female archives stol'n, a Tale disclose,
Verse-tortur'd into rhymes from honest prose.
Short fables may with double grace be told;
So smallest glasses sweetest essence hold.
Antonia somewhere
does a tale report,
Of no small use to rising men at court:
[Who seek promotion in the worldly road,
And make their titles and their wealth their God;]
Antonia! who the Hermit's Story fram'd
:
A tale to prose-men known , by verse-men fam'd .
Of no small use to rising men at court:
[Who seek promotion in the worldly road,
And make their titles and their wealth their God;]
121
A tale to prose-men known , by verse-men fam'd .
A Courtier, of the lucky, thriving sort,
Rose like a meteor, and eclyps'd the court;
By chance or cunning ev'ry storm out-braves:
Top-most he rode, midst shoals of fools and knaves,
Triumphant, like an eygre , o'er the waves:
Casually lucky, fortunately great,
Ten times his planet overcame his fate.
Riches flow'd in; and accidents were kind;
Health join'd her opium to delude the mind ;
Whilst pride was gratify'd in ev'ry view,
And pow'r had scarce an object to pursue;
Cramm'd to the throat with happiness and ease,
Till nature's self could do no more to please.—
Vain-glorious mortal, to profusion blest!
And almost by prosperity distrest!
Whilst poets, the worst pandars of the age,
Hymn'd his no-virtues in each flatt'ring page:
True parasitic plants , which only grow
Upon their patron-trees, like miscelto:
So pella-mountain on the flax appears,
And thyme, th'epíthĭmy , (her bastard) rears;
Just so th'agáric from the larix springs,
And fav'rites fatten on perspiring kings.—
More might be said; but this we leave untold,
That better things their proper place may hold.
Rose like a meteor, and eclyps'd the court;
By chance or cunning ev'ry storm out-braves:
Top-most he rode, midst shoals of fools and knaves,
Triumphant, like an eygre , o'er the waves:
Casually lucky, fortunately great,
Ten times his planet overcame his fate.
Riches flow'd in; and accidents were kind;
Health join'd her opium to delude the mind ;
Whilst pride was gratify'd in ev'ry view,
And pow'r had scarce an object to pursue;
122
Till nature's self could do no more to please.—
Vain-glorious mortal, to profusion blest!
And almost by prosperity distrest!
Whilst poets, the worst pandars of the age,
Hymn'd his no-virtues in each flatt'ring page:
True parasitic plants , which only grow
Upon their patron-trees, like miscelto:
So pella-mountain on the flax appears,
And thyme, th'epíthĭmy , (her bastard) rears;
Just so th'agáric from the larix springs,
And fav'rites fatten on perspiring kings.—
123
That better things their proper place may hold.
Our mirror of good luck, whom Chance had claim'd
As her own offspring, was Amariel nam'd.
At his first horoscope the goddess smil'd,
And wrapp'd in her own mantle her own child;
Then, as a Wit upon th'occasion said,
[Not less a Wit, we hope, for being dead,]
“Gave him her blessing, put him in a way,
“Set up the farce, and laugh'd at her own play.’
As her own offspring, was Amariel nam'd.
At his first horoscope the goddess smil'd,
And wrapp'd in her own mantle her own child;
Then, as a Wit upon th'occasion said,
[Not less a Wit, we hope, for being dead,]
“Gave him her blessing, put him in a way,
“Set up the farce, and laugh'd at her own play.’
Fortune, the Mistress of the young and bold,
Espous'd him early, but caress'd him old;
Duteous and faithful as an Indian wife,
She made appearance to be true for life:
And kept her love alive, and like to last,
Beyond the date her Pompey was disgrac'd.
But nothing certain [as the Wise man found]
Is to be deem'd on sublunary ground.
Espous'd him early, but caress'd him old;
Duteous and faithful as an Indian wife,
She made appearance to be true for life:
And kept her love alive, and like to last,
Beyond the date her Pompey was disgrac'd.
But nothing certain [as the Wise man found]
Is to be deem'd on sublunary ground.
