No torrents stain thy limpid source; No rocks impede thy dimpling course, That sweetly warbles o'er its bed, With white, round, polish'd pebbles spread; While, lightly pois'd, the scaly brood In myriads cleave thy crystal flood; The springing trout in speckled pride; The salmon, monarch of the tide; The ruthless pike, intent on war; The silver eel, and mottled par.* Devolving from thy parent lake, A charming maze thy waters make, By bowers of birch, and groves of pine, And hedges flower'd with eglantine.
Still on thy banks so gaily green, May num'rous herds and flocks be seen, And lasses chanting o'er the pail, And shepherds piping in the dale, And ancient Faith that knows no guile, And Industry embrown'd with toil, And hearts resolv'd, and hands prepar'd, The blessings they enjoy to guard.
THY spirit, Independence, let me share! Lord of the lion-heart and eagle eye, Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky. Deep in the frozen regions of the north, A goddess violated brought thee forth, Immortal Liberty, whose look sublime
Hath bleach'd the tyrant's cheek in every varying clime.
What time the iron-hearted Gaul With frantic Superstition for his guide, Arm'd with the dagger and the pall,
The sons of Woden to the field defied: The ruthless hag, by Weser's flood,
In Heaven's name urg'd th' infernal blow; And red the stream began to flow: The vanquish'd were baptiz'd with blood.
The Saxon prince in horror fled From altars stain'd with human gore; And Liberty his routed legions led
In safety to the bleak Norwegian shore. There in a cave asleep she lay, Lull'd by the hoarse-resounding main; When a bold savage past that way, Impell'd by Destiny, his name Disdain. Of ample front the portly chief appear'd: The hunted bear supplied a shaggy vest; The drifted snow hung on his yellow beard; And his broad shoulders brav'd the furious blast. He stopt: he gaz'd; his bosom glow'd, And deeply felt the impression of her charms: He seiz'd the advantage Fate allow'd,
And straight compress'd her in his vig'rous arms.
The curlew scream'd, the Tritons blew Their shells to celebrate the ravish'd rite; Old Time exulted as he flew;
And Independence saw the light.
The light he saw in Albion's happy plains, Where under cover of a flowering thorn, While Philomel renew'd her warbled strains, The auspicious fruit of stol'n embrace was born- The mountain Dryads, seiz'd with joy, The smiling infant to their charge consign'd; The Doric Muse caress'd the favorite boy; The hermit Wisdom stor'd his opening mind. As rolling years matur'd his age,
He flourish'd bold and sinewy as his sire; While the mild passions in his breast assuage The fiercer flames of his maternal sire.
Accomplish'd thus, he wing'd his way, And zealous rov'd from pole to pole, The rolls of right eternal to display,
And warm with patriot thoughts the aspiring soul On desert islets it was he that rais'd
Those spires that gild the Adriatic wave, Where Tyranny beheld amaz'd
Fair Freedom's temple, where he mark'd her grave
He steel'd the blunt Batavian's arms
To burst the Iberian's double chain;
And cities rear'd, and planted farms,
Won from the skirts of Neptune's wide domain. He, with the generous rustics, sate
On Uri's rocks in close divan;† And wing'd that arrow, sure as fate, Which ascertain'd the sacred rights of man.
Arabia's scorching sands he cross'd, Where blasted Nature pants supine, Conductor of her tribes adust,
To Freedom's adamantine shrine;
And many a Tartar horde forlorn, aghast!
He snatch'd from under fell Oppression's wing;
And taught amidst the dreary waste The all-cheering hymns of Liberty to sing. He virtue finds, like precious ore, Diffus'd through every baser mould, Even now he stands on Calvi's rocky shore, And turns the dross of Corsica to gold. He, guardian genius, taught my youth Pomp's tinsel livery to despise :
My lips, by him chastis'd to truth,
Ne'er paid that homage which the heart denies.
