 | The miscellaneous works (1813) |  |
POEMS
EPISTLE:
ADDRESSED TO A PHYSICIAN IN THE WEST INDIES.
[_]
THE Author had been attended with unremitted care through a dangerous fever, in which his life was despaired of:—this Epistle shows his gratitude both to the Physician and the Science of Medicine.
From many a point the inconstant weather blows,
From many a source the Muse's current flows;
To regal chambers oft from sheds of straw
Penurious pencils panegyrics draw;
Envy and Pride inspire censorious lays,
And Vanity steps forth to catch the bays:
Not so my Muse, that rather would unhinge
Each darling line, than boast, or stab, or cringe.
Where merit dwells let panegyric fire!
And there, oh Phœbus! there alone inspire!
For such the praise I love, and such the line,
And heart-felt verse, that truth shall call divine.
Preserver of my life! receive the song,
To thee my first glad notes of health belong.
From many a source the Muse's current flows;
To regal chambers oft from sheds of straw
Penurious pencils panegyrics draw;
Envy and Pride inspire censorious lays,
And Vanity steps forth to catch the bays:
Not so my Muse, that rather would unhinge
Each darling line, than boast, or stab, or cringe.
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And there, oh Phœbus! there alone inspire!
For such the praise I love, and such the line,
And heart-felt verse, that truth shall call divine.
Preserver of my life! receive the song,
To thee my first glad notes of health belong.
And come bright Goddess! come resplendent Health!
To own whose power bend fame, and life, and wealth,
Who at thy S---'s call obedient flew,
And through my frame the vital spark renew,
Unlock the springs from which thy currents flow,
Let Sydenhams live on Britain's isle to show
That dawning Medicine broke o'er Greece, but shone
Meridian bright on British shores alone.
So studious sires to sons their lore display,
Whose stronger genius beams with brighter ray.
The man whom Science and whom Practice sway
Commands disease, diseases all obey:
He chases sickness, he relieves all fears,
And leads fair Health wherever he appears.
Happy! whom Heaven shall partial thus endow!
Such once was Sydenham, such our S--- is now.
To own whose power bend fame, and life, and wealth,
Who at thy S---'s call obedient flew,
And through my frame the vital spark renew,
Unlock the springs from which thy currents flow,
Let Sydenhams live on Britain's isle to show
That dawning Medicine broke o'er Greece, but shone
Meridian bright on British shores alone.
So studious sires to sons their lore display,
Whose stronger genius beams with brighter ray.
The man whom Science and whom Practice sway
Commands disease, diseases all obey:
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And leads fair Health wherever he appears.
Happy! whom Heaven shall partial thus endow!
Such once was Sydenham, such our S--- is now.
As different ills a different treatment claim,
So different climes may well reject the same:
As pole from pole, as east from west retires,
Each varying clime a varying care requires.
So Nature spoke, so Wisdom justly taught,
So Health directed, and so Sydenham thought:
This tropic isle demands a partial care,
And thou wert born to be Life's guardian here.
Friend to mankind! be still the friend thou art,
Nor quit a stage where glorious is thy part;
Still lend thy hand to catch departing worth,
And strive to save it e'er it fly from earth:
Haply! the vile (if such to life you give)
From frowning Death may have been taught to live:
Continue then to spin the vital thread,
Till Fate cry “come,” and every hope be fled.
So different climes may well reject the same:
As pole from pole, as east from west retires,
Each varying clime a varying care requires.
So Nature spoke, so Wisdom justly taught,
So Health directed, and so Sydenham thought:
This tropic isle demands a partial care,
And thou wert born to be Life's guardian here.
Friend to mankind! be still the friend thou art,
Nor quit a stage where glorious is thy part;
Still lend thy hand to catch departing worth,
And strive to save it e'er it fly from earth:
Haply! the vile (if such to life you give)
From frowning Death may have been taught to live:
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Till Fate cry “come,” and every hope be fled.
It seems as if, when Death was born of Sin,
And suffered here his carnage to begin,
It seems as if, beside the general lot
Doomed to mankind, that end by most forgot,
That end which drooping age around displays,
Encircling all till every frame decays;
It seems as if commission were bestowed,
On hungry Death by an enraged God,
To search mankind, to roam the earth around,
And where that daring mortal should be found,
Who, listless of the law that he ordains,
Should dare for pleasures to encounter pains,
To aim his dart without the previous nod,
And hurl him thoughtless to his last abode;
To stamp disease upon his infant race,
Parental monument of foul disgrace!
The healthless trunk inoculates the bud,
And Death regales on inoffensive blood.
But how was mercy pierced and justice cloyed,
When Death a thousand heedless youth destroyed!
And guiltless infants through a guilty stock,
Unconscious, met the inevitable rock,
Who had they lived till Wisdom led the way,
Had given some spirit to this world of clay!
Young Indiscretion blasted Manhood's worth,
And Death stood by to hurl it from the earth:
Heaven saw and sorrowed, and, with mercy fraught,
Bade genius rise, and Medicine was taught.—
The healing plant is culled from Nature's lap,
Whence the dried trunk receives recruited sap;
The stream of life, when boiling through each vein,
Drawn from its circle, learns to cool again;
Adapted means ingenious quest reward,
And Life encompass with an ample guard.