124
Join'd to good fortune, 'twas our Courtier's lot
To serve a Prince who ne'er his friends forgot:
Humain, discreet, compassionate, and brave;
Not milder when he lov'd, than when forgave.
Gen'rous of promise, punctual in the deed;
Grac'd with more candour than most monarchs need.
A milkiness of blood his heart possess'd;
With grief he punish'd, and with transport bless'd .
To serve a Prince who ne'er his friends forgot:
Humain, discreet, compassionate, and brave;
Not milder when he lov'd, than when forgave.
Gen'rous of promise, punctual in the deed;
Grac'd with more candour than most monarchs need.
A milkiness of blood his heart possess'd;
With grief he punish'd, and with transport bless'd .
As noblest metals are most duccile found,
Great souls with mild compassion most abound.
The golden dye with soft complacence takes
Each speaking lineament th'engraver makes,
And wears a faithful image for mankind,
True to the features, truer to the mind:
Whilst stubborn iron [like a barren soil
To lab'ring hinds] eludes the artist's toil;
To ev'ry stroke ungrateful and unjust,
Corrodes itself, or hardens into rust.
Great souls with mild compassion most abound.
The golden dye with soft complacence takes
Each speaking lineament th'engraver makes,
And wears a faithful image for mankind,
True to the features, truer to the mind:
Whilst stubborn iron [like a barren soil
To lab'ring hinds] eludes the artist's toil;
125
Corrodes itself, or hardens into rust.
Good-nature, in the language from above
,
Is universal charity and love:
Patient of wrongs, and enemy to strife;
Basis of virtue, and the staff of life!
Whilst av'rice, private censure, public rage,
Are th'old man's hobby-horse, and crutch of age.
Party conducts us to the meanest ends;
Party made Herod and a Pilate friends .
Is universal charity and love:
Patient of wrongs, and enemy to strife;
Basis of virtue, and the staff of life!
Whilst av'rice, private censure, public rage,
Are th'old man's hobby-horse, and crutch of age.
Party conducts us to the meanest ends;
Party made Herod and a Pilate friends .
Scorn'd be the bard, and banish'd ev'n from schools,
Who first immortaliz'd man-killing fools;
Blockheads in council, bloody in command:
Warriors—not of the head, but of the hand;
True brethren of the iron-pated Suede :
They fight like Ajax, and like Ajax read.
Who first immortaliz'd man-killing fools;
Blockheads in council, bloody in command:
Warriors—not of the head, but of the hand;
True brethren of the iron-pated Suede :
They fight like Ajax, and like Ajax read.
126
Of all the great and harmless things below,
Only an ELEPHANT is truly so.
[Thus writes a Wit , well-known a cent'ry past;
Forgotten now; yet still his fame shall last.]
Kings have their follies; Statesmen have their arts;
Wealth spoils the Great; Beauty ensnares our hearts;
And Wits are doubly dup'd by having parts.
Some have ten times the parts they ought to use;
“A great Wit's greatest WORK is to REFUSE !”
Never, O Bards, the warning voice despise;—
To ADD is dang'rous, to RETRENCH is wise.
Poets, instead of saying what they could,
Must only say the very thing they should.
This mighty ΕΥΡΗΚΑ reserv'd for Few,
Virgil and Boileau, Pope and Dryden knew.
Only an ELEPHANT is truly so.
[Thus writes a Wit , well-known a cent'ry past;
Forgotten now; yet still his fame shall last.]
Kings have their follies; Statesmen have their arts;
Wealth spoils the Great; Beauty ensnares our hearts;
And Wits are doubly dup'd by having parts.
Some have ten times the parts they ought to use;
“A great Wit's greatest WORK is to REFUSE !”
Never, O Bards, the warning voice despise;—
To ADD is dang'rous, to RETRENCH is wise.
Poets, instead of saying what they could,
Must only say the very thing they should.
This mighty ΕΥΡΗΚΑ reserv'd for Few,
Virgil and Boileau, Pope and Dryden knew.
