Part on fair Avon's margin seek repose, The corner trees he lifts more high in air,
Whore Nream o'er Britain's midmost region flows, And girds the palace with a verdant square;
Where formidable Neptune never came,

Nor knows, while round he views the rising scenes,
And feas and oceans are but known by fame : He builds a city as he plants his greens.
Soine to dark woods and secret Thade retreat ; With a sad pleasure the aerial maid
And some on mountains choose their airy leat. This image of her ancient realms survey'd,
There haply by the ruddy damsel seen,

How chang'd, how fail'n from its primæval fatę! Or shepherd-boy, they fcatly foot the green, Yee here each moon, the hour her lover dy'd, While from their steps a circling verdure springs; Each moon his solemn obsequies she pays, But fly from towns, and dread the courts of kings. And leads the dance beneath pale Cynthia's rays;

Mean while sad Kenna, loth to quit the grove, Pleas'd in these fhades co bead her fairy train, Hung o'er the body of her breathles, love, And grace the groveswhere Albion’skinsmen reign. Try'd every art, (ain arts:) to change his doom, And vow'd (vain vows :) to join him in the tunib.

TO A LADY BEFORE MARRIAGE. What could she do? the faces alike deny The dead to live, or fairy forms to die. (tells Ok, form’d by nature, and refin'd by art!

An herb there grows (the fame old * Homer With charms to win, and sense to fix the heart! Ulysies bore to rival Circe's spells)

By thousands sought, Clotilda, cans thou free Its root is ebon-black, but sends to light

Thy crowd of captives, and descend to me?'
A fem that bends with flowrets milky white, Content in shades obscure to waste thy life,
Moly the plant, which gods and fairies know, A hidden beauty, and a country wise.
But secret kept from morial men below.

O, liften, while thy summers are my theme !
On his pale limbs its virtuous juice Me shed, Ah, soothe thy pariner in his wakirig dream!
And murmur'd mystic numbers o'er the dead, In some small hanılet on the lonely plaid,
When lo! the little shape by magic power Where Thames, through meadows, rolls his oia-
Grew less and less, contracted to a flower;

zy train;

(ray'd, A fluwer, that first in this sweet garden (mild, Or where high Windsor, chick with greens ar To virgins sacred, and the snow-drop fylld. Waves his old oaks, and spreads his ample ibade, "The new-born plant with sweet regret she Fancy has figur'd out our calm retreat; view'd,

(dew'd, | Already round the visionary seat Warmd with her øghs, and with her tear's bc- Our limes begin to fhoot, our flowers to fpring, Its sipen'd seeds'from bank to bank convey'd, The brooks to murmur, and the birds to sing. And with her lover whiten'd half the shade. Where dost thou lie, thou thinly-peopled green? Thus won from death cach spring she sees him Thcu nameless lawn, and village yet unseen? grow,

Where fons, contented with their native ground, And glories in the vegetable snow, (plains, Ne'er travell’d further than ten furlongs round; Which now increas'd through wide Britannia's And the tann'd peasant, and his ruddy bride, Its parent's warmth and Spotless name retains, Were born together, and together died. Firit leader of the Howery race aspires,

Where early larks best tell the morning light, And foremost catches the sun's genial fires, And only Philomel difturbs the night; 'Mid froßt's and snows triumphant dares appear, ’Midt gardens here my humble pile shall rise, Mingles ilic fealons, and leads on the year. With swects surrounded of ten thousand dyes; *Deserted now of all the pigmy race,

All lavage where th' embroider'd gardens end, Nor man nor fairy touch'd this guilty place. The haunt of echoes Mall my woods ascend; In heaps on heaps, for many a rolling age,

And wh! if heaven ih'anibitious thought approve, It lay accurs’d, che mark of Neptune's rage,

A rill thail warble cross the gloomy grove, Till great Nallau recloth’d the desart shade, A little rill, o'er pebbly beds convey'd, Thence sacred to Britannia's monarchs made. Gush down the feep, and glitter through the glade. 'Twas ihen the green-rol'd nymph, fair Kenna, What cheering scents those bordering banks is. came,

hale : (Kenpa; that gave the neighbouring town its naine.) How loud that heifer lows from yonder vale! l'roud when the saw th' ennobleu gaiden hive, 1 hai thruth how fhrill: his note so clear, fo high, With nymphs and heroes of her lover's line, He drowns cach featber'd miultrel of the ky. She vow'd io grace the manilor's once her own, Here lee me trace, beneath the purpled morn, And pidure out in plants the fairy town.

