תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Ed fing ye, how they drank like gods, And how they fought like men.

To part the fray, the graces fly,

Who make them foon agree:
Nay, had the furies felves been nigh,
They ftill were three to three.

Bacchus appeas'd, rais'd Cupid up,
And gave him back his bow;
But kept fome darts to ftir the cup,
Where fack and fugar flow.

Jocus took Comus' rofy crown,

And gayly wore the prize,

And thrice, in mirth, he push'd him down, As thrice he ftrove to rife.

Then Cupid fought the myrtle grove,
Where Venus did recline;
And Venus close embracing love,
They join'd to rail at wine.

And Comus loudly curfing wit,
Roil'd off to fome retreat;
Where boon companions gravely fit
In fat unwieldy state.

Bacchus and Jocus ftill behind,
For one fresh glass prepare;
They kiss, and are exceeding kind,
And vow to be fincere.

But part in time, whoever hear
This our inftructive fog;

For though fuck friendships may be dear,
They can't continue long.

A FAIRY TALE.

IN THE ANCIENT ENGLISH STYLE.

In Britain's ifle, and Arthur's days,
When midnight fairies daunc'd the maze,
Liv'd Edwin of the Green;
Edwin, I wis, a gentle youth,
Endow'd with courage, fenfe, and truth,

Though badly fhap'd he'd been.

His mountain back mote well be faid,]
To measure height against his head,
And lift itself above ;
Yet, fpite of all that Nature did
To make his uncouth form forbid,
This creature dar'd to love.

He felt the charms of Edith's eyes, Nor wanted hope to gain the prize, Could ladies look within; But one Sir Topaz drefs'd with art, And, if a shape could win a heart, He had a shape to win.

2

Edwin, if right I read my fong,
With flighted paffion pac'd along
All in the moony light;

'Twas near an old enchanted court,
Where fportive fairies made refort
To revel out the night.

His heart was drear, his hope was cross'd, "Twas late, 'twas far, the path was lost

That reach'd the neighbour town; With weary steps he quits the fhades, Refolv'd, the darkling dome he treads, And drops his limbs adown.

But fcant he lays him on the floor,
When hollow winds remove the door,
And trembling rocks the ground:
And, well I ween to count aright,
At once a hundred tapers light

On all the walls around.

Now founding tongues affail his ear, Now founding feet approachen near, And now the founds increase: And from the corner where he lay He fees a train profusely gay

Come prankling o'er the place.

But (trust me, Gentles!) never yet
Was dight a mafquing half fo neat,
Or half fo rich before;
The country lent the sweet perfumes,
The fea the pearl, the sky the plumes,
The town its filken ftore.

Now whilst he gaz'd, a gallant dreft
In flaunting robes above the reft,
With awful accent cry'd;
What mortal of a wretched mind,
Whofe fighs infect the balmy wind,
Has here prefum'd to hide?

At this the fwain, whose venturous foul
No fears of magic art controul,

Advanc'd in open fight; "Nor have I cause of dread, he said, "Who view, by no prefumption led, "Your revels of the night.

" "Twas grief, for scorn of faithful love, "Which made my fteps unweeting rove "Amid the nightly dew." " 'Tis well, the gallant cries again, "We fairies never injure men "Who dare to tell us true.

"Exalt thy love-dejected heart, Be mine the task, or ere we part, "To make thee grief refign; "Now take the pleasure of thy chaunte; "Whilft I with Mab, my partner, daunce, "Be little Mable thine."

He spoke, and all a fudden there
Light music floats in wanton air;

The monarch leads the queen :
A iij

The reft their fairy partners found: And Mable trimiy tript the ground

With Edwin of the Green.

The dauncing paft, the board was laid, And fiker fuch a feaft was made,

As heart and lip defire, Withouten hands the dishes fly, The glaffes with a wifh come nigh, And with a wish retire.

But, now to please the fairy king, Full every deal they laugh and fing, And antic feats devife;

Some wind and tumble like an ape, And other fome tranfmote their fhape In Edwin's wondering eyes.

Till one at laft, that Robin hight, Renown'd for pinching maids by night, Has bent him up aloof;.

And full against the beam he flung, Where by the back the youth he hung To fprawl uneath the roof.

From thence," Reverse my charm, he cries, "And let it fairly now fuffice

"The gambol has been fhewn." But Oberon anfwers with a smile, Content thee Edwin for a while,

"The vantage is thine own."

Here ended all the phantom-play;
They fmelt the fresh approach of day,
And heard a cock to crow;
The whirling wind that bore the crowd
Has clapp'd the door, and whistled loud,
To warn them all to go.

