Of nature, and her kind parental care
Worthier I'd fing: then all th' enamour'd youth With each admiring virgin, to my lyre
Should throng attentive, while I point on high Where beauty's living image, like the morn, That wakes in Zephyr's arms the blufhing May, Moves onward, or as Venus, when fhe ftood Effulgent on the pearly car, and smil'd, Fresh from the deep, and confcious of her form, To fee the Tritons tune their vocal fhells And each coerulean fifter of the flood
With fond acclaim attend her o'er the waves To feek th' Idalian bow'r. Ye fmiling band Of youths and virgins, who thro' all the maze Of young defire with rival-fteps pursue This charm of beauty: if the pleafing toil Can yield a moment's refpite, hither turn Your favourable ear, and trust my words! I do not mean to wake the gloomy form Of fuperftition dreft in wifdon's garb To damp your tender hopes; I do not mean To bid the jealous thund'rer fire the heav'ns Or fhapes infernal rend the groaning earth, To fright you from your joys: my chearful fong With better omens calls you to the field, Pleas'd with your gen'rous ardour in the chace, And warm as you. Then tell me, for you know, Does beauty ever deign to dwell where health And active use are strangers? Is her charm Confefs'd in aught, whofe moft peculiar ends Are lame and fruitlefs? Or did nature mean This awful ftamp the herald of a lye? To hide the fhame of difcord and disease And catch with fair hypocrify the heart Of idle faith? O no! with better cares, Th' indulgent mother, confcious how infirm Her offfpring tread the paths of good and ill, By this illuftrious image, in each kind Still moft illuftrious where the object holds Its native pow'rs moft perfect, fhe by this
Akenside. Illumes the headlong impulfe of de fire And fanctifies his choice. The generous glebe Whose bofom finiles with verdure, the clear tract Of streams delicious to the thirsty soul, The bloom of nectar'd fruitage ripe to sense, And every charm of animated things, Are only pledges of a ftate fincere, Th' integrity and order of their frame, When all is well within, and every end Accomplish'd. Thus was beauty fent from heav'n, The lovely miniftrefs of truth and good
In this dark world: for truth and good are one; And beauty dwells in them, and they in her With like participation. Wherefore then O fons of earth! would you diffolve the tye? O! wherefore, with a rash, imperfect aim Seek you thofe flow'ry joys with which the hand Of lavish fancy paints each flatt'ring fcene, Where beauty feems to dwell, nor once inquire, Where is the fanction of eternal truth, Or where the feal of undeceitful good To fave your fearch from folly? Wanting thefe Lo! beauty withers in your void embrace; And with the glitt'ring of an idiot's toy Did fancy mock your vows. Nor let the gleam Of youthful hope, that fhines upon your hearts, Be chill'd or clouded at this awful tafk
To learn the lore of undeceitful good And truth eternal. Tho' the pois' nous charms Of baleful fuperftition guide the feet Of fervile numbers, thro'a dreary way To their abode, thro' defarts, thorns and mire; And leave the wretched pilgrim all forlorn To mufe, at laft, amid the ghoftly gloom Of graves, and hoary vaults, and cloifter'd cells To walk with spectres thro' the midnight fhade And to the screaming owl's accurfed fong. Attune the dreadful workings of his heart; Yet be not you difmay'd. A gentler ftar Your lovely search illumines. From the grove
Where wisdom talk'd with her Athenian fons Could my ambitious hands intwine a wreath Of PLATO'S olive with the Mantuan hay. Then fhould my pow'rful voice at once difpel Thefe monkifh horrors: then in light divine Disclose the Elyfian profpect, where the fteps Of those whom nature charms, thro' blooming walks, Thro' fragrant mountains and poetic ftreams Amid the train of fages, heroes, bards, Led by their winged genius and the choir Of laurell'd fcience and harmonious art, Proceed exulting to th' eternal fhrine, Where truth inthron'd with her celeftial twins The undivided part'ners of her fway
With good and beauty reigns. O. let not us, Lull'd by luxurious pleasure's languid strain Or crouching to the frowns of bigot rage, O let not us a moment pause to join The god-like band! And if the gracious pow'r That firft awaken'd my untutor'd fong, Will to my invocation breathe anew The tuneful spirit then thro' all our paths, Ne'er fhall the found of this devoted lyre Be wanting; whether on the rofy mead When fummer imiles, to warn the melting heart Of luxury's allurement; whether firm Against the torrent and the ftubborn hill To urge bold virtue's unremitted nerve And wake the strong divinity of foul,
That conquers change and fate: or whether ftruck For founds of triumph, to proclaim her toils Upon the lofty fummit, round her brow To twine the wreathe of incorruptive praife. To trace her hallow'd light thro' future worlds And bless heaven's image in the heart of man.