[Thus by the way.] Now, Muse, resume thy course;
There is no wand'rer like the poet's horse:
Who quits the solid road, and well-beat lanes,
[Sick of his track, and punish'd for his pains,]
To mimic galloping on green-swarth plains.
So, in the daily work she labours at,
The swallow toils, and rises with a gnat.—
There is no wand'rer like the poet's horse:
127
[Sick of his track, and punish'd for his pains,]
To mimic galloping on green-swarth plains.
So, in the daily work she labours at,
The swallow toils, and rises with a gnat.—
It chanc'd, as thro' his groves our monarch stray'd,
T'enjoy the coolness of a summer-shade,
Wrapt up in virtuous schemes of means and ends,
To reconcile his foes, or bless his friends,
He spy'd a figure, which by shape he knew,
In a lone grotto half-conceal'd from view:
Thither the prudent wand'rer had retir'd,
As modesty and well-bred sense requir'd:
Studious of manners, fearful to intrude
On precious hours of royal solitude.
T'enjoy the coolness of a summer-shade,
Wrapt up in virtuous schemes of means and ends,
To reconcile his foes, or bless his friends,
He spy'd a figure, which by shape he knew,
In a lone grotto half-conceal'd from view:
Thither the prudent wand'rer had retir'd,
As modesty and well-bred sense requir'd:
Studious of manners, fearful to intrude
On precious hours of royal solitude.
Amariel, cry'd the Prince, I know thee well,
Invelop'd in the umbrage of a cell:
I like thy modesty, with manners fraught;—
But, as my spirits ask a pause from thought,
Walk with thy Master, and with him inhale
The cooling freshness of the western gale.
Invelop'd in the umbrage of a cell:
128
But, as my spirits ask a pause from thought,
Walk with thy Master, and with him inhale
The cooling freshness of the western gale.
Amariel, added He, and gently smil'd,
This grove's my kingdom, and each tree my child:
[Forgive the vanity, which thus compares
My self to Cyrus, and his rural cares ;]
My ready pencil sketch'd the first design,
These eyes adjusted ev'ry space and line;
These hands have fixt th'inoculated shoots,
Train'd the loose branches, and reform'd the roots.
Happy the monarch of the town and field,
Where vice to laws, and weeds to culture yield!
This grove's my kingdom, and each tree my child:
[Forgive the vanity, which thus compares
My self to Cyrus, and his rural cares ;]
My ready pencil sketch'd the first design,
These eyes adjusted ev'ry space and line;
These hands have fixt th'inoculated shoots,
Train'd the loose branches, and reform'd the roots.
Happy the monarch of the town and field,
Where vice to laws, and weeds to culture yield!
My human realms a ten-fold care demand;
Reluctant is the staple of the land:
Sour are the juices, churlish is the soil,
Of rule impatient, and averse to toil.
In vain I cherish, and in vain replace;
Th'ungrateful branch flies back, and wounds my face.
Courtiers are like th'Hyéna, never tame;
No bounties fix them, and no arts reclaim:
Frontless they run the muck thro' thick and thin;
Not poorer, if they lose;—and they may win.
Patriots of their own int'rest, right or wrong:
Foes to the feeble, flatt'rers to the strong.
Stiff complaisance thro' their best homage spreads,
So turn-soles court the sun with 'wry-neck'd heads.
True as a dial, when their patrons shine;
But blank, if the said patrons pow'r resign.
Like good Sir Martin , when he lost his man,
They grieve—and get another as they can.
Yet, [tho' small real comfort is enjoy'd
Where man the ruler is, and men employ'd,]
Of all my friends and servants, you alone
Have pleas'd me best, and most reliev'd the throne.
Whatever then my bounty can provide;
Whatever by my friendship be supply'd;
As far as faith can bind, or speech can say,
Ask, and I meet thy wishes half the way.
Reluctant is the staple of the land:
129
Of rule impatient, and averse to toil.
In vain I cherish, and in vain replace;
Th'ungrateful branch flies back, and wounds my face.
Courtiers are like th'Hyéna, never tame;
No bounties fix them, and no arts reclaim:
Frontless they run the muck thro' thick and thin;
Not poorer, if they lose;—and they may win.
