That in the night have lost their aim, And after foolish fires do stray:
Your courteous lights in vain you waste, Since Juliana here is come,
For she my mind hath so displac'd,
That I shall never find my home.”
Among Marvell's miscellaneous poems, there are several We select some very beautiful verses on a
Drop," which are as beautifully translated.
Cernis, ut Eoi descendat gemmula roris,
Inque rosas roseo transfluat orta sinu. Sollicitâ flores stant ambitione supini, Et certant foliis pellicuisse suis. Illa tamen patriæ lustrans fastigia sphæræ, Negligit hospitii limina picta novi. Inque sui nitido conclusa voluminis orbe, Exprimit ætherei, quà licet, orbis aquas. En, ut odoratum spernat generosior stratum, Vixque premat casto mollia strata pede ; Suspicit at longis distantem obtutibus axem, Inde et languenti lumine pendet amans, Tristis, et in liquidum mutata dolore dolorem, Marcet, uti roseis lachryma fusa genis. Ut pavet, et motum tremit irrequieta cubile, Et, quoties Zephyri fluctuat aura, fugit. Qualis inexpertam subeat formido puellam, Sicubi Nocte redit incomitata domum; Sic et in horridulas agitatur gutta procellas, Dum pro virgineo cuncta pudore timet ; Donec oberrantem radio clemente vaporet, Inque jubar reducem sol genitale trahat. Talis, in humano si possit flore videri,
Exul ubi longas mens agit usque moras; Hæc quoque natalis meditans convivia cœli, Evertit calices, purpureosque toros ; Fontis stilla sacri, lucis scintilla perennis, Non capitur Tyriâ veste, vapore Sabæ ; Tota sed in proprii secedens luminis arcem, Colligit in gyros se sinuosa breves; Magnorumque sequens animo convexa Deorum, Sydereum parvo fingit in orbe globum.
Quam bene in aversæ modulum contracta figuræ Oppositum mundo claudit ubique latus ;
Sed bibit in speculum radios ornata rotundum, Et circumfuso splendet aperta die. Quà Superos spectat rutilans, obscurior infra, Cætera dedignans, ardet amore poli. Subsilit, hinc agili poscens discedere motu, Undique cœlesti cincta soluta viæ. Totaque in aëreos extenditur orbita cursus; Hinc punctim carpens, mobile stringit iter. Haud aliter mensis exundans manna beatis Deserto jacuit stilla gelata solo;
Stilla gelata solo, sed solibus hausta benignis, Ad sua, quà cecidit, purior Astra radit.
A DROP OF DEW.
"See how the orient dew
Shed from the bosom of the morn, Into the blowing roses,
Yet careless of its mansion new, For the clear region where 'twas born, Round in itself incloses: And in its little globe's extent, Frames, as it can, its native element. How it the purple flow'r does slight, Scarce touching where it lies; But gazing back upon the skies, Shines with a mournful light, Like its own tear,
Because so long divided from the sphere. Restless it rolls, and unsecure,
Trembling, lest it grows impure;
Till the warm sun pities its pain, And to the skies exhales it back again. So the soul, that drop, that ray,
Of the clear fountain of eternal day, Could it within the human flow'r be seen,
Rememb'ring still its former height,
Shuns the sweet leaves, and blossoms green; And, recollecting its own light,
Does, in its pure and circling thoughts, express
The greater heaven in an heaven less.
In how coy a figure wound,
Every way it turns away':
So the world excluding round,
Yet receiving in the day.
Dark beneath, but bright above; Here disdaining, there in love, How loose and easy hence to go; How girt and ready to ascend : Moving but on a point below,
It all about does upward bend.
Such did the Manna's sacred dew distil, White and entire, although congeal'd and chill; Congeal'd on earth; but does, dissolving, run Into the glories of th' almighty sun."
