 | The poems of Dr. Yalden |  |
TO SIR HUMPHRY MACKWORTH:
ON THE MINES, LATE OF SIR CARBERY PRICE.
What spacious veins enrich the British soil;
The various ores, and skilful miner's toil;
How ripening metals lie conceal'd in Earth,
And teeming Nature forms the wondrous birth;
My useful verse, the first, transmits to fame,
In numbers tun'd, and no unhallow'd flame.
The various ores, and skilful miner's toil;
How ripening metals lie conceal'd in Earth,
And teeming Nature forms the wondrous birth;
My useful verse, the first, transmits to fame,
In numbers tun'd, and no unhallow'd flame.
O generous Mackworth! could the Muse impart
A labour worthy thy auspicious art;
Like thee succeed in paths untrod before,
And secret treasures of the land explore.
Apollo's self should on the labour smile,
And Delphos quit for Britain's fruitful isle.
A labour worthy thy auspicious art;
Like thee succeed in paths untrod before,
And secret treasures of the land explore.
Apollo's self should on the labour smile,
And Delphos quit for Britain's fruitful isle.
Where fair Sabrina flows around the coast,
And aged Dovey in the ocean's lost,
Her lofty brows unconquer'd Britain rears,
And fenc'd with rocks impregnable appears:
Which like the well-fix'd bars of Nature show,
To guard the treasures she conceals below.
For Earth, distorted with her pregnant womb,
Heaves up to give the forming embryo room:
Hence vast excrescences of hills arise,
And mountains swell to a portentous size:
Louring and black the rugged coast appears,
The sullen Earth a gloomy surface wears;
Yet all beneath, deep as the centre, shines
With native wealth, and more than India's mines,
Thus erring Nature her defects supplies,
Indulgent oft to what her sons despise:
Oft in a rude, unfinish'd form, we find
The noblest treasure of a generous mind.
And aged Dovey in the ocean's lost,
Her lofty brows unconquer'd Britain rears,
And fenc'd with rocks impregnable appears:
Which like the well-fix'd bars of Nature show,
To guard the treasures she conceals below.
For Earth, distorted with her pregnant womb,
Heaves up to give the forming embryo room:
Hence vast excrescences of hills arise,
And mountains swell to a portentous size:
Louring and black the rugged coast appears,
The sullen Earth a gloomy surface wears;
Yet all beneath, deep as the centre, shines
With native wealth, and more than India's mines,
Thus erring Nature her defects supplies,
Indulgent oft to what her sons despise:
Oft in a rude, unfinish'd form, we find
The noblest treasure of a generous mind.
Thrice happy land! from whose indulgent womb,
Such unexhausted stores of riches come!
By Heaven belov'd! form'd by auspicious Fate,
To be above thy neighbouring nations great!
Its golden sands no more shall Tagus boast,
In Dovey's flood his rival'd empire's lost;
Whose waters now a nobler fund maintain,
To humble France, and check the pride of Spain.
Like Egypt's Nile the bounteous current shows,
Dispersing blessings wheresoe'er it flows;
Whose native treasure's able to repair
The long expenses of our Gallic war.
Such unexhausted stores of riches come!
By Heaven belov'd! form'd by auspicious Fate,
To be above thy neighbouring nations great!
Its golden sands no more shall Tagus boast,
In Dovey's flood his rival'd empire's lost;
Whose waters now a nobler fund maintain,
To humble France, and check the pride of Spain.
Like Egypt's Nile the bounteous current shows,
Dispersing blessings wheresoe'er it flows;
Whose native treasure's able to repair
The long expenses of our Gallic war.
The ancient Britons are a hardy race,
Averse to luxury and slothful ease;
Their necks beneath a foreign yoke ne'er bow'd,
In war unconquer'd, and of freedom proud;
With minds resolv'd they lasting toils endure,
Unmix'd their language, and their manners pure.
Wisely does Nature such an offspring chuse,
Brave to defend her wealth, and slow to use;
Where thirst of empire ne'er inflames their veins,
Nor avarice, nor wild ambition reigns:
But low in mines, they constant toils renew,
And through the Earth their branching veins pursue.
