 | Rural sketches and poems |  |
EPITHALAMIUM.
To hail such unions with a bridal greeting:
When Rome tower'd loftiest, when Greece was young,
The free-born Bard in rapturous measures sung
Of Innocence and Loveliness, displayed
Bright as Diana's in the forest shade:
Nor, deem I lady, though each brow was fair,
Eyes soft, and deep,—words liquid as the air,—
Though poets' hymns rose musical and free,
Liv'd one more blest, more beautiful than thee.
Fountains and rivers glittering in the sun;
But thou, where Wynyard's rich and wooded plain,
Stretches afar its ample broad domain,
(Where Tees runs sweeping by old Barnard's towers,
Barnard Castle. These ruins present a fine remnant of antiquity, and were formerly the baronial residence of the Baliols, ancestors of Baliol King of Scotland (as De Brus of Gisborough, was also ancestor of Bruce King of Scotland, and of the present Queen Victoria, through marriage with the Stuarts) who came over to England with William the Conqueror.
Gainford's sweet valleys, Dinsdale's fragrant bowers,
Mingles its waters with the azure ocean,)
Wert nobly rear'd by parents just, and kind,
Who watch'd thy infant steps, who trained thy mind,
And, still enriching, gave it stores of love,
The eagle's power, the mildness of the dove.
'Twas borne upon the trumpet-tongue of Fame,
'Twas linked with one descended from a tree
Whose every branch bore wreaths of Victory—
That valiant hero, who on Blenheim's plain
Review'd the deeds of Agincourt again,
Prov'd to the fiery Gaul that British steel
In British hands was still invincible,
That England, like her oak, may swerve awhile,
Then, scorn the tempests, and more proudly smile.
Deeds proud and high that stamp thy coronet
One name still honour'd in thy natal North,
The Marchioness of Londonderry's father, Sir Henry Vane Tempest, was highly popular in the County of Durham. “In his regular attendance to parliamentary duties, he was always to be found at his post: and the wants and wishes of the county were attended to, and forwarded to the utmost of his power and abilities. He enjoyed the unbounded confidence of his constituents, and he was never shackled by any pledge or promise as to the line of conduct he should pursue; they were satisfied he never would deviate from the right path, when he followed the dictates of his own heart! He never spoke in the House of Commons, nor at public meetings in the County, except he felt decply interested in the subject of debate, when, such was the noble energy of his delivery and masculine strength of his language, he governed the fixed attention of his auditors, and carried irresistible conviction to the mind.” Sharp's Hartlepool, p., 84.
Renown'd for generous acts, for sterling worth:—
Another, who when storms and tempests howl'd
When fiercest clouds o'er England's prospects scowl'd;
When Treason thundered, when Rebellion struck,
When hostile ranks in fierce collision shook—
He, calm, erect, undaunted, undismayed,
The Ægis banners of our Isle display'd;
And, through the stormy waves and angry spray,
You grac'd the festal throng:—that scene is past!
Now, parterres wide, now rich, and fertile plains,
Groves pure and fragrant, ample, broad domains,
Worlds of delight and happiness are thine,
Aspiring hopes, and ecstacies divine!
And O, from this glad union may there rise
Fair cherubs to delight their parents' eyes,
Young stems attendant on your marriage vow,
So that, in future time may spring from you
Fresh bays of Blenheim, and of Waterloo!
Perchance to meet those eyes I may not see;
No venal sacrifice, no courtly theme,
This is the souls free gift, a Poet's dream;
The lays that Pope rehears'd, that Dryden sung,
That Spencer warbled, never can be wrong:—
Nor, lady, send I thee mere tricks of art,
Each word I write springs gushing from the heart!
| Rural sketches and poems | |