Pleasure came smiling in her train,
And chas'd the family of Pain.
Let lovers every charm admire,
The easy shape, the heav'nly fire
That from those modest beaming eyes
The captive heart at once surprise.
A Father's is another part;
I praise the virtues of the heart,
And wit so elegant and free,
Attemper'd sweet with modesty.
And may kind Heaven a lover send
Of sense, of honour, and a friend,
Those virtues always to protect,
Those beauties-never to neglect!
$192. An Ode in imitation of Alcans.
SIR WILLIAM JONES.
[mound,
Not high-rais'd battlements or labour'd
Thick wall or moated gate; [crown'd;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets
Not bays and broad-arm'd ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starr'd and spangled courts, [pride.
Where low-brow'd baseness warts perfume to
No-MEN, high-minded MEN,
With powers as far above dull brutes endued
In forest, brake, or den,
WHAT constitutes a state?
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude:
Men who their duties know,
And all made Pimlico their choice,
And prais'd him with their sweetest voice.
Young Pim, the gallant and the gay,
Like ass divided 'tween the hay,
At last resolv'd to gain his ease,
And choose his wife by eating cheese.
He wrote his card, he seal'd it up,
And said with them that night he'd sup;
Desir'd that there might only be
Good Cheshire cheese, and but them three;
He was resolv'd to crown his life,
And by that means to fix his wife.
The girls were pleas'd at his conceit;
Each dress'd herself divinely neat;
With faces full of peace and plenty,
Blooming with roses, under twenty.
Were sweet as lilies of the valley:
For surely Nancy, Betsy, Sally,
But singly surely buxom Bet
Was like new hay and mignionet;
But each surpass'd a poet's fancy,
For that, of truth, was, said of Nancy:
And as for Sal, she was a Donna,
As fair as those of old Cretona, †
Who to Apelles lent their faces
To make up madam Helen's graces.
To those the gay divided Pim
Came elegantly smart and trim:
When ev'ry smiling maiden, certain,
Cut of the cheese to try her fortune.
Nancy, at once, not fearing-caring
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare To shew her saving ate the paring;
Prevent the long-aim'd blow,
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:
These constitute a state;
And Sov'reign Law, that State's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate
Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill:
Smit by her sacred frown,
The fiend Discretion * like a vapour sinks,
And e'en the all-dazzling crown
Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.
Such was this heav'n lov'd isle,
Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore!
No more shall freedom smile?
And Bet, to shew her gen'rous mind,
Cut, and then threw away the rind ;
While prudent Sarah, sure to please,
Like a clean maiden, scrap'd the cheese.
This done, young Pimlico replied,
Sally I now declare my bride. “With Nan I can't my welfare put, "For she has prov'd a dirty slut: "And Betsy, who has par'd the rind, "Would give my fortune to the wind. Sally the happy medium chose, And I with Sally will repose; She's prudent, cleanly; and the man "Who fixes on a nuptial plan Can never err, if he will choose "A wife by cheese-before he ties the neo
Shall Britons languish, and be men no more?"
Since all must file resign,
Those sweet rewards which decorate the brave
'Tis folly to decline,
And steal inglorious to the silent grave.
$199. The Choice of a Wife by Cheese. CAPTAIN THOMPSON.
ΤΗ HERE liv'd in York, an age ago,
A man whose name was Pimlico:
He lov'd three sisters passing well,
But which the best he could not tell.
These sisters three, divinely fair,
Shew'd Pimlico their tenderest care:
For each was elegantly bred,
And all were much inclin'd to wed;
Diferetionary or arbitrary power. beautiful Helen.
Heaven the grateful liberty would give,
That I might choose my method how to
And all those hours propitious fate shoulder
In blissful ease and satisfaction spend:
Near some fair town I'd have a private se
Built uniform, not little, nor too great:
Better, if on a rising ground it stood;
On this side fields, on that a neighbouring woc
It should within no other things contain,
But what are useful, necessary, plain:
Methinks 'tis nauseous, and I'd ne'er endure
The needless pomp of gaudy furniture.
