Seems half emerging from his olive bow'r Of darkness. How, to undistemper'd thought, Thus the chief scenes of Nature view'd apart, Which with a just similitude affect Th' attentive mind, now thro' the tuneful whole Let the swift wing of Fancy bear us on Beyond the ken of knowledge, where, unseen To us inhabitants of this small spot, -Ten thousand worlds in regions unconfin'd, Progressive and obedient to the source Of light eternal, gild the vast expanse: Or, should we stop th' aspiring flight to view, Led by the hand of Science and of Truth, Where in the midst the glorious Sun expands His flame, and with perennial beams supplies The distant planets as they roll around; What Harmony divine for ever reigns! How these in tuneful order a thro' the void Their diff'rent stations keep, their pow'rs distinct Observe, and in each other's friendly sphere Their kindest influence blend, till all unite To form the plan of the all-ruling Mind, And, thro' the whole, celestial bliss diffuse! Hence let the worse than atheist, the fond fool Who falsely dotes in superstition's gloom, And blindfold led by easy Faith, denies The guide of Reason, obstinately bent To seek the cause of universal good, And source of beauty in the demon's cave, And, shudd'ring, fancies he at distance hears The howls of ghosts, created to endure Eternal torments. Let this impious wretch Look round this fair creation, where, impell'd By that great Author, every atom tends To Universal Harmony; where Joy, As with a parent's fondness, to behold Her own soft image in her child impress'd, Smiles on the beauteous offspring, and illumes Responsive signs of pleasure; like the beams Of Titan sporting on the lucid waves Whence Venus rose of old: let him then say, If Nature meant this goodly frame to cheat Deluded mortals? Did an idiot's scheme Upraise this wond'rous fabric? Say, was man 10 The superiority of moral beauty to natural has been universally allowed by all authors both ancient and modern. And that sentence of Seneca's may be understood figuratively: Nullum ornamentum principis fastigio dignius pulchriusque est, quam illa corona ob cives servatos. Senec. de clem. lib. 1. "Vide sir Isaac Newton, Book III. p. 345. Shot wildly down; nor 'sdains he to behold From these sweet meditations on the charms Of things external; on the genuine forms Which blossom in creation; on the scene Where mimic Art with emulative hue Usurps the throne of Nature unreprov'd; Or the just concord of mellifluent sounds; The soul, and all the intellectual train Of fond desires, gay hopes, or threat'ning fears, Through this habitual intercourse of sense Is harmoniz'd within, till all is fair And perfect; till each moral pow'r perceives Its own resemblance, with fraternal joy, In ev'ry form complete, and smiling feels Beauty and Good the same1. Thus the first man 12 See Plato's Dialogues, Xenophon's Memora bilia, &c. whom the ingenious author of the Traité aspice vultus Ecce meos: utinamque oculos in pectore posses DEEP in a grove by cypress shaded, Save some afflicted Muse's moan, A swain t'wards full-ag'd manhood wending The father's eyes no object wrested, "My youth's first hope, my manhood's treasure, My prattling innocent attend, Nor fear rebuke or sour displeasure, A father's loveliest name is, friend. "Since from an ancient race descended "In love for ev'ry fellow creature Was ne'er the portion of the proud. "Be thine the gen'rous heart that borrows "This is the temper most endearing; Tho' wide proud pomp her banners spreads, A heav'nlier pow'r good-nature bearing Each heart in willing thraldom leads. du Beau follows. Si la felicité des hommes est necessairement liée avec la pratique de la vertu, il faut reconnoitre que la vertue est essentiellement belle, puis que le beau consiste dans le raport des choses avec nôtre destination. "Taste not from fame's uncertain fountain The peace-destroying streams that flow, The princely pine on hills exalted, Wish not for beauty's darling features "I saw, the pride of all the meadow, And not one former tint remain❜də "In youder mead behold that vapour To guide the traveller on his way; "But should some hapless wretch pursuing Tread where the treach'rous meteors glow, He'd find, too late his rashness rueing, That fatal quicksands lurk below. "In life such bubbles nought admiring "There seek the never-wasted treasure, And bless'd and blessing you will live. "If Heav'n with children crowns your dwelling, As mine its bounty does with you, In fondness fatherly excelling Th' example you have felt pursue." He paus'd-for tenderly caressing Thoughts language never could impart. 'Midst custom's slaves he liv'd resign'd, His face, array'd in smiles, denying The true complexion of his mind; WHAT time the jocund rosy-bosom'd Hours On Earth's green mantle from his musky wing, The Morn unbarr'd th' ambrosial gates of light, Westward the raven pinion'd Darkness flew, The landscape smil'd in vernal beauty bright, And to their graves the sullen ghosts withdrew. The nightingale no longer swell'd her throat With love-lorn plainings tremulous and slow, And on the wings of Silence ceas'd to float The gurgling notes of her melodious woe: The god of sleep mysterious visions led In gay procession 'fore the mental eye, Thro' fields of air, methought I took my flight, Hesperian garden, or Cimmerian waste. On Avon's banks I lit, whose streams appear Here Fancy sat, (her dewy fingers cold Decking with flow'rets fresh th' unsullied sod,) And bath'd with tears the sad sepulchral mould, Her fav'rite offspring's long and last abode. "Ah! what avails," she cry'd, " a poet's name? Ah! what avails th' immortalizing breath To snatch from dumb oblivion others' fame? My darling child here lies a prey to death! "Let gentle Otway, white-rob'd Pity's priest, From grief domestic