POEMS OF CHRISTOPHER SMART. ODES. IDLENESS. ODE I. GODDESS of ease, leave Lethe's brink, Sister of peace and indolence, Bring, Muse, bring numbers soft and slow, Elaborately void of sense, And sweetly thoughtless let them flow. Near some cowslip-painted mead, There let me doze out the dull hours, And under me let Flora spread, A sofa of her softest flow'rs. Where, Philomel, your notes your breathe Still flow in unison with thine. For thee, O Idleness, the woes Thou art the source whence labour flows, For who'd sustain war's toil and waste, Or who th' hoarse thund'ring of the sea, But to be idle at the last, And find a pleasing end in thee. TO ETHELINDA, Happy Muse, that didst embrace Shall the bard arrive there too? Oft thro' my eyes my soul has flown, When first at Nature's early birth, No, no, fair nymph-for no such end ON AN EAGLE CONFINED IN A COLLEGE COURT. IMPERIAL bird, who wont to soar Who, free and swift as thought, could'st rove ON HER DOING MY VERSES THE HONOUR OF The sovereign thund'rer's arms in air, TEN AT THIRTEEN, ODE II. HAPPY verses! that were prest In fair Ethelinda's breast! VOL. XVI. And shake thy native pole! Oh cruel fate! what barbarous hand, At some fierce tyrant's dread command, Has plac'd thee in this servile cell, Where discipline and dulness dwell, Where genius ne'er was seen to roam; Where ev'ry selfish soul's at rest, Nor ever quits the carnal breast, But lurks and sneaks at home! Tho' dim'd thine eye, and clipt thy wing In tend'rest lays thy fate. Nor on thy mis'ry casts a care, The stream of love ne'er from his heart Yet useful still, hold to the throng- The passenger may pass : Who study downward on the ground; Type of the fall of Greece and Rome; While more than mathematic gloom, Envelopes all around. ON THE SUDDEN DEATH OF A CLERGYMAN. ODE IV. Ir, like th' Orphean lyre, my song could charm' Sudden as thy disease should'st thou return, To hope the Thracian's magic power to prove. Nor mighty is to move, nor forgetive to feign, Thou canst not in due bounds the struggling mea sures keep, -But thou alas! canst weep Thou canst-and o'er the melancholy bier Canst lend the sad solemnity a tear. [cold, Hail to that wretched corse, untenanted and And hail the peaceful shade loos'd from its irk some hold. See-bear the storms tempestuous sweepPrecipitate it falls-it falls-falls lifeless in the deep. Cease, cease, ye weeping youth, Sincerity's soft sighs, and all the tears of truth. And you, his kindred throng, forbear Marble memorials to prepare, And sculptur'd in your breasts his busto wear. 'Twas thus when Israel's legislator dy'd, No fragile mortal honours were supply'd, But even a grave denied. Better than what the pencil's daub can give, ON GOOD-NATURE. HALL cherub of the highest Heav'n, Celestial sweetness, exquisite of mien, Soft gracefulness, and blooming youth, That friendship reigns, no interest can divide, Ideots usurp thy title, and thy frame, Is apathy, is heart of steel, Nor ear to hear, nor sense to feel, Life idly inoffensive such a grace, That it shou'd steal thy name and take thy place? Great, generous acts thy ductile passions And smilingly thou weep'st with joy and love. Mild is thy mind to cover shame, Averse to envy, slow to blame, Bursting to praise, yet still sincere and free From flattery's fawning tongue, and bending knee. Extensive, as from west to east, Thy love descends from man to beast, Nought is excluded, little, or infirm, Thou canst with greatness stoop to save a worm. There in yon lonesome heath, Which Flora, or Sylvanus never knew, Where never vegetable drank the dew,' Or beast, or fowl attempts to breathe; Where Nature's pencil has no colours laid; But all is blank, and universal shade; Contrast to figure, motion, life and light, There may'st thou vent thy spite, For ever cursing, and for ever curs'd, Of all th' infernal crew the worst ; The worst in genius, measure and degree; For envy, hatred, malice, are but parts of thee, Or would'st thou change the scene, and quit the Behold the Heav'n-deserted fen, [den, Where spleen, by vapours dense begot and bred, Hardness of heart, and heaviness of head, Have rais'd their darksome walls, and plac'd their thorny bed; There may'st thou all thy bitterness unload, There may'st thou croak in concert with the toad, With thee the hollow howling winds shall join, Nor shall the bittern