Death, thus opposed, by man is vanquished still,
Till interposing Fate elude all skill:
All, all must pass the dread involving wave,
And S--- himself must fail the power to save.
And suffered here his carnage to begin,
It seems as if, beside the general lot
Doomed to mankind, that end by most forgot,
That end which drooping age around displays,
Encircling all till every frame decays;
It seems as if commission were bestowed,
On hungry Death by an enraged God,
To search mankind, to roam the earth around,
And where that daring mortal should be found,
Who, listless of the law that he ordains,
Should dare for pleasures to encounter pains,
To aim his dart without the previous nod,
And hurl him thoughtless to his last abode;
To stamp disease upon his infant race,
Parental monument of foul disgrace!
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And Death regales on inoffensive blood.
But how was mercy pierced and justice cloyed,
When Death a thousand heedless youth destroyed!
And guiltless infants through a guilty stock,
Unconscious, met the inevitable rock,
Who had they lived till Wisdom led the way,
Had given some spirit to this world of clay!
Young Indiscretion blasted Manhood's worth,
And Death stood by to hurl it from the earth:
Heaven saw and sorrowed, and, with mercy fraught,
Bade genius rise, and Medicine was taught.—
The healing plant is culled from Nature's lap,
Whence the dried trunk receives recruited sap;
The stream of life, when boiling through each vein,
Drawn from its circle, learns to cool again;
Adapted means ingenious quest reward,
And Life encompass with an ample guard.
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Till interposing Fate elude all skill:
All, all must pass the dread involving wave,
And S--- himself must fail the power to save.
ELEGIAC EPISTLE.
[_]
THE Author supposes the tender Platonic Petrarch to have addressed the following Stanzas to Laura, from his favorite fountain of Vaucluse.
All here is calm; the limpid Fountain here
Bears not a ripple on its polished plain;
Propitious Solitudes! to Petrarch dear,
Grant him a sympathetic calm to gain.
Bears not a ripple on its polished plain;
Propitious Solitudes! to Petrarch dear,
Grant him a sympathetic calm to gain.
Yet, what avails it, Laura, to possess
A soul for sympathetic feelings formed,
Unless in pain the soul seek happiness,
Unless with misery the heart be charmed.
A soul for sympathetic feelings formed,
Unless in pain the soul seek happiness,
Unless with misery the heart be charmed.
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A kindred soul shall grateful charms disclose,
And the fond heart with lively transports fill;
Some demon bar, some league shall interpose,
And damp the rising hope with Lapland chill.
And the fond heart with lively transports fill;
Some demon bar, some league shall interpose,
And damp the rising hope with Lapland chill.
Perchance some nymph whom Eastern beauty crowns,
Where charms of person and of soul combine,
On whom fond Nature smiles, nor Fortune frowns,
Already stands a pledge for Hymen's shrine.
Where charms of person and of soul combine,
On whom fond Nature smiles, nor Fortune frowns,
Already stands a pledge for Hymen's shrine.
Though Nature had forbid her mind to hate,
Haply she felt not yet the kindred power,
But urged, she innocently yields to fate,
And in a luckless moment names the hour.
Haply she felt not yet the kindred power,
But urged, she innocently yields to fate,
And in a luckless moment names the hour.
If e'er the irrevocable chain be locked,
A soul congenial urge a stronger claim,
Oh! if on sympathy the heart be rocked,
What mind can wonder, or what mind can blame?
A soul congenial urge a stronger claim,
Oh! if on sympathy the heart be rocked,
What mind can wonder, or what mind can blame?
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Affinity's great chain in order lies,
And from one source, see brothers brothers greet:
So from one mould related souls arise,
And kindred claim where'er they chance to meet.
And from one source, see brothers brothers greet:
So from one mould related souls arise,
And kindred claim where'er they chance to meet.
And, Laura, much concerns it human weal
That souls related should alone unite:
Then would few nymphs to pensive closets steal,
Few youths o'er-clouded live an endless night.
That souls related should alone unite:
Then would few nymphs to pensive closets steal,
Few youths o'er-clouded live an endless night.
Ah! fate severer than the plighted hand,
That from the chain could draw e'er yet 'twas lost!
Perhaps, for who can destiny withstand!
Some hapless youth forbidden fires exhaust.
That from the chain could draw e'er yet 'twas lost!
Perhaps, for who can destiny withstand!
Some hapless youth forbidden fires exhaust.
A youth, say not unknown at Honour's shrine,
And not unconscious of fair Virtue's due;
Then will not Laura at his fate repine,
And curse that sympathy which he must rue?
And not unconscious of fair Virtue's due;
Then will not Laura at his fate repine,
And curse that sympathy which he must rue?
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If such a youth there be, a generous heart,
Like that which Laura's ample breast contains,
Would chuse the kinder, nobler, friendly part,
And calm to Friendship Love's unruly pains:
Like that which Laura's ample breast contains,
Would chuse the kinder, nobler, friendly part,
And calm to Friendship Love's unruly pains:
If such a youth there be, dejected, torn,
Whose slender reason Passion strong confounds,
Pity can best uplift the heart forlorn,
And balmy Friendship soothe Love's keener wounds.