As when some navy on th' Iberian coast,
Chas'd by the winds, is in the ocean lost;
To Neptune's realms a new supply it brings,
The strength design'd of European kings:
Contending divers would the wreck regain,
And make reprisals on the grasping main:
Wild in pursuit they are endanger'd more,
Than when they combated the storms before.
The miner thus through perils digs his way,
Equal to theirs, and deeper than the sea!
Drawing, in pestilential steams, his breath,
Resolv'd to conquer, though he combats Death.
Night's gloomy realms his pointed steel invades,
The courts of Pluto, and infernal shades:
He cuts through mountains, subterraneous lakes,
Plying his work, each nervous stroke he takes
Loosens the earth, and the whole cavern shakes.
Thus, with his brawny arms, the Cyclops stands,
To form Jove's lightning, with uplifted hands,
The ponderous hammer with a force descends,
Loud as the thunder which his art intends;
And as he strikes, with each resistless blow
The anvil yields, and Etna groans below.
Averse to luxury and slothful ease;
Their necks beneath a foreign yoke ne'er bow'd,
In war unconquer'd, and of freedom proud;
With minds resolv'd they lasting toils endure,
Unmix'd their language, and their manners pure.
Wisely does Nature such an offspring chuse,
Brave to defend her wealth, and slow to use;
Where thirst of empire ne'er inflames their veins,
Nor avarice, nor wild ambition reigns:
But low in mines, they constant toils renew,
And through the Earth their branching veins pursue.
As when some navy on th' Iberian coast,
Chas'd by the winds, is in the ocean lost;
To Neptune's realms a new supply it brings,
The strength design'd of European kings:
Contending divers would the wreck regain,
And make reprisals on the grasping main:
Wild in pursuit they are endanger'd more,
Than when they combated the storms before.
The miner thus through perils digs his way,
Equal to theirs, and deeper than the sea!
Drawing, in pestilential steams, his breath,
Resolv'd to conquer, though he combats Death.
Night's gloomy realms his pointed steel invades,
The courts of Pluto, and infernal shades:
He cuts through mountains, subterraneous lakes,
Plying his work, each nervous stroke he takes
Loosens the earth, and the whole cavern shakes.
Thus, with his brawny arms, the Cyclops stands,
To form Jove's lightning, with uplifted hands,
The ponderous hammer with a force descends,
Loud as the thunder which his art intends;
And as he strikes, with each resistless blow
The anvil yields, and Etna groans below.
Thy fam'd inventions, Mackworth, most adorn
The miner's art, and make the best return:
Thy speedy sails, and useful engines, show
A genius richer than the mines below.
Thousands of slaves unskill'd Peru maintains;
The hands that labour still exhaust the gains:
The winds, thy slaves, their useful succour join,
Convey thy ore, and labour at thy mine;
Instructed by thy arts, a power they find
To vanquish realms, where once they lay confin'd.
The miner's art, and make the best return:
Thy speedy sails, and useful engines, show
A genius richer than the mines below.
Thousands of slaves unskill'd Peru maintains;
The hands that labour still exhaust the gains:
The winds, thy slaves, their useful succour join,
Convey thy ore, and labour at thy mine;
Instructed by thy arts, a power they find
To vanquish realms, where once they lay confin'd.
Downward, my Muse, direct thy steepy flight,
Where smiling shades and beauteous realms invite;
I first of British bards invoke thee down,
And first with wealth thy graceful temples crown;
Through dark retreats pursue the winding ore,
Search Nature's depths, and view her boundless store;
The secret cause in tuneful measures sing,
How metals first are fram'd, and whence they spring.
Whether the active Sun, with chymic flames,
Through porous earth transmits his genial beams;
With heat impregnating the womb of night,
The offspring shines with its paternal light:
On Britain's isle propitiously he shines,
With joy descends, and labours in her mines.
Or whether, urg'd by subterraneous flames,
The earth ferments, and flows in liquid streams;
Purg'd from their dross, the nobler parts refine,
Receive new forms, and with fresh beauties shine.
Thus fluid parts, unknowing how to burn,
With cold congeal'd, to solid metals turn:
For metals only from devouring flame
Preserve their beauty, and return the same;
Both art and force the well-wrought mass disdains,
And 'midst the fire its native form retains.