Patriots of their own int'rest, right or wrong:
Foes to the feeble, flatt'rers to the strong.
Stiff complaisance thro' their best homage spreads,
So turn-soles court the sun with 'wry-neck'd heads.
True as a dial, when their patrons shine;
But blank, if the said patrons pow'r resign.
Like good Sir Martin , when he lost his man,
They grieve—and get another as they can.
130
Where man the ruler is, and men employ'd,]
Of all my friends and servants, you alone
Have pleas'd me best, and most reliev'd the throne.
Whatever then my bounty can provide;
Whatever by my friendship be supply'd;
As far as faith can bind, or speech can say,
Ask, and I meet thy wishes half the way.
The servant bow'd, and gratitude express'd;
Such gratitude as dwells in courtier's breast:
Pleas'd to the height of transport he retir'd;
His fears were calm'd, and his ambition fir'd.
Unhappy man, in both his objects wrong;
The weak he trusted, and forgot the strong!
Such gratitude as dwells in courtier's breast:
Pleas'd to the height of transport he retir'd;
His fears were calm'd, and his ambition fir'd.
Unhappy man, in both his objects wrong;
The weak he trusted, and forgot the strong!
Six years were past, when lo, by slow degrees,
A fever did his limbs and spirits seize:
Advancing gently, no alarm it makes,
[Like murd'ring Indians gliding thro' the brakes:]
But, having mark'd her sure approaches well,
She storms, and nothing can her force repell.
Instant, a liquid fire enflames the blood,
Whilst spasms impede the self-refining flood:
Petechial spots th'approach of death proclaim,
Redd'ning like comets with vindictive flame;
Whilst wand'ring talk, and mopings wild, presage
Moon-struck illusion, and conclude in rage.
Inevitable death alarms the heart;
Nature stands by, and bids her aim the dart.
A fever did his limbs and spirits seize:
Advancing gently, no alarm it makes,
[Like murd'ring Indians gliding thro' the brakes:]
131
She storms, and nothing can her force repell.
Instant, a liquid fire enflames the blood,
Whilst spasms impede the self-refining flood:
Petechial spots th'approach of death proclaim,
Redd'ning like comets with vindictive flame;
Whilst wand'ring talk, and mopings wild, presage
Moon-struck illusion, and conclude in rage.
Inevitable death alarms the heart;
Nature stands by, and bids her aim the dart.
The Sick man, stupify'd with fear and woe,
Had hardly words to speak, or tears to flow;
At length in broken sounds was heard to cry,
Grant me to see my Master, e'er I die.
The Master came. Ah, Prince, Amariel said,
Now keep thy promise, and extend thy aid;
Unfurl my tangled thread of human breath,
And call me back one year, before my death.
Had hardly words to speak, or tears to flow;
At length in broken sounds was heard to cry,
Grant me to see my Master, e'er I die.
The Master came. Ah, Prince, Amariel said,
Now keep thy promise, and extend thy aid;
Unfurl my tangled thread of human breath,
And call me back one year, before my death.
132
The Prince [for he was wise, and good withall,]
Stood like a statue mortiz'd to the wall:
At length, recov'ring from amazement, broke
An awful silence, and thus gravely spoke:
Amariel, sure thy pangs disturb thy brain:
The boon you ask is blasphemous and vain:
Am I a God, to alter death's decree?
That's the prerogative of Heav'n, not me!
Stood like a statue mortiz'd to the wall:
At length, recov'ring from amazement, broke
An awful silence, and thus gravely spoke:
Amariel, sure thy pangs disturb thy brain:
The boon you ask is blasphemous and vain:
Am I a God, to alter death's decree?
That's the prerogative of Heav'n, not me!
Then, cry'd Amariel, with an hasty tone,
Gain me a week, three days, or gain me one.
Gain me a week, three days, or gain me one.
Impossible agen! the Prince reply'd;
Sure thy disease to madness is ally'd:
Ask me for riches—freely I resign
A third or half, and bid thee make them thine.