Those sculptur'd halls my feet shall never tread, Where varnish'd Vice and Vanity combin'd, To dazzle and seduce, their banners spread; And forge vile shackles for the free-born mind. Where Insolence his wrinkled front uprears, And all the flowers of spurious fancy blow; And Title his ill-woven chaplet wears, Full often wreath'd around the miscreant's brow:
† Alluding to the known story of William Tell and his The par is a small fish, not unlike the smelt, which it associates, the fathers and founders of the confederacy of rivals in delicacy and flavor.
Where ever-dimpling Falsehood, pert and vain, Presents her cup of stale profession's froth! And pale Disease, with all his bloated train, Torments the sons of Gluttony and Sloth.
In Fortune's car behold that minion ride, With either India's glittering spoils opprest: So moves the sumpter-mule, in harness'd pride, That bears the treasure which he cannot taste. For him let venal bards disgrace the bay, And hireling minstrels wake the tinkling string; Her sensual snares let faithless Pleasure lay; And all her jingling bells fantastic Folly ring; Disquiet, Doubt, and Dread shall intervene ; And Nature still to all her feelings just, In vengeance hang a damp on every scene, Shook from the baleful pinions of Disgust.
Nature I'll court in her sequester'd haunts By mountain, meadow, streamlet, grove, or cell, Where the pois'd lark his evening ditty chants, And Health, and Peace, and Contemplation dwell. There Study shall with Solitude recline; And Friendship pledge me to his fellow-swains; And Toil and Temperance sedately twine The slender cord that fluttering life sustains: And fearless Poverty shall guard the door; And Taste unspoil'd the frugal table spread; And Industry supply the humble store; And Sleep unbrib'd his dews refreshing shed: White-mantled Innocence, ethereal sprite, Shall chase far off the goblins of the night; And Independence o'er the day preside, Propitious power! my patron and my pride.
In 1741, he married Lucy, the daughter of Hugh Fortescue, Esq. a lady for whom he entertained the purest affection, and with whom he lived in unabated conjugal harmony. Her death in child-bed, in 1747, was lamented by him in a " Monody," which stands prominent among his poetical works, and displays much natural feeling, amidst the more elaborate strains of a poet's imagination. So much may suffice respecting his productions of this class, which are distinguished by the correctness of their versification, the elegance of their diction, and the delicacy of their sentiments. His miscellaneous pieces, and his History of Henry II., the last the work of his age, have each their appropriate merits, but may here be omitted.
GEORGE LORD LYTTELTON, born at Hagley, in Jan. 1708-9, was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, Bart. of the same place. He received his early education at Eton, whence he was sent to Christ-church College, in Oxford. In both of these places he was distinguished for classical literature, and some of his poems which we have borrowed were the fruits of his juvenile studies. In his nineteenth year, he set out on a tour to the Continent; and some of the letters which he wrote during this absence to his father are pleasing proofs of his sound principles, and his unreserved confidence in a venerated parent. He also wrote a poetical epistle to Dr. Ayscough, his Oxford tutor, which is one of the best of his works. On his return from abroad, he was chosen representative in parliament for the borough of Oakhampton; and being warmed with that patriotic ardor which rarely fails to inspire the bosom of an ingenuous youth, he became a distinguished partisan of opposition-politics, whilst his father was a supporter of the ministry, then ranged under the banners of Walpole. When Frederic Prince of Wales, having quarrelled with the court, formed a separate court of his own, in 1737, Lyttelton was appointed secretary to the Prince, with an advanced salary. At this time Pope bestowed of his age. his praise upon our patriot in an animated couplet: Free as young Lyttelton her cause pursue, Still true to virtue, and as warm as true.