The deep mouth'd beagle, and the sprightly horn : To far-fam'd' wife her fight upseen she sped, Or lure the trout with well-dissembled flies, And with gáy prospects fill'd the craftsman's head, Or fetch the fluttering partridge from the skies, Scft in his fancy drew a pleasing scheme,

Nor thall thy hand disdain to crop the vine, And planni'd that landfip is a morning dream. The dówny peach, or flavour'd nc&arine ;

with the sweet view the fire of gardens fir'd, Or rob the bec-hive of its golden hoard, Attempts the labour by the nymph inlpir'd, And bear th' unbought luxuriance to thy board. The walls and freets in rows of yew designs, Sometimes my bauks by day shall kill the hours, And forms the town in all its ancient lines; While froni thy needle sise the filken flowers,

And thoo, by żurns, to ease my feeble light, Odol. Lib. I,

Rosunie the volume, and decrire the right

Oh! when I mark thy twinkling eyes opprest, Behind, thy patron saint in armour shines,
Soft whispering, let me warn my love to rest ; With sword and lance, to guard thy sacred lines :
Then watch thee, charm’d, while Necp locks every Beneath his courser's feet the dragon lics
sepse,

Transfix'd ; his blood thy scarlet cover dies; And to sweet heaven commend thy innocence. Th'inflructive handle's at the bottom fix'd, Thus reign'd our fathers o'er the rural fold, Left wrangling critics should pervert the text. Wise, hale, and honest, in the days of old ; .

Or if to ginger-bread thou shalt descend, Till courts arose, where substance pays for show, And liquorish learning to thy babes extend; And specious joys are bought with real woe. Or sugar'd plane, o'erspread with beaten gold, See Flavia's pendants, large, well-spread, and Does the sweet treasure of thy letters hold; right,

Thou fill thale be my fong - Apollo's choir The ear that wears them hears a fool each night : I scorn t' invoke ; Cadmus my verse inspire : Mark how th' embroider'd colonel Incaks away,

'Twas Cadmus who the first materials brought To mun the withering dame that made him gay; Of all the learning which has since been caught, That knave, to gain a title, lost his fame;

Soon made complete! for mortals ne'er snall know That rais'd his credit by a daughter's fhame;

More than contain'd of old the Christ-cross row; This coxcomb's ribband cost him half his land, What masters dictate, or what doctors preach, And oaks, unnumber'd, bought that fool a wand. Wise matrons hence, ev'n to our children teach : lond man, as all his sorrows were too few, But as the name of every plant and flower Acquires strange wants that nature never knew, (So common that each peasant knows its power) By midnight lamps he emulates the day,

Physicians in mysterious cant express, And Deeps, perverle, the cheerful suns away ; T'amuse the patient, and enhance their fees ; From goblets high-embolt, his wine must glide,

So from the letters of our native tongue, Round his clos'd light the gorgeous curtain slide; Put in Greek scrawls, a mystery too is sprung, Fruits ere their time to grace his pomp mus rise, Schools are erected, puzzling grammars made, And three untasted courses glue his eyes.

And artful men strike out a gainful trade: For this are nature's gentle calls withood, Strange characters adorn the learned gate, The voice of conscience, and the bonds of blood; And heedless youth catch at the shining bait; This wisdom thy reward for every pain,

The pregnant boys the noisy charms declare, And this gay glory all thy mighey gain.

And • Tau's and Delta's make their mother's stare; Fair phantoms wood and scorn'd from age to age, Th' uncommon sounds-amaze the vulgar ear, Since bards began to laugh, or priests to rage.

And what's uncommon never costs too dear. And yet, just curse on man's alpiring kind, Yet in all tongues the horn-book is the same, Prone to ambition, to example blind,

Taught by the Grecian mafter, or the Englisi Our children's children shall our steps pursue,

dame. And the same errors be for ever new.