Apelles, from five beautiful virgins of Cretona, drew the
That life may be more comfortable yet,
And all my joys refin'd, sincere, and great;
I'd choose two friends, whose company would
A great advance to my felicity:
[be
Well-born, of humours suited to my own,
: 'Discreet, and men as well as books have known:
Brave, generous, witty, and exactly free
From loose behaviour, or formality:
Airy and prudent; merry, but not light;
Quick in discerning, and in judging right:
little garden, grateful to the eye,
here a cool rivulet runs murmuring by:
whose delicious banks a stately row
shady limes, or sycamores, should grow.
th' end of which a silent study plac'd
ould be with all the noblest authors grac'd
race and Virgil, in whose mighty lines
mortal wit, and solid learning shines;
irp Juvenal, and amorous Ovid too,
ho all the turns of love's soft passion knew.
that with judgment reads his charming Seoret they should be, faithful to their trust;
lines,
[joins, In reasoning cool, strong, temperate, and just
which strong art with stronger nature Obliging, open, without huffing, brave,
1st grant his fancy does the best excel; Brisk in gay talking, and in sober, grave:
thoughts so tender, and express'd so well: Close in dispute, but not tenacious; try'd
th all those moderns, men of steady sense, By solid reason, and let that decide:
em'd for learning and for eloquence. Not prone to lust, revenge, or envious hate;
ome of these, as fancy should advise, Nor busy meddlers with intrigues of state:
always take iny morning exercise:
Strangers to slander, and sworn foes to spite;
Not quarrelsome, but stout enough to fight;
Loyal, and pious, friends to Cæsar; true
As dying martyrs to their Maker too.
In their society I could not miss
A permanent, sincere, substantial bliss.
I'd be concern'd in no litigiousjar;
Belov'd by all, not vainly popular.
Whate'er assistance I had power to bring,
T'oblige my country, or to serve my king,
Whene'er they call, I'd readily afford
My tongue, my pen, my counsel, or my sword..
Law-suits I'd shun with as much studious
sure no minutes bring us more content, n those in pleasing useful studies spent. d have a clear and competent estate, t I might live genteelly, but not great: nuch as I could moderately spend, ttle more sometirnes t' oblige a friend. should the sons of poverty repine much at fortune, they should taste of mine. I all that objects of true pity were, uld be reliev'd with what my wants could
spare:
that our Maker has too largely given, ld be returu'd in gratitude to Heaven. gal plenty should my table spread; friends with no luxurious dishes fed: agh to satisfy, and something more ed the stranger and the neighbouring poor. ng meat indulges vice, and pampering food tes diseases, and inflames the blood." what's sufficient to make nature strong, the bright lamp of life continue long, edly take; and, as I did possess, bounteous Author of my plenty bless. ave a little vault, but always stor'd
the best wine each vintage could afford. whets the wit, improves its native force, gives a pleasant flavour to discourse: aking all our spirits debonair, ws off the lees, the sediment of care. Es the greatest blessing Heaven lends be debauch'd, and serve ignoble ends; it too oft, the grape's refreshingjuice. many mischievous effects produce: house should no such rude disorders know,
m high drinking consequently flow; ould I use what was so kindly given, e dishonour of indulgent Heaven. neighbour came, he should be free, with respect, and not uneasy be, retreat, or to himself or me.
freedom, prudence, and right reason
en may, with impunity, receive: [give,
he least swerving from their rule's too
much;
at's forbidden us, 'tis death to touch.
care
As I would dens where hungry lions are;
And rather put up injuries, than be
A plague to him, who'd be a plague to me.
I value quiet at a price too great,
To give for my revenge so dear a rate:
For what do we by all our bustle gain,
But counterfeit delight for real pain!
If heaven a date of many years would give,
Thus I'd in pleasure, ease, and plenty live.
And as I near approach'd the verge of life,
Some kind relation (for I'd have no wife)
Should take upon him all my worldly care,
Whilst I did for a better state prepare.
Then I'd not be with any trouble vex'd,
Nor have the evening of my days perplex'd;
But, by a silent and a peaceful death,
Without a sigh resign my aged breath,
And when committed to the dust, I'd have
Few tears, but friendly, dropt into my grave;
Then would my exit so propitious be,
All men would wish to live and die like me.