Then fcreaming all at once they fly,
And all at once the tapers die;

Poor Edwin falls to floor;
Forlorn his ftate, and dark the place,
Was never wight in.fuch a cafe

Through all the land before.

But foon as Dan Apollo rofe,
Full jolly creature bome he goes,
He feels his back the lefs;
His honeft tongue and fteady mind
Had rid him of the lump behind,

Which made him want fuccefs.

With lufty livelyhed he talks,
He feems a dancing as he walks,

His ftory foon took wind;

And beauteous Edith fees the youth Endow'd with courage, fenfe, and truth, Without a bunch behind.

The ftory told, Sir Topaz mov'd, The youth of Edith erst approv'd, To fee the revel scene:

At clofe of eve he leaves his home, And wends to find the ruin'd dome All on the gloomy plain.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Then Will, who bears the wifpy fire
To trail the fwains among the mire,
The caitiff upward flung;
There, like a tortoife, in a fhop
He dangled from the chamber-top,
Where whilome Edwin hung.

The revel now proceeds apace,
Deftly they frifk it o'er the place,

They fit, they drink, and eat;
The time with frolic mirth beguile,
And poor Sir Topaz hangs the while
Till all the rout retreat.

By this the stars began to wink,
They fhriek, they fly, the tapers fink,
And down y-drops the knight:
For never spell by fairy laid
With ftrong enchantment bound a glade,
Beyond the length of night,

Chill, dark, alone, adreed, he lay,
Till up the welkin rofe the day,

Then deem'd the dole was o'er :
But wot ye well his harder lot?
His feely back the bunch had got
Which Edwin loft afore.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Virtue can gain the odds of fate, *And from felf thake off the weight Upon th' unworthy mind."

THE VIGIL OF VENUS.

Written in the time of Julius Cafar, and by
feme aferibed to Cutullus.

LET thofe love notv, zuho never loo'd before;
Let tiefe who always lov'd, now love the more,

The fpring, the new, the warbling spring ap

pears,

The youthful feafon of reviving years;
la fpring the loves enkindie mutual heats,
The feather'd nation choose their tuneful mates,
The trees grow fruitful with defcending rain,
And dreft in differing greens adorn the plain.
She comes; to-morrow Beauty's emprefs roves
Through walks that winding run within the
groves;

She twines the shooting myrtle into bowers,
And ties their mecting tops with wreaths of
flowers,

Then, rais'd fublimely on her eafy throne,
From Nature's powerful dictates draws her own.
Let these now love, who never lov'd before ;
Let the who always lov'd, now love the more.

'I was on that day which faw the teeming flood
Swell round, impregnate with celestial blood;
Wandering in circles ftood the finny crew,
The midft was left a void expanfe of blue,
There parent ocean work'd with heaving throes,
And dropping wet the fair Dione rofe.

Let thoje love now, who never lov'd before; Let these ceba always lov'd, now love the more.

She paints the purple year with vary'd show,
Tips the green gem, and makes the bloffom glow.
She makes the turgid buds receive the breeze,
Expand to leaves, and fhade the naked trees.
When gathering damps the mifty nights diffuse,
She frinkles all the morn with balmy dews;
Bright trembling pearls depend at every pray,
And, kept from falling, feem to fall away.
A glefy fruhnefs hence the role receives,
And bluthus fweet through all her filken leaves
(The drops defcending through the filent night,
While ftars fcrenely roll their golden light):
Clofe till the morn, her humid veil fhe holds;
Then deckt with virgin pomp the flower unfolds.
Soon will the morning blush: ye maids! prepare,
In roly garlands biud your flowing hair;
Tis Venus' plant: the blood fair Venus fhed,
O'er the gay beauty pour'd immortal red;
From love's foft kils a fweet ambrofial smell
Was taught for ever on the leaves to dwell;
From gems, from flames, from orient rays
light,

The richest luftre makes her purple bright;
And the to-morrow weds; the fporting gale
Unties her zone, the burfts the verdant veil;
Through all her iwee's the rifling lover flics,
And as he breathes, her glowing fires arife.

Let thofe now love, aubo never loo'd before ; Let those who always lov'd, now love the more.

Now fair Dione to the myrtle grove

wears a bow?