But how shall I thy endless virtues tell, Mean while in hope a guiltless country swain,

In which thou dost all other books excel?
My recd with warblings cheers th’imagin'd plain. No greasy thumbs thy spotless leaf can soil,
Hail humble shades, where truth and silence dwell! Nor crooked dogs.ears thy Inrooth corners spoil ;
Thou noisy town, and faithless court, farewell! In idle pages no errata stand,
Farewell ambition, once my darling flame! To tell the blunders of the printer's hand :
The thirit of lucre, and the charm of fame! No fullome dedication here is writ,
In lise's by-road, that winds through paths un Nor flattering verse, to praise the author's wit:
known,

The margin with no tedions notes is vex'd,
My days, though Aumber'd, shall be all my own. Nor various reading to confound the text :
Here shall they end, (O, might they twice begin!) All parties in thy literal sense agree,
And all be white the fates intend to fpin.

Thou perfect centre of concordancy!

Search we the records of an ancient date,
A POEM,

Or read what modern histories relate,
IN PRAISE OF THE HORN-BOOK.

They all proclaim what wonders have been dong

By the plain letters taken as they run :
Written under e Fit of the Gout.

+ Too high the floods of passion us'd to roll,

“ And rend the Roman youth's impatient soul; " Magni magna patrant, nos non nisi ludicra

“ His hasly anger furnish'd scenes of blood, Podagra hæc oria fecit."

“ And frequent deaths of worthy men ensued: Hail, ancient book, most venerable code! “ In vain were all the weaker methods try'd, Learning's first cradle, and its last abode!

“ None could suffice to stem che furious tide, The huge unnumber'd volumes which we see, “ Thy sacred line he did but once repeat, By lazy plagiaries are stol'n from thee.

“ And laid the storm, and cool'd the raging heat." Yet future tinies, to thy sufficient store,

Thy heavenly notes, like angels' music, cheer Shall ne'er presume to add one letter more. Departing fouls, and soothe the dying ear.

Thee will I fing, in comely wainscot bound, And golden verge enclosing thee around;

* Tbe Greek letler's T, A. The faithful horn before, from age to age,

† The advice given to ouguflus, by Athenodorus ika Prefcoving th; invaluable page ;

Stoic philofopber .

E e pj

An aged peasant, on his latest bed,

Reputation ever tearing,
Wilh'd for a friend fomë godly book to read; Ever dearest friendship swearing:
The pious grandson thy known handle takes,

Judgment weak, and passion firoog;
And (eyes list up) this tavory lecture makes: Always various, always wrong:
Great A he gravely read; ch' important found Provocation never waits,
The empty walls and hallow roof rebound: Where he loves, or where he hates.
Th’expiring ancient rear'd his drooping head, Talks whatc'er comes in his head,
And thank'd his tars that Hodge had learn'd to Wilhs it were all unfaid.
read.

Let me now the vices trace,
Great B, the younker bauls; O heavenly breath! From his father's scoundrel race,
What ghoftly comforts in the hour of death! Who could give the looby such airs;
What hopes i feel! great C, pronounc'd the boy; Were they masons? Were they butchers!
The grandlire dies with ecftasy of joy.

Herald end the muse an answer,
Yet in some lands such ignorance abounds, From his atavus and grandfire;
Whole parishes scarce know thy useful founds. This was dexterous at his trowel,
Of Effex hundreds fame gives this report,

That was bred to kill a cow well: But fame, I ween, says many things in sport. Hence the greasy clumsy mien, Scarce lives the man to whom thou'rt quite un In his dress and figure seen: known,

Hence that mean and fordid soul, Though few th’ extent of thy vast empire own. Like his body, rank and foul: Whatever wonders magic spells can do

Hence that wild suspicious peep, On carth, in air, in fea, in shades below;

Like a rogue that steals a sheep : What words profound and dark wise Mahomet Hence he learn'd the butcher's guile, spoke,

How to cut a throat and smile : When his old cow an angel's figure took ;

Like a butcher doom'd for lise, What strong enchantments fage Canidia knew, In his mouth to wear his knife. Or Horace fung, fierce monsters to fubdue, Hence he draws his daily food, mighty book! are all contain'd in you?