$195. To my Candle. PETER PINDAR. HOU lone companion of the spectred might, THO I wake amid thy friendly-watchful light, To steal a precious hour from lifeless sleepHark, the wild uproar of the windst and hark,
Hell's genius roams the regions of the dark, And swells the thund'ring horrors of the deep.
From cloud to cloud the pale moon hurrying | The self-same blade from me must sever
Alies;
Now blacken'd, and now flashing thro' her
But all is silence here-beneath thy beam,
I own I labour for the voice of praise-
For who would sink in dull oblivion's stream?
Who would not live in songs of distant days?
Thus while I wond'ring pause o'er
[skies, Sensation, judgment, sight for ever;
All mem'ry of endearments past,
All hope of comforts long to last,
All that makes fourteen years with you
A summer-and a short one too:
All that affection feels and fears,
Shaks-When hours, without you, seem like years.—
Till that be done (and I'd as soon
Believe this knife will clip the moon)
Accept my present undeterr'd,
And leave their proverbs to the herd.
If in a kiss-delicious treat!
Your lips acknowledge the receipt;
Love, fond of such substantial fare,
And proud to play the glutton there,
All thoughts of cutting will disdain,
Save only cut and come again.”
I mark, in visions of delight, the Sage,
High o'er the wrecks of man, who stands
sublime;
A column in the melancholy waste
(Its cities humbled, and its glories past),
Majestic, 'mid the solitude of time.
Yet now to sadness let me yield the hour-
Yes, let the tears of purest friendship show'r.
I view, alas! what ne'er should die-
A form that wakes my deepest sigh;
A form, that feels of death the leaden sleep-
Descending to the realms of shade,
I view the pale-ey'd, panting maid,
I see the Virtues o'er their fav'rite weep.
Ah! could the Muse's simple pray'r
Command the envied trump of fame,
Oblivion should Eliza spare:
A world should echo with her name.
Art thou departing too, my trembling friend?
Ah! draws thy little lustre to its end?
Yes, on thy frame Fate too shall fix her
seal-
O let me, pensive, watch thy pale decay;
How fast that frame, so tender, wears away;
How fast thy life the restless minutes steal!
How slender now, alas! thy thread of fire!
Ah! falling, falling, ready to expire!
In vain thy struggles-all will soon be o'er.
At life thou snatchest with an eager leap :
Now round I see thy flame so feeble creep,
Faint, less'ning, quiv'ring, glimm'ring-now
Thus shall the sons of Science sink away,
$197. By the same, with a Ring.
THEE, Mary, with this ring I wed,"
So sixteen years ago I said-
Behold another ring! "For what?"
To wed thee o'er again-why not?"
With the first ring I married youth,
Grace, beauty, innocence, and truth:
Taste long admir'd, sense long rever'd:
And all my Molly then appear'd.
If she, by merit since disclos'd,
Prov'd twice the woman I suppos'd,
plead that double merit now,
To justify a double vow.
Here then to-day (with faith as sure,
With ardour as intense and pure,
As when amidst the rights divine
I took thy troth, and plighted mine)
To thee, sweet girl, my second ring,
A token and a pledge I bring;
With this I wed, till death us part,
Thy riper virtues to my heart;
These virtues, which, before untry'd,
The wife has added to the bride;
And thus of beauty fade the fairest flow'r-Those virtues, whose progressive claim, For where's the Giant who to Time shall say, "Destructive tyrant, I arrest thy pow'r ?"
$196. Presented together with a Knife by the
Endearing wedlock's very name, My soul enjoys, my song approves. For conscience sake, as well as love's. For why?-They shew me hour by her Honour's high thought, affection's pow'r, Rev. SAMUEL BISHOP, Head Master of Mer-Discretion's deed, sound judgment's sentent chant Taylors' School, to his Wife on her And teach me all things-but repentance. Wedding Day, which happened to be her Birth Day and New Year's Day.
KNIFE, dear girl, cuts love, they say—
Mere modish love perhaps it may;
For any tool of any kind
Can sep'rate what was never join'd.
The knife that cuts our love in two
Will have much tougher work to do:
Must cut your softness, worth, and spirit
Down to the vulgar size of merit;
To level yours with modern taste,
Must cut a world of sense to waste;
And from your single beauty's store,
Clip what would dizen out a score.
§ 198. The Family Fireside.