Or whether by creation first they sprung,
When yet unpois'd the world's great fabric hung:
Metals the basis of the Earth were made,
The bars on which its fix'd foundation's laid:
All second causes they disdain to own,
And from th' Almighty's fiat sprung alone.
Where smiling shades and beauteous realms invite;
75
And first with wealth thy graceful temples crown;
Through dark retreats pursue the winding ore,
Search Nature's depths, and view her boundless store;
The secret cause in tuneful measures sing,
How metals first are fram'd, and whence they spring.
Whether the active Sun, with chymic flames,
Through porous earth transmits his genial beams;
With heat impregnating the womb of night,
The offspring shines with its paternal light:
On Britain's isle propitiously he shines,
With joy descends, and labours in her mines.
Or whether, urg'd by subterraneous flames,
The earth ferments, and flows in liquid streams;
Purg'd from their dross, the nobler parts refine,
Receive new forms, and with fresh beauties shine.
Thus fluid parts, unknowing how to burn,
With cold congeal'd, to solid metals turn:
For metals only from devouring flame
Preserve their beauty, and return the same;
Both art and force the well-wrought mass disdains,
And 'midst the fire its native form retains.
Or whether by creation first they sprung,
When yet unpois'd the world's great fabric hung:
Metals the basis of the Earth were made,
The bars on which its fix'd foundation's laid:
All second causes they disdain to own,
And from th' Almighty's fiat sprung alone.
Nature in spacious beds preserves her store,
And keeps unmix'd the well-compacted ore;
The spreading root a numerous race maintains
Of branching limbs, and far-extended veins:
Thus, from its watery store, a spring supplies
The lesser streams, that round its fountain rise;
Which bounding out in fair meanders play,
And o'er the meads in different currents stray.
And keeps unmix'd the well-compacted ore;
The spreading root a numerous race maintains
Of branching limbs, and far-extended veins:
Thus, from its watery store, a spring supplies
The lesser streams, that round its fountain rise;
Which bounding out in fair meanders play,
And o'er the meads in different currents stray.
Methinks I see the rounded metal spread,
To be ennobled with our monarch's head:
About the globe th' admired coin shall run,
And make the circle of its parent Sun.
To be ennobled with our monarch's head:
About the globe th' admired coin shall run,
And make the circle of its parent Sun.
How are thy realms, triumphant Britain, blest!
Enrich'd with more than all the distant West!
Thy sons, no more betray'd with hopes of gain,
Shall tempt the dangers of a faithless main,
Traffic no more abroad for foreign spoil,
Supplied with richer from their native soil.
To Dovey's flood shall numerous traders come,
Employ'd to fetch the British bullion home.
To pay their tributes to its bounteous shore,
Returning laden with the Cambrian ore.
Her absent fleet Potosi's race shall mourn,
And wish in vain to see our sails return;
Like misers heaping up their useless store,
Starv'd with their wealth, amidst their riches poor.
Where-e'er the British banners are display'd,
The suppliant nations shall implore our aid:
Till, thus compell'd, the greater worlds confess
Themselves oblig'd, and succour'd by the less.
Enrich'd with more than all the distant West!
Thy sons, no more betray'd with hopes of gain,
Shall tempt the dangers of a faithless main,
Traffic no more abroad for foreign spoil,
Supplied with richer from their native soil.
To Dovey's flood shall numerous traders come,
Employ'd to fetch the British bullion home.
To pay their tributes to its bounteous shore,
Returning laden with the Cambrian ore.
Her absent fleet Potosi's race shall mourn,
And wish in vain to see our sails return;
Like misers heaping up their useless store,
Starv'd with their wealth, amidst their riches poor.
Where-e'er the British banners are display'd,
The suppliant nations shall implore our aid:
Till, thus compell'd, the greater worlds confess
Themselves oblig'd, and succour'd by the less.
How Cambria's mines were to her offspring known,
Thus sacred verse transmits the story down:
Merlin, a bard of the inspired train,
With mystic numbers charm'd the British plain;
Belov'd by Phœbus, and the tuneful Nine,
His song was sacred, and his art divine:
As on Sabrina's fruitful banks he stood,
His wondrous verse restrain'd the listening flood;
The stream's bright goddess rais'd her awful head,
And to her cave the artful shepherd led.