(Diefer, vermuthlich noch lebende Dichter, ist Verfasser eines allegorischen Gedichts über die Vorsehung in drei Büz chern, welches 1763. in 4. zuerst herauskam. Es herrscht darin noch mehr Uerpigkeit von Bildern, Gleichnissen und mahlerischen Scenen, als in dem eben angeführten Gedichte von Akenside, welches diese auch in aller Abficht nachsteht. Die Genien der Phantasie und der Betrachtung sind die vornehms ften Personen dieser Allegorie, und wechseln fast mit beståndigen Unterredungen, Im ersten Buche sucht der Dichter die Providenz wegen Zulassung der natürlichen Uebel des Les bens zu retten; im zweiten werden die Vorzüge der chriftlic chen Religion ins Licht gefeßt; und im dritten wird die Fürs fehung in Ansehung der mannichfachen menschlichen Schicks fale gerechtfertigt. Vergl. Dusch's Briefe, Th. II. n. A. Br. VIII-X, wo jedoch diesem Gedichte, wie es scheint, ein allzu freigebiges Lob ertheilt wird. Eine der beßten Stellen ist folgende Beschreibung der arkadischen Unschuldswelt, die ihr Glück durch die Einflüsse der Versuchung verlor. Der Ges nius der Phantafie schafft diese Scene auf das Geheiß des Genius der Betrachtung.)
Struck with her magic rod the fwelling lawn, And work'd a new Creation. The low plain Stretch'd to a field immenfe, where sportive walk'd The fair-rob'd Summer. O'er her glowing form Harmonious, flow'd the flower-embroider'd veft, Girt with a mantling zone; her lucid eye Beam'd fweetly-radiant; and her cheek butvied The cherry's deepening bloom. Soft on her lips Sat all the laughing Loves; and in her hair, Spread oer the throbbing bosom, half-disclos'd,
And fwelling to the breeze, the Graces play'd Ogilvie. Luxuriant. Round the bleating flocks were
A harmless train, that crop'd the flowery turf, Or quaff'd the filver rill. In frolic fport All-light they wanton'd; for no mound restrain'd Their aery paftime; and the favage tribe, Sought not their peaceful cot
That fwell'd its blue wave from the thymy hills, Gleam'd thro' the loofened grove.
Whofe wings expanded veil'd the noon-day fun, Stain'd not its tide. Not far the fimple hut, Sweet haunt of Innocence and Peace! o'erlaid With flender ofiers, and the flexile fhrub, Checquer'd the rural landfkip. O'er the field, Rovd the young fhepherds, fmiling in the prime. Of life, and near were feen the spotless Fair Crown'd with the herbage of the broider'd mead, That fhower'd its fpoils around them, Beauty beam'd
In every look, and on each cheek, the bloom Of rofy youth, delightful as it glow'd, With foft inchantment ftole th' enraptur'd eye.
Rapt in fweet transport as I mark'd the fcene, All balmy-breathing: Hail, ye happy feats or T (I thus exclaim'd,) ye happy tribes, that tafted The cup of Pleafure, by the baleful feeds Of Care untainted! May no Syren charm. Your step from Nature's open court, to stray Amid the wilds of Paffion! may you walk
*) The lake Stymphalis in Arcadia, where this fcene is fuppofed to lye...
**) The Stymphalian birds, who haunted this lake, and infested the country, are well known; as it was one of the labours of Hercules, thoroughly to fubdue them.
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