Mirth and Metre consisting of Poems, Serious, Humorous, and Satirical; Songs, Sonnets, Ballads & Bagatelles. Written by C. Dibdin, Jun |
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THE OLD OAK.
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THE OLD OAK.
Mark, on yon hill, a venerable Oak
Obnoxious stand to each tempestuous stroke:
Around its trunk, with many a chasm defac'd,
Skirted with moss, by turning ivy brac'd,
The flocks stand thick, for shelter or for shade;
Alike the birds the spreading boughs invade.
I've seen, at eve, when Care relax'd his frown,
Turn'd from his forge and threw his hammer down,
A rustic Sage beneath its covert stand;
By hinds surrounded in a list'ning band;
While he recounted to their wond'ring ears,
Its height, girth, history, and length of years.
Obnoxious stand to each tempestuous stroke:
Around its trunk, with many a chasm defac'd,
Skirted with moss, by turning ivy brac'd,
The flocks stand thick, for shelter or for shade;
Alike the birds the spreading boughs invade.
I've seen, at eve, when Care relax'd his frown,
Turn'd from his forge and threw his hammer down,
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By hinds surrounded in a list'ning band;
While he recounted to their wond'ring ears,
Its height, girth, history, and length of years.
Two generations had already past,
The third, grown hoary, now approach'd its last;
The fourth was rising; since the the manor's lord,
Plac'd it a sapling in the parted sward.
Long was he childless; but, his name to spare,
And 'twas illustrious, Heav'n had sent an heir:
The joyous parent, on the hill's broad head,
In ample heaps the festive honours spread;
All comers welcom'd; and unbounded mirth
Proclaim'd his transport, and the bantling's birth!
Then, as a long memorial of th' event,
The tree was planted; while the air was rent
With bacchant wishes for the Planter's peace,
The Child's prosperity, and Oak's increase.
He, from his grandsire, heard the whole detail;
Who, then a stripling, quaff'd his honour's ale.
The third, grown hoary, now approach'd its last;
The fourth was rising; since the the manor's lord,
Plac'd it a sapling in the parted sward.
Long was he childless; but, his name to spare,
And 'twas illustrious, Heav'n had sent an heir:
The joyous parent, on the hill's broad head,
In ample heaps the festive honours spread;
All comers welcom'd; and unbounded mirth
Proclaim'd his transport, and the bantling's birth!
Then, as a long memorial of th' event,
The tree was planted; while the air was rent
With bacchant wishes for the Planter's peace,
The Child's prosperity, and Oak's increase.
He, from his grandsire, heard the whole detail;
Who, then a stripling, quaff'd his honour's ale.
He told, too, smiling, how it came to prove,
The standing chronicle of rural love;
How, on its bark, the amorous swain engrav'd,
The magic name which all his soul enslav'd!
Some traces mark'd by Time not quite subdu'd:
And, pleas'd, he prais'd the wooers and the woo'd:
Told, in what numbers these could hearts inflame;
How these were victors at the village game.
But now, alas! how ruthless Time destroys!
Gone were the partners of his early joys.
The standing chronicle of rural love;
How, on its bark, the amorous swain engrav'd,
The magic name which all his soul enslav'd!
Some traces mark'd by Time not quite subdu'd:
And, pleas'd, he prais'd the wooers and the woo'd:
Told, in what numbers these could hearts inflame;
How these were victors at the village game.
But now, alas! how ruthless Time destroys!
Gone were the partners of his early joys.
One trace he view'd, and stifled half a sigh;
I saw him turn, a gushing tear to dry;
Himself had form'd it, in a generous hour,
When sleek'd-fac'd Hope arm'd Love's delusive power.
Bright were the damsel's charms, her manners sweet;
Her tongue persuasion, but her soul deceit.
His hopes she flatter'd, and his gifts receiv'd;
Frequent his gifts, for much the youth believ'd;
But much he gave, and much believ'd in vain;
Her hand she yielded to a richer swain.
Drooping he went; but time and youth combin'd
Repair'd his spirits, and confirm'd his mind.
I saw him turn, a gushing tear to dry;
Himself had form'd it, in a generous hour,
When sleek'd-fac'd Hope arm'd Love's delusive power.
Bright were the damsel's charms, her manners sweet;
Her tongue persuasion, but her soul deceit.
His hopes she flatter'd, and his gifts receiv'd;
Frequent his gifts, for much the youth believ'd;
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Her hand she yielded to a richer swain.
Drooping he went; but time and youth combin'd
Repair'd his spirits, and confirm'd his mind.
But no vain beauty now his breast could move;
He shunn'd the sex, and steel'd his soul to love.
Thus all his hopes one artful woman cross'd;
Through one base woman, all his youth was lost.
No nuptial comfort sooth'd his anxious breast;
No parent's joy his yearning soul express'd;
Cheerless, he wander'd through life's dull decline;
And mourn'd “himself the last of all his line.”
Well sung the Bard—“O, be the Jilt accurs'd!
Of all the vicious, surely, she's the worst!”
He shunn'd the sex, and steel'd his soul to love.
Thus all his hopes one artful woman cross'd;
Through one base woman, all his youth was lost.
No nuptial comfort sooth'd his anxious breast;
No parent's joy his yearning soul express'd;
Cheerless, he wander'd through life's dull decline;
And mourn'd “himself the last of all his line.”
Well sung the Bard—“O, be the Jilt accurs'd!
Of all the vicious, surely, she's the worst!”
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