Whate'er the world can human greatness call,
Pow'r, rank, grants, titles, I'll bestow them all.
Then die in peace, or with contentment live,
Nor ask a gift no mortal pow'r can give.
Sure thy disease to madness is ally'd:
Ask me for riches—freely I resign
A third or half, and bid thee make them thine.
Whate'er the world can human greatness call,
Pow'r, rank, grants, titles, I'll bestow them all.
Then die in peace, or with contentment live,
Nor ask a gift no mortal pow'r can give.
133
With eyes that flash'd with eagerness and fire
The sick man then propos'd a new desire:
“As death's dread tyranny has no controul,
“Can you ensure the safety of my soul?”
Anxious and doubtful for my future state,
I read the danger, but I read too late.
The Prince stood mute; compassion and amaze
Tore his divided heart ten thousand ways:
And, having rightly weigh'd the sick man's pray'r,
Thus he reply'd in sorrow and despair:
The sick man then propos'd a new desire:
“As death's dread tyranny has no controul,
“Can you ensure the safety of my soul?”
Anxious and doubtful for my future state,
I read the danger, but I read too late.
The Prince stood mute; compassion and amaze
Tore his divided heart ten thousand ways:
And, having rightly weigh'd the sick man's pray'r,
Thus he reply'd in sorrow and despair:
“Salvation of the soul by grace is giv'n;—
“Unalienable is the Grace of Heav'n.
“I tremble at the rash request you make,
“Which is not mine to grant, or your's to take.”
“Unalienable is the Grace of Heav'n.
“I tremble at the rash request you make,
“Which is not mine to grant, or your's to take.”
Amariel then, with disappointment spent,
Turn'd from his Prince in mournful discontent,
And, lifting up to Heav'n his hands and eyes,
Thus in a flood of tears obtests the skies:
Turn'd from his Prince in mournful discontent,
And, lifting up to Heav'n his hands and eyes,
Thus in a flood of tears obtests the skies:
134
“Wretch that I am, unworthy of my breath;
“Deceiv'd when living, and deceiv'd in death!
“Why did I waste my strength, my cares, my fame
“To serve a master—master but in name?
“An ethnic idol, for delusion made;
“Eyes without sight, protection without aid?
“Unable to bestow the good we want,
“And ready, what avails us not, to grant!
“Deceitful, impotent, unuseful Pow'r;
“Which can give di'monds, but not give an hour!
“At Rimmon's shrine no longer will I bow,
“But thus to th'All-pow'rfull King address my vow:
“Deceiv'd when living, and deceiv'd in death!
“Why did I waste my strength, my cares, my fame
“To serve a master—master but in name?
“An ethnic idol, for delusion made;
“Eyes without sight, protection without aid?
“Unable to bestow the good we want,
“And ready, what avails us not, to grant!
“Deceitful, impotent, unuseful Pow'r;
“Which can give di'monds, but not give an hour!
“At Rimmon's shrine no longer will I bow,
“But thus to th'All-pow'rfull King address my vow:
“O Thou, the only Great, and Good, and Wise,
“Ruler of earth, and monarch of the skies;
“Thou, whom th'intents of virtuous actions please;
“Whose laws are freedom, and whose service ease :
“Whose mercy waits th'offender to the grave,
“Willing to hear; omnipotent to save!
“Who ne'er forgot one meritorious deed,
“Nor left a servant in the hour of need.
“To mercy and to equity inclin'd;
“Who mind'st the heart, and tenour of the mind .
“Forgive my error, and my life restore;
“Thee will I serve alone, and Thee adore!
“Farewell earth's deities and idols all;
“Moloch and Mammon, Chiun , Dagon, Baal:
“Whose CHEMARIMS tread their fantastic rounds
“O'er AVEN's plains, and dance to Tyrian sounds.
“Ruler of earth, and monarch of the skies;
“Thou, whom th'intents of virtuous actions please;
“Whose laws are freedom, and whose service ease :
135
“Willing to hear; omnipotent to save!
“Who ne'er forgot one meritorious deed,
“Nor left a servant in the hour of need.