From his tenant's viral blood. All human arts, and every science meet,

Lastly, let his gifts be try'd,
Within the limits of thy fingle sheet :

Borrow'd from the mason fide.
From thy vaft root all learning's branches grow, Some, perhaps, may think him able
sind all ber streams from thy deep fountain flow. In the state to build a Babel;
And, lo! while thus thy wonders I indite, Could we place him in a station
Inspir'd I feel the power of which I write; To destroy the old foundation.
Thc geniler gout his former rage forgets,

True, indeed, I should be gladder
Less frequent now, and less severe the fits :

Could he learn to mount the ladder,
Loose grew the chains which bound my useless feet; May he at his letter end
Stiffness and pain from every joint retreat ; Mount alive, and dead descend.
Surprising strength coines every moment on, In him tell me, which prevail,
I stand, I step, I walk, and now I run.

Pemale vices moft, or male?
Here let me cease, my hobling numbers stop, What produc'd them, can you tell?
Abd at thy handle hang my crutches up. Human race, or imp of hell?
THERISTES;

OXFORD:
OR, THE LORDLING,
The Grandson of a Cricklayer, Great-grandson of a

Infcribed to Lord Lonsdale, 1907.
Butcher.

“ Unum opus eft inta&tæ palladis urbem THERISTES of amphibious breed,

Carminc perpetuo celebrare"Motley fruit of mongrel feed:

Hor. I Od. vii. By the dam from lo:dlings sprung, By the fire exhal'd from dung:

Whilst you, my lord, adorn that stately seat, 7 hink on every vicc in both,

Where shining beauty makes her soft retreat, Look on him, and see their growth.

Enjoying all those graces, uncontrol'd, View him on the mother's side,

Which noblest youths would die but to behold; Fild with falsehood, spleen, and pride,

Whilst you inhabit Lowther's awful pile, Positive and over-bearing,

A ftru&ure worthy of the founder's toil; Changing ftill, and fill adhering,

Amaz'd we see the former Lonsdale shine Spiteful, peevish, sude, untoward :

In each descendant of hnis nuble line : Fierce in tongue, in heart a coward,

But most transported and furpriz'd we view When his friends he molt is hard on,

His ancient glories all seviv'd in you, Lringing comes to beg their pardon;

Where charms and virtues join their equal grace,

Your father's godlike foul, your mother's lovely l'aida Tabula. -Hos.

face.

A POEN.

Me fortune and kind Heaven's indulgent care So fountains, which through secret channels flow, To famous Oxford and the muses bear,

And pour above the floods they take below, Where; of all ranks, the blooming youths combine Back to their father ocean urge their way, To pay due homage to the mighty Nine,

And to the sea, the streams it gave, repay. And snatch, with Inuiling joy, the laurel crown,

No more we fear the military rage, Due to the learned honours of the gown.

Nurs'd up in some obscure barbarian age ; Here I, the meanest of the tuneful throng,

Nor dread the ruin of our arts divine, Delude the time with an unhallow'd song,

From thick-fcull'd heroes of the Gothic line, Which thus my thanks to much-lov'd Oxford pays, Though pale the Romans faw those arms advances In no ungrateful, though unartful lays.

And wept their learning loft in ignorance. Where thall I first the beauteous scene disclose, Let brutal rage around its terrors spread, And all the gay variety expose ?

The living murder, and consume the dead, For wherefoe'er I turn my wondering eyes, In impious fires let nobleft writings burn, Aspiring towers and verdant groves arise,

And with their authors hare a common urn; Immortal greens the smiling plains array,

Only, ye fates, our lov'd Bodleian spare, And mazy rivers murmur all the way.

Be ir, and learning's felf shall be your care, 0! might your eyes behold each sparkling Here every art and every grace shall join, dome,

Colleaed Phoebus here alone fhall shine,
And freely o'er the beauteous prospect roam, Each other seat be dark, and this be all divine.
Less ravith'd your own Lowther you'd survey, Thus when the Greeks imperial Proy defac'd,
Though pomp and state the costly feat display, And to the ground its fatal walls debas'd,
Where art so nicely has adorn'd the place,

In vain they burn the work of hands divine,
That nature's aid might seem an useless grace; And vow deftru&ion to the Dardan line,
Yet nature's smiles such various charms impart, Whilft good Æneas fties th' unequal wars,
That vain and needless are the strokes of art. And, with his guardian gods, lülus bears,
In equal state our rising Itructures thine,

Old Troy for ever stands in him alone,
Fram'd by such rules, and form'd by such design, And all the Phrygian kings survive in one.
That here, at once surpris'd and pleas'd, we view Here still presides each fage's reverend (nade,
Old Athens loft and conquer'd in the new;

In soft and easy grandeur laid; More sweet our shades, more' fit our bright abodes Their deathless works forbid their fame to die, For warbling muses and inspiring gods.