Whose slender reason Passion strong confounds,
Pity can best uplift the heart forlorn,
And balmy Friendship soothe Love's keener wounds.
When transports thrill his breast let frowns be far,
But urge from Honour nobler recompense;
His Reason teach the Passion to out-war,
And raise him higher than the joys of sense.
But urge from Honour nobler recompense;
His Reason teach the Passion to out-war,
And raise him higher than the joys of sense.
And if warm numbers from his pencil glide,
If rapturous Love hath taught the line to glow,
Chasten the line, and as the Muse preside;
His numbers teach in cooler verse to flow.
If rapturous Love hath taught the line to glow,
Chasten the line, and as the Muse preside;
His numbers teach in cooler verse to flow.
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“Ah! to my notes thine ear still partial lend”—
(Thus might be laid the tempest of his song)
“Still joy to own that Petrarch is thy friend,
“So pass thy days all undisturbed along;
(Thus might be laid the tempest of his song)
“Still joy to own that Petrarch is thy friend,
“So pass thy days all undisturbed along;
“Calm as the Seas when peaceful halcyons brood,
“And launch their little fortress on the wave;
“When softest Zephyrs breathe not on the flood,
“And glowing nymphs may not approach to lave:
“And launch their little fortress on the wave;
“When softest Zephyrs breathe not on the flood,
“And glowing nymphs may not approach to lave:
“Calm as the mind which innocence inspires,
“Calm as the soul where no wild Passion reigns,
“But Virtue regulates, and Wisdom fires,
“And the cool blood flows tranquil thro' the veins.”
“Calm as the soul where no wild Passion reigns,
“But Virtue regulates, and Wisdom fires,
“And the cool blood flows tranquil thro' the veins.”
EPIGRAM.
[An Ass, says Esop, died betwixt]
An Ass, says Esop, died betwixt
Two ricks of hay;
On neither could his choice be fixt,
So down he lay.
Two ricks of hay;
On neither could his choice be fixt,
So down he lay.
A twelvemonth full young Damon stood
By Love suspended;
Now smiled on Chloe, now on Jude,
And both commended.
By Love suspended;
Now smiled on Chloe, now on Jude,
And both commended.
But one at length, the chosen lass,
He made his bride:
Was Damon now the greater Ass,
Or he that died?
He made his bride:
Was Damon now the greater Ass,
Or he that died?
The Author hopes that sincerity is not necessary in the composition of an Epigram, which is a concise Poem that would be in danger of being lost to the Poetic Art, if Truth and Good-nature were allowed to stand in the way of a droll turn of words, or quaint combination of ideas.
EPITAPH:
ON MICHAEL VERINO, THE FLORENTINE POET,
WHO PREFERRED DEATH TO MARRIAGE, WHICH HAD BEEN ADVISED BY HIS PHYSICIANS.
Sola Venus poterat lento succurrere morbo:
Ne se polluerit malluit ille mori.
Politian.
Ne se polluerit malluit ille mori.
Politian.
EPIGRAMATIZED.
Poor Michael pines—a wife the Wigs advise:
A Wife!—a Wife!—ah Heaven forbid! he cries.
Bleed, blister, vomit, purge away my life,
But save me, Doctors, save me from a Wife.
SONGS.
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IV.
[When Hope endears the Lover's chain]
When Hope endears the Lover's chain,
And sooths the enamoured heart;
When Beauty smiles to hear the strain,
How pleasing is the smart!
And sooths the enamoured heart;
When Beauty smiles to hear the strain,
How pleasing is the smart!
But if Despair the sting increase,
And every Hope remove;
If Beauty beam no ray of peace,
How dreadful 'tis to love!
And every Hope remove;
If Beauty beam no ray of peace,
How dreadful 'tis to love!
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V.
[Days of Love are days of pleasure]
Days of Love are days of pleasure,
Love is Woman's mighty treasure,
Love is Man's excessive joy;
Love exalts the human soul,
'Tis the spark Prometheus stole,
When he formed his argil boy;
Without it still were man but clay,
And lovely woman a phosphoric ray.
Love is Woman's mighty treasure,
Love is Man's excessive joy;
Love exalts the human soul,
'Tis the spark Prometheus stole,
When he formed his argil boy;
Without it still were man but clay,
And lovely woman a phosphoric ray.
Stella then impart thy treasure,
As thou hopest for days of pleasure;
Give me Love's excessive joy,
And exalt thy Lover's soul;
Fan the spark Prometheus stole,
Till the flame all clay destroy:
Till ecstasies thy Henry prove,
Till beauteous Stella kindle life by Love.
As thou hopest for days of pleasure;
Give me Love's excessive joy,
And exalt thy Lover's soul;
Fan the spark Prometheus stole,
Till the flame all clay destroy:
Till ecstasies thy Henry prove,
Till beauteous Stella kindle life by Love.
| The miscellaneous works (1813) | |