The death of his father, in 1751, produced his succession to the title and a large estate; and his taste for rural ornament rendered Hagley one of the most delightful residences in the kingdom. At the dissolution of the ministry, of which he composed a part, in 1759, he was rewarded with eleva tion to the peerage, by the style of Baron Lyttelton of Frankley, in the county of Worcester. He died of a lingering disorder, which he bore with pious resignation, in August 1773, in the 64th year
[Though now, sublimely borne on Homer's wing, Of glorious wars and godlike chiefs she sing. Wilt thou with me revisit once again The crystal fountain, and the flowery plain? Wilt thou, indulgent, hear my verse relate The various changes of a lover's state; And, while each turn of passion I pursue, Ask thy own heart if what I tell be true?
To the green margin of a lonely wood, Whose pendent shades o'erlook'd a silver flood, Young Damon came, unknowing where he stray'd, Full of the image of his beauteous maid:
His flock, far off, unfed, untended, lay,
To every savage a defenceless prey;
No sense of interest could their master move, And every care seem'd trifling now but love. Awhile in pensive silence he remain'd,
But, though his voice was mute, his looks com- plain'd;
At length the thoughts, within his bosom pent, Forc'd his unwilling tongue to give them vent.
"Ye nymphs," he cried, "ye Dryads, who so long Have favor'd Damon, and inspir'd his song; For whom, retir'd, I shun the gay resorts Of sportful cities, and of pompous courts; In vain I bid the restless world adieu, To seek tranquillity and peace with you. Though wild Ambition and destructive Rage No factions here can form, no wars can wage: Though Envy frowns not on your humble shades, Nor Calumny your innocence invades : Yet cruel Love, that troubler of the breast, Too often violates your boasted rest; With inbred storms disturbs your calm retreat, And taints with bitterness each rural sweet. “Ah, luckless day! when first with fond surprise On Delia's face I fix'd my eager eyes! Then in wild tumults all my soul was tost, Then reason, liberty, at once were lost: And every wish, and thought, and care, was gone, But what my heart employ'd on her alone. Then too she smil'd: can smiles our peace destroy, Those lovely children of Content and Joy? How can soft pleasure and tormenting woe From the same spring at the same moment flow? Unhappy boy! these vain inquiries cease, Thought could not guard, nor will restore, thy peace: Indulge the frenzy that thou must endure, And soothe the pain thou know'st not how to cure. Come, flattering Memory! and tell my heart How kind she was, and with what pleasing art She strove its fondest wishes to obtain, Confirm her power, and faster bind my chain. If on the green we danc'd, a mirthful band; To me alone she gave her willing hand: Her partial taste, if e'er I touch'd the lyre, Still in my song found something to admire. By none but her my crook with flowers was crown'd, By none but her my brows with ivy bound: The world, that Damon was her choice, believ'd, The world, alas! like Damon, was deceiv'd. When last I saw her, and declar'd my fire In words as soft as passion could inspire, Coldly she heard, and full of scorn withdrew, Without one pitying glance, one sweet adieu. The frighted hind, who sees his ripen'd corn Up from the roots by sudden tempests torn, Whose fairest hopes destroy'd and blasted lie, Feels not so keen a pang of grief as I. Ah, how have I deserv'd, inhuman maid, To have my faithful service thus repaid? Were all the marks of kindness I receiv'd, But dreams of joy, that charm'd me and deceiv'd? Or did you only nurse my growing love, That with more pain I might your hatred prove? Sure guilty treachery no place could find In such a gentle, such a generous mind: A maid, brought up the woods and wilds among Could ne'er have learnt the art of courts so young: No; let me rather think her anger feign'd, Still let me hope my Delia may be gain'd; 'Twas only modesty that seem'd disdain, And her heart suffer'd when she gave me pain." Pleas'd with this flattering thought, the love-sick boy
Felt the faint dawning of a doubtful joy; Back to his flock more cheerful he return'd, When now the setting Sun more fiercely burn'd, Blue vapors rose along the mazy rills, And light's last blushes ting'd the distant hills.
TO MR. DODDINGTON, AFTERWARDS LORD MELCOMBE REGIS.