“To mercy and to equity inclin'd;
“Who mind'st the heart, and tenour of the mind .
“Forgive my error, and my life restore;
“Thee will I serve alone, and Thee adore!
“Farewell earth's deities and idols all;
“Moloch and Mammon, Chiun , Dagon, Baal:
“Whose CHEMARIMS tread their fantastic rounds
“O'er AVEN's plains, and dance to Tyrian sounds.
“Hence, false Astarte
, who the world suborns;
“Life's lambent meteor glist'ring round her horns.
“Let Thammuz moan his self-inflicted pain,
“And Sidon's stream run purple to the main.
“Life's lambent meteor glist'ring round her horns.
136
“And Sidon's stream run purple to the main.
“No star of Remphan
shall attract my sight,
“Shorn of its beams, and gleaming sickly light:
“Malignant orb! which tempts bewilder'd swains
“To gulphs, to quicksands, and waste trackless plains!
“By thee the false Achitophel was led;
“And Haman dy'd aloft, and made a cloud his bed.
“Shorn of its beams, and gleaming sickly light:
“Malignant orb! which tempts bewilder'd swains
“To gulphs, to quicksands, and waste trackless plains!
“By thee the false Achitophel was led;
“And Haman dy'd aloft, and made a cloud his bed.
“From worldly hopes and false dependance freed,
“I'll seek no safety from a splinter'd reed;
“Which causes those to fall, who wish to stand;
“Or, if it aids the steps, gangrenes the hand .
“I'll seek no safety from a splinter'd reed;
“Which causes those to fall, who wish to stand;
“Or, if it aids the steps, gangrenes the hand .
“How vain is all the chymic wealth of pow'r;
“Sought-for an age, and squander'd in an hour!
“Full late we learn, in sickness, pains, and woe,
“What in high health 'twas possible to know.
“Sought-for an age, and squander'd in an hour!
“Full late we learn, in sickness, pains, and woe,
“What in high health 'twas possible to know.
137
“Two ages may have two
Elishas seen;
“Groups of Gehazis choak the space between:
“Who live unthinking, and obdurate die,
“Nor heed their own or children's leprosy .
“Sin-born and blind! Who change, protest, and swear,
“With the same ease they draw the vital air.
“Proud of the wit, and heedless of the sin,
“They strip, and sell the christian to the skin .
“Charms irresistible the dupes behold
“In vineyards, farms, and all-compelling gold.
“Others [still weaker] set their truth to sale
“For a mere sound, and cut off Heav'n's entail:
“Whilst He, who never fails his imps, supplies
“Prompt treachoury, and fresh-created lies.—
“Time-servers are at ev'ry man's command
“For loaves and fish on Dalmanutha's strand .”
“Groups of Gehazis choak the space between:
“Who live unthinking, and obdurate die,
“Nor heed their own or children's leprosy .
“Sin-born and blind! Who change, protest, and swear,
“With the same ease they draw the vital air.
“Proud of the wit, and heedless of the sin,
“They strip, and sell the christian to the skin .
“Charms irresistible the dupes behold
“In vineyards, farms, and all-compelling gold.
“Others [still weaker] set their truth to sale
“For a mere sound, and cut off Heav'n's entail:
“Whilst He, who never fails his imps, supplies
“Prompt treachoury, and fresh-created lies.—
“Time-servers are at ev'ry man's command
“For loaves and fish on Dalmanutha's strand .”
138
He spoke: And, with a flood of tears oppress'd,
Gave anguish vent, and felt a moment's rest.
Gave anguish vent, and felt a moment's rest.
Heav'n with compassion heard the sick man grieve;
And Hezekiah gain'd the wish'd reprieve .
Once more his blood with equal pulses flow'd,
And health's contentment on his visage glow'd.
Places and honours he with joy resign'd;
[Peace-off'rings to procure a tranquil mind !]
Gave all his riches to the sick and poor,
And made one Patriarch-farm his only store.
To groves and brooks our new Elijah ran,
Far from the monster world, and traytor man.