Nor time itself their perfons shall defroy, Great " Vanbrook's self might own each artful Preserv'd within the living gallery *. draught

What greater gift could bountcous heaven beEqual to models in his curious thought,

ftow, Nor scorn a fabric by our plans to frame,

Than to be seen above, and read below?
Or in immortal labours sing their same;

With deep respect I bend my duteous head;
Both ways he saves them from destroying late, To see the faithful likeness of the dead;
If he but praise them, or but imitate.

Bue O! what muse can equal warmth impart?
See, where the sacred † Sheldon's haughty dome The painter's skill transcends the poct's art.
Rivals the stately pomp of ancient Ronie, When round the pidurid founders I descry,
Whose form, so great and noble seems design'd With goodness soft, and great with majesty,
T'express the grandeur of its founder's mind. So much of life the artful colours give,
Herc, in one lofty building, we behold

Scarce more within their colleges they live;
U'hate'er the Latian pride could boast of old. My blood begins in wilder rornds to roll,
Troe, no dire combats feed the savage eye, And pleasing tumults combat in my soul;
And strew the land with sportive cruelty; An humble awe my downcast eyes betray,
But, more adorn'd with what the muse inspires, And only lefs than adoration pay,
It far outshines their blondy cheatrcs.

Such were the Roman fathers, when o'ercome, Delightful scene! when here, in equal verse, They saw the Gauls insult o'er conquer'd Rome? The youthful bards their godlike queen rehcarfe, Each captive feem's the haughey victor's lord, To Churchill's wreaths Apollo's laurel join, And proftrate chiefs their awful Naves ador'd. And fing the plains of Hockstet and Juduign. Such art as this adorns your Lowther's hall,

Next let the mule record our Bodley's seat t Where fcasting gods carouse upon the wall; Nor aim at numbers, like the subject, great : The netar, which creating paint supplies, All hail, thou fabric, facred to the Nine,

Intoxicates each pleas'd spectator's eyes ; Thy fame in: mortal, and thy form divine! Who view, aniaz'd, the figures heavenly fair, Who to thy praise attempts the dangerous flight, And think they breathe the true Elysian air. Should in thy various tongues be taught to write; With firokes so bold, great Verrio's hand has His verse, like chce, a lofty dress should wear,

drawn And breathe the genius which inhabits there; The gods in dwellings brighter than their own. Thy proper lays alone can make thee live,

Fir'd with a thousand raptures, I behold And pay that same, which first thyself dich give. What lively features grac'd each bard of old;

Such lips, I think, did guide his charming congue, • Sir John Vanbrugb.

In such an air as this the poet sung; † Tue Tbeatre. The Beeleian Library,

* Tbe Picture Gallery

Such eyes as these glow'd with the sacred fire, The building * , parent of my young estays
And hands like these employ'd the vocal lyre. Aks in return a tributary praise.
Quite ravish'd, I pursue each image o'er,

Pillars sublime bear up the learned weight,
And searce admire their deathless labours more. And antique sages tread the pompous height;
See where the gloomy Scaliger appears,

Whilst guardian muses shade the happy piles,
Each fhade is critic, and each feature sneers; And all around diffuse propitious siniles.
The artful Ben so smartly strikes the eye, Here Lancaster, adorn'd with every grace,
I more than see a fancied comedy;

Stands chief in merit, as the chief in place :
The muddy Scotus crowns the motley show, To his lov'd name our earliest lays belong,
And metaphysics cloud his wrinkled brow. The theme at once, and patron of our song.
But distant awe invades my beating breast, Long may he o'er his much lov'd queen's preside,
To see great Ormond in the pairit exprest; Our arts encourage, and our counsels guide;
With fear I view the figure from afar,

Till after-ages, fill'd with glad surprisc,
Which burns with noble ardour for the war; Behold his image all majestic rise,
But near approaches free my doubting mind, Where now in pomp a venerable band,
To view such sweetness with such grandeur join'd. Princes and queens, and holy fathers, ftand.