teach the tears to flow, Or Southern captivate th' impassion'd breast With heart-felt sighs and sympathy of woe. "For not to these his genius was confin'd, Nature and I each tuneful pow'r had given, Poetic transports of the madding mind, And the wing'd words that waft the soul to Heaven. "The fiery glance of th' intellectual eye, Piercing all objects of creation's store, Which on this world's extended surface lie; And plastic thought that still created more." "O grant," with eager rapture I reply'd, "Grant me, great goddess of the changeful eye, To view each being in poetic pride, To whom thy son gave immortality.” Sweet Fancy smil'd, and wav'd her mystic rod, When straight these visions felt her pow'rful arm, And one by one succeeded at her nod, As vassal sprites obey the wizard's charm. First a celestial form (of azure hue Whose mantle, bound with brede etherial, flow'd To each soft breeze its balmy breath that drew) Swift down the sun-beams of the noon-tide rode. Obedient to the necromantic sway Of an old sage to solitude resign'd, With fenny vapours he obscur'd the day, Lanch'd the long lightning, and let loose the wind He whirl'd the tempest thro' the howling air, Betwixt the sea-green waves and azure sky. To man repentant, bade the tumult cease, Smooth'd the blue bosom of the realms above, And hush'd the rebel elements to peace. Unlike to this in spirit or in mien Another form succeeded to my view; A two-legg'd brute which Nature made in spleen, Or from the loathing womb unfinish'd drew. Scarce cou'd he syllable the curse he thought, Prone were his eyes to earth, his mind to evil, A carnal fiend to imperfection wrought, The mongrel offspring of a witch and devil. Around their chief the elfin host appear'd, And their sharp spears a pierceless phalanx rear'd, Ariel in the Tempest. 2 Caliban in the Tempest. 3 Fairy-land from the Midsummer-night's Dream. The scene then chang'd, from this romantic land, To a bleak waste by bound'ry unconfio'd, Where three swart sisters of the weird band Were mutt'ring curses to the troublous wind. Pale Want had wither'd every furrow'd face, Bow'd was each carcase with the weight of years, And each sunk eye-ball from its hollow case Distill'd cold rheum's involuntary tears. Hors'd on three staves they posted to the bourn Of a drear island, where the pendent brow Of a rough rock, shagg'd horribly with thorn, Frown'd on the boist'rous waves which rag'd below. Deep in a gloomy grot remote from day, Where smiling Comfort never show'd her face, Where light ne'er enter'd, save one rueful ray Discov'ring all the terrours of the place. They held damn'd myst'ries with infernal state, Whilst ghastly goblins glided slowly by, The screech-owl scream'd the dying call of fate, And ravens croak'd their horrid augury. No human footstep cheer'd the dread abode, Nor sign of living creature could be seen, Save where the reptile snake, or sullen toad, The murky floor had soil'd with venom green. Sudden I heard the whirlwind's hollow sound, Each weird sister vanish'd into smoke. Now a dire yell of spirits 5 underground Thro' troubled earth's wide yawning surface broke; When lo! each injur'd apparition rose; Aghast the murd❜rer started from his bed; Guilt's trembling breath his heart's red current froze, And horrour's dew-drops bath'd his frantic head. More had I seen-but now the god of day O'er Earth's broad breast his flood of light had When Morpheus call'd his fickle train away, Yet still the dear enchantress of the brain My wakeful eyes with wishful wand'rings sought, Whose magic will controls th' ideal train, The ever-restless progeny of Thought. "Sweet pow'r," said I, "for others gild the ray Of wealth, or honour's folly-feather'd crown, Or lead the madding multitude astray To grasp at air-blown bubbles of renown. "Me (humbler lot!) let blameless bliss engage, Free from the noble mob's ambitious strife, Free from the muck-worm miser's lucrous rage, In calm Contentment's cottag'd vale of life. "If frailties there (for who from them is free?) Thro' errour's maze my devious footsteps lead, Let them be frailties of humanity, And my heart plead the pardon of my head. "Let not my reason impiously require What Heav'n has plac'd beyond its narrow span, But teach me to subdue each fierce desire, Which wars within this little empire, man. 4 The witches in Macbeth. 5 Ghosts in Macbeth, Richard III. &c. "Teach me, what all believe, but few possess, That life's best science is ourselves to know, The first of human blessings is to bless, And happiest he who feels another's woe. "Thus cheaply wise, and innocently great, While Time's smooth sand shall regularly pass, Each destin'd atom's quiet course I'll wait, Nor rashly shake, nor wish to stop the glass. "And when in death my peaceful ashes lie, If e'er some tongue congenial speaks my name, Friendship shall never blush to breathe a sigh, And great ones envy such an honest fame," VER-VERT; OR, THE NUNNERY PARROT. A HEROIC POEM IN FOUR CANTOS. INSCRIBED TO THE ABBESS OF D*****. Translated from the French of Monsieur Gresset, First printed in 1759. CANTO I. O YOU, round whom, at Virtue's shrine, Of rigid duties, harmless Mirth, One might, upon his virtues cross'd Spin out the deeds of forty days ! A lap-dog. As famous too for godliness, Our homely hearths and honours watching, And bring his wondering friends a load This truth the hero of my tale At Nevers, but few years ago, To India ow'd his parentage; In short, a bird, from prattling merit, The tender cares I need not tell Without his favourite company; He'd strut a beau in sportive rings He'd laugh, sing, whistle, joke, and leer, Question'd at once by many a tongue He could discordant sounds among, If chronicles may be believ'd, At leisure times, when not at table, The little Cares, with tender faces, M M |