Thus he surviv'd the tempest of the day,
And ev'ning-sunshine shot a glorious ray.
Diseases, sickness, disappointments, sorrow,
All lend us comfort, whilst they seem to borrow.
And Hezekiah gain'd the wish'd reprieve .
Once more his blood with equal pulses flow'd,
And health's contentment on his visage glow'd.
Places and honours he with joy resign'd;
[Peace-off'rings to procure a tranquil mind !]
Gave all his riches to the sick and poor,
And made one Patriarch-farm his only store.
To groves and brooks our new Elijah ran,
Far from the monster world, and traytor man.
Thus he surviv'd the tempest of the day,
And ev'ning-sunshine shot a glorious ray.
Diseases, sickness, disappointments, sorrow,
All lend us comfort, whilst they seem to borrow.
139
Here I might paint him in a life retir'd,
Ennobled by the virtues he acquir'd;
But the true transports of the Wise and Good
Are best by implication understood;
Except the Muse with Dryden's strength could soar:—
Me, humble prudence whispers to give o'er.
A safe retreat; plann'd and perform'd with care;
Stands for a vict'ry in poetic war.
So when the warbling lark has mounted high
With up-right flight, and gain'd upon the sky,
Grown giddy, she contracts her flick'ring wings:
Thrids her descending course in spiral rings,
Less'ning her voice; but to the ground she sings:
Resolving, on a more auspicious day,
Higher to mount, and chaunt a better lay .
Ennobled by the virtues he acquir'd;
But the true transports of the Wise and Good
Are best by implication understood;
Except the Muse with Dryden's strength could soar:—
Me, humble prudence whispers to give o'er.
A safe retreat; plann'd and perform'd with care;
Stands for a vict'ry in poetic war.
So when the warbling lark has mounted high
With up-right flight, and gain'd upon the sky,
Grown giddy, she contracts her flick'ring wings:
Thrids her descending course in spiral rings,
Less'ning her voice; but to the ground she sings:
Resolving, on a more auspicious day,
Higher to mount, and chaunt a better lay .
140
How Few can still their readers minds engage?—
One Pope is the slow child-birth of one age.
Others write verses, but they write unblest;
Some few good lines stand sponsors for the rest:
They miss wit's depth, and on the surface skim;
[He who seeks pearls, must dive, as well as swim.]
Bad bards, worse critics!—Thus we multiply
Poems and rules, but write no poetry.
Ev'n Pope, like Charlemagne, with all his fire
Made Paladins—but not an host entire .
Far as its pow'rs could go, thy genius went:
Good sense still kept thee in thy own extent .
Rare wisdom! both t'enjoy and know thy store;—
Most wits, like misers, always covet more.
Leave me, lov'd Bard, instructor of my youth,
Leave me the sounds of verse, and voice of truth;
So when Elias dropp'd his mantle, ran
Elisha, and a prophet's life began .
One Pope is the slow child-birth of one age.
Others write verses, but they write unblest;
Some few good lines stand sponsors for the rest:
They miss wit's depth, and on the surface skim;
[He who seeks pearls, must dive, as well as swim.]
Bad bards, worse critics!—Thus we multiply
Poems and rules, but write no poetry.
Ev'n Pope, like Charlemagne, with all his fire
Made Paladins—but not an host entire .
Far as its pow'rs could go, thy genius went:
Good sense still kept thee in thy own extent .
141
Most wits, like misers, always covet more.
Leave me, lov'd Bard, instructor of my youth,
Leave me the sounds of verse, and voice of truth;
So when Elias dropp'd his mantle, ran
Elisha, and a prophet's life began .
Add, that the Muses, nurst in various climes,
Yield diff'rent produce, and at diff'rent times.
Italian plants, in nature's hot-bed plac'd,
Bear fruits in spring, and riot into waste.
French flow'rs less early, [and yet early,] blow:
Their pertness is a green-house from the snow.
Cold Northern wits demand a longer date;
Our genius, like our climate, ripens late.
The fancy's solstice is at forty o'er,
The tropic of our judgment sees three-score.
