Poems, moral and descriptive By the late Richard Jago ... (Prepared for the press, and improved by the author, before his death.) To which is added, some account of the life and writings of Mr. Jago |
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To WILLIAM SHENSTONE, Esq. on receiving a gilt pocket-book. 1751.
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 | Poems, moral and descriptive |  |
186
To WILLIAM SHENSTONE, Esq. on receiving a gilt pocket-book. 1751.
These spotless leaves, this neat array,
Might well invite your charming quill,
In fair assemblage to display
The power of Learning, Wit, and Skill.
Might well invite your charming quill,
In fair assemblage to display
The power of Learning, Wit, and Skill.
But since you carelessly refuse,
And to my pen the task assign;
O! let your Genius guide my Muse,
And every vulgar thought refine.
And to my pen the task assign;
O! let your Genius guide my Muse,
And every vulgar thought refine.
Teach me your best, your best lov'd art,
With frugal care to store my mind;
In this to play the Miser's part,
And give mean lucre to the wind:
With frugal care to store my mind;
In this to play the Miser's part,
And give mean lucre to the wind:
To shun the Coxcomb's empty noise,
To scorn the Villain's artful mask;
Nor trust gay Pleasure's fleeting joys
Nor urge Ambition's endless task.
To scorn the Villain's artful mask;
Nor trust gay Pleasure's fleeting joys
Nor urge Ambition's endless task.
187
Teach me to stem Youth's boisterous tide,
To regulate its giddy rage;
By Reason's aid my barque to guide,
Into the friendly port of Age:
To regulate its giddy rage;
By Reason's aid my barque to guide,
Into the friendly port of Age:
To share what Classic Culture yields,
Thro' Rhetoric's painted meads to roam;
With you to reap historic fields,
And bring the golden Harvest home.
Thro' Rhetoric's painted meads to roam;
With you to reap historic fields,
And bring the golden Harvest home.
To taste the genuine sweets of Wit;
To quaff in Humour's sprightly bowl;
The philosophic mean to hit,
And prize the Dignity of Soul.
To quaff in Humour's sprightly bowl;
The philosophic mean to hit,
And prize the Dignity of Soul.
Teach me to read fair Nature's book,
Wide opening in each flow'ry plain;
And with judicious eye to look
On all the glories of her reign.
Wide opening in each flow'ry plain;
And with judicious eye to look
On all the glories of her reign.
To hail her, seated on her throne,
By aweful woods encompass'd round,
Or her divine extraction own,
Tho' with a wreath of rushes crown'd.
By aweful woods encompass'd round,
Or her divine extraction own,
Tho' with a wreath of rushes crown'd.
188
Thro' arched walks, o'er spreading lawns,
Near solemn rocks, with her to rove;
Or court her, 'mid her gentle fawns,
In mossy cell, or maple grove.
Near solemn rocks, with her to rove;
Or court her, 'mid her gentle fawns,
In mossy cell, or maple grove.
Whether the prospect strain the sight,
Or in the nearer landskips charm,
Where hills, vales, fountains, woods unite,
To grace your sweet Arcadian farm:
Or in the nearer landskips charm,
Where hills, vales, fountains, woods unite,
To grace your sweet Arcadian farm:
There let me sit, and gaze with you,
On Nature's works by Art refin'd;
And own, while we their contest view,
Both fair, but fairest, thus combin'd!
On Nature's works by Art refin'd;
And own, while we their contest view,
Both fair, but fairest, thus combin'd!
| Poems, moral and descriptive | |