Here studious heads the graver iablet fhows, Good Egglesfield claims homage from the eye,
And there with martial warmth the picture glows; And the hard fone seems soft with piety;
The blooming youth here boasts a brighter hue, The mighty monarchs still the same appear,
And painted virgins far outshine the true.

And every marble frown provokes the war;
Hail, colours, which with nature bear a strise, Whilst rugged rocks, niark'd with Philippa's face,
And only want a voice to perfect life;

Soften to charms, and glow with new-born grace.
The wondering stranger makes a sudden stand, A fight less noble did the warriors yield,
And pays low homage to the lovely band; Transform'd to ftatues by the Gorgon shield;
Within each frame a real fair believes,

Distorting fear the coward's forni confest,
And vainly thinks the mimic canvass lives; And fury fecm'd to heave the hero's breast;
Till, undeceiv'd, he quits th' enchanting show, The lifeless rocks each various thought betray'd,
Pleas’d with the art, though he laments it too. And all the soul was in the stone display'd.
So when his Juno bold Ixion woo'd,

Too high, my verse, has been thy daring flight,
And aim'd at pleasures worthy of a god,

Thy softer numbers now the groves invite,
A beauteous cloud was form'd by angry Jove, Where filent shades provoke the speaking lyre,
Fit to invite, though not indulge his love; And cheerful objects happy songs inspire,
The mortal thought he saw his

geddess shine, At once beftow rewards, and thoughis infuse, And all the lying graces look'd divine;

Compose a garland, and supply a muse. But when with heat he clasp'd her fancied charms, Behold around, and see the living green The empty vapour baulk'd his eager arms. In rative colours paints a blooming scene ;

Loth to depart, I lçave th' inviting scene, Th' eternal buds no deadly winter fear, Yet scarce forbear to view it o'er again;

But scorn the coldest season of the year;
But ftill new objeds give a new delight,

Apollo sure will bless the happy place,
And various prospects bless the wandering light, Which his own Daphne condescends to grace;
Aloft in fate the airy towers arise,

For here the everlasting laurels grow,
And with new lustre deck the wondering skies ; In every grotto, and on every brow.
Lo! to what height the schools ascending reach, Prospects fo gay demand a Congreve's Arains,
Built with that art which they alone can teach ; To call the gods and nymphs upon the plains ;
The lofty dome expands her spacious gate, Pan yields his empire o'er the sylvan throng,
Where all the decent graces jointly wait ;

Pleas'd to submit to his superior song;
In every shape the god of art resorts,

Great Denham's genius looks with rapture down
And crowds of sages fill th' extended courts. And Spenser's fhade resigns the rural crown.

With wonders fraught the bright museum see, Fillid with great thoughts, a thousand lages
Itself the greatest curiosity !
Where nature's choicest treasure, all combin'd, Through every field and solitary grove;
Delight at once, and quite confound the mind; Whose souls, ascending an exalted height,

Ten thousand splendors strike the dazzled eye, Outsour the drooping muse's vulgar flight,
And form on earth another galaxy.

That longs to see her darling votaries laid
Here colleges in sweet confufion rise,

Beneath the covert of some gentle shade,
There teniples seem to reach their native skies; Where purling Arcams and warbling birds con-
Spires, towers, and groves, compose the various spire
fhow,

To aid th' enchantments of the trembling lyre.
And mingled prospects charm the doubting view; Bear me, some God, to Christ Church, royal seat,
Who can deny their characters divine,

And lay me softly in the green retreat,
Without resplendent, and inspir'd within? Where Aldrich holds o'er wit the sovereign power
Bui, fince above my weak and artless lays, And crowns the poets which he taught befosc.
Let their own poets sing their equal praise.

One labour more my grateful verse renews, • Queen's College Library.
And rears alost the low.descending muse;

† Robert Egglesfield, B. D. tbe founder, 1345.

1

rove