Aw'd at the name, fierce Appius* rising bends, And hardy Cinna from his throne attends : "He comes," they cry," to whom the fates assign'd O Friend and Father of the human mind, Appius Claudius the Decemvir, and L. Cornelius Cinna, both attempted to establish a tyrannical dominion in Rome, and both perished by the treason. If I aspire, in public virtue's cause, And give my numbers entrance to the heart. THE VIRTUOSO;19 IN IMITATION OF SPENSER'S STYLE AND STANZA. Videmus Nugari solitos. - PERSIUS. WHILOм by silver Thames's gentle stream, Until (advancing onward by degrees) He knew whatever breeds on earth, or air, or seas. He many a creature did anatomize, Almost unpeopling water, air, and land; Beasts, fishes, birds, snails, caterpillars, flies, Were laid full low by his relentless hand, That oft with gory crimson was distain'd: He many a dog destroy'd, and many a cat; Of fleas his bed, of frogs the marshes drain'd, Could tellen if a mite were lean or fat, And read a lecture o'er the entrails of a gnat. He knew the various modes of ancient times, Their arts and fashions of each different guise, Their weddings, funerals, punishments for crimes, Their strength, their learning eke, and rarities; Of old habiliments, each sort and size, Male, female, high and low, to him were known; Each gladiator-dress, and stage disguise; With learned, clerkly phrase he could have shown How the Greek tunic differ'd from the Roman A curious medallist, I wot, he was, [gown. And boasted many a course of ancient coin; Well as his wife's he knewen every face, From Julius Cæsar down to Constantine: For some rare sculpture he would oft ypine, (As green-sick damosels for husbands do ;) And when obtained, with enraptur'd eyne, He'd run it o'er and o'er with greedy view, And look, and look again, as he would look it through. His rich museum, of dimensions fair, [fraught: With goods that spoke the owner's mind was Things ancient, curious, value-worth, and rare, From sea and land, from Greece and Rome were brought, Which he with mighty sums of gold had bought: Here in a corner stood a rich scrutoire, With many a curiosity replete; In scemly order furnish'd every drawer, Products of art or nature as was meet; Air-pumps and prisms were plac'd beneath his feet, A Memphian mummy-king hung o'er his head; Here phials with live insects small and great, There stood a tripod of the Pythian maid; Above, a crocodile diffus'd a grateful shade. Fast by the window did a table stand, Where hodiern and antique rarities, [land, From Egypt, Greece, and Rome, from sea and Were thick-besprent of every sort and size: Here a Bahaman-spider's carcass lies, There a dire serpent's golden skin doth shine; Here Indian feathers, fruits, and glittering flies; There gums and amber found beneath the line, The beak of Ibis here, and there an Antonine. Close at his back, or whispering in his ear, There stood a spright ycleped Phantasy; Which, wheresoe'er he went, was always near: Her look was wild, and roving was her eye; Her hair was clad with flowers of every dye; Her glistering robes were of more various hue Yet in this shape all tides she did not stay, The wight whose brain this phantom's power doth fill, On whom she doth with constant care attend, Will for a dreadful giant take a mill, Or a grand palace in a hog-stye find: (From her dire influence me may heaven defend!) |