Thus summer codlings yield a poignant draught,
Which frisks the palate, but ne'er warms the thought:
Rough cackagées, [four months behind them cast,]
Take all bad weathers, and thro' autumn last:
Mellow'd from wild austerity, at length
They taste like nectar, and adopt its strength.
Yield diff'rent produce, and at diff'rent times.
Italian plants, in nature's hot-bed plac'd,
Bear fruits in spring, and riot into waste.
French flow'rs less early, [and yet early,] blow:
Their pertness is a green-house from the snow.
Cold Northern wits demand a longer date;
Our genius, like our climate, ripens late.
The fancy's solstice is at forty o'er,
The tropic of our judgment sees three-score.
Thus summer codlings yield a poignant draught,
Which frisks the palate, but ne'er warms the thought:
142
Take all bad weathers, and thro' autumn last:
Mellow'd from wild austerity, at length
They taste like nectar, and adopt its strength.
A Roman young Lady of quality and a Christian convert. She afterwards married Adelphus, who was a Proconsul in the reign of Honorius and Theodosius junior. She composed an History of the Old and New Testament in verse. Her Epitaph on her husband is much admired. Both pieces were printed at Francfort in 1541.
Her name at length was Proba, Valeria, Falconia.
The tenth wave, when rivers are swollen by floods, or agitated by storms, is called in some parts of England an eygre. See Dryden's Threnod. August.
“Prosperous health and uninterrupted ease are often the occasion of some fatal misfortune. Thus a long peace makes men unguarded, and sometimes unmindful, in matters of war: It being observed, that the most signal overthrow is usually given us, when an unexpected enemy surprizeth us in the deep sleep of peace and security.” St. Gregor. the Great.
Parasitical plants, according to the language of botanists, will not grow in the common matrix of the earth, but their seeds, being dispersed by winds, take root in the excrementitious parts of a decayed tree, or arise as an excrescence from the exsudations of some tree or plant. Thus the dodder (cuscuta) formerly called pella-mountain, grows usually on flax; and therefore the Italian peasant calls it podagra di linio.
The Arabians and Italians [imitating the Greek word επιθυμιον] call this adscititious plant efitimo and epithimio; but very few of our English botanists make mention of it. As far as I have hitherto seen, only one of our herbalists has touched upon it, namely, Peter Treveris, who flourished about the reign of Henry VII. He calls it epíthĭmy. For my own part, not caring to invent new words in poetry, I have thought proper to retain the word which he (Treveris) has used, as it is well-sounding, and not inelegant.
The staple of the soil, in an husbandry-sense, is the upper earth, which lies within the reach of the plough and influence of the atmosphere.
Thus we call wool, with relation to England, a staple commodity.
Me, mea Calliope, cura leviore vagantem,
Jam revocat, parvoque jubet decurrere gyro.
Columell. de Hortis, L. 10.
Jam revocat, parvoque jubet decurrere gyro.
Columell. de Hortis, L. 10.
------ nostra fatiscit,
Laxaturq; chelys: vires instigat, alitq;
Tempestiva quies; major post otia virtus.
Sylv. L. 4.
Laxaturq; chelys: vires instigat, alitq;
Tempestiva quies; major post otia virtus.
Sylv. L. 4.
An answer made by Boccace, when it was objected to him, that some of his novels had not the spirit of the rest.
Amongst Mr. Pope's great intellectual abilities, good sense was his most distinguishing character: For he knew precisely, and as it were by a sort of intuition, what he had power to do, and what he could not do.
He often used to say, that for ten years together he firmly resisted the importunity of friends and flatterers, when they solicited him to undertake a Translation of Virgil after Dryden. Nor did he ever mistake the extent of his talents, but in the following trivial instance; and that was, when he writ his Ode to Music on St. Cecilia's day, induced perhaps by a secret ambition of rivalling the Inimitable Dryden. In which case, if he hath not exceeded the original, [for there is always some advantage in writing first] he hath at least surpassed [and perhaps ever will surpass] those that come after him, and attempt to make the same experiment.
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