 | Poems on several subjects |  |
9
The DREAM.
Aenight as I lay sleeping unka sound,
And all my cares in Lethe's river drown'd,
Lo, e'er I wist, old Morpheus, with his train,
Came sliding in, and buzz'd about my brain.
And all my cares in Lethe's river drown'd,
Lo, e'er I wist, old Morpheus, with his train,
Came sliding in, and buzz'd about my brain.
Ten thousand tricks with juggling art they play'd,
Made me believe what ne'er was thought or said.
Made me believe what ne'er was thought or said.
At last, methought, they carried me away,
Unto a field more beautiful than May,
And left me there alone, where, for a while,
I pleas'd myself to see dame Nature smile:
All things appear'd so beautiful and fair,
That I forgat now, or who brought me there.
Unto a field more beautiful than May,
And left me there alone, where, for a while,
I pleas'd myself to see dame Nature smile:
All things appear'd so beautiful and fair,
That I forgat now, or who brought me there.
At last I wearied, being all alone,
Because the place to me was still unknown.
Because the place to me was still unknown.
While I was musing how I had come there,
Methought I heard sweet music in the air.
At last a maid, the fairest e'er was seen,
Appear'd before me clad in richest green,
Methought it was that Goddess call'd Love's Queen.
She had no 'tendants at the time, that I
Could see or hear; but, as she passed by,
I spy'd a harp, like silver, shining clear,
And on it writ, THALIA CHASTE AND FAIR.
Methought I heard sweet music in the air.
At last a maid, the fairest e'er was seen,
Appear'd before me clad in richest green,
Methought it was that Goddess call'd Love's Queen.
She had no 'tendants at the time, that I
Could see or hear; but, as she passed by,
I spy'd a harp, like silver, shining clear,
And on it writ, THALIA CHASTE AND FAIR.
I call'd to mind, how this name did belong
To her that was the Muse of past'ral song.
Then suddenly this thought came in my mind,
This field is surely sacred to the nine;
And that Parnassus certainly was nigh,
Where Poets say the Muses use to stay.
I swiftly ran, fond! fond! to view the fair;
Fain, but afraid my mind for to declare;
Yet impudence good manners threw aside,
And to the lady rashly thus I said:
Be pleas'd, O Madam, to my suit to yield;
Tell me to whom belongs this beauteous field?
To her that was the Muse of past'ral song.
Then suddenly this thought came in my mind,
This field is surely sacred to the nine;
And that Parnassus certainly was nigh,
Where Poets say the Muses use to stay.
I swiftly ran, fond! fond! to view the fair;
Fain, but afraid my mind for to declare;
Yet impudence good manners threw aside,
And to the lady rashly thus I said:
Be pleas'd, O Madam, to my suit to yield;
Tell me to whom belongs this beauteous field?
10
She smiling said, Dear lad, whence camest thou,
Or whether bound, and I'll conduct thee through
This spacious plain, to where you have a mind?
Take courage, say to what you are inclin'd?
(For trembling seiz'd me when the lady spake,
Yet manners said, some answer I should make).
Madam, said I, 'Tis kindness unlook'd for;
My inclination leads me to much more
Than I expect I ever can attain,
Therefore t'attempt it, I'd better refrain.
No, said the lady, say what you desire,
Or what great height to which you would aspire.
Or whether bound, and I'll conduct thee through
This spacious plain, to where you have a mind?
Take courage, say to what you are inclin'd?
(For trembling seiz'd me when the lady spake,
Yet manners said, some answer I should make).
Madam, said I, 'Tis kindness unlook'd for;
My inclination leads me to much more
Than I expect I ever can attain,
Therefore t'attempt it, I'd better refrain.
No, said the lady, say what you desire,
Or what great height to which you would aspire.
Now humbly, Madam, at your great command,
I'll my ambition let you understand:
I long to see Parnassus' sacred mountain;
I long to taste the Heliconian fountain;
Those places where the Muses do frequent,
To correspond with them I'd be content:
But oh! I know that is reserv'd for those
Of riper wits, who more of learning knows,
And not for me, poor dull illit'rate creature;
The Muses friends are more sublime by nature;
Their nature too's refin'd by education,
Ere they attain the Muses conversation.
I'll my ambition let you understand:
I long to see Parnassus' sacred mountain;
I long to taste the Heliconian fountain;
Those places where the Muses do frequent,
To correspond with them I'd be content:
But oh! I know that is reserv'd for those
Of riper wits, who more of learning knows,
And not for me, poor dull illit'rate creature;
The Muses friends are more sublime by nature;
Their nature too's refin'd by education,
Ere they attain the Muses conversation.
Then said the lady, Pity it were, poor lad,
That you not learning and acquirements had:
Since you affect our company so much,
I'll fire thy genius with one single touch,
That ne'er shall cease, but cause you still aspire
In poetry, beyond the vulgar sphere.
That you not learning and acquirements had:
Since you affect our company so much,
I'll fire thy genius with one single touch,
That ne'er shall cease, but cause you still aspire
In poetry, beyond the vulgar sphere.
Dear lady, pray but mind my low estate;
I want respect, since I'm illiterate;
I cannot write to please the great, and those
That poetry and other science knows:
I cannot touch the vulgar in my rhyme,
Their ignorance holds every verse a crime.
I want respect, since I'm illiterate;
I cannot write to please the great, and those
That poetry and other science knows:
I cannot touch the vulgar in my rhyme,
Their ignorance holds every verse a crime.
Thalia said, You quite mistake the case;
The great, the learn'd, will give your writings place,
Though you're unlearn'd, men will admire you more,
For your performance in a state so poor,
Than you the learning of the best had gain'd;
For though a verse with nonsense should be stain'd,
They will excuse it, pleased with the rest,
While critics banter faults that's in the best.
Improve your genius, read old authors over,
Perhaps you may the spring and mount discover.
Walk but aside with me a little way,
And taste the streams that from the fountain stray.
The great, the learn'd, will give your writings place,
11
For your performance in a state so poor,
Than you the learning of the best had gain'd;
For though a verse with nonsense should be stain'd,
They will excuse it, pleased with the rest,
While critics banter faults that's in the best.
Improve your genius, read old authors over,
Perhaps you may the spring and mount discover.
Walk but aside with me a little way,
And taste the streams that from the fountain stray.
Just as I tasted, Morpheus he appear'd
In direful shapes; I was so much affear'd,
That, at first sight, I started up awake,
And had no time of her my leave to take.
In direful shapes; I was so much affear'd,
That, at first sight, I started up awake,
And had no time of her my leave to take.
This I thought real, yet nought but visionary;
It prov'd a dream, an empty allegory.
Yet often since, both fancy, rhyme and numbers,
Prevented have my leisure-hours and slumbers.
Ambitiously I grasp still at the moon,
Ends like a dream, when all my labour's done;
Yet still I'm hopeful, as Thalia said,
Some gen'rous men will my poor genius aid,
That I may have some thing whereof to boast,
'Cause I want wherewith to defray the cost.
It prov'd a dream, an empty allegory.
Yet often since, both fancy, rhyme and numbers,
Prevented have my leisure-hours and slumbers.
Ambitiously I grasp still at the moon,
Ends like a dream, when all my labour's done;
Yet still I'm hopeful, as Thalia said,
Some gen'rous men will my poor genius aid,
That I may have some thing whereof to boast,
'Cause I want wherewith to defray the cost.
| Poems on several subjects | |