HOME's home, however homely," wisd
stlove, by friendship mellow'd into bliss, s the glad glow, and sanctifies the kiss; fondly welcom'd to th' accustom'd seat veet complaisance wife and husband
$ 199. Flowers.
BISHOP.
UNEQUAL to my theme with desperate feet
I sought the Muse's bow'r ;
Anxious to see tho' all asham'd to meet
When fleet along the rising gale
Some bland inspiring power;
The queen fair Fancy past;
And thro' her rainbow-tinged veil
A glance benignant cast!
Then beck'ning to a secret glade,
"Come see," she cry'd, "the train,
"Who own beneath this mystic shade,
"My visionary reign!"
meet,
mutual pleasure, mutual purpose share,
e from labours, but unite in care.
bition!-does ambition there reside?
-when the boy in manly mood astride,
dstrong prowess innocently vain,
s, the jockey of his father's cane.
emulation in the daughter's heart
a more mild, tho' not less powerful part:
zeal to shine her fluttering bosom
Proud to obey the glad command,
I took with awe my stand:-
Meanwhile, in many a varying vest
Of rich expression aptly dress'd,
Ideal myriads seem'd to rove
Promiscuous thro' the cultur'd grove:
And cach, as inbred impulse led,
From every flow'r-embroider'd bed
Some certain plant, whose blossoins rose
Significantly pleasing, chose.
xpectation, day by day, more bright, every prospect throws increasing light. mplest comforts act with strongest force;
er can give them, can improve, of
warms,
the romp the future housewife forms. h perchance to graver sport incline, tand genius in their pastime join. e cramp riddle's puzzling knot invents, ars aloft the card-built tenements. how joy animates intense tho' meek ding roses on the grandame cheek, proud the frolic progeny to survey, Is and owns an interest in their play,
each wish their wayward whims un-With frank, firm look, and light tho' steady fold, [Rose For in the tender rose might best be read Caine Courage first, and cropt a dew-charg'd
tread
His very essence-bloom that gently glows
Impell'd by gentle breath-prone to dispense
lls at every call, the story ten times told.
t-humoured dignity endears meanwhile
rrative grandsire's venerable style.
y feats atchiev'd in prime of youth,
tine anecdote, or historic truth,
kim shrewd, or admonition bland,
onate attention's ear command.
ach society, so form'd, so blest,
Thought, Remembrance, all impart a
To all, sweetness, yet alert to shew,
If rash invasion ruder deeds commence,
That warm resentment points a thorn below.
Retiring from the public eye
The maiden meek Humility
Was seen to turn with mildest grace
To heav'n her thoughts, to earth her face;
And all unconscious what fair fame
zest,
Merit like hers might well assume,
Prefer'd to every juster claim
The lowly Daisy's simple bloom.
Some bauble each moment arranging,
Admiring, exploding, or changing Thr:
The coquette Affectation skimm'd wantonly
On her breast a Narcissus she bore,
As if with Narcissus of yore,
Heedless of the scorner's joke,
Smiling at the ruthan's saroke,
Persevering Patience stood,
Conqu'ring evil still with good;
Binding for her brow the while
Artless wreaths of Camomile,
Hardy plant whose vig'rous shoot
Springs beneath the trampler's foot.
Pure constant Love (whose hallow'd fires
Time still exalts, and truth inspires,
In spite of absence, grief, or pain)
Approv'd the faithful Marigold,
Whose leaves their saffron blaze unfold,
course.
is is common-place, you'll tell me:-true! ity 'tis not common fashion too. is we will, plain sense at last will find y seeking-chat we left behind. dual good engage our hope, tic virtues gives the largest scope; sofpublic eminence we trace, tic virtues are its surest base. great example make these truths more clear,
atest of examples shall appear. erea man whom general suffrage owns nour to the majesty of thrones?
a man whom general love's acclaim, with each noblest and each dearest name? [power, Edst the glare of state, and pomp of the soft sympathies of the family hour; s illustrious at his own fireside, ate merit's sterling standard tried, when the cares from royal worth that spring,
h the people's father, and the king.
When first the sun asserts his reign,
Hail his glad progress thro' the day,
Close gradual with his parting ray,
Nor open, till he shines again.
