THE POEMS PICTURE OF SENECA DYING IN A BATH. BY JORDAIN.1 AT THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF EXETER'S, AT BURLEIGH HOUSE. WHILE cruel Nero only drains Jacques Jordain was born at Antwerp in 1584; was a disciple of Adam van Oort, but was indebted to Rubens for the principal part of his knowledge in the art of painting: "He painted with extraordinary freedom, ease, and expedition; there is a brilliancy and harmony in his colouring, and a good understanding of the Chiaroscuro. His composition is rich, his expression natural and strong, but his design wanted elegance and taste. He studied and copied nature, yet he neither selected its beauties, nor rejected its defects. He knew how to give his figures a good relief, though frequently incorrect in the outlines; but his pencil is always excellent, and for a free and spirited touch, no painter cau be accounted his superior." Pilkington's Dictionary of Painters. He died in 1678, aged 84 years. 1 For while unhurt, divine Jordain, And lives and speaks, restor❜d and whole. AN ODE. WHILE blooming youth, and gay delight To triumph o'er this destin'd breast. My reason bends to what thy eyes ordain : But would you meanly thus rely On power, you know I must obey? And do an ill, because you may? Still must I thee, as atheists Heaven adore; Take heed, my dear, youth flies apace; The thousand loves, that arm thy potent eye, Then wilt thou sigh, when in each frown Seems but the sad effect of years: Forc'd compliments and formal bows A talking dull Platonic I shall turn; Then shun the ill, and know, my dear, So vast a weight as that of love. If thou canst wish to make my flames endure, Haste, Celia, haste, while youth invites, And give thy soul a loose to joys: Let millions of repeated blisses prove, Be mine, and only mine; take care Thy looks, thy thoughts, thy dreams to guide To me alone; nor come so far, As liking any youth beside: What men e'er court thee, fly 'em, and believe, They're serpents all, and thou the tempted Eve. So shall I court thy dearest truth, AN EPISTLE TO FLEETWOOD SHEPHERD, ESQ BURLEIGH, MAY 14, 1689. SIR, As once a twelvemonth to the priest, The Spanish king presents a jennet, To show his love;-That's all that's in it: His reverend bum 'gainst horse's rump, (I wish, for rhyme, 't had been the king) Which trick of state, he wisely maintains, Has much less need of gold, than he. As folks from mud-wall'd tenement To those might better spare than ten : Here some would scratch their heads, and try If once for principle 'tis laid, That thought is trouble to the head; I argue thus: the world agrees, That he writes well, who writes with ease: Then he, by sequel logical, Writes best, who never thinks at all. |