HEAR, Doddington, the notes that shepherds sing, Like those that warbling hail the genial Spring. Nor Pan, nor Phoebus, tunes our artless reeds: From Love alone their melody proceeds. From Love, Theocritus, on Enna's plains, Learnt the wild sweetness of his Doric strains. Young Maro, touch'd by his inspiring dart, Could charm each ear, and soften every heart: Me too his power has reach'd, and bids with thine My rustic pipe in pleasing concert join.
Damon no longer sought the silent shade, No more in unfrequented paths he stray'd, But call'd the swains to hear his jocund song, And told his joy to all the rural throng.
"Blest be the hour," he said, "that happy hour, When first I own'd my Delia's gentle power; Then gloomy discontent and pining care Forsook my breast, and left soft wishes there; Soft wishes there they left, and gay desires, Delightful languors, and transporting fires. Where yonder limes combine to form a shade, These eyes first gaz'd upon the charming maid: There she appear'd, on that auspicious day, When swains their sportive rites to Bacchus pay: She led the dance-Heavens! with what grace she mov'd!
Who could have seen her then, and not have lov'd? I strove not to resist so sweet a flame, But gloried in a happy captive's name; Nor would I now, could Love permit, be free, But leave to brutes their savage liberty.
"And art thou then, fond youth, secure of joy? Can no reverse thy flattering bliss destroy? Has treacherous Love no torment yet in store? Or hast thou never prov'd his fatal power? Whence flow'd those tears that late bedew'd thy cheek?
Why sigh'd thy heart as if it strove to break? Why were the desert rocks invok'd to hear The plaintive accent of thy sad despair? From Delia's rigor all those pains arose, Delia, who now compassionates my woes, Who bids me hope; and in that charming word Has peace and transport to my soul restor'd.
Begin, my pipe, begin the gladsome lay; A kiss from Delia shall thy music pay; A kiss obtain'd 'twixt struggling and consent, Given with forc'd anger, and disguis'd content. No laureate wreaths I ask, to bind my brows, Such as the Muse on lofty bards bestows: Let other swains to praise or fame aspire; I from her lips my recompense require.
"Why stays my Delia in her secret bower? Light gales have chas'd the late impending shower Th' emerging Sun more bright his beams extends; Oppos'd, its beauteous arch the rainbow bends! Glad youths and maidens turn the new-made hay: The birds renew their songs on every spray! Come forth, my love, thy shepherd's joys to crown All nature smiles.-Will only Delia frown?
Hark how the bees with murmurs fill the plain While every flower of every sweet they drain :
See, how beneath yon hillock's shady steep, The shelter'd herds on flowery couches sleep: Nor bees, nor herds, are half so blest as I, If with my fond desires my love comply; From Delia's lips a sweeter honey flows, And on her bosom dwells more soft repose. "Ah! how, my dear, shall I deserve thy charms? What gift can bribe thee to my longing arms? A bird for thee in silken bands I hold, Whose yellow plumage shines like polish'd gold; From distant isles the lovely stranger came, And bears the fortunate Canaries' name; In all our woods none boasts so sweet a note, Not ev'n the nightingale's melodious throat. Accept of this; and could I add beside What wealth the rich Peruvian mountains hide: If all the gems in eastern rocks were mine, On thee alone their glittering pride should shine. But, if thy mind no gifts have power to move, Phoebus himself shall leave th' Aonian grove: The tuneful Nine, who never sue in vain, Shall come sweet suppliants for their favorite
For him each blue-ey'd Naiad of the flood, For him each green-hair'd sister of the wood, Whom oft beneath fair Cynthia's gentle ray His music calls to dance the night away. And you, fair nymphs, companions of my love, With whom she joys the cowslip meads to rove, I beg you recommend my faithful flame, And let her often hear her shepherd's name: Shade all my faults from her inquiring sight, And show my merits in the fairest light: My pipe your kind assistance shall repay, And every friend shall claim a different lay.