Superstition came telling her steps and her And mark how Moore could once display, beads, [green; A scene so varied, and so gay! Like Jack-in-a-Bush hung all over with Beg you, for introduction's sake, Agnus Castus by wholesale she cull'd from A short excursive trip to take, the meads, [tween: O'er one poor plat, unlike the rest, And stuck with due care Holy Thistle be- Which my more humble care hath drest; A chaplet of Monkshood she pluck'd for her Where if a little flowret blows, head, From pure affection's root it grows.
And Rosemary sprigs for the graves of the dead.
Tiptoe o'er the level plain,
Ardent Hope all panting flew ; Prompt her eager eye to strain
Far beyond the present view; Quick from hint to hint to stray, She the Primrose held most dear; First-born of returning May,
Promise of the future year.
Ill-nature to a corner stole,
And taught her bloodshot eyes to roll,
As if she long'd to blight
Each flower of happier scent and hue,
For none she chose of all that
grew
Save pois'nous Aconite.
Hand in hand, for they never asunder are seen,
All cheerful their features, all easy their mien,
Contentment and Innocence tript it along
By the soft virgin Snow-drop was Innocence
known:
[own;
Contentment took Heart-ease, and call'dit her
Nor envied the great, nor the gay in the
throng.
The throng! just hint to wild conceit like
mine;
Why, what a wreathe had I begun to twine!
Indulgent as she was, methinks I hear
Ev'n Fancy's self now whispers in my ear,
"Quit ere 'tis tedious, quit the flowing road,
"Nor what was meant a noseg1y, make
load."
$200. To a Young Lady, with a Copy of
Moore's Fables. BISHOP.
Books, my dear girl, when well design'd,
Are moral maps of human kind:
Where, sketch'd before judicious eyes,
The road to worth and wisdom lies.
Serene Philosophy pourtrays
The steep, the rough, the thorny ways:
Cross woods and wilds, the learned tribe,
A dark and doubtful path describe:
But Poesy her votaries leads
O'er level lawns, and verdant meads;
And if, perchance, in sportful vein,
Thro' Fable's scenes she guides her train,
All is at once enchanted ground,
All Fancy's garden glitters round.
I, Sally! (who shall long to see,
In how good your sex can be,)
you,
Before you range with curious speed,
Where'er that garden's beauties lead ;
A virgin rose, in all the pride
Of spring's luxuriant blushes dy'd,
Above the vulgar flow'rs was rais'd,
And with excess of lustre blaz’d.
In full career of heedless play,
Chance brought a Butterfly that way;
She stopp'd at once her giddy flight,
Proud on so sweet a spot to light;
Spread wide her plumage to the sun,
And thus in fancy-strain begun :
Why but to soften my repose,
"Could nature rear so bright a rose ?
Why but on roses to recline,
"Make forms so delicate as mine?
"Fate destin'd by the same decree,
"Me for the rose-the rose for me!"
A tiny Bug, who close between
Th' untolding bloom had lurk'd unseen,
Heard, and in angry tone address d
This rude invader of his rest:
For thee, consummate fool, the rose! "No-to a nobler end it blows :"The velvet o'er its foliage spread, "Secures to me a downy bed: "So thick its crowding leaves ascend
To hide, to warm me, and defend.
For me those odours they exhale,
"Which scent at second-hand the gale;
"And give such things as thee to share
"What my superior claim can spare!"
While thus the quarrel they pursu'd,
A Bee the petty triflers view'd;
For once reluctant rais'd her head
A moment from her toil, and said;
Cease, abject an'mals, to contest!
Threy claim things most who use them t "Would nature finish works like these, "That butterflies might bask at ease? "Or bugs intrench'd in splendor he,
Born but to crawl, and dose, and die? "The rose you vainly ramble o'er, "Breathes balmy dews from ev'ry pere; Which yield their treasur'd sweets al "To skill and labour like my own: "With sense as keen as yours, I trace
Th' expanding blossom's glossy grace; "Its shape, its fragrance, and its hue, But while I trace, improve them 100: "Still taste; but still from hour to hour, "Bear home new honey from the flow'r.
Conceit may read for mere pretence,
For mere amusement, indolence;
True spirit deems no study right,
Till profit-dignify delight.
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