Sends the gay nymphs, and fends her tender love.
And fhall they venture? Is it fafe to go,
While nymphs have hearts, and Cu
Yes, fafely venture, 'tis his mother's will;
He walks unarm'd, and undefigning ill,
His torch extinct, his quiver useless hung,
His arrows idle, and his bow unstrung.
And yet, ye nymphs, beware, his eyes have charms;
And love that's naked, ftill is love in arms.
Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before;
Let thofe robo always lov'd, now love the more,

From Venus' bower to Delia's lodge repairs
A virgin train, complete with modeft airs:
"Chafte Delia, grant our fuit! or fhun the wood,
"Nor ftain this facred lawn with favage blood.
"Venus, O Delia if fhe could pe fuade,
"Would afk thy prefence, might the afk a maid.”
Here cheerful quires for three autpicious nights
With fongs prolong the pleasurable rites:
Here crowds in meafure lightly-decent rove;
Or feek by pairs the covert of the grove,
Where meeting greens for arbours arch above,
And mingling flow'rets ftrow the fcenes of love.
Here dancing Ceres shakes her golden fheaves;
Here Bacchus revels, deck'd with viny leaves:
Here Wit's enchanting god, in laurel crown'd,
Wakes all the ravish'd hours with filver found.
Ye fields, ye forefts, own Dione's reign,
And Delia, huntress Delia, fhun the plain.

Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before; Let thofe who always lov'd, now love the more.

Gay with the bloom of all her opening year,
The Queen at Hybla bids her throne appear;
And there prefides; and there the favourite band
(Her fmiling graces) thare the great command.
Now, beauteous Hybla! drefs thy flowery beds
With all the pride the lavish feafon fheds;
Now all thy colours, all thy fragrance yield,

And rival Enna's aromatic field.
To fill the prefence of the gentle court,
Frem every quarter rural nymphs refort, [vales,
From woods, from mountains, from their humble
From waters curling with the wanton gales.
Ficas'd with the joyful train, the laughing queen
In circles feats them round the bank of green;
And, "Lovely girls, the whifpers, guard your
[arts:
"My boy, though ftript of arms, abounds in
Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before ;
Let thofe who always lov'd, now love the more.

"hearts:

Let tender grass in shaded alleys spread, Let early flowers erect their painted head, To morrow's glory be to-morrow feen, That day, old Ether wedded Earth in green, The vernal father bid the fpring appear, of In clouds he coupled to produce the year, The fap defcending o'er her bofom ran, And all the various forts of foul began. By wheels unknown to fight, by fecret veins Diftilling life, the fruitful goddess reigns, Through all the lovely realms of native day, Through all the circled land, and circling tea;

With fertile feed fhe fill'd the pervious earth,
And ever fix'd the mystic ways of birth.

Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before;
Let those who always lov`d, now love the more.

'Twas the the parent to the Latian fshore Through various dangers Troy's remainder bore, She won Lavinia for her warlike fon, And, winning her, the Latian empire won. She gave to Mars the maid, whofe honour'd womb Swell'd with the founder of immortal Rome. Decoy'd by fhows, the Sabine dames she led, And taught our vigorous youth the way to wed. Hence fprung the Romans, hence the race divine Through which great Cæfar draws his Julian line.

Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before; Let thofe who always lov`d, now love the more.

In rural feats the foul of pleafure reigns; The life of beauty fills the rural scenes; Ev'n love (if fame the truth of love declare) Drew first the breathings of a rural air. Some pleafing meadow pregnant beauty preft, She laid her infant on its flowery breast, From Nature's fweets he fipp'd the fragrant dew, He fmil'd, he kiss'd them, and by kiffing grew. Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before; Let thofe who always lov'd, now love the more.

Now buils o'er stalks of broom extend their fides,

Secure of favours from their lowing brides.
Now fately rams their fleecy conforts lead,
Who bleating follow through the wandering shade.
And now the goddess bids the birds appear,
Raife all the mufic, and falute the year:
Then deep the fwan begins, and deep the fong
Runs o'er the water where he fails along :
While Philomela terns a treble ftrain,
And from the poplar charm the listening plain,
We fancy love expreft at every note,
It melts, it warbles, in her liquid throat.
Of barbarous Tereus the complains no more,
But fings for pleasure, as for grief betore.
And fill her graces rise, her airs extepd,
And all is filence till the Syren end.

How long in coming is my lovely Spring!
And when fhall 1, and when the fwallow fing?
Sweet Philomela, cease :-Or here fit,
And filent lofe my rapturous hour of wit:
'Tis gone, the fit retires, the flames decay,
My tuneful Phoebus flies averfe away.
His own Amycle thus, as ftories run,
But once was filent, and that once undone.
Let thofe love now, who never lov'd before;
Let thofe who always lov'd, new love the more.

[blocks in formation]

BOOK I.