"But see! in yonder glade the heavenly fair Enjoys the fragrance of the breezy air— Ah, thither let me fly with eager feet; Adieu, my pipe; I go my love to meet- O, may I find her as we parted last, And may each future hour be like the past! So shall the whitest lamb these pastures feed, Propitious Venus, on thy altars bleed.
TO MR. EDWARD WALPOLE.
THE gods, O Walpole, give no bliss sincere; Wealth is disturb'd by care, and power by fear: Of all the passions that employ the mind, In gentle love the sweetest joys we find : Yet ev'n those joys dire Jealousy molests, And blackens each fair image in our breasts. O may the warmth of thy too tender heart Ne'er feel the sharpness of his venom'd dart! For thy own quiet, think thy mistress just, And wisely take thy happiness on trust.
Begin, my Muse, and Damon's woes rehearse, In wildest numbers and disorder'd verse.
On a romantic mountain's airy head (While browsing goats at ease around him fed) Anxious he lay, with jealous cares opprest; Distrust and anger laboring in his breast- The vale beneath a pleasing prospect yields Of verdant meads and cultivated fields; Through these a river rolls its winding flood, Adorn'd with various tufts of rising wood;
Here, half-conceal'd in trees, a cottage stands, A castle there the opening plain commands; Beyond, a town with glittering spires is crown'd, And distant hills the wide horizon bound: So charming was the scene, awhile the swain Beheld delighted, and forgot his pain: But soon the stings infix'd within his heart With cruel force renew'd their raging smart: His flowery wreath, which long with pride he wore, The gift of Delia, from his brows he tore, Then cried, "May all thy charms, ungrateful maid, Like these neglected roses, droop and fade! May angry Heaven deform each guilty grace, That triumphs now in that deluding face! Those alter'd looks may every shepherd fly, And ev'n thy Daphnis hate thee worse than I! "Say, thou inconstant, what has Damon done, To lose the heart his tedious pains had won! Tell me what charms you in my rival find, Against whose power no ties have strength to bind? Has he, like me, with long obedience strove To conquer your disdain, and merit love? Has he with transport every smile ador'd, And died with grief at each ungentle word? Ah, no! the conquest was obtain'd with ease; He pleas'd you, by not studying to please: His careless indolence your pride alarm'd; And, had he lov'd you more, he less had charm'd. "O pain to think! another shall possess Those balmy lips which I was wont to press : Another on her panting breast shall lie, And catch sweet madness from her swimming eye!-
I saw their friendly flocks together feed,
I saw them hand in hand walk o'er the mead: Would my clos'd eye had sunk in endless night, Ere I was doom'd to bear that hateful sight! Where'er they pass'd, be blasted every flower, And hungry wolves their helpless flocks devour!- Ah, wretched swain, could no examples move Thy heedless heart to shun the rage of love? Hast thou not heard how poor Menalcas died A victim to Parthenia's fatal pride?
Dear was the youth to all the tuneful plain, Lov'd by the nymphs, by Phoebus lov'd in vain: Around his tomb their tears the Muses paid; And all things mourn'd, but the relentless maid. Would I could die like him, and be at peace! These torments in the quiet grave would cease; There my vex'd thoughts a calm repose would find, And rest, as if my Delia still were kind. No, let me live, her falsehood to upbraid: Some god perhaps my just revenge will aid.
Alas! what aid, fond swain, wouldst thou receive? Could thy heart bear to see its Delia grieve? Protect her, Heaven! and let her never know The slightest part of hapless Damon's woe: I ask no vengeance from the powers above; All I implore is never more to love.- Let me this fondness from my bosom tear, Let me forget that e'er I thought her fair. Come, cool Indifference, and heal my breast; Wearied, at length, I seek thy downy rest: No turbulence of passion shall destroy My future ease with flattering hopes of joy. Hear, mighty Pan, and, all ye sylvans, hear What by your guardian deities I swear; No more my eyes shall view her fatal charme, No more I'll court the traitress to my arms: Not all her arts my steady soul shall move, And she shall find that reason conquers love-
« EelmineJätka » |