her base throat deny, The querulous frogs shall mix their dirge with thine, Th'ear-piercing hern, the plover screaming high, Millions of humming gnats fit oestrum shall supply. Away-away-behold an hideous band An herd of all thy minions are at hand, Suspicion first with jealous caution stalks, And ever looks around her as she walks, With bibulous ear imperfect sounds to catch, And prompt to listen at her neighbours latch. Next Scandal's meagre shade, Foe to the virgins, and the poet's fame, 'Twas when the omniscient creative pow'r Display'd his wonders by a mortal's hand, And, delegated at th' appointed hour, Great Moses led away his chosen band; When Israel's host, with all their stores, Past thro' the ruby-tinctur'd crystal shores, The wilderness of waters and of land: Then persecution rag'd in Heav'n's own cause, Strict justice for the breach of Nature's laws, The legislator held the scythe of fate, Where'er his legions chanc'd to stray, Death and destruction mark'd their bloody way; Immoderate was their rage, for mortal was their hate. But when the King of Righteousness arose, From anger, fell revenge, and discord free, Well hast thou, Webster, pictur'd Christian love, Or croud thy portrait in a nook malign- Where the more candid and judicious few Shall think the bright original they see, The likeness nobly lost in the identity. Oh hadst thou liv'd in better days than these, There, where thy dignify'd inferiors sit Oh they are in their generations wise, Each path of interest they have sagely trod,To live-to thrive to rise—and still to rise→→→ Better to bow to men, than kneel to God. EPITH ALAMIUM, DESCEND, descend, ye sweet Aonian maids, The joyful Hymeneal sing, Than fiction can devise, or eloquence declare, And you, ye winged choristers, that fly Chant thro' th' enamel'd grove, Stretch from the trembling leaves your little With all the wild variety of aitless notes, [throats, The Author apologizes to a Lady for his being a But let each note be love. Fragrant Flora, queen of May, All bedight with garlands gay, Where in the smooth-shaven green The spangled cowslips variegate the scene, And the rivulet Fetween, Whispers, murmurs, sings, As it stoops, or falls, or springs; There spread a sofa of thy softest flowers, There let the bridegroom stay, There let him hate the light, and curse the day, And blame the tardy hours. little Man. Still pouring forth executive desire, As bright, as brisk, and lasting, as the vestal fire. Does thy young bosom pant for fame: The poets shall ensure thy name, Who magnitude of mind not body boast. Laurels on bulky bards as rarely grow, As on the sturdy oak the virtuous misletoe. Look in the glass, survey that cheekWhere Flora has with all her roses blush'd; The shape so tender,-look so meekThe breasts made to be press'd, not to be crush'd Then turn to me,-turn with obliging eyes, Nor longer Nature's works, in miniature, despise. Young Ammon did the world subdue, Yet had not more external man than I; Ah! charmer, should I conquer you, With him in fame, as well as size, I'll vie. Then, scornful nymph, come forth to yonder grove, Where I defy, and challenge, all thy utmost love. ODE XI. ODE XI. ON TAKING A BACHELOR'S In allusion to Horace. Book iii, Ode 20 Exegi monumentum ære perennius, &c. 'Tis done: I tow'r to that degree, And catch such heav'nly fire, Shall time itself o'erpow'r', My name shall now attend, A nymph and priest ascend. Ev'n in the schools I now rejoice, Where late I shook with fear, Loud thundering in my ears. Or where Cam's scauty waters flow, For Horace bids us challenge fame, When once that fame's our due9, Invest me with a graduate's gown, Midst shouts of all beholders, An Ode on the 26th of January, being the Birth- My head with ample square-cap crown', Day of a Young Lady. ALL hail, and welcome joyous morn, Whether smooth calms thy face adorn, Sweet Nancy's voice shall soothe the sound; Let but those lips their sweets disclose, This day each warmest wish be paid To thee the Muse's pride, I long to see the blooming maid Chang'd to the blushing bride. So shall thy pleasure and thy praise Increase with the increasing days, And present joys exceed the past; To give and to receive delight, Shall be thy task both day and night, While day and night shall last. And deck with hood my shoulders. CAMBRIDGE. A MORNING PIECE, B.A. |