To fill my rifing fong with facred fire,
Ye tuneful Nine, ye fweet celeftial quire!
From Helicon's embowering height repair,
A tend my labours, and reward my prayer;
The dreadful toils of raging Mars I write,
The fpring of conteft, and the fields of fight;
How threatening mice advanc'd with warlike
grace,

And wag'd dire combats with the croaking race.
Not louder tumults fhook Olympus' towers,
When earth-born giants dar'd immortal powers.
Thefe equal acts an equal glory clain,
And thus the mufe records the tale of fame.

Once on a time, fatigued and out of breath,
And just escap'd the ftretching claws of death,
A gentle moufe, whom cats pursued in vain,
Fled fwift of foot across the neighbouring plain,
Hung o'er a brink, his eager thirst too cool,
And dipp'd his whiskers in the standing pool;
When near a courteous frog advanc'd his head,
And from the waters, hoarse resounding, said,
What art thou, ftranger? what the line you
boaft?

What chance has cafl thee panting on our coaft?
With ftri&teft truth let all thy words agree,
Not let me find a faithless mouse in thee.
If worthy, friendship, poffer'd friendship take,
And entering view the pleasurable lake;
Range o'er my palace, in my bounty fhare,
And glad return from hofpitable fare
This filver realm extends beneath my fway,
And me, their monarch, all its frogs obey.
Great Phyfignathus I, from Peleus' race,
Begot in fair Hydromede's embrace,
Where, by the nuptial bank that paints his fide,
The fwift Eridanus delights to glide. [claim
Thee too, thy form, thy ftrength, and port, pro-
A fcepter'd king, a fon of martial fame;
Then trace thy line, and aid my guefling eyes.
Thus ceas'd the frog, and thus the moule replies.
Known to the gods, the men, the birds that fly
Through wild expanses of the midway sky,
My name refounds; and if unknown to thee,
The foul of great Plycarpax lives in me.
Of brave Troxartas' line, whole fleeky down
In love comprefs'd Lychomile the brown.
My mother fhe, and princess of the plains
Where'er her father Pternotractas reigns.
Born where a cabbin lifts its airy fhed,
With figs, with nuts, with vary'd dainties fed.
Bar, fince our natures nought in common know,
From what foundation can a friendship grow?
Thele curling waters o'er thy palace roll;
Bet man's high food fupports my princely soul :
In vain the circled loaves attempt to lie
Conceal'd in flaskets from my curious eye.

In vain the tripe that boafts the whiteft hue,
In vain the gilded bacon fhuns my view,
In vain the cheefes, off-pring of the pail,
Or honey'd cakes, which gods themselves regale
And as in arts I fhine, in arms I fight,
Mix'd with the braveft, and unknown to flight,
Though large to mine, the hun an form appear,
Not man himself can fmite my foul with fear,
Sly to the bed with filent steps I go,
Attempt his finger, or attack his toe,
And fix indented wounds with dextrous skill,
Sleeping he feels, and only feems to feel.
Yet have we foes which direful dangers caufe,
Grim owls with talons arm'd, and cats with claws,
And that falfe trap, the den of filent fate,
Where death his ambush plants around the bait :
All dreaded these, and dreadful o'er the reft
The potent warriors of the tabby vest,
If to the dark we fly, the dark they trace,
And rend our heroes of the nibbling race,
But me, nor ftalks nor waterish herbs delight,
Nor can the crimson radish charm my fight,
The lake-refounding frogs felected fare,
Which not a moufe of any taste can bear.

As thus the downy prince his mind expreft,
His answer thus the croaking king addrest:

Thy words luxuriant on thy dainties rove, And, stranger, we can boast of bounteous Jove: We fport in water, or we dance on land, And, born amphibious, food from both command. But truft thyself where wonders ask thy view, And safely temp thofe feas, I'll bear thee through: Afcend my fhoulders, firmly keep thy feat, And reach my marthy court, and feast in state. He faid, and bent his back; with nimble bound Leaps the light moufe, and clafps his arms around, Then wondering floats, and fees with glad survey The winding banks refembling ports at fea, But when aloft the curling water rides, And wets with azure wave his downy fides, His thoughts grow confcious of approaching woe, His idle tears with vain repentance flow, His locks he rends, his trembling feet he rears, Thick beats his heart with unaccuftom'd fears; He fighs, and, chill'd with danger, longs for fhore: His tail extended, forms a fruitless oar, Half drench'd in liquid death his prayers he spake, And thus bemoan'd him from the dreadful lake: So pafs'd Europa through the rapid fea, Trembling and fainting all the venturous way; With oary feet the bull triumphant rode, And fafe in Crete depos'd his lovely load. Ab, fafe at laft, may thus the frog fupport My trembling limbs to reach his ample court! As thus he forrows, death ambiguous grows, Lo from the deep a water-hydra rofe;

« הקודםהמשך »