The following is a very pleasing little poem on the Bermudas, supposed to be sung by the English exiles who had taken refuge there:
"Where the remote Bermudas ride,
In th' ocean's bosom unespy'd, From a small boat, that row'd along, The list'ning winds receiv'd this song. 'What should we do but sing his praise, That led us through the wat'ry maze, Unto an isle so long unknown, And yet far kinder than our own? Where he the huge sea-monsters wracks, That lift the deep upon their backs. He lands us on a grassy stage,
Safe from the storms, and prelate's rage. He gave us this eternal spring, Which here enamels every thing; And sends the fowls to us in care, On daily visits thro' the air.
He hangs in shades the orange bright, Like golden lamps in a green night, And does in the pomegranates close, Jewels more rich than Ormus shows. He makes the figs our mouths to meet ; And throws the melons at our feet. But apples plants of such a price, No tree could ever bear them twice. With cedars, chosen by his hand, From Lebanon, he stores the land. And makes the hollow seas, that roar, Proclaim the Ambergrace on shore. He cast (of which we rather boast) The Gospel's pearl upon our coast.
And in these rocks for us did frame A temple, where to sound his name. Oh! let our voice his praise exalt, Till it arrive at heaven's vault; Which, thence (perhaps) rebounding, may Echo beyond the Mexique Bay.'
Thus sung they, in the English boat, An holy and a cheerful note;
And all the way to guide the chime,
With falling oars they kept the time."
The Poem on Paradise Lost, which, though it is frequently prefixed to the editions of Milton, still must not be omitted here.
"When I beheld the poet blind, yet bold, In slender book his vast design unfold, Messiah crown'd, God's reconcil'd decree, Rebelling angels, the forbidden tree, Heav'n, hell, earth, chaos, all; the argument Held me a while misdoubting his intent, That he would ruin, (for I saw him strong) The sacred truths to fable and old song; So Sampson grop'd the temple's posts in spite, The world o'erwhelming to revenge his sight.
Yet as I read, soon growing less severe,
I lik'd his project, the success did fear; Thro' that wide field how he his way should find, O'er which lame Faith leads Understanding blind; Lest he'd perplex the things he would explain, And what was easy he should render vain. Or if a work so infinite he span'd,
Jealous I was that some less skilful hand (Such as disquiet always what is well, And by ill imitating would excel,)
Might hence presume the whole creation's day To change in scenes, and show it in a play. Pardon me, mighty poet, nor despise My causeless, yet not impious, surmise. But I am now convinc'd, and none will dare
Within thy labours to pretend a share.
Thou hast not miss'd one thought that could be fit,
And all that was improper dost omit;
So that no room is here for writers left, But to detect their ignorance or theft. 2 A
VOL. X. PART II.
That majesty which thro' thy work doth reign Draws the devout, deterring the profane.
And things divine thou treat'st of in such state As them preserves, and thee, inviolate.
At once delight and horror on us seize, Thou sing'st with so much gravity and ease; And above human flight dost soar aloft, With plume so strong, so equal, and so soft; The bird nam'd from that Paradise you sing So never flags, but always keeps on wing.
Where could'st thou words of such a compass find? Whence furnish such a vast expense of mind? Just heav'n thee, like Tiresias, to requite, Rewards with prophecy thy loss of sight.
Well might thou scorn thy readers to allure With tinkling rhyme, of thy own sense secure; While the Town-Bays writes all the while and spells, And, like a pack-horse, tires without his bells. Their fancies like our bushy points appear, The poets tag them; we for fashion wear.
I too, transported by the mode, offend,
And while I meant to praise thee, must commend. Thy verse created like thy theme sublime,
In number, weight, and measure, needs not rhyme."
Lyeth the Body of Andrew Marvell, Esq. A man so endowed by nature
So improved by Education, Study, and Travel. So consummated by Experience,
That joining the peculiar Graces of Wit and Learning, with a singular Penetration and Strength of Judgment, and exercising all these in the whole course of his Life, with an unalterable steadyness in the ways of Virtue, He became the Ornament and
Example of his Age; Beloved by good Men, feared by bad, admired by all : Tho' imitated, alas! by few,
And scarce paralleled by any.
But a Tombstone can neither contain his Character, nor is marble necessary to transmit it to Posterity; it is engraved
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