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Poetics

Or, a series of poems, and disquisitions on poetry. By George Dyer
Dyer, George (1755-1841)

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VOL. I.
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ODES.
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BOOK THE FIRST.
 I. 
ODE I. VISIONS.
 III. 
ODE III. ON REVISITING THE SCENES OF EARLIER LIFE.
 IV. 
ODE IV. ON THE APPROACH OF SPRING.
 V. 
ODE V. INDEPENDENCE.
 VI. 
ODE VI. TO JOHN HAMMOND, A. M. OF FENSTANTON, HUNTINGDONSHIRE.
 VII. 
ODE VII. THE RECONCILIATION.
 VIII. 
ODE VIII. INVOCATION TO MAY.
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BOOK THE SECOND.
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ODE I. THE RACE OF HEROES.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 II. 
ODE II. PEACE AND FREEDOM.
 III. 
ODE III. TO MRS. OPIE, WHEN MISS ALDERSON,
 IV. 
ODE IV. TO AN INFANT,
 VI. 
ODE VI. ON CONTEMPLATING THE WEALTH AND AGGRANDIZEMENT FLOWING FROM CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS IN INDIA.
 X. 
ODE X. ON THE EVENING.
 XI. 
ODE XI. CUPID'S ADDRESS;
 XII. 
ODE XII. ON SEEING A LADY'S PORTRAIT.
 XIII. 
ODE XIII. LOVE OF PLEASURE.
 XIV. 
ODE XIV. THE MUSIC OF THE GROVES.
 XV. 
ODE XV. GAIA, OR MY OWN HONEST LANDLADY IN A COUNTRY VILLAGE.
 XVI. 
ODE XVI. THE PHILOSOPHY OF EVIL.
 XVII. 
ODE XVII. ADDRESS TO THE CAM.
 XVIII. 
ODE XVIII. TO A LADY, WHO HAD RALLIED THE AUTHOR IN THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE, FOR HIS REJECTION OF TITLES.
 XXI. 
ODE XXI. TO NARCISSA.
 XXII. 
ODE XXII. TO MELANCHOLY.
 XXIII. 
ODE XXIII. MEDITATED IN THE CLOISTERS OF CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.
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BOOK THE THIRD.
 II. 
ODE II. ON THE CLOSE OF AUTUMN, AFTER AN EXCURSION THROUGH HERTFORDSHIRE AND ESSEX.
 III. 
ODE III. THE RANSOM.
 IV. 
ODE IV. ON SCIENCE.
 VI. 
ODE VI. TO AN ENTHUSIAST.
 VIII. 
ODE VIII. ON PEACE.
 IX. 
ODE IX. ON CONSIDERING THE UNSETTLED STATE OF EUROPE, AND THE OPPOSITION WHICH HAD BEEN MADE TO ATTEMPTS FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.
 XII. 
ODE XII. WRITTEN ON THE DEATH OF JOHN HOWARD, AT HIS VILLA AT CARDINGTON, IN BEDFORDSHIRE.
 XIII. 
ODE XIII. TO THE NIGHTINGALE.
 XV. 
ODE XV. TO A MINIATURE PAINTER,
 XXI. 
ODE XXI. AN EPITAPH FOR A HUMAN BEING.
 XXII. 
ODE XXII. TO A HUMBLE FRIEND.
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BOOK THE FOURTH.
 II. 
ODE II. AN ENGLISH SAPPHIC, IN PRAISE OF SNUFF AND TOBACCO.
 III. 
ODE III. TO MUSIC.
 IV. 
ODE IV. ON WINE.
 V. 
ODE V. AFTER VISITING DRYBURGH ABBEY, IN BERWICKSHIRE.
 VI. 
ODE VI. THE CHARM OF MUSIC.
 VII. 
ODE VII. HYMN TO CHARITY.
 VIII. 
ODE VIII. THE SAILOR.
 IX. 
ODE IX. THE TRIUMPH OF POETRY.
 X. 
ODE X. A SONG.
 XI. 
ODE XI. ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS, AND THE HAVOC OF WAR.
 XII. 
ODE XII. HYMN TO HEALTH.
 XIII. 
ODE XIII.
 XIV. 
ODE XIV.

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ODE IX. ON CONSIDERING THE UNSETTLED STATE OF EUROPE, AND THE OPPOSITION WHICH HAD BEEN MADE TO ATTEMPTS FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.

Why droops Britannia's friend?—Or why,
After short transports, gaily wild,
Seems he to languish o'er a sigh,
Like Sorrow's feverish child?
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And why the bards, of soul sublime,
Who warbled sweet the rapt'rous rhyme,
Now, as tho' anxious to complain,
Sigh out a lonesome strain?
Thus have I seen on soaring wing
The lark gay-circling rise;
Then midst its varying preludes cease to sing,
And downward darting quit the skies.
Listening I seem'd its absence to deplore,
As tho' the melting strain would never charm me more.
But soon again in notes more clear and strong,
The minstrel-bird struck up its magic song,
When, to the breeze as spreads the fleecy sail,
It pierc'd with fluttering wing the mellow gale.
Thus Fox shall rise, meek Mercy's son,
The sons of verse thus strike a nobler lyre,
Tho' now to catch the living fire,
Anxious to future years they run,
When War shall break his lance, when Slavery shall expire.
132

And, see! I view a distant land;
And, hark! I hear a minstrel band.
The negro-slaves, now slaves no more,
Have struck a chord untouch'd before.
Of Afric's wrongs, and Afric's pains,
Oft had they sigh'd in lonely strains;
A tale it was of woe,
Discordant, sad and slow!
But, now 'tis Freedom's song.—And, see!
How the rapt soul fills the eye!
And, hark! was ever minstrelsy
So wing'd with fire, and strain'd to notes so high?
Wildly grand, and strangely sweet—
Yet all is harmony complete,
As when (so sung) atoms in atoms whirl'd,
And Chaos grew to form, and order rul'd the world.
Me distant hope invites;
Me, panting for maturer day,
The fair young dawn delights;
And leaps my heart, tho' humble flows my lay.
For see o'er fair Columbia's plains
Peace extend her halcyon wings;
And tho' no Washington now reigns,
Still Freedom laughs and sings.
This civic wreath with song I blend to thee,
For thou, oh! Fox, wast first to hail Columbia free.
And lives there still a generous band
Studious to raise our sinking land?
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Foremost amidst the group I trace
Thy form superior rise with manly grace;
And many a tear I see thee shed
O'er slaves oppress'd, and heroes dead:
On thee thy country's blessing still attend;
Oh! live thy country's hope, the people's generous friend.
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