Her swift-decending steps the youth pursues,
And rich in ore the spacious mountain views.
In beds distinct the well rang'd metals lay,
Dispersing rays, and counterfeiting day.
The silver, shedding beams of orient light,
Struck with too fierce a glare his aching sight;
Like rising flames the ruddy copper show'd,
And spread its blushes o'er the dark abode:
Profuse of rays, and with unrival'd beams,
The liquid silver flow'd in restless streams:
Nor India's sparkling gems are half so bright,
Nor waves above, that shine with heavenly light;
When thus the Goddess spake: “Harmonious youth,
Rever'd for numbers fraught with sacred truth!
Belov'd by Heaven! attend while I relate
The fix'd decree, and dark events of Fate.
Conceal'd these treasures lie in Nature's womb,
For future times, and ages yet to come.
When many long revolving years are run,
A hero shall ascend the British throne,
Whose numerous triumphs shall Augusta grace,
In arms renown'd, ador'd for plenteous peace.
Beneath his sway a generous youth shall rise,
With virtues blest, in happy councils wise;
Rich with the spoils of Learning's various store,
Commanding arts, yet still acquiring more.
He, with success, shall enter this abode,
And Nature trace in paths before untrod;
The smiling offspring from her womb remove,
And with her entrails glad the realms above.
Thus sacred verse transmits the story down:
Merlin, a bard of the inspired train,
With mystic numbers charm'd the British plain;
Belov'd by Phœbus, and the tuneful Nine,
His song was sacred, and his art divine:
As on Sabrina's fruitful banks he stood,
His wondrous verse restrain'd the listening flood;
The stream's bright goddess rais'd her awful head,
And to her cave the artful shepherd led.
Her swift-decending steps the youth pursues,
And rich in ore the spacious mountain views.
In beds distinct the well rang'd metals lay,
Dispersing rays, and counterfeiting day.
The silver, shedding beams of orient light,
Struck with too fierce a glare his aching sight;
Like rising flames the ruddy copper show'd,
And spread its blushes o'er the dark abode:
Profuse of rays, and with unrival'd beams,
The liquid silver flow'd in restless streams:
Nor India's sparkling gems are half so bright,
Nor waves above, that shine with heavenly light;
When thus the Goddess spake: “Harmonious youth,
Rever'd for numbers fraught with sacred truth!
Belov'd by Heaven! attend while I relate
The fix'd decree, and dark events of Fate.
Conceal'd these treasures lie in Nature's womb,
For future times, and ages yet to come.
When many long revolving years are run,
A hero shall ascend the British throne,
Whose numerous triumphs shall Augusta grace,
In arms renown'd, ador'd for plenteous peace.
Beneath his sway a generous youth shall rise,
With virtues blest, in happy councils wise;
Rich with the spoils of Learning's various store,
Commanding arts, yet still acquiring more.
He, with success, shall enter this abode,
And Nature trace in paths before untrod;
The smiling offspring from her womb remove,
And with her entrails glad the realms above.
“O youth reserv'd by more auspicious fate,
With fam'd improvements to oblige the state!
By wars empoverish'd, Albion mourns no more,
Thy well-wrought mines forbid her to be poor:
The Earth, thy great exchequer, ready lies,
Which all defect of failing funds supplies;
Thou shalt a nation's pressing wants relieve,
Not war can lavish more than thou canst give.”
With fam'd improvements to oblige the state!
By wars empoverish'd, Albion mourns no more,
Thy well-wrought mines forbid her to be poor:
The Earth, thy great exchequer, ready lies,
Which all defect of failing funds supplies;
Thou shalt a nation's pressing wants relieve,
Not war can lavish more than thou canst give.”
This, Mackworth, fixes thy immortal name,
The Muse's darling, and the boast of fame;
No greater virtues on record shall stand,
Than thus with arts to grace, with wealth enrich the land.
The Muse's darling, and the boast of fame;
No greater virtues on record shall stand,
Than thus with arts to grace, with wealth enrich the land.
| The poems of Dr. Yalden | |