 | Poems by William Kendall |  |
V. To LAURA.
When clouds and gather'd tempests rise;
And pale-eyed spectres urge their flight
In sullen pomp along the skies:
O'er the wide heath—my passing form
A mournful fleeting phantom seems,
A kindred spirit of the storm.
Frowns in the furrows of my cheek;
So sadly thro' the lurid air
My cries of piercing anguish break!
The mountain torrents hoarsely roar:
Unmoved amidst the winds I weep,
Amidst th' affrighted groves deplore.
And flocks and fearful shepherds start;
Yet no tumultuous scenes appal
A lost rejected lover's heart.
Can rushing torrents raise alarms;
With cruel speed while Laura flies
To bless a favour'd Rival's arms!
At the moment this sheet was printing off, the Poems of Mrs. Robinson were sent to the author by a friend. In page 123 of that elegant collection, is contained an answer to the above Elegy, entitled “Echo to him who complains.” The Elegy is stated by Mrs. R. to have appeared in the Oracle of the 25th of June, 1790, addressed to Laura, and signed ‘Ignotus.’ In a note on this signature, the writer is supposed to be Della Crusca. Sufficiently gratified by the flattering mistake and by the exquisite poem to which it has given rise, Mr. K. would not have mentioned this circumstance, had he not been anxious to prevent every suspicion of interfering with the literary property of Mr. Merry.
In the years 1789 and 1790, Mr. K. resided in London, where he wrote this Elegy. Having a particular reason to wish its insertion under the signature Ignotus, he left a copy himself at the Office of The World, where he was unknown. Not observing its appearance, he called a few days after, requesting the composition might be returned, but was informed it had been mislaid. How it came into The Oracle, he cannot explain.
The superior elegance of Mrs. Robinson's Echo, induces the author to present it to the reader, who will perceive a difference in the last stanza of the original Elegy, which in its primitive form, ended thus:
“Awakes the ruthless rage of pain?
“What terror bursting from the sky,
“Like Love distracts the tortur'd brain?”
A slight variation he imagines occurred also in other verses, but the rhimes were similar.
Where the loud tempests yelling rise;
Where horror wings her sullen flight
Beneath the bleak and lurid skies.
O'er the scorch'd wood, thy well-known form
More radiant than an angel seems,
Contending with the ruthless storm.
Drink the big tear that scalds thy cheek;
While thro' the dark and turbid air,
The screams of haggard Envy break.
I hear the dashing waters roar;
Ah! turn thee, turn thee, cease to weep,
Thou hast no reason to deplore.
See Envy from thy glances start;
No more shall howling blasts appall,
Or with'ring grief corrode thy heart.
Drops the fond balm for ev'ry pain
She comes, the offspring of the sky,
“To raze the troubles of the brain.”
| Poems by William Kendall | |