Poems Upon Several Occasions By Benj. Hawkshaw |
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On a Friend who desir'd me to make
a Copy of Verses on his Name.
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 | Poems Upon Several Occasions |  |
On a Friend who desir'd me to make a Copy of Verses on his Name.
Had I the Pencil of Vandike to grace
Each killing Feature of thy lovely Face,
The Piece should speak the Dictates of my Mind,
To better Rules of Art, than now confin'd.
But why should I wish for his Pencil here?
Poets with Painters in this Office share.
Thy very Looks whilst I gaze on controul
All the Joint Pow'rs of my wav'ring Soul,
Whilst you but smile and in your Chair sit still
The Members disobey the Master's Will;
For where such Clusters of Perfections sit,
Each would suffice to raise the Ghost of Wit.
Than this what can a better Topick be,
To convince Atheists there's a Deity?
Return my Muse and let thy Crystal Stream,
Flow to the Fountain-head from whence it came;
Stop not so soon, but with a Noble Grace
Describe the Hero's Name as well as Face;
Jove's Ganymed let down from Beams on high,
To tell us, that the Poets did not lie;
So graceful in Discourse, as that you'd swear
He'd brought the Manners of the Angels here;
So amorous, so gay, his Life does prove,
You'd think him brought up in the School of Love
'Twas never known at once that Nature meant
To mould a Subjeet, and an Accident.
Each killing Feature of thy lovely Face,
The Piece should speak the Dictates of my Mind,
To better Rules of Art, than now confin'd.
But why should I wish for his Pencil here?
Poets with Painters in this Office share.
9
All the Joint Pow'rs of my wav'ring Soul,
Whilst you but smile and in your Chair sit still
The Members disobey the Master's Will;
For where such Clusters of Perfections sit,
Each would suffice to raise the Ghost of Wit.
Than this what can a better Topick be,
To convince Atheists there's a Deity?
Return my Muse and let thy Crystal Stream,
Flow to the Fountain-head from whence it came;
Stop not so soon, but with a Noble Grace
Describe the Hero's Name as well as Face;
Jove's Ganymed let down from Beams on high,
To tell us, that the Poets did not lie;
So graceful in Discourse, as that you'd swear
He'd brought the Manners of the Angels here;
So amorous, so gay, his Life does prove,
You'd think him brought up in the School of Love
'Twas never known at once that Nature meant
To mould a Subjeet, and an Accident.
10
Thy Name and Nature do so well agree,
Thy Name another Nature seems to be,
And as we read we make it out in thee.
The Letters to the Humour's so well set,
They show the brightest in the Alphabet.
Names may be chang'd, and many often do,
But to change thine's to change your Nature too.
Thy Name and Nature constitute a Bliss,
Nothing but Love sure had a hand in this;
Thy Name by mortal Man was never giv'n,
But in a New-years-gift was sent from Heav'n.
Thy Name another Nature seems to be,
And as we read we make it out in thee.
The Letters to the Humour's so well set,
They show the brightest in the Alphabet.
Names may be chang'd, and many often do,
But to change thine's to change your Nature too.
Thy Name and Nature constitute a Bliss,
Nothing but Love sure had a hand in this;
Thy Name by mortal Man was never giv'n,
But in a New-years-gift was sent from Heav'n.
| Poems Upon Several Occasions | |