<^=<^i ^ /^^ y/(^f
C C €C
\J^
^.^.^ y/(o. y/(yyT7-^
^..^ So "^/p^^
^4"
i^c "I *---:> /?2^t/ T/ kC
THE
POETICAL WORKS
THOMAS MOO HE,
COLLECTED BY HIMSBLf.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPING OTT <fc GO.
18G4.
CONTENTS OF MOORE'S POETICAL WORKS.
Pnge
fBEFACE TO THE FIRST VOLCMB 11
ODES OF ANACKEON; TranBloKril into EogUsh
V^r»e, wllh Noteii >4
Dedication to bin Royal Hiebuciu Ibe Prince of
Wales 14
Advertisement H
Index to tlie OJea 14
Ao Ode by the Translator 16
Kemarks ou Anacreon 16
ODES IS
1. 1 saw the smiling bard of pleasure 1^
% »ivu me (be barpnf epic sou^ '^
3. Listen to the Miiae's lyre SO
4. Vulcan! hear your glorious tank ■ 20
6. Scullitor, wouldnt tbou glad my soul 30
6. As late I sought the spangled bowers ■•*• 91
7. The woraen tell me every day 21
a I care not for the idle stale 21
9. 1 pray tbee, by the gods above 23
10. How am I to puuish thee M
11. «'Tell me. gentle youth, 1 pray thee 23
13. They tell how Atys, wild wilh I'.ve 33
13. I will, I will, the condiet's past 23
M. Count me, on the summer trees M
15. Tell me, why, my sweetest dove 'J4
16. Thou, whose soft and rosy hues .•••>■ 35
17. Ami I. jw with all thy pencil's truth 36
18. Now Ibe star of day is high 37
19. Here recline you, gentle moid 38
2U. One day the Muses twin'd the hands 38
21. Ob..erve when mother earth Is dry 'Jfi
33. The Phrygian rock, that braves the storra 29
33. I often wish this languid lyre 90
24. To all that breathe the air of heaven SI
35. Once in each revolving year •• 31
36. I'hy harp may sing of Troy's alarms S3
27. Wo read the flying courser's name S2
2H. As, by his Lemnian forge's Home ■>.... 93
29. Yee — loving is a painful thrill 33
SO. "Twns In a mocking dream of night S3
31. Arm'd with a hyacinlhine rod S3
yi. strew me a fragrant bed of leaves S4
33. 'Twas noon of night, when round the pole 34
3-1. Oh thou, of all creation blest 36
S6. Cupid once upon a bed S5
36. If hoarded gol.l possess 'd t he power 36
37, 'Twos night, and many a circling bowl 36
SB. Let us drain the nectur'd bowl 37
39. How I lovo the festive boy 37
40. 1 know tbkt Heaven bath sent me here 3»
41. When Spring adorns the dewy scene S8
43. Yes, be the glorious revel mine S»
43. While our rosy fillets shed 39
44. Buds of roses, virgin flowers 39
45. Within this goblet, rich and deep 39
46. See the young, the rosy Spring SU
47. 'Tls true, my fading years decline 39
4B. When my thirsiy soul I steep 40
49. When Bacchus, Jove's immortal boy 40
60. When wine I quail, before my eyes 40
61. Fly not thus my brow of snow 41
62. Away, awav, ye men of rules 41
t3. Wheu I behold the festive train 43
H. Methinks, the pictur'd bull we see 42
65. While we invoke the wreathed spring 43
66. He, who instructs the youthful crew 44
67. Whose was the artist hand that spread 44
68. When Gold, as fleet a« zephyr's pinion 45
69. Ripen'd by the solor beam 45
— ' ... 46
... 40
76. Hither, gentle Muse of mine...
77. Would that 1 were a tuneful lyri
7a. When Cupid sees bow thickly ni
60
Cupid, whose lamp has lent the ray 60
Let me resigu tins wretched breath 60
I know thou lov'et a brimming measure 60
I fear that love disturbs my rest 60
From dread Leucadia's frowning sleep 6()
Mix mc, child, a cup divine 60
EriGRAMS FROM THE ANTHOLOGIA 60
Kotice 60
A VTiTiaTftov Zliwwv, as AvaXfiioVTa 60
Toti avrov, £is tov aliTOf 61
Toi; avTov, tij rov a«70v 6
Tov avTov^ £is Tov avTov °i
JUVENILE POEMS fj
Preface, by the Editor "J
Dedication to Joseph Atkinson, Esq 64
Fragments of College Exercises 64
Is there no call, no consec rating cause M
Variety
To a Boy with a
Bong ...
lied.
ny sleeping shell
61. Youth's endearing
63. Fill me, boy, as deep a draught
69. To Love, the soft and blooming ehil
61. Haste thee, nymjih, wh'tse weli-aim
65. Like soriie wanton filly sporliug
66. To thee, the tiueen of nymphs divii
67. Rich in bliss, I proudly scoiu
68. Now Neptune's month our sky def.
69. They wove the loi
I Is hung 49
to deck .. 4h
70. A broken cake, with h<
71. With twenty chords m
73. Fore thee well, perfidious mai
73. Awhile I bloom'd a happy flo
74. Monarch Love, resistleas boy.
75. Spirit of Love, whose locks uDrolI'd 49
Written for n friend..
To
Reuben and Rose. A tale of romance .
'. culumules BgaiusC
her character.!
To . . . .
To Julia, in
To Juliu.. .
The Shrine
To a Lady,
ing the c<
To Julia...
i illiberal criticlsi
To .
Nature's Labels. A fragment ,
'I'o Julia. On her birthday ...
A Reflection at Sea
Cloris and Fanny
The Shield
To Julia, weeping
To
The Sale of Loves.
On the Death of 0
,ady..
The Nalal Genius. A dieam
morning of her birthday ..
Elegiac Stanzas, supposed to b
the death of her brother ..
To the large and beautiful Mil
eion to some partnership in
prompt u • •
A Dream
To
creontic .
I VirEin of Delphi, at the tomb of tier
....f 62
"tu Julia 62
The Surpiiee. .. .
To Mis-s
she had sleeplei
PREFACE TO THE SECOND VOLUMB 64
ODES continued ••• C7
(3)
CONTENTS.
Page
Aristippus to a Lamp* which had
1 b; Lais
her beautiiul traQsIatioo of Voi-
KoQdeau •••■ 6^
Soag C9
TnRo«a 09
of Follies'
To Rnaa
Light sounds the liarp
Flora theOreeU of Meleager. .
Kong
The Resemblance
Fuaoy, dearest
The Riijp, to
To the iDvisible Girl
The Ring, a tale
i-plate boot, lalled •■ The Book
To
oo seeing he)
■il and a rich girdle
tieu in the blaok leaf of a lady's
To Mrs. Bl , wnUen in
To Cora, after an interval n
To Cara, on the dawning of
To
her album 74
, IbOl..
'-year's day.
rreRularode 75
The Genius of Harmo
I found her not — the t
To Mrs. Henry Tighe, on reading her "Psyche"...
From the High Pries! of Apollo to a Virgin of Delphi
Fragment
A Night Thought
The Kiss
Bong
The Catalogue..
To
To Rosa
To Fhilli
To s Lady on her singing
Song. On the birthday of Mrs. . Written iu
Ireland, 17a0
Song
Morality. A familiar eriatle. Addressed to J.
Atkinson, Esq. M. R. L A
The Tell-tale Lyre
Peace and Giory. Written ou the approach of war
Song
Love and Reason
14 ay, do not weep, my Fanny dear
Ar^pasia
The Grecian Girl's Dream of the Blessed Islands.
To her lover
To Ctoe, imitated from Martial
The Wreath and the Chain
To
To
I Pictu
Fragment of a Mythological Hymn to Love
To his Kerene Highness the Duke of Montpenaier,
on his portrait of the Lady Adelaide Forbes •
The Fall of Hebe. A dithyrambic ode
Rings and Seuls
To Miss Susan B— ckf— d. On her singing
Impromptu, on leaving some friends
A Warning. To
To
Woman
To ;
A Vision of Philosophy
To Mrs
To Lady Heathirole, on an old ring found at Tun-
bridge Wells
The Devil among the Scholars. A fragment
rOEMS RELATING TO AMERICA
Dedication to Francis, Eailof Moira
Preface
To Lord ViBcouol Sliangri.rd. Aboard the Phneloo
frigate, o? Ibe Azores, by moonlight
Btanzas ••-
To the Flying-fish
To Miss Moore. From Noifolk, in Virginia, Nov.
1603
▲ Ballad. The Lake of the Dismal Swamp. Writ-
ten at Norfolk, inVirginia
To the Marchioness Dowager of Donegall. From
Bermuda, January, m04
Odes to Nea 1
Nay, tempt me not to love again ]
I pi ay you, let us roam no more 1
Yiiu read it in these spell-bound eyes I
A Dream of Antiquity I
Well— peace lo Ihy heart, Iboogh another's it bo. I
If 1 were yonder wave, my dear 1
The Snow Spirit 1
1 stole along the tiowery bank ]
A Study from the Antique 1
There's not a look, a word of thine ]
To Jo-eph Atkinson, Esq. From Bermuda I
The Steersman's Song, Written aboard the Bos-
ton frigate, 28tb April 1
To the Fire-fly...-; 1
To the Lord Viscount Forbes. From the city of
Washington ]
To Thomas Hume, Esq., M. D. From the city of
Washington ]
Lines written on leaving Philadelphia 1
Lines writteu at the Cohos, or Falls of the Mohawk
River 1
Song of the Evil Spirit of the Woods 110
To the Hon. W. II. Spencer. From Buffalo, upon
Lake Erie
Ballad Stanzas
A Canadian Boat Song. Writteu oa the river St.
To the Lady Charlotte Kawdon. From the banks
of the St. Lawrence
Impromptu, after a visit to Mrs. , of Montreal..
Written on passing Deadman's Island, in the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, late iu the evening, September,
inn
To the Boston Frigate, on leaving Halifax for Eng-
land, October, ItiOl
PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME US
A Satire 122
TWOPENNY POST-BAG. By Thomas Brown, the
Younger 1
Dedication. To Stephen Woolriche, Esq 1
Preface 1
Preface to the Fourteenth Edition. By a Friend of
the Author 1
INTERCEPTED LETTERS. &c )
Letter I. From (he Pr--nc— as Ch— rl~e of
W— I— s to the Lady B— rb— a Ashl— y ]
Letter II. From Colonel M'M— h~u lo G— Id
Fr— nc~a L— ckie. Esq 1
Postscript :
Letter 111. From G— ge Pr — ce R~g — t to tba
E — of Y th I
Letter IV. From the Right Hon. 1'— tr— ck D—
gen— u to the Right Hon. Sir J— hn N— ch— 1...,
Lelli
Lady
Poal script. .
Letter VI.
in Ispaha:
Gazel.
1 the Countess Dowager of C— rk t
1 Abdallah, in Lcndou, to Mohassaa
VII. From Messrs. L— ck— gt— n and Co.
to , Esq ;
Letter VIII. From Colonel Th—m— a to
Sk— ff—ngt— n. Esq '■
AppendiJ
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS :
The Insurrection of the Papers. A Dream :
Parody of a celebrated Letter '.
Anacreontic to a Plumassier )
Extracts from the Diary of a Politician :
Epigram
King Crack and his Idols. Written after the late
Negotiation for a Dew M— n— stry :
What's my Thought likel :
CONTENTS.
Page
Epigram. Dialogue between a Calhnlic Delegate
•nd Hit R— y-l H— ghn— bs the D— e ot C—
b— I— il HI
'Wreathe for the Miiiimers. An Anaireoiitic 141
Epigrnra. Dialfigije between a Itowager and her
Moid on the Night of Lord Y— rra— th's Fete.... 141
Horace. Ode XI. Lib. II. Freely translated by the
rt— ce R— g— t 142
Horare, Ode XMII. Lib. 1. Freely Iran.lated hy
Lord Eld— 142
The New Costume of the Ministers 14'J
Correspondence between a Lady and Gentlemmi,
upon the Advantage of (what is euUed) "having
Law on one's Side" 113
Occasional Address for the OiieninB of the New The-
atre of bt. bt--i>h — n, intended to have been
spoken by the Proprietor in lull Costume, on the
24th of November, 1«12 144
The Sale of the '1 nun 144
Little Man and Little Soul. A Ballad 146
Keiuforcements for Lord Wellington 145
Horace, Ode 1. Lib. III. A Kragment 140
Horace. Ode XXXVIU. Lib. I. A Fragment.
Tianslated by a Treasury Clerk, while wuiting
Dinner for the Right Hon. <i— rge K— se 146
Impromptu. Dpon being obliged tn leave a pleasant
Party, (mm the Wunt of a Pair of Breeches to
dres.for Dinner ii 146
Lord Wellington ai;d the Minibters 146
IRISH MELODIES 146
Dedication to the Marchioness Dowager of Donegal 146
Piefuee 146
Go where Glory waits thee 146
War Song. Remember the Oloriea of Brien the
Brave 147
Erin ! the Tear and Smile in thine Eyes 147
Oh, breathe not his Name 147
When he, who adores thee 147
Tile Harp that once through Tara's Halls 147
Fly not yet 147
Oh, think not my Spirits are always as light 148
Tho' the last Glimpse of Erin with Sonow 1 see.. 148
Rich and rare were the Gems she wore 14C
As a Beam o'er the Face of the Waters may glow. 14tj
The Meeting of the Waters UH
Ilow dear to me the Hour 149
Take back the Virgin Page. Written on returning
a blank Book 149
The Legacy 149
How oft has the Benshee cried 149
We may roam lliruugb ihis World 149
Kveleeo's Bower IDO
Let F:rin remember the Days of old JfiO
The Song of Fionnuala.. ..' 150
Come, send round the Wine 151
Sublime was the Warning 151
Believe me, if all those endearing young Charms... 151
Krin, oh Erin 151
Drink to her 151
Oh, blame not the Bard 153
While gazing on the Moon's Light 152
llHlmens 152
Before the Battle 152
After the Battle 153
•Tia sweet to think 163
The Irish Peasant to his Mistress 153
On Mnsic 153
It is not the Tear ot this Moment shed 154
The Origin of the Harp
Love's Young Dream
The Prince's Day
Weep on, weep on
LesbiB hath a beaniing Kye
I saw thy Form in youthrui Prime
By that Lake, whobe gloomy shuie
She is far from the Land ,.
Nay, tell me not, dear
Avenging and bright 166
What the Bee ia to the Floweret
Love and the Novice
This Lite Is all chcquer'd with Pleaiurta and Woes
Oh the Shamrock
At the md Hour of Night
One Bumper at parting
'T.a the last Rose of Summer
The young May Moon
The Minstrel- Boy
The Song of O'Ruork. Prince of BielTui
Ob. had we some bright litlle Ihle of our own
Farewell '.—But whenever yon welcome the Hour..
Pane
Oh, doubt me not
I'd Qtouin the Hopes
Come o'er the Sea lliO
Has Sorrow thy young Davs shaded
No, not more weltorae....'
\A hen lirst I met thee
While History's Muse
The Time I've lost in wooing
Where IS the Slave
Come, rest 10 this Bo.soa
I saw from the Beach 162
Fill the Bumi-er tair
Dear Harp of my Country 162
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME 163
IRISH MELODIES, continued 167
My gentle Harp 16?
In the Morning of Life 167
Asshiwour Ship 167
When cold in the Earth 16g)
Remember thee 168
Wreath the Bowl 168
Whene'er I see those smiling Eyes Ibo
H thou'lt be mine 168
To Ladies' Eye! ICU
Forget not the Field 169
They may rail at this Lif.- Hi9
Oh for the swords of (orniei Tunc 119
St. Sesanus and the Ludy 169
Ne'er ask the Hour 170
Sail on, sail on 170
The Parallel I'd
Drink of this Cut 17tJ
The Fortune-teller 171
Oh, ye Dead 171
O'Donohue's Mistress 171
Echo J71
Oh banquet not 172
Thee, thee, only thee J72
Shall the Haip then be silent 172
Oh, the Sight euttauciug 172
Sweet Innisfsllen 173
•Twas one of those Dreams 173
Fairest! |iut on awhile 173
Quick ! we have bul a Second 174
Anddolh not a Meeting like this 174
The Mountain Sprite 174
As vanquish 'd Erin 174
Desmond's Song 176
They know not my Heart 176
1 wish I was by that dim Luke 176
She sung of Love 1'6
Sin6-«ing--Musie was given 176
Though humble the Banquet 176
Slug, sweet Harp 176
Song of the Battle Eve 176
The wandering Bard — 1*6
Alone in Crowds to wander on 177
I've a Secret to tell thee 177
Song of Innisfail I'7
The Mghl Dance 177
There aie Soonds ot Mirth 177
Oh: Arranmore, loved Arrnnmore 176
Lay his Sword by hie Side 178
Oh, could we do with this World ot oura 178
The Wine-eup is circling 178
The Dream of those Days 179
From this Hour the Pledge la given 179
Silence la m our festal Halls 179
Appendix 1'9
Advertisement prefixed to the First and Second
Numbers...... n»
Advertisement to the Third Number IbO
Letter to the Marchioness Dowager of Donegal,
piefixed to the Third Number 180
Advertisement to the Fourth Number 183
AdverlL-enient to the Fifth Nomher 183
Advertisement to the Sixth Number 163
Advertisement to the Seventh Number Ifc4
Dedication to the Marchioness of Headforl prefixed
to the Tenth Number IM
NATIONAL AIRS IM
Advertiseraeni IM
A Temple toFilendship. Spanish Air 184
Flow on, thou shining River. Portuguese Air.. .. 185
All that's bright must fade. Indian Air 1H6
So warmly we met. Hungarian Air 186
1*
CONTENTS.
Page
Those EvcnlDg Belli. Air.— The Bells of St. Pc-
leraburgh 185
ShmiM those fond Hopes. Porluguese Air 188
Reason. Folly, and Beauty. Italian Air 185
Fare thee well, thou lovely one ! Sirilian Air 186
Dost thou remember. Portuguese Air 186
Oh, cnme to me when Daylight set*. Venetion Air 166
Oft, in the stilly NiRht. Scoteh Air 166
Hark! the Vesper Hymn is stealing. Russian Air lb?
Love and Hope. Swiss Air 167
There comes a Time. German Air IM
My Harp has one unchanging Theme. Swedish Air IM
Oh, no — not ev'n when first we love. Cashmerlaa
Peace be around thee. Scotch Air ,
Common Sense and Genius. French Ai:
Then, fare thee well. Old English Air
Gaily sounds the Castanet. Maltese Air
Love is a Hunter-boy. Languedoeian Air
Come, chase that starting Tear away. French Ail
Joys cf Youth, how lleeting! Portuguese Air
Hear me but once. French Air
When Love was a Child. Swedish Air
Bay, what shall be our Sport to-day? Sieiiian Air
Bright be thy Dreams. Welsh Air
Go, then— 'tis vain. Sicilian Air ,
The Crystal Hun
Row gently here.
Ob. Days of Youth. French I
When first that Smile. Venetian Air.
Peace to the Slumlierere ! Calalonian .
When I hou shalt wander. Sicilian Air
Who'll buy my Love-knola? Portuguei
Bee, the Dawn from Heaven. To an
Rome, on Christmas £ve
Nets and Cages. Swedish .Mr
When through the Piazzetta. Venelia
Go, now.
Venel
Neapolilan Air
enelian Air
np Stars. Savoyard t
When the Wine cup is smiling, llaliai
Where shall we bury our Shame 7 Nea
He'er talk of Wisdom's gloomy Schools,
Air ,
Here i-leeps the Bard. Highland Air..
Do not say that Life is waning
The Gaaelle
Ho— leave my Heart to rest
Where are the Visions
Wind thy Horn, my Hunter Buy
Oh. guaidour AtTrction
Slumber, oh slumber
Bring the bright Garlands hither
If in loving, singing
Thou lov'sl no more
When abroad in the World
Keep those Eyes still purely mine
Hope cornea again
O say, thou best and brightest
When Night bringa the Hour
Like one who, doom'd
Fear not thai, while around thee
When Love is kind
The Garland 1 send thee
How shall I woo7
Th.iu art. O God. Air.— Ui
The Bird, let loo^e. Air.— Beethoven
Fallen is thy Throne. Air.— Maitini
Who isthe Maidl SI. Jerome's Love. Air— B
thoven
This World is all n Uceting Show. Air.— Slev.
1 Tear. Air
Oh Thou who dry'st the Mour
Haydn
Weep not for those. Air.— Av
The 'I'urf shall be my fragrant t
Sound the loud Timbrel. Miri
Oo, lei
Air.- Ste
ug. Air.-
,0 Lord. Air.— Haydn
Were -ot the sinful Mary's Tears. Air.— Stevensci
A« >3\i-Q in the sunlesa Kelreats. Air. — Haydn..
Page
But who shall see. Air.— Stevenson
Almighty God. Chorus of Priests. Air.— Mozart. 199
Oh fair 1 oh purest I Saint Augustine to his Sister.
Air.-Moore !
Angel of Charity. Air.— Handel 200
Behold the Sun. Air.— Loid Morninglin 200
Lord, who shall bear that Day. Air.— lit. Boyce.. 200
Oh, teach me to love Thee. Air. — Haydi 200
Weep, Children of Israel. Air.— Stevenson SOI
Like Morning, when her early Breeze. Air — Beeth-
oven 201
Come, ye disconsolate. Air.— German 201
Awake, arise, thy Light is come. Air.— Stevenson 201
There is a bleak Desert. Air.— Crescenlini !
Since first thy Word. Air.— Micholas Freeman... !
Hark! 'lis the Breeze. Air.— Rousseau I
Where is your Dwelling, ye sainted 7 .\ir, — Hasse ^
How lightly mounts the Musc'a Wing. Air.—
Anonymous
Go forth to the Mount. Air.— Stevenson '.
Is it not sweet to think, hereafter. Air.— Haydn.. 203
War against Babylon. Air.— Hovello
The Summer Fete
Dedication to the Honourable Mrs. Norton 204
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME 211
EVENINGS IN GREECE !
First Evening :
Second Evening '•
LEGENDARY BALLADS 1
Dedication to the Miss Feildings 1
The Voice '■
Cupid nnd Psyche 1
Hero and Leander ■
The Leaf and the Fountain :
Cephalus and Procris I
Y'oulh and Age '
The dying Warrior '
•Ihe Magic Mirror '■
The I'llgrim :
The high-born Ladye I
The Indian Boat '
The Slranger '
A Melologue upon National Music 1
Advertisement '■
SET OF GLEES. Music by Moore '
The Meeting of Ihe Ships.'. ■
Hip, hip, hurrah ! '
Hush, hush ! '
The Patting before the Battle :
TheWauhman. A Trio
Say, what shall we dance? ]
The Evening Gun '
BALLADS, SONGS, MISCELLANEOL'S POEMS.
ic •
To-day, dearest 1 is ours *
When on the Lip the Sigh delays '
Here, take my Heart '
Oh. call it by some belter Name '■
Poor wounded Heart •.«• '
The East Indian |
Poor broken Flower '
The pretty Rose Tree '
Shine out, Slars! '■
The young Muleteers of Grenada
Tell her, oh lell her '
Nights of Music •
Our lirsl young Love ■
Black and Blue Eyes '
Dear Fanny '■
Fruin Life wilhout Freedom
Here's the Bower '
I saw the Moon rise clear. A Finland Love Song.. !
Love and the Sun-diul ;
Love's light Summer-cloud '
Love, waiid'iing through the golden Maze '.
Merrily every Bosom boundeth. The Tyrolese Song
of Liberty *
Remember the Time. The Caslilian Maid i
Oh, soon return '■
Love thee? •
One dear Sinile '■
Yes. ves. when the Bloom '-
The bay of Love \
Lusitaniao War-song.... ........ .....•..••...•.*. ■
The young Rose ]
When 'midst the Gay 1 meet S
C O N T E-N T S ,
vn I
When Twilight Dew 236
Young JFfiaica S36
How liapjf. ince S36
lloT« but thtp 236
Let Joy uloDe tir reinrmbcr'd now 237
Love thee, den^el^t ? love tbea 7 237
Mr Heart aod Lute 237
Peace, peace to bim tbal'agooe! 237
Rose or the Dinert 237
Tisall for thee 237
The Song of the Olden Time 238
'Wake thee, my dear '£iH
The Bny of the Al|ja 23H
For thee alone 23ti
Her last Wnrdn, ut parting 238
Let'a Inke this World ai some wide Scene 239
Love'e Victory 239
Song of Hercules to hie Daughter 239
The Dream of Heme 239
They tell me thou'rl the favour'd Gueat 239
The young iDdiQQ Maid 240
The Homeward March 240
Wake up, BWeet Melody 310
Calm be thy Bleep 240
I'be Exile 24U
The Fancy Fair 240
ir thou would'at have me aing and play 241
Btill when DayliKhl 241
The Summer Wcbe 241
Mind not though Daylight 241
1'hey met hut once 241
\Vith MouQlight beaming 241
Child's Song. Froma Masque 242
The Halcyon baugb o'er t^ceau • 242
The World was huKh'd 242
The two Lovea 242
The Legend of Fuck the Fairy 242
Beauly and Song 243
\\ hen (hou art uigb.. 243
Song of a Hyperborean » 243
Thciu bidst me eing 243
Cupid armed 243
Kound the World goee 244
Oh, do not look 80 bright and bleat 244
The Musical Box 244
When to ead Music silent yon listen 244
The Language of Floweis 244
The Dawn is breaking oVl u 244
SONGS FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY 348
Here a( thy Tomb. By Meleager 245
Sale of Cupid. By Meleager 315
To weave a Uarlaud for the Rose. By Faul, the
Sileotiary 546
Why does she en long delay 7 By Paul, the Silen.
liaty 245
Twin'at thou with lofly Wreath thy Brow. By
Paul, Ibe Silentiary 246
When the slid Woid. By Paul, the Bileuliaiy 'J46
My Mopaa is lillle. By Philodemus 246
Still, like Dew iu silence lallmg. By Meleager 246
Up, Sailor Boy. 'tis Day '247
In Myrtle Wreaths. By Alcaeu 247
UNPUBLISHED SONGS. Sc 247
Aak not if still 1 live 247
Dear? yes 217
Unbind Ihee, Love '^47
There's Homelhing Btrjnge. A Buffo Song 247
I4ot from thee 248
Guess, guess 24S
When Love, who ruled 24ti
Still thou Qiest 24U
Then tirst from Love 249
Uu^h. sweet Lute 249
Bright Moon 249
Lung Years have pass'd 249
Dreaming for ever '.i49
Though lightly eounda the Song i aing. A Song of
the Alpid 249
The Buasiao Lover 349
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH VOLUME S60
LALLA BOOKH 356
Dedication 269
The Veiled Prophet of Khoraasan 255
Parudiae and Per 276
The Fire-Worshippers 2b3
PBEFACE TO THE SEVENTH VOLUME S«3
LaLLA ROOICH, continued 105
The Ughlotlhe Ha
POLITICAL AND SATIRICAL POEMS S14
Linea on the Death of Mr. P— re— v
Fum and Hum, the Two Birds of Royally 814
Lines on the Death ol Sh— r— d— c
Epislle from Tom Crib to Big Ben,
fuul Play in a late Transaction...
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
Preface Sl6
Letter I. From Misa Biddy Fudge to Miss Dorothy
Letter 111. From Mr. Bob Fudge to Richard ,
E»q :
Lelter IV. From Phelira Connor to i
Leiler V. From Misa Biddy Fudge to Miea Doro.
Ihy !
Leiler VI. From Phil. Fudge, Esq. to hia Brother
Tim Fudge, Esq. Barriater at Law 322
Lelter VII. From Pbelim Connor to r
Letter VIII. From Mr. Bob Fudge to Richard ,
Esq {
Letter IX. From Phil. Fudge, Esq. tu the Lord
ViecouDi C— St— r— gh I
Letter X. From Misa Biddy Fudge to Miaa Dorothy
Letter XL Fri
I Biddy Fudge tu Misa Doro>
Fable I. The Dissolution of the Holy Alii!
Fable IV. The Fly and the Bulluck..,
Fable V. Church and State
Fable VL The Lillle Grand Lama.. .
Faille VII. The Exiinguishera
Fable VIIL Louis Fourteenth's Wig..
Exlrait VII S4«
Extract VIII
Extract IX
Extract X
Extract XI &l«
Extract XII 34t
Extract XIII S5«
Exiract XIV
Extract XV
Exiract XVI Sii
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS
Occasional Epilogue, spoken by Mr. Corry, in the
Character of Vapid, after the Play uf the Drama-
lint, at the Kilkenny Theatre
Extract from a Prologue wiitten and spoken by Ihe
Author, at Ihe Opeuing of Ihe Kilkenny Theatie,
October. lbU9
The Sylph's Ball
My Birlh-Day.
Song. Fanny, dean
'Pr.malatious fiom '
Tibullua to Sulpic
latk
I Catullus S51
ia S5I
Ihe Fri
I Lord Lansdowne ]
Verses to the Poet Crubbe's Inkstand. Written
May, ies2 !
To Caroline, Viscountesa Valletort. Written at
Lac(.ck Abbey, January, lb32 I
A Speculation I
To My Mother. Written in a Pocket Book, lb33.. i
Love and Hymen • i
Linea on the Entry of the Austrians into Muplea,
1621 i
CONTENTS.
FBEFACE TO THE EIGHTH VOLUME 3t>0
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS SW
Fust Angel's Sloiy "iS
Setond Augel's Story Sli6
Third Angel'a Slory SiS
MISCELLAN EOUS POKMS S"
Stt-plicism *'^'
A Joke Versilifd 3'6
Ou the Death uf a Friend J^o
To James Crrv, Ksq., on hi8 making me a Present
Ota Wine.Bl"a.ner 31|
Fragment or a Character.... 3'8
What Bliall 1 sine Thee I To f»
Country Dance and (iuadrille ^'^
GiCfi 3eO
LiLes on the Death of Joseph Atkinson, Esq. of
Doblin 380
Genius anil Criticism 380
To Lady J'r"y, ou being asked to write something
in her Album 3^'
To the same, on looking through her .\lbum 361
SATIBICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS 381
To Sir Hudson Lowe 3hl
Amatory Colloquy between Bank and Government.. Sbl
Dialogue between a Sovereign and a One Pound
An Expostulation lo Lord King SB'2
The Sinking Fund cried 383
Ode to the G^jldess Ceres. By Sir Th-m— s L-th-
br— e 383
A Hymn of Welcome after the Reiess 3»4
Memorabilia of Last Week 384
All in the Family Way. A new Pastoral Ballad... 386
Ballad for the Cmbridge Election 385
Mr. Roger Dodsworth 385
Copy of an intercepted Despatch. F- ~ ■- - *-'---•
" n SIr,.Diln,tO Diabnln. EnV.>r j^Aiiau*".-
3S6
Fate
Song Of the deparling Spirit of Tithe 4OT
The Euthanasia of Van ■40'
To the Reverend . One of the sixteen Ite.jui-
Bitioniets of Nottingham <06
Irish Antiquities WS
A n„rin„«EaeI <09
tency Don Slrep'iloso Diaboln. Envoy Extraordi
nary lo his Saianic Maji '""
The Millennium. Suggesled by the late Work of
the Reverend Mr. Irv— ng "On Prophecy" i«^
The Three Do<tora 38'
Epitaph on a Tult-Hunter 367
Ode to a Hot ~°
News for Country Cousins 368
A Vision. By tlie Author of Christaliel 388
The Petition of the Orangemen of Ireland 389
Cotton and Corn. ADlalogue 391)
The Canonization of Sjint B— tt— rw— ith 390
An Incantation. Sung by the Bubble Spirit 390
A Dream of Turtle. By Sit W. Curtis 391
The Donkey and his Panniers. A Fable 391
Ode lo the Sublime Porte 892
Corn and Catholics JJ'
A Case of Libel S9a
Literary Advertisement 39a
The Irish Slave If*
Ode to Ferdinand SM
Hat versus Wig ■■•• 395
The Periwinkles and the Locusts. A Salmagundi
Hyn
395
Batch the First 396
1 the Umbrella Question. By Lord Eld— n 31*6
A'Pastoral Ballad. By John Bull 39'
A lale Scene at Swanage 397
Wo; Wo! ^
Tout pour la Tripe »«
Eoiemt 398
Dog day Refleclions. By a Dandy kept in Town.... 398
The "Livins Dog" and "The Dead Lion" 399
Ode to Don Miguel 399
Thoughts on the present Government of Ireland.... 400
The Limbo of lost Reputations. A Dream 400
How to write by Proxy «1
Imitation of the Inferno of Dante 401
Lament tor the Loss of Lord B— th— sfs Tail 40'2
TheChetries. A Parable 40J
I of Defeat.
493
PREFACE TO THE NINTH VOLUME 403
B4.T1RICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS 404
Ode 10 the Woods and Forests. By one of the
Board JO'
eianzai* from the Banks of the Shannon 49o
The Annual Pill *"f,
-If" and "Perhaps" 40"
Write ot), Write on. A Ballad 406
Brun
• keii
410
i-Lord 1
Epistle ot Condolence. I
ton. Lord ■«»"
The Ghost of Miltiades 411
Alarming Intelligence— Revolution in the Dictionary
—One Gall at the Head of it 411
Resolutions passed at a late Meeting of Reverends
and Right Reverends <"
Sir Andrew's Dream 412
A Blue Love-Song. To Miss 4'3
Sunday Ethics. A Scotch Ode 413
Awful Event 413
The numbering of the Clergy. Parody
Charles Han. Willi ' '
A sad Case
A Dream ol
The Brunswick Club 416
Proposals for a Gynaecocracy. Addressed 10 a late
Radical Meeting 416
Lord H— nl— y and St. Cecilia 415
Advertisement 416
Missing 416
The Dance of Bishops ; or, the Episcopal Quadrille.
.\ Dream 417
1 famous Ode 413
^ 414
' Hindostan 414
A corrected Report of some late Speeches..
Moral Positions. A Dream
The Mad Tory and the Comet. Founded c
1 lale
418
, . iLndyEmma ....419
Triumph of Bigotry..'. 420
Translation from the Gull Language 420
Notions on Reform. By a Modern Reformer 4110
Tory Pledges 42)
St. Jerome on Earth. First Visit 421
St. Jerome on Earth. Second Visit 422
Thoughts on Tar Barrels. (Vide Description of a
late Fete) 422
The Consultation 4'23
To the Rev. Ch-rl-s Ov-rt-n, Curate ot Romaldkirk 423
from a Play, acted at Oxford, called " Malri-
cula
Late Tithe Case ™
Fools' Paradise. Dream the First 4«
The Rector and his Cunte ; or. One Pound Two. .. 426
Paddy's Metamorphosis 4i5
Cocker, on Church Reform. Founded upon some
late Calculations 425
Les Hommes Automates 4afl
How to make One's Self a Peer. According to the
newest Receiit, as disclosed in a late Herald:
Work.,
426
riled for
428
I Romantic Drama. 429
r Thalaba. Addri
led lo
The Duke is the Lad 4'.i7
Epistle from Erasmus on Earth to Cicero in the
Shades 4!7
Lines on the Departure of Lords C— Bl— r— gh and
St— w— rt tor the Continent
To the Ship In which Lord C— st— r— gh
the Conlinent
Sketch of the First Ac
Animal Magnetism....
The Song of the Box..
Announcement of a J
Robert Southey, Esq
Rival Topics. An Extravaganza
The Boy Statesman. By a Tory
Letter from Larry O'Branigan to
O'Mulligan ■•■"
Musings of an Unreformed Peer 4fJ
The Reverend Pamphleteer. A Romantic Ballad.. 4il2
A Recent Dialc
The Wellinglo
A Character..
A Ghost Story
Thoughts on the late destructive Prcpoi
the Tories. By a Common-Councilmac
Anticipated Meeting of the British Asso
the Rev. Murtagb
No. I.
Epistle from Henry of Ex— I— r to John of Tuwa.. 436
Song of Old Puck *^
CONTENTS.
Police Reports. Case of Impoatu
KetU'c'liiina. Adilresscd to Ilie Ai.
of ihrCliurth lu Ibe UatNurab
rott
fUiia
New Urauil ICxhibilinn of Mulels ol the two Houat
of Pailiaineut
Aiiiiour.cemelit of a n«w grand Acceleration Coir
pany for ttie I'roiQolion nf tlie Speed of Lileratui
Goiue Account of tlie talc Uinncr to Dan
New Hoapilol for iiicli Literati
K.lisiou and Trade
Ideated by tlie late I'rontotiou of Mn
He
Tribo
lust Non
" KonianiMU iu ireland"
irund Dinner of Type and Co. A poor Vm
HI
Cllureh Exieuaion
Latent Accounts from Olympus 4i'2
Tlie Triumphs of Farce 442
Thnughts on Patrone, Putts, and other Matters. Iu
an Epistle from T. M. to S. K 443
Tliuughts oo Mi«chier. By Lord St— ul— y. His
lint attempt at Verse 443
Eptstle from Captain Rock to Lord L— iidh— t 444
Captain lluck iu Loudon. Le.ter from the CaplalQ
to Terry Alt, lisq 444
Sequel to
44S
Prefiice '. 445
Letter I. From Patricit Magan, I'^q., to the Rev.
Richard — — , Curale nf , in Irela.d 446
Letter IL From Miss Biddy Fudge, to Mrs. Eliza-
beth 446
Letter Iir. From Miss Funny Fudpe, to her Cousin,
Mias Kitty . Stauztia (inclosed) to my
Sliiidnw; or. Why I— What J— H.i\» ) 448
Letter IV. From Patrick Mafao, Esq., to the llev.
Hichard 449
Pag«
Letter V. From Larry O'Sranigan, In England, tu
his wife Judy, at Mullinarad <
Letter VI. From Miaa Biddy Fudge, to Mrs. ElUa-
Letter VIL From M:sa Fanny' Vudcei' "to her
Cousin, Miaa Kilty . Irregular Ode 463
Letter Vili. From Bob Fudge, Esq., to the Rev,
Mortimer O'MulliKaD <
Letter IX. Froin Larry O'llrauigan to his Wife
Judy i
" ■' the Rev. Mortimer O'Mulligaii, to
the Kev.
Letter ,\1.
I Patrick Magan, Ksq., to the Rev.
■t.-i?
Richa.
SONGS FROM M. P.; OR, THE BLUE STOCKING 468
MISOKLLANEOUS POEMS 460
At Nieht
To Laily llnlland. On Nnpcleon's Legacy of a ^Snuff
Anne lloleyn. Translaliou from the metrical •■ His.
toired'Aune Boleyu" .
The Dream of the Two Sisters. From Dante 461
Sovcreipn Woman. A Ballad
Come, play me that simple Air again. A Ballad....
PREFACE TO THE TENTH VOLUMB
THE EPICUREAN: A Tale 463
ALCIPHRON: A Fragment 60«
ADVERTISEMENT,
The Ediiion of tlie works of Mr. Pdoore, now offered to ihe public,
is reprinied from that recently published in London, under the super-
vision of the Author, and may therefore be deemed authentic and
complete.
The London Ediiion is in ten volumes; and to each are prefixed
Autobiographical Sketches and Anecdotes connected with the Poems
in that volume. In order to present these in their proper connexion,
and to elucidate clearly the Author's allusions, the American publish-
ers have marked the beginning of each volume of the English Edition,
and have adopted Mr. Moore's arrangement throughout the entire
work.
(10)
POETICAL WORKS
OF
THOMAS MOORE.
TO THE
MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE,
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF
NEARLY FORTY YEARS OF MUTUAL ACQUAINTANCE AND FRIENDSHIP,
THESE VOLUMES ARE INSCRIBED,
WITH THE SINCEREST FEELINGS OF AFFECTION AND RESPECT,
BY THOMAS MOORE.
PREFACE.
FINDING it to be the wish of my Publishers that
at least the earlier volumes of this colleclion shouIJ
each be accomi)anieJ by some prefatory matter, illus-
trating, by a few biographical memoranda, the pro-
gress of my humble literary career, 1 have consented,
though not, I confess, without some scruple aud hesi-
tation, to comply with their request. In no country
is there so much curiosity felt lespecting the interior
of the lives of public men as in England" ; but, on the
other hand, in "no country is he who ventures to tell
his own story so little safe from the imputation of
vaiiity and self-display.
The whole of the poems contained in the first, as
well as in the greater part of the second volume of
this collection, were written between the sixteenth
and the twenty-third year of the author's age. But I
had begun still t-arlier, not only to rhyme, but to pub-
lish. A sonnet to my schoolmaster, Mr. Samuel
Whyte, written in my fourteenth year, appeared at
the time in a Dublin Magazine, called the Antho-
iogia,— the first, and, I fear, almost only creditable
attempt in periodical literature of which Ireland has
to boast. 1 had even at an earlier period (1793) sent
to this magazine two short pieces of verse, prefaced
by a noie to the editor, requesting the insertion of the
*' following attonipts of a youthful muse;" and the
fear and trembling with which I ventured upon this
step were agreeably dispelled, not only by the appear-
ance of the^contribulinns, but still more by my find-
ing myself, a few months after, hailed as "our esteem-
ed correspondent, T. M."
It was in the pages of this publication,— where the
whole ot the poem was extracted,— that I first met
with the Pleasures of Memory ; and to this day, when
1 open the volume of the Anthnlogia which cimtains
it, Ihe very form of the type and colour of the pajter
brings back vividly to my miud the delight with
which I first read that poem.
My schoolmaster, Mr. Whyte, though amusingly
vain, was a good and kind-hearted man j aud. as a
teacher of public reading and elocution, had long
enjoyed considerable reputation. Nearly thirty years
Ijcfore I became his pupil, Richard Brinsley Sheridatij
then about eight or nine years of age, had been placed
by Mrs. Sheridan under his care ; » and, strange to
say, was, after about a year's trial, pronounced, both
by tutor and parent, to be *'an incorrigible dunce."
Among those who took lessons from him as private
pupils were several young ladies of rank, belonging
to those great Irish families who still continued to
lend to Ireland the enlivening influence of their pre-
sence, and made their country-seats, through a great
part of the year, the scenes of refined, as well as hos-
pitable festivity. The Miss Mnntgonierys, to whose
rare beauty Ihe pencil of Sir Joshua has given im-
mortaliiy, were among those whom my worthy pre-
ceptor most boasted of as pupils; and, I remember,
his description of Ihem long haumed my boyish
imagination, as though they were not earihly women,
but some spiritual " creatures of the element."
About tiiirty or forty years before the period of
which I am speaking, an eager taste for private thea-
trical performances had sprung up among the higher
ranks of society in Ireland ; and at Carton, the seat tf
the Duke of Leinster, at Castletown, Marley, and
other great houses, private plays were got up, of
which, in most instances, the superintendence was
entrusted to Mr. Whyte, and in general the prologue,
nr the epilogue, contributed by his pen. At Marley,
the seat of the Latouches, where the Masque of Cnmus
was performed in the year 1776, while my old master
1 Some confused notion of this fact has led the
writer of a Memoir prefixed In ihe *' pocket Edition "
of my Poems, printed at Zwickau, to state that Ilrins-
ley Sheridan was my tutor ! — " Gre.at attention was
paid to hi:^ education by hlH tutor, Sheridan."
J
rii)
12
PREFACE.
supplied the prolngue, no less dis iii'uislied a hand
than that of our " ever-glorious Graitaii.'' i fuinislied
the epiln^ue. This re ic of his pen. ton, is the nmre
nieninrable, as being, I believe, the on'y poetical com-
position he i^as ever known to produce.
At the lime when I first be^an to ^tlend his school,
Mr. Wliyte still continued, to the no small alarm ot
many parents, to encnutag^e a taste f.ir acting among
his pupils In this line 1 was lon^ his favour iie show-
scholar; and among the play-bills introduced in his
volume, to illustr.Te the occasions of his own pio-
In^ufcs and epilogues, there is one of a play gut up in
the >ear 1790, ai Lady Borrowes's pti\ate theatre in
Dubi.n, where, auiong the items of the evening's
emeriainmeiil, is "An Epilogue,^ Squeeze to &t.
PauVSy Master Moore."
VViih acting, indeed, is ass-^ciated the very first
attempt at verse-making to which my menjory enables
nie to plead guilly. It was at a period. 1 ih nk, even
earlier ihan the date l-is* mentinned, that, while pass-
ing the summer holidays, wiih a number of other
young people, at one of tho-e bathing-places, in the
neighbourhood of Dublin, which aflord such fresh
and healthful retreats to i's inhabitants, it was pro-
posed among us that we should combine together in
snme theatrical performance; and the Poor Soldier
and a Harlequin Pantomime being the enterlainments
agreed upon, the par's of Patrick ai;d ihe Motley hero
fell to my share. I was also encouraged to \yrile and
recite an appropriale epilogue on the occasion; and
the following lines, alluding lo our speedy return to
school, and reni:»ikable only fnr their having lived so
long in my memory, formed pari of this juvenile
effort : —
Our Pantaloon, who did ho aged li.ok,
Miist now resume his youth, his la-^k, his book :
Our Harlequin, who Hkiiip'd, lungh'd, dniicM. and died,
Must now Mlaud t[enit)Iiiig by his maater'ii side.
I have thus been led hack, step by step, frnm an
early date to one siill earlier, with the view of ascer-
laining, for those who take any interest in literary
biography, at what period I fir^t shov^ed an aptitude
for the now common ciaft of ve'se-making ; and ihe
result i^— so far back in childhood lies ihe e|.r,ch-that
I am really unable to say at what age 1 first began to
act, sing, and rliynie.
To the-e dilterent talents, such as they were, the
gay and soci d habits prevailing in Dublin affi^rded
frequent opportunities of displav ; while, at home, a
most amiabe faiher, and a molher. such as in heart
ai d head has rarely been equalled, fui'ni:hed me with
that purest stimulus to exertion— the desire to please
those whom we, at once, most I'^ve, and most respect.
It was, I think, a year or two after my entrance into
collese, that a masque written by myself, and of
which I had adapted one of the songs to the air o
Haydn's Spirit-Song, was acted, under our own hum
ble roof in Aungier Street, by my elder sister, mysell
and one or two other young peisons. Tlie littl
drawing-room over tne shop was our grand place c
representation, and young , now an eminent pro-
fessor of music in Dublin, enacted for us the part of
orchestra at the piano-forte.
It will be seen from all this, that, however impru-
dent and ]>reiiiature was my first appjearance in
London world as an author, "it is only lucky that I bad
not much earlier assumed tliat responsible character
in wh:ch c^se 'he public wnuld pi'obably have treated
my nursery productions in much the same manner ii
which that >ensihle cn'ic, my Uncle Toby, xvould
have disposed of ihe *' work which the great Lipsiu:
produced on the dav he was Ijorn.''
While thus the turn I had so earlyshown forrhymt
and song, w 'S, by the gay and sociable cii cle in whici
I lived, called sn encouraffingly intt) play, a far deepe;
feeling— :uid, I should hope, power— was at the sami
time awakened in me by the mighiy change then
1 Byron.
working in the political aspect of Europe, and the
Stirling influence it had begun to exercise on the spirit
and hopes of Irtland. Born of Catholic puents^ '
had come into Ihe world with the slave's >oke aiound j
my neck; aid it was alt in vain hat the fond ambi- i
li"n of a m-'ther lo(»ked forward to the Bar as open-
ing a career that inisht lead her son to affluence and
hoiii ur. Ag inst the ynung Papist all suctt avenues to
distinction were closed ; and e>.en the Universi'y, ihe
professed source of public educalifii, was to him "a
fountain staled." Can any one now wonder that a
pe(ple thus trampled upon sbould ha\e hailed the
first dazzling outbreak of the French Revrpjtion as a
signal to the slave, wherever suffering, that the day
of his deliverance was near at hand? I ren. ember
being taken by my father (1792) to one of ihe dinneis
given m honour of that great event, ai d sitting upon
the knee ot the chairman while the followiig toast
was enthusiaslically sent routd ; — " M ly the breezes
from France fan < ur Irish Uak into verdme."
In a few months after was passed the memorable
Act of 1793, sweeping away some of tlie mo-t mon-
slrtius of he rt-m inir g sanclinns of the penal code;
nd I was n.yself amnug the first of the young Helots
of Ihe land, who ha'-tened to avail themselves of the
new privilege of being educated in their country's
ersily,— th-iigh still excluded from all share in
those coileze honours and emoluments by which Ihe
nhition of il.e youths of the ascendant class \
imulated and rew.irded. As I well ki.ew Ihat, next
my attaining si me of the e distinctions, my show-
g that I dcsa-ved to attain them would mo>t gratify
y nnxious mother, I eirered as cand;d te for a schol-
arship, and {-AS far a^ the re ult of the examii atinn
went) successfully. But, of course. Ihe mere barren
ciedit of the effort was all I enjoyed for my pains.
it was in this year (1794), or about the beginning of
the next, that I lemember having, fnr Ihe first tin
Hied mv hand at poliical satire. In iheir very worst
limes oV slavery and sufieiing. the happy disposition
of mv countrymen had kept their thee' fulness :
unbroken and buojant; and, at the peiiod of which I
am spe king, the hope of a brighter day dawn"
up'^n Ireland had given lo the society of the middle
classes in Dublin a more than u nal flow of hilarity
and life. Among oiher gay re*^ul s of this festive
spi'it, a club, or sncieiy, was i-stituted by sime of our
most convivial citizens, one <f whose objects w a i
burlesque, gocd-humouredly, the forms aid pomps of
royally. With this view they established a sort of
mock kingdom, of which Dalkey, a sn all i-land near
Dublm, was made the seat, and an eminent pa-
bri ker. named Stephen Aimitage, much renow
for his agreeable singing, was the chosen aud popular
monarch.
Befoie public afifairs had become tto serious for
such pastime, it was usual to celebrate, >early, at
D.ilkey, the day rf this sovereign's accession ; and,
among the gay scenes that still l.ve In my memory,
there ~are few it recUs with more fre^hne^s than the
celebration, on a fine Sunday in summer, of one of
these anniversaries of King Stephen's coronation.
The picturesque sea-views from that spot, Ihe gay
crouds along the shores, the innumerable boats, full
of life, floatms abou', and, above ail, th t true sf
of mirth which ihe Irish lemperament never fails to
lend to sucli meetii:gs rendered the whole a scene not
easily forgotten. The s'ate cerenmnies of the day
we'B peiformed, with all due gravity, within the
ruins of an ancient church 'hat stands on the island,
where his mock majesty bestowed the order ' f knight-
hood upon cer'ain favoured per onages, and among
others, I recollect, upon Incledon, the celebrated
singer, who arose from under the touch of tlie royal
sword with the appiopriate title of Sir Lha
Melody. There was also selected, for (be favours of
the crown on that day, a lady of no ordinary po
talent. M-s. Battier, who had gained much fame by
snme spirited satires in the manner of C luirchdl, and
whose kind encouragenient of my early attempts
versification were to me a source of much pride.
fr^
PREFACE.
^
13
This lady, as wii officially inncunced, in tlie course
of Ihe d ly, had been appointed liis niajes y's poeiess
laureate, under the style and title of Menrietia, Coun-
teas of Laurel.
There could liardly be devised a more apt vehicle
for lively political satire than this gay travesty of
monarchical power, and its stio«y appurtenances, so
temptingly supplied. The very day, indeed, afier
this con.niemoration, there appe.red, in the usual
record of Oalkc-y ^tate intelligence, an amusing pro-
cl.imalion finni the king, otierir.g a larre rewaid in
cratiebancs,i to the finder or tii.ders of "his majesty's
crown, whch, owmg to his '*h-iving measuted boih
•ides of Ihe ro.id" in his pedestrian progress from
D.ilkey on the preceding night, had unluckily fallen
from the rny.il hroiv.
It is not to be wondered at, that whatever natural
turn I may hive pos-essed for the lighter skirmishing
of satire should have been callid into play by so plea-
sant a held f tr its exercise as the state atfaiis ■ f ilie
Dilkey kingdom afforded ; and, accordingly, my first
attempt in this line was an Ode to his iMajcsty, King
Stephen, con rasting Ihe happy state of stcurity in
which he lived among his merry lieges, with the
" metal conch,'* and other such precautions against
mob violence, said to have been adopted at that time
by his loyal brother of England. Sjme portions of
lliis juvenile sauib still live in my memoiy; hut they
fall lar too short of Ihe lively demands of the subject
to be virorlh pre-erving, even as juvenili i.
In college, the fiist circumstance that drew any
attention to my rhyming powers was my giving in a
theme, in English verse, at one of the quarterly
examinitions. As the son of short e-s.Tys required on
those occasions were cnnsidered, in general, as a mere
ma'ter of form, and were written, at that time, i
believe, invaiiably, in Latin prose, the appearance of
a theme in Etglish verse could hirdly fail to attract
some notice, it was, therefore, with no small anxie'y,
that, when Ihe moment for judging of the themes ar-
rived. I saw the examiners of the difl'eient divisions
asemble, as usual, at the bottom of ihe hall for that
purpose. Still more trving w.is it when I perceived
that Ihe reveiend inquisitor, in whnse hands wa; my
fate, had left the rest of the awful group, and was
bending h a steps towards the table where I was seat-
ed. Leaning across to me, he asked suspiciously,
whether the verses which 1 had just given in were
my own; and. on my answeiing in the alBiiiative,
added the^e cheering words, ■' Miey do you great
CI edit; and 1 shall not fail to recommend them to ihe
notice of the Board." 'i his result of a step, venured
upon with some little fear .iiid scruple, was, of cou'se,
very gratifying to mej and the premium I receivid
from the Board was a well-hound copy of the TiaveU
of Anacharsis, together with a cerlifici'e, siating, in
not very lofty Litin, lh»t this reward had been'cnn-
ferred upon me, "propter laudabileni in veisibus
compoiiendis progressum."
'I he idea if attempting a version of some of Ihe
Songs or odes of Anicreon had very eaily occurred
to me J and a .specimen of my first ventures in this
undert.iking may be found in the Dublin Magazine
already referred to, where, in the number of that
work .for February, 1791, appeared a "Taiaphrase of
Anacreou's Fifth Ode, by '1 . Moo;e." As it niav not
be uninlerestirii! to future and betier tianslators of the
poet to compare this sclioolbny experiment wih my
Inter and more labomed version of the same Ode, 1
shill here extract the specimen found in the Antho-
logia : —
*'Li't us, with the clnsleriiig vine,
The rose. I.ove'n titiishins How^-r, entwine.
Fancy's hmvl our chaplel» wrcuthiiiB,
V«,„l»w„,.„a,™n,l„sn„-,tl.i„Bi
We 'M gaily drink tiiM gi.ljlels quaflluB,
At flighted Care Hecurely laughiny.
"RoKrl thou balmr-sceuled flower.
Rear il by Spriiij'a niusl losUriug power,
Thy dewy blostioma, opening bright.
To gods themselves can givcdeliglil;
And Cypria'e child, wilh roses ciown'd.
Trips with eatti Grace ihe mazy round.
Bind my b
row«.-
-I '11 tune Ihely
Love my
apuir.
isslrains jhall 1
Near Ea.c
Wliile rn,
Led hv Ih
:r;.!:
ape-encirclcd shr
1 rny hiuwe enrw
d train of I'leati
1 'II dance
with n
ympha to ...porliv
In pui
ng further this light task, the only object
onie time in view was to lay before the
select number of the Odes I h.ad I
h.id for :
Board a seieci numoer oi me uaes l ti.au men trans-
lated, with a hope, suggested by the kind encourage- '
meiit I had alieady received,— that llrey might con-
sider them as deserving of some honour or reward.
Having experienced much hospitable attention from
Doctor Kearney, one rif ihe senior fel.ows,ti a man
of most amiable character, as well as of refined
scholarship, I submitted to his perusal the manuscript I
of my translation as far as it had then proceeded, and
requested his advice respectii g my intention of lay- '
iiig it before the Boaid. On Ihis latter point his '
opinion was such as, with a Imle more Ihouiht, I '
might have anticipated, namely, ihat he did not see
how the Boaid of the University could lend their <
sanction, by any public reward, to writings if so con-
vivial and amatory a nature as were almost all those
of Aitacreon. He veiy good-naturedly, however, 1
lauded my transl.ition, and advised me to complete
and puhlish it I was also indebted hi him for Ihe
use, during my task, of Spalelti's curious publication,
giving a facsimile of llio e pages of a MS. in the !
Vatican Library which contain Ihe Odts, or " Sym- ;
posiac-,"a'tributed to Anaciei n.3 And here I shall
venture lo add a few pa-sing woids tn a point which i
1 once should have thi.ught it profanation to question, i
— the authenticity of these poems. The cry raised |
against their getiuineness by Rolortellus and other
enemies of Henry Stephen, when tli,>t eminent scholar
first introduced them to the leaned world, may be
thought to have long since entirely sub-ided, leaving
ilieir claim to so ancient a pateiniiv safe and uiiquts-
tioned. But 1 am forced tc confe'-s. however reluc-
tantly. Ihat there appear to me strong giounds for ;
pronouncing these light and beauiful lyrics to he I
mciely modem labrications. Sunie of ihe reasons i
that incline me to .adopt Ihis unwelcrme conclusion
aie thus clearly stated by the same able scholar, to
whom I am indebted for the emendations of my own
juven.le Gieek Ode : — 'M do not see how it is possi-
ble, if Auacieon had written chiefly in Iambic d. me-
ter verse, that Horace should have wholly neglected
that metre. 1 may add that, of those fragments of
Anacreon. of whoe genuineness, fiom inteinal evi-
ience, there can be no doubt, almost all aic written
n one or other of the lighter Horatian met es, and
scarcely one in Iamb c dimeter verse. This may be
•n by lookiog through the list in Fi-cher."
I he unskilful attempt at Greek verse fi om my own
pen, which is found prefixed to the 'I ransaiion, was
ntended originally to illustrate a jiiclurc, repiesent-
* Irish halfjience, s
alltd.
t2 Appointed Provost of Ihe University in thejear
nag, and made afterwards Bishop of Otsory.
a When the monument to Piovost Baldwin, which
stands m the hall of the College of Dublin, arri\ed
from Italy, there came in the same packing-case with
it two copies of this work of Spaletti, one of which
was presented bv Dr. Tioy, the Konian Catholic a'ch-
hishop, as a gift fiom the Pope to the Librar\ of the
University, and Ihe other (of which I w.as subsequent-
ly favoured wi'h the usei he piesenled, in like man-
ner, to niv friend. Dr. Kearnev. Thus, curi. usly
enough, ivhile Anacreon in EngUsh w.is coiisideied—
and, 1 giant, on no unreasonab'e grounds — as a wmk
to » hich grave collegiate authorities could not ojienly
lend their sanction, Anacreon in Greek was thought
no nnlitting piesent lo be received by a Protestant
bishop, through the medium of a Catholic archbishop,
f .1.., ..-..J .. ^ thel'ope.
from the hands of his holm
14
ODES OF ANACREON.
in^ Anacreon conversing with the Goddess of Wis-
dom, from which the fiontispiece to the first edition
of the work was taken. Had I been biou^hl up with
a due fear of the laws of prosody before my eyes, I
certainly should not have dared to submit so untutor-
td a production tti the criticism of the trained proso-
dians of the English schools. At the same time, I
cannrit help adding that, as far as mus c, dis inct from
metre, is concerned, I am much mcliuei to prefer the
Ode as originally written to its present correc'ed
shape; and that, at all events, I entertain but very
liitle doubt as to whichol the two a composer would
most willingly jet to mus-c.
For the meins of collecting the materials of the
notes appended to the Translation, 1 was chiefly in-
debted til the old library adjoining St. Patrick's Caihe-
dral, called, from the name of the archbishop who
founded it. Marsh's Libiary. Thmugh my acquaint-
ance with ihe deputy libr.ri:in, the Rev. Mr. Cradock,
I enjoyed the privilege of constant access to this col-
lection, even at that period of the year when it is
alwiiys closed to the puhlic On these occasions 1
used *to be locker! in ihere alone; and to the many
solitary houis which, both at the time I am now
speaking of and subsequently, I pissed in hunting
thron2:h the dusty tomes of this old library, 1 oue
much of that odd and out-of-the-way sort of reading
which may be found scattered through some of my
earlier writings.
Early in the year 1799, while yet in my nineteenth
year, I'left Ireland, fnr lire fi'st lime, and proceeded
to London, with the two not very congenial objec's,
of keeping my terms at the Middle Temple, and pub-
lishing, by subscription, my Translation of Anacreon.
One of those persons to whom, through the active
zeal of friends, some part of my manuscript had been
submitted before it went to press, was Doctor Laur-
ence, the able fnend of Rurke ; and. as an instance,
however sh^ht, of that ready variety of learning, as
well the lightest as the most solid, for which lAur-
ence was so remarkable, the follnwinj ex'ract from
the letter wrilien by him, in returning the mmu-cript
to my friend, Dr. Hume, may not be without some
interest ; —
**Dec. 20, 1799.
** I return you the four odes which vou were so
kind to communicate for my poor opinion. They
are, in many parts, ver}- elegant and poetical ; and, in
some passages, Mr. Moore has added a pretty turn not
to be fourd in the rriginal. To confess the truth,
however, they arc. in not ?_ few places, rather more
paraphiastical Itian suits my notion (peihaps an incor-
rect notiuiOof translation.
*' In the fifty-third Ode there is, in my judgment, a
no less sound than beautiful emendation suggested —
would you suppose it?— by a Dutch Lawyer. Mr. M.
possibly niay not be aware of it. I have endeavour-
ed to express the sense of it in a c uplet interlined
with pencil. "Will you allow me to add, that I am
not cerlam whether the trauslation has not missed the
meaning, too, m the former pait of that passage
which seems to me to intend a distinction and climax
of pleasure :— ' It is sweet even to prove it among the
brieiy paths; it is sweet a^ain, pluckinsr, to cherish
wiih tender hands, and carry to the fair, i lie flower of
love.' This is nearly liteial, including the conjec-
tural crreciion of Mynheer Medenbac.h. If this be
right, instead of
' *T is sweet to dare the tangled fence,
I would propose something to this effect : —
tie timid beauty Itlt-nre,
with leniler handn away
i that nn its blushes lay ; 1
"I would dro'p altogether the image of the stems
'• druYfing with gems.'' I believe it is a confused
and false meiaphor, unless Ihe painter should take the
figure of Aurora from Mrs. Hastings.
"There is ano'her emendation of the same critic,
in the followin? line, whch Mr. M. may seem, by
accident, to have sufficiently exj)ressed in the phrase
of ' roses shed their light.''
"I scrii)ble this in very great haste, but fear that
3'ou ;ind Mr. M'Ote will find me too long, minute, and
impertinent. Relieve me to be, very sincerely,
*' Your obedient, humble servant,
" F. LAURENCE."
» "Quer}', if it ought not to be lie? The line
might run.
With tender hand thi
That give new soflne
ODES OF ANACREON
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE: WITH NOTES.
TO HIS KOTAL HIGHNESS
THE PRINCE OF WALES.
Sir, — In allowing me to dedicite this Work to
Tour Royal Hijhness, you have conferred upon me an
honour which I feel very sensibly : and 1 hnve only to
rejret, that the pages which you have Ihus dislin-
CTlsheJ are not more deserving of such illustrious
patronage.
Believe me, Sir,
With every sentiment of respect.
Your Knyal HiKliness's
Very grateful and devoted Servant,
THOMAS MOORE.
ADVERTISEMENT.
It may be necessary to mention, that, in arranging
Ibe Odes, Ihe Translator has adopted the order of the
Vatican MS. For those who wish to refer to Ihe
original, he has prefixed an Index, which marks the
number of each Ode in Barnes and the other editions.
INDEX.
Ode. Bamej.
1. ANAKPEJ2N t.Smv p,e . . . . -63
2. AoT£ /tot Xvptjv 'OfiTjpov- ... 48
3. Ay£, ^ujypa^wv aptCTTE .... - 49
4. Toi/ aoyiipov TopttJuji/ 17
5. KaAAirt^^no (tot toqivo-ov - . - . 18
6. Ete^os nXsKoiv iroO' tlfov i9
7. Atyovc-iv al yvvatKt^ ---.- .. n
8. Ov /toi ricKn to Tiiyou 15
9. A<pt% ftr Tovq -Stovs trot - ... - 31
10. Tt <rot -SiAiis ToiT;<7o) • ' 13
ODES OF ANACREON.
15
Bpuira Krjptvov Tts ---••---10
Oi /i£V Ka\TJV Kv(ST){i7}V 13
GeXcu, ^t\ui <pt.Xrj(r(U --•-•-•• 14
, Et <fivXXa itavra devdpojv • . - - - 32
, Epacfitrj ntXeia ------.-• 9
• -AV£» ^iMyga<Paiv aptore- --••-• 23
rpa(/ȣ fioi 3a9v\\ov oirm 29
Aors ixoi, SoTt yvvaiKi^ --•••- 21
, riapa TTjv a-K'\Tjv, Ba^vAAe • • • • • 22
, Ai Movaat Tov Epwra 30
. 'ii yrj (iiXaLva nivu -•-•--•19
. 'H 'VavTaXov jtot' ta-rrj 30
. QiXio Xeyziv Arpettfaj -•---.- 1
, ^vcns K£pfiTa Tavpotff • 2
, Lv (lev 0tA7/ ;^;fAii?(uv -•--.--33
Zv fiev Xcyus ra Btj/^tj^ IS
Un
27. Kt (o-,v*ot? /i£
23. 'O avijp b 7y<; KvOijqjj^
\aXmov ■
0 /t£ (fiiXria-ai
-ap Tpo:\;a^at/
ais TtQUvati
wS rrotf (^jpaij
EjTt llVp(Tl
M£<TOVV<TI
MaKapi^ofuv
'0 nXovTO^ uyc ,'^;pv<rou •
Ata vv/cro§ ey*ca9£t)dtuv -
'lAapot TTtai/icv oivov • -
EttuStj (3poTos tTvxSijv •
Tt KaXov ea-Ti (^a^i^iiv •
XloOcui fi€V Aiovva-ov - -
llrt<pavov^ y.iv KpOTa<poi<ri
To foSov -,0 TOiV £pa,Tc.l/
'Orav TTtvio TOV oivov- -
I(Jfi, TTOj iapos <}>aV€V7o^ -
Eyu* yepoiv fi£v elju - -
'Oraf 6 BaKxos ti<rtXOtj -
Tov Atos 6 irats BaKX<^J "
'Or' tyw JTiw TOV ott'ov -
Ml] /is f^vyj;5 opujca - -
Tt pLt rovs vofiovg Sida<TK£ig
'Or' cyu) t/£u>t/ dfiiXov
VQOS <
[^'■OS",
Lre0av?^0opov fier' Hpoj
•Q TOV cv itovoig ampti -
ApT TIJ TOptVa-C JZOVTOV -
'O (JprtTTETT/S 6 XP^O""^ •
Tov /t£Xavo:\rp(uTa jJOTpvv
Ava ^apScTov Sovt](Tut • -
rioXtOl /t£V 7//ltV 7Ji59) - -
Ay£ Ct}, ^tp' ^fj-tv^ w Tcai
Tov Epu)ra yap tov AGpov
Povvo/iat ff' t.Xa(f}7iGoXe •
rituXc 0p7?tft7^, 7£ dr] fLt
Qcavjv avaa-a-a, Kvirpi
SI not, nap9eviov /?\£Trwv ■
Eyw i5' ovt' av A/taAOic?;?
For the order of the rest, see
BY THE TRANSLATOR.
Em podotvois TaTijcrc,
TtjIos yror' b [itXic-Ttjs
'lAapoj ytXojv £*C£ito,
MiOvujv ft Kat Avpi^tov'
AfKpi aVTOV ol 5' £pU>T£S
'AnaXoi cvvexop^va-av
'O {SiXrj ra ti]S KvdijprfS
EtTOUI, i^VXV^ OICTTOVS-
'O dz XevKOL noptpvpoLtrt
Kpiva ffvv ^oConn irAE^aff,
Ei^tAtt OTc^tyv yepovTa*
•n 6i ^£a(uv avao-o-a,
ZO^III jtot' £5 OXvfinov
Eo-opuxr' Ava/cpEovra,
EcTopujca Tovs cpturas',
'Ynoiiiidiacraas ttnf
]Eo^)«, 6' toy Avoicp£OVT<E
Tov a-o<puiTaTov anavrwVf
KfiA£oxf(r(v ol fTotfiKTTait
Ti. yjpojv, Tcov 0LOV /aev
Toij tpuj(n, Tio Avai</jf
K' ovK ifioi Kpartiv fifftuicas;
Ti ^1X1)^1.0. ri]q KvB'iipi]£
Tt Kt;n-£AAa tov Avaiov,
Alu y' e7pv<l})}(rns a^wv^
Ovtc Efiovs vo/iovs (Ji^ao-Kojv,
OvK tfLov Xaxf'V awTov ;
*0 6t Ti}{os /.ilXlo-ttj^
MijTC Cvax^paivt, <pr)<n,
•Ot
fllV
*0 (ro(l)(oTaTos anavTaiV
riapa twv a-o<}iu}V KaAov/iat*
*tA£tu, niw, Xvpi^uiy
MtTtt Twv KttAtuv yuvatKwv
AfpiXuiS dfi T£pnva nai^oi,
'ilq Avp); yap, £/tOV T^TOp
Avajrv£t jlovovs EpouTaj*
'Q^£ PtoTov XaXrjvrjv
^iAecuv /taAtCTTa TraVTwv,
Ov <roff>o£ ficXu)6o^ tifii;
Tij (TO^utTEpoj /i£v EffTt ;
REMARKS ON ANACREON.
There is but IKMe known with cerlainty of the life
of Aiiacreon. Chameleon Heracleotes,i who wrole
ujioii the sutiject, has been lost in Ihe general wreck of
ancient lirerature. The editors of the poet have col-
lected the few IrifliMR anecdotes which are scattered
through the exiani authors of antiquiiy, and, supply-
ing the deficiency of materials hv fictions of their own
inu^inatioii, have arranged, what Ihey caM, a life of
Anacreon. These specio-.is f.ibricatious are intended
to indulee that interest which we naturally feel in the
biography of illii«itriou8 men; but it is rather a dan-
gerous kind of illusion, as it confounds (he limits of
He is quoted by Athenaaus cv t^ n-tpt tov AvaX'
16
ODES OF ANAGREON.
hisloiy and romance,* and is too often supported by
unfaithful cllarion.^
Our poet was born in the city nf Tens,3 in the deli-
cious region of Ionia, and ttie time of his Inrth appears
to have been in the sixth centui y jel'ore Christ.* He
flourished at that leniarkahle period, « hen, under the
polished tyrants Hipparchus and Folycrates, Athens
and Samoa were became the rival avyiumN nf )>enius.
There is nothing certain knowu abiui his family, and
those who pretend to discover in Plato thai he was a
descendant of the monarch Codrus, show much more
of zeal than of either accuracy or judsment.s
The disp silinn and talents of Anacieon recommend-
ed him to ihe monarch of Samos, and he was formed
to be the friend of such a prince as Polycr.ites. Sus-
ceptible only to the pbaauies, be fell not the corrup-
tions of the court; and, while I'ythagoras tied from
the tyrant, Anacreon was celebrating his praises on the
lyre. We are told too by Maximiis Tyrius, that, by
tlie influence of his amatory sonsjs, he softened the
mind of Polycrales into a spirit uf benevolence to-
wards his subjecis.6
The amours of the poet, and the rivalship of the
tyrant. 1 I shall pass over in silence; and there are
few, 1 presume, who will regret tlie nmissinn of most
of those anecdotes, which the indus'iy of some editors
has not only proniulged, but discussed. Whatever is
repugnant to modesty and virtue is cnsidered in ethi-
cal science, by a suppo-ition very favourable to
humani'y, as impossible; and this amiable persuasion
should be much more strongly entertained, where the
transgression wars with nature as well as virtue. But
why are we not alloued to indulge in the presump-
tion ? Why are we officiously teniinded that tliere
have been really such instancue of depravity ?
Hipparchus, who nnw maintained at Athens the
power which his fa her Pi-istratus had usuriietl. w*a^
one of those princes who may be said to hive polished
> The History of Anacreon, by Gacon (le Poete
sans fard, as he styles himself,) is professedly a
romance ; nor does Mademoiselle Scudeii, from whom
he borrowed the idea, pretend to historical veracity in
her account of Anacreon and Sappho. Th^-se, then,
are allowable. But how can Barnes be forgiven, who,
with all the confidence of a bif)grai)her, traces every
wandering of the poet, and settles him at last, in his
old age, at a country villa near Teos ?
* The learned Bayle has detected some infidelities
of quotation in Le Fevre. {Dictionnaire Historique.,
ifC.) Madame Dacier is not more accurate than her
father: they have almost made Anacreon prime min-
ister to the "monarch of Samos.
3 The Asiatics were as remarkable for genius as for
luxury. ** Ingenia A^iatica indyta per gentes fecere
Poetsp, Anacreon, inde Minjuermus at Antiniachus,
&c."— Solmus.
< 1 have not attempted to define the particular
Olympiad, but have adopted the idea of Bayle, who
sa\s, '' Je n'ai point Marque d Olympiade ; car pour
un hommequi a vecu 85 ans, il me semble que I'on ne
doit pnint s*enfermer dans des homes si etroites."
8 This mistake is founded on a false interpretation
of a very obvious passage in Plato's Dialogue on Tem-
perance ; it originated with Madame D cier, and has
been received implicitly bv many. Gail, a late eOilor
of Anacreon, seems to clVim to himstlf the merit of
detecting this error ; but Bayle had observed it before
him.
6 AvaK(i£D]V T.a(iioi£ UoXvKQaTTjv ■fi/iEpwffe.
Maxim. 1 yr. § 21. Maxinius Tyrius mentions tliis
among other instances of the inhuence of poetry, if
Gai! had read Maximus Tynus, hnw could he ridicule
this idea lu Moutonnet, as unauthenticated ?
1 In the romance of Clelia, the anecdote to which I
allude is told of a young girl, with whoni Anacreon
fell in love while she pers <nated the god Apollo in a
mask. Put here Mademoiselle Scuderi consulted
nature more thin truth.
the fetters of their subjects. He was the first, accord-
ing to Plato, who edited the pocm^ of Homer, and
commanded them to be sung by the Rhapsodists at the
celebration of the Panathenaea. From his coun, which
was a sort of galaxy of genius, Anacreon could not
long be absent. Hipftarchns sent a barge for him ; (he
poet readily embraced the inviiation, and the Muses
and the Lnves were wafted with him lo Alhen.s.8
The manner ofAn^creon's death was singular. We
are told that in the eJehty-hfth year of his age he was
choked by a grape-stone ; 9 and, however we may
smile at iheir enthusiastic partiality, who sec in this
easy and characteristic death a peculiar indulgence of
Heaven, we cannot help admiring that his fate should
have been so emblematic of his disposition, CaeJioi
Calcaennius alludes lo this catastrophe iu the follow-
ing epitaph on our poet : — lO
Those bpy, then, hallow'd eage, which pour'd nIoDg
A music swfti as any cyjiiit^l's s.iog,
The grape halh clua'd for ever J
Here let lUv ivy kiss the poet's ti>mb,
Here let the rose he 'ov'd wilh laurels bloom,
In bands that iio'er shall never.
But far be thou, oh ! far, unholy vine,
By whom the favourite minstre! nf ihe Nine
Lnat his sweet vital breath;
Thy God himself now blushes lo confess,
Ouce liallowM vine! he feels he loves thee lees,
Since poor Anarreon's death.
It has been supposed by some writers that Anacreon
and Sappho were contemporaries ; and the very
thought of an inteicoune between persons so conge-
nial, both iu warmth of passion and delicacy of genius,
gives iuch play to the imagination, that the mind loves
to indulge m it. But the vl^ion dissolves before histori-
cal tiuth ; and Chamjelenn and Hermesianax, who are
the souice of the supposition, are considered as having
merely indulged in a poetical anachroiii>m.ii
To infer the moral dis|iositions of a poet from the
lone of sentiment which jeivades his works, is some-
times a very fallacious analogy ; but the scul of Ana-
8 There is a very interesting French poem founded
upon this anecdote, iniputed toDcsyvelaux, and called
** Anacreon Cit( yen."
9 Fabricius appears not to trust very implicitly in
this story. " Uvie pa-^sas acino landem ^uttocatus, si
credinijs Suidse in oii-oTrorj^^ ; alii enim hoc mortis
genere perii«se Iradunt yophoclem.'"— /'atricn JiibliO'
thee. GrsEC. lib. ii. can. 15. It must be confessed that
Lucian, who tells us that Sophocles was choked by a
giape-stone, in Ihe very sme treative mentions the
longevity of Anacreon, and yet is silent on the man-
ner nf his dea'h. Cnuid he have been ignorant of
such a remarkable c.>incidence, or, kr owing, could he
have neiileefed to remark it? SeeRegnier^s introduc-
tion to his Anacreon.
10 At te, sanc'e senex, acinus sub Tar'ara misit ;
Csgneafi clausit qui tibi vocis iter.
Vos, hederK, tnmulum, tumulum voscingite, lauri,
Hoc ro?a perpetuo vernet odora loco ;
At vitis procul bine, procul hinc odiosa faceesat,
Qnas causam dirae protulit, uva, necis.
Creditor ijise minus vitem jam Bacchus amare,
III vatem tantum qux fuit ausa nefas.
The au'hor of this epitaph, Caelius Calcagninus,
has tiamlaied or imitated the epigrams cig tt^v
Mvpfui'uj {3ovv, which are given under the name of
Anacreon.
*i Barnes is convinced (hut verygratuitouslyJ,of the
synchronism of Anacreon and Sappho. In ci'ing his
authorities, lie has strangely neglected the line quoted
by Fulvius U'sinua, as from Anacieon, among the
testimonies to Sappho : —
Eific XaSuiV ELcapas T>a7T<Pto iragOzvov AJv^ovov.
Fabricius thinks that they might have been contempo-
rary, but cun^jllers Iheir amour as a tale of imagination
V'ossius rt'itcts the idea entirely : as do also Olaus Bor-
ricliius and others.
ODES OF ANACREON.
17
creon speaks so utietiuiv cally through his odes, that
we nay safely consult them as the faitliful niiimrs nf
his heart.i VVefinJ him there the elegant voluptuary,
diftusing the seductive charm of sentiment over pas-
sions and propt-usilies at v\ hich ri;id morality must
frown. Hisheait, devoted to indolence, seems to have
thought that there is wealth enough in happiness, but
seldom happiness in meie wealth. The cheeilulness,
indeed, witli which he brightens his old a£;e is inttre-^t-
ing and endearing: like his own rose, he is fra^nnt
even in decay. Bui the most peculiar fea'ure of his
mind is thai love of simnlicily, which he atlrihutes to
himself so feelinglj', and which breathes characlerisii-
cally Ihrouiihout all that he hns sunj. In truth, if we
omit those few vices in our estimate which relig:ion, at
thit time, not only connived at, but con'^ecrated, we
slnll be inclined to say that the di'-pnsition of our poet
was amiable; that his morality was relaxed, but not
:*bandoned ; and that Virtue, witli her zoi e loosened,
mny be an apt emblem of the character of Anacreon.^
Of his person and physiognomy time has preserved
such uncerlain meniorjals. that il were Letter, perhaps,
to leave (he pencil to fancy; and few can lead the
Odes of Anacreon withoui imagining to themselves Hie
form nf the anintate.l old Lard, cruwned with roses,
and sin-iiig cheerfully to his lye. But the he.id of
Anacreon, prefixed to this work, 3 has been considered
* An Italian poet, in some verses on Belief's
translation of Anacreon. pretends to imagine that our
bard did not feel as he wrote : —
Lyaeum. Vouerfm, Ciipidinenique
t^eiiex lufil Anacreon poe!a.
SeO quo U-mporr noc copariort-s
Rngabat cyathns, nt^c inquit-tia
Urcbatur ainoribus. Bed ipsis
Tantutn versibus et i-K\s amabnt,
JJullum prae ee tiabitum gereim amnntifc
Tu Lovrt and Baci'hus ever yjung
While sagi* Anacreon loiiched Ihe lyra
He neiltier ft It Ilm luveb he snug,
Kor filiM h\9 b"wl to Bacchus liieher.
Those fiuwpry days had faded long.
When youth could act Ihe lover's part;
And pssflinn trembled in hia sonp,
Bot never, never, reuch'd hi« heart.
^ Anacreon's character has been variously coloured,
Biirnes lingers on it wiih enthusiastic admira'ion ; but
he is always extr.ivagmt, if not sometujiei also a litlle
prnfine. Baillet runs too iimch into Ihe opposite ex-
treme, exiggerating aUo the testimonies which he has
cniisulted ; and we cannot sorely agree witii him when
he cites such a compile- as Athenxui, as " un des plus
sivans critiques de r3ntiquite." — /u<cme7ii dcs Sea-
vans, M.CV.
Barnes could hardly have read the passage to which
he refers, when he accuses Le Fevre nf having cen-
sured our poel's diameter in a note on Longinus; the
note in question being manifest irony, in allusion to
some censure passed upon Le Fevre for his Anacreon.
It is clear, indeed, th^t praise rather than censure is
intimated. See Johannes Vulpius (de Utilitate Poeti-
ces), who vindicates our poet's reputation.
3 It is laken from Ihe Bibliotheca of Fulvius Ursi-
nu^. Pellnri h^s copied the same head into his Ima-
gines. Johannes Faber, in his description of the coin
of Ursinus, mentions another head on a very beautiful
cornelian, which he supposes was worn in a ring by
some admirer of the ))oet. In the Ic^nograpliia of
Cuiini there is a ynuihful head ''f Anacreon from a
Grecian medal, wiih the lellersTEIOE around it ; on
the reverse thTe is a Nenlune. holding a spear in his
risht hand, and a do'jihin. with the word TiANflN
inscribed, in Ihe left; " volendoci denotare (sa\s
Canini) che quelle cittadini I.i coinasbero in honore de!
suocompairiota poetn." There is also among Ihe coins
of De Wilde one, which thoush it bears no effigy. w,<s
probably struck to the memory of Anacreon. It has
the v\ord THlfiN. encircled with an ivy crown. *'At
quidni respicit hive corona Atacreontem, nobilem ly-
ricutn 1'' — Dc IVilde.
I so aulheniic. that we scarcely (ouM be jusliPed in the
omission of il ; and some have even thought that it is
by no means deficient in Ihat benevolent suavity of
expre<;Mon which should characteiise the countenance
of such a pott.
Af'er the very enthusiastic eulogiums bestowed bolh
by ancients and modems upon the pnems of Anacreon,*
»e i.eed not be diflident in cxpiessing our raptures at
their lefluty, nor liesilate to pronounce them the most
polished remains of antiquity. 5 They are, indeed, all
beauiy, all enchantment. t> He seals us so insensibly
along with him, that we sympathise even in his ex-
cesses. In his amatory odes there is a delicacy tif com-
pliment not to be found in any other arcieut poet.
Love at that periled wms rather an unrehned emotion :
and the intei course of the sexes wa&aiiimated moie by
passion than by seniiment. They knew not those lit^
tie tendetnesses which form the spiritual part of afl'ec-
tion ; their expressionof feeling was iherefore rude and
unvaried, and Ihe poetry of love deprived it of its most
captivatiTig graces. Anacreon. however, attained come
ideas of this purer gillantiy ; and Ihe same delicacy of
mind which led him to this tetinement, prevented him
also from yielding to the freedom of lar guage. "hich
h.is sullied the pages of all the other poets. His descrip-
tions are warm ; but the warmth is in the ideas, no!
the words. He is iponive withoui being wanton, and
ardent without being licen'ious. His poetic invention
is always most biilliantly di5pla\ ed in those allegorical
fictiori-j \^hich so many have endeavoured to imitate,
though all have confessed them to be inimitable. Sim-
plicity is the distinguishing fealuie of Ihese odes, aud
they interest by iheir innocence, as much as thev fasci-
nate by theii beauty, 1 hty niay be said, indeed, to be
the very infants of the Muses, ati'd tohsp in numbers.
1 slia'l not be accused of enthiisiastic partiality by
those who have read and felt the original ; but, to
others, I am conscioi^s, this should nnt be the language
of a tiatislator, whose faint reflection of such beauties
can but ill justify his admiration of them.
2*
* Besides those which are extant, he w rote hymns,
elegies, epigrams, &c. Some nf the epigrams still
exist. Horace, in addition to the mention of him (lib.
iv. nd. 9.), alludes also to a pnem of his upon (he rivalry
of Circe and Penelope in the affections of Ulysses, lib.
i. od. 17.; and the scholiast upnn Nicander cites a
fragment from a pnem upon Sleep by Anacreon, and
allribules to him likewise a medicimi treatise. Ful-
gentius men'inns a work of his upon the war between
Jupiter and the Titans, and the origin of the consecia-
tiou of the eagle.
* See Horace. Maxii..us Tyrius, &c. "His style
(says ScaligerJ is sweeter ihan'ihe juice of the Indian
reed." — Poc(. lib. i. cap. ^4. »'Fiom ihe sofinessof
bis verses (says Olaus Bnrrichius) the ancients bestowed
on him Ihe epithets sweet, dehca'e. graceful, &c." —
Disscrtationes Academics, de Poetis, diss. 2. Scali-
ger again praises him thus in a pun ; speaking nf ihe
fLtXoi;, or ode, '' Anacreon antem non solum dedit hjec
fit\T] sed eii m in ipsis mella," See the passage of
Kapin, quoted by all the eJitors. ! cannot omit citing
also the following very spiriied apostrophe of the au-
thor of the Commen'ary prefixed to Ihe Parma edition :
" O vos sublimes anin.a?, vos Apnllinis alumni, qui post
unum Alcmanem in tola Hellade lyricam poesim ex-
suscitasiis, coluistis. amplificastis. quajso vos an ullus
unqnam fuerit vates qui Ttin cantnri vel naturae can-
doie vel metii suavitale palmam prasripueut." See
likewise Viricerzo Gravini riella Rag. Poetic. lihro
primn, p. 97. Among the Riiralli of Marino, there is
one of Anacreon beginning *' Cingetemi la fronte,"
&c. &c.
^ 6 " We may perceive,'' says Vossins, " Ihat the item
lion of his words c nduces very much (o Ihe sweetncs
of his style." HenryStephen remarks the same beauty
in a no'e nn the forty-fr-urlh ode. This fitcure nf i'era-
linn is bis most apjifopriate grace : — hut Ihe modern
writers of Juvenilia and Basia have adopted It loan
excess which destioys the effect.
B
18
ODES OF ANACREON.
In the as:e of Amcreon music and pnetry were
insepaiabie.' Tjicse kindred talents were fnr a long
time assoria'eJ, and ihe poet always sung his own
compositions to the lyre. It is probable that they
were not set to any regular air, but rather a kind iil
musical recitation, which was vareJ accordii g to the
fancy and feelings of the moment « The poems of
Anacreon were sung at hauqneis as lale as Ihe time of
AulusGellius, who tells us hal he heard one ot the
Oics performed at a birthday entertainmenL*
'1 he singular beauty of our poet's s'yle, and the ap-
parent facility, perhaps, of his metre, have attracted,
as I have already remarked, a crowd of imitators.
Some of these have succeeded with wonderful felicily,
as may be discerned in the few Odes which are altn-
buted to writers of a later period. But none of his
emulators have been half so dangerous to his fame as
those Greek ecclesiastics of the early ages, who, being
con-cious of their own iuferinrity to their great pr -to-
tvpes, determined on removing all pnSMbility of com-
narison. and. under a semblance of moral zeal, de-
prived the world of some of the m .st exquisite trea-
sures of ancient times.3 The work of Sappho and
Alcaeus were among those flowers of Grecian liteia-
ture which ihns fell bene-ith the rude band of eccle-
siastical presumptinn. It is true they pretended that
■ sacrifice of genius was hallowed by Ihe interests
of religion ; but 1 have already assigned Ihe most pro-
bable motive;'' and if Gregorius Nazianzenus had
not written Anacreontics, we might now perhaps have
the works of Ihe Teian unmulilated, and be empower-
ed to say exuliingly with Horace,
Nvc ei quid olim lusit ADacieoo
Deltfvil uelan.
The zeal by which these bishops professed to be
actuated, gave birth more innocently, indeed, to an
absurd species of |,ari'dy, as lepugnant to piety as it
is to taste, where the poet of voluptuousness was made
a preacher of the gospel, and his muse, like Ihe Venus
in armour at Lacedzeumn, was arrayed in all the
severities of priestly instruction. Such was the
"Anacreon Recintatus," by Carolus de Aquino, a
Jesuil. publi-hed 1701, which cnnsi-ted of a series of
palinodes to the several songs of our [loet. Such, too,
was the Christian An.acreon of Patrignanus, another
Jesuit,' who preposterously tiaiisferred to a most
sacred sulject all that the Grecian poet had dedicated
to festivitv and loie.
metre has frequently been adopted by the
modern Latin poets; and Scaliger, Taubnian, Bar-
iliius.s and olhe's, have show n Ihat it is by no means
uncongenial wilh Ihat language.i The Aiiac enutics
of Scaliger, however, scarcely deserve the name; as
they glit er all over with conceits, and, though often
elegant, are always laboured, i he beautiful fictions
of Angerianus 8 preserve more happily than any
others the delicate turn of those allegorical f.bles,
which, passing so frequently through the mediums c-f
version and imitation, have generally lost their finest
rais in the transmission. Many of the Italian piets
have indulged their fancies upon the s'ibjects, and in
the manner of Anacreon, Bernardo 'lasso first intro-
duced the metre, which was afterwards polished and
enriched by Cbabrieta and other-. s
To judge by the references of Degen, the German
language ab'.unds in Anncreon'ic imitations; and
Hagedoin'O is one among many who have assiinied
him as a model. La Faire, Chaulieu, anJ the otiier
light pnetsof France, have also profesed to cultivate
the niu»e of Teos; but they have aliained all her
neslijence with little of the simple gare that embel-
lishes it. InthedelicalebardofSchirasH we find the
kindred spirit of Anacreon: some if his gazelles, or
songs, possess ail the character of our poel.
We come now to a re'rospect of the editions of
Anacreon. To Henry Stephen we are indebted for
hiving first recovered his remains from the obscurity
in which, so siii?iilaily, they had for ni'tiy ages re-
posed. He found the seven. h Ode, as we are told.
.he cover of an old book, and communicated it to
Victorius, who mentions the circumstance in his
Re.adiiigs.'' Stephen was then veiy young;
and this di;cnvery was consideied by some ciitics of
that day as a literaiy impo-ition.'tJ In 15,^4 however,
he gave Auacieon to the woild,i3 arcnmpanied wilh
annotations and a Latin version of the greater part of
ot
I In the Paris edition there .are four of Ihe original
Odes set to nius)C, by Le Sueur, Gossec, Mehul, and
Cheiubini. "On chante du Latin, et de ITtalien,"
says Gail, "quclquef lis mcme sans les eiitendie ; qui
empeche que nous iie chantions des Odes Grecques?'*
The chromatic learning of these composers is very
unlike what we are told of the simple melody of the
ancienis ; and they have all, as it appears to me, mis-
t-,ken Ihe accentuation of the words.
"i The Parma commentator is rather careless in re-
ferring to this passage of Aulus Gellius, (lib. xix. cap.
9.) The Ode "as not sung by the rhetorician Juliaiius,
as he says, but by the minstrels of both sexes, who
were introduced at Ihe entertainment.
3 See what Colomesius, in his " Literary Treasures,"
has q.ioted from Alcyonius de Exilio; it may he
found in BaxJer. Colomesius, af er citing Ihe pa sage,
adds, "Haec auro conlia cara non polui non appo-
4 We may perceive by the beginning of the fi'st
byir.r. f f Bi?hnp Synesius,' that he made Anacreon and
Sappho his models of composition.
A'ye /lot, Aiyiia dop/ii-j'?,
MzTa 'I'jj'iav cioiiav,
Mera AcaSiav ti iioXnav.
MarguiiiiiS and Damascenus were likewise authors of
pious Anacreontics.
» This, perhaps, is the " Jesui'a quidam Grseculus"
alluded to by B rues, who has himself composed an
Avaxpsuiv Xpio-Tiavo;, as alsurd as the rest, but
somewhat more skilfully executed.
6 1 have seen somewhere an account of Ihe MSS
:arthius written just after his death, which
lany more Anacreontics of his that
ever been published.
Thus too Alberlus, a Danish poet
I belli
bav
Fidil tu
Gaudfbo semper ilium
Laudare puniilillia
AnacreouticilliB.
See the Danish Poets, collected by Ros'gajird.
The.-e pretty littlenesses defy translation. A beauli-
fnl Anacreontic, by Hugo Grotius, may be found. Lib.
i. Farraginis.
8 To Angeriaiins, Prior is indebted for some of his
happiest myihological subjec's.
s See Crescimbeni, Hisloria delta Volg. Poes.
10 " L'aimable Hagedorn vaut quelquefois Ana-
creon."— /)'.»'(l(, Idee'tk la Pacsie Mlemande.
■ 1 See Toderini on Ihe learning of Ihe Turks, a«
trnislated by de Cournard. I'rmce Cantemir has
made the Russians acquainted wilh Anacreon. See
his Life, p:efixed to a translation of bis Satires, by
the Abbe de Guaco.
12 Robortellus, in his work "Tie Ratione corri-
fendi," pion.iunces these verses to be the Iririings of
some insipid Graecist.
3 Ronsard commemorates this event: —
ay boire a Henrie Etieunff
Qui lies c
Du vieil Anacreon perdu,
La dnuce lyre Teicnne.
I fill Ihe bowl m Stephen's
Who retJCued frnm the gl»
The Teisn bard nf frative fa
AnO brought his living ly
Ode
. book 5.
ut niehl
) litht.
ODES OF ANACREON,
19
Ihe Odes. The learned still besi'ated to receive them
aa iht! relics of the Teiaii baid, and su>|iec'ed them to
be Ihe fabricatiDu of some inoiiks of the sixteenth
century. This was an idea fioni which Ihe classic
muse lecoiled ; and ihe VaMcaii manuscript, Cnnsult-
ed by Scsli^e- and Sa!ma>ius, conlirmed the antiquity
of most of the poems. A vety Inaccunte copy of
tills MS. was talieii by Isaac Vnssius, and this is the
authority which Barnes has followed iu his ci llatinn.
Accordingly he misrtpresrnts almost as ofien as he
quotes; and the siiljsiiquent ediiois, rt;U ins; upon his
authority, have spoken of the unnusciipt with not
Tld,
however, has at lensrlh been gratified
ous memorial of the poet, bv ttie industry of the Abbe
Spaletii, who published at Rmie, in 1781, a fac-simile
of ihose pase-4 of the V:\ticaM manuscript which con-
lained the Odes of Anacreon.i
A cat;iloe;ue has been given by Gail of all the dif-
ferent editions and translations of Auaceon. FinJ-
inff iheir number to be niucti giealer than I could
possibly have had an opportunity of consulting, 1
shill here content luysolf wi h enumenulng only
tho'e edition* and versions which it has been iu my
power In collect; and which, though very few, are, i
believe, the most important.
The edition by Henry Sit-phen, 1554, at Paris — the
Lritiii version is altribuled by Colomesius to John
Doi-at.*
The old French translations, by Ron-^ard and Bel-
leau-the fi.rmer published in 1555, the hitter in 1556.
It appears from a note of Muretus ujion one of the
sonnets of Ron-ard, that Hrnry Stephen communi-
cated to this p^et his manuscript of Anacreou, before
he piomuleaied it to the world, 3
The edi'iou by Le Fevre. It60.
The edition by Madame Dacier, 16S1, with a prose
translation *
The edition by Longepierre, 1684, with a transla-
tion in verse.
The edition by Baxter; London, 1695.
A French tr-n^iatioo by La Fo^se, 1704.
" L'Histoire des Odes d Anacreon," by Gacon ; Rot-
teid^m, 1712,
A translntion in English verse, by several hands,
1713, in which the Odes by Cowley are inserted.
The edition by Birnes ; London, 1721.
The edition by Dr. Tiapp, 1733, with a Latin ver-
sion in eli'^iac metre.
A translation in English verse, by John Addison,
1735.
A collection of Italian tnrslations of Anacreon,
published at Venice, 1736, consisting of those by Cor-
sini, Regnier,^ Sr-ilvini, Marchetti, and one by several
anonymous authors. 6
A translation in English verse, by Fawket and
Doctor Broome, 1760.''
Another, anonynious, 1768.
'Ihe edition by Spaletti, at Rome, I7S1 ; with the
fac-simile of the Vatican MS,
The edition by De^en, 1786, who published also a
German lianslation of Anaoeon, estet-med the best.
A lianslation in English verse, by Urquhart, 1787.
The edition by Gail, at Pans, 1799, with a prose
translation.
t This manuscript, which Spaletti thinks as old as
the tenth century, was brought from the Palatine imo
the Vatican library: it is a kind of anlhojoey of
Gieek epigram-;, and in tlie 676th page of it are found
the 'HfitafiSia l.vfino(rtaKa of Anacreon.
•i '• Le menie (M. Vossius) m'a dit qu'il avoit pos-
sede un Anacreon. ou Scaliger avoit marque de sa
miin, qu' Henri Etienne n'etoit pas I'auteur de la ver-
sion Latjne de* Odes de ce poete, mais Jean Dorat.*'—
Pauhis CoInmesiiiSj Particularites
Cnlomesius, however, seems 'o have relied too im-
plicitly on Vossius; — almost all these Paiticulari;es
begin with " M. Votsius m'a dit."
3 " I,a fiction de ce sonnet comme l^uteur memo
m'adit, est prise d'une Ode d'Anacreon, encore non
inipnmee, qu'il a depuis traduit, Zv fiEV 0tAjj
* The author of Nouvelles de la Repub. des Lett,
bestows on this translntion nmch more praise than its
merits appear to me to justify.
» The notes nf Regniet are not inserted in this edi-
tion ; but they must be interesting, as they were tor
the most pari communicated by the ingenious Menage,
ODES OF ANACREON.
ODE L
I saw the smiting bard of pleasure.
The minstiel of the i eian measure;
'T was in a vision of the night.
He beam'd upon my wi:ndt'riiig sight.
1 heard his voice, and warmly prest
The deir enthusi.ist to my breast.
His tresses wore a silvery dye,
Put beauty spukled in his eje;
Sparkled in his eyes of fire,
Through the mist of soft desire.
His lip exhal'd, wheneer he sigh'd,
The fragiance of the racy tide ;
And, as with weak and reeling feet
He came my cordial kiss lo meet,
An infant, of the Cyprian band,
Guided bini on with tender hand.
Quick from his glowing brows he drenr
His braiil, ot many a wauton hue;
I took the wrea'h, whose inmost twine
Breath'd of him aiid blush'd with wine.
This ode is the first of the series in the Vatican
mnnuscript, which a'tiibutes it to no other poet than
Anacreon. They who ^s.^ert that Ihe manu^ciipt im-
putes it (o Basilius, have been misted by the words
Tov avTov HaaiXiKvjS i" 'he margin, which are
merely intendt-d as a liile lo the lollown:gode. Whe-
ther it be Ihe production of Anacreon or not, it hns all
the features of ancient simplicity, and is a beautiful
imitaiion of the poet^s happiest manner.
Sparkled in his eyes ofjirc,
Through the mist of soft desire.'] " How could he
know at the first look (says Baxter) that tjie poet was
^Aedvos?" There are surely many tell-tales of this
propensity ; and the following are the indices, wliicli
the physiognomist gives, describing a disposition per-
haps not unlike that of Anacreon: 0(}>9aXfiot kXv^o-
7}tvotf KVfiatvovT£^ tv AuTOtj, us a(ppodi(na koi
tvnadiiav cnTOTjvTai- ovri 6t aSiKoi. ovtz KUKovg-
yot, o'UTE ^vfTfius <pavXr)<;^ ovrt arjovcroi. — Ma-
mantius. *'The eyes thai are humid and tiuctuaiing
show a propensity to pleasure and love; they be-ptak
loo a mind of integriiyand beneficence, a generosity
of disposition, and a genius for poetry."
Baptista Porta tel s us some strange opinions of the
ancient physiognomists on this subject, their reasons
for \vhich were curious, and perhaps not altogether
fanciful. Vide Phyiiognom. Johan. Baptist. Portse.
/ l:ni\ the wrearh, vjhose inmost ttvine
Breathed of him^ ^c] Philoi.'ttatus has the same
who, we may perceive, from a passage in the Mena-
gtan.i, bestowed some research on the subject. *• C"e t
anssi Itii (M. Bigott qui s'est donne la peine de con-
ferer des manuscrits en Italie dans le terns que je tra-
vailloit sur Anacreon." — MenaKiana, seconde paiiie.
6 I find in Haym's Notizia de' Libri rari, Vei.ice,
1670, an Italian translation by Cappone, mentionrd.
' This is the most complete of Ihe English transla-
tions.
20
ODES OF ANACREON,
I hung^ it o'er my thoughtless brow,
And ah ! I feel its magic now.
1 feel that even his g:trl-ind s touch
Can make the bnsom love too much.
Ihojght in one of his KpcuTtKa, where bespeaks nf the
garland which he bad sent lo his mislress. Et 6i
pov\a Tt (t)LKii} X(^oi^^^dat, ra Xzi^pava avrmtfi-
xf/ov, fi7]KtTi TTVEovTa ^oduiV fJLOVov oAAo Kat oov.
" if thou art inclined to gritify ihy lover, send him hack
the remains of the garl-iiid, no longer breathing of roses
ooly, bul of ihee I" Which pretty conceit is borrowed
(is the author of the Ob-erver remarks) in a well-
krawD little bong of Ben Jorison's: —
••But thou thereon didst only breathe.
And sent it bark tu me ;
Bioce wbfo il looks and emellst I sweaTt
Not o{ itseir, but tbee !'*
^nd ah I I feel its viagic now 21 This idea, as
Longepierre remarks, occuis in an epigram of the
seventh book of the Anlhologia.
E.\oTi fioi mvovTi avvia-Taova-a XaptKAw
IIvp o\oov danrtL fiB.
While I anconRcious quatTd my wine»
'Twaa then thy fingers slily ctole
Upon my brow thai wreath uS thine.
Which since haa maddened all my bouU
ODE II.
Give me the harp of epic song,
Which Homer's fin;;er thrill'd along;
But te:»r away the sane^uine string,
For war is not the theme I sing.
Proclaim the laws of festal rite,
1 'm monarch of the bo.ird to-night;
And all anund shall brim as high.
And quatf the tide as deep as I.
And when the cluster's mell-iwing dews
Their warm enchanting btlm infuse,
Our feet shall catch th* elastic bound,
And reel us through the dancers lound.
Great Bacchus I we shall sing to Ihee,
In wild but sweet ebriety ;
Flashing around such sparks of thought.
As Bacchus could alone have t^iugbt.
Then. ?ive the hirp of epic song.
Which Hnmer's finger thnll'd alnng;
Proclaim the laws of festal rite.] The ancienis
escribed certain laws of drinking at their (i
I of which see the commentators.
prescr
their festivsU,
Ana
creon here acts the symposiarch, or master of the fes-
tival. I have translated according to those who con-
aider nvTTcWa St<riuuiV as an inversioa of ^ec/aovj
KVIttWliiV,
ODE III.
Listen to the Muse*9 lyre,
Master of Ihe pencilVfire \
Sketch'd in painting's bold display,
Many a city first portray ;
Many a city, re/elling fiee,
Full of loose festivity.
Picture then a rosy train,
Bacchants straying o'er the plain;
Piping, as they roam along,
Roundelay or shepherd-song.
Paint me next, if painting may
Such a theme as this portray,
All the earthly heaven of love
These delighted mortals prove,
Li Fosse has thought proper to lengthen thrs poem
by considerable inlerpnlatinns of his own, which he
I thinks are indispensably necessary to the completion
ol the description.
ODE IV,
Vulcan ! hear your glorious task j
I do not from ynur Inbourt; ask
In gorgeous pmoply to shine.
For war was ne'er a sport of mine.
I\'o — let nie hrtve a siher bowl,
Where I may cr die alt my soul ;
But miTid tha', o'er its simple frame
No mimic cuslellations n:<me;
Nor grave upon the swelling side,
Oiion, scowling o'er the tide.
I care not for the gliil'ring wain.
Nor yet the weeping sister train.
But let the vine luxuriant roll
Its blushing tendrils round the bowl.
While many a lose-lipp'd bacchant maid
h cullii:g clusters in their shade.
Let sylvan gr,ds, in antic shapes,
Wildly press the gushing grapes,
And flights of Loves, in wanton play.
Wing ihrough the air their windmg way j
While Venus, from her ai hour green,
Looks laughing at the joyous scene,
And young Lya?us by her side
Sits, worthy uf so bright a bride.
This ode, Aulus Gellius tells us, was performed \t
an eulertainment where he was present.
While many a rose-lifped bacchant maid, S^-cl I
have availed myself hereof the additional lines given
iu the Vatican manu^crip*, which have not been accu-
rately inserted in any of the ordinary editions : —
TLotTjCTOV aftTTCXoV^ flOL
Kat (3o7pva^ xar' airtov
Kat. fiatva^as Tpvyiutras.
IlotEt ^£ Xtjvov oivov,
AyvoSaTas narovvras,
Tovs o'aTvpovs yiXuiVraSt
Kat X9'V^o^S "TwiJ? £p(oTas,
Kai Kudtpijv ytXujffaVf
'Ofiov Ka\(o Avoitu,
Epwra k' A4>Qo6i,Tijv
ODE V,
Sculptor, wouldst thou glad my soul,
Grave for nie an ample bowl,
Woithy to shine in hall or bower,
When spring-time brings the reveller's hour.
Grave it with themes of chaste design,
Fit f'T a simple board like mine.
Display not theie 'he barbarius rites
In which relieiouszeal delights j
Nor any tale of tragic fate
Which History shudders to relate
No — cuJI ihy fancies from above.
Themes of heav'n and i hemes of love.
Let Bacchus, Joves ambrosial boy.
Distil the grape in drops of joy.
And whde he smiles at every tear,
Let warm-ey'd Venus, da' cing near,
With spirits of the genial bed,
The dewy herbage def'ly tread.
Let Love be there, without his arms.
In timid nakedness of charms;
Degen thinks that this Ode is a more modern imita-
tion of the preceding. There is a poem bv Cselius
Calcagninus, in he manner of both, where he gives
instructions about ihe making of a ring.
Tornabis onnulum mihi
Et fabre. et apte, et cnnamode, ic, 4rc.
Let Love be there, loithoitt his arms^ ^-c] Thus
Sannazaro in the eclogue of Gallicio nell' Arcadia: —
Vegnan li vaghi Amort
Seaza fiammelle, n slrali,
Si-her2andu insit-me pargoleltl e nudl.
ODES OF ANACREON.
31
And all the Grace 'ink'd with l^ve,
Slray, laughing, tli.ou^h the hhndowy grov
While rosy boys disparting round,
Id circlets tiip the \elvet ground
But ah! if there Apollo luys,
1 tremble for the roay boys.
Fbitterlnj; nn the busjr wing,
A tram or naked Cupids cnme,
Spoiling around in harnik-NS ring.
Without a dart, withuul n Hams,
And thus in
the Pervigiliun
nymphae, posuit arma, f<
'e la diBarm'd — ye nympl
ur boeuiiiM now inuy bcBHt a holiday
But ah ! if there Jipvllo toys,
I tremble fin- the rosy hoys.} An allusion ti
fable, that Apolio h.d killed his beloved bny
cinth, while playing with him at quoits. "
(says M. La Fosse) is assuiedly (he sense of the
and it cannot admit of ^ny other."
The Italian translators, to save themselves the
ble of a no'e, have taken the liberty of making
creon himself explain this fable. Thus Salvini
moat literal of any of them : —
Ma cnn lor non gluochl AimiMo;
ODK VI.
As late I sought the spangled bowers,
To cull a wreath of m;.tm Howers,
Where maiy an eirly rose was wecpinj
I found the urchin Cupid sleeping.
I caught the boy, a goblei's tide
Was richly mantling by my side,
I caught liini by his downy wing
And whelm'd him in the racy spring.
Then drank I down the poisnti'd bowl,
And Love now nestles in my snul.
Oh, yt-s^ my soul is Cupids
I teel him flutterir
..St.
This beautiful fiction, which the commentators
have atiriliuted to Julian, a roval poet, the V,itican
MS. pronounces to be the genuine ollspring of Ana-
creoa. It has, indeed, all the fetlures of the parent : —
et radl» inaciis
Noscitelur ab amnibu5.
Where many an early rose was weepintr^
I fmtnd the urchin Cwpid sleeping.] This idea is
prettily imitated in the following epigram, by Andreas
Nauge'nua: —
Florentes diim forte varans mea Jlyclla per hnrtot
Ti-xit odoratia itlia cana ronis,
Ecre rosBB int^r lalitantem invfnlt Amorem
EI slmut aonexia Horibus implk-uit.
Lurlatur primn, et contra mtentibns alls
Indomitus Icntal solvere vincia ptier*
Mnx ubl lacIeolaB el di^^nas matre papillafl
Vidit et ora ip«n9 nala m»ivere Deust
Impoaitnsqiie romae ambrosloa ut sentit odores
Qii09i]ue legit diti messe btatUB Arabs ;
[(dixit)!
ImperiG a
rit npta
libi, mater. Amoren!*
As fair Hyelln, Ihronnh the tvloomy grove,
A wreath of many mingled flow'rets wove.
Within a rose a sleeping Love ahe found,
And ill the twisted wreaths the baby bound.
Awhile he struggled, and Impatient tried
To break ttie rosy bonds the virgin tied ;
But when he enw her bosom's radiant swell,
Her fealfffes, where the eye of Jove michl dwell ;
And CBUEht th' ambrosial odours of her hair,
Rlrh un the breathings of Arabian air;
"Oh ' mother Venus," (sakl the niptur'd child.
By rharmR, of more than mortal bloom, beguifd,)
This epigrnm of Naugerius is imitated by Lodovico
Dolce, in a poem, beginning,
Mi-nfre raccoglie hor uno, hor allro fior«
Viitiia n un rio di chiare et lucid* onda
Lidla, Ike. dec.
ODE VII.
The women tell me every day
That all my bloom has past away,
** Behold," the pretty wantons or)',
»' Behold this mirror with a sit;h ;
The locks upon thy brow are few,
And, like the rest, they 're withering too I "
Whether decline has thinn'd my hair,
I'm sijie I neither know nor care:
But this I know, and this I feel,
As onward to the tomb 1 steal,
'ihat still as death ajiproaches nearer,
The joys of life are sweeter, dearer j
And had I but an hour to live,
Th-tl little hour to bliss I 'd give.
Alberli has imitated this Ode, in a poem, beginning,
NisB mi dlree Clori
Tirsi, tu »e' pur veglio.
H'Ticthcr decline has thimVd my hair^
/'m sure I ntithcr kmyw nor care ;"] Henry
Stephen very justly remarks ihe elegant negligence of
expression in the original here:
Eyco 6t TttS Kofias fuv,
RiT na-iv, ut' ajri^AQov,
OvKDtia.
And Longepierre baa adduced fmm Catullus, what he
thinks a smiilar instance of this simplicity of man
Ipse quis sit, ulrum ait, an non ait, id quoque neurit,
Longepierre was a good critic; but perhaps the line
which he has selected is a Fpecimen of a carelessness
not very cnmmendatde. At the same time I confess,
that none of the Latin poets have ever appeared tome
so capable of imitating Ihe graces ot^ Anacreon as
Catullus, if he had not allowed adepraved imagination
to hurry him so often into mere vulgar licentiousness.
That still us death ajoproaches 7icarcr^
T/ie jcrys of life are swtetcr, dearer;] Pontanus
has a very delicate thought upon the subject of old
Quid rides, Matrona 7 senem quid lemnis amantfiml
Quisquis amat nulla est londitione stnex.
Why do you scorn my want of youth.
And with a smile my brow behold 7
Lady dearl believe this truth,
That he who loveu cannot be old.
ODE VI IL
I care not for Ihe Idle state
Of Persia^ king, the rich, the great:
"The German poet Leasing has imitated Ibis Ode.
Vol. i. p. 24." Degen. G.-iil de Editionibuf.
Baxter conjectures that this was written upon the
cession of our poet's returning the money to Poly-
crates, according to the anecdote in Stobxus,
/ care not fur the idle state
Of Persia's kiv^, SfC] "There is a f-v^ent of
Archilochus in Plutarch, 'De tranquillitate ariimi/
which our poet has very closely imilatea here; it
begins,
On /iot TO, Vvynii 70V koXvxqvo-ov /izXci."
£4 ''WES.
In one of the monkish imitators of Anacrp^n <rD find
the same thought : —
xpvxfivtiiTjvtpwTi^,
Tt cot StXzLS ytvtadat ;
BeXcis rvyeoi ra Kai ra ;
22
ODES OF ANACREON.
I envy not the monarch's throne,
Nor wish the treasur'd gold my own.
But oh '. be miae the rosy wreath,
Its freshness o'er my brow to brea'he;
Be mine Ihe rich perfumes Ihat flow,
To C(rt>I and scent my lucks of snow,
To-d;»y I 'M haste to quaff my wine,
As if to-morrow ne'er would shine;
But if lo-morrow comes, why then —
I 'II haste to quaff my wine affsin.
And thus while all our days are bright,
Nor lime h»s dinimM their bloomy light,
Let us the festal hours beguile
With mantling cup and cordial smile,
And shed from each new bowl of wine
The richest drop on Bacchus' shrine.
For Death may come, with brow unpleasant,
M.iy come, when least we wish him present,
And beckon to the sable shore,
And grimly bid us — drink no more I
Se mine the rich perfumes tkatJloWy
To cool and scent 7ny lockt of snow.] In the origi-
nal, fivpoKTi KaraSptXf^iv 'bnTjvrjv. On account of
this idea of perfuming ihe beard, Cornelius de Fauw
pronounces the whole nde lo be the spurious production
of some lascivious monk, who was nursing his beard
with unguents. But he should have known, that this
was an ancient eastern custom, which, if we may be-
lieve Savary, still exists : " Vous voyez, Monsieur (s^ys
this traveller), que I'usage antique de se parfumer la
tete et la barbe,* celebre par le prophete Hoi, subsiste
encore de nos jours." Leltre 12. Savary likewise
cites this very ode of Anacreon. Angerianus has not
thought the idea inconsistent, having introduced it in
the following lines;
Haec mihl cura, rosis et cingere tempora inyrto,
Et curas multo Oelapidare inero.
HatfU mill] cura. comas et barbam tingere succo
Aesyrio et dulcea continuare joct«.
This be my cart*, to wreathe my brow with flowers,
To drench n.y sorrows in the ample bowl;
To pour rich perrumes o'er my beard in thnwerg.
And give tuU loost: to mirth aud joy ut eou1>
ODE IX.
I pray thee, by the goJs above,
Give me the mighty bowi I tove,
And let me sin?, in wild delight,
" 1 will -- I will be mad to-night !"
Alcm^on once, as legends tell,
Was frenzied by the tiends of hell ;
Orestes too, with naked tread.
Frantic pacM the mountainhead :
And why? a murder'd mother's shade
Haunted them still where'er they strayed,
B^t ne'er could I a murderer be,
The grape alone shall bleed by me :
Yet can I shout, with wild delight,
" I will — 1 will be mad to-night.
Alcides' self, in days of yore,
Inibru'd his hands in youthful gore,
And brandish'd, with a maniac joy,
The quiver of th' expiring boy ;
And Ajax, with tremendous shield.
Infuriate scour'd the guiltless field.
But I, whose hands no weapon ask,
No armour but this joyous flask ;
The trophy of whose frantic hours
Is but a scatfer'd wreath of flowers
Ev'n I can sine with wild delight,
*• 1 will — I win be mad to-night.
••Sifut nngoentum in cnpite quod descendit to bar-
bam Aaronis." Fseaume 133.
The poet is here in a frenzy of enjoyment, and it u
indeed^ "amabilis insania ;" —
Furor di poeeia,
Di lascivia. e di vino,
Triplicato furore,
Bacco, ApoUu, et Amore.
Ritratti del Cavalttr Mariuo,
This is truly, as Scaliger expresses it,
Et aapidum furere furorem.
ODE X.
How ?m I to punish thee,
For the wrong thou 'st done to me.
Silly swallow, prating thing —
Shall 1 clip that wheeling wing?
Or, asTereus did, of old,
(So the fabled tale is told.)
Shall 1 tear that tongue away,
Tongue thnt ut'erM such a lay?
Ah, how thoughtless hast thou been!
Long befoie the dawn was seen.
When a dream came o'er my mind,
Picturing her I worship, kind,
Just when I was nearly blest,
Lnud thj' matins broke my rest!
This ode is addres-jed to a swallow. I find from
Degen and from Gail's index, that the German poet
Weisse has imitated it, Scherz. Lieder. lih. ii. carm.
5. ; that Rr^mler al^o has imitated it, Lyr. Blumenlese,
lib. iv. p. 335. ; and some others. See Gail de Editi-
We ^»re here referred by Degen to th:*t dull book, the
Fpistlesof Alciphron. tenth epistle, third book; where
Inphnn compI.Tins to Erajion of lieing wakened, by the
crowing of a cock, from his vision of riches.
Silly swallow, f rating thin^, ^-cl The loquacity
of the swallow was proverbial ized ; thus Nicostratus •
Et TO cvvtx^S 'Cat TroX.\a Kat Ta,'V:c(us XaAtiv
Hv rov (f'Qovtiv Tiapamjiiov^ al x^^'-^'^'^^S
KXtyovT' av ^/tojv o-wf^poi/torcpat noXv.
If in prating Trom morning till night
A sign of our wisdom there lie,
The swallows arc wiser by right,
For they prattle much faster than we.
Or, as Tcrevs did, of old, Sz-c] Modern poetry has
confirmed the name of Philomel upon the nightingale ;
but many respec'able authorities among the ancients
assigned this metamorphose to Progne, and made Philo-
mel the swallow, as Anacreon does here.
ODE XI.
'* Tell me, gentle youth, I pray (hec,
What in purchase shall I pay thee
For this little waxen toy,
Image of the Paphian boy ?'*
Thus I said, the other day.
To a youth who pass'd my way :
*' Sir," (he answer'd, and the while
Answer'd all in Doric style,)
*'Take it, for a trifle take it;
'T was not I who dared to make it ;
No, believe me, 't was not I :
Oh, it has cost me many a sigh,
It is difficult to preserve with any grace the narra-
tive simplicity of this ode, and Ihe humour of the turn
with which it concludes. I feel, indeed, that the
translation must appear vapid, if not ludicrous, to m
English reader.
ODES OF ANACREON.
23
And I can no longer keep
Little gods, who murder sleep !"
•' Here, then, here," (I said with joy,)
" Here is silver fcrlhc hoy;
He shall be my bosom guest,
Idol of my pious breast 1"
Now, young Love, 1 have thee mine,
Warm nie with that torch of thine
Make me feel as I have felt,
Or thy waxen fr.ime shall melt :
I must burn wiih warm desire^
Or thou, uiy boy — in yonder fire.
And I can no longer keep
Little f^vds^ tvfio murder sleep 11 I h.ive not lite-
rally rendered ihe epithet navTotiEKra ; if it has any
meaning here, it is one, peihaps, belter oiiiitled,
/ mtist bum with waiin desire.
Or ihoH, my buy — in yonder fire,"] From this
Lnngepierre conjectures, lh:it, whatever Anacrenii
mighi say. lie felt sometimes Ihe inconveniences of old
age, and here soliciis from the power of Love a warmth
which he could no longer expect from nature.
ODE XH.
They tell how Atys, wild with love,
Ro.ims the mount 'and haunted grovej
C>bde'3 name he hnwls nround,
The gloomy blast returns the sound !
Oft too, by Claros' hallow'd s::ring,
The vo'aries of the laurell'd king
Quad" the insjiiring, magic s'ream,
And rave in wild, prnphe'ic dream.
But freiizied dreams are not for me,
Gre .t n^icchus is my deity !
Full of mirth, and full of nini,
While floating odours round me swim,
While niantlmg bowls are full supplied,
And you sit blushing by my side,
I will be mid and raving loo —
Mad, my girl, with love for you '•
They tell how Atys, xoild with /ore,
Roams the mmtnt and haunted ^-ove ;] There
are many coolradictory stories ff the loves of Cybtle
and Alys. It is certain that he was mutilated, but
whether by his oun fury, or Cybeie's jealousy, is a
point upon which authors are not agreed.
CybeWs name he howls armind, S,-c.} I Iiave here
adopted the accentuation which Elias Andreas gives
to Cybele: —
In montibus Cybelen
Maguo Boiiunti boatu.
Oft too, by Claros'' hallow'd sprinf^^ ^c] This
fnuntsin was in a grove, consecrated to Apollo, and
situated between Colonhon and Lebcdos, in louia.
The god had an oracle inere, Scaliger thus alludes to
it in his Anacreontica ;
Semcl ul roncitus opslrn,
Veliili qui Clarias aquaa
Ebihere loquaoes,
Quo plua cauuQt, plura volunt.
JfTiile floating odoxtrs, Src] Spaletti has quite
mistaken the import of ko^ktOel^, as applied to the
poet's mistress — '* Mea fatigatus amicn ; " — thus in-
terpreting it in a sense which must want either deli-
cacy or gu.dntry ; if not, perhaps, both.
1 will, I V
And I 'il (
Cupid has
Invited m
ODE XIII.
ill, the conflict's past,
onsent to love at last,
long, with smiling art,
i to yield my heart ;
And I have thought that peace of mind
Should not be for a smile resign'd ;
And so repeird the tender lure,
And hopM my heart would sleep secure.
But, slighted in his boasted charms,
The angry infant flew to arms j
He slung his quiver's golden frame.
He took his how, his shafts of finne,
And proudly snmmon'd me to yield,
Or nn^et him on the martial (itld.
And what did I unthinking do?
I lonk to anns, undaunted, too ;
As-um'd the corslet, sliield, :»nd spear,
And, like I'elides, smil'd al fear.
Then (hear it, all ve powers above !J
I fought with Love ! I fought with Love !
And now his arrows all were shed,
And I had jus' in terror fled —
When, heaving an indignant sigh,
To see me thus unbounded fly,
And, having now no other dart,
He j^hot himself into my heart !
Mv heart ~ alas, the luckless day !
Keceiv'd the God. and died away.
Farewell, farewell, my faiihles- shield !
Thy lord at length is h.rc'd to yield.
Vaui, vain, is every outward care.
The foe's within, and triumphs there.
And what did I unthinking do ?
I took to arms, vndan.nted^ tooi'l Longepierre
has here quoted an epigram fiom the Anlhologia, in
which the poet assumes Reason as the armour against
Love.
Q.n\i(T{i.ai TTpo^ tpwra K£pi (rrt^vota-t Aoyttr/iov,
Ovit fic viKi)<ru, (tovoi tcuv npo^ tva'
Qvaro'i tj' aOuvarui a-vi>f.\EV(rofiaL- t}V 6e fioTjOov
lianxov exVj ^* P.OVOS jtqos 6v' tyw dvvafiat. ;
With Reason I cover my breael as n nhieM,
Anil fearlpssly mt-cl little Lnve in ttic firld ;
Thus nphliiig hiagod^Iiip. I'll in?Vr hedismnyM;
ihoulil fver advance to hie aiil,
cnnibat the (w
whuttihouM I CjdT
This idea of the irresistibility of Cupid and Bacchus
united, is delicately expresi-ed in an Italian poem,
which is so liuly Anacreontic, that (is introduction
here may be pardoned. It is an imilation, indeed, ol
our poet's sixth Ode,
civetto ml acherza al cnr ititorno.
che sarel s* lo lo bevessi un glorno,
ro, nel luo liquore 7
ei, piu che uon sono ebro d'Amore.
The
chin (
Wns bathing i
the bow and quii
■iBhb
nnp riveo
Where, as I drank on yente
(Shepherd-youth. Ilie tale believe.)
•T wan not a cooling, crystal ilranplit,
•T was liquid (lame I madly quan'd;
For Love was in the rippling tide,
I felt hitn to my bosom plide;
And now the wily, wanton minion
rieye round my heart with rcsllesa pinic
A day ft waa of Tatal star,
Put ah, 'twi
If, Bacchus, in thy
I found this fliitt'n
Then, then indeed i
Kv'ii more than evi
< fatal far.
, diuuk wiUi love)
Andy having now no other dart,
He fihot himself into my heart .'1 Dryden hu
parodied this thought in Ihe following extravagant
, Love shot, and shot *o faat.
elf into my brenul at last.
24
ODES OF ANACREON.
CDE XIV.
Cnunt me, on the summer trees^
Every leaf that courts ihe breeze;
Count me, on ihe Inamy deep,
Every wave that sinks to sleep ;
The pnet, in this catalogue of his mistresses, means
nolhing nuTC, than, by a lively hyperbole, to iuform
us, that his heart, unfettered by any one object, was
warm with devotinn towards Ihe sex in general.
Cowley is indebted to this Ode for the hint of his bul-
lad, called '•' The Chronicle ; " and the learned Menage
has imitated it in a Greek Anacreontic, which has &o
much ease and spirit, Ihal the reader may not be dis*
pleated at seeing it here : —
npoz BiaNA.
El a\(T£ojv ra ^vAA.a,
Au^Lu3Viovs Tt irota^,
Et vvKTos aiTTpa Trai'ra,
UapaKTiovs rt xpaiif^ovSy
'AAos Tt KVfiaTuCr},
Avv7}f Bicuv, aptOfiLLVf
Kat rovs tfiovs cpturaj
Avvrj, Biuiv, apidfLciv.
KoptjVf yvvaitcay Xj^pav,
ZfjuKp-qVf Micnjv, Mtytorijv,
AcvKjjv T£ Kat MtAatvav,
OQtLadaSi NanaiaSf
'tiTjQij'idas Tt TTOO-oS
'O tros 0tAoj ^tAj^ct.
TiaVTUiV KOpOS ft,tV KTTtV,
AVTT)V VtUiV EpuiriyV,
Aitrnotvav A(ppodiTr}V,
Xpiitrv/v, KaAr/v, yAvKtiav,
Epa(7/i.tav, noQtivqVf
All fiovTjV (PiXTjcrai.
Eya>y£ fiTj dovai^iTjV.
Tell Ihe foliage of the woodi.
Tell Ihe billows of the flnods.
number miOnight'B slarry •lore.
And Ihe fanda ttiat crowd the shore.
Then, my Bion, thou mayst count
Of my loves the vast amount.
I 've been loving, all my days.
Many nymphe, in many vuys ;
Virgin, widow, maid, and wife —
I've been doting all my lire.
NaiadB. Nereids, nymt^hs of fountainH
Gotldesses of groves and moiinlama.
Fair and eable, great and amall,
Ye-. I Bwear I've lov'd them all!
Soon was every passion over,
I wan but the momeut'B lover;
Oh! I'm Buch a roving elf,
That the doeen of Love herself,
Though she practiB'd all her wilea.
Rosy bluHhes, wreattied fmilea,
All her beauty's proud ende:iVoiir
C'juld not rhain ray heart for ever.
Count me, on the mmmer treeSy
Every leaf, ^c] This hgure is called, by rhctori-
cians. Hie Impossible {adwarov,) and is very fre-
quently made use of in poetry. The amatory writers
have exhausted a world of imagery by it, to expiess
Ihe Infinite number of kisses which Ihey require from
the lips of their mistresses: in this Catullus led ;he
way.
— Quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
Furtivn? hominum vident amorea;
Tam te bxeia multa bac^iare
Ve^no Batia. et auper. Catiilto est:
Quae nee pernumerare curioRl
rasaint, nee mala fascinare hngua. Carra. 7.
As many stellar eves nf liijht,
Aa through Ihe silent waste of nlght»
G»z-.ng upon this world of shade.
Witness (tome aeeret youth and maid.
Tlien, when you have number'd thcM
Billowy tides and leafy trees,
Count me all the flames ! prove,
All (lie gentle nymphs I love.
First, of pure Athenian maids
Sporting in Iheir olive t^hades,
You may reckon just a score,
Nay, J '11 errant you iifieen more.
In the fam'd Corinihian grove,
Where such countle>s wantons rove,
Chains of beauties may be found,
Chains, by which my heart is bound
Tbeie, indeed, are nymphs divine,
Dangerous to a soul like minct
Many bloom in Lesbos' isle:
Many in Ionia smile ;
Rhodes a pietty swarm can boast ;
Caria ton contains a host.
Sum Ihem all — of brown and fair
Yi'U may cnunt two thousand there.
What, you s are ? I pray you, peace!
More I'll tind before 1 cease.
Have I told you all my flames,
'Mong the amorous Syiian dames?
Have I numbered eaery one.
Glowing under E^yp^'s sun ?
Or the nymphs \vho blushing sweet
Deck the shrine of Love in Creie ;
Where the God, with festal play,
Holds eternal holiday ?
Still in clusters, still remain
Gades' warm, desiring train ;
Slill there lies a myriad more
On the sable India's shore ;
These, and many far reniov'd.
All aie loving — all are lov'd!
Who fair
I Iho
d fnnd aa I,
In stolen juys ennmoiir'd lie,—
S-- manv kitses. ere I !.!umber.
ITpoD those dew-bright lips I'll number;
8o many kisses we ahnll count,
Envy can never tell Ihe amount.
Ho tongue shall hlab the sum, hut mine;
Nu lipa ."hall faficinate, but thine *
In the fnm''d Corinthiaji grove,
Where sitch cotmtlcss wantons rove, ^-c] Coriith
was very famous for the beauty and number of itf
couilesans. Venus was the deity principally wor-
shipped by Ihe people, and their constant prayer was,
that the gods should increase the number of her wor-
shippers. We may perceive from the application of
Ihe verb KopivOin^tLV. in ADstophanes, that ihe lubri-
city of the Corinthians had become proverbial.
There, indeed, are nymphs divine^
Dangerous to a soul like mine!) *'\Vilh justice
has the poet attributed beauty lo the women of Greece."
— Degen.
M. de Pauw, the author of Dissertations upon the
Greeks, is of a different opinion ; he thinks, that by a
capricious partiality of nature, the other sex had all
the beauly ; and by this supposition endeavours lo ac-
count for a very singular depravation of instinct among
thai people.
Gade-s^ warm, desiring train ;) The Gadltanian
girjg were like the Raladieres of India, whose dances
are thus described by a French author : " Les danses
sont pre-que toutesdes pnn'ominies d amour ; le plan,
le dessein, les altitudes, les mesurcs. les sons et les
cadences de ces ballets, tout respire cetfe passion et en
exprime les vokiptes et les fureurs." — //uioiVe du
Commerce des Europ. dans les deux Indes. Raynnl.
The music of the Gaditanian females had afl the
voluptuous character of their darcing, as appears from
Martial : —
Cantif
Lodovico Ariosto had th^a ode of our bard
mind, when he wrote his
bus." See the Anthologia
ODES OF ANACREON.
25
ODE XV.
Tel. me, why, my jweeUst dove,
Tliu- yi'ur huiiiid piiioiis move,
Shedding Ihroi^h ihe ale in showers
Kssence nf the lialmiest flowers?
Tell me whither, whence you rove,
Tell me all, my sweetest dove.
Curious stranger, I belong
lo the bird r.f 1 eiao sni-i: ;
VVi h hi:* iii.indixie now I fly
To the nymph of izure eye ; —
iShe. wlit:se e\e has mr^dden'd many,
Hut the pot-t m Tf than any.
Venus, tor a hymn of love.
Warbled in her votive grove,
('T was in sooth i gentle lay,)
Gave me to 'he bird away.
See me now his (h.lhful minion,
'Ihus with softiy gliding pinion,
Tohislnveiy girl I he^r
Songs of I a-^sion tlirnuch ihe air.
Olt he blandly whispers me,
"Soon, niy Ijird, I 'il se' yi>u free."
Rut in vain he'll bid me fty,
I shalUerw; him (ill Idle.
Never could my phnnes su^^tain
Ruliling winds and ctiilling rain,
O'er Ihe plains, or in the dell,
On the niouniaiu's >av.iffe swell,
Seeking in the desert wnod
Gloomy shelter, rustic food.
Now I lead a tifeof ense,
Far from rugged haun's like these.
From Anacivon'shand I eat
Food delicious, viands sweet;
The dnve of Anacreon. bearing a letter from the poet
to bis mistress, is met by a stranger, with whom this
dialogue is imagined.
The ancients made u^e of le'ter-carrying pigeons,
when they went any dis'ance from hi>me. a^ the most
cert "in means of convex ing intelligt-nce b.ick. 'J'hat
tender domestic atiachment. which atliac's this deli-
caie lilllebird through every danger and difficulty, till
it set les in its native m-s'. aftbrds to the author of "Tlie
pleasures of Memory" a tine and interesting exempJi-
iicatmn of his subject.
See the poem. Daniel Heinsiu"!, in speaking of
Dousa, whoadojiled ihis uicthod at the siege of Leydeu,
expresses a similar sentiment.
Quo pat:
Postqua
uller tells us, that at the siege of Jerusalem, the
istians intercepted a leiier, tie^ to the legs of a
e, in which Ihe I'er-lan Emperor promised assist-
ance to the besieged. —Holy War, ctp. 24, book i.
ShCf wftose eye has maddened manyt fyc] For
rvpavvoVf in the <irigrnal, Zeune and Schneider con-
jec'uie Ihai we should lead Tvpavvov, in allusion to
Ihe st«ong inriuenre which this obji-ct of his love held
over Ihe mind of I'olycates. See Degen.
VcnxLS, (or a hynui oflovcj
li'arLkd in licr wtivc ^/vc, fyc-l "This pa^sige
is invaluable, and 1 do not think that any thing so beau-
kiful or so delica'e has ever been said. What an idei
does it give of Ihe poetry of the man, from whom Ve-
nus hf-r^elf, the mother of the Graces and the Pleasures
urcha-^es a lit le hymn with one of her favourite
rives I'" — Lo7i^epierrc.
De Pauw otijects to the authenticity of this ode, he-
cau-e ii makes Anacreon his own pane^j-rist ; but
poets have a license for praising ihemselve-, wh-ch.
witli Bome indeed, may be consdcred as comprised
I under th^ir general privilege of ficiion.
Flutter o'er his goblet's brim,
Sip the fo;»my wine wiih him.
Then, when I hive wantou'd round
To his lyie's beguiling sound ;
Or with gentjy moving wings
Fann'd the minstrel while he sings:
On his harp I sink in slun.bcis,
Dreaming still of dulcet numbers !
This Is all — away — away —
Vou have made me waste the d -y.
How I 've chaHer'd I prating crow
Never yet did chatter so.
ODE XVI,
Thou, whose soft and rosy huea
Mimic form and soul infuse,
Be^t of 1 ain ers, come pttiHay
1 he Invely maid that 's far away.
Fat aw;ty, my soul ! thnu art,
Hut I 've thy beauties all by heart.
paint herJKity ringlet- playing.
Silky locks, like tendrils straying ;
This ode and the next may be called companion-
pictures ; they are highly liiiished, and give us an ex-
cellent idea of Ihe lasie of the ancienl> in beau'v.
Franciscus Junius quotes them in his third book "De
Piclura VetcTum."
This cide has been imitated by Ronsard, Giuliano
Goselini, &c. &c. Scaliger alludes to it thus in his
AnacreoDtics:
Ollm lepore blando.
Litis vc-ibibuH
Candidus Anacreon
The Teian bard of former days,
Attmi'd Iiin BWtret di-srriptivt; lays,
And taught llie painter's Itaiid lo trace
Hia fair l>cliv
ery i
In the dialogue of Caspar Barlipus, entitled "An
formosa sit ducenda,'' the reader will find many cu-
rious ideas and descriptions of womanly beauty.
Thou, whose soft and rosy hues
Mimic foiTii aiid soul ui/uve,] I have followed
here the reading of (he Vatican M8. flodt?,?. I'ainiing
is called " ihe rosy arl,'» either m rcterence to colour-
ing, or as an indefinite epilhei of excellence, from ihe
association of beauty with ihat flower. Salvini has
adopted this reading in his hteral translation : —
Delia rosea arte signore.
The lovely maid that 's far away.] If this portrait
if the pot^i'b mistress he not merely ideal, the omi-sion
if her name i- much to be reeretted. Melea-er, in an
pigram on Anacreon, mentions "the golden Eury-
pyle" as his mistress.
BiCXtiKixiS ^^^pvffcijv ;t;£tpa5 £7r' Ev^vkvXtjv,
Paint her jetty ringlets flaying.
Silky locks like toidrils stray m t^ ;] The ancients
have ijeen very enthusiaslic in their [raises of the
beauty of hair. Apu'eius, in the second book of his
"' ' M.ics, savs, that Venus herself, if Uie were bald,
Iliough surrounded by the Graces and the Loves, could
ni't he pleasing even lo her husband Vulcan.
Stesichorus gave the epiihet KaAAtTrAo/ca/toj to the
Graces, and Sinionides bestowed the same upon Ihe
" "uses. See Hadri .n Junius's Dissert.iti.m upo-i Hair.
To this passage of our poet, Selden alluded in a note
on the Polyolbion of Drayton, Song the second, where
observing ihat the epithet "black-haired" was given
by some of the ancients to the goddess Isis, he say*,
*• Nor will I Bweir, but that Anacteon (a man very
judicious in the provoking motives of wanton love).
26
ODES OF ANACREON.
And, if paitting h»th the skill
To make the spicy balm disiil,
Lei every little luck exhale
A si^h o( perfume nu the gile.
Where her tresses' curly liow
Darkles o'er the brow of snow,
Let her forehead beam to Ii?ht
Burnish'd as the ivor) bright.
Let her eyebrows smoothly rise
In jelly arches o'er her eyes,
Each, a crescfiit gently eliding,
Just commiugliDg, jusi dividing.
But, hast thou any sparkles warm,
The lightning of her eyes to form ?
Lei them eftu
; the a
: rays
hat in Minerva'^ glances bin
Mix'd with the liq-ji.l light that ties
In Cytherea's lai.guid eyts.
O'er her nose and cltcek be shed
Flushirig white aod s 'fteu'd red ;
Mingling tin's, as when there glows
In snowy milk the bavhfiil ro.e.
1 hen her lip, ^ol■ich in bl.sses,
Sweet petitioner for kisses,
intending to bestow on his sweet mistress that one of
the titles of woman's special ornament, well-haired
{Ka^MnXoKafio^), thought of this when he gave his
painler direction to make her black-haired."
^nd if painting hath tfie skill
To make trie spicy balm distil, <Vc.l Thus Phi-
lostratus, speaking of a picture; tnaiviu Km rov tv-
6po(TOVTov podujv, Kai (prjfii y£y(>a4idai avra fiira
7 7}s 0(TfjL7jS. "I admire the dewiness of lhe^e loscs,
and could say that their very smell was painted."
JV/ix'rf with the. liquid light that lies
In CythLi-etCs languid eyes.] RIaicbetti explains
thus the vygov of the original : —
Dipingili uinidt^tli
QuQt gli ha Ciprt(,-iiu I'ulnia Dea d'Amore*
Tasso has painted iu the same manner the eyes of
Armida : —
Wilhin her humid, melting eyes
A brilliant ray of laughter lies,
Soft OS the broken solar bt-am.
That tremblts in the azure stream.
The mingled expression of digntiy and tenderness
which Anacreon requires the painter to infuse imo the
eyes of his niislress, is more amply described In
svibsequeut ode. Both descriptions are so exquisitely
touched, that the artist must have been great indeed,
if he did not yield in painting to li.e poet.
Min^lins: tints as when there e^lovjs
In ^loury milk the bashful roac] Thus Proper*
tius, eleg. 3. lib. ii.
Utfjue rosae piiro lacte natant folia.
And Davenant, in a little poem called "The Mis-
tress,"
Catch as it falls the Srythian snow,
Bring blushing roses Eteep'd in milk.
Thus too Taygetus : —
Q,uae lac alque rosas vincis candore rubenti.
Then htr Zip, so rich in blisses.
Sweet petitioner for kisses,) The " lip, provoking
feisses," in the original, is a strong and heauliful ex-
pression. Achilles' Tatius speaks of _Y£t^« fiaXOaKa
rrpog ra (fnXijttara, " Lips soft and delica'e for kii^s-
Rnsy nest, where lurks PersnasioB,
Mutely courting Love's invpsion.
Next, oeneaih the velvet chin.
Whose dimple hides a Love within,
Mould her neck with grace descending.
In a lieaven of beauty ending ;
While countless charms, above, below,
Sport and flutter rnund its snow.
Now let a Moating, lucid veil,
^hadow her firm, but not conceal ;
A charm may peep, a hue may beam,
And leave the rest to Fancy's dieam.
Eiv u::h — 't is she ! 'I is all I seek ;
it glows, it lives, il soon will speak !
ing." A grave old commentator, Dionysius Lambinus,
in his notes u|ion Lucretius, tells us with the apparent
authority of experience, that " Suavius virns osculan-
tur puetlas fatjiosas, quatn qn^ sunt btevibus libris"
And ^neas Sylvius, in his tedious uninteresting story
of ihe hives of Eurya'tus and Lucretia, where he par-
ticularises the heau'ies of the heroine (in a very false
and laboured style of laliniiy), describes her lips thus:
— " Os );aivinii decensque. labia corallini coloris ad
morsum aptissima."— Epist. lU. lib. i.
Next, beneath the velvet chin,
IV/iose dimples hide a Love within, fyc."] Madame
Dacicr has quoted here two pretty lines of Varro: —
n her chill in a delicate dimple,
By Cupid*n own finger imprest;
Peaitty bewitihingly simple,
Ha
thost
Now let a floating, Incid veil,
Shadow Iter f mm, but nU conceal, ^c] This deli-
cate art of description, «liich leaves imagination to
ccmplele Ihe piciure, has been seldom adopted in the
imitations of this beau'iful poem. Ronwird is excep-
tionably minule ; and Pclitianus, in his charming por-
trait of a girl, fiill of rich and exquisite diction, has
lifted the veil rather too much. The '• questo che ta
m- intendi" should always be left to fancy.
ODE XVI L
And now with all thv pencil's truth,
Portray BalhyMus, lovely youth 1
Let his hair, in masses bright,
Fall rke floating rays of light;
And there the raven's dye confuse
With the golden sunbeam's hues.
Let no wrea'h, with artful twine,
The flowing of his locks confine ;
The reader, who wishes to acquire an accurate idea
of the judgment of the ancients in beauty, will be in-
dulged by consulting Junius de Pictura Vetemm, lib.
3. cap. 9. where he will lind a very curious selection
of descrip'ions 3nd epithets of personal perfections.
Junius compares this ode with a description of Theo-
doric, king of the Goths, in the second epistle, first
book, of Sidonius Apollinaris.
Let his hnir, in n7asses bright
Fall like floating rays of light, Sfc] He here de-
scribes the sunny hair, the '* flava coma," which the
ancients so much admired. The Romans gave this
colour artificially to their h:iir. See Stanisl. Kobien-
zyck. de Luxu Romanorum.
Let no toreath with artful twine, .^-c.] If the
original here, which is particularly beautiful, can ad-
mit of any additional value, that value h conferred by
Gray's admiration of it. See his letters to West.
Some annotators have quoted on this passage Ilie
description of Photis's hiir in Apuleiusj but nothing
OD ES OF ANACREON
27
Hut leave lliem loo^e to every breeze,
'J"o take \vh.T.t sliape and course they please.
Peiieath the foreluad, fair as snow,
Hut llush'd with ni.inhond's early glow,
And guileless as the dews nf dawn.
Let the majestic brows be driwn,
Of ebnn hue, enrich'd by gold,
Such as d^rk, hhii.iug stakes unEoM,
Mix ill his eyes the power alike,
With love lo win, with awe to strike;
Borrow from Mars his look of ire,
From Venus her soft glaoce of lire ;
RIeiiJ them in such expression here,
That we by turns may hope and fear !
Now from ihe sunny apple seek
The velvet d iwn that spre ids his cheek ;
And there, if an sn fir cm g<i,
Th' ingenuous blush of boyhood show.
While, f<ir his mouth — but nn, — in vain
Would wi>rds iis Witching charm explain.
Make it Ihe veiy seat, the throne.
That Eloquence would claim her own;
can be more distant from the simplicity of our poet's
manner, than that att'eclafion of richness which distin*
guishes the slyle of Apuleius.
Jiniflush'd with manhood's early glaw^
And guiltless as the dews of dawn, ^c] Torren-
tlus, upon the words " insigucm lenui fronte," in
Horace, Od 33, lib. I, is of opinion, incorrectly, I
think, that " tenui" here bears the same meaning as
the word on-aAow.
Mix in his eyes the power alikej
With love to loin, with awe to strike^ ^c] Tasso
gives a similar character lo the eyes of Cloi inda : —
The poetess Veronica Cambara is more diffuse upon
this variety of expression : —
Occhi hicenti e bflli.
Come ewer piio rh' in un medesmn iHtante
Wascan de voi ai niiove forme et tatitcl
I.iett, mesti, KU|ierbi, hiiniil', altieri,
Vi mo>*tratt' in un piinto, dntlc di epeme.
El di timor, de empicte, inc. &c
Oh', tell me, brigtitly-beamiuf; eye»
Wtieiice in ynur little orliit lie
80 many different trails of fir«,
Exprvesiiif; e;icti a new denirc.
Now with pride or acorn you darkle.
Now with love, with tiladiiefiB, Bi:arklP,
While we who view the varying mirror,
Feel by turns both hope and terror.
Chevreau, citing the lines of our poet, in his critique
on the poeuis of Milherbe, produces a I.alln version of
them from a manuscript which he hsd seen, entitled
"Joan. Falconis Anacreontici Lusus."
That Elmfucnce would claim her own ;] In the
original, as in the preceding Ode, Piiho, the goddess
of persuasion, or eh/>quence. It v/as worthy of the
delicate imaeination of the Greeks to deify Persua-
sion, and give her the lips for her throne. We are
here reminded of a very interesting fragment of Ana-
creon. preserved by rhe scholiast npnn Pindar, and
supposed to Ijelnng to a pnem reflecting with some
severity on Simonides, wlio was the first, we are told,
that ever made a hireling of his muse: —
And let the lips, though si'enl, wear
A life-look, as if words weie there.
Next Ihnu his ivory neck must trace,
Moulded with sott but manly gr-icej
Fairas ihe neck ofpajihia's boy.
Where Paphia'sarnis have hung in joy.
(iive him the winped Heimcs'hand,
With which he waves his snaky wand ;
Let Bacchus the broad chest supply,
And Leda's son the sineuy thisb ;
While, through his whole transparent frame,
Thou show'st he stirriigs<f that flame,
Which kindles, when the first love-sigh
Steals from the heart, unconscious \^by.
But sure thy pencil, though so bright,
Is envious of the eye's delisht,
Or its enamnur'd touch would shove
The shoulder, fair ;ts sunless snow,
Which now in veiling shadow lies,
Remov'd from all but Fa- cy's eve?.
Now, for his feet — but hold — forbear —
1 see tile sun-gnd's portrait there;
Why paint Batbyllus? when, in truth,
There, m that god, thou'st skelch'd the youth.
Enough — lei this brighi form be mine,
And send the bov to Samos' shrine;
Phccbus shall then Baihyllus be,
Baihyllusthen, the deity !
And let the lips, thmii^h silent, wear
A lift'look, as ifwm-ds were thcre.^ In the original
AaAujv aioiTT). The mistress of Petrarch " parla con
silenzio." which is perhaps the best method of female
eloquence.
Give him the wiiiged. Hermes'' hand, Sfc'\ In
Shakspeare's Cymbeline there is a similar method of
description: —
Ihie in tiifl hand,
His foot mcrcnrinl, his
The brawns of Herculei
arlial thigh.
We find it likewise in Hamlet. Longepierre thinks
that Ihe hands of Mercury are selected by Anacreon,
on account of the graceful t;e5tures which were sup-
posed to characterise the g'>d of eloquence; but Mer-
cury was also the patron of ihieves, and may perhaps
be praised as a light-fingered deity
■ But ftold — forbtar —
/ see the sun-s^nd^s portrait there;'] The abrupt
turn here is spirited, but requiies some explanation.
While the artist is pursuing the portrait of Bathyllus,
Anacreon, we must suppose, turns round and sees a
picture of Apollo, which was intended for an attar at
Samos. He then instmtly tells ihe painter to cease
his work; that this piciure will serve for RithvUus;
and that, when he goes to Samos, he may make an
Apollo of the portrait of the boy which he had
begun.
" Balhyllus (says Madame Dacier) could not be
more elegantly praised, and this one passage does him
more honour than the statue, hoxvever beautiful it
might be, whioh Polycrates raised to htm."
ODE XVIII.
Now the star of day is high,
Fly, my girls, in pity fly.
Bring me wine in brimming urns,
Cool n.y lip, it burus, it burib!
An elegant translation of this Ode, says Degrn,
may be found in Ramler's Lyr. Blumenlese, lib. v, p.
403.
Bring me wine in brimming urns, ^c) Or?^.
38
ODES OF ANACREON,
Siinn'd by the meridian fire,
panting, languid 1 expire.
Give nie all those humid llnwers,
Dro[» them o'er my brow in showers.
Scarce a breathing chaplet now
Lives upon my feverish brow ;
Every dewy rose i wear
Sheds its tears, and withers there.
But to you, my burning heart,
What can now relief impart?
Can brimming bowl, or tlowret's dew,
Cool the flame that scorches you?
TTuiv a/j vo-Ti. The amyatis was a method of drink-
ing used among ihe 'Ihracians. Thus Horace,
"Threicia vincat amystide." Mad. Dacier, Lon^e-
pierre, &c. kc.
Farrhaaius, in his twenty-sixth epiatle, (Thesaur.
Critic, vol i.) explains the amyslia as a draught to be
exbaij^led without drawing breath, *• uno haustu."* A
note iu the margin of this epistle of Parrhtsius, says,
"•Politianus vestem ease putabal," but adds uo reler-
euce.
Give me all those humid flowers, S,'C ] AccorJing
to the original reading of this line, the poet says,
"Give me the flower otwme"— UMe flosculus Lyaei,
as it is iu the version of £lias Andreas j and
as Regnier has it, who supports the reading. The
word Avdos would undoubtedly bear this application,
which is s niewhat similar to its import m the epi-
gram of Simouides upon Sophocles : —
EoScg-Otjs yspaiE Zo^ckAces, avdos aotiwv,
and flos in the Latin is frequently applied in the same
iner — thus Cethegui
inlibitus populi, suadaeque
late flower of the people,
persuasion." See these vcr
lib. xii., which Cicero pr;
ridiculous.
But in Ihe passage belbre u*, if we ;
according to Faber's conjecture, the se
ly clear, without having
lied by E;
idulla, "The immacu-
\d the very manow of
cited by Auiu^Gellius,
d, and Seneca thought
to such refineuienbi.
Every dewy rose I wear
Sheds its tears, aiid withers there.'] There are
some beautiful lines, by Angenanus, upon a garland,
which I cannot resist quoting here : —
Ante fores raadidae
Bic flic penijete enrol!
Mftne orto impcn
t Caelia voa capili ;
Atquum pernivean
1 cervicem influxeri
Dicile. non roria
ed pluvia haec lacn
By Celia'B arbour all the night
Hang, humid wreath, the Inver's vow;
Am) liaj.ly, at th*; mnriiing light,
My love ohall twin? thee rouml ber brow.
Then, if upr.n her boBom bright
Some drops of dew shall fall from thee»
Tell her, they are not dro|i8 of night,
tt.i tears of sorrow shed by me !
It .he poem of Mr. Sheridan's, " Uncouth is this
nnss-covered groUo of stone," there is an idea very
lingularly coincident wilh this of Angerianus : —
And thoa, etony grnt, in thy nrch mny'st preHPrve
Some lingering drops of the oighl-fallen dew;
Irft them fall on her bosom of enow, and they '11 eerve
But to youy my buniins: hearty ^c] The transi-
tion here is peculiarly delicate ani impassioned ; but
the commeniaiors have perplexed the sentiment by a
variety of readings and conjectures.
ODE XIX.
Here recline you, gentle maid,
Sweet is this embnwenng shade ;
Sweet the young, the modest tree5|
RufHed by the kissing breeze;
Sweet the little founts that weep,
Lulling soft tlie mind to sleep ;
Hatk ! they whisi er as they roll,
Calm peisgasion to the soul*
'JVll me, tell nie,-ilk not this
All a stilly scene of bliss?
Who, my sirl, would pass it by?
Surely neither you nor L
The description of this bower is so natural and ani-
mated, Ih.il we almost feel a degree of coolness and
fre=hness while we peiuse it, Longepierre has
quoted from the first book of the Anlhologia, the
following' epigram, as EOmewhat resembling this
Ode: —
Ep^^EO /cat Kar' tfinv l^cv fftrvv, & to fitMxpov
rifjos fiaXaKovs vx^i- <tK\tyLtva ^E^t/povj.
IlvicSc /cat KQOVviu p.a fitXtiTTayss, ivUa ficXia-duv
'Hdvv tpTjpLaiots iJTvov ayui KaXafiois.
Come, 6it by the shadnwy pine
That covers my sylvan retreat ;
And eee how the branches imliue
The breathing of zephyr to meet.
See the foiintaln, that, flowing, diffaties
Around me a glittering spray;
By Ua briiih, bs the traveller mnsen,
1 soothe him to sleep wilh my lay.
Here recline you, gentle maid, ^c] The Vatican
MS, reads (iaOvWov, which renders the whole poem
metaphorical. Sume commentator suggests the read-
ing of /3a^vAAov, which makes a pun upon the name;
a grace that Plato himself has condescended to in
writing of his Imy AcTiyp. See the epigram of this
philosopher, which I quote on the twenty-second
Ode.
There is another epigram by this philosopher, pre-
served in Laertius, which turns upon the same word.
Ao-T7;p KQiV fjLtv £>a/i7r£S tvt ^luotcriv itooj,
Nvv di S-aviov XafintLS iantpos tv (pdifxivois.
In life thou wert my morning star,
But now that death has btol'u thy light,
thou
1 tar,
Like the pale beam thai weeps at Dight.
In the Veneres Blyenhurgicse, under the head of
ceits upon i
die ages.
finj a number of such frigid con-
, selected fiom the poets of the mid-
llliOy my girl, would pass it by ?
Surely neither you nor 1.] The finish given to the
picture by this simple exclamation riy av ovv 6pwv
naptXSoL, is inimitable. Vet a French translator
says 011 the pas-age, '• This conclusion appeared to me
too trifling after such a description, and I thought pro-
per to add somewhat to the strength of the originaL"
ODE XX.
One day the Muses twin'd the hands
01 infant Lnve with flow'ry bands;
And to celestial Beauly gave
The captive infant for her slave.
The poet appears, in this graceful allegory, to de-
scribe the softening influence uhich poetry holds over
the mmd, in making it peculiarly ^usceptible to the
impressions of beautv. In the following epigram,
however, by the philosopher Pla'o, (Diog. Laert. lib.
3.) the Mu^es are represented as disavowing llie in-
fluence of Love.
ODES OF ANACREON,
29
His mother comes, wi'h many a toy,
To nnsoiii her beloved bny ;
His niolher sues, but all in vain,—
He
'ill I
i agaii
linuld I hey take his chain
he litile captive slili wmild stay.
If i!ii.,"ht; cries, " a hoi.dage be,
coi-ld wish t'V !ibcriy i "
Oh
*A KvTTgt^ Mov(ra:ct, Kooaaia, rav A^^odnav
'i\fiaT\ J] 70V K^<A>Ta hfifnv ef}>onXt(rofiat.
At Movira'. non Kvrrpiv, Aptt ra (nm^vXa tovto*
'H/itv ov KCTarai tovto to nat6a(>t.ov.
" \ ield to my gentle power, Pariiaftsian maids ; '*
'I'hiis In Iht; Muses spoke the titieen of Ch rina —
"Or Love shall flutter Ihroueh ynur otassic ah.deB,
And make your grove ttie camj) ut Paphiaii arms 1 '*
•• No," said the virgiiis of Hie tuneful bower.
••We woTa Ihiue own acd all (hy unhiu'a art;
Though tAarn hau tiembled itt ihe infant's power.
Jits thatt is poiutlc&ei o*er a Muse's heait : "
There is a sonnet by Benedeito Guldi, the thought
of which was suggdsted by ihis Ode.
Dell'
E lanlu
Ulie I
Inia d
eia 1
OU BO
pi a
ea,
a li.
11a vit
ih' ei
ulcau
li°'l
enlia,
e fore.
Quaiido
Si,.h
Tni la. I
Dele
ercn ivi
()cr fnrZB
altn bet
eepo crill
ate
per
jrdil]
seiite 11 core
Oiide olTre Id
nUalc
e il flg
el deK
unl la
belln
rcede,
dea
allri '1 Btioulie, cell a legar si riedc.
jve, wandering thr
Of my beloved's h
ound, al each step,
'J'hat lapt he liiif*.
ough the golden ma
Kuch aweel delays,
r'd there.
nd hnw, indeed, wu
9 Love to fly,
Or how his freedni
When every ringlet whs a lie,
A chain, by Beauty twin'd.
In vain to seek her boy's release,
Corues Venus from above:
Fond molher, Ifl Ihy etfnrts cease,
Love's now the ulave of Love.
And, should we loose his p<'tden chain.
The priscuer would leturii again !
His mother comcSy with many a toy^
To ra7isom Inr Idovtd boy ; SfC.} In the first idyl
of Moschua, Venus thus proclaims the reward for her
ngitive child: —
'O [lavvTas ytga^ ig«,
Mtff^oj TOi, TO ^iXafia to Kvnptdo^' tjv d\ ayayjjj
Ov yvfivov TO <}nXafia, tv d\ w Ilve, koi nKcov
Oo him. who the haunts nf my Cupid can show,
A kiss uf the teiiderest stamp 1 '11 bestow ;
But he. who can brinj; back the urchin in chainF,
Shall receive even something more aweet for hia paina.
S'll'Joined tn this Ode. we find in the Vaticm MS.
thefolh)wiii5 lines, which appear to me tn bo.ist as
lit le sense as metre, and which are most probably the
interpolation of the transcriber : —
Hci'/tfAijy AvnKntwv
lieviiEXTjs 6t Zait<pui
XllVCa^)L^cov TO 6i fioL /tcNoj
LvyKcgaea^Ti^eyXtoi
Ta/io
Kat Atoi'iiiroj tiazXOujv
Kat VlatpLt] jrapa^Ypooj
Kat aVTog Kptuj Kav ettieiv.
ODE XXI.
Observe when mother earth is dry,
She drinks the droppings of *l;e sky;
And then the dewy coidial ^ives
'J'o ev'iy thiisty plant that lives.
Tlie vapours, which at eveiiii e; weep,
Aie beverage to the hwelli^ g deepj
And when the rosy sun appears,
He drinks the octan's misry ears.
The niooii too quails her palv stream
Of jus're, from the solar beam.
'I'hen, hence wiiii all your yober thinking 1
Since Nature's holy law is diinkingj
I 'U niake the laws of naluie mine,
And pledge ihe universe in wine.
Those critics who have endeavoured to throw the
chains of piectsion over the siilut of this beautiful
trifle, require too much from Anacreontic philosophy.
Among others, Gad veiy sapieotly thinks that the poet
uses the epithet (izXatvi), because black earth absorbs
iiioisiure ntore quickly than any o her ; and accord-
ingly he indulges us with an experimenial disquisition
uu (lie subject. — See Gail's no'es.
One of iho Capilupi has imitaied this Ode, in an
epitaph on a drunkaid : —
Duin vixi sine fine bibi, aic imbrifer arcua
Sic tellus pliiviaa sole perusta bibtt.
Sic bibit assidue fontes et flumir.a Pontup,
Sk- semper ditiens Sol maris hauiit aquas.
he le igitur jactes plus me. Sili-ne. bibisse ;
£t mihi da viclab tu qu que, Bacche, manue.
HIPPOLY'TUS CAPILUPUS,
While life was mine, Ihe little hour
In dnr.kint' »till unvaried »ew:
I drank as earth imbibes the shower.
Or iia the rainbow drinks the dew;
And Bacuhiis was outdone by mc '.
1 cannot omit citing those remarkable lines of Shak-
speare, where the tli"ughts of the Ode before us are
preserved with such striking similitude;
I'll example you with thievery.
The Bun's a thief, and wilh his great atlrartion
Robs the vant sen. The moon's au arrant thief.
And her pale Hre she ai.Htche» from the sun.
The aea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The mounds into salt tenrs. The earth's a thief.
Thai feeds, and breeds hy a composture storn
From general excremenlo.
Timon of Atkentt act Iv. sc. S.
The Phiygian rock, that braves the storm,
W.is once a weepirg matron's form :
And Progne, hapless, frantic maid,
Is now a swallow in the shade.
a wtrpirtg niafron's form ;] Niobe — Ogilvie,
in his E^s.•ly on the Lyric Poeliy of the Ancients, in
remarkini; upon the Odes of Anacreon, savs, "In
some of his pieces there is exuberance and even wild-
1 CSS of imagination J in that pnrticularly, which is
addres-ed to a young giil, where he wishes alternately
to be transformed to a mirror, a coat, a s'rtam, a
bracelet, and a pair of shoes, for the different pur-
poses which he recites; this is mete suort and wan-
tonness."
It IS the wantonness, however, of a very graceful
Muse ; " ludit an.aliiliter." The coniplimeni of this
Ode is exquisitely delicate, and so singular for Ihe
period in which Anacieon lived, when (he scale of
love had not yet been graduated into all its little pro-
gressive refinements, that if we were inclined to
question the authenticity of the poem, we should find
3«
30
ODES OF ANACREON,
Oh ! Ibat a mirror's f.rm were mine,
Th>t 1 mii;ht catch (hat smile divine
Ami like my own fmiii farif-y be,
Rtflecttni ihee and only iliee;
Or c »iiiil I be the fbe which holds
That i at
Or, turiiM
u1 Ion
'itlii
mo a f uri
Would I w,
To breathe my so-il
Or, better >till, ihes
Close lo thy breasi,
Orev'n those enviot
So faintly round th:i
> to Ids;
lie f -r ihy hair,
11 fragrance there;
me, tiiat lies
nd feels lis sighs.
i pearls thai show
iifck of snow —
a mioh more plausible arg-ument in the features of
u.odern gallantry which il beais, than in any uf those
fastidious conjecture' tip>n which some commeulalors
nave presumed so far. Degen thinks it spurious, and
DePauw pronounces it to be miserable. Longepierre
and Barnes refer us tn several iuiiiatinns of this Ode,
from which I shall only select the fjllowing epigram
of Diouysius : —
Etd' avifios ytvo}n)v, cv dt ye aTUXovaa Trop'
avyas,
T.Trjdta yvfivuiicrais, Kai p.t nvzovra Aa^otj.
EiGe KQivov yti'oix.r}v Xlvkoxqoov , o<ppa fit ;^£fj(r(i'
Apa^EVJ/, fiaXXov cqa X9'^'^''VS fCopcCTjs.
I wish I could likezpphyr steal
And Ihiiu wnulilbt ope thy 'boHom-vpil,
And take me paiitinp ro
Ihy breast!
I wish I raiglit a r-.8e.t>ii,
Aiid thou wuuld.,t cull n
e from (he bow
To place me in thai breas
or 9tJOW,
Where I should blnom,
a wintry flower.
I wish I were the 1ily*N Je
if,
To fade upon (hat boson
warm;
Content lo wilher, pale ai
d brief.
The trophy of thy faire
rorm t
I may add, that Plalo has expressed as fanci.'ul a
vish in a distich preserved by Laertius :
LfTTEpa? iiaaQpELg, Actttjq tfios, uf)t yevotfiijv
Ovgavos, i^S TToWocs ofifiaiTiV els O's /SAch-uj.
TO STELLA.
Why dost thou gaze upon the sliy 7
Oh*, that 1 Were Ihat spangled sphere^
And every star HhDuld be au eye,
To^
thy I
Apuleius quotes this epigram of the divine philoso-
pher, to justify himself for his ve^^es on Critias and
Chariiius. See his Apology, where he also adduces
the exnm/ile of Anacreon ; '* Fecere lamen et alii
talia, el si vos ignoratis, apud Graecos Teius quidam,
&c. &c."
Or, better still, the zone, that lies
Close to thy breast^ and feels its sigTis !] This
7 aii'tij was a riband, or band, called by the Romans
f.isoii and strophium. which 'he women wore for the
purpose of restraining the exuberance of the bosom.
Vide Polluc. Onomast. Thus Martia! ; —
Fascia c
; compeace papillai.
The women of Greece not only wore this zone, but
condemned themselve> to fasting, and made use of cer-
tain drugs and powders for the same purpose. To
these expedients they were compelled, in consequence
of their inelegant fashion of compressing the waist
into a very narrow compass, whic; Aecessanly cau-ed
an excessive tumidity in the bosom See Dioscorides,
I lib. V
What more would thy Anacreon be ?
Oh, any thing (hat touches thee ;
Na\ , snndals for those airy feet —
Kv*u to be trod by them were sweet!
Nay sandals for those airy feet —
Ev^n to he trod by thenn mere swe(V.'\ The sopjjist
Philostraliis, in one of his love-leners, has borrowed
1hi«- thought , to adtToi nodss, w xaAAos tXrvOepo^,
u) Tpi<Tiv6aiLLiuv zyui Kai fiaKacw^ tav TraTTyccTe
fit. — ^' Oh lovely feet! oh excellent beauty! oh!
thiice hippy and blessed stiomd I be, it you would
but tread on me I" In Shakspeare, Romeo desires to
^ upon that hand,
And, in his Passionate Pilgrim, we meet with an idea
sumewh:it like that of the thirteenth line : —
In Burton's Ana'omy of Melancholy, that whimsical
farrago of '' all such readin? as was never read." we
(ind a transhtion of this ode made before 1632.—
" Englished by Mr. B. Holiday, in his Technog. act
ODE XXllI.
I often wish this languid lyre,
This warbler of my soul's desire,
Could raise the brea'h of song sublime,
To men of f»me, inf rmer time.
But when (lie soaring iheme I try,
Along ihe chi>rds my numbers die,
And whisper, with dissolving tone,
*• Our sighs are given to love alone !"
Indignant at the feeble lay,
I lore the panting chords away,
Atlun'd Ihrm In a nobler swell,
And struck again the brea'hing shell:
In all the glow of epic fire.
To Hercules r uake the lyre.
But still is fainting si^hs repeat,
*• The tale of love alone is sweet I"
According to the order in which the odes are usu-
ally placed, this (GtAw Xiyuv ATpudns) forms the
first of the series ; and is ihouelit to be peculi:irly de-
signed as an introduction to the rest U however
characterises the genius of ihe Teian but very inade-
quately, as wine, the burden of his lays, is not even
mentioned in it :
Mu
nfiindere i
Ovid.
The twenty-sixth Ode 2r fijv ^tytig la B-qStK,
might, w ith just as much propriety, be placed at the
head of bis song-;.
We find the sentiments of the ode before us ex-
pressed by Bion wjtii much simplicity in his fourth
idyl. The ah )ve transhtion is, perhaps, too para-
phnslica! ; but the ode has been so frequently trans-
itte.1, that I could not otherwise avoid triteness and
repetition.
M all the glow of epic fire.
To Herci/its I wake, the lyre!) Mai^ame Dacier
generally translated AvpTj info a lute, which I believe
is inaccurate. " D'expliquer la lyrede^^ anciens (vays
M. Sorel) par un !u(h, c'est igiiorei la ditierence qu'il
y a enlre ces deux instrumens de musique." — Biblio-
thequc Frnricoise,
But still Us fainting sighs reptaty
" The tale of love almie is swetl .'"J The word «!»•
Ttff)iu%>ti in Ihe original, miy imply that kind of musi-
cal dialogue practised by the ancienis, in which the
Ivre was made to i-espond tn the questions pniposed by
the singer. This was a method which Sappho used.
ODES OF ANACREON.
31
Then fire thee well, seJuctive dream,
That niati'st me follow Glory's theme ;
For ihou my lyre, and thou my heart,
Shall never more in spirit pari ;
And -xll that one has Tell so well
The Jlher shall as sweetly lell i
ODE XXIV.
Tc all iha' breathe the air of heaven,
Some buon of strength Was Nature ^iven.
Ill fo'minsthe majestic bull,
She fenced wi h wreuhed Imrns hi'^ skull ;
A hoof of srreasth she lent the sleed.
And winsM thi: timo'ous hare with speed.
She ^ave the lion fin^ of termr,
And, o'er the ocean's crystal mirror,
"■ f^ht the u^numherM scaly ihroug
J path along;
•aiieof the^rove^
bling world of love.
Tot
While furtlie >
Slie plum'd the
To man she gave, in that proud liour,
The boon of m cllectual power.
Then, what, oh uoma.., \vh.<t for thee,
Was left in Nature's treasury ?
She gave thee beauty — might.er far
Than all the pump aud puwer of war,
as we are told by Hermogenes : '* 6rav tijv >vpav
iouira LaTT(pui, Kut 6rav avTtj o^roxpivyroi." —
rhpt UCOIV, TU)/i. 6tVT.
Henry Stephen h.^s imitnted the idea of this ode in
the following lines of one of his poems ; —
Proviila dat cuuclia Natura aniruantibua ariaa,
Et Btia foeraiiieum possidtl arniQ guuua,
Unguluque ut defeiidil equum, alqua ul coinua taurum,
Armala est forma rocmina pulclira una.
And the same tliought occ
by Corisca in Pastor Fido :
Ofisi nui la bellczza
Ch*
lObin
) in those lines, spoken
I propria. <
La form dtl 1.-
K I'ingpgiio de 1* huorao.
The lion boasts his savage powers,
And lordly mau his strt-nt'lli i>( mind;
But beauty's charm is solely ours,
Pecul.ar boon, by Heav'u assiKu'd.
"An elegant explication of the beauties of this ode
(says Degen)may be found in Grimm an den Aumerk.
ubeo einige Odrn dus An;tkr."
To man she eave, hi that prmtd hour,
The bocrn ofinttlUclual yr^icrr.] In my first at-
temi)t 10 translate this ode, 1 had in erpreted <l-pov7ifia,
with Baxter and Barnes, as implying Ciuraee and
military viriue ; but I do not think that the gallantry
of tlie 'idea suffers Ity ihe import which 1 have now
given to it. ¥r, why need ue consider! his pfs-e^sion
of wisdom as excUi-ive ? and in truth, as 'he de-ign of
Anacreon is to estima'e the treasure of bea
all the rest which Nature has dis ributed,
haps even refining upon the delicacy of llie cnmfdi-
ment, lo prefer the radiance of female charms to the
C'ld illumination of wisdom and prudence; and to
think that women's e>e". are
the books, the academie*,
From whence doth sprlug the true Pri-mtlhean fire.
She ^ave thee beauty — mightier far
Than all the "pump and -power of war.l Thus
Achilles Tatius : — KaXAo^ olvTipov Tirpwo-Kft (it-
lov%,Kai 6ia tojv o0^/aA/ia>v ttg ttjv xpvxv^ '^^'
rap^tt- 0<pOaXp.o<; yup AAoj lotuTiKif} Tpavfiari.
*•■ Beauty wounds more swiftly tfian the airow, and
{luses through the eye to the very soul j for the eye is
tw inlet to the wounds of love.''
Nor steel, nor fire itself hath power
J, ike wo'iian in her coiiqueiing hour,
Pt: tlioii hut fair, manliiod adore thee,
Siiiili;, and a woild is weak before thee I
Be thou but fair, mankind adore thee,
SmiUy and a world is weak litfure ihic /l Longe-
pierre's remark here is ingenious : — ** The Romans,"
says he, " were so convinced of the power of beauty,
that they used a word implving sirength in the phnce
of the epithet beautiful. Tlius f lautus, act 2, scene 2,
Bacchid.
Scd Bacchia etiam fortis tibi Ti.<a.
* Fortis, id est fonuosa,' say Servius and Nonius,
ODE XXV.
Once in each revolving year,
(ieiitie bird I w^find thee here.
When nature wears her summer-vest.
Thou com'st to ^veave thy simple nest j
But wht-n the chilling winter lowers,
Aciin Ihou seek'st the genial bowers
(»f iMuiJiphis, or the shores of Nile,
Wiiere sunny hours for ever smile.
Arid thus thy pmiou resis and roves, —
Al.is I unlike the swarm of Loves,
That biood within this hapless breast,
And never, never change their nest 1
Still every year, and ail Ihe year,
Tliey !ix their fated dwelling here ;
And some their infant pluniage try,
And on a tei.der winglet fly j
While in the shell, imprt-go'd with fires,
Srill lurk a thousand more desires ;
Some from their tiny prisons peeping.
And some in formless enibryo sleeping.
Thus pei'pled, like ihe vernal groves,
My breast resounds with warbling Loves;
One uichm inips the other's feather,
Then Iwin-desires they wjng tosether.
And fast as Ihty thus take their ilight,
Still other urchi.s spring to light. ^
But is there then no kii.dly art.
To cha^e these Cupids from my heart?
Ah, no ! I feai, in sadness fe.ir,
They will for ever ueslle here !
We have here another ode addressed to the swallow,
Albert! has imi'afed both in one poem, beginning
Mas ! iiiilike the swarm of Loves^
That bruvd within this hapless breast,
Jind 7ieutr, never changr. their nest .'] Thus Love
is represented as a bird, in an epigram cited by Longfr*
piei I e from the A nthologia ; —
dvvu p.tv tv ovamv 7)Xo? tpwros",
,ya noOoi^ ro y\vKV daicov (/<£p«
I, ov ^cyyos (Koifitaiv, aAA' imo d>iA-
' Kpa^tT} yToiffTo? tvtfTTi Tirn-og.
pi) Kai TioT^ i(l:in7a<T9at ptv EotoTts
HTroTTTi/vat d' onO' b<xov i.^x'^^'^*
' that murmurs in my breast,
kcB me Nhfd the «fcut ti-or;
lor niyht my eoul hath rest,
tit and day hit) voice 1 hear.
within my heart I find,"
0/i/i-a Ct
Ov6' i) vvl
Sul'Ii as within my heart is teen.
Oh, bird of Lnve'. with aong sn dreai
Make not mv sniil the nest of pmi
Bui let the wiiijf which brouirhl thei
In pity wait ttiee hence aifain 1
32
ODES OF ANACREON.
ODE XXVI.
ay sin? of Troy's alarms,
iletif Tlieb.'.n .uI^^;
Thy har.i m
Or tell the t
With 0 her wars my song i^hall bnrn,
F'»r o*t;er wounds my harp shall mourn
' T vv&« not Ihe cre'led warrior's dan,
That drank Ihe curreiit of my hearl j
Nnr naval arms, i.or mailed steed,
Have made this vanquished bosom bleed j
Nn 'I uaa fn.m iryes of liquid blue,
A host of quiver'd Cupids riew ;
And iio^v my heart all bleedniE; lies
Beneath that army of the eyes 1
''The German poet Uz has imitated this ode.
Compare also Weisse Scherz. Lieder, lib. iii., der Sol-
dM." Gail, Degen.
No — '( was from eyes of Uauid hint
A hosl nf qinver'd Cupidijt'.'w :] Loiieepierre has
f|Uotfd p.irt of an epier.im fioni the seventh book of
Ihe Authologia, which has a fancy something like Ibis.
Ov fi£ \e\r}daSi
ToloTU, 74r}vo<f)L\as ofi}ia<rL KpvnroixivoS'
Arclier Love? thouph slilv crpcping.
Well I knf>w where thou dobt lie;
I fiaw Ihei* throiifrh ttie curtom pefping,
That fuiiges Zenophelia't* eye.
The poets abonnd with conceits on the archery of
the eyes, but few have turned the Ihought ^o n.»tur:il!v
as Anacreon. Ronsard gives to the eycs of his niio-
Iress '' uu petit camp d'amoui-s."
ODE XXVII.
We read the flying courser's name
Upon his side, in marks of flame ;
And, by their lurban'd brows alone,
Ths warriors of the Ea-^t nre known.
Bnl in the lover's fflowing eyes,
The inlet lo his bosom lies;
Through them we see the small faint mark,
Where Love has dropp'd his burning sp<\rk !
This ode forms a part of the preceding in the Vati-
can MS., btit 1 h^ve conformed to the editions in
translating them separately.
''Compare with this (says De^en) the poem of
Raniler W.ihrzeichea der Liebe, in Lyr. Blumenlese,
lib. iv. p. 313."
But in the lover^s gloimn^ eyes,
The inlet to his hos«m lies ;] " We cannot see into
the htart," says Madame Dacier. But the lover an-
swers —
II cor ne gli occhi et ne ta fronte ho scrilto.
M. Li Fosse has eiven the following lines, as en-
larging on the thovigiit of Anacreon : —
Lorscjue je vois: un amant,
A le traliir tout cnnsptre.
In vain the lover triep to veil
The flame that in his bosom lies;
Hifi cheeks' confn^irn it-lln ihe tale.
We rend it in his hinguid eyv.H:
And while his words the heart betrav,
Hi(» silence sptakKcv'n innre Uian tlity.
ODE XXVIII.
As, by his Lemnian forge's flame,
1 he hu-band ot the P^phian dame
Moulded ihe glowing steel, to form
Arrows for Cupid, thrillin; warmj
And Venus 3-5 he plied his art.
Shed hotiev round each new mnde dart,
While Lo'ye, at hand, to finish all,
Ti| pM every arrow's poirit with gall ;
It chanc'd the Lord of Battles came
To visit ;hat deep cave of flame.
'T was f om tlie ranks of war he rush'd.
His spear with many a life-drop blush'd ;
He saw the fiety darts, and smii'd
Contemptuous at the archer-child.
'• What !^' sad tlie urchin, "do^t thou smile/
Here, tiold this IitHe dart awhile,
And thnu wilt fiiid. though 5wilt of flight,
My bolts are not so feathery li^ht."
Mars took Ihe shaft — and, oh, thy look.
Sweet Venus, when the shaft he took! —
Siehins. he felt ihe urchins ait.
And cried, in a^ony of heart.
'* II IS nnt lishi — I sink wilh pain !
Take — take thy arrow hick ^gain."
" No/' said the child. " it musi not be;
That little dart was made for thee! "
This ode is referred to bv Li Mothe le Vayer, who,
I believe, was the author u( lli.it curious little work,
called ■* Ilexameron Rustique." He makes U'^eof ihis,
as uell as tlie thirty-fifth, in his ingenious but indeli-
cate explaTialion of Homer's Cave of the Nymphs. —
Journee Quiineme.
While Love, at hand, to finish ally
T'j-'p''d every arrow's point with gall;] Thus
Claudian: —
L'lbuniur E^emini fnriteR, hie dulcis, amarua
AHer, et infusis corrutnpil niflla veneiiis,
Unde Cupidineas armavit fama sagittas.
In Cyprus' isle two rippling fountains fall,
And one with honey flowG, aiid one with gaU;
In these, if we may take tt:e tale from fame.
The t»on of Venua dips his darts of Oame.
See Alciatus, emblem 91, on Ihe close connection
which sub^iss between sweets and bitterne'»s. '* Apes
ide- puneunt (says PetrnniuO, quia ubi dulce, ibi el
The allegorical description of Cupid's employment,
in Horace, may vie with this before us iu fancy, though
not in delicacy: —
ferus et Cupido
Semper Brdcntee ecuens sai^iitas
Cote cruenta.
Secundus has borrowed this, but his somewhat
oftened the image by Ihe omission of the epithet
' cruenU."
Faltur an ardentes acuebat cote sagittaa 7 Kleg. I.
ODE XXIX.
Yes — lovinr is a painful thrill,
And not to love more painful still ;
But oh, it is ihe woist of jwin.
To love, and not be lov'd again !
Ves— loving is a pahifvl thrill^
Jind not iu love mure painful still; fyc] The
followiitg Anacreontrc, addressed l;y Menage to llanie!
Iluet, enfcrces, with much grace, the " necessity of
OD ES OF ANACREON
33
Aifection now his fled from enrtli,
Nnr fir,! of ^ti.ius, i.olile bir.li.
Nor huavenly v.rhie. cin lie'iiile
From licauly's clreek one favnunng smile.
Gold is llrr; womnn's only Ihenre,
Gold is the woman's only dre.in.
Oh ! never be Hut wretch foigiven —
Forgive him no', iiidignairt heaven !
Whose grovelling eyes could first idore,
Wh.ise heart cnuid pant for sordid ore.
Since (hat devoted ihirst began,
Mm has forgot to feel for man ;
'I tie pulse of social life i> de:rd,
Ar:d all its fonder feelings lied !
Vr.xr too has sull ed Njlures charms.
For gold provokes Ihe world 10 arms ■
And oh ! the worst of all its aits,
li tends a!>under loving hearts,
ricoi Tov duv ^iXi)<rnt.
IIpos liiToov Aawi;Xo 'Tjttov.
Meya ^avfia tuiv aotdtov,
Xnoir>ov ,9(iAo;, •Y£r-£,
*l>£r/0-£ (TEHl'OS rtV7?p.
'i'o TLKVOV TOV 2I(JU0pOVt(r<OV,
Eo'/icT/S TtaTTjp anaaj)^.
'Vl6' avtv ytvOiT' EpuoTOj;
AKOVt] ILCV £0-71 l//UX')S-*
XlTtitvyEiTaiv £t5 OXViinov
BpaJfas" TiTijyjitvoidi.
B£.\££C7C t%ayunH.
ntipi >.a;irrai!os (pauvut
PvnaotuTtpov^ KnOatga,
ttki
lipE.
AotKtus <!e Aoi-Topovi'Ti
Ayiovs Epwray ^[uuv
Kaicoi' £i'|o;i«i TO fiovvov,
*lva [IT) dvvaiT' tKuvo^
i-nd!
,lher fin-nJ abM'
1 to love.
Loving la a simple lore,
Gravrr men linvc leDru'd before;
HBy, Ille bonut of former ages,
^VJ^e8t of the wisest sapes,
Sophroniccus' prudent eon.
■Was by love's illusion won.
Oh 1 how heavy life would move,
If we knew nol ho " '
Love's (
Thus 'I
WlMII 1
I.nv,. ra
Wh,n I
lind;
pd, Ihu
dvjc.
Ihe
eps Ihe heart.
Love ran wake it wilh his d rt ;
When the mind Is doll and dnrk,
Love can lighl it with his spark '.
Come, oh 1 come tllen, lei us hasts
All the bliss of love to taste;
Let us love both night and day.
Let us love our lives away!
And when hearts, from loving free,
(If indeed such hearts there be,)
Frown ujion oor gentle flame.
And Ihe sweet delusion blame;
This shall be my only curse,
(Could I, could I wish tliern worse?)
Mav they ne'er the rapture prove,
Of the smile from lips we love !
ODE XXX.
T was In a mocking dream of night —
I fancied I had wings as light
As a young bird's, and (lew as fleet ;
Wliiie Love, around whose be.iuteous fett,
1 knew not why, hun; chains of lead,
Pursued me, as I tremhling (led ;
And, strange to say, as swifl as thought,
Spite of my pinions, 1 was caught !
What does the wanton Fancy mean
By sttch a s'rauge, illusive scene ?
I fear she whispers to my breas',
That you, sweet maid, have stol'n i's rest ;
That though my fancy, for a while,
Haih hung on liiany a woman's smile,
1 soon dissnlv'd each passing vow.
And ne'er was caught by love till now 1
Barnes imagines from this allegory, that our port
nianied very'late in lile. But I see noihme in the
t)de which alludes 'o ma limony, except it Le Ihe lead
upon the f,et of Cuj.id ; and I agree in the opinion of
Madame Dacier, in her life of the poet, thai he wai
always loo fond of pleasure to marry.
ODE XXXI.
Arm'd wilh hyacinlhine rod,
(Arms enough for such a god,)
Cupid bade trie wing my pace.
And try wilh him Ihe rapid race.
O'er many a torrent, wild and deep,
Bv taiiiled brake and pendent steeji,
Wilh u eaiy foot I panting Hew,
Till my blow dropp'd with chilly dew.
And now my soul, exhausted, dying.
To my lip was faintly (lying j
The de-ign of this liitle fiction is to intimate, that
much greater pain attends in-ensibilitv than can ever
result fiom the tenderest inipie sionso'f love, Longe-
pierre has quoted an ancient epigram v\hich bear«
some similitude to this Ode ; —
n lentil
K'tia
Carpebain, et somno lumins vieta dabarn ;
Cum me saevus Amor prensum, sursumque capillia
Excitiit, et laeerum pervigilare jubet.
Tu famulus nieus, iniiuil, ames cum mille puellaa.
Solus lo, solus, dole jaeeie putes?
Exilio et pedihus nudis, liinicaque soluta,
Omne iter Impedlo, nullum iter expedio,
Nunepropero nunc irepiget ; rursumque rcdlre
Poeiiitet; et pudor est stare via media.
Ecee tacciit voces liominnm, strepilusque ferarum.
El volurrum eantus turliaque fida canum.
Solus ego ex runctis paveo aoninumque tonimque.
El sequor imperium, saeve Cupido, tuum.
Upon my couch I lay, at night profound.
iVhen Cupid eame and siiuleh
\nd lorc'd me many a weary
■ Whiill (said the god) shall you,
ny to iread.
• This line is borrowed from an epigram by Al-
pTieus of Miivleiie which Menace, I Ihink, says some-
where he was himself Ihe first to produce to the
irorld : —
^vxT,s ES-Tiv Epojs afovs;.
Who love BO many nymphs,
1 rise and follow ; all the night I stray,
Unsheller'd, trembling, doubtful of my way:
Tracing with naked fool the painful trnek.
Loth to proieed, yel feorful lo go liack.
Yes, at that hour, when Nature seems interr
Nor warbling birds, nor lowing Socks are hea
I, I alone, a fugitive from rest,
Passion my guide, and madness in my breast
Till my brow drcpp'd with chil'y dew.) I have
followed "these who read rupiv li'pios for irt.pll'
i'(*oo? ; the former is partly anthorised by Ihe MS,
wllich reads netQcv Idputs,
And now my sojil, exhausted^ dyings
To my lip was faintly Jlying ; S^t^l In the
34
ODES OF ANACREON.
And now I thought the spark haJ fled,
When Cupid hover'd u'er in\ head,
And fanning li^h' liis breezy pinion,
Rescued my soul from deatli's dominion j
Then said, in accents h;*l(-reiirovinp,
** Why hast ttiou been a foe to loving ?"
origiDal, he says, his heart flew to his nose ; but our
inaDner more na urallv t'ansfcis it lo Ihe lips. Such
is the tflect that Plato tells us he felt from a kiss, in a
distich quoted by Aulus Gellius ; —
I^Tivi^vxyv, ;\ya9uiva<l>t\(oV: cm ;\;£tX£(7tv icrxov-
HA^E yap i) TXrjfiujv ih^ dtaSrjaofLtVTj.
Whtfiie'er thy nectar'd kiss I sip,
Aud drink thy bieaih, iu trauce diTiDe*
My 80ul Iheti tluliem in my lip,
Ready tu Ity and mix with thine.
Au!us Gellius subjoins a paraphrase of this epigrnm,
in which we find a number of ihose mi^Tiardises of
expression, which luark Ihe etlemination of the Latin
language.
^7jd fanning lie;ht his breezy pinion^
Rescued my suuijrom death's dominion ;] ** The
facility with which Cupid recovers him, signifies that
the sweets of love make us easily forget any solici-
tudes which he may occasion." — La Fosse.
ODE XXXII,
Strew me a ii2.ejAut bed of leaves,
Where lotus \\ith Ihe myrtle weaves j
And while in luxury's dream I sink,
Let me the b.ilm of Bacchus drink !
In this sweet hnur of revelry
Youni; Love shall my attendant be
Dresi for the task, wilh tunic round
His snowy neck aud sliOuMers bound,
Himself shall ho\er by my side,
And minister the racy tide !
Oh. swift as wheels that kindling roll,
Our life is hurrying tn ihe goal :
A scanty dust, to feed the v^ ind,
Is all the trace 't will leave behind.
Then wherefore waste the roses bloom
Upon the cold, insensate tomb ?
Can flowery breeze, or odour's breath,
Affect the still, cold sense of death?
Oh, no : I ask no balm to steep
With iragtant tears my bed of sleep :
But now, while every puUe is glowlnp.
Now let me breathe the balsam flowing;
Now let the rose, wiih blush of fire,
Upon my brow in sweets expire ;
And bring the nymph whose eye halh power
To brighten even death's cold hour.
Yes, Cupid ! ere my shade retire,
Tn join Ihe blest elysian choir,
With wine, and love, arid social cheer,
I 'II make my own elysium here!
We here have the poet, in his true attributes, re-
clining upon myrtles, with Cupid for his cup-bearer.
Sonie interpreters have ruined "he picture by making
Eoios the name of his slave. None but Love should
liil the goblet of Anacreon. Sappho, in one of her
fragnienis, has assigned this office lo Venus. EXBt,
Kvffpt, ;\;pi'0-cmto-iv tv KvXtKto-criv &€poiq crv/i/ie/i-
lyiievov ^aAtaiCTi vtKrap oivoxovca tovtoici Totj
iTaiQoti EfioL^ y£ /cat croij.
Which may be thus paraphrased : —
Hither. Venua. quepD of ki«n<>8,
This Hhall be the night of hlisaes ;
This the night, to friendehip dear,
Thou Bhnlt be our Hebe here.
Fill the golden brimmer high.
Let it sparkle hke thine eye;
Bid the rosy current goeh.
Lei it maiKle tike thy blush,
GoddesM. heat ihou e'er abovo
Seen a feast sn rich in love I
N(U a enul that in not mine!
liot a aoul that is not thine!
*' Compare with ihis Ode (says the Geraan coai-
mentator) the beautiful poem in Ramler's Lyr. Bl'«i-
meultrse, lib. iv. p. 296., * Amor als BieQer.' '>
ODE xxxnr.
'T was noon of night, when round the pole
The su 1 len Bear is seen to rol 1 ;
And mortals, wearied with the dty,
Are slunibeiing all their cares away:
An infant, at that dreary hour,
Ctme weeping to my silent bower,
And wak'd me with a piteous prayer,
To bhield him fiom Ihe midnii;ht air.
" And who art tlmii," I waking cry,
*' That bid'st my blissful visions fly ?"
" Ah, gentle sire ! " the infant said,
" In pity take me to thy shed ;
Nor fear deceit : a lonely child
I wander o'er the gloomy wild.
Chill drops the rain, and not a ray
Illumes the drear and misty way 1 "
1 heard the baby's tale of vpre ;
I heard the bitter night-winds blow;
And Sighing for his piteous fa'e,
I trimm'd riiy lamp and op'd the gate.
*T was Love ! the little wandering sprite,
His pinion sparkled through ihe night.
I knew him by his bow and dart ;
I knew him by my fluttering heart,
Fofidlv I t^ke him in. and nre
The dying embers' cheering blaze ;
Press frnm his dank and clinging hail
Til
of Ihe fn
And in my hai d ar.d b^som hold
His little hngers thrilling cold.
And now the embers' genial ray
Had \\arm'd his anxious fears a«ay ,
*' 1 pray thee," siid Ihe wanion child,
(My bosom trembled as he smil'd,)
'■ 1 pray thee lei me try my how,
For through the lain 1 've wander'd so,
That much I fear, ihe midnight shower
Has injur d its elas ic power."
The fatal bow the urchin drew :
Swift from the string the arrow flew ;
As swifily flew as glancing flame,
And to my inmost spirit caiiie !
"Fare thee well," I heard him say,
As laughing wild he wing'd away j
*' Fare thee well, for now i know
The rain has not relax'd my bow;
It still c-in ^enda thrilling dart.
As thou shall own wilh all thy heart ! '*
M. Bernard, the au'hor of L'Art d'aimer, has writ-
ten a ballet called ' Les Surprises de i'Amour," in
which the subject of the third entree is Anacreon. and
the s'ory of this Ode sugges s one of the scenes. —
(Euvresde Bernard, Anac. scene 4lh.
The German annotator refers us here to an imita-
tion by V?., lib. iii., *' Amor und sein Bruder ; " at d a
poem of Rieist, *'die Heilung." La Fontaine has
translated, or rather imitated, this Ode.
" Arid ivho art thottj" I waking cry^
'*That bid'st my blissful visitms fly ? "] Ana-
creon appears to have been a voluptuarj- even in
dreaming, by the lively regret which he exj resses at
being disturbed (roni his visionary eujoymen s. See
the Odes X and xxxvii.
^Twas Love ! the little waiideriiig sprite.^ ^-c] Sue
the beautiful description of Cupid, by Moschus, tu hi
first idyl.
ODES OF ANACREON.
35
ODE XXXIV,
Oh, thou, nf all creation blest,
Sweet msec, 'hai dcli^htVt to rest
Upon the wild woods leafy tops,
To drink the dew that niomiiig drops,
And chifp thy song with such a glee,
That hapiiict kings may envy Ihee.
Whatever decks the velvet field,
Whate'er ihe circling seasons yield,
Whatever buds, whatever blows,
For Ihee it buds, for thee it grows.
Nor yet art '.hou ihe peasant's fear,
To hiin thy friendly noies are dearj
For thou art mild as matin dew ;
And slill, when summer's flowery hue
Begins ID paint the bloomy plain.
We hear thy sweet prophetic strain ;
'I hy siveet propheijc str:»in we hear,
And bless the iioleji and thee revere !
The Muses love thv shnlly tone;
Apollo calls thee all his own ;
'T was he who gave thai voice to thee,
'Tis he who tunes thy minstrelsy.
Unworn by age's dim decline,
The f.ideless blooms nf youth are thine.
Melodious insect, child of earth,
Id wisdom mirthful^ wUe in mirth;
In a Latin Ode addressed to the grasshopper, RnpiD
has preserved some of the thoughts of our author: —
O quae virenti graminis in torn,
Cioada, dlande sidis, el herbidoa
8altus oberraa, udcsus
Oh, thou, ttiat nn (he grassy bed
Which Nature's vernjil hniid has Bprcad,
RcL-linfst soft, auLl tun'et Ihy »:)ni;,
The dewy herba and Itavt^s among I
Whcihe
ir,uly'.st,
Drunk with the balmy morniiig-ohoMers,
Or, &.C.
See what Licctus says about grasshoppers, cap. 93.
and 185. ^
And chirp thy song with stuck a glee, ^c.l "Some
authnis have affirmed (says Madame Dacier), that it
Is only male grasshoppers which sin^, and that the
femiles nre silent ; and on this circumstance is found-
ed a bnn-mot of Xenaichus, the comic poet, who says
££T' tL<XlV ol T£TTty£5 OVK £V(Jat/tO Vt J, (bv TrttS
yvvailiv 011(5' in ovv tpuivr}^ tvt ; *are not the
grasshoppers happy in having dumb wives?' " This
note isoriginallv Henry Stephen's ; but I chose rather
to make a lady my authoriiy for it.
The Muses lave thy shrilly tone, fyc] Phile, de
Animil Propriet.it. calls this insect Movaais ^iXog,
the darling of the Muses; and Movo-cuv opviv, the
bird of the Muses; nnd we find Plalo compared for
his eloquence to Ihe grasshopper, in the following
punning lines of Tinion, preserved by Diogenes iaer-
Tov navToiV 6* yyeiTO itXarvtrraTos aXV ayo-
•H(Jv£jrj?5 TCTrt^tvio-oypat^oj, ol 9' 'Exad-qfiov
^ivdpu e^t^ofLtvot on a Xitpiotaaav Itia-i.
This last line is borrowed from Homer's Iliad, y,
where there occurs Ihe very same simile.
Melodious insect, child of earth.'] Longeprerre has
ouotfd the two first lines of .in epigram of Antipaler,
nom Ihe first book nf the Anthoiogia, where he pre-
fcn the grasshopper to the swan :
Exempt from every \veak decay.
That withers vulgar fr.imes away;
With not a dn'p ol blood to stain
The current of thy puier vein ;
So ble t an age is pass'd by thee,
Thou seem'st — a little deity !
pKci TtTTtyaj yLtOvcFat Spotro^, a>Xa iriovTij
AiiCav KVKvutv £i<7t yiyujvoTLpoi.
Id (lew, that drops Trom morning'H win^s^
Tlie gay Ciimla sipfung tlnats ;
And. drunk with dew, hia malin sjQga
Sweeter Ibaa any cygnet's uoteit.
ODE XXXV.
Cupid once upon a bed
Of roses laid his weary head ;
Luckless uichin, not to see
Within the leaves a slumbering bee !
Theocritus has imitated this beautiful ode in his
nineteenth idyl ; but is very inferior, I think, to his
original, in delicacy of point and naivete of expres-
sion Spenser, in one of his smaller compositions, has
sported more difl'usely on the ^anie subject. The
poem to which 1 allude, begins thus : —
Upon a day, as Love lay aweelly slumbering
All in his molher's Up;
A gentle ber, with his loud trumpet murmuring,
About him Hew by hap, <Scc. ^c.
In Almeloveen's collection of epigrams, there is one
by Luxorius, conchpondent somewhat with the turn
of Anacreon, where Love complains to his molher of
being wounded by a rose.
The ode before us is tlie very flower of simplicity.
The infantine complaiain^s of the little god, and the
natural and impressive reflec'ions uhich they draw
from Venus, are beauiies of inimi-able grace. I may
be pardoned, jierhap-i, fur introducing here another of
Menage's Anacreontic'*, not fur its similitude to the
subject of this ode, but for some faint tiaces of the
same natunl simplicity, which it appears to me to have
preset ved ; —
Eouij TTOT^ cv ;t;op£(at5
T^v napdtvu}v aujrov,
'Vtjv [loL 0tA7/v KopivvaVf
'Sis tidtv, (bj TTpo? avTtjv
lipoaidpafK.- rpaxv^t^
^idvfias T£ %£ipa5 anruyv
^l\tL fJLE, flrjTEp, tiTTl.
KaXoviiivT) Kopivva,
MlJTTJp, Epvdpia^Ut
'S2s 7Tap9ivo^ iLLv ov<ra.
K' avTos (Tc 6v<Tx^puivttiVf
"52? Oftfiaa-i nXavqeeis,
Kpu.s ipvOpm^u.
Eyuj, (?£ ol nagao-Tas,
Mj; 6vcrx£pai,vc, ^rj/iu
livwpiv Tt Kac Kooivvav
Km ol p\i
OVK EXOVCf,
'OVlti 0%V.
As dancing o'er t
he enamell'd plain.
The flow'ret of t
My souI'h Corinn
liphtly play'd,
Young Cupid eaw
the grarerul maid
He saw, and in a
And round her n
ok liis arm» he th
Saying, with ami
es of infant jny.
*'Oh! ki89me. m
'.her, ki8» thy boy
The modest vlrai
blufh'd with shan
And angry (^upid
scarce believing
4
3G
ODES OF ANACREON.
The bee awak'd— with an^er wild
The bt« auak'd, and siung the child,
Louil and pilenus aiehis cries ;
'Jo Venus quick he runs, he flies ;
'•Oh nioiher! — I am wi.unded through —
I die with pain — iu soo h I do !
Stui.g iiy s line lit'le an^iy ihing,
Some s^ri-ent on a tiny wiiiiC —
A ^ee it was— r.r once, 1 know
1 hj<rd a rustic caU il s;«."
Thus he >pnke, and she ihe while
Heard him w iih a soothu g soiile ;
Then sa d, '• My infant, it so much
Thou fpel the li tie wild-bee's touch,
How must the heart, ah, Cupid ! be,
The hipless he.irl that's slung by thee I"
ODE XXXVI.
If hoarded gold pnssessM the power
To lengthen life's too fleeting hour.
And purchase from the hand nf death
A little span, a moment's breaih,
How I would love the precious ore I
And eveiy Inur should swell my store;
That when Death came, with shadowy pinion,
To waft me to his bleak dominion,
I might, by bribes, my doom delay,
And bid him call some distant day.
But, since, not all earth's gnlden &tore
Can buy Cor us one brigh' hour more,
Why should we vainly mourn our fate,
Or sigh at life's unceriain d^\e ?
Nor wealth nor grandeur can illume
The silent midnight of the tumb.
No — give to others hoarded treasures —
Mine be the brilliant round of pleasures;
The g .blet rich, the board of friends
Whose social souls the goblet blends ;
And mine, while yel I 've life to live,
Those joys that love alone can give.
Fontenelle has translated this ode, in his dialogue
between Anacreon and Aristotle in the shades, where,
weighing the merits of both these personages, he
bestows the prize ' f wisdom upon the poet,
" The German imi'ators r f this ode are, Lessing, in
his poem *Ge8(ern Binder,* &c. ; Gleim, in the ode
*An den Tod ;' and Schmidt, in der I'oet. Blumenl.,
Golliug. 1783, p. l.^' — Degen.
That when Death camCt with shadow]/ pmton.
To waft me to his bleak dominion, ^-c] The
onimeiitator^, who are so fmd of disputing "de lana
caprini," have been very busy on the auhoiiiy of the
phrase fi»* av Bavuv tntMT). The reading of iv'
BavaTos £ki\6i), which de Medetibach proposes
his Amcenttates iJienrije, was nlieady hinted by
Le Fevre, » ho seldom suggests any thing worth notice.
The goblet rich, the board offiHends,
Whos& social smtjs the s^obld blcudx ;"] This com-
muniin of fiiendship, which swee'envd the bowl of
Anacreon, has nnt t)een firgotten by the author of the
followini; fch'dinm. where the blesMngs of life are
in'^merated wiiJi proverbial simplicity. 'Xyiaivuv
«v api^Tov avdpi Svyruj. AtfTEpov Ct, KaXov
ftvi^v ytveo-Oai TorpiTOV ^e. ttXovthv a6o\itig.
iat TO TfTaprov awtfiav fiera rmv ^lAoiv,
or mortal blessings here the ftrst is health.
ODE XXXVI I.
'T was night, and many a circling bowl
Had deeply warm'd my thirsty soul j
As lull'd in slumber I was laid.
Bright visions o'er my fancy play'd.
With maidens, blooming as the dawo,
I seem'd tn skim llie opening lawn ;
Light, OD tiploe bath'd in dew,
We flew, and sported as we flew !
Some ruddy stiipliiigs, who lookM on —
With cheeks, that like the wine-god's shone.
Saw me chasing, free and wild.
These Iilooming maids, and slyly smiPd j
Smil'd indeed with wanton plee,
Though none could doubt they envied me.
And still I flew — and now had caught
The panting nymphs, and fondly thought
To gather from each rosy lip
A kiss that Jove himself might sip —
When sudden all my dream of joys,
Blushing nymphs and laughing boys,
All were ^one ! - " Alas l"" I said,
Sii;hingfor th' tMusion fled,
"■ Again, sweet sleep, that scene restore,
Oh 1 let me dream it o'er and o'er ! "
"Compare with this ode the beautiful poem *der
Traum' of Uz." — Dtgcii.
Le Fevre, in a note upon this ode, enters into an
elaborate and learned justiHcation of drunkenness;
and this is probably the cau-e of the severe reprehen-
sion which he appears to have suft'ered for his Ana-
creon. " Fuit ohm faleor (says he in a note upon
Longinus), cum Sapphonem amabam. Sed ex quo
ilia me perditissima focmina pene miserum perdidit
cum sceleratissimosuocongerrone, (Anacreontem dico,
si nescis, Lector,) noli sperare, &c. &c.'' He ad-
luces on this ode the authority of Plalo, who allowed
briety, at the Dionysian festivals, to men arrived at
their fortieth year. He likewise quoles the following
from Alexis, which he says no one, who is not
totally ignorant of the world, can hesitate to confess
the truth of; —
•• No lover of drinking ^
IV avOgfjiiro^ KaKO£,
J^Hien sudden all my dream of jays ^
Blushing nymphs and laughing boys,
Jill were gm'ie !] *• Nonnus siys of Bacchus, almost
in the same words that Anacreon uses, —
Eypo^cvoj St
XlapBevov ovk tKixv*^^^ "*** tjdiXev av9is tavav.'*
Again to clusp tbe shadowy maid.
LONGEPIERRE,
" Again, sweet sleep, that scene restore^
Oh! let me dream it o'er a7id o'er I ^^] Doctor
Johnson, in hia preface to Shakspeare, animadverting
upon the commentators of that poet, who pretended,
in every little coincidence of thought, to detect an
imitation of some ancient poet, alludes Jn the follow-
ing words to the line of Anacreon before u^ : — "I
have been told that when Caliban, after a pleasing
dream, says, ' 1 cried to sleep again,' the author imi-
tates Anacreon. who had, like any other man, tbe
same wish on the sime occasion.'*
ODES OF ANACREON.
37
ODE xxxvni.
Let us drain the nectar'd bowl,
Let us raise ihe snng < f soul
To him, the p>>d ^\ ho loves so well
The nectar'd bowl, thL.- choial swell ;
The god who t.iugln the sons of earth
To Ihrid the tangled dance of niirlh ;
Him, who was nursd with infant Love,
And crndled in the Paphiau grove j
Him, that the snnwy (^ueen of Charma
ijo oft has fondled in her arms.
Oh, M is from him (he transport flows,
Which sweet int -xicalion knows;
VVi'h him, Ihe brow forgets its gloom,
And brilliant graces learn to bloom.
Kehold ! — my boys a goblet bear,
Wh"se sparkling foam lights up the air.
Where are now the tear, the sigh?
To Ihe winds they fly. they fly !
Grasp the bowl ; in nectar sinking,
Man of sorrow, drown thy thinking !
Say, can the tears we lend to thought
In life's account .ivail us aught?
Can we discein, with all our lore.
The pa'h we've yet to journey o'er?
Alas, alas, in ways so dark,
'T is only wme can strike a spark.
Then let me quati" the foamy tide,
And thr ugh the d.uice meandering glide;
Let me imbibe the spicy breath
Of odours chaPd to fr igrant death ;
Or from the lips of love mbale
A more ambrosial, richer gale!
To hearis that court the phantom Care,
Let him retire and shroud him there ;
While we exhaust the nectar'd bowl,
And swell the choral song of soul
To him, Ihe god who loves so well
The nectar'd bowl, the choial swell !
*' Compare with this beautiful Ode to Bacchus the
verses of Hagedorn, lib. v., 'das Gesellschaftliche j *
and of Burger, p. 51, &c. &.C.'* — Degen,
Him, that the snmoy Queen of Charms,
So oft has fondled in her amis.] RoboTlellus,
upon the epitli.ilamium of Catullus, mentions an in-
genious derivation of Cytheiaea, the name of Venus,
naga to KtvGtiv tovs tpiara^, which seems to hint
that " Love's fairy favours are lost, when not con-
cealed."
Maa^ alaSy m ways sj daTkf
^Tis only wine can strike a spark!] The brevity
of life allows arguments for the voluptuary as well as
the moralist. Among many parallel passages which
Longepierre has adduced, I shall content myself with
this epigram from the Anthologia.
Aovaafitvott llpodiKrjy TrvKacw/tcffa, Kat rev
aKparov
'EXicwfLEV, KvMKa? fiti^ova? apafitvot.
•Poto5 6 xa'poi'Ttyv EO-Ti ftios. cira to XotTra
rijpas KfuXvcrtiy Kai to tz\os ^avaTo$.
Of which the following is a paraphrase : —
L»*t*s fly, my love, from nonnHay'n beam*
To pluiiee U8 in ynii onoling slrcam ;
Tticn, haelening lo the festal bowtr.
We '11 pass m mirth liie evening hour;
'T is thus nur ace of bli*.» shall fly.
A?sw«'el, (hough pqsbhir a* ihat sigh,
Which eeems tn wliisper oVr your lip,
" Come, while you may, of raplur*; sip."
For Bge will steal the graceful form.
Will ohill the pulBe, while throbhiiig warm;
ADt death — alas', that h«-artB, which thiill
Ltk 1 yours aod mine, should e'er be %\i]\ !
ODE XXXIX,
How I love the festive boy.
Tripping through the d^nce of joy 1
How 1 love the mellow sRge,
Smiling through Ihe veil of age I
And whene'er this man of years
In the dance nf joy appears,
Sno\»s may o'er his head be flung,
But his heart — his heart is young.
Snows may o^er his head be ftung^
Bui his htart — his heart is ymnif:.'] Saint Pavin
mnkes the sime dislinctiou in a sonnet to a young
girh
Je bqIr hieo que lea deslineet
Out mal compasse nos nnnees
Ne regardez que mon amour;
II eat jeuLe el nVst cjue du jour.
Belle Ins, que je voua al vu.
Fair and young thou bloomeet now.
And I full many a year bnve told;
But read the heart mid iiol the brow,
Thou tahall mit find my love is old.
My love'a a child; and thou canst saj
How much hia little age may be.
For he was born the very day
When tirsl I aet my eyes oa thee I
ODE XL.
I know that Heaven hath sent me here,
To lun this moital life's career;
The scenes which I h:>ve journeyed o'er,
Return no moie— alas! no mo*e;
And all Ihe path I »ve >et logo,
I neither know nor ask to know.
Away, then, wizard Care, nor think
Thy "fetters round this soul to link ;
Nf ver can heart that feels with me
De:>cend to be a slave to Ihee I
And ohl before the vilal hrill,
Which trembles at mv heart, ,s still,
1 'II gather Joy's luxuiianl fiov^ers,
And gild with bli>s my fading hours;
Bacchus shall bid my winter bloom,
And Venus d-tnce me to the tomb !
Never ca7i heart that ftels with me
Descend to he a slave to thee !] Lonijepierre quotes
here an epigtam fiom the Anthologia, on account of
the similarity of a particular phrase. Though by no
means Anacreontic, it is marked by an interesting sim-
plicity which lias induced me to paraphrase it, and
may atone for its intrusion.
EXkis Kai cv 7VXV /*«ya ;t'*'P'"' ^"^ Xijitv*
fOpov*
Ovdtv iiiot x' *;itv, nat^nt rov^ fitr^ tfiu
At length to Fortune, and lo you,
Delu?>ive Hope I a last adieu.
The charm that once beguil'd is o*er.
And I have reach'd my destin'd short,
Awny, away, your flattering aria
May now betray some simpler hearts.
And you will xmile at their believinir.
And they Bball weep at your deceiving [
Bacchus shall hid my winte: bloom,
^nd Venus dance »iic to the tomb!] The ?ame
coninient-ttor luis qtioied an epilapn, writte; upon our
poet by Julian, in which he makes him promulgate
the precepts of good fellowship even from the tomb,
UoXXaKt (isv T0i3' aaaa, KOt £K rvfiCov dt ^oi}CiMj
nti-cTC, rrptv lavryv ap-t^iCaXricQi xovtv.
This lesson oft in life I siinR,
And ffom my grave 1 Btill shall cry.
** Drink, mortal, drink, while time is yoonc,
Ere death has made thee cold as I."
3%
ODES OF ANACREON,
ODE XLI.
When Spring adorns Ihe dewy scene,
How sweet lo walk Ihe velvet green,
And hear the west wind's aentie sighs,
As n'er the gentle mead it flies !
How sweet to mark the pouting vine,
Ready to burst in tears o| wii.e ;
And with snnie maid, who breathes but love,
To walk, at noun ide, thrnu^^h the grove,
Or sit in some cool, green recess —
Oh, is not this true happiness?
And vjitfi some maid, who breathes hut tovCy
To walk, at nocnttidt, through t/ic grove,] Thus
Horace : —
Quid habea illius, ilHua
Quae Mpiraljat amores.
Quae me surpuerat mihi. Lib. Iv. Carm.l3.
And does there tlieo remain but this.
And haul thou loijt eacti rusy ray
or tier who brtath'd the soul of bliss,
Aud Btuie me from myself awuy J
ODE XUI.
Yes, be the glorious revel mine.
Where humour sparkles from the wine.
Around nie, let the youthful choir
Respond lo my enlivening lyre ;
And while the red cup foams along.
Mingle in soul as well as song.
Then, while I sit, with fiow'rets crown'd,
To regulate ihe goblet's round,
Let but the nymph, our banquet's pride,
Be seated smiling Ijy my side.
And earth has not a gift or power
That I would envy, in that hour.
Envy ! — oh never let its blight
Touch Ihe gay he.irls met here tn-night.
Far hen(f« be slandei's sidelong wounds.
Nor hirsh dispute, nor discord's s-iuuds
Di!-turb a scene, uhere all should be
Attuned to peace and harmony.
Come, let us hear the harp's gay note
Upon the breeze inspiring float.
While round us, kindling into love.
Young maidens through the light dance move.
Thus blest with inTih, and love, and peace,
Sure such a liie should never cease!
The character of Anacreon is here very strikingly
depicted. His love of soci^W, harmonised pleasures, is
expressed with a warmth, amiable and endearing.
Among the epigrams imputed to Anacreon is the fol-
lowing; it is the only one worth translation, and it
breathes the same sentiments with this ode: —
i)v (^Xo5, d£ K()7)T7}(n Ttaga nXzut otvoTrora^cuv,
NuKsa Kat noXtpLov 6aKpvo£VTa Xsyu.
AAA' 6(TTi£ Movo-eojv t£, Kat ay\aa dojp, A<f)go-
ZviifiuTyuiV, tgaTT}^ fivrja-KETat tv<PQ0<TVV7]$.
When to the lip the brimming cup ia prest,
And hearts are all adoal upon its stream.
Then baiiihh Trom my board th* unpoli-hM guest.
Who makes the feuls of war hin barbarous theme.
And bli^nds refine
With many a cup and many a smile
The festal moments we beguile.
And while the harp impa^sionM, flingt
Tuneful rapture from its strings,
S 'iiie airy tiymph, with grncetul bound,
Keeps measure to ihe music's sound ;
Waving, in hersnowy hand,
The leaiy Bacchanalian wand,
Which, as the tripping wanton flies,
Trembles all over lo her sighs.
A youth the while, with lobsen'd hair,
Floa'ingon the listless air,
Sings, to the wild harp's lender tone,
A tale of woes, alas, his own ;
And oh, the sadness in his sigh.
As o'er his lip the accents die !
Never sure on earth has been
Half so bright, so blest a scene.
It seems as Love himself had come
To make this spot his chosen home ; —
And Venus, too, with all her wJes,
And B:icchu3, shedding rosy smiles,
Ail, all are here, to hail with me
The Genius of Festivity !
And while the harp, impassion*dtJiing9
Tuneful rapture from Us strings^ SfC] Respecting
the harbittin a host of authorities maybe collected,
which, afier all, leave us ignorant of the nature of Ihe
instrument. There is scarcely any point upon which
we are so totally uninformed as the music of the an-
cients. The authors* extant upon Ihe subject are, I
imagine, liille understood ; and certainly if one of
their moods was a progression by quarter-lones, which
we are told was Ihe nature of the enharninnic scale,
simplicity was by no means the ch^iracteristic of their
melody ; for this is a nicely of progression, of which
modern music is not susceptible.
The invention of the barbiton is, by Athenaeus, at-
tributed to Anacreon. See his fourth book, where it
is called to £i)p7jfia to AvuKptovros. Neanlhes of
Cyzicus, as quo'ed by Gyraldus, asserts Ihe same.
Vide Chibot, in Horat. on the words '* Lesboum bar-
biton," in the first ode.
And oh, the sadness in his sigh^
As o'ct- his lips the accents die !] Ij^ngeplerre has
quoted here an epigram from the Aolhologia ; —
KovpTj Ttj /t'£0iX7^(r£ Tco6t<rJT£ga ;^f£i:>£0-iv {fypotj.
KtKTaptrjv TO ^tAiy;i.a. to yap a to fia viKrapos
trrvEi.
Nvv fLt9v(a TO (JM-Xtjiiay koXvv tov epmra tti-
TrcuKcuj.
Of wliich the following paraphrase may give some
idea : —
The kis9 that she left on my lip.
Like a dew-drnp ehnll hngertng He;
•Twas neclar nhe gave me to sip,
'T wan nectar 1 drank in her sigh.
From the moment she printed that kfsB,
It Seems as Love himself had come
To make this spot his chosen home. ; — ] The intro-
duction of these deities to the festival is merely allego-
rical. Mad:>me Dacier thinks that the poet describes
a masquerade, where these deities were personated by
the company in masks. The translation will coDform
with their idea.
AJU 0.^1 f^re here, to hail with me
The Genius of Festivity!] Kw/io?, the deily or
genius of mirth. Philoslratus, in the third of his pic-
tures, gives a very lively description o' this god.
Collected by Meibomiv».
ODES OF ANACREON,
39
ODE XLIV.
Buds of roses, virgin flowers,
CuU'd from Cupid's balmy bowers,
In the bowl ot llacclius steep,
Till with crimson drops they weep.
Twine the rose, the garUnd twine,
Every leaf distilling wine;
Drink and smile, and learn to tliink
That we were born to smile and drink.
Rnse, Ihou art the sweetest (lower
That ever drank the amber shower;
Rose, (hou ait the fondest child
Of dimpled Spring, the wood-nymph wild.
Even the Gods, who walk the sky,
Are amorous of thy scented sigh,
Cnpid, too, in Paphjan shades.
His hair with rosy fillets braids,
When, with the blushing, sister Graces,
The wanton winding dance he traces.
Then bring me, showers of roses bring,
And shed them o*er me while I sing,
Or, while, great Bacchus, round thy shrine,
Wrea'hing my brow with rose and vine,
1 lead some bright nymph through the dance,
Commingling soul with every glance !
This spirited poem is a eulogy on the rose; and
again, iu Ihe fift>-fifih ode, we ^hall find our author
rich in the praises of thai flower, la a fragment of
Sappho, in the romance of Achilles Talius, to which
Barnes refers us, the rose is fancifully styled " the eye
of flowers;" and Ihe same poetess, in another fiag-
menl, calls the favours of the Muse " Ihe roses of Fie-
ri.*." See the notes on the fifty-fifth ode.
" Compare with Ibis ode (says ihe German annota-
tor) the beauliful ode of Uz, * die Rose.' "
JVfieyi with the blvfthing; sister Graces^
The loantaii wi7idin§ dance he traces^] "This
sweet idea of Love dancing with the Graces, is almos!
peculiar to Anacreon," — Dts:cn,
I lead snme bright nymph through the dance^ ^c]
The epithet fiaOvKoKnos-, which he gives lo the
nymph, is literally "full-bosomed."
ODE XLV.
Within this goblet, rich and deep,
1 cradle all my woes to steep.
Why should we breathe the sigh of fear,
Or pour the unavailing tear?
For death will never heed Ihe sigh,
Nor soften at the tearful eye ;
And eyes tliat sparkle, eyes Iliat weep,
Must all alike be seaJ'd in &leep.
Then let us never vainly stray,
In search of thorns, from pleisure*s way;
But wisely quaff the rosy wave.
Which Bacchus loves, which Bacchus gave;
And in Ihe goblet, rich and deep,
Cradle our crying woes to sleep.
Then let ua never vainly stray^
In search of thurns^ from pleasure's way ; ^c ] I
have thus endeavoureii to convex the meaning of rt
6c Toi iSioi' nXaviuftai ; accoiding to Regnier's paia-
piirase "t the line: —
Kchi- val. fufir tVlIn etrada
\)f\ \mvt-Tf alma e sradiia.
While virgin Graces, warm with May,
Fling roses o'er her dewy way.
The murmuring billoivsof tile deep
H ive languish'd into silent sleep :
And mark! the flitting sea-birds lave
Their plumes in Ihe reflecting wave;
While cranes from hoary winter fly
To flutter in a kinder sky.
Now the genial star of day
Dissolves the nmrky clouds away;
And cultiir'd field, and winding stream.
Are freshly glittering in his beam.
Now the earth prolific swells
With leafy buds and flov»ery bells;
Gemming shoots the olive twine,
Cluslers ripe festoon the vine ;
All along the bratiche> creeping,
Through (he velvet foliage peeping.
Little infant fruits we see,
Nursing into luxury.
The fastidious nft'ectalioa of some commentators
has denounced this ode as spurious. Degen pronoun-
ces the four last lines to be the patch-work of some
miserable versificator, and Brunck condemns the
whole ode. It appears to me, on Ihe contrary, to be
elegantly graphical ; full of delicate expressions and
luxuriant imagery. The abruptness of Ms nuiS £Opos
f^avivTo^ is striking and spirited, and has been imi-
tated rather languidly by Horace : —
Vides ul alfn etel nive candidum
i is infinitely more impressive; —
The imperat
as iu Shakspea
But Inok. the morn, in russet matille riad.
Walks o'er the dcw of ycu higli cBHtern tiill.
There is a simple and poetical description of
Spring, in CaluUuss beautiful farewell to Bithynia.
Carni. 44.
Barnes conjectures, in his life of our poet, that this
ode was written after he had returned from Athens,
to settle in his paternal seat at Teosj where, in a
little villa at some distance from the ci'y, command-
ing a view of the ^gean Sea and the islands, he con-
templated the beauties of na'ure and enjoyed Ihe
felicities of retirement. Vide Barnes, in Ana'c. Vita,
§ XXXV. This supposition, however unauthenticated,
forms a pleasing association, which renders Ihe poem
more interesting.
Chevreau says, that Gregory Nazianzenus has para-
phnsed somewhere this description of Spring; but 1
cannot meet wi h it. Sie Chevteau, (Euvres Mtlees.
'• Compare wiih this Ode (says Uegen) the verses of
Hagedorn. book fourth, 'derFiuhling,* and book filth,
*der Mai.' '*
While virgin Graces, warm with May^
Fling roses o'er her dewy way.) Ue Pauw reads,
XaoLTUS (to^a p^tvovtriv, "the ro?es display their
graces." This is not uningeninus; but wu lose by it
the beauty of the | ersonification, to the boldness ol
which Regnier has rather frivolously objected.
The murmuring billows of the deep
Have lansruish'd into silent sleep; Sfc] It has
been justly remarked, that (he l»quid flow of the line
arra^vvtraL yaXijvT] is perfectly expressive of the
tranquillity which it desci.bes.
And cultured field, and winding stream, <^-c.] By
/5poraiV epya ** the works of men " (stys R-txter). he
ms citi.s. temples, and town-, which aie then
minated by the beams of the sun.
ODE XLVIL
T is true, my fading yeara decline.
Yet can I quaflT the brimming wine
[^^
40
ODES OF ANACREON.
As deep a? any stripling fair,
Whose chetks the flush of morning wear;
And if, amidst the wanton crew,
I'm caird lo wind ine dance's due,
Then shaK thou see this vijotnus hand,
Not faltering on Ihe Haccbaul's wand,
But brandishing a rosy fla^jk.
The only thyrsus e'er 1 Ml ask I
Let those, who pant for Glory's charms^
Embrace her in the field of arms ;
While my inglorious, placid soul
Breathes not a wish be>ond this bowl.
T hen hll it high, my ruddy slave,
And bathe me in its brinmiing wave.
For though my fading yeais decay.
Though manhood's prime hath passM away,
Like old Silenus, sire divine,
With blushes borrow'd Ironi my wine,
I 'II wanion 'mid ihe dancing train,
And live my follies o'er again !
But brandishing a rosy flashy ^c] A<rKo$ was a
kind of leathern vessel for wine, very much in use, as
should seem by Ihe proverb aaicoi; /cat -S-vAaKoj,
which w,is applied to those who were inlemperate in
eating and drinking. This proverb is meniioiied in
some verses quoted by Athenaeus, from the ilesioue of
Alexis.
The only thyrsus e'er I 'W ask .'1 Phornutus assigns
as a reason for the consecration of the thyrsus to Bac-
chus, thai inebriety often renders the support of a
stick very necessaiy.
ODE XLVIH.
When my thirsty soul 1 steep,
Every surrow's lulld to sleep.
T-ilk of monarchs ! I am then
Richest, happiest, hrst of men ;
Careless o"er my cup I sing,
F.*ncy mak'-s nie more than king;
Gives me wealtliy Cro&sus' store,
Can I, can I wish for more ?
On my velvet couch reclining,
Ivy leaves niy brow eniwining.
While my soul expands with glee,
Whai are kinss and crowns to me.
If before my feei ihey lay,
I would spurn them all away !
Arm ye, arm ye, men of might,
Ha'^ten to the sanguine fight ;
But let me, my budding vine !
Spill no other blood than thine.
Yonder brimming goblet see,
Thit alone shall vanquish me —
Who think il better, wiser far
To fall in banquet than Iq war.
Ivy leaves my hroio aitwinivg^ ^c] " The ivy
was con-^ecrated to Bicchu-^ fsa\s Montfaucon), be-
cau<ie he formerly I >y hid under that tree, or, ns others
will have it, be-ause ifs leaves resen-.hle those of the
vine." Other reasons for its consecraiion, and the use
of it in gai lauds at banque s, may be found in Longe-
pierre, Barnes, &c. &c.
Jrjn ye, arm ye, mcyi of viisht,
HasUn to tht sariifuirie fight;] I have adopted
Ihe interpretation of Regnier and others : —
ODE XLIX.
When Bicchus, Jove's immortal boy
The ro*y harbinger of juy,
Who, wii h the sunshine of the bowl,
Thaws the winter of our soul —
When to my inmost core he glides,
And bathes it with his ruby tides,
A How ot joy, a lively heat.
Fires my br^^in, and wings my feet,
Calling up round me visions known
To lovers of the bowl alone.
Sing, sing of love, let music's sound
In melting cadence float amund,
While, my young Venus, thou and I
Responsive to i's murmurs sigh.
Then, waking from our blisstul tmnce,
Again we'll sport, again we '11 dance.
Tins, the preceding ode, and a few more of the
same chancter, are merely chansons a bojre ; — ihe
etfusions probably of the moment of conviviality, and
afterwards sung, we may imagine, with rapture
throughiiut Greece. But that ineresling associaiiun,
by which they always recalled Ihe convivial emutions
thit produce 1 Ihem. can nmv be little felt even by the
most enthusistic leader; and much less by a phleg-
matic graninianan, who sees nothing in Ihem but dia-
lects and i)ariicles.
WhOy with the sunshiite of the howl,
Thaws the ivinter of our scful — ^c] Avatoj is
the title which he gives to B cchus in the original. It
is a curious circumstance, that Plutarch mislonk the
name of Levi amon^ the Jews for Atiji (one of (he
bacchinal ciies),and accordingly supposed that Ihey
worshipped Bacchus.
ODE L.
When wine I quaff, before my eyes
Drenms of poetic glory ri-e ;
And frevhen'd by the goblet's dews,
Mv snul invokes the heavenly Muse.
When wine I drink, all sorrow 's o'er;
I think of doubts and fears no more ;
But scatter to the railing wind
Each glonmy i.hanlom of Ihe mind.
When" 1 drink wine, th" ethereal boy,
Bacclius hmisclf, partakes my joy ;
Faber thinks this Ode spurious; but, I believe, he is
singular in his opinion. It has all the spirit of our
author. Like the wreath which he presented in the
dre^m, " it smells of Anacreon.'*
The form of Ihe original is remarkable. It is a kind
of song of seven quatiain stanzas, each beginning with
the line
'Or' cycu TTtui tov oivov*
The first stanza alone is incomplete, consisting' but
of three lines.
" Compare with this poem fsays Degen) the versea
of Hagedorn, lib. v., ' der VVein,' where that divine
poet has wantoned in the praises of wine."
ll^en wine I quaff, before my eyes
Dreams of poetic tloj-yrise;} ' Anaereon is not
the only one (says Longepierre) wh-m wine has in-
spired with piefry. We find an epigr.im in the first
book of the Anthologia, which begins (bus; —
Oivos Tot ,Yapt£i'Ti (iiyus niXii Ittoj aoii!^,
'T(Jajp 6i nivojVf KaXov ov TfKois £toj.
If \
■ you fill uji your eiaw
ODES OF ANACREON,
41
And while we dance itirough vena! btwers,
Who e every bipatti comes fresh from flo» jrs,
In wine he ni.ikes mj' senses swim,
Till the gale breathes of nought but him 1
Again I drink, — and, lo, there seems
Ac;»lmer light t.. fill niyd-e-n.^;
The lately rutHed wreath I spread
Wilh sieadier hand around my head ;
Then ttke the lyre, and smj? *' how blest
1 he life nf him who lives at rest !"
But then cnme3 witching wine again,
With glanous wnman in its train ;
And, while rich perfumes round me rise,
Th.-t seem ihe b.ealh of won.an's sighs,
Bright shapes, of every hue and form.
Upon my kindling fancy s^*3^m,
Till the whole world of beau'y seemi
To crowd into my dazzled dreams!
When thus I drink, my heart refines,
And riMis as the cup declines ;
Rises in the genial flow^
Th.it none but social spirits know,
When, wi'h young revellers, round the bo a'1,
The old themselves grow young in soul t
Oh, when I drink, true joy is mine,
There -s bliss in every diop (f wjue.
All other blessings 1 have known,
] scarcely dar'd to call my own ;
But lhi^ Ihe Fates can ne er destroy,
Till deith o'eishadows all my joy.
jjnrf while we dance throusch vcmal lowers, ^c]
If s me of the translators had obsc ved Doctor Trapp's
caution, wiih regard to TioXvavdiciv /*' tv Ofoaig,
"Cave ne coclum intelli^as." they would not "hive
spoiled (he siniplicity of Ariacreon's fancy, by such
extravagant concepiions as the following : —
Quand je bois mon oeil »'imagine
Que, dans un lourl)il!oii plciin; de parfums divers,
Bacchus mVmpartf daiH k-s airs,
Reinpli de ta liqueur diviae.
Or this : —
I'er la vaga aura serena.
TVhcnj ivith yovn^ revellers, round the luwt^
The old themsdvis grew young in soid!\ Sub-
joined to Gait's edition of Anacrenn, we find some
curio'js letters upon the Qiavoi of the ancient , which
appeared in the French Journals. At the npening of
the Odeon in Paris, the managers of that spec'acle le-
quested Professor Gail to give them some uncommon
name for their fetes. Mesui^eested the word "Thiase,'"
which was ;.dapftd ; but the literati of Paris ques-
tioned the propiietv of the term, and addre-^sed their
criticisms to Gail through the medium of the public
prints.
ODE LT.
Fly not thus my brow of snow,
Lovely wanton ! fly not so.
Thoueh the wane of age is mine,
Though youh'j. brilliant Hush be thine,
Alherli has imitated this ode ; and Capilupus, in Ihe
following epigram, has given a ver^ioii of it : —
, Lalagp,
iiu7
1 piilthra pui-l
Ne fusias. f»irit ppart-n liii-l int-a t»>inporn caniB,
Inque liio rusi-u.* fulycal nrc rolor.
Aspicif ul hitexlafl dect'ant qtioquc ttore coroll:
C^andiUa purpureis lilia misia rosifi.
Oh \ why rrpel my boiiI'h impasBino'd vow.
And fly. liel-ivt-d maid. IheMe loni-ing arma?
Is it, that wintry tim*- has slrfw'il my brow.
While Ihine are all Ifc^ Humrner's rose^i'c cl
Still I 'm dnom*d to sigh for thee,
files', if thou couldst sigh for uie \
See in yonder flowery btaid,
Cull'rt for thee, niv biu-^hing maid,
How thero-^e, of6iien! glow.
Mingles with the lily's sn^w;
JMaik, how 3u eel Ihiir In. t-* agree,
Just, my girl, like thee and me !
Be«* the rich garland cult'd in vernal weathi
See, in yonder flowery braids
CulVdfu)- thic, ray blushing maid !] " In the same
manner ihat Anacreon pleads for the whiteness of his
locks, froiii ihp. beauty of the colour in garland*, a
shepherd, in Theocritus, endeavours to recommend his
black hair : —
Kat TO lov fitXav ta-Ti, Kai & yparrra iaxcvfloj,
AAA' zfircas tv TotS o'TE'Pavoi^ ra rrptuia Xiyov-
Tar.'* Longepicrrtj BanteSy 3fU
ODE LII.
Away, awav, ye men of rules,
What have I to do with sch(.ols?
They 'd make me leam, they 'd make me think,
But would they make me love and drink?
Teich me this, and let me swim
My soul upon the goblet's brim ;
Teach me this, and let me twine
Some f('nd, responsive heart to mine.
Tor, age begins to blanch my brow,
I 've time for nought but pleasure now.
Fly, and cool mv goblet's glow
At yonder fount;.in-s gelid flow ;
I Ml' quaff", mv bov. and calmly sink
Thiss ul (orlumberasl d-ii.k.
Soon, too soon, my jocund sla\e,
You "11 deck your master's grassy erave j
And there's an end — for ah. vou know
They drink butliule «ine below!
' This is doubtless the work of a more moderii poet
than Aincrecn; for at the perind when he lived
rhetoriciins were not known." — Dcgin.
Though this ode is found in the Vatican manuscript,
I am much inclined to agiee in this argument against
its authenticity; for though the dawning^ of the art
of rhetoric might already have appeared, Ihe firs'
who gave it any celebrity m as Cornx of Syncuse, and
he flourished in the centu'y af'er Ai acreon.
Our pnet aniicipa-ed the ideas of Epicuru-:, in his
ersion to the labours cf Itaming, 9s well as his
devotion to voluptuousness. Xiaaav naiitiav
fiaKapiot 4>cvy£rc, sa:d Ihe philosopher of the garden
"n a letter to Fythocles,
Teach me this, and let me twine
Somcfo7td, resj}onsive hiart lo mme.] By XP^^V?
A(^po^iT7;? here, 1 tinder*Iand snnie beantiftd girl, in
same manner Ihit Avato? is often used fur wine.
"Golden" is frequemly an epi'het of beauty, 'thus
in Virgil, " Venns aurea;" and in Proper'ji.s. "Cyn-
thia aurea," Tibullus, however, calls an old woman
golden.'*
The translation d'Antorj Anonimi, as usial, ivan-
tons on Ibia pusage of Anicreou :
Fnnne Bfcorte d'involare
Ad amab'le hrltadu
II bel cinio U' onestadc.
^nd there's an end— for ah, you \now
They drink but little wine bdou .'J Thus M
d
4«
4^
ODES OF ANACREON.
La Morte nous gueOe ; et quaod bcs luia
Is'ouB oDt eiifermea un« fnis
Au Mein d'une foase profnnde,
Adieu bona vins el boa repas;
Ma science oe trouve pas
Des cabarets eu I'autre monde.
From Mainard, GonbauM. and De Cailly. old
French poets, some of the best eiii^rams of the Eng-
lish language have been borrowed.
ODE LIII.
When I behold the festive train
Of dancing y"uth, 1 'm yoiin? again !
Memory wakes her ma^ic trance,
And Wings me lijhtly through the dance.
Come, Cybeba, smihng maid !
Cull the flower and twme the braid ;
Bid the blush of summer's rose
Burn upon my forehead's snows;
And let me, while the wild and young
Trip the m^zy d.ince alone,
Fling my heap of yeais away,
And be as u iid, as ynung, as they.
Hither haste, smne cordial soul I
Help to my lips Ihe brimming howl;
And you shall see this hoary sage
Forget at once his locks and age.
He still can chant Ihe festive hymn,
He still can kiss the goblet'b brim ;
As deeply quatt, as largely fill,
And play the fool right nobly still.
Bid the blush of summer's rose
Burn upon my forehead's snowi ; if-c.'\ Lice'us,
in his Hieioelyphica, quoting two of our pnei's odes,
wheie he calls to his attendants for garlands, remarks.
*' Const.^t i^itur floreas coronas poelis et potantibus m
symposio convenire, non autem sipientibus el fihiloso-
phiam affectantibus." — "It appears that wreaths of
flowers weie adapted fnr poets and revellers at ban
quets. but by no means became those who bad preten-
sions to wisdom and philosophy." On ttii-* principle,
in his I52d chapter, he discovers a refiriement in
Virgil, describing the garhnd of the poet Silenus, as
fallen off; which distinguishes, he thinks, the divine
intoxication of Silenus trom that of common drunk-
ards, who always wear their crowns while they
drink. Such is the "labor ineptiarum" of com*
meotators !
He. still can kiss the goblet's brim ; ^c.} Wine is
prescribed by Galen, as .in excellent medicine for old
men: *"Quod frigidos et hunioribus expletos cale
faciat, &c. ; " but Nature was Anacreon's physician.
There is a proverb in EriphuB, as'quoted by
Athenzeus, Avhich says, '* that wine makes an old man
dance, whether be will or not."
Aoyos EOT' ap;^aio9, ov Ka^wj ex^jv^
Olvov \£yov(ri rovs ytpovray, cu narep,
Ueiduv xoozetv ov ^tkovras.
ODE LIV.
Methinks. the pidurM bull we see
Is aniornus J'we — it must be he !
How fiMidly blest he seems io bear
That fairest of Fhoenici m fair :
How proud he breasts the f"amy tide,
Ai:d spurns the billowy >urge aside !
Cnii!d any bea.t of vulgu vein.
Undaunted thus defy 'he main ?
No: he de-cends from climes above,
He looks the God, he breathes of Jove !
This Ode is writien upon a picture which repr»-
Bented the lape of Eurnpa." — Madame Daaer.
It may probably have been a description of one of
those coins, which the Sidnnians struck off in honour
of Europa, representing a woman carried across the
sea by a bull. _ Thus Natalis Comics, lib. viii. cap. 23.
"Sidonii numbm^tacum fcemiia lauridorso insidente
ac mare tratisfretante cuderunl in ejus honorem." In
the little tieatise upon the goddess of Syria, attributed
very falsely to Lucian, theie is mention of ihis coin,
and of a temple dedicated by the Sidonians to Astarte,
whom some, it appears, confounded with Europa.
The poet Mnschus has left a very beautiful idyl on
Ihe story of Europa,
No: he descends from climes above.
He looks the Gody A« Inxathes of Jove ,'] Thus
Moschus; —
Kpv^//£ ^lov Kai TpEtpz dtfias' KOt yiVETo 7avpo$.
ODE 1,V.
While we invoke the wreathed spnng,
Resplendent rose ! to thee we 'II sing ;
Resplendent rose, the flower of flowers,
Whose breath i e-fumps ih' 01ym[iian bowerj.
Whose virgiti bh;sh, of chasten'd dye,
Enchants sn much our mortal eye.
When pleasure's spring-tide season glows,
The Graces love to wreathe the rose ;
Ai:d Venus, in its ficsliblown leaves,
An enibleni of herself perceives.
This Ode is a brilliant panegyric on the rose, " All
antiquity isiys Barnes) has produced nothing more
beautiful."
From the idea of peculiar excellence, which Ihe
ancients a tached to this fl iwer. arose a pre'ly prover-
bial expression, used by Aristophanes, according to
Suidas, ^oda fi^ tipT/was, ''You have spoken roses,"
a phrase somewhat similar to the ** dire des fleurettes"
of the French. In the same idea of excellence
originated, I doubt not, a very curious application of
the i\ord ^odov, for which the inquisitive reader may
consult Gautininus upon the epilhalamium of our
pf et, where it is introduced in the romance of ThlSo-
dorus. Murefus, in one of hi» elegies, calls his mis-
tress his rose: —
Jam I« igilur rurBue teneo, formnsula, jam te
, te leoeo. Eleg. 6.
1 thei
ng nri
ntnld the
AgaiD, my rose, again I hold tliee.
This, like most of the terms of endearment in (he
modern Latin poet^;, is taken from Flautus ; they were
vulgar and collnquial in his time, but are among the
elegancies of the modern Latinists,
Passeratius alluile-^ to the ode before us, in the be-
ginning of his poem on Ihe Rose : —
Carmine digna roaa e.it ; vellem cancretur ul illara
Teius ar;ruta cecinil testiidme vatt-B.
Resplendent rose! to thee we'll sing;] I have
parsed over the line (tvv iTaintt av^EtfiiXn 7}i', which
Incorrupt in Ihi-* orii^inal reading, and has been very
little improved by the anno'.ators. I should hUfipose
it to be an ii'lerpolati'm, if it were not for a line
which occurs afterwaids : (psyi 67} <Pvtnv Acyto/itv.
Jind ^enus, in its fresh- blown leaves, ^c] Belleau,
in a note up'm an old French poet qu 'ling the origi-
nal here a4>podL(Tiu)V t' advpfta, translalfS it,
'* comme les delicea ut mit^nard ises de Venus,"
ODES OF ANACREON,
43
Oft hath the pne's mnjjic tongue
The rose's fur luxuriance sung ;
And ion^ ihe Muses, lieavenly mi'ids.
Have real VI it m Ihcir luneful shades,
Wlien. at the enrly glance of morn,
It sleeps upon the flittering: ihorn,
'T is sweet to dare (he tangled fence,
the timid Jloweret thence,
And wipe <
iih 1
iider hand awav
The tear that on its blushes lay !
»T is s\veet to hold the infant stems,
Yet droppini; with Aurora's ^eiiis,
And fresh inhale the spicy si^hs
Thai from the weeping buds arise.
When revel reiena, when mirth is high,
And Bacchus beams in every eye,
Our rosy fillets scent exh^de,
And fill with balm the fainting fi:ale.
There's imuaiht in mture bright or gay
Where roses do not shed their lay.
When morning paints the orient skies,
Her fingers bum wiih rnseaie dyes ;
young nymphs he'ray the rose's hue,
O'er whi'est arms it kindles through.
In Cytherea'sfnim it«Io«s,
And mingles with the livmg snows.
The rose distils a healing balm,
The be-ating |'.ulse nf pain to calm;
Preserves the cold iiurned clay,
And mocks tlie vestige of decay :
Oft ha^ the poeVs magic to72^e
The rose's far luxur once sung; ^c.\ The follow-
ing ts a fragment of the hesl)ian p')etess It is cited
in Ihe romance of Achilles Tatius. who appears to
have resnhed the numbers into prnse. Et rotj av-
0£<nv r}Ot\£v 6 Ztvs emOeLvat, /3ao-tX£0, to ^o6ov
av Tttiv avOzujv E/3a<TtX£V£, yjj? tort KoafioSy <f^v-
TU)V ayXaftT/ia, otjidnXpLo^ avOeioVj Aci^wvoj tpv-
Ojjfjia^ Ka'KXo<; atTTpaKTOv. EftwToj Trvtt, A0po(5t-
TTjV TTpollVU, CVuSkTI, (PvWoi^ KOpia, IVKiVr/TOl^
ireraAoij Tpi;0a. to mraXov t^ Z£v0vp^ ycXd.*
If Jove woulil give tht- leafv bowera
A qu^en for ull their world'of floweri,
The rose woulj Ik the- clu.iee of Jove,
And blubh, the queeu of every grove.
Sweetest child of wet-ping morning,
Gem, the vest of earth adorning;
Kye nf (gardens, hghl of lawns,
Nursling of soft Bumnii>r dawns;
Love'fi own earliest eich it biealhes.
Beauty's brow with hJstre wreathes,
And, to young Zephyr"
Bprt-adH abroad its \
erdan
1 tresBcs,
Till. bluBhinf with
111- w
aiiton's play.
Its check wear» ev'
n a r
Cher ray I
JVhcn ynnmi7is; paints the orient skies.
Hit finders burn Wfth roseate dyes ; .ycl tn the
orii;iual here, he enumerates the many epiihels nf
beiiily, biirrinveti fioin rnscs, which «ere lised by the
poels. raoa tuh' aoijiuiv. We see thai pnels were
tligoified in Greece with the title nf sa^es: even the
careless Anaci'enii, wlio lived bill f ,r Itive and vnlup-
tuniisness, was called by Plain the wise Anacreoii —
"full hasc sa[iientia qunndant.'^
Preserves the cold iniirned clay, ^e.] He here al-
ludes In the use of the rose in eiiiliilmin? ; and, per-
haps (as Barnes thinks), to the rosy niisuent with
which Vemis anninted Ihe cnrpse nf [lector. — Hn
iner's Iliad \p. II m.ay likewise regard Ihe ancient
practice nf pulling garlands of roses on the dead, as in
Statius, Theh. lib. x. 782.
hi serlls, hi verla honore noliito
Arcumulaiit arliin, palriaque io aede repoDunt
Corpus otloratum.
And when at length, in pale iJecline,
lis rinrid beauties fatle and pine,
Sweet as in you:."!, is balmy breath,
Dirt'uses odour even in death 1
Oh ! whence ciuld such a plant hare sprung ?
Listen, — for thus the tale is sung.
When, humid, from Ihe silvery sireani,
Eflusiiig beau y's warmest beam,
Venus appear'd, in Bushing hues,
Mellow d by ocean's briiiy dews ;
When, in the slariy courts above,
The ptestnant brain of mighty Jove
DisclosM the nymph of azure glance,
The nymph who .■.hakes the marl al lance; —
Then, ilien, in strange eventful hour,
The earth j.rodi.c'd an infant flo«er,
Whicli sprung, in blushing glories drest.
And waiitnn'd o'er its ]) rent bieast.
The gods beheld this brilliant birlh.
And h ail'd Ihe Rose, the boon of eai Ih !
With neclar drops, a ruby tide.
The sweetly orient buds they dyed,
And bade them binnni, the flowers divine
Of him who gave Ihe gloiious vine;
And bade them nn the spangled thoin
Expand Iheir bosoms to the morn.
Where " veris honor," though it mean every kind of
flowers, may seem more pirticulaily to refer to Ihe
rose, which nur poet in aiio her ode calls lapoi ficK-
i)/to. We read, in the Hieroglyphics of Pieriua. lib.
Iv. that some of the ancients used to order in their
wills, Ihal roses should be annually scattered on Iheir
lombs, and Pieiius has adduced some sepulchral io-
scriplions to this purpose.
Jlnd mocks the veslige of decay:'] When he says
that this flower prevails over lime itself, he still al-
ludes to i s efficacy in enihalment (teuera pnneiel ossa
rosa. Properl. lib. i, eleg 17.), or peihaps lo the
subsequent idea of its fiagrance surviving ils beaulv ;
for he c;in scaicely nie.in lo praise for duration the
"mmium bieves flnres" of ihe rose. Pliilnslialuo
compares this flower wi'h love, and says, that they
both defy Ihe itilluence of lime; xpi^ov iJt otiTt
Kpius, ovTt (ioiJa Oifcv. Unfortunately the simili-
tude lies not in Iheir dur.ilion, but Iheir transcieuce.
Sweet as in yoiilh, ils balmy breath
Diffuses odmir even in death !] Thus Cisper Bar-
teus, in his Rilus Nupliarum:
When all its Hushing beHuIies die;
Nnr lews ambrosial balm diffuses,
When wither'd by the solar eye.
IVith nectar drops, a niby tide,
The sweetly orient biids they dyed, ij-c] The author
of Ihe ■' Pervigilium Veneris" (a poem atlriliuled lo
Catullus, the style of which ap[iears to me lo have
all Ihe laboured lu.\iiriance of a much hiler period)
ascribes Ihe linc'ure of Ihe rose lo Ihe blood from the
wound of Adonis —
iccording to Ihe emendation of I.ipsins. In t'^e fnl-
lowing epigram Ihis hue is difTerenlly accounted lor ;—
Ilia qiiidem stiidioBa sliiim dptpndere Adunim,
Albaque diviiio pivta t-ruore rt
While the f ncmnur'd arnn of joy
Fli
On
She
In IT
r blood, and blushes !
Jl
44
ODES OF ANACREON.
ODE LVI.
He, who instructs the ynulhful crew
To b ithe them in Ihe brimmer's dew,
And tas'e, uncloy'd by rich exctsses,
All ihf bliss that « rne possesses;
He. who inspires Ihe youth to bound
Elasllc through the dince's round, —
Bacchus, Ihe gnd again is here,
And leads along the bluiibing year ;
The blushing i,ear with vintage teems,
Ready lo shed those cordiil streams,
Which, sparkling in the cup of niirlh,
Illuminate the sons of earth I
Then, when the ripe and vermii wine —
Blesl infant of the pregnant vine,
Which uow in mellow clusters swells, —
Oh ! \\ hen it bursts its roseate cells,
Brightly Uie joyous stream shall flow,
To balsam every mortal woe !
None shall be then ca-t down or wealc,
For health and joy shall light each cheek ;
No heart will then despnnding sigh.
For %vine shall bid despondence fly
Th'13 — till anoiher autumn's glow
Shall bid another viutage flow,
"Compare with thii elegant ode the verses of Uz,
lib. i. *die Weinlese." — i)f^c?i.
This appears to be one ot ihe hvning which were
sung at Ihe anniversary fes'iv.ij df the vintage ; one of
the £-!tiXt]Vioi VfivvL, as our poet himself terms them
in Ihe fifty-ninth ode. We cannot help feeling a sort
of reverence for these classic relics of the religion r f
antiqi:ily. Hoiace may be supp"sed to have written
the nineeen h ode of h's second bnok, and the twenty-
fifth of the third, for some bacchanalian celebration of
this kind.
IVhich, sfarhling in the cup of rmrtky
Illuminate the sons of earth!] In the original
noTov acTTovov /co/ti^tuv. M.idnnie Dacier thinks
Iha' the poet here had the nepenthe of Homer in his
mind, Udyssev. lib. iv. This nepenthe was a some-
thing of exquisite charm, infused by Helen into the
wine of her guests, which had the power of dispel-
ling every anxiety. A French writer, De Mere, con-
jectures that ihia spell, which made the bowl so be-
guiling, was the charm of Helen's conversation. See
Bayle, art. Heleue.
ODE Lvn.
Whose was the artist hand that spread
Upon this di.-k the ocean's bed ?
And, in a flight of fancy, high
As au^ht on earthly wing can fly,
This ode is a very animated description of n picture
of Venus on a discus, which represented the goddess
in her first emergence from the waves. About two
centuries after our poet wrote, the pencil of the artist
Apelles embellished this subject, in his famous paint-
ing of the Venus Anadyomene, the model of which,
u Pliny informs us. was the beautiful Campaspe,
given to him by Alexander; though, according to
Natalis Comes, lib vii. cap. 16., it was Phryne who
sat to Apelles for the face and breast of this Venus.
There are a few blemishes in the reading of the
ode before us, which have influenced Faber, Heyne,
Brunck. &c. to den'mnce the whole pnem as spurious.
But. '-non egr) paucis offendar maculis." 1 think it
is quitt beautiful enough lo be authentic.
JVhose was the artist hand that sfread
Upon this disk the octanes Led P\ The abruptness
of a()a TiS rogtvo-e '- ^—~* ' '
, is finely expressive of
Depicted Ihus, in semblance warm.
The Queen of Love's voluptuous form
Floating al-.ng the silv'ry sea
In beauty's naked majesty !
Oh ! he hath given th' enamour'd sight
A witching banquet of delight,
Wheie, gleaming through the waters clear,
Glimp es of undreamt ch.ums appear.
And all Ihat mystery loves to ^creen,
Fancy, like.Faith, adores unseen.
Light as a leaf, that on the breeze
Of summer skims the glassy seas,
She floats along the ocean's breas',
Which undula'e^ in sleepy rest j
While s ealiiig on, she gently pillows
Her bosom on the heavme billows.
Her bo^om, like the dew-wash'd rose,
Her neck, like April's sparkling snows,
Illume the liquid path she traces,
And burn within the slieam''^ embraces.
Thus on she moves, in languid pride,
Encircled by Ihe azure tide,
As some fair lily o'er a bed
Of violets bends its gr.icetui head.
Beneath their queen's inspiring glance^
The dolphins o'er the green sea dance,
Bearing in triumph young Desire,
And infant Love with smiles of fire !
While, glittering through the silver waves,
The tenants of the briny caves
Around the pomp their t^an.bnls play,
And gleam aluiig the watery way,
sudden admiration, and is one of Iho^e beauties, which
we cannot but admire in their source, though, by
frequent imitation, Ihey are now become fauiihar and
unimpressive.
*3nd all that mystery loves to screen,
Fanq/y like Faith, adores ujiseni, <^c.l The pic-
ture here has all the delicate character of the Femi-
reducta Venus, and ailords a happy specimen of what
the poetry of passion oui^ht to be — glowing but
through a veil, and stealing upon the heart from con-
cealment. Few of the ancienis have att-ined this
modesty of docription, which, like the golden cloud
that hung over Jupiter and Juno, is impervious to
every beam but that of fancy.
Her bosom, like the dew-washed rosr^ ^-c.] " ' PoJtwv
(says an anonymous annotator) is a whimsical epithet
for the bosom.'l Neither Catullus nnr Gray have
been of his opinion. The former has the expression,
En hie in roeels latet papillis.
And the latter,
Lo! where the ro»y-bosoni*d huurs, &.O.
Crottus, a modern Latini^t, mi2:ht indeed be cen-
sure! for too vague a use of the epithet " msy," wheo
he applies it to the nyts : — " e roseis oculis."
ymins; Desire, ^c] In the original 'T/icpof,
who was the same deity with Jocus among t^e Ro-
mans. Aurelius Augurellus has a poem beginntug —
Which Parnelt has closely imitated : —
Gay Bacchus, liking Ertrourt's wine*
A nobie meal benpoke ua ;
AtiiJ for the gucets that were lo dinn.
Brought Comus, Lnve, and Jocne, &ie»
ODES OF ANACREON.
4S
ODE LVIII.
5 zephyr's prnion,
When Gold, as fleet :
Escapes like any taiil
And flies me (as he li
Ur> I pursim him? never, never I
No, let thtif:il-e de<e ter.^n,
For who would c url h.s direst foe?
But, when I feel my ligh en'd mind
No more by ^rovelliii^ t;<»hi coiifi;i'd.
Then loobc I all such diugine c;ires,
And cast them lo ihe vaf^iaut airs.
Then feel I, tO), the Muse's >ne,l,
And wake to life the dulcet shell,
Which, ruus"d or.ce nioie, to beauty ?ings,
While love dissolves along the strings I
But, scarcely has my heart been taugh*
How little Gold deserves a thou-ht,
When, lo ! the slave returns once ntore,
And wi'h him wafts delcinus s'ore
Of racy wine, whose genial art
Id slumber seals the anxious heart.
Again he tries my soul to sever
From love and song, perhaps for ever I
Away, deceiver ! why pursuing
Ceaseless thus my heiri's undoing?
Sweet is the Sf-ng o( aniorou- fre.
Sweet the sighs that ihrill the lyte;
Oh ! sweeier far (ban all the gold
Thy wings cm waft, Ihy niiiicscan hold.
Well do I know thy ar s, thy wiles —
They wither'd Love's young wieathed smiles;
And o'er his lyre >uch d irkue^'S t-hed,
I thought i!s soul of song was fled !
They dash'd Ihe wine cup. iha', by him,
Was tilled with kisses to the brim.
I have followed Barnes's arrtngement of this ode,
which, though deviating somewhat from the Vaticau
MS., appears In me thj more natural order.
When Gold, as fleet as zephyr^s pinion,
Escapes like any faithless inini<^i, S,-c) In the
original 'O doaneTTjg 6 x^vao^. '1 here is a kind of
pun in these words, as M'.dime Dicier has already
remarked; for Chrysns, which signifies gold, was
also a frequent name for a slave. In one of Lucian's
dialogues, there is, 1 think, a similar play upon the
word, where the followers of Chrysippus are called
golden fishes. The puns of the ancients are. in gen-
eral, even more vapid than our own; some of the
hest are those recorded of Diogenes,
^nd flies me (as he flies me ever), ^-c] Att d\
act pit <pevyu. This grace of iteraion has already
been taken notice of. Though sometimes merely a
playful beauty, it is peculiarly expresive of impas-
sioned sentiment, and we may easily believe that it
was one of the many sources of that energetic --ensi-
bility which breathed through the style of Sappho.
See Gyrald. Vet. J'oet. Dial. 9. It will not be said
that this is a mechanical ornament by anyone who
can feel its charm in those lines of Catullus, where he
complains of the infidelity of his mistress, Le&bia: —
;i sic omnia dixisset ! — but the rest does not bear
itatioQ.
They Insh'd the winc-cnp, that, hy him^
tVas Jilltd lodh hisses to the bnm.] Oi iginal : —
9tXqfLaTojv <H ke^vmv,
Ilo^ujv KvntWa Kipvrjs*
Go — fly to haunts of sordid men,
But come n it near the bard ;igain,
Thygliiterin the Muse's shade,
Scues frnn her bouerttie tuneful ir.aid;
And not foi worlds would I forego
Tliil luoiiieKof poetic kIovv,
WlHii iriy full soul, in Fancy's streim,
pNurs o'er Ihe lyre i*s swelling tbeine.'
Away, away! to wolldling^ hence,
Who fet-t not this divmer sense ;
Give gold to those who love that pest,—
But leave the poet poor and blest.
Horace has " Desidertque 'emperarc poculum,** not
hguratively. ho\vever. Itke Anacieon, but importing
the love-philtres of ihe witches. By "cu|8 of kisses"
our poet may allude to a favourite gallantry among
the ancients, of drinkiner when the lips of their mis-
tiesses h.id touched the brim : —
And 1 'II not ..dk for wine."
Ls in Ben Jonson's translation from Fhilostratus j and
-ucian has a conceit upon the same idea, " 'Ivo xai
■ivi}^ A/itt Kai 0tA?jj," " that you m ly at once both
rink and kiss."
ODE LIX.
Ripen 'd by the solar beim.
Now Ihe ruddy clusters lecm,
In osier biskets burue along
By all the festal viniage throng
Of rosy youths and virtjns fair.
Ripe as 'the melting fiuits they bear.
Now, now they | re-^s the pregranl scrapes,
And now the captive streim e cape ,
In fervid tide of nectar gu^hini;.
And for its bondage proi.dly bhishinj!
While, round the vat's impurpled brim,
The choral song, the vint <ge hymn
Of rosy youths and virgins fair,
Steals on the chaim'd and echoing air.
Maik, how thev drink, with all ftieireyes,
The orient tide that sparklinj; flies.
Tr.e infant Bacchus, born in mnih,
While Love stands by, to hail the birih.
When he. whose verging years decline
As deep into the vale as mine,
When he inhales the vintage-cup,
His feet, new-wmg'd, from earth spring up.
And as he dancfs,'the fiesh air
Pla\s whispering through his sdvery hair.
Meanwnile young groups whom Inve invites.
To jo\s ev'n rivalling wine's delights,
Seek, arm in arm, the shadowy grove,
And there, in woids and lor ks of love,
Such as fond lovers look and say.
Pass the sweet moonlight hours away.*
The title ETrtXiyvtoj -fc/ivo?, which Barnes las
given to this ode, is by no means apprnpriate. We
have alieidy had one (T those hvmni (ode 56.), hut
this is a dc-crijdion ot the vintage; and Ihe title cig
oivov, which i( bears in the Vatican MS., is morecoi-
recl than anv tliat have been sugeested.
" f literary scepticism.
Dejen
dnubis that this ode is genu
reason for sich a suspicion ; — '*non amo te, Sabidl,
nee possum dicere qua e." But this is far from being
satisfactory cri:ici5m.
* Those well acquainted wi'h the orisinal need
hardly be reminded that, in ttese few concluding
verses, I have thoueht rieht to give cnlv the geneni
meaning of my author, leaving hu details untouched.
40
ODES OF ANACREON.
ODE LX.
Al'tit: to life, my -leeping shell.
To Plidljus let tliy numbers S" ell ;
AiiJ though no glorious priz;; be thine,
No I'ylhian wieaih around -bee twine,
Yet every Imur is ^loiy's hour
To hiiii whoeatheis wi-ilom's flower.
Tlien wake thee from ihy voiceless slnnibera.
And to the sofi anJ Thry^'an nuoibers,
Which, tremblingly, my lips repeat.
Send echoes fmm toy chord a^ s\veet,
'T is llius the swan, wilh fa.bns notes,
Down the C:i>ster's Ci.rient Hoals,
While amor lus breezes linger round,
And sigh responsive sound for sound.
Muse of ihe Lyre ! illume my dream.
Thy Phccbus is my fancy's Ihen.e;
Ani hillow'd is the harp 1 bear.
And hallow'd is the \v-reith I wear,
Hallow'd by him, the 501! of lays,
Who modulates the choral maze.
1 sin^ Ihe lo-e which Daphne twin'd
Around Ihe ^odhe;id's yielding mind :
I siiifc the blushing Daphues flight
FioiM this eiheieal sun of Lisiy ;
And hnw Ihe tender, limid m.iid
Flew trembling to ibe kindly shade,
Re^igii'd a form, alas, too fai',
And grew a verdaut laurel there ;
Whos ha- es. wilh sympathetic Ihrill,
In lenor -eem'd to Ireiiibie still !
The g'd I u su"d, with wins'd desire;
And when his hopes were ;ill on fire,
And when to clasp the n\nip!i he thought,
A lif.le-5 iree wa- all he caught ;
And, stead of si2;hs that pleasure heaves.
Heard but the west-wind in the leaves I
But, pause, my soul, tio more, no more —
Eu'husiast, wbilber do I soar?
This sweeily-mad'ning dicm of soul
Hath hurried me bevond the goal.
Why should I sing The mighty darts
Which fly to wound celes lal hearts.
When ah. the song, wiih sweeter tone,
Can tell the darts that wound my own ?
This hymn to Apollo is supposed not to have been
written by Anacreon ; and it is undoubtedly rather a
sublimer flight than Ihe Teian wing is accustomed to
soar. But, in a pnet of whose works so small a pro-
portion has reached us, diversity of style is by no
means a safe criterion. If we knew Horace but as a
satirist, should ^^e easily believe there could dwell
such animation in his lyre? Suidas 5.iys that our pnet
wrote hymns, and this peihap^ is one of them. We
can perceive in what an alleied and imperfect stale
his works ai-e at present, when we find a scholiast
upon Horace citing an ode from the third book of
Anacreon.
And how the tender^ timid maid
Flew trembling to the kvitdly thade, ^c."] Origin-
al :—
To /lev EKTTttfilVyS KZVTpOV,
1 6nd the word kivtoov here has a double force, as
it also signifies that 'omnium pireutem, quam saiic-
tus Numa, &c. &c." (.See Martial.) In order to con-
firm this import of the word here, those who are
curious in new readings, may place the stop after
^vfftwj, thus; —
To fitv tKirE<l)tvyt Ktvrpov
i'vasuiSj J' apittipe fiop^ptiv.
Still be Anacreon. still in-pire
Tbe d scant of the Tean lyre:
Still lei ihe nec'at'd numbers float,
Disilling love in eveiy noie 1
And »i hen some you h, whose g'owing loul
H.s leh the Pai^hiau star's
WIeii he tie liquid lay^-h.ll lit
His lieut will flutter to his ear.
And drinking there of song (iivi
Banquet oii'inlellectual wine!
Still be Anaa-eon, still inxpire
The dacaiit cf ihe Temu lyrr:^ The original is
Tov Afa/cp£0V7-a fjitfiov, I Imve translated it under
Ihe supposition thai Ihe hymn is by Anacreon; though,
1 fear, fr.-m this very line, that his claim 10 it can
scarcely be su| poiltd.
Tov AvaKoiovra fiifiov^ "Imitate Anacreon."
Such is Ihe lesson given us ly Ihe Ivrist; and if, in
poetry, a simile elegmce r f sentimeut, eiriched by
the most pl -yful feliciiies nf fancy, be a charm which
invi'es or deseives imitation, where shall we find
such a guide as Aiacieon? In molality, loo, with
some little reserve, we need iml blush, i think, to
folbiw in his foolsteps. Kor if his s- ng te ihe lan-
guage of Ins heart, thi ugh lu.xurmus and relaxed, he
uas artless and benevolent; and who wou'd no' for-
give a few irregularities, when atoned fi-r by virtues
so rare and so endearing? When we think of the
sentiment in those lines ; —
Away ! I hate thf Blanderoiis dart.
Wliicli flieals to wouiid Ih' unwary heart,
how manv are there in the world, to whom we would
wish to say, Tov Avaxgiovra /ii/ioti!
Here ends the last of the odes in the Vatican MS.,
whose authority hei|is to confirm the genuine aniiquily
of them all. though a few h ve stolen among the
number, which we mav hesi'a'e in altribuiing to
Anacreon. In the lit le essay piefi.-«ed m this transla-
tion. I observed thit H.arnes has quoted this manu-
script incorrectly, relyiigiipon an impeifeci copy of
it, which Isa'C Vossius had taken. I shall just men-
tion two or three instances of this inaccuracy — the
fir>t which occur to me. In Ihe ode of the Dove, on
Ihe words nrtoeio-t cvyKa>,v^'^, he says, ''Vatican
MS. (rtrricm^wv, etiam Pr.siiano invilo:" but the
MS. reads o-nvxaAvi^iu, with a-vc-Ktaa-ui inleilined.
Degen too, on the same line, is somewhat in error. In
the twenty-second ode of this series, line thirteenth,
the MS. h;is Tii-ti) wi h ai interlined, Jiid Barnes im-
putes 10 it the reidiiig of iivIt). In the fifly-sevenlh,
line twelfth, he profi sses to have p.eseived the read-
ing of the MS. AAa.\»;/ui'i) <!' fa arr?;, while the
latter has aAaAij/iivos i' £Jr' avru. Almost all the
other annoiatojs have Iransplan ed these eirojs from
Barnes.
ODE LXI.
Youth's eMdeirii_
Hoary locks def.nm
Bloomy graces, dall
All the flowers of life decay.
harms a-e fled;
y bead ;
The intrusion of this melancholy ode, among tlie
care'ess levities of cir poef, leminds ";S of the skele-
tons which the Egyptians used lo hang up in their
l;anquet-rooms. to inculcate a thought of mortality
even amids' the dissipations of miilli. It it weie not
for the beau y of its nunihers the 'I eiaii Muse should
disown this ode. "Quid habel illius, illius qus spi-
ratat amores ? '
To SInbasus we are indebted for it.
Bloomy sraces, dalliance ^ay.
Ml the flowers of life decay.) Horac t often, with
ODES OF ANACREON.
47
Witherinsf a^e begins to trace
Sad lueniorials o'er my (ace :
Time has >heJ its svvt-etest bloom,
All the future must lie slnoin.
This it isth.t sea me sishii.s? :
Dreary is (he iliought t-f dying I
Lone and di-mal is ihe rn;ul,
Down tn I'luii.'s dark abi^de ;
And, when once llie journey 's o'er,
Ah ! we cm return nu more i
feeling and elegance, deplore-^ the fu^acity of humrin
enjoyments. See hook ii. ode U.; and thus iu the
sucoud episile, book ii. : —
Wi:hei8Mnme
Ana w^iliH fr»i
Tlie baiiquKt'fe
rlh, Uiti Virgil
Dreary is the thmts:ht of dyin^ ! Src] Ueznier, a
libertine Fiench pnet, has written some sonnets on the
approach of dua'h, full of gloomy and liembling re-
pentance. Cb.iulieu, however, supports ni' re consist-
ently the spirit fit the K))icurean pluiosopher. See his
poem, addre>sed lo the Marquis de Lafare —
PluB j'apprache du terme et i
■ je le TcUoute, J:o.
And, when mice the journey '« o'er^
Ah! we can return no more!] Scall^er, upon
Catullus's well-known lines, "Qui nunc it per iter,
&c.," remarks, that Acheron, with the same idea, is
cr.Iled avElo6oS by Theocritus, and ^va-iKd^Ofio^ by
Nicander.
ODE LXII.
Fill me, boy, as deep a dransibt,
As eVr was till'd, as e'er was quaff'd !
But let the water amplv finw.
To cool the grape's inlcn^perate glow ;
Let not the fiery ^od be single,
But with Ihe nymphs in uni:.n mingle.
For though tlie bowl 's the grave of sadness,
Ne'er let it be (he birth of madness.
No, banish from our board to-niglU
The revelries of rude delight j
This ode consists of two fragments, which are to be
found iit Athenieus.book x., and which Barnes, from
the similarity of their tendency, has cnmbined into
one. I (hink tht^ a very jusiihable liberty, and have
ad' pted i( in some other fragments of our poet.
Kewn refers us here to veises of Uz, lib. iv., **der
Trinker."
But let lite water anifly flow^
To cool tfie p'ttp'.'i intemperate glow ; ^-c] It was
Amphictyon who (irst taught the Greeks to mix water
with their wine ; in commemoration of which circum-
aarvj* .hey erected altars to Ricchus and the nymphs.
On this mythological allegory the following epigram
is founded :
Ardentem ex u ero Scmelps lavere Lyaeum
NaiH.U-H, exiinrto fijlmiiiis i[,'ii« fatri;
Cum nympliis ijritur trB-tabiliH, at sine nymphis
UaiiUuiili rurHUs fulmine currtpitur.
Pterins P^ala'iamis,
Which is, non verbum verbo, —
While hi-avt-nly fire cnnsum'U hip Thi-bnii ilame,
A Naiml rauKht young Bacchus from the llnme,
And Oipp'J him burniuK in ht-r purest lymph ;
Hence, Htillht? [oven the Naiml's rryslnl iini,
res loo flrrrely burn,
I of the fuuntain-iiymph.
To Scythians leave these wild excesses,
Ours be the joy th^t sonihes and besses !
And while the temperate bowl we wreathe,
In concert let our vi>ices breathe,
Bfi^uilirig eveiy h'njr alone
VViih harmony of soul and song.
ODE LXIII,
To Love, the snfi and blooming child,
I touch the harp in desrant WJIJ ;
To Love, llie liabe of Cyprnn bowers,
The boy, who breithes and blushes flowers;
To Love, for heaven and e;irlh adore him,
And gods and mortals bow before him I
"This fragment is preserved in Cleniens Alexandri-
Dus. Sinun. lib. vi. atid in Arsenius, Collect. Grtec."
— Jiaj^nts.
It appears to have been (he opening of a hymo in
praise of Love.
ODE LXIV.
Haste thee, nymph, uhose well-aimed spear
Wounds Ihe fleeting moi ntain-deer!
Dian. Jove's immnr a! child.
Huntress of Ihe savage wild !
Godde-s with the sun bright hair!
Listen to a people's |ira\cr.
Turn, to Lethe's river turn,
Tht-re thy v.uKiuish'd people mourn!
Come to Lethe's «avy shore,
Tell ibem thev shall mourn no more.
Thine th-ir hearts, their altars thine;
Must they, Dian — must ihey pine?
Thishynm lo Diana is extant in Hepha-sfion. There
is an antTilnte of our poet, which has led souie to
doubt whether he ever wmle any odes of this kind.
It is related by the Scholiast upon Pindar {Isfhminnic.
od. ii. v. I. as cited by RarnesJ that Anacreon being
a-ked, wtiy he addressed all his hymns to women, and
none to the deities? answered, "Because womeu aie
my dei'ies."
I have assumed, it will be seen, in reporting this
anecdote, the smie liberty which 1 have thought it
iit;ht to take in transl.ilint; some of the odes ; and it
were to be wished that Ihe-e little inhdelities were
always allowable in mterpreting the writings of the
ancients; thus, when nature i-. forgotten in theoiiginal,
in the translation " tamen usque recurret."
Turn, tn Lelhe\i river titrvj
There thy vanqiiish''d people monrti !] Lethe, a
river of Ionia, according to Strabo, falling into the
Meander. In its neighbourhood was the city called
Magnesia, in favour of whose inhabitan's our poet is
supposed to have addressed this supplication to Diana.
It was written (as M.idame Dacier conjectures) on (he
occasion of some battle, in which the Magnesiaiis bad
been defeated.
Like some wanton fillv sporting.
Maid of Thnce, thmiflySf my courting,
W.ntonhlly: lelln.euhy ^
think mvdoitii
1 the bri.lhi
And s.
Is nnv
Believe me, sjirl. it is not so;
Thou 'it bud ihisskiHul band car
The reins around that fender fori
However wild, however warm.
48
ODES OF ANACREON.
Yes — trust me I cm lame thy force,
And luin and "ind tliee in Ihe course,
Thrv,i-h, ua.tiii^ now thy carelf>.b hours,
Thou spun amid the herbs aud liowers,
Soon bhall thou feel the rein's continl.
And tiemble at the wished fur goal !
""his nde, which is addre^sc-d to some Thrnci^n ?irl,
s's in Hemchdes, and h.is been iniita'ed very fre-
quently by Horace, as all Ilie aunoiators liave re-
maiked. Madame U.icier rejects the nllegnry, which
s sn obviously through the poem, and supposes ii to
have bt^eii addi'es&ed to a youn? nure heluneing to
Polycrafes.
"'lerius, in the fourth bonk of his Hieroglyphics,
cires this ode, and informs us that the horse was the
hieiogl)phical emblem of pride.
ODE LXVI.
To thee, the Queen of nymphs divine,
Fairest uf all thai fairest slime i
To thee, who rul'st with darts nf fire
This world of mortal?, ynui g Desire!
Ami oh ! Ihou riupliHl Tower, to thee
Who beai'sl ol life the guard .an key,
Breathing my soul in fervent pr^iise,
And weaving wild my voiive lays,
Tor Ihee, O Queen ! i wake the lyre,
For ihee, ihou blushing young Desire,
And oh ! fur thee, thou miplial Power,
Come, and illume this genial hour.
Look on thy bride, too happy bojr.
And while thy lambent glance of joy
Plays over all her blushine: chirms,
Delay not, smtch her to thine arms,
Before the lovely, trembling prey,
Like a young birdling, wing av\ ay !
Turn, Stiatocles, too happy youth,
Dear to Ihe Queen of amorous trulh.
And dear to her, whose yielding zone
Will sonn resign her all thine own.
Turn to Myrdt.^. turn thine eye,
Breaihe to Myrtlla, brea'he ihy sigh.
To those beuiichmg bean'ies turn ;
For l)iee Ihey blujh, for Ihee they burn.
Not more the rose, the queen of flowers,
Oulblushes all the bloom of bovvers,
Than ^he unrivall'd grace discloses.
The sweetest mse. where all aie roses.
Oh ! may the sun. benignant, shed
His blandest influence o'er Ihy bed ;
And foster there an infant tree,
To bloom like her, and tower like thee!
This ode is introduced in the Romance of Theod'Tus
Prodrnnms and is Ihat kind of epithalaniium which
Wrts sung like a scolium at the nuptial banquet.
Among the many wotks of Ihe impassioned Sappho,
of which limeand ignorant superslilion have dep^'ived
us, the loss of her epihalamiums is not one of the
east that we deplore. The following lines are cited
s a relic of one of those poems : —
0A/3tc ya^cfioe. (rot (lev 6t] yauog wj apaOf
EKT£T£\tcrT\ ex^t-S 5^ Tra(id£Vov av apao.
See Scaliger, in his Poetics, on the Epilhalamium.
Jind fofittr there an infant tree.
To bloom like her, andto%oer like thee!] Original
ivnaatTTo^ ic nc<pvKot tmi cvt Ki}nu). Passeratius.
upon the words "cumcastum amisit florem," in the
Nuptial Song of Ca'ulhis. after explaining "fins'' in
eomewh.»t a similar s^ense to that which Gaulminus
iitril)ute8 to (SoiJov, says, " Hor um qu- que vocani in
*luo flos ille carpitur, et Graecis K7]t:ov tort to iiPt)-
I 0aiov yv
I may here remrvrk, in pa-^sing, that the author of the
Greek version of ihis ctiaiming ode of Catullu-, has
neglected a m* s' striking and anacieontic be.iuty in
those verses " Ut flos in seplis, &c.." which is the
repeliti(rn of the line, " IVtuIti ilium pueri, mui'ie rp-
tavere pueli^,' wilh the slight aiter.tion of nuili and
iiullae. Criiuliu-i him elf, however, has been equally
injudicious in his version of the funous ode of Sappho ;
havint; transited yEAtutraS IfiepOLV, but omitted al]
notice of the accnnq-anying charm, itju <ptuVov(7aS.
Horace has caught Ihe tpirit of it mme failhlully :
DuVe
X)uk.
ODK LXVIL
Rich m bliss, I proudly scorn
The ueal h of Amalthea's horn;
Noi should I ask to call the ihrone
Of Ihe Tartessian prii.ce my own :
To lotter through liis train of years,
The vic'im cf decliniig fears.
One little hour ot joy to me
Is worth a dull eternity !
Of the Tartessian prince my cnon ;1 He here al-
ludes to Aiganthon:us, who lived, according to Lucian.
an hundred and fifly years ; and reigned, according to
Herodotus, eighty. See Baraes.
ODE LXVHL
Now Neptune's mrnth our sky deforms.
The angry night-cloud leems wiih stormsj
And s-ivage winds, infuriate driven,
Fiy howling in the face of heaven !
Now, now, my friends, the gathering gloom
Wilh lo-e.ite rays of wine illume:
And while our wreaths of par^ley spread
Their fadeless foliage round our head.
Let's hymn Ih' alm'iuhly jiouerof wine,
And shed libations on his shrine !
This is composed of two fragments; the seventieth
and eiehiy-firat in Barnes. They are both fouud lo
Eustalfaius.
ODE LXIX.
They wove the lotus band to deck
And fan with pensile wrealheach neck;
Ar d every guest, to shade his head.
Three little fragrant ch.iplets spread j
Three fragments form this lillle ode, all of which
are preserved in A'hcnapus. They are the eighty
second, seventy-fifth, and eightythiid, in Barnes.
^7irf every :^cst, to shade his head.
Three little frag ra7it chajilets spread;"] Longc-
pierre, lo give an idea of the luxurio s esiimatinn in
which garlands were held by ilie ancients, relaies an
anecdote of a cour"e-;an, who in ordt-r to ^raufy thiee
lovers, wiihoul leaving cause for jealnu-y with any of
them, gave a kis? to
, let the other di ink after he
and put 3 garland on the brow of Ihe third ;
that
each was satisHed
>elt with the prefe
This circiimstar
ject of one of the
his favour, and flattered hi)
[nbles very much the sub-
rf Savnri' de Maiileon, a
troubadour. See L'Histoire Litteraire des Trouba-
dours. The recital is a curiuus picture of the puenle
gallantries of chivalry.
ODES OF ANACREON,
49
And one was of Ih' Egyptian leaf,
The rest weie r ses, fair and brief;
While frnni a g'lden vase profound,
To nil on (lowcry beds around,
A Hfbe, of celeslinUhape,
Puut'd tJie rich drop^jings of Ihe grape I
ODE LXX.
A broken cake, \vith honey sweet,
Is all my spare and simple treat :
And H hlle a generous bowl I crown
To float my litile banquet down,
I take the soft, ihe amorous lyre,
And sing of love's delicious lire :
In mirthful measures warm and free,
I sing, dear maid, and slug for Ihee !
Complied by Barnes, from Atheuseus, Hepbaestion,
and Ar<>eniu3. See Barnes, SOtb.
ODE LXXI.
With twenty chords my lyre is hung,
And while 1 wake them all for thee,
Thou, O maiden, wild and young,
Disporl'sl in airy levity.
The nursling fawn, that in some shade
Its aniler'd mother leaves behind,
Is not more wantonly afraid,
More timid of the rustling wind !
This I have formed from the eighty-fourth and
eighty-filth of Rarues'd edition. The two fragments
are found in AthensT'Us.
The nursling faioii^ that in some shade
Its aniler'd inothtr leav&s behind^ ^-c] In the
original : —
*0j IV i\T} KCpOEO-fTT/S
AKoXtitpOits iino iJ-tjTgo^,
" Horned" here, undoubtedly, seems a strange epi-
thet; Madame Dacier however observes, ihat Sopho-
cles, Callimachus, &c. have all applied it in the very
same manner, and vhe seems to agree in the ci'njec-
tui-e of Ihe scholiast upon Pindar, ihat perhaps horn?
are not always peculiar to the males. I think we may
with more ease conclude it to be a license of the poet,
*'jussit habere puellam coruua."
ODE LXXII.
Fnre thee well, perfidious maid,
My soul, too long on eirlh delayed,
Delay'd, perfidious girl, by thee,
Is on the wing for liberty.
I fly to seek a Kindlier sphere.
Since thou liast ceas'd to love me here!
This frasnient is preserved by the scholiast upon
Aristophanes, and is tlie eighty-seveuib in Barnes.
ODE LXXIII,
Awhile 1 bloonrd, a happy flower,
Till Love appro.ich'd one f:^tal hour,
And made niv leiider branches feel
The wounds of his avenging s'eel.
Then lost I fell, like some poor willow
That falls across the wintry billow !
This Is to be found in Hepha£s:ion, and is Ihe eighty.
ninth of Larms's edition.
1 have omitted, from among the e scraps, a very
consiileratile fragment imputed to our poet, "Eavdrj d'
F.vi'VnvXr} fieXtt, &.C. which is pieserved In the
twelfth bnok of Aiht naeus, and is the ninety-lirsl in
B.irnes. If it was really Anncrenn who wroie it,
" nil full unquam sic impar sibi." It is In a style of
gross -atire, and ab. unds with expressions th;it never
could be gracefully translated.
ODE LXXIV.
Monarch Love, resistless boy.
of Jov,
Heaven's hue,
With whom the ro-y Q
And nymphs, whose eyes liai
Disporting ireid ihe m^untai:
rrnpitious, oh! receive my sit^hs. '
Which, glowing wi'h entreaty, rise,
Tl'at rhou wilt whis; er to the bieasl
Of her I love thy soft behest ;
And counsel her to It-arn from thee,
That lesson th^u hast liu^ht to me.
Ah! if my heart no flattery tell,
Thou Ml own I Ve ieaiu'd that lesson well I
A fragment preserved bv Dion Chrysostom, Orat
il. de Regno. See Barnes, "93.
ODE LXXV.
Spirit of Love, whose Incks unroIPd,
Stream on the breeze like flnaiing gold ;
Come, within a fragrant cloud
Blushing wi;|) light, thy votaiy shroud ;
And, on those win^s that sparkling play.
Waft, nh, waftmehei.ceauayj
L've ! my soul is full of thee.
Alive to all thy luxury.
But she. the nymph for whom I glow,
The lovely Lesbi.m mocks my woe;
Smiles at the chill and hoaiy hues.
That (ime up^o my forehead strews.
Alas ! I fear she keeps her charms.
In stnre for younger, happ-ier arms !
This fragment, which is extant in Aihf naeus fli^rnes,
101. 1, is supposed, on the au-hority of Chamaileon, to
h.ive been .iddres-ed to S.^ppho. We have also a
stanza attnbutfd to her. which snme romancers have
supposed to be her answer tn Anacreon. *' Mais par
malheur (as B.iyle says), Sappho vint au monde envi-
ron cent nu >ix vii.gt ans avai.t Anacreon." — JVou-
vtlles de la Jiep, des Lett. tom. ii. de Novembre, I6S4
The f.>IIowing is her fragment the compliment of
which is finely imagined ; she supposes that the Muse
has dictated the verges of Anacreon : —
Kttvov, to xpv<roOpo
'TfivoVf EK Ttjq KaAAiyv
ll(itcCv<; ayavos-
Mo
I hymn of
But, O-KJdi-ss from
•Ihe nw.flvHl lijmn
Ue lately learu'U i
on efMen ttironi',
wjtohine •"O'*
laitchl liy Ihep;
hv ihroiif of gold.
ODE LXXVL
Hither, gentle Mu<e of mine,
Come and teich thy vo<ary old
M^ny a golden hymn divine.
For the nymph u iih vest of gold.
50
ODES OF ANACREON.
Pretiy nvmph,of tender age,
Fair tiiy silky locks unfold ;
Lisien to a ho.iry s.i2;e,
Svveete* maid with vest of gold 1
Formed nf the 121th and llOih fiasrments in Barnes,
both of which are to be found in Sc Niger's Poeiics.
De Pauvv thinks that those delaclied lines and
couplets, which Scali^er has adduced :'8 examples in
his Poetic?, are by uu uieaus au.hentic, but of bis own
fabricatiou.
ODE LXXVII.
Would that I were a tuneful lyre,
Of buriiish'd ivory fair,
Which, in the Dinnysian choir,
Some blooming boy should bear!
Would that I were a golden va.se,
That some bright nymph might hold
My spotless frame, with blushing grace,
Herself as pure as gold !
This is genenlly inserted among the remains of
Alcseus. Some, however, have attributed it to Ana-
creon. See our poet's twenty-iecond ode, aad the
notes.
ODE LXXVIII.
When Cupid sees how thickly now,
The snows of Time fall o'er my biow,
Upon his win? of g-lden lis^ht.
He passes with an eaglet's flight,
And iiiftiiig onward seems to say,
" Fare thee well, thou 'st had thy day ! "
See Barnes, 173d. This fragment, to which I have
taken the liberty of adding a turn not to be found in
the origini., is ci'ed by Lucian in bib short essay on
the Gallic Heicules.
Cupid, whose lamp has lent the ray,
That lights our life's meandering way,
That God, within this bosom stealing.
Hath waken'd a strange, mingled feeling,
Which pleases, though so sadly teasing,
And teases, though so sweetly pleasing I
Barnes, I25th. Thia is in Scali;er's Poetics. Gail
has omitted it in his collection of fragments.
Let me resign this wretched breath,
Since now remains to ine
No other balm than kindly death,
To soothe my misery 1
This frasment is extant in Arsenius and Hephaes-
tion. See Barnes (69th), who has arranged the metre
of il very skilfully.
I know thiu lov'st a brimming measure.
And art a kindly, cordial host;
But let me fill and drink at pleasure —
Thus 1 enjoy tlie goblet most.
Barnes, 72d. This fragment, which is found in
Athenseus, contains an excellent lesson for the vota-
riea of Jupiter Hospitalis.
I fear thr^t love disturbs my rest.
Vet feel not love's impasiou'd caie;
I think there's madness in my breast,
Vel cannot liud that madness there !
jnd in Hepha?slion (see Barnes, 65th), and re-
s one somewhat of the following : —
ill et amo; qnare id faciHOi fortase*; requiris;
ItBtio: Bfd fieri scntio. et excrucior. Carm. 63.
, but cauQut tell why.
Fmm dre;id Leucidia's frowning steep,
] 'II plunge into the whitening deep ;
And there lie cold, to death res;gii'd,
Since Love intoxicates my mind !
This is also in Hephasstion, and perhaps is a frag-
ment of some poem, in which Anacreon had coni-
memoraled the fate of Sappho. It is the I23d of
Mix me, child, a cup divine,
Crys'al water, ruby wine :
Weave the frontlet, richlv flushing,
O'er my wintry temples blushing.
Mix the brimmer— Love and I
Shill no more the contest try.
Here — ujion this hdly bowl.
1 surrender all my soul !
Collected by Barnes, from Demetrius Phalareus a
Eustathius, and subjoined in his edition to (he e
er.ms attributed to our p' et. And here is the last
those litile scattered (loweis, which i though; I mi;
venture with any grace to transplant; — happy i{
could be Slid of the garland which they form. To
CU^' AvaKp£OVTOS.
Among the Epis:rams of the Anthniogia, are found
some paneg} rics on Anacreon, which I had tramla'ed
and originally intended as a sort of Coronts to this
work. But I found upon consideration, that they
wanted variety ; and that a frequerit recurrence, in
them, of the same thought, would render a collection
of such poems uninteresting. I shall take the liberty,
however, of subjoining a few, selected from the num-
ber, that I may nnt appear to have totally neglected
those ancient tributes to the fame of Anacreon. The
four Epigrams which I give are imputed to Antipater
Sidonius. They are rendered, perh.ips, with too much
freedom ; but designing originally a translation of all
that are extant on the subject, I endeavoured to enliven
their uniformity by sometimes indulging in the liber-
ties of paraphrase.
ANTinA'l'POY ZIAQNIOY, EIS ANAKPE-
ONTA.
eAAAOI TtTpa/copv/i&of, Ava/cptov, a^0t di
&Spa rt XzLfiinviDv nopfftvpcutv ffcraXa"
nijyai 6* anyivoivTO^ ava9Xt6oLVTo ya^aKTOJ,
cvoj^i^ d' ano y:;? i)dv X^Otro {if-Gv,
oi^pa Kt TOi (T-noHTj it Kai ocrrza rto-'piv ap£Tat,
u ^t riq (pOifiEvoi^ ;^pt^ffT£Tat £tj0foo-vvo,
0) TO i^tXov arsplas, 4>ikt, fiap6i.Tov, w cvv ootffa
iravTa 6ian-Acoo-«s Kai<rvv tpmrt (3iov.
ODES OF ANACREON.
51
Around the "omb, oh, bard divine 1
Where' snfi thy hallow'd brow reposes,
Long may the de.ithtess ivy twine,
And buiiiuier s|irea(l her waste uf ruses !
And ihere sliall nianv a fnunt disUl,
And many a rill refresh the liowera;
But wine sliall be each pmple lilU
And every Tount be milky showers.
Thus, shade of him, whom Nature taught
To tune his lyre and soul to pleasure.
Who give to love his lenderesi Ihought,
Who give to love bis fondest measure,—
Thus after death, if shides can feel,
Thou miy'si, from odours round thee streaming,
A pulse of pisi enjoyment steal,
And live again m blissful dieammg!
Antipa er Sidouius, the author of this epigram,
lived, according to Vos-iius, de Poetis Gracis, iu the
second year of the 169th Olympiad. Heappears, from
what Cicero and Quintilim have said of htm, lo have
bet-n a kind of improvisatore. See Institut. Orat. lib.
X. cap. 7. There is nothing more known respecting
this poet, except some particulars alwut his illness and
death, which are menilnned as curinus by Pliny and
olhers;— and there remain of his works but a few
epigrams in the Anlholusiai an^'*"? v^hich are feu nd
Ihese inscriptions upon Anacrenn. These remains
have been sometimes imputed to another poeti of the
same nmie, of whom Vossms gives us the following
account :—Antiparer Thes-alonicensis vixit tempore
Augusii Caesari", ut qui saltantem viderit Pyladem,
sicut constat ex quodam CjUS e[*igrammate Av9oXo-
ytas, lib. IV. tit. Eiq ogx^-^'^P'-^'^S- At eum ac Ba-
ihyllum primos fuis e pmtommtns ac sub Augusto
claruisse, satis rjoluni ex Dioue, &c. &c."
The reader, who ihinks ir worth observing, miy
find a strange oversight in Hotlman's quopaiiou of Ihis
article from Vo^grus, Lexic.Univers. By the omission
of a sentence he has ina.Ie Vossius as^eri that the poet
Antipaler was one of the tirst panioiuime dancers in
Home.
Barnes, upon the epigram before us, men'ions a ver-
sion of it by Brodsus, which is not to be found in
that commentator; but he more than once coi. founds
Brodaeus with another annolatnr on the An'holngia
Vinceniius Obsopccus, who has given a translation of
tlie epigram.
TOY AYTOr, EIE TON ATTON.
TYMBOE Ava<pt.iovTos- f> Ttjio? ivOadt kvkvos
AxfiTiv Xlloloivti /ttAc^ETQi afKpL ]iaOv\\<a
"l^cpa* Kai KKTcrov AevKog odwdt XtOos-
Ovd' Ai67}iarot tQutras a-!: i(t6c<t^v,£V 6* Ax^povT os
Here steeps Anacreon, in this ivied shade ;
Here mute in death the Teian sxvan is laid.
Cold, cold that heait, which while on earth it dwelt
All the sweet frenzy of love's passion felt.
the Teimi swan is laid.} Thus Horace of
Pindar : —
MuItQ Dirraeum levat aura cycnum.
A swan was the hieroajlyphical emblem of a poet.
Anacreon has been called the swan of Teos by an-
other of his eulogists.
EV TOiJ [ItXiXpOl^ ']fltpOl(Tt O-VVTOO^OV
Avato5 AvaKQiovTa, Tijtov kvktov,
Kff^ijAas iiypij vcfcrapoj fiEXTjfovTf.
EvytvovSt AvOoXoy.
And yet, oh. Bard I thou art not mute in death,
Still do we catch thy lyre's luxurious breath j
And still thy songs of soft Haihylla bloom,
Green as ihe ivy round thy nmuldering tonib.
N'lr yet has death obscui'd thy tire of love,
For ptill it lights thee through the Elysian grove;
Where dreams are thine, that bless th' elect alone,
And Veuu!) calls thee even 4n death her own 1
Gnd of the grape*, thou hast belray'd
III wiriL-'a bt-'wildencig tlrt^am,
The fairesl swan that ever play'd
Aluiig Ihe Muse's slream 1 —
The Teian, nurs'cl with all those boney'd boys,
The yuuug Deoires. Itglit Loveti, and ruse-lipp'd Joytl
Still do we catch thy lyre*s htxitrioits brtath;}
Thus Simonides, speaking of our poet : —
MoXinjg 6^ ov Xtj^tj /iEAtTcpTreo? aXX' tTt Keivo
UapjStrov ov6t ^■avuiV ivvacrtv tiv atdr}.
LifiovidoVf AvOoXoy.
Not yet are all hia numbers mule,
Though Unik within the tomb he lies;
But liviiiK Nlill. hiN amoruus lule
With blet-plesy animation sighs!
This is the famous Simonides, whom Plato styled
*' divine." though Le Fevre, in l»is Poetes Grecs, sup-
poses that the epig ams under his name are all falsely
impuled. T he most considerable of his remains is a
satirical pnini upon women, preserved by Stobxus,
xpoyos yvvaiKuiV.
VVe mayjudie from the lines I have just quoted,
and the import of the epigram before us, that the
works of Anacreon were perfect in Ihe limes of Simo-
nides and Anlipa'er, Obsopceus, the commentator
here, ajpears to exult in their desiruction, and telling
us they were burned by Vie bishops and patriarchs, he
adds, "nee iane id nec«iuicciuam feceiunt," attnbuiinj
to this outrage an eiiect which it could not possibly
have produced.
TOY AYTOY, ElZ TON AYTON.
s.FJS E, ra(f)ov napaXiTov AvuKptiovTos aXupuiV^
El Tt Tot tK (iipiXuv TiSeev tixwv otpaos,
T.nua-ov tfit] (jno6n}t (ttiektov yavoj, o0pa Ktv
Oo-TEa y't]Ot}aE ra/ia voTt^oftsvat
'Sl<; b Atovuo-ov ii£iu\7]fiEvos ovaa-t Kujfios^
'52 6 (piSaKprjTov avvTpv<l)og A,piiovtT)S,
Mrjdt. KaTa0(Jt/t£Vos IJaK;\;ov ^ixa tovtov i/Tzota-ui
'VOV yiVtJj //CpOTTUJV X'^po'^ o(l>Et.\oit,ivov.
Oh, stranger! if Anacrenn's shell
Have ever taught thy heart to suell
With passion's throb or pleasure's sigh,
In pity turn, as wandering nigh.
The spirit of Anacreon is supposed to utier these
verses from Ihe tonib, — somew hat " niutatus ab illo,"
at least in simplicity of expression.
if AnacreorCs shell
Has ever taught thy heart to swell, ^c] We may
guess fn ni the wor.Is £K /3i/Mu*v tfimVy that Anacreon
was not meiely a writer of billets-doux, as some
French critics have called him. Amongst these Mr,
(,e Fevre, wiih all his piofessed admiration, has
given our poet a character by no means of an elevated
cast : —
AushI c'eal pour cela que la posterile
L*a toujoura justenienl d'age en age chanle
Comme un franc gogueiinrd. ami de &oiiifrerie»
Ami Uc billets-doux et de badinerie.
' 52
ODES OF ANACREON.
And drop thv goblet's richest tear
In lettdeiest'libaticn here!
So si all my sleening ashes thrill
\Vi:h visions of enjoyment still.
Not even in dea'h can I resign
The fest.l joys that once were mine,
When Harmony pursu'd my ways,
And Bacchus wmtnu'd to my lays.
Oh ! If lieli^jht could charm no more,
If all the goblet*^ bliss were o'er,
When faie had once our doom decreed.
Then dying unuld be death indeed j
Nor coulc I think, unblest by wine,
Divinity itself divine 1
See the verses prefixed to his Poetes Grecs. This is
unlike the language ol Theocritus, to whom Anacreon
is indebted for the following simple eulogium : —
FAZ ANAKPE0NT02 ANAPIANTA.
£5 VIK.OV tvQri%-
Qacrai tov avdfuavTa
cnovSa, kul Aty', ti
It^oaStisSt ;^;cuTt rots
tgtLS aTQiKeui^ o\ov tov avd^a*
Upon the Statue of Anacreon.
Stranger '. who near (his etalue chance to roam.
Let it awhile your ttludmus eyeu engage;
That you may say, returning to yniir home,
" I 've seen the image of the Teian sage,
Best of the bariJii who deck the Muse'o page.'*
Then, if you add, "That Htnplmgs lov'il him well,"
You tell them all he waa, and aptly telt.
I have endeavoured to dn justice to the simplicity of
this inscription by rendering it as literally, 1 believe,
ts a verse translation will allow.
jSnrf drop thy gobleVs richest tear, ^c] Thus
Simonides, in another of his epitaphs on our poet: —
Kat fitv atL Tcyyoi vorto-q 5f)ocroj, 1)5 6 ycpatoj
AapoTEpov fiaXaKuiv tirvtzv zk o-To/iaTujj;.
Lei vinee, in rluslering beauly wreath'd.
Drop all their treasures on his head.
Whose lips a dew of eweetiiess brealh'd,
Richer than viue hath ever fltieU \
And Bacchus wantmVd to my lays^ 8,-c.] The
original here is corrupted, the line di^ 6 Aiovvcov.
&.C. is unintelligible.
Brunck's emend it ion improves the sense, but I
doubt if it can l)e conimenieJ for elegance. He reads
the line thus: —
&S 6 AiuiVV<Toio X£Xrt(j;tcvoj ovrrort jccu/toit
See Brunck, Analecta Veter. Poet, Graec. vol. ii.
TOY AYTOY, EIE TON AYTON.
EYAEIE tv (f)difi£voi.(nVt AvaKpsov, ca-QXa irovij-
era?
tidti (5' ^ yXvKEpr} vvKTiXaXo^ KtOapa,
tidtt Kat Zpt£p6LS^ TO UoOov tap, u> uv ficXt<rd(aVt
(iap(it.T\ avaKpovov veKrng tvapfioviov.
riiOfsiv yap KpwToj c^vs (tkouo';- £$ Ci at fiowov
Tola Tt Kat. ffKoAtaj £(,\'£v iKijfioXias.
At length thy golden hours have wing'd their flight,
And drowsy death that eyelid steepeth;
Thy harp, fliat whisper'd (hrough each liogering
night,
Now mutely in oblivion sleepeth 1
Thy harpy that whispered through each Imstring
night, t^c.J in another of these poems, '* the nightly'
She too, for wnom that harp profusely shed
The purest neclarof its numbers,
She, the young spring of thy desires, hath fled,
And wilh her blest Anacreon slumbers !
Farewell ! Ihnu hadVapulse for every dart
That mighty Love could scatter from his quiver ;
And each new beauiy found in thee a heart.
Which thou, with all thy he.trt atid soul, didst give
her !
(1)5 (5 <pL\aKp7}To^ Tt Kai oivopapT}^ ^iXoKw/ioy
navvvxtos Kpovoi ^ ttjv 0tAorrat^rt x^^''^'^'
Ziiiuivtdov, us AvaKptovTU,
To beauty's smile and wine'o delight.
To joys he Inv'd on earth so well.
Still hthnll his Hi^irit. all (he night,
Attune the wild, aerial shell 1
She, the young spring of thy desires, .^c] The
original, to no9uiV tap, is beau'ifut. We regret that
!>uch praise should be l.vished so preposterously, and
feel th.i! the poefs mislress Eurypyle would have de-
served it bet'er. Her name has been lold us by Melea-
ger, as already quoted, and in another epigram by
Aniipater.
tjypa (?£ StpKOfiEvoia-tv tv ofLfiao-iv ovXov atidoiSj
at9vc<Tujv Xiiraprfs av9os i'TTtpOt KOfiTj^f
7}C TTpos EvpvKvXijv TtTpafifitvoi . , • .
Long may the nymph around thee play,
Eurypyle, thy kouI's deeire,
Backing her beautiea in the ray
That lighta thine eyes' dissolving fire'
The expression here, av9os Kofirjg, " the flower of
the hair," is borrowed from Anacreon himself, as
appears by a fragment of the poet preserved in Sto*
basus : A7r£K£ipas d' &iTaXT]S afio^ov avOoj.
The purest nectar of its numlers, Sfc] Thus, says
Brunck, in the prologue to the S itires of Persius : —
Caiitare credaa Pegaeelum nectar.
" Melns" is the u?ual reading in this line, and Causa-
bf)n has defended it j but "nectar" js, I think, much
more spirited.
Farewell ! thou had^st a pulse for every dart, <5-c.]
tr}>V£ o-Konos, "scopu-erasn.ttura," not "speculator,"
as Barnes very falsely interprels it.
Viiicentius Obsnpceus, upon Ibis passage, contrives
to indulge us with .1 little a^trnlogical wisdom, and
talks in a style of learned scandal about Venus, ** m:ile
posila cum Marte in domo Saturni."
And each new heavty found in thee a heart, ^c]
This couplet is not otherwise wnrranied by the origi-
nal, ihan as it dilates the thought which Antipater has
figuratively expres'^ed.
Criijas, of Athens, pays a tribute to the legitimate
gallantry of Anacreon, calling him, with elegant con-
ciseness, yvvuLKUiV Tjntpontviia.
Tov dc yvvuKtidiV fitXtaiv irXilavra ttot' tuflag,
'H6vv AvaKpttovra^, Tfujj £ts 'EAAaJ* avr/ycv,
T>Vfinoo-iov tpiOtu (la , yvvaiKuiV rjntporrzvfjLa,
t Brunck has Kpoviuv ; hut Kpovoi, the common
reading, better suits a detached quotation.
^ Thus Scaliger, in his dedicalory verses to Ron-
sard;—
Blandus, BuavilnquuB, dulciA Anacreon.
jtave to Greece her trcnsure,
Ua^e Aiiacreon, Huge in loving;
FuiiJly weaving lays of [ileasuie
For the niaiils who blut:h'd ai>[>roTing.
When ill nightly hanqueta flrorting,
Where's Ihe guent could ever fly him'
Whfu with love'a Beilui-tion courting,
Where 'b the n> inph could e'er deny hln
JUVENILE POEMS.
PREFACE DT THE EDITOR.'
The Poems which 1 take the liberty of publishing,
weie never iiileiideJ tiy Ihe author to pass beyond Ihe
c.rcle of his I'neiidt. He thought, wiih some justice,
Ihal what .ire called Occasiojial Poems must be always
insipid and uninteresting to the greater pari of their
leaders. The particular ^ituitions in which they were
wrilte;i ; the chiracler of Ihe author and of his asso-
ciates ; all these peculiarities must be known and lelt
before we can enter into the jpirit of such composi-
II .ns. This consideration would hive always, 1 be-
lieve, preveuiel Ihe author himself Irom submitting
these trifles to Ihe eye iif dispassionate crilicism : and
if their posthumous iniroduciion to the world be '
Ihe advantage of the latitude vvbich the moralj of those
times so criminally allowed to Ihe paesioDs, All this
depraved his imagination, and m.ide it ihe slave of his
senses. But still a native sensibility is oflea very
warmly perceptible; and when he touches the chord
of pathos, he reaches iminedialely the hiarl. They
who have fell the sweets of retuin to a home from
which they have long been absent will couless Ihe
beauty of those simple uuatVecled lines ; —
O quid Bolulin est beatius rurist
Cum mens onus re|>oi>iI, ac peregrine
Labore renal veuimiis Lfirem ad Dostruio
Desidernloque act{ui«sciiDiis Icctn.
His
1 the death of his brntlier are Ihe very
tice to his memory, or intrusion on the public, the ,ears of poesy ; and when he complains of the i.igrat
be imputed to the injudicious pailiality of ^^^^ ^f mankind, eien the inenperienced cannot but
friendship.
Mr. I.ittle died in his one-and-twentieth year; and
most of these Poems were written at so eariy a period
that their eirors may lay claim to some indulgence
from the critic. 'I heir author, as unambitious as in-
dolent, scarce ever looked beyond Ihe moment of com-
position ; but, in general, wrote as he ple.ised, careless
whether he pleased as he wrote, li may likewise be
remembeied, that they were all the productions of an
age when ihe passions very ofen give a colouring too
warm to the imagination ; and this may pilliate, if it
cannot excuse, thai air of levity which pervades so
many of them. The " aurea legge s'ei piace ei lice,"
he too much pursued, and too much inculcates. Few
can regiel this more sincerely than myself; and if my
friend had lived. Ihe judgment of riper years would
have cluslened his mind, and tempeied the luxuriance
of his fancy.
Mr. Little gnve much of his time to the study of the
amatory wrileis. If ever he expected to find in the
ancients that delicacy of sentiment, and variety of
fancy, which are so necessary to refine and animate
the poelry of Love, he was much disappointed. I know
not any one of them who can be regarded as a model
in that style ; Ovid made love like a rake, and Proper-
lius like a schoolmaster. The iiiythological allusions
of the latter are called erudition by his commentators ;
but such ostentatious displav, upon a subject so simple
as love, would be now eseemed vague and puerile,
and was even in his own times pedantic. It is astonish-
ing that so many critics should have pieferred him to
the genlle and touching Tibullus ; but those defects, 1
believe, which a common reader condemns, have been
regarded rather as beauties by th'ise erudite men, the
commentators; who find a field for their ingenui'y
and research, in his Grecian learning and quaint ob-
scurities.
Tibullus abounds with touches of fine and natural
feeling. ') he idea of his unexpected return to Delia,
"Tunc veniani subito,"^ &c. is imagined with all Ihe
oelicate ardour of a lover ; and the sentiment of " nee
te posse carere velim," however colloquial Iheexpres.
Bion may have been, is natural, and from the heart.
But t'-le poet of Verona, in my opinion, possessed more
genuine feeling than any of them. His life « as, I be-
lieve, unfortunate ; his associates were wild and aban-
doned ; and Ihe warmth of his nature took too much
palbi
1 endeavou
those beauties
ere a poet ; I should
to catch, by tianslation, the spirit of
vhich 1 have alnays so warmly ad-
seems to have been peculiarly the fate of Calul-
that the better and more valuable nail of his poe-
try has not reached us; for there is confessedly nothing
in his extant works to authorise the epithet " doctus,"
so univeisilly bestowed unon him by the ancien's. If
time had sutfered his otiiei vvriiings lo escape, we
perhaps should have found among them some more
purely amatory ; but of those we possess, can there
be a sweeter specimen of warm, yet chastened de-
scription than his loves of Acme and Septiniius ? and
the few little songs of dallinnce to Lesbia are distin-
guished by such an exquisite playfulness, that they
haye always been assunud as models by the most ele-
gant modern Litini^ts. Still, it must be confessed, iu
the midst of all these beauties,
— — — Medio de fonte lepornm
Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis lloribue aDeat.4
It has often been remarked, that Ihe ancients knew
nothing of gallantry; and we are sometimes told
there was loo much sincerity in their loye to allow
them to trifle thus with the semblance of passion.
But I cannot perceive that ihey were any thing more
constant than Ihe moderns : they felt all the same dis-
sipation of the heart, though ihey knew not those
seductive graces by which gallantry almost teaches it
to be .imiable. Wotton, the learned advocate for the
moderns, deserts them in considering this point of
comparison, and praises Ihe ancients for their ignor-
ance of such refinements. But he seems lo have col-
lected his notions of g.illantry from Ihe insipid
fadeurs of the French roniances, which have no.
thing congeni.al with the graceful levity, the "grata
prolervitas," of a Rochester or a Sedley.
As far as I can judge, Ihe early poels of our own
languase were the models which Mr. Little selecteil
for imitation. To attain their simplicity ("aevo
rarisbima nosiro simplicitas ") was his fondest amlii-
lion. He could not have aimed at a grace more dif-
ficult of attainment ; » and his life was of too short a
1 A portion of the Poems included in this and Ihe
succeeding volume were published originally as the
works of '' the late Thomas Little," with the Preface
here given prefixed to them.
■» Lib. i. Eleg. 3.
» In the folloiving Poems, will be found a trai
tion of one of his finest Carmina ; but 1 fancy it is
only a mere schoolboy's es-ay, and deserves to be
praised for little more than the attempt.
* Lucretius.
» It is a curious illustration of the labour which
simplicity requires, that the Ramblers of Johnson,
"5»"
54
JUVENILE POEMS.
date to allow liim tf> perfect such a taste ; but how far
I'as likely to have succeeded, the critic may judge
from his productions.
1 have found among his papers a novel, in rather
an imperfect slate, w hich, as snoti as 1 have arranged
and collected it, shall be submitted to the public eye.
Where Mr. Little was born, or what is the gene-
alogy of his parents, a'e points in which very few
readers can he interested. His life was one of those
humble streams which have scarcely a name in the
map of life, and the traveller may pass it by without
inquiring its source or direction. His char.»cter was
well known to all who were acquainted with him;
for he had loo much vanity to hide its virtues, and
not enough of art to conceal its defects. The lighter
traits of his mind miy be traced perhaps in his vvrit-
tings ; but the few for which he was valued live only
in the remembrance of his friends. T. M.
TO JOSEPH ATKINSON, ESa.
My dear Sir, — I feel a very sincere pleasure in
dedicating to you the Second Ediuim of our tnend
Little's Pitems. I am noi unconscious thtt there are
many in the collection which perhaps it would be
prudent to have altered or omitted ; and, to say the
truth, I more than once revised them for that pu
pose; but, I know not why, I distrusted either m
heart or my judgment; and the consequence is, you
have them in their original form :
ultae, Fan
I am convinced, however, that, though not quite a
casuiste re/oc/ic, you h^ve charity enough to forgive
such inoftensive follies: you know that the pious
Beza was not the less revered for those sportive Juve-
7tilia which he published under a fictitious name ; nor
did the levity of Rembo'^s poems prevent him from
making a \ery good cardinal.
Believe me, my dear friend,
With the truest esteem,
Yours,
T. M.
JUVENILE POEMS.
FRAGMENTS OF COLLEGE EXERCISES.
Mobilitas sola est atque unica virtus. Juv.
Mark those proud boasters of a splendid line.
Like gilded rufiis, mouldering while they shine,
How heavy sits that weight of alien show,
Like martial helm upon an infant's brow ;
Those borrow d splendours, whose contrasting light
Throws tack the native shades in deeper night.
Ask the proud train who glory's shade pursue,
Where are the arts by which that glory grew ?
The genuine virtues thst with eagle-gize
Sought young Renown in all her orient blaze!
Where is the heart by chymic truth retin'd,
Th* exploring soul, whose eve hath read ni <nkind ?
Where are the links that twin'd, with heavenly art,
His country's interest round the patriot's heart ?
elaborate as they appear, were written with fluency,
and seldom required revision ; while the simple hn-
Euage of Rousseau, which seems to come flowing
frnm the heart, was the slow production of painful
labour, pausing on every word, and balancing every
sentence.
Is there no call, no consecrating cause,
Approv'd by Heav*n, ordain'd by nature's laws,
Where justice Hies the nerald of our w.iy.
And truth's pure beams upon the banners play ?
Yes, there 's a call sweet as an angel's breath
To slumb'ring babes, or innocence in death ;
And urgent as the tongue of Heav'n within,
When the mind's balance trembles upon sin.
Oh ! 'lis our country's voice,whnse claim should meet
An echo in the soul's mos' deep retreat ;
Along the he:irl's responding chords should run,
Nor let a tone there vibrate — but the one !
VARIETY.
Ask what prevailing pleising power
Allures the sportive, wandering bee
To roam, untired, from flower to flower,
He 'II tell you, 't is variety.
Look Nature round, her features trace,
Her seasons, all her changes see j
And ov\ n, upon Creation's face.
The greatest charm 'a variety.
For me. ye gracious powers above !
Still let nie roam, unfix'd and free;
In all things,— but the nymph I love,
I'll change, and taste variety.
But, Patty, not a world of charms
Could e'er estrange my heart from thee ;
No, let me ever ^eek those arms,
There still I '11 find variety.
TO A BOY, WITH A WATCH.
WRITTEN FOR A FRIEND.
Is it not sweet, beloverl youth,
To rove through Erurlition's bowers,
And cull the golden fruits of tru»n.
And gatherFaiicys brilliant flowers?
And is it not more sweet than this.
To feel Ihy p irents' hearts approving.
And pay them back in sums of bliss
The dear, the endless debt of loving ?
It must be so to thee, my youth ;
With this idea, toil is lighter:
This swee'ens all the fruiis of truth,
And makes the flowers of fancy brighter.
The little gift we send thee, boy,
May sometimes leach (by soul to ponder,
If indolence or siren joy
Should ever tempt that soul to wander,
»T will tell thee that the winged day
Can ne'er be chain'd bv man's endeavour;
That life and time shall fade away.
While heav'n and virtue bloom for ever I
SONG.
If I swear by that eye, you 'H allow,
Its look is BO shifting and new,
That the oath I might take on it now
The very next glance v^ould undo.
JUVENILE POEMS.
55
Those babies that nestle so sly
Such thousands of arrows have e^ot,
That aTi oath, od (he trlance of an eye
Such as yours, may be off" id a shot.
Should I sweir by Ihe dew on your lip,
ThoUifh each niomeiit the treasure renews,
If my cnstaiicy ivi>hes to trip,
1 may kiss off the oath when I choose.
Or a si^h may disperse from that flow'r
Bnth the dew and the oath th-it are there;
And I 'd m ike a new vow ev'ry hour,
To lose thein ao sweetly in air.
But clear up the heav'n of your brow
Nor lanijy my failh h a feaiher;
On my heart I will pledge you my vow,
And they both niust be broken together 1
Remember Mm thou leav'st behind,
Whose heart is warmly bound tn thee,
Close as the teiid'rest links can bind
A heart as warm as heart can be.
Oh ! I had long: in freedom rovM,
Though many seemd my soul to share;
»T was f.assion when I thought I lov'd,
'T was fancy when 1 thought l!iem fair.
Ev'n she, my muse's early theme,
Beguil'd me only while she warm'd ;
'T was youn^ desire Ihii fed the dream,
And reason broke what passion form'd.
But thou — ah ! better had it been
If I h»d still in ficedom rov'd,
If I had ne'er thy beauiies seen,
For then 1 never sliould have lov'd.
Then all ihe pain which lovere feel
Had never to this beirt been known ;
But then, the joys that lovers steal,
Should they have ever been my own?
Oh ! trust me, when I swear thee this,
Dearest ! the pain of lo\ in^ ihee,
The very pain is sweeter bhss
Thau p.ission's wildest ecs agy^
That little cage I would not part,
In which my soul is prison'd now,
For the most light and winged heart
That wantons on the passing vow.
Still, my belov'd! still keep in mind,
However far remnv'd from me,
That there Is one thou leav'st behind,
Whose heart respires for only theel
And thnugh ungenial ties have bound
Thy fatt unto another's care,
That arn', which clasps tliy bosom round,
Cancot contiae the heart that's there.
No, no! that heart is only mina
By ties all other ties above,
For 1 have wed it at a shrine
Where we have had no priest but Love,
SONG.
When Time, vcho s'eals our years away.
Shall s'ea! our pleasures 'oo,
The mem'ry of the past will stay,
And half our joys renew.
Then, Julia, when thy beauty's flow'r
Shall feel the wintry air.
Remembrance will recall the hoir
When thou alone wert fair.
Then talk no more of future gloom;
Our jr>\s shall always last ;
For Hope sh"II brighten days to come,
And Meni'ry gild the past.
Come, Chine, fill the genial bowl,
I drink to Love and thee:
Thou never can-t decay in soul.
Thou Ml sill be young for me.
And as thy lips ihe tearnlrop chase,
Which on my cheek they find,
So hope shall steal away the trace
That sorrow leaves behind.
Then fill Hie bowl — away with gloom I
Our joys shall always last ;
For Hope 5hall briehfen days to come,
And Meni'ry gild the j;asl.
But mark, at thoueht of future years
When love shall lose its soul,
My Chloe drops her tinjid tears,
They mingle v^ith my bowl.
How like this bowl of wiue, my fair,
Our lovnig life thall fleet;
Though tears may sometimes mingle there,
The draught will still be sweet.
Then fill the cup — awav with gloom I
Our joys shall always hist;
For Hiipe will brighten days to come.
And Alem'ry gild the past.
SONG.
Have you not *een the timid tear,
Steal trembling fn>m mine eye?
Have you nrt mark'd ihe flush of fear.
Or c.iught the murmurM sigh ?
And Ciin }0u think my \c\e is chill,
Nor fix'd on jou alone ?
And can you rend, by dnuMing still,
A heart so much your own ?
To you my bouI's affections move,
iJevotitly, warnilv tiue;
My life has been a task of love.
One long, long thought of you
If all your tender faith be o'er,
If still my truth you'll try;
Alas, I know but oiie pioof more —
1 '11 bless your name, and die !
REUBEN AND ROSE,
A TALE OF ROMANCE.
The darkness that hung upon Wilhimberg's walls
Had long lieen remembcr'd with awe and dismay;
For years not a sunbeam had play'd in its halls,
And it aeem'd as shut out from the regions of day.
Though the valleys were hriph'en'd by many a beam,
Yet none could Ihe wo. ds of that castle illume ;
And the lightning, which flash'd on the neighbouring
Flew back, as if fearing to enter the gloom I
"Oh ! when shall this horrible darkness disperse!**
Said Willumberg's lord lo the Seer of the Cave; —
" It can never dispel," said the wi7;ird of verse,
"Till the bright star of chivalry sinks in the wave!"
5G
JUVENILE POEMS.
And who was the bright star of chivalrv then ?
\VhrtCt/M/(ibe but Reulien, thefl.w'r of the age?
For Reuben w.is first in the cninbst of men,
Though Youth had bcarce ^vriiten his name on her
For \Villumberff*s daughter his young heart had
berit,—
For R se, who was bii^-ht as the spirit nf dawn,
When v\ith wanl drcppingdiamouds, and silveiy feet.
It 1
alks o'er ihe flo
of the mountain a.ud 1
Must Rose, then, from Reuben sn fatally sever?
Std, 'ad were the words rf the Seer of the Cave,
Thit d:iikness ahouli cover thai c:isile for ever,
Or Reuben be 5uuk iu tiie merciless wave !
To the wizard ^he flow, saying, " Tell me, oh, tell !
Shall my Reuben iin m re be res'or'd to my eyes?"
"Yes, yes— when a spirit shall toll the great bell
Of ttic mouldering aobey, your Reuben shall rise ! "
Twice, thrice he repeated *' Your Reuben shall rise ! "
And RfJ-e felt a mnmeni's release from her pain ;
And wip'd, while she listen'd, the tears from her eyes,
And hop'd iihe might yet see her heio again.
That hero could smile at the terrors of death,
When he felt that he died for Ihe sire of his Rose ;
To the Oder he Hew, and there, piuneine; beneath,
In the depth oi the billows soon found his repose.—
How -strangely 'he order of destiny falls ! —
Not long in the waters the warrinr lay,
WhtTi a suiil)eam w >s seen to glance over the walls,
And the castle of Willumbe.g bask'd ia the ray 1
All, all but the soul nf the maid was in light.
There sorrow and terror Uy elf»omy and blank :
Two dav^ did she wander, and all the long night,
Id quest of her love, on the wide river's bank.
Oft, oft did she pause for the toll of Ihe bell.
And heard but the breathings of night in the air;
Long, long did she Kaze on the wateiy swell,
And saw but Ihe foam oi the white billow there.
And oflen a^ midnight its veil would undraw,
As she lookM at the light of the moon in the stream,
She ihnu^jht M W3S his helmet of silver she saw.
As the curl of the surge glillerd high in the beam.
And now the third ni^ht w,is begemming the sky;
Poor Ro'iC, on ihe cold dewy margenl reclin'd.
There wept till tlie tearalnio:,! froze in her eye,
When — hark ! — 't was the bell that came deep in
Ihe
ind'
Shes'artled, and saw, tliroujh the glimmering shade,
A form o'er the wa'eis in majesty glide;
She knew 't wa> her love, though his cheek was de-
cay'd,
And his helmet of silver was washM by the tide,
Wa-* this whit the Seer of the Cave had foretold? —
Dim, dim through the phantom the moon shot a
gleam ;
n wss Reuben, but, ah ! he wa« deathly and cold,
And fleeted away like the spell of a dieam 1
Twice, thrice did he rUe, and as often she thought
From the bank to embrace him, but vain her en-
deavour!
Then, plunging beneath, at a billow she caught,
And sunk to repose ou its bosom for ever !
'T n a« a new feeling — B->mething more
Than we had dared to own before,
Which then we hid not j
We saw if in each other's eye,
And wtsh'd, in every hilf-breath*d aigh|
T'xpeak, but did not.
She felt my lips' inipassion'd touch —
*T was Ihe first lime I dared so much,
And yet she chid not;
But whi^pei d o'er my burning brow,
•' Oh ! do you doubt 1 love you now ?*
Sweet soul ! I did not.
Warmly I felt her bosom thrill,
1 press'd it closer, closer still.
Though gently bid not;
Till — oh I the world hath seldom heard
Of lovers, who so nearly err'd,
And yet, who did not.
That wrinkle, when first I espied it,
At once put my heart out of pain :
Till the eye, that was glowing beside it,
Disturb'd my ideas again.
When, fading from all tliat is pleasant,
She bids a good night to her sins.
Yet thou still art so lovely to me,
I would S'Oner, my exquisite mother I
Repuse in (he sunset of ihee,
Thau bask in Ihe noon of another.
ON SOME CALUMNIES AGAINST
HER CHARACTER.
Is not thy mind a eentle mind ?
Is not that heart a heart refin'd ?
Hast thou not every gentle grace,
We love in woman's mind and face ?
And. oh ! art thou a shrine for Sin
To hold her hateful worship iu?
No, no, be happy — dry that tear —
Though some thy heart hath harbour'd near
May now repay its love vvilh blame ;
Though man, who ought to shield thy fame.
Ungenerous man, be first to shun thee ;
though all the world look cold upon ihee,
Yet shall thy pureness keep thee siill
Uiiharm'd by ihat surrouiiding chill ;
Like the famed drop, in crystal found,*
Floating, while all was froz'n around —
UnchilPd, unchanging shalt thou be,
Sate in thy own sweet purity.
ANACREONTIC.
"— Iu tacJirymas verterat omne merum.
Tib., Ub. i. e)eg. ft.
Press the grape, and let it pour
Around the biwl its purple show'r;
And, while the drops my g"blet sleep,
I '11 think in woe the clusters weep.
» This alludes to a curious gem, upon which Clau-
dian has left us some very elaborate epigrams. It was
a drop of pure water enclosed within a piece of crys-
tal. See Claudian. Epigram. "deCrvslallo cni .<qua
inerat." Addison meniions a curiosity of this kind at
Milan; and adds, 'Ml is such a rarity a> this that I
saw at Vendome in France, which they there pretend
is a tear that our Saviour shed over Laza'us, and was
gathered up by an angel, who put it itito a little crystal
vial, and made a i)resent of it to Mary Magdalen." —
Addison-s Ucmarks on several Parts oj Italy.
JUVENILE POEMS.
51
Weep on, weep on, my pouting vine !
Heavn israiit na tears, but teais of wii
Weep on ; and, as lliy sorrows flow,
I'li taste the luxuiy ofwoe.
TO
When I lov'd you, I canM but allow
I hail many an eicqulsie minute ;
put the scoru that [ teel tor you now
H.ith even muie luxury m it.
Thus, whether we Ve on or we 're off,
Some witchery seenia to await you ;
To love you was pleasmt enoi;gh,
Aiidj oh ! t IS delicious to hate you
TO JULIA.
IN ALLUSION TO SOME ILLIBERAL
CRITICISMS.
Whv, let the stintless critic chide
With all that fume of vacant pride
Which miiitle> o'er the pedant fool,
Like vapour on a sfagnant pool.
Oh ! if l!ie sone, to feeling true,
Can plea e th' elect, the sacred few,
Whose souls, by T.i-te and Nature taneht,
Thrill with the Keiiuine puUe of thought —
If some fond feeling maid lilte thee,
The warmey'd child of Sympathy,
Shall say, while o'er my simple theme
She languishes in Passion's dream,
" He was, indeed, a lender ^oul —
•* No critic law, no chill control,
*' Should ever freeze, by timid art,
** 1 he flowlngs of so find a heart • "
Vcs, soul of Nature ! soul of L'lve !
That, hov'ring like a snow-wing'd dove,
Brcath'd o'er my crndle warbhngs wild,
And haii'd me Passion's warmest child,—
Grant me the tear from Reauty'a eye,
From Feeling's breast the votive sigh ;
Oh ! let my sotig, my mem'iy, find
A shrine within the 'lender mind:
And f will smile when critics chide,
And 1 will scorn the fume of pride
Which mantles o'er the pedant fool.
Like vapour round some Elagiiaut pool t
TO JULIA,
Mock me no more with Love's beguiling dreanii
A dream, 1 find, illusory as s^eet :
One sniile of friend-hip, nay, of cold esteem.
Far dearer were than passion's bland deceit I
I've heard you oft eternal truth declare;
Your heart was only mine, I once believ'd.
Ah; shall I say that a'll your vows weie air?
And must I say, my hopes were all dectiv'd ?
Vow, then, no longer that our souls are twin'd,
That all our joys are felt with muiua! zeal:
Julia ! — 't Is pity, pity makes yon kind ;
You know i lo've, and you would seem to feel.
But shall I still go seek wphin those arms
k joy in which affectior uikes no part?
No. n?, farewell ! you ^ive me bu' your charms,
WtfkZ 1 had fondly thought you gave your heart.
THE SHRINE,
My fates had destin'd me to rove
A long, long pilgrimage of love;
And many an aitar on my v\ay
Has lur'd my pious steps to stay ;
For, if the saint uas young and fair,
I turn'd and sung my vespeis lhe:e.
This, fiom a youihful pilgrim's fiie,
Is « hat your pretty saints require:
To pa's, nor tell a single bead,
With them would be profane indeed I
But, trust me, ail this young devotion
Was but lo keep my zeai in motion j
And, ev'rv humblet altar past,
I now have leach'd the shrijic at last t
TO A LADY,
WITH SOME MANUSCRIPT POEM3, ON
LEAVING THE COUNTRY.
When, casting many a look behind,
I leave the triends I cherish here —
Pe'Chance some other friends to find,
But burely finding none so dear —
Hapiv the little simple page,
Which votive thus I 've trac'd for thee.
May now and then a look engage.
And steal one moment's thought for me.
But. oh ! in pity let not those
Whose hearts are not of gentle mould,
Let not the eye that seldom Hows
With feeling's tear, my song behold.
For, trust me, they who never melt
With pity, never melt with love;
And such will frown at all I 've felt,
And alt my loving lays reprove.
But if. perhaps, some gentler mind,
Which ritlier loves to praise than Maine,
Should in my pa^e an interest find.
And linger kmdly on my name ;
Tell him— or, oh! if, gentler still,
Rv female lips my n:ime be blest :
For, where do all afleciions thrill
So sweetly as in woman's breast ? —
Tell her, that he whose loving themes
Her eye indulgent wanders o'er,
Could t-nmetinies wake from idle dreams,
And bolder flights of fancy soar j
That Glory oft would claim the lay.
And Friendship off his numt)ers move ;
But whi-'per then, that, " sooth to say,
*' His sweetest song was giv'n to Love I*'
TO JULIA.
Though Fate, my girl, may bid us part.
Our souls it cannot, shall not sever ;
The heait will seek i's kindred heart,
And cling to it as close as ever.
But must we. must we part indeed ?
Is all our dream of rapture over?
And does not Julia's bosom bleed
To leave so dear, so fond a lover?
Does she too mourn ? — Perhaps she may ;
Perhaps she mourns our bliss so fleelinj.
! is beating?
ris
JUVENILE POEMS.
I oft have lov'd thait sunny glow
Oi 5l;idness in her blue eye ^It-aming —
But cm Ihe tosom bleed wiih woe,
While joy IS in the glances beaming?
No, no ! —Yet, love, I will not chide ;
Allhough your heart were f.-nJ of loving,
Nor ihal, iror all the word beside
Could keep your fairhful boy from loviny.
Yuu 'II soon be di ta'it from his eye.
And, With ynu, a!l that 's worth possessing.
Oh : then il will be hweet to die.
When life has lost its only blessing I
TO
Sweet lady, look not thus affain :
Those bright deluding smiles recall
A maid runieruber'd now with pain.
Who was my love, my life, my all !
Oh ! while this heart bewilder'd took
S'.veet poison from her ihiiMiugeye,
Thus would she smile, And lisp, and look,
And I would hear, and gaze, and sigh 1
Yes, I did love her— wildly love —
She was her sex's best dfceiver!
And oft she swoie she 'd never rove —
And I was destin'd to believe her I
Then, lady, do not wear the smile
Of one whose smile could thus betray:
Alas I I think the lovely wile
Again could steal my heart away.
For, when those spells that charm'd my mindi
On lips so pure as thine I see,
I fear the heart which she resign'd
Will err again^ and fly to thee I
NATURE'S LABELS.
A FRAGMENT.
In vain we fondly strive to trace
The soul's rertecilon in the face;
In vain we dwell on lines and crosses,
Crooked mouth, or short proboscis ;
Boobies have look'd as wise and bright
As PI I to or the St.igi rite:
And many a s^ge and learned sknil
Has peep'd through windows dark and dull.
Since then, though art do all it c:in,
We ne'er can reach the inward man,
Nor (howsoe'er *' learn'd Thebans" doubt)
The inward woman, from without,
Methmks 'I were well if Nature could
(And Nature cmild, if Nature would)
Some pilhy, short descriptions write,
On tablets large, in black and while,
Which she might ban? about our throttles,
Like labels upon physic-bottles ;
And where all men might read — but stay —
As dialectic
nple
The argument most apt and ?
For common use is the example.
For instance, then, if Nature's care
Had not portray'd. in lines so fair.
The inward s^u! of Lucy I/-nd-n,
This is the label she'd have pinn'd on.
LABEL FIRST.
Within this form there lie? enshrin'd
The purest, brightest gem of niind.
Though Feeling's band may sometimes throw
Upon its chirms Ihe shade of woe,
The lustre of the gem, when veiPd,
Stiall be butmellow'd, not concealed.
Now, sirs, imagine, if you're able,
That Nature wrote a second label,
They're her own word>— at least supp
And boldly pin it on Pouiposo.
LABEL SECOND.
When I compos'd the fustian brain
Of this redoubled Captain Vain,
I had at hand bu( few ingredient':,
And so was forc'd to use expedients,
1 put therein some small discerning,
A gram of sense, a grain of learning;
And when I saw (he void behind,
I fiird it up with — froth and wind I
TO JULIA.
ON HER BIRTHDAY.
When Time was entwining the garland of years,
Which to crown my beloved was given,
Though some of the leaves might be sullied with tears,
Yet the flow'rs were all gather'd in heaven.
And long may this g:irland be sweet to the eye,
May its veiduie Ibr ever be new ;
Young Love shall enrich it with many a sigh,
And Sympathy nurse it with dew.
A REFLECTION AT SEA.
See how, benea'h the moonbeam's smile,
Yon little billow heaves i's breast,
And foams and sparkles for awhile, —
Then murmuring subsides to rest.
Thus man, the sport of bliss and care,
Rises on time's eventful sea;
And, having swell'd a moment there,
Thus melts into eterniiy !
CLORIS AND FANNT.
Cloris! if I were Persia's king,
1 'd make my graceful queen of thee;
While Fanny, wild and artless thing.
Should but thy humble handmaid be.
There is but one objection in it —
That, verily, I'm much afraid
I should, in some unlucky minu'e,
Forsake the mistress for the maid.
THE SHIELD.
Say. did you not hear a voice of death !
And did you not maik the paly form
Which rode on the silvery mist of the heatb.
And sung a ghostly dirge in the stoim ?
Was it Ihe wailing bird of the gloom.
That shrieks on' the house of woe all night ?
Or a shivering fiend that i\cw to a tomb.
To howl and to feed till Ihe glance of light ?
JUVENILE POEMS,
59
T was iwt the denth-bird's cry from Ihe wood,
Nor shivering tiend ilial hung on Ihe blast ;
T was the shade of Helderic — man of blnod —
It screams for the guilt of days that are past.
See, how the red, red ligjhtntng strays,
And ^cares the gliding ghosts of the heath I
Now on rhe leide^s yew it plays,
Where hangs the shield of this son of death.
That shield is blushing with murderous stains;
Long has it hung from the cold yew's spray j
It is bIo\vn tjy storms and wash'd by taius,
But ueither cao take the btood away 1
Oft by that yew, on the blasted field.
Demons dance to the red moon's light ;
While the damp boughs creak, and the swinging
shield
Sings to (he raving spirit of night I
TO JULIA,
WEEPING.
Oh ! if your tears are giv'n to care,
If real woe disturbs your peace.
Come to my bosom, weeping fair!
And I will bid your weeping cease.
But if with Fancy's vision'd fears.
With dre.ims of woe your bosom thrill ;
You look so lovely in your tears.
That I must bid you drop them still.
In slumber, I prithee how is it
That souls are oft taking the air,
And paying each other a visit,
while bodies are heaven knows where ?
Last night, H is in vain to deny it,
Yonr Soul look a fancy to mam,
For 1 heard her, nn tiptoe so quiet.
Come ask, whether inine was at boiiie.
And mine let her in with delight.
And tliey talk'd and they bughd the time through;
For, when souls come together at night.
There is no saying what Ibey niayn^t do I
And your little Soul, heaven bless herl
Had much to complain and to say,
Of how sadly you wrong and oppress her
By keeping her prison'd all day.
** If I hapi>en," said she, " but to steal
*' For a peep now and then to her eye,
"Or, to quiet the fever I feel,
" Just venture abroad on a sigh ;
•* In an instant she frightens me in
" With some phantom of prudence or terror,
**For fear I should stray into sin,
**0r, what is still worse, into error 1
" So, instead of displaying my graces,
*• By daylight, in language and mien,
•* I am shut up in corners and places,
** Where truly I blush to be seen ! "
Upon hearing this piteous confession,
My Soul, looking tenderly at her,
DeclarM, as for grace and discretion.
He did not know much of the matter ;
" But, to-mnrrow. sweet Spirit ! " he said,
" Be at home after midnight, and then
'*I win C">nie when your lady's iu bed,
*' And we'll talk o'er the subject again."
So she whisper'd a word in his ear,
1 sup[K)se to her d lor to direct him,
And, just after midnight, my dear,
Your polite little Soul may expect him.
WRITTEN DURING ILLNESS.
The wisest soul, by anguish torn,
Will soon unlearn the lore it knew;
And when the shrining casket's worn,
The gem within will tarnish too.
But love 's an essence of Ihe soul.
Which sinks not with this chain of clay
Which throbs beyond the chill control
Of with'ring pain or pale decay.
And surely, when the touch of Death
Dissolves the spiril's earihly lies.
Love still attends th' immorl.il breath.
And makes it purer for the skies !
Oh, Rosa, when, to seek its sphere,
My soul shall leave Ihi'^ orb of men,
That love which form'd its treasure here,
Shall be its best of treasures then !
And as. in fabled dreams of old,
Some air-born genius, child of time,
presided o'er each star that roli'd,
And track'd it through its path sublime;
So thou, fair planet, not unled,
Shait through (hy mortal orbit stray;
Thy lover's shade, to thee still wed.
Shall linger round thy earthly way.
Let other spirits range the sky,
And play around each starry gem j
I'll bask beneath fhar lucid eye,
Nor envy worlds of &uns to ihem.
And when that heart shall cease to beat.
And when that breath at length is free,
Theu. Rosa, soul to s^ul we Ml meet,
And mingle to eternity 1
SONG.
The wreath you wove, the wreath you wove
Is fair — but oh, how fair,
If Pity's hand had stoPn from Love
One leaf to mingle there !
If every rose with gold wete tied.
Did gems for dewdrnps fall.
One faded leaf where Love had sigh'd
Were sweetly worth them all.
The wreath you wove, the wreath you wovo
Our emblem well may be ;
Its bloom is yours, but hopeless Love
Must keep its tears fur me.
THE SALE OF LOVES
I dreamt that, in the Paphiari groves,
My nets by moonlrght laying,
I caught a night of wanton Loves,
Among Ihe rose-buds playing.
60 JUVENILE POEMS.
Some just had left their silvVy shell,
I could have lov'd you — oh, so well ! —
While some were full in feather ;
The dream, ihat wishing boyhood knowi,
So nre'ty a lot of Loves to sell.
Were never yet strung logether
Is but a bright, beguiling spell,
That only lives while'patsion glows:
Come buy my Loves,
Come buy niy Loves,
But, when this early flu^h declines,
Ye dames and r'se-lip, 'd misses!
When the heart's sunny morning fleets,
They 're new aud bright,
You know not then how close il twines
The cost is light,
Round (he first kindred soul it meets.
For the coiu of this isle is kisses.
Yes, yes, I could have lov'd, as one
First Cloris came, with looks sedate.
Who, while his youth's enchantments fall,
The coin on her lips was rmdy ;
Finds something dear to rest upon,
" I buy," quolh she, ■• my Love by weight,
" Full giowu, if you please, and steady."
Which pays him for the lo=s of all.
" Let mine be light," said Fanny, "pray —
*'i=uch lasling toys undo one;
"A little light Love that will last to-day,—
*' To-morrow 1 Ml sport a new one."
Come buy my Loves,
Come buy my Loves,
TO
Ve dames and rose-lipp'd misses '. —
Never mind how the pedagogue proses,
There's some will keep.
You want not aniiquity'ss amp ;
Some light and clieap.
A lip, that such fragrance discloses.
At from ten to twenty kissus.
Oh ! never should smell of the lamp.
The learned Prue took a pert young thing.
To divert her virgin Muse with,
And pluck sometimes a quill from his wing
To indite her billet doux wiih.
Old Cloe, whose wilherin? kiss
Hath Ions set the Loves at defiance.
Now, done with the science of bliss.
May take lo the blisses of science.
Poor Cloe would give for a well-fledg'd pair
But for you to be buried in books —
Her only eye, if you 'd ask it ;
And Tabiiha begg'J, old toothless fair.
Ah, Fanny, they 're pitiful sages,
Wtio could not in one of your looks
For the youngesi Love in the basket.
Come buy uiy t/3ves, &c. &c.
Read more than iu millions of pages.
Astronomy finds in those eyes
But one was left, when Susan came,
Better light than she studies above ;
One worth them all toi^eiher ;
And Music would tiorrow your sighs
At sight of her dear looks of shame.
As the melody fittest for Love.
He smilM, and pruned his feather.
She wish'd the hoy — 't was moie than whim —
Your Arithmetic only can trip
Her looks, her sighs betray'd it;
If to count your own charms you endeavour:
And Eloquence glows on your lip
But kisses were not enough for him.
1 ask'd a heart, and she paid it !
When you swear, that you 'U love me for ever.
Good-by, my Loxes,
Good by, my Loves,
Thus you see, what a brilliant alliance
'T would make you smile to 've seen us
Of arts is assembled in you ;—
First trade for this
A course of more exquisite science
Sweet child of bliss.
JIan never need wish to pursue.
And then nurse the boy between us.
And, oh !— if a Fellow like me
May confer a diploma of hearts,
With my lip thus I send \our degree.
My divine little Mistress of Arts !
TO
■
The world had just begun to steal
Each hope Ihal led me lightly on ;
I fell not, as I us'd to feel.
And life grew dark and love was gone.
ON THE DEATH OF A LADY.
No eye to mingle sorrow's tear.
No lip lo mingle pleasure's lireath.
Sweet spirit 1 if thy airy sleep
Nor sees my tears nor hears my sighs,
Ko circling arms to draw me near —
'T was gloomy, and 1 wish'd for death.
Then will 1 weep, in anguish weep.
Till the last hearl's drop fills mine eyes.
But when I saw that gentle eye.
But if thy sainted soul can feel.
Oh ! sonielhing seeni'd lo tell me then,
And mingles in our misery ;
That I was yet too young to die.
Then, then my breaking heart I '11 seal —
And hope and bliss might bloom again.
Thou Shalt not hear one sigh from me.
With every gentle smile Ihat crost
The beam of morn was on the stream.
Your kindlint: cheek, you lighted home
Rut sullen clouds the day deform :
Some feeling, which my'heart had lost,
Like ihee was Ihat young.orient beam,
And peace, which far had leurn'd lo roam,
Like death, alas, ihat sullen storm 1
•T was then indeed so sweet lo live.
Thou wert not form'd for livine here,
Hope look'd so new and F^ove so kind.
So link'd ihv soul was with Ihe sky ;
Thai, Ihnujh 1 mourn, 1 yet forgive
Yet, ah, we held lliee all so dear,
Th'; ruin ihey have left behind.
We thought Ihou wert not form'd to die.
JUVENILE POEMS.
61
INCONSTANCY,
Aod do 1 ihen woiider tliat Julia deceives me,
When surely tlieic's uothiug iu nature ui ore com-
mon ?
She vows In be true and while vowing she leaves me—
Aud could I expect any nioie from a woman ?
Oh, woman ! your heart is a pitiful treasure;
And Mahomet's d clrine was not too severe,
When he held that you were but materials of pie;
sure,
And reason aud thinking were out of your sphere
By your heart, when the fond sighing lover can win i
He thinks ih -t an ige o*" anxiety 's paid ;
But. oh, while he's bt'est, let hmi die at the minute-
If he live but a day^ he '11 be surety betray 'd.
THE NATAL GENIUS.
A DREAM.
TO ,
THE MORNING OF HER BIRTHDAY.
In witching slumbers of the night,
I dreanit I was the airy sprite
That on thy natal moment smil'd;
And thought I wafted on my wing
Those HowVg wliich in Elysium spring.
To crown my lovely mortal child.
With olive-branch I bound thy head,
Heart's-ease alnng thy pa'h I shed,
Which was to bloom through all thy years ;
Nor yet did I forget to birjd
love's roses, with his myrtle t« in'd,
Aud dew'd by &ympathe;ic tears.
Such was the wild but precious boon
Which Fancy, at her ma^ic noon,
Bade me to Noi.a's imaje payj
And were it thus my fate to be
Thy little guardian deity,
How blest around thy steps I 'd play I
Thy life should glide in peace along,
Calm as some lonely shei)herd'8 song
That's heard at distance in the grove;
No cloud should ever dim thy sky,
No thorns along thy pathway lie,
But all be beauty, peace, and love.
Indulgent Time should never bring
To thee one blight upon his wing,
So eeutly o'er thy brow he 'd tly ;
And death itself should but be felt
Like that of daybeams, when they melt,
Bright to the last, in evening'^ &ky 1
ELEGIAC STANZAS,
SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY jrjLIA,
ON THE DEATH OF HER BROTHER.
Though sorrow long !ias worn my heirt ;
Though every day I 've counted o'er
Hath brought a new and quirk'nin^ smart
To wounds that rankled fresh before ;
Though in my earliest life bereft
Of tender links by nature tied ;
Though hope deceiv'd, and pleasure left ;
Though friends betray'd and foes belied ;
I still had hopes — for hope will stay
After (he sunset of delight;
So l.ke li.e s'ar which ushers day.
We scarce can ihiuk it heralds night ! —
X hop'd that, after all its strife,
My weary heart at length should rest,
And, fainting from the wa\es of life,
Find harbuur in a brottjcr's breast.
That brother's breis* was warm with truth,
Was bright v\ith honour's purest ray j
He was the de.ires', gentlest youih —
Ah, why then was he torn away ?
He should havestay'd, have linger'd here
To soothe his Julia's every woe i
He shoi.Id have chas'd each biiier tear,
And not have caus'd those tears lo flow.
We saw within his soul expand
The fruits of genius, nur&'d by taste.
While Science, wilh a fo^t'ring hand,
Upon his brow her chiplet plac'd.
We saw, by bright degrees, his mind
Grow rich in all that m)ke> men dear;
Enlighten'd. social, hi d retir.'d,
In friendship fi.m, in love sincere.
Such was the youth we lov'd so well,
And such the hopes that fate dented ;
We lov'd, but ah ! could scarcely tell
How deep, how dearly, till he' died !
Close as the fondest links could strain,
Twjn'd wilh mv very heart he grew ;
And by that f^Ie which breaks the chain,
The heart is almost broken too.
TO THE LARGE AND BEAUTIFUL
MISS ,
In allnsicm to some Partnership in a Lottery Share
IMPROMPTU.
— Ego para Virt,
In wedlock a species of lottery lies,
Where in blanks and in pnzes we deal ;
But how cnmes it that you. such a capr-al prize,
Should so long have remain'd iu the wheel?
If ever, by Fortune's indulgent decree,
To me ouch a ticket should roll,
A sixieenth, Heav'n knows ! were sufficient for me]
For what could / do with the whole?
A DREAM.
I thought this heart enkindled lay
On Cupid's burning shrine :
I though' he stole thy heart away,
And placM it near to mine.
I saw thy heart begin lo melt,
Like ice before the sun ;
Till both a glow congenial felt,
Aud mingled into one !
TO
With all my soul, then, let us part,
Since botr. are anxious to be free ;
And I xviil send you home your heart.
If you will send back mine to me.
62
JUVENILE POEMS.
We 'v/» had snrae happy hours together,
But joy must often change its wing ;
And sprin» would be bijt glnnmjf utalher.
If we hai nothing else but spring.
*T is not thai I exp^ct to find
A njnre develed, fund, and true one,
With rosier chetk '>r sweeter mind —
Enougli for me that she's a new one.
Thus let us leave the bower of love,
Where we have loilei'd long in bliss;
Ant you may down that pathway rove,
While I shall take my way tlirough thii.
ANACREONTIC,
•* She never look'd so kind before —
" Yet wliy the wanton's smile recall ?
•* I 've seen this w itchery o'er and o'er,
** 'T is hollow, V.Tin, and heartlcLS all !"
Thus I said and, sighing, drainM
The cup which she so late had tasted j
Upon whose rim sill fresh remained
The bieath, so oft in falsehood wasted.
I took the harp, and would have sung
As if n were not of her I sang ;
But still the notes (m Lanii:i hung —
On whom but Lamia cuuld they hang?
Those eyes of hers, that floating shine.
Like diamonds in snme Eas.eru river ;
That kiss, for which, if worlds were mine,
A world for every kiss I 'd give her.
That frame so delicate, yet warmM
Wiih (lushes of love's genial hue ;—
A mould liansparent, as if lorm'd
To let the spirit's light shine through.
Of these I sung, and notes and words
Were sweet, as if the very air
From Lamia's lip hung e'er the chords.
And Lamia's voice still warbled there 1
But when, alas, 1 turn'd the theme.
And when of vows and oaths I spoke,
Of ti-ulh and hope's seducing dream —
The chord beneath my hn^er bioke.
False harp \ false woman ! — such, oh. such
Are lutes too frail and hearis too willing:
Any hand, whatever its touch.
Can set their chords or pulses thrilling.
And when that thrill is most awake,
And when you think Heaven's joys await you,
The nvmph will change. Hie chord will break —
Oh Love, oh Music, how I hate you 1
I saw the peasant's hand unkind
From yonder oak the ivy sever;
They seem'd in very being twin'd ;
Yet now the oak is fresh as ever I
Not 80 the widowM ivy shines :
Torn from its dear and only stay,
Id drooping; widowhood il pines.
And scatters all its bloom away.
Thus, Julia, did our hearis entwine,
Till Fate disturbed their tender lies :
Thus 8fay indifference blooms in Ihine,
While mine, deserted, droops and dies!
HYMN OF A VIRGIN OF DELPHI,
AT THE TOMB OF HER MOTHER.
Oh. lost, for ever lost — no more
Shall Vesper light our dewy way
Alon^ the mcks o| Cnssa's shoie,
Th hymn the fading Hreaofday;
No mo: e to Tenipe's distant vale
In holy musings shall we roam,
Thiough summer's glow and winter's gala,
To bear the mystic cbaplets home.*
'T was then my soul's expanding zeal,
By nature warm'd ai d led by ihee,
In every breeze was laught to feel
The breathings of a Ueity.
Guide of my heart I still hovering round.
Thy looks, thy words are slill my own
I see thee raislnt; from the gmund
Some laui'e', by the winds o'c thrown.
And hear Iheesay, "This humble bough
" Was plan-ed for a doom divine j
"And, though it droop in languor now,
" Shall fluurisb on the Delptiic shrine I
'» Thus, in the vale of e^rrhiy sen-e,
*' Though sunk awhile the spirit lies,
"A viewless hand shall cull il thence.
** To bloom immortal in the skies 1**
All that the young should feel and know,
liy Ihee v\a. laught sosv^eetly well.
Thy words fell s(,ft as vernal snow.
And all was brightness where they felU
Fond soother of my infant tear.
Fond sharer of my infant joy,
Is not thy shade still lingering here?
Am I not still thy soul's employ ?
Oh } es — and, as in former days.
When, meeting on the sacred mount,
Our nymphs awak'd their choral lays
And danc'd around Cassotis' fount ;
As then, 't was all thy wish and care,
That mine should be the simplest mien.
My lyre and voice the sweetest there,
My foot the lightest o'er the green ;
So >>till, each look and step to mould,
Thy gnardi.in care is round me spread,
Arranging every snowy fold,
And guiding every mazy tread.
And, when I lead the hymning choir,
Thy spirit still, unseen and free,
Hovers netween my lip and lyre.
And weds them into harmony.
Flow^ Plistus, flow, thy murmuring wive
Shall never drop its silv'ry tear
Upon 80 pure, so blest a grave.
To meBiot y so entirely dear 1
SYMPATHY.
TO JULIA.
—sloe me sit nulla Venu9. Sv,
Onr hearts, my love, were forir. 'd to be
The genuine twins of Sympathy,
They live with one sensation :
1 The laurel, for the common uses rif the temple, for
adorning the altars and sweeping the pavement, was
supplied by a tree near the fountain nf Castalia;
upon all important occasions, they sent to Tempe for
their laurel. We find, in Pausanius, that this valley
supplied the biaixhes of which the temple was origi-
nally constructed ; and Plutarch says, in his Dialogue
on Music, **'rhe youth who biings the Tempic laurel
to Delphi is always attended hya player on the flute."
AXSa fiTjV Kai rto KaraKOfu^ovTi TTn:.di rt/v 'Vifi-
niKi}v 6a(PvT)V tis AtA^oug napofiapru av\7}T'i)$,
JUVENILE POEMS.
63
lu jny or ^rief, but most in love,
Like chords in uiiiscm tlify move,
And thrill wilh like vibraliou.
How oft I 've fieard Ihee fondly jay,
'Jhy viial imlsi^ sliill cease lo play
When niifieni. more is moving;
Since, no^jf, to feel ;i jny almie
Were worse to ihee than feeling none,
So twiuii'd are we in loving.
THE TEAR.
On beds of snow the moonbeam slept,
And chilly was the midnight gloom,
When by the damp grave Ellen wept —
Fond maid ! it wa» her Lindor's tomb 1
A warm tear guahM, the wintry air
Coiigeal'd It :is it flow'd awa\ :
All night it lay an ice-drop thure,
At niurn it glitter'd in the ray.
An angel, wandVing from her sphere.
Who saw this brighl, this frozen gem,
To duw-ey'J Pily biouaht the tear,
And hung it on her di.idem i
THE SNAKE.
My love and I, the other day,
Within a myrtle arbour lay.
When near us, frnm a rosy bed,
A little Snake put forth iis head.
"See,'" said the maid with thoughtful eyes —
" Yonder the fatal emblem lies !
*' Who could expect such hidden harm
*' Beneath the rose's smiling charm ? "
Never did grave remark occur
Less a-propvs than this from her,
I rose to kill the snake, but she.
Half-smiling, pray'd it might not be.
*' No," said the mnideu — and. alas,
Her eyes spoke volumes, while she said it —
*' Long as the snake is in tlie grass,
" One may^ perhaps. ha\ e cause to dread it :
" But, when its wicked eyes api
''And when we know for wh;
** One must be very siniph
** To let it wound one — duu't you ihink 80 ? "
\hat they wink so,
TO ROSA.
Is the son? of Rosa mute ?
Once such lays inspired her lute I
Never doth a sweeter snng
hte:\\ the breezy lyre along.
When the wind, in odours dying.
Wooes it with enamour'd sighing.
Is my Rosa's lute imstrung?
Once a tale of peace it sutig
To her lover's ;hrobI)ing breast —
Then was he divinely blest !
Ah ! but R'lsa loves no more.
Therefore Rosa's sonp is o*er;
And her lute negleded lies ;
And her boy forgotten sighs.
Silent lute — forgotten lover-
Rosa's love and song are over I
ELEGIAC STANZAS.
Vhcn wearied wretches sink to f-leep,
Ilnw hcaierily soft iheir slumbers lii
low sweet is death tu thnse u ho wiej
To those who weep and long to die!
Saw you the soft and grassy bed,
Where llowreis dtck the green earth'a brewt?
'T is there I wish to l.iy my head,
^T is there 1 wish to slei-p at rest.
Oh, let not tears embalm my tonib, —
None but the dews at twilight given I
Oh, let not sighs disluib the gloom,—
None but the whispering winds of beaveni
LOVE AND MARRIAGE.
Squo brevi verbo fcrre perenne malum*
Htcundus, cieg. vii.
Still the question I must parry.
Still a wayward truant prove:
Where 1 love, I must not marry ;
Where I marry, cannot love.
Were she fairest of creation,
Willi the least presummg mind ;
Learned wi-hout atfectalion;
Not deceitful, yet rehn'd ;
Wise enough, but never rigid ;
Gay, but not too ligliily free;
Clia!,te as snow, and yel not frigid ,
Foud, yet satisfied with me :
Were she all this ten times over,
All that heav'n to eailh allows,
I should be ttjo much her lover
Ever lo become her spouse.
Love will never hear ensbving;
Sumnier g rmei.ts suit him best ;
Bliss itself is not worth having,
If we 're by compulsion blest.
ANACREONTIC.
I filled to thee, lo thee I drank,
I nf.thin^.Iid bnl ilriiik and till;
The bowl bv turns uas bn^lil and blank,
'T was drinking, filling, drinking still.
At length I bid an artist paint
Thy ini ige in this ample cup.
Thai I might see the dimpled saint,
To whom I quafi'd my nectar up.
Behold, how bright that purple lip
Now blushes through the wave at me;
Every rosrate droji I'^ip
Is just like kissing wine from thee.
And still ! drink the more for this ;
For. ever when the draught 1 diain,
Thy lip invites another ki-s,
And — in the nectar flmvs again.
So, liere 's to thee, my gentle dear,
And may that eyelid never shine
Beneath a darker, bitterer tear
Thau bathes it in this bowl of mino:
64
JUVENILE POEMS.
THE SURPRISE.
Chloris, I wear, by all 1 ever swore,
Th.1t from this hour I shall noi love thee more.—
*' Whal ! love no iiime? Oh! why thisaher'd vow?"
Because I caimot love tliee more — Ihau now I
ON HER ASKING THE AUTHOR WHY SHE
HAD SLEEPLESS NIGHTS.
I'll ask the sylph who round thee flies,
And in thy breath hi& pinion dips,
Who suns him in thy radiant eyes,
And faints upon Ihy sighing lips :
I'll ask him where 's the veil of sleep
That us'd to shade ihy looks of light;
And why those eyes their vii^il keep,
When other suns art sunk in night?
And I will S3V — her an^el breast
Has never fhmbbd with guilty sting;
Her bosom is ilie sweete>t nest
Where Slumber could repose hia wing !
And I will say — her cheeks ihat flush,
Like vernal roses in the sun,
Have ne'er by shame been taught lo blush,
Except for what her eyes have done I
Then tell me, why, thnu child of air!
Does slumber from her eyelids rove ?
What is her heart's impassiou'd caie ? —
Perhaps, oh syiph 1 perhaps, 't U Icve.
THE WONDER.
Come, tell me where the maid is found,
Whose heart can love wiihout deceit,
And I will ranne the world around,
To sigh one moment at her teet.
Ohl tell me where 's her sainted home,
V/hat air receives her blessed sigh,
A pilgrimage of years I 'il roam
To catch one sparkle of her eye !
And if her cheek be smooth and bright,
While truth within her bosom lies,
I 'II z^ze upon her morn and night,
Till my heart leave me through my eyet.
Show me on earth a thing so rare,
I 'II own all miracles are true ;
To mike one maid sincere and fair,
Oh, 't is the utmost Heav'n can do !
He con le lor bugie p^on divini. Mauro d*Arcai
I do confess, in many a sigh,
My lips have breath'd you many a lie;
And who, with such delights in view,
Would lose them, for a lie or two?
Nay, — look not thu«, with brow reproving
Lies are, my dear, the --oul of loving,
If hilf we tell the girls were true,
If half we swear to think and do,
Were aught but lying's bright illusion,
This world would be in strange confusion.
If ladies' eyes were, every one,
A*^ lovers swear, a radiant sun.
Astronomy must leave the skies,
To learn her lore in ladies' eyes.
Oh, no — believe me, lovely gir!,
VVhen nature tunis your teeth to pearl,
Your neck to snow, your eyes to Jire,
Your amt'cr locks to golden wire,
Then, only then, can Heaven decree
That you should live for only me.
Or I fur you, as night and morn,
We 've swearing kist, and kissing sworn.
And now, my gentle hints to clear,
For once I'll tell you truth, my dear.
Whenever yru may chance to meet
Some loving youth, whose love is sweet.
Long as you 're false and lie believes you,
Long as you trust and he deceives you,
So Ion? the blis-ful bond endures,
And while he lies, his heart is yours :
But, oh ! you 've wholly lost the youth
The instant that he teUs you truth.
ANACREONTIC.
Friend of my soul, this goblet sip,
'T will chase that pensive tear;
*T is not so sweet as woman's lip,
Bu', oh I 't is more sincere.
Like her delusive beam,
'T will steal away (hy mind
But, truer than love's dream.
It leaves no sting behind.
Come, twine the wreath, thy brows to shade ;
These flovv'rs were cnll'd at noon ;—
Like woman's love the rose will fade,
But, ah ! not half so soon.
For though the flower's decay'd.
Its fragrance i-v not o'er;
But once when love 's betray'd,
lis sweet life blooms no more.
END OF VOL. I,
PREFACE
TO THE SECOND VOLUME.
The Poems suseesled to me by my visit to Bermuda,
inthe \e-ir lS03,as well as bythe tour which I made
subsequently, through some parts of North America,
have been hitherto very injudiciously arranged ;— any
distinctive character they may possess having been
disturbed and confused by their being mixed up not
only with trifles of a much eailier date, but also with
some portions of a classical story, in ihe form of Lel-
te'S. which I ban rnade some progress in before my
departure finm England. In the pres^ent edition, this
a\vkward jumble has been remedied ; and all the
Poems relating to my Transatlantic voyage will be
found classed by th^niselves. As, in like manner, the
line of route by which I proceeded through some parts
of the Sta'es and the Caiiadas. has been left hitherto lo
be traced confusedly through a few detached notes, I
have thought that, to future readers of these poems,
some clearer account of the course of that journey
might nol be unacceptable, — toge'her with such ves-
tiges as miy still linger in my memory of events now
fast fading Into 'he back-ground of time.
For the precise date of my departure from Ene^land,
in the Phaeton frigate, I am indebted to (he Naval Re-
collections of Captain Scott, then a midshipman of that
ship. "We were soon ready," says this gentleman,
"for sea, and a few days saw Mr. Merry and suite
embarked on board. Mr. Moore likewise took his
passage with us on his wav to Bermuda. We (;uitted
Spithead on Ihe 2r»th of September (1803), and in a
•hort week lay becalmed under the lofty peak of Pico.
!h this situation, the Phaeton is depicted in the frontis-
piece of Moore's Poems.'*
JUVENILE POEMS,
65
During Ihe voyn^e, I dined verv frequently
the officers of th(j giin-r<>oin ; and it was no' a
ffralityin? tn me i" le.xrn, from ih s geiileni.tiri
lume, Ihat llie cnrtiial regan
Ihrsc social and o
heartfil liu-Ti in-pirrd in ii
e was no; «lllly <i
lur.ieil. on their pan. Af!tT
ii.eiilionin!; our an
a' Norlolk in Vii-ima, Clap'
\\n Sc >ll savs, " Mr.
Mrs. .Merry letl the P ;aetnn
un.k-r the usual ja
acconipaiiit-d b\ Mr. .Mooie ;
• tlii-n addiui some 1
kind
Willi a senieiice which it gave me tenfold mnie plea
tuie to read,— "'Ihe guii-iooui mess witnessed tlie day
of his departu;e with genuine soirow." Frcm Nor-
folk, after a stay of about leu davs, unde- ihe hospi-
table lonf of the Kritish Consul. Colt-nel Hamilioti, I
piocetded in the Driver slnup of uar. to Bermuda
'Iheie was iheQ on thai siatioti another youthful
saihir, u hn h.i^ sitice earned fur himself adistiii'uihed
name amon;; EMglish writers ( f t?-avels, Captain Basil
Hall -then a midshipman on bonrd the Le<nder. In
his Frainien's oi Voy-iges and Tiavela, this writer has
called up some agreeable reminiscences of that perioJ ;
in perusing which,— sj full of life and rt-a it\ are his
sketches.— I found all my cwn naval recUections
hronght freshly o my mmd. The xery names of ihe
diHVreiit ships, then so familiar to my e-us.— the l^-an-
der. the Boston, the Cambii.in,— traisported me hack
to Ihe season of youth and those Sunimer Isles once
The testimony borne by so competent a witness a;
Capt.in Hall to the truth bl my sketches of ihe tteau
tiful sceiieiy of Bermu-ia is of far too mnch vluetf
me. m mv capacity of traveller, to be here omitted by
me, hov^ever cnnscious I mu>t feel of but ill deserving
the praie he lavishes on me. as a pnet. Not that 1
pretend lo be at all indilierent to such kind tributes,
—on the coiiir.iry, th «e are always he m '^i ;ilive to
paise. who feel inward y least cnnhdence in the
soundness of their own dlle to it. In the i resent in-
Bt-nce. however, my vanity (for so thib unt-asv feel*
ine; is aU^ay^ called) seeksits fond in .» different direc-
tion. It is not as a poet I invoke the a.d c^f Capt
Hall's opinion, but as a traveller and observer ; ii is i
10 my invention I ask bim to bear te.-timony, but to
my matter cf-fict.
"The most pleasing and mnst exact description
which 1 know of Beimud>," says Ihi- gentleman, *• is
lobe found in iMoore's Odes and Epistles, a work pub-
lished many years ago. The reason why his account
excels in beau'y as well as in piecisinn that of other
men prohably is, that the scenes de ciibtd lie so much
beyond the scope of ordinaiy observaion in colder
climates, and the feelings which ihey exci'e in the
beholder aie so much higher than tli' se produced by
the scenery we have been accustomed to look at, that,
unless the iniaginarion be deeply drawn upon, and ihe
diction sustained at a cnI^l•^p ndent pitch, ihe words
alone strike ihe ear. while the listeners fancy remains
where it was. In Moore's account there is not only
no exaggeration, but. on the contrary, a wonderful
drgreeof temperance in the midst of a feast which to
his rich fancy, niu^i have been peculiarly templing.
He has C'-intrived by a m^gic peculiarly his i)Wii, yet
without departing from ihe truth, lo .sketch what was
before him with a fervnur which those who have
never been on the !;po( might well be excused for set-
ling doivn as the sport of ihe poet's invention.'"*
How truly politic it is in a poet to conm ct his verse
with well-known and interesting loci lities.— to wed
his'ong to scenes ahetdy invested with fame, and thus
lend it a chance <•{ sharing Ihe chirm which encircles
•hem,— I hive my-elf, in more dian one instance, very
jgreeably experienced. Among Ihe meni'irialsnf this
description, which, as earn with pie isure at d pride,
ittill keep Tie reraenKe-red in some of tho^e beautiful
regi":is of the West which I visited, I r-hall mention
bu' one slight ii. stance, as showiig how potently the
Genius of ttie Place may lend to song a life ana im-
perishableness lo which, in itself, it boasts no claiBi
or pfeiensi'in. J he fultowing lines, in one of my
Bernmdi.in I'oenis,
With a (c\
still live in memory, 1 am told, rn thr-se fairy shores,
coijiecling my lame with Ihe picturesque spot the»
dc cube, and the noble old tree wi.ich i believe still
^d MIS ii.'i One of Ihe few lre;*sin es (of any kind) 1
P'ssfss, is a goblet formed ofoi.e of the frun-shoiis of
this remarkable tiee, which was brought firm Ber-
muda, a few years since, by Mr. Uud ey Cos'ello, and
which that gentleman, Inving had it lastefully mriini-
ed as a goldel, very kindly [iiescnied t • me ; tfu fol-
lowing woids beii g part of the iiisciipt.on winch it
bears : — '* To Thomas Moore, Ksq., this cup, formed
of a calabash which giewon the tree thai beai^ his
name, near VVaNingliam, Bermuda, is msciibed Ly
one who.'' &c, &c.
From Berniud.1 I proceeded in the Boston, with my
friend C;ipiain {now Admiral) J E. Dougl-s. lo New
Vork. from w hence, after a shoit >iay, we sailed for
Nnrtulk. in Vngima; and about ihe beginning of
June, 1^04, I sei oul fnni that city on a tour through
part of the Sia'es. At Washington, I passed snme
d.ys with the Knglish mini.ier, Mr. Meny ; and w;is,
by him, [.resented at the levee of Ihe President, Jef-
feison, «hoin 1 found si ting wilh General Dearborn
and one ot two oi|,er ofi'.cer,, and in the same homely
costume, coinp'isini; slippers and Connemara stock-
ings, in which Mr. Meny had been received by him
—much to ilut foMi.al imnisier's honor-when wait-
ing upon him, in full dress, to deliver his credentials.
My single inleivicw wiih this remaikable person w-.s
of ver) sin Tl duration; but to have seen and spoken
with the man uho drew up the declaration of Ameri-
can Indejendei.ce vvas an eveiii n il to be forgotten.
At Philadelphia, Ihe society I was chietly made
acqu tinted wiih, and to which (as the versts address-
ed to '-Dehuare's green banks" 3 sufficiently te»tiiy)
1 was indebted for some ol my most agiee;«ble recol*
lecli">is of the United Slates con isted entirety of per-
sons uf -he Ffdeialist or An'i-IJeniOcratic parly. Few
and lian-^ienl, loo. .'S had been my 0| poituiiities, of
judging for myself of (he political or social stale of
ihe country, niy mind w;is left o(^eu too much to the
influence of the feelings ai;d prejudices of those I
chieily con-oned widi; and, ceri.iinly, in no (juarler
was I sO jureto hnd decided hostility, both lo the men
and Ihe principles ihen dominant throughout the
Union, as am ng officers of the Biitish navy, and in
Ihe ranks of an angry Federalist npp-ailion. For any
bias, Iherefore, ihat, under such cncuiiistance-, my
opmii^ns and feelings may be thocnht to have receiv-
ed, full aliowaiicc. of c 'Oise, h to be made in api-iais-
ing 'he weight due to m> authority on the subject.
AM I can answ.--: fwr, u the .;.fect sin.erily and
carne-tness of Ihe i-^iuif Impics'ons, \vhether true or
ertoneous, under w '"^ r-.} Kpislles froni the United
St.ites were written; and si s'rong, at the time, I
confess w'ere those impres.^ions, that it was the only
period of my past life during which I have found
m^'self at all sceptic il as lo the soundness of that
Liberal creed of politics, in the profe^Mon and advo-
cacy of which I may he almo^^t literally said to have
begun life, ;ind shall most probablv end it.
Reachine, for the second lime, New Yoik, I set out
from thence on the now fimiliar ai.d easy enterprise
of visiting the Falls of Niagaia. It is but too true, of
all grand objects, whether in nature or art, that
facility of .iccess to them much diniinishes Ihe feeling
of reverence they ought to inspire. Of this faul',
* Fragments of Voyages and Travels, vol. 11. chap.
^A representation of this calabash, taken from a
drawing of rt made, on the spot, by Pr. Savage, of
the Royal ArtiHery, has been introduced in the vig-
nette prefixed tc ihis volume,
3 See Epistle lo Mr. W. R. Spencer, p. 110 of thif
volume.
66
JUVENILE POEMS,
however, the rout* to Nia;ira, at that period — at
least ihe potlioa of ;t ivhich led through tlie Genesee
country — could not justly be accused. 'Ihe latter
part of the journey, which lay chieliy through jet
but half-cleared wood, we were obliged to perform on
foot; and a slight accident 1 met inth, in Ihe course
of our rugged walk, laid me up lor ^onie days at
liutfalo. In the rapid ^rowlh, in that wonderful
region, of, at least, the iiiateri.ils if civillzaiion, —
however ultinia'e y they may be turned lo account, —
this (lourishing to«n, which stands on Lake Erie,
be.irs nio-t ample testimony. Though little belter, at
the lime ulieii 1 visi.ed it, th.in a mere village, con-
sisting chietly of huts and wigwams, it is now, by all
accounts, a populous and splendid city, with five or
six churches, town-hall, theatre, and other such ap-
purtenances of a aipital.
In adverting to the compiratively rude state of
Buffalo at that period, I should be ungrateful were I
to omit mentioning, that, even then, on ihe shores of
those far lakes, the title of " Poet,"— however un-
worthily in that instance bestowed, — bespoke ;i kind
and distinguishing welcome for its wearer; and tha'
the Captain who commanded the packet in which I
crossed Lake Ontario,* in addition lo other marks of
courtesy, begged, on parting vvith me, to be allowed
to decline payment for my passage.
Wtien we arrived, at length at the inn, in the
neighbourhood of ihe Falls, it was too late to think of
visiting them ihat evening ; and 1 lay awake .ilinost
the whole night wiih the sound of the cataiact in my
ears. The day following I consider as a sort of era
in my life; and the first glimpse 1 caught of that
wonderful calaiact gave me a feeling which nolhiug
in tilts worid can ever awaken again.* It was
through an opening among the trees, as we approach-
ed the spot where the full view of the Falls was to
burst upon us, that I caii'ht this glimpse of the
mighty mass of waters folding smoothly over the edge
of the precipice; and so overwhelming was the
notion it gave me of ttie awful spectacle I was ap-
proaching, that, during the short interval that follow-
ed, imagination had far outrun the reality ; and, vast
and wonderful as w as the scene that then opened upon
me, my first feeling was that of disappointment. It
would have been impossible, indeed, for any thing
real to come up to the vision I had, in these few
seconds, formed of it; and th' se awful scriptural
words, "The fountains of the great deep were broken
up," can alone give any notion of the vague wonders
for which I was prepared.
But, in spite of the start thus got by imagination,
the triumph of reality was, in the end, but the
greater; for the gradual glory of the scene that open-
ed upon me soon took possession of my whole mind ;
presenting, from day to day, some new beauty or
wonder, and, like all that is most sublime in nature or
art, awakening sad as well as elevating thoughts. I
retain in my memory but one other dream — for such
do events so long past appear — which can in any re-
spect be associated with the grand vision I have just
been describing; and, however difleient the nature of
their appeals to the imagination, I should find it dif-
ficult to say on which occasion I felt most deeply
afiected, when looking on the Falls of Niagara, or
when standing by moonlight among the ruins of the
Coliseum.
Some changes. I understand, injurious to the beau'y
of the scene, have taken place in the s! ape of Ihe
Falls since the time of my visit to them ; and among
these is the total disa| nearance, by the gradual cium-
bling away of the rock, of the' small leafy island
which then stood near the edge of the Great Fall, and
whose tranquillity and unapproachableness, in Ihe
midst of so much turmoil, lent it an inerest which I
t The Commodore of the Lakes, as he is styled.
^ The two first sentences of the above paragraph,
as well as a passage that occurs near the foot of this
column, stood originally as part of the Notes on one
of the American Poems.
thus tried to avail myself of, in a Song of Ihe Spirit
of that region : a —
There, amid tlie Islaod-sedBe,
Just atjove llie cat itai-tN eilKe.
Wtiere the foot of living man
Wfver trod since time IjpRaii,
Lone I Bit at dune of clay, Ac. &c.
Another characteristic feature of the vicinity of the
Falls, which, 1 undeisand, no longer exists, w.is the
interesting selllenient of the Tuscarora Indians. With
the gallant Brock * who then commanded at Fort
George, I passed the grea'er part of mv time during
the few weeks I lemained at Niag.ira; and a visit I
paid to these Indians, in company with him and his
brother oflrcers, on his going to distribute among them
the customary presents and prizes, was not the least
curious of the many new scenes 1 witnessed. These
people received us in all their ancient costume. The
young men exhibited for our amusement in the race,
the bat-game, and other sports, while the old and the
women sat in groups under Ihe suirounding trees;
and the whole scene was as picturesque and beautiful
as it was new to me. It is said that West, the Ameri-
can painter, when he first saw ihe Apollo, at Rome,
exclaimed instantly, "A young Indian warrior ! " —
and, however stirtling ihe association may appear,
some of the graceful and agile forms which I saw that
day among the Tnscaioras were such as would account
for its arising in the young painter's mind.
After crossing "Ihe fiesh-waler ocean "of Ontario,
I passed down Ihe St. Lawrence to Montreal and
Quebec, slaying for a sh'rt time at e;ich of these
places; and this part of my journey, as well as niv
voyage on from Quebec to Halif.x, is sufficiently
traceable through ihe tew pieces of poetry ih it were
suggested to me by scenes and events on the way.
And here I must again venture to avail myself of the
valuable testimony of Captain Hall to the t ulh of my
descriptions of some if those scenes tbtcugh which
his more practised eye followed me; — taking the
iiberly to omit in my extracts, as far as may te done
without injury to the style or context, some of that
generous sur|ilusage of praise in which friendly criti-
cism delights to indulge.
In speaking of an excursion he had made up the
river Ottawa.— "a stream," he adds, "which has a
classical p'ace in every one's imagination from Moore's
Canadian Boat Song," Cap ain Hall proceeds as fol-
lows :—" While the poet above alluded lo has re-
tained all that is essentially characteristic and pleas-
ing in these boat songs, and rejec'ed all that is not so,
he has contiived to borrow his inspiration from
numerous surrounding circums'ances, presenting no-
thing rcmark.able to the dull senses of ordinary travel-
lers. Vet these highly poetical images, drawn in
this way, as it were carelessly and from every hand,
he has combined with such graphic — I h<d almost
said geographical — truth, that the effect is great even
upon those who have never, with their own eves,
seen the ' Utawa's tide,' nor 'flown down the Rapids,'
nor heard the 'bell of St. Anne's toil its evening
chime ; ' while the same lines give to distant regions,
previously consecrated in our imagination, a vivid-
ness of interest, when viewed on the spot, of which
it is difllculi to siy how much is due to the magic of
the poetry, and how much lo the beauty of the real
scene." 5
9 Introduced in the Kpistle to Lady Charlotte Raw.
don, p. 1 12 of this volume.
= This brave and amiable oflir^r was killed at
QueensioD, in Upper Caimda, soon after the com-
mencement of the war with America, in the year
I.S12. He was in Ihe act of cheering on his men
when he fell. The insciiption on the monument
raised lo his memory, on Queenston Heights, does but
due honour to his manly character.
' " II is singularly gratifying," the author adds, "to
the Canadian voyagcur$
discover that, to this he
JUVENILE POEMS.
67
While on the subject of the Canadian Boat Sone, an
SDecdote connected with thai once popular ballad may,
for my nmsical leadeis at least, possess some interest.
A few years since, while s'aying in Dublin, 1 was
presenled, at his own letiuesl, to a ^enlleman who
lold me that his family had m their possession a cu-
rious relic (if mv ydulhfut days,— being the first nota-
tion I had nnde, in pencilling. <*f the a.r and wordw-f
the Canadian lioal Son?, while nn my way down the
S'. Lawrence.— and tlial il w.is their wi^h I should add
my signatuie to a'test the authen'icity of the auto
never omit their oflerings to the shrine of St. Anne,
before ci. gaging in any enterprise j and that, during
i's performance, they omit no opporlu' ity of keeping
ip so propitious an intercnur>e. The flouriNhini;
illage which suirounds (he church on the 'Giet-n
.jle ' in questi n owes its existence and support entire-
ly to these pious contributions."
graph, I assured him with truth that I had wholly
tUKotten even the existence of such a memorandMm ;
that it would be as much a curiosity to myself as it
could be to any one else, and that I should feel thank*
ful to be allowed to see it. In a day or two afier, my
leijuest was complied with, and ihe following is the
history of this musical '• relic."
In niy passage down the St. Lawrence, I hid with
me t*vo travelling companious, one of whom, named
Harkness, the son nf a wealthy Dublin me: chant, has
bt-eii some years dead. To this young friend, on part-
ing uilh him, at Quebec. I gave, ^s a keep>ake, a
volume I had been reading on the way,— Priestley's
Lectures on History ; and it was upon a fly-leaf of this
voiumel found I had taken down, in pencilling, both
the notes and a few of the words of the original song
by which my own boat-glee had been suggested. The
following is the form of my memorandum of the origi-
nal air : —
Then follows, as pencilled down at the same mo-
ment, the hrat verse of my Canadian Boat Song, with
air and words as they are at present. From all this
it will be perceived, iha', in my own setting of the
air, I departed in almost every respect but Ihe lime
from the strain our voya^eurs htd simg to us, leaving
the music of the glee nearly as much my own as the
words. Vet. how strongly impressed I had becnme
with the notion that this was the identical air sung by
the boatmen,— how closely it linked itself in my imagi-
nation with the scenes and sound" amidst wliich it had
occurred tr. me, — may be seen bv reference lo a note
appended to the glee as firs' published, which will be
found in the following pages. i
To the few desultory and. j erhaps, valueless recol-
lections 1 have thus called up, respecting the conients
of our second volume, I have only to add, that the
heavy storm of censure and ciiticisin.— some of it, I
fear, but too well deserved,— vxhich, both in America
and in England, the publication of my "Odes and
Epistles" drew down upon me, wns followed by results
wnich have far inoie than compensated for any pain
such attacks at the tinje may have inflicted. In the
moat formidable of all my censors, at that period,—
the great master of ihe art of criticism, in our day,— I
have found ever since one of the most cordial and
hishly valued of all my friends; whde the good will
I have experienced fiom more than one distinguished
American sufliciently assures me that any injustice 1
may have done to that land of freemen, if not long
since wholly forgotten, is now remembered only to be
forgiven.
As some consolation to me for the onsets of criti-
cism. I received, shortly after the appearauce of my
volume, a letter from Stockholm, addressed to "the
author of Epistles, Odes, and other Poems," and in-
forming me that *' the Princes, Nobles, and Gentle-
men, wh( composed the Geneial Chapter of the nmst
Illustrious, Equps'rian, Secular, ard Chtp'eial Order
of St. Joachim." had elec'ed me as a Knight of Itiis
Order. Notwithstanding the grave and official style
of the letter, I regarded it, I own. at first, as a mere
iMinderoug jriece of pleasantry ; and even suspected that
in the name of St. *■ loachim*' I could detect the low
and irreverent pun of St. Jokehim.
On a little inquiry, however, I learned that there
actually existed such an order of knighthood j that the
title, insignia, &c. conferred by it had, in the instances
of Lord Nelson, the Duke of^ Bouillon, and Colonel
Imhoff, who were all knights of Si. Joachim, been
authorized by the British court ; but that since then,
this saiiciion of the order had been withdrawn. Ot
course, to the reduction thus caused in the value of the
honour was owing its descent in the scale of distinc-
tion to " such small deer'' <f Farnassub as myself. I
wrote a letier, however, full of giateful acknowledg-
ment, lo Monsieur naiisson, the Vice-Chancellor of the
Order, saying thai I was unconscious of having enti-
tled myself, hv any public service, to a rev^aid due
only to the benefactors of mankind ; and therefore
begged leave most respectfully to decline it.
JUVENILE POEMS.
THE PHILOSOPHER ARISTIPPUS,^
TO A LAMP
WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN IIIM BY LAIS,
Duloia coneeia lectnli lucernn.
Martial, lib. xiv. epig. 39,
«' Oh ! love the Lnmp " (my Mistress said),
"The faithful I^mp that, many a night,
"Reside thy Lais' lonely bed
" His kept its little m atch of light.
1 Page 112 of this volume.
^ It does not appear to have been very difl^cult to
become a philosopher amongst Ihe ancients. A
moderate stoie of learning, with a considerable por-
tion of confidence, and just wit enough to produce an
occasional apophthegm, seem to have been all the
qualifications neces-ary for the purpose. The prin-
ciples of moial science were so very inqierfectly un-
derstood that the founder of a new sect, in forming
his ethical code, might consult either fancy or tem-
pi-rament, and adapt it lo his own pis-ions and pro-
pensities ; so that Maliomet, with a little more learn-
ing, micht have flourished as a philosopher in those
diys, and would have required hui the polish of the
schools to become the rival of Ari-tippus in morality. 1
In the science of nature, too, though some valuable
truths were discovered hy ihem, they seemed hardly
to know they were trtiths, or at least were as weJI
satisfied with errors; and Xenophanes, who asserted
168
JUVENILE POEMS,
" Full often has it seen her weep,
" Aud lix !ier eye U|.oi. its flame,
••Till, weary, she lias sunk to sleep,
«'Re|ieating liei btlovcd's name.
•• Then love the Lamp — H will of'en lead
" 1 hy s ep through Itatnii.gN sacred »ayj
"And ^vhenthc.se8udi"U^eJ>5■hail read,
"Atnii.linghl,b> ilsh.nely r.,y
"Of thin?s sublime, of nature's birth,
"Of all liiafsbrirtt in heaven or earth,
I' Oh, think tl,a she, by whom 't was giveir,
1' Adoi ei thee more than earth or heaveu !
Yes — dearest Lamp, by every charm
On which thy midmsht beam has hung; I
The head reclin'd, the graceful arm
AciO;S the Lrow of ivory Hung;
Tbe heaving bnsom, partly hid.
The severd hrs' unc .nsc...u^ sighs.
The fringe that from the half-shut hd
Adowii the cheek of roses lies :
By these, by all that bloom untold,
And long as all shall cliarm my heart,
1 '1! love my little Lamp of gold —
My Lamp and I shall never part.
And often, as she smiling faid.
In fancy's hour, ihv gentle rays
Shall suide my visionary tread
Through poesy's enchanting ma2e.
Thy flame shall light the page refin'd,
Where still vie catch the Chian's breath,
Where still the bard, though cold in death,
Has left his soul unqueich'd behind.
Or, o'er thy humbler legend shine,
Oh, man of Ascri's diearv glades.i
To whom the nijhtly warbling Nine 3
A wind of inspiraiioii gave,''
Pluck'J from the greenest tiee, that shades
The crj'stal of Caslalia's nave.
Then, turning to a purer lore,
We'll cull the sages' deep-hid store,
Trom Science ste il her goldtn clue.
And every m)^tic path pursue,
Where Nature, far fnni vulgar eyes.
Through labyiinlhs of wonder flies.
'T IS ihu< my heart 5h.all learn to know
How fleeting is this world below.
Where all that meets the morning light,
Js cbang'd before the fall of night ! s
I'll tell thee, as 1 trim thy fire,
" Swift, swift the tide of being runs,
"And 1 ime, who bids thy flame expire,
** Will -lUo quench yon heaven of suds."
Oh, then if earth's united power
Can ne^er chain one feathery hour;
If every print we leave to day
To-morrow's wave will sweep away;
Who pau-es to inquire of heaven
Why were the fleeting tieasuies given.
The sunny days, the shady nights.
And all their brief but dear delights.
Which heaven has made frir man to use.
And man should think it crime to lose?
Who that has cuU'd a fresh-blown rose
Will ask it why it brea'hes and glows.
Unmindful of the blushing ray.
In which it shines its soul away ;
Unmindful of the scented sigli,
With which it dies and loves to die.
Pleasure, thou only good on earth ! s
One precious moment gi.'n to thee
Oh I by my Lais' lip, 't is worth
The sage's immortality.
Then far be all the wisJom hence.
That would our joys one hour delay I
Alas, the feast of s-.ul and sense
Love calls us to in youth's bright day.
If not soon tas'ed, fleets away.
Ne'er wert thou formed, my Lamp, to shed
Thy splendiiur on a lifeless page; —
Wliate'e: my blushing Liis said
Of thoughtful lore and s'udies sage,
'T was mockery all — her glance of joy
Told me thy dearest, best empl"y.i
And. soon as ni^ht sliali close the eye
Of heaven's ynung wanderer in the west;
When seers are gaaing on the sky.
To find their future orbs of rest ;
that the 'tars were igneous clouds, lighted up every
night and extinguished again in the ni'rning, was
thought and styled a philisopher, as generally as he
who anticipated Newton in developing the arrange-
ment of the universe.
For this opinion of Xenophanes. see Plutarch, de
Placil. Philo^oph. lib. ii cap. 13. Il is impossible to
read this treaiise of Plmarch, without alternately
admiring Ihe genius, and smiling at the absurdities of
the philos iphers.
1 The ancients had their hicernae cubiculariae or
bedchamber lamps, which, as Ihe Emperor Galienus
said, '*nil eras memineie ;'' and, with the same com-
mendalion of secrecv. Praxagora addresses her lamp
in Aristophanes, EkkAjj;. We may jidiC howfanci-
ful they were, in the use and emhellishmeni of their
lamps, from the famous syniholic Lucerna, which we
find in the Romanuni Museum Mich. Ang. Causei, p.
127.
0. Heslod. who tells us in melancholy terms of his
father's Might In the wretched village of Ascra. Epy.
Kai 'Hmp. v 231.
3 EvvvYittt artixov, ntpLicaWia uatrav utcat.
Theog. V. 'lO.
-* Kat fLOLa-KyTT7povt6ov,Sa(fiVT]^£OL9ri\£ao^ov,
Id. V. 30.
'■Pfiv Td liXa jrorajLOv ltK7)V, as
among the dogmas of Heiacliius the Ephesian, and 1
with the same image by .Seneca, in whom we find a
beautiful diffusion of the thought. " Nemo est mane,
qui fruit pridie. Corpora nostra rapiuntur fluminum
more ; quidquid vides currit cum tempore. Nihil ex
his qujE videmus manet. Ego ipse, dum loquor
mutari ipsa, niutatus sum," &c.
6 Aris.ippus considered motion as the principle of
happiness, in which ide» he dififered fri.m Ihe Epi-
cuieaiis, who looked to a stale of repose as the only
true voluptuousness, and avoided even the too lively
agilalions of pleasure, as a violent and ungraceful
derangement of the senses.
1 Mauperluis has been still more explicit than this
philosopher, in raniiing the pleasures of sense above
Ihe sublimest pursuits' of wi-doni. Speaking of the
infant man, in his production, he calls him, "uae
nouvelle creature, qui pourra comprendre les choses
les plus sublimes, el ce qui est bieii au-dessus. qui
pourra gouter les memes plai
Phys'que. This appears to be
Ven
le of the eflorts at I
Fontenelle's gallaut'ry of manner, for which the
learned President is so well and justly ridiculed in j
Ihe Akakia of Voltaire. i
M'uper'ui! mav be tlioueht to have borrowed from
the ancient Arisllppus that indiscrimina'e theory of
pleasures which lie Ins set forth in his Essai de Phi- i
losophe Morale, and for which he was so very jcstly
condemned. Aristippiis, according to Laertius, held ,
/IT) emipepuv T£ ftSovriv ']6ovr}';, which irrational j
sentiment has been adopted by Maupenuis: "Tant
qu'on ne considere que I'et t present, lous les pUisin
sont du meme genre," &c, 4:c. 1
JUVENILE POEMS.
69
Then shall I take my trembling way,
Unseen but to Ihos'o worlds atKjve,
And, led by thy mvsterious ray^
bteal to the night-bower of my love.
TO MRS
ON HER BEAUTIFUL TRANSLATION OF
VOITURE'S KISS.
Mon amp eur mon levre etoit lors toute entierf^
Tour eavoiirer W miel qui ifuT la vutre elUl;
Muis en me retirai.I, ille re la derriere,
Tuut tlece doux Jjlaiwr ramuice la resloit. Yottun
How heav'niy was the poet's donm,
To bieathe his spii it lhrous;h a kiss ;
And lose wilhiu so sweet a tomb
The trembling messenger of bliss 1
And, sure his soul relurn'd to feel
That it again could ravisli'd be :
For in the ki^s that thou didst steal,
His life and soul liave fled to thee.
RONDEAU.
" Good iiijsht ! good night !" — And is it so ?
And must i from my Kosa go ?
Oh Rosa, say " Good night !" once more,
And I '11 repeat it o'er and o'er,
Till the first glance of dawning light
Shall lind us saying, still, " Good night,"
And still " Good night," my R.-sa, say
But whisper still, "A minute stay ;»
And I will stay, and every minute
Shall have an age of transport in it ;
Till Time himself shall slay his flight.
To listen to our sweet " Good uigtit."
»'Good night !" you'll murmur with a sigh,
And tell me il is time to lly :
And I will vow, will swear to go,
While still th.it sweet voice murmurs " No ;»
Till slumber seal our weary sight —
AuJ then, my love, my soul, *■ Good night I"
SONG.
Why does ajure deck the sky
'Tis lo be like thy Inckbof blue;
Why is red the rose's dye ?
Recanse it is thy blushes' hue.
All thai 's fair, by Love's decree,
Has been made resembling thee
Why is falling snow so white,
Biit to be like thy bosnm fair ?
Wily are solar beams so bright ?
Tiia' they may seem Ihv gnldcn h:
All that 's brieht, by Love's decree.
Has lieen made resembling thee !
Why are nature's beauties felt?
Oh! t is thine in her we see!
Why has music power lo melt ?
Oh ! because it speaks like thee.
All that '8 sweet, liy Love's decree,
Has been made resembling thee !
TO ROSA.
Like one who trusts to summer ski»,
And puts his liltle bark lo sra,
Is he who, h.r'd by smiling eyes.
Consigns his simple heait to thee.
For fickle is the summer wind.
And sadly may the bark be tost ;
For Ihou art sure to change thy mind.
And then the wretched heart is lostl
WRITTEN IN A COMMONPLACE BOOK,
CALLED "THE BOOK OF FOLLIES;
III which every one that oyened it was to
contribute something.
TO THE BOOK OF FOLLIE.S.
This tribute 's from a wretched elf.
Who hails thee, emblem of himself.
The book of life, which I have Irac'd,
Has been, like thee, a motley waste
Of follies scribbled o'er and o'er,
One folly btingilig hundreds more.
Sonie have indeed been writ so neat,
In chaiacters so fiir, so sweet.
That those who judge not too severely.
Have said they lov'd such follies dearly.
Y'et still, 0 bonk 1 the nllusion stands;
For these weie penn'd by female hands;
The rest — alas ! I own the truth —
Have all been scrihtded so uncouth
That I'nideiice, wilh a v\iih'iing look.
Disdainful, flings away Ihe book.
Like thine, \U pages here and there
Have ofi been s'ain'd with blots of care;
And sometimes houis of peace, I owu,
Upon some fairer leaves have shown.
White as the snowmgs of that heav'n
By which Ihose hours of pe.ace were given.
Bui now no longer— such, nh, such
The blast of Di appointment's touchi
No longer now those hours appear j
E.ich leaf is sullied by a tear:
Blank, blank is ev'ry page with care,
Not ev'n a folly brighlens there.
Will they yet brighten? — never, never!
Then $hut the look, 0 God, for ever !
TO ROSA.
Say, why should the girl of mv soul be id teari
At a meeling of rapture like this.
When the glooms of Ihe past and the sorrow of years
Have been paid by one moment of bliss?
Are they shed for that moment of blissful delight.
Which dwells on her memory yet ?
Do they flow, like the dews of the love-breathing night,
From the warmth of the sun that has set ?
Oh ! sweet is the tear on that languishing smile.
That smile, which is loveliest then ;
And if such are the drop, that delight can beguile,
I'hou shall weep them again and agaio.
LIGHT SOUNDS THE HARP.
Light sounds Ihe harp when Ihe combat is over,
When heroes are resting, and jny is in bloom j
When laurels hang loose from the brow cf ihe lover,
And Cupid makes wings of the warrior's plum*
70
JUVENILE POEMS.
But, when the foe returns,
A^nin the hero burns ;
High flames ihe swi.rd iu his hand once more:
The clang r,fn..nihnga-n.s
Is Ihen the sound that charms,
And brazen notes of war, that s'lrriigtiunipe'spour;—
Then, again comes ihe Harp, when the couibat is
over —
When heroes are resting, and joy is in bloom —
When laurels hang loose from the brow of the lover,
And Cupid makes wing-* r>f the warrior's plume.
Light went the harp when Ihe VVar-God, reclining,
Lay luU'd on the white arm nf Betuty to rest,
When round his rich ;.rmour the myrtle hung twining,
And flti^hts of young doves oiade ins helmet their
nest.
But, when the battle came,
The hero's eye breathed fl.ime :
Soon from his neck the white arm was flung j
While, to his wakening ear,
No 01 her sounds were dear
But brazen notes t-f war, by thousand trumpets sung.
But then came the light haip, when danger was ended,
And Beauty once more lull'd the War-God to rest ;
When tresses uf gold with his laurels l?v blended,
And flights of young doves made bis helmet their
nesU
FROM THE GREEK OF MELEAGER.t
Fill high the cup with liquid flame,
And -peak my Helindora's name.
Repeat its iii.igic o'er and o'er,
And let the sound my lips adme,
Live in the breeze, till every tone,
And word, and breath, speaks her alone.
Give me the wreath that withers theie.
It was but Uht delicinus night,
■ It circled her luxuriant hair,
And caught her eves' reflected light.
Oh ! haste, and twine it round my broir,
»TisaU of her that's left me noiv.
And see — each rosebud drops a tear.
To find Ihe nymph no longer here —
No longer, wheie such hetvenly charms
As hers should be— withm these arms.
SONG.
Fly from the world, O Bessy '. to me,
Thou wilt never find any sincerer;
I '11 give up the world, O Bessy ! for thee,
1 can never meet any that's dearer.
Then tell me no more with a tear and a sigh.
That our loves will be censurM by many ;
All, all have their follies, and who will deny-
That ours is the sweetest of any ?
When your Up has met mine in communion so sweet,
Have we felt as if virtue forbid it ?—
Have we felt as if heav'n denied them to meet ?—
No, rather 't was heav'n thai did it.
So inniceiif, love, is the joy we then sip,
So little of wrong is theie in it,
Thit I wish all mv errors were lodg'd on your lip,
And I "d kiss them away in a minute.
Eyxcii Kflt iraXtv ftJi-c, naXiv, traXtt', HXioffwpaj
EtTTC, (Tvv aKQ7]Ttu TO yXvKV /itcry' ovofia.
Mva/ioo-vvov KEivas, afi(piTi9i.i o-TE-^avov
^aKpvu ^iAcpaffrov liov ^o6ov, ovvtKa Kuvav
AXkoi/i k' ov KoXnoLS TjfiiTtpoLS £aoi,a.
Brunck. Aimlcct.^ tom. i., p. 28.
Then come to your lover, oh ! fly to liis shed.
From a world which I know thou despisest ;
And slumber will huver as light o'er our bed
As e'er on the couch of the wisest.
And when o'er oiir pillow the tempest is driven,
And thou, pre'ty innocent, fearest,
I 'II ttll ihee. It is not the chiding of heav'n,
'T is only our lullaby, dearest.
And, oh ! while we He on our deathbed, my lev©.
Looking back on the scene cf nur errors,
A sigh from my Bessy sh;<ll plead then above,
And Death be disarm'd of his teirors.
And each to the other embiacing will say,
''Farewell ! let us hope we're forgiven."
Thy last fading glance will illumine the way,
And a kiss be our pai^sport to heaven 1
THE RESEMBLANCE.
La (ieoiala vcstra forma *
Petrarc. Sonnett. 14.
Yes, if H were any common love,
That ltd my plimt heart astny,
I grant, there's not a power above,
Could wipe the faithless crime away.
But, 't was mv doom (o err with one
In every ln^k so like to Ihee
That, underneath yon blessed sun,
So fair there are but thou and she.
Both born of beauty, at a birth,
She held with thine a kindred sway.
And wore Ihe only shape on earth
That could have lur'd my soul to stray.
Then blame me not, if false J be,
'T was love that uak'd the fond excess;
My heart liad been more true to thee.
Had mine eye priz'd thy beauty less.
FANNY, DEAREST.
Yes ! had I leisure to sigh and mourn,
Fanny, deare>f, for thee I 'd sigh ;
And every smile on my cheek should tufa
To tears when thou art nigh.
But, between love, and wine, and sleep,
So busy a life I live,
That even the time it would lake to weep
Is more than my heart can give.
Then hid me not to de-pair and pine,
Fanny, dearest of all the dears!
The Love that "s oider'd to b*the in wine,
Would be sure to take cold in tears.
Reflected bright in this heart of mine,
Fanny, dearest, thy image lies;
But, :ih. the mirror wi uld ctase to shinty
If dimm'd too often with sighs.
Thev lose the half of beauty's light.
Who view it through sorrow's tear;
And 't is but to see thee truly bright
That I keep niv eve-beam clear.
Then wait no longer till tears shall flow
Fanny, dearest — the hope is vain ;
If sunshine cannot di-^solve thy snow
I shall never attempt it with rain.
JUVENILE POEMS.
71
THE RING.
TO
No — Lady ! Lady ! keep the ring :
Oh! Iliirik, h()»- ni:iiiy a. future year,
Of placid smile and dnwuy wing,
May sleep within its holy sphere.
Do not disturb their tranquil dream^
Though love hath ne'er the mystery warni'J ;
Vet heav'u will shed a soothing beam,
To bless the bond itself hath form'd.
But then, that eye, thai burning eye,—
Oh I it doth a>k, wiih witching power.
If heaven can ever bless Ihe tie
Where love iuwreaths no genial flower ?
Awav, away, bewildering look,
Or ai! the boast of virtue 's o'er J
Go— hie thee to ihe sage's bnok.
And learn from him to feel no more.
I cannot warn thee ; every touch,
That brings my pulses close to thine.
Tells nie I want thy aid as much —
Ev'n more, alas, than thou dost mine.
Yet, stay,— one hope, one eflort yet —
A moment turn Ihose eyes away,
And let me, if I can, forget
The light that leads my soul astray.
Thou say'st, that we were born to meet,
That our hearts bear one couimon seal ; —
Think, Ladv, Ihink, how man's deceit
Can seem to sigh and feign lo leel.
When, o'er thy face some gleam of thought,
Like davbeams through Ihe moining air
Halh gradual stole, and I have caught
'I'he feeling ere it kindled Iheiej
The sympathy I then lielray'd,
I'erhaps was but the child of art,
The guile of one, who long halh play'd
With all these wily nets of heart.
Oh ! thine is not my earliest vow ;
Though few the years 1 yet have told.
Canst Ihou believe I 've lived lill now,
With loveless heart or senses cold ?
No — olher nymphs to joy and pain
This wild and wandering htart hath mov'd ;
With some it sported, wild and vain,
While some it dearly, truly, lov'd.
The cheek to thine I fondly lay.
To theirs haih been as fnndly laid;
The words lo thee I warmly say,
To them have been as warmly said.
Then, scorn at once a worthless heart,
Wnrihless alike, or fiY'd or free ;
Think of Ihe pure, bright soul thou art,
And — love not me, oh, love not me.
Enough — now, turn thine eyes again ;
What, still that look and still that sigh !
Dost thou not feel my counsel then ?
Oh! no, beloved, — nor do 1,
TO THE INVISIBLE GIRL.
They try lo persuade me, my dear little sprite.
That you 're not a true daughter of ether and light.
Nor have any concern with those fanciful forms
That dance upon rainbows and ride upon storms;
That, in short, you 're a woman ; yoar lip and your
tye
As mortal as ever drew gods from the sky.
But I will not believe Iheni — no. Science, to you
1 have long bid a last aud a careless adieu:
Still laying from Natuie to study her taws,
And dulling delight by exploring its cause,
Vou forget how superior, for mortals below.
Is the fiction they dream to the truth that they know.
Oh ! who, th.it has e'er enjoyed r.ipture complete.
Would ask huw we feel it, or why it is sweet ;
How rajs are confiis'd, or how particles fly
Through the medium refin'd of a glance or a sigh ;
Is there one, who but once would not rather have
known it.
Than written, with Harvey, whole volumes upon it ?
As for you, my sweet-voiced and invisible love,
You must surely be one of those spirits, that rove
By the bank where, at twilight, the poet reclines.
When the st.ir of the west on his solitude shines.
And the magical fingers of fancy have hung
Every breeze with a sigh, eiery leaf with a tongue.
Oh! hint lo him then, 'lis retirement alone
Can hallow his harp or ennoble its tone ;
Like you, with a veil of seclusion between,
His song to the world let him utter unseen.
And like you, a legitimate child of Ihe spheies,
Escape froni the eye to enrapture the ears
Sweet spirit of mystery '. how I should love,
In the wearisome ways I am fated lo rove.
To have you thus ever invisibly nigh.
Inhaling for ever your song and your sigh
Mid the crowds of Ihe world and the murmurs of
care,
I might sometimes converse with my nymph of the
air.
And turn with distaste from Ihe claniorous crew
To steal in the pauses one whisper from you.
Then, come and be near me, for ever be mine.
We shall bold in Ihe air a communion divine,
As sweet .as, of old, was imagin'i to dwell
In Ihe siotto of Numa, or Socra'es' cell.
And oft, at those lingering moments of night.
When ihf heart's busy thoughts have put slumber to
fl ght.
You shall come lo my pillow and tell me of love.
Such as angel to angel might whisper above.
Sweet spirit! — and then, could you borrow Ihe lone
Of thai voice, to my ear like some fiiry-snng known,
1 he voice of the one upon earth, who has Iwiii'd
Wilh her being forever my heart and my mind,
Though lonely and far from Ihe light of her smile.
An exile, and weary and hopeless the while,
Could you shed for a moment her voice on my ear,
I will think, for that moment, that Caia is near;
That she conies with consoling enchantment lo speak.
And kisses my eyelid and breathes on my cheek,
And tells me, the night shall go rapidly by.
For the dawn of our hope, of our heaven, is nigh.
Fair spirit '. if such be your magical power,
It will lighten the lapse of full many an hour ;
And, let fortune's realities frown as they will,
Hope, fancy, and Caia may smile for me still.
THE RING.t
A TALIS.
Annuliis illc viri. — Ovid. Amor. lib. 11., eleg. 16.
The happy day at length arriv'J
When Rupert was io wed
The f.iire-1 maid in .Saxony,
Aud take hej- to his bed.
I should be sorry lo Ihink that my friend had aojr
72
JUVENILE POEMS.
As soon as morn was in the sky,
Tbe feast and sports began ;
Tlie men admirM the happy maid,
'J he maids ihe happy man.
of 1
In many a sweet device
The day was pass'd ,.lon
And some the fea'Iy dance
And some the dulcet son
The younger maids with Isabel
Disponed through the bowers,
And deck'd her robe, and crowned her head
VVilh motley bnddl flowers.
The matrons all in rich attire,
Wilhiu the ca.tle walls.
Sat lis'ening lo the choral strains
That echo'd through the halls
Young Ruper! and his friends repair'd
Unto a spacious court,
To St I ike the bounding tennis-ball
In feat and manly sport.
Tlie bridegroom on his finger wore
The weddins^-ringso bright.
Which was lo grace the lily hand
Uf Isabel that night.
And fearing he might break Ihe gem,
Or lose it in the play,
He look'd around the court, to see
Wheie he the ring might by.
Now, in the cnurt a statue stood,
Which there full long had been ;
It might a Ht-a'hen poddess be,
Or else, a Heathen queen.
Upon its marble finger then
He tried the ring 10 fit;
And, thinkmg it was safest there,
Thereon he fasten'd it.
And now the tennis sports went on,
Till they were w>aried all,
And mesi^en^ers annonncM to them
Their dinner iu the hall.
Young Rupeit for his wedding-ring
Unto the statue went ;
Bu', oh, how shock'd w.is he to find
The marble finger bent !
The hand was clos'd upon the ring
With firm and mighty clasp;
In vnin he tried, and tried, and tried.
He could not loose the grasp 1
Then sore surpris'd was Rupert's mind
As well his mind might be;
•* I Ml come," quuth he, " at night again,
*• When none are here to see."
He went unto the feast, and much
He thought upon his ring;
And niarvell'd sorely what could mean
So very strange a thing!
serious intentions of frijhtening the nursery by this
story : 1 rather hope — th"iigh the manner of it leads
me to doubt — that his design was to ridicule that dis-
tempered taste which prefers thuse monsters of the
fancy to the " speciosa miracula" of true poetic imagi-
uatinn.
I find by a note in the manuscript, that he met with
this s'ory'in a German author, fromi/mu ufwn Fasci-
nation^ book iii., part vi., ch. 18. On cDn-uliing the
work. I perceive that Fromman quotes it from Belua-
censis, among many other stories equally diabolical
and interesting. K.
The feast was o'er, and to the court
He hied without del .y,
ResoIvM to break the marble band
And force the ring aw ay.
But. mark a stranger wonder still —
The rt.iguas (here no more,
And yet the marble hand uugraspM,
And open as before !
He searched the ba^e. and all the court.
But nothing could he find ;
Then to the castle hied he back
With sore bewilder^ mind.
Within he found thenn all in mirth,
The night in dancing flew ;
The youth another ring procur'd,
And none the adventure kne^v.
And now the priest has ioin'd their hands,
Tbe hours of love advance
Rupert almost f')rgets to think
Upon the morn's misctiauce.
Within the bed fair Isabel
III bitishiiig sweetness lay,
Like tlowers, half-open'd by Ihe dawn,
And 1
ling for the dav.
And Rupert, by her lovely side,
In \outhful beauty kIows,
Like Pl)f£bus, w hen he bends to cast
His beams upon a rose.
And here my song would leave them both,
Nor let Ihe lest be loid,
If 'I were not for the horrid tale
It yet has to unfold.
Soon Rupert, 'Iwixt his bride and him,
A death-cold crcass found ;
He saw it not, but ihousht he felt
Its anus embrace him round.
He started up, and then return'd,
But found ilie phantom still;
In vain he shrunk, i' clipp'd him round,
With damp and deadly chill !
And when he bent, the earthy lips
A kiss of horror gave ;
'T was like the smell from charnel vaults,
Or from the mouldVing grave 1
Ill-fated Rupert ! — wild and loud
Then cried he to his wife,
"Oh ! save me fiom ihis horrid fiend,
*' My Isabel I my life !"
But Isabel had nothing seen,
She Ir.okVl around in vain;
And much she mourn'd the mad conceit
That rack'd her Rupert's brain.
At length from this invisible
These words to Rnpe.tcame:
(Oh God ! while be did hear the words
What terrors shook his frame IJ
" Husband, husband, I've the ring
** Thou g'v'st to day to nie ;
"And ihou'rt to me f t ever wed,
" As I am wed to thee T*
And all the ni£ht the den.on lay
Cnld chiMiiig by his side,
And ^train'd him with such deadlv grasp,
He Ihoi.ghl he should have died.
But when the dawn of day was near,
The horrid phantom fled.
And left th' atlrighted youth lo weep
By Isabel in bed.
JUVENILE POEMS.
73 i
And all tliat dav a ?lonmy cloud
Was seen on'Kuptrt's browsj
Tair Isabel was likewise sad,
2u strove to cheer her spouse.
And, ns the dav advant'd, he thought
Of cimiMi? ilight with fear;
Alas, that he should dread lo view
The Led that should be dear!
At lenslh the second ni^ht arrived,
Again their cnuch they pres^'d ;
Ponr Rupert hnpM ihal all was O'er,
And iook'd for love and rest.
But, oh '. when midnight came, again
The fieiid was at his side,
And, as it strain'd him in its grasp,
With howl exulting cried: —
»* Husband, husband, I 've the ring,
*' The ring Ihdu giv'st to me ;
"And thou 'ft lo me for ever wed,
*' As I am wed to thee I "
In a^ony of wild despair,
He started from the bed ;
And Ihus to his bewilderM wife
The trembling Rupert said :
**0h, Isabel ! dosi thou not see
*' A shape of horrors here,
" That strains me to its deadly kisn,
** And keeps me from my dear ?"
" No, no, my Inve! my Rupert, 1
"Nn shape of hnrroVs see;
*'Aitd much 1 mourn the phantasy
'* That keeps my dear from me."
This night, just like the niglit befor^
In tenors pass'd away.
Nor did the demon vaii>sh thence
Befire the dawn of day.
S^id Rupert then, " My Isabel,
*' Pear partner of my woe,
*'To FalhiT Austin's hnly cave
"This instant will I go."
Now Austin was a reverend man,
Who acied wonders maint —
Whom all the country round believM
A devil or a saint!
To Father Austin's holy cave
Then Rupert slrai-htwiy went ;
And told him all, and a^k'd him how
These horrors to prevent.
The father heard the youth, and then
HetirM awhile to pray ;
And, having prayM for half an hour,
Thus (0 the youth did s:iy :
** There is a jilace where four roads meet-
" Which I will lell to thee;
"Be there tl.is eve, at fall n( night,
"And list what thou shall see.
"Thou 'It see a sroup of figures pass
" In strange disorder'd cniwd,
"Travelling by torchlight Ihrough the roads,
" Wiih noises stnnge and loud.
"And one that 's high nbnve the rest,
"Terrific towering n'er,
•' Will make thee kn<nv him at a glance,
"So 1 need say no more.
"To him from me these table's give,
"They'll t|iiick be understonj ;
"Thou need'st not fear, but give them straight,
" I 've scrawl'd them with mv blood ! "
The night-fall came, and Rupert all
In pale amazement went
To where the crObs-rtiad> met, as he
Was by the Fa her sent.
Ana lo ! a group of C'sures came
In s'range disorder a crnwd,
Travelling by torchlight ihrnugh the roads,
With noises strange and loud.
And, as the Rloimy train advanc'd,
Rupert beheld fiom far
A female form of wanton miea
High sealed on a car.
And Rupert, as he gaz'd upon
The loosely-vested dame,
Thought of tlie marble staUie's look,
For hers was just the same.
Behind her walk'd a hideous form,
With eyeballs flashing deaHi ;
Whene'er he breath'd, asulphur'd smoke
Came burning in his breath.
He seem'd the first of all the croxvd,
Teriific tnweringn'er;
" Yes, ye>," said Rupert, " this is he,
'* And 1 need ask no more."
Then slow he went, and to this fiend
The tablets trembling gave.
Who iook'd and read them with a yell
That would disturb the grave.
And when he saw the Mood-scrawl'd name,
His e\es with fury bhine;
" I thought," cries he, *' liis time was out,
" But he mubt soon be mine 1 "
Then darting at (he youth a look
Which rent his soul with fear,
He went unto the female tiend,
And whisperM in her ear.
The female fiend no sooner heard
Than, with reluctant look,
The very rin« that Rupert lost,
She from her finger look.
And, giving it unto the youth,
With eyes that breath'd of hell,
She said, in that tremendous voice,
Which he remember'd well:
" In Austin's name lake back the ring,
*' The ring thou gav'st to me ;
" And thou 'rt to me no longer wed,
" Nor longer I to thee."
He took the ring, the rabble pass'd,
Hehnmere'uVn'd again;
His wife was then the happiest fair,
The happiest he of men.
ON SEEING HER WITH A WHITE VEIL
AND A RICH GIRDLE.
MapyagLTai dijXovo-t ^aKpvwv ^ouv.
Jlp. Nicephor. in Oiieirocritico,
Put off the vestiil veil, nor, oh !
Ut weeping an-els view it;
Your cheeks belie is virgin snow,
And blush repenting through it.
Put off the fatal zone you wear;
The shining pearls around it
Are tears, that fell from Virtue there,
The hour when Lnvc unbound it.
74
JUVENILE POEMS.
WRITTEN IN THE BLANK LEAF
OF A. lady's commonplace book.
Here is one leaf re-^erv'tl foi Aie,
Fiom all thy sweet memorials free;
And he<e my simple song might teil
The fillings Ihou musi guess so well.
But cnuld i ihus. within thy mlod,
One htlle vacani corner find,
Where no impre-sjnn yet is seen.
Where no memorial yet hilli been,
Oh ! it should be my sweetest care
To write my name for ever there!
WRITTEN IN HER ALBUM,
They sny that Love had once a book
(The urchin likes to ct>py you),
Where^ all who came, the pencil took,
And wrote, like us, a line or two,
'Twas Innocence, the maid divine.
Who kept this volume bright and fair,
And saw th.^t no unliallowMIine
Or thought profane should enter there;
And dailv did the pages fill
Wiih fond device and loving lore,
And every leaf she lurn'd was siill
More bright ihan that she lurn'd before.
Beneath the tonch of Hope, how soft,
How tight the ma^ic pencil ran I
Till Fear would con^e, abs, as oft.
And trembling close what Hope began,
A tear or two had dropp'd from Grief,
And Jealousy would, now and then,
Ruffle in hr-ste some snow-white leaf.
Which Love had still to smooth again.
But. ah! there came a blooming boy,
Who often turn'd the pa=:es o'er,
And wrote therein puch words of joy,
That all who reaJ (hem sigh'd for more.
And Plertsure wa . this spirit's name.
And ihoush s' soft his voice and look,
Yet Innocence, ivhene'er he came,
Would tremble for her spo;iess book.
For, oft a Bacchant cup he bore,
VVith earth's sweet nectar sparkling bright J
And much she fear'd lest, mantling o'er.
Some drops should ou the pages light.
And so it chanc'd, one luckless night,
The urchin let thai goblet fall
O'er the fiir book, so pure, so white,
And sullied lines and marge and all *
In vain now, touch'd with shame, he tried
To wash those fatal stains away;
Deep, deep had sunk the sullying liJe,
The leaves grew darker every day.
And Fancy's sketches lost their hue.
And Hope's sweet jmes we^e all effac'd,
Anil Love himself now scarcely knew
What Love himself bO lately trac'd.
At length the urchin Pleasure fled,
(For how, alai ! could Pleasure stay ?)
And Love, while many a tear he shed,
Reluctant Hung the book aivay.
The index now alone remains.
Of all the pages spoil'd by Pleasure,
And though it bears some earthy s'ains,
Yet Memory counts the leaf a trensurc.
And oft, they say, she scans it o'er,
And uH, by this memorial aided,
Brings back the pages now no more,
And thinks of lines that long have faded.
I know not if this tale be true,
But thus the simple fads are stated;
And I reffer their (ruth to you,
Since Love and you are near reUted.
TO CARA,
AFTER AN INTERVAL OF ABSENCE
ConceaTd within the shady wood
A mother left her sleeping child,
And flew, to cull her rustic food,
The fruitage of the forest wild.
But storms upon her pathway rise,
0 The mother roams, astray and weeping j
Far from the weak appealing cries
Of him she left so sweetly sleeping.
She hopes, she fears ; a light is seen,
And gentler blows the nighf-wind's breath j
Yet no — 't is gene — the storms are keen,
The infant may be chilTd to deaih !
Perhaps, ev'n now, in darkness shrouded,
His litile eyes lie cold and stiil ;—
And yet, perhaps, they are not clonded,
Life and love may light ihem siill.
Thus. Cira, at our last farewell,
When, fearful ev'n thy hand to touch,
I mutely asked those eye> to tell
If parting paiu'd thee half so much ;
I thought,— and, oh ! forgive the though!|
For none was e'er by love inspir'd
Whom fancy had not al-o taught
To hope the bliss his soul desir'd.
Yes. I did think, in Cara's mind.
Though yet to that sweet mind unknown,
I left one infant wish behind,
One feeling, wliich I called my own-
Oh blest ! though but in fancy blest,
How did I ask of Pity's care,
To >hield and strengthen, in thy breast,
The nursling I had cradled there.
And, many an hour, beguilM by pleasure,
And many an hour of sorrow numbering,
I ne'er forgot the new-born treasure,
I left within thy bosom slumbering.
Perhaps, indifference has not chill'd it,
Haply, it yet a throb may give —
Yet. no — perhaps, a doubt has kill'd it;
Say, dearest — does the feeling live i
TO CARA,
ON THE DAWNING OF A NEW YEAR*S TAT.
When midnight came if close the year.
We sigh'd In think it thus should lake
The hours it gave us— hours as dear
As sympathy and Inye could make
Their blessed moments,— every sun
Saw us, my love, more closely one.
JUVENILE POEMS.
75
But, Cara, when the dawn was nigh
\Vhich came a new year's ligh* to shed,
That smile we caught fiom eye to eye
Told us, those moments were not fled:
Oh, no,— we felt, some future sun
Should see us still more closely one.
Thus may we ever, side by side,
From happy years to happier glide j
And still tiius may the parsing sigh
We give to houis, that vanish o'er us,
Be follow'd by the smiling eye,
That Hope shall shed oc scenes before us 1
TO ,
, , I&OU
To oe the theme of every hour
The heart devotes to Fancy's power.
When her prompt magic fills the mind
With friends and joys we've left l)ehind,
And joys return and friends are near,
And all are welcomed with a tear: —
In the mind's purest seat to dwell, .
To be reinember'd oft and well
By one whose heart, though vain and wild,
By passion led, by youih beguil'd,
Can proudly still aspire to be
AH ifiat may yet win smiles fi-om thee: —
If thus to live in every pait
Of a lone, weary wanderer's heart;
If thus to be its sole employ
Can give thee one faint gleam of joy,
Believe it, Mary,— oh i believe
A tongue that never can deceive,
Though, erring, it too oft betray
Ev*n more than Love should dare to aiy,—
la Pleasure's dream or Snrrow's hour.
In crowded hall or lonely bower,
The business nf my life shall be.
For ever to remember thee.
And though that heart be dead to mine,
Since Love is life and wakes not thine,
I 'II take tliy image, as the form
Of one whnm Love had faipd to warm,
Which, thojgh it yield no answering thrill,
Is not less dear, is worshipp'd still —
I 'II take it, wheresoe'er 1 stray,
The bright, cold burden of my way.
To keep this semblance fiesh in bloom.
My heart shall be its las'ing tomb,
And Memory, with embalming care,
Shall keep it fresh and fadeless tliere.
THE GENIUS OF HARMONY,
AN IRREGOLAR ODE,
All harmoaiani canere muudum*
Cicero de Nat. Dear, lit), m.
There lies a shell beneith the wares.
In manv a hollow winding wreath'd.
Such as of old
E;hoed the brea'h that waibling sea-maide breatUM;
This masic shell.
From the white tiosoni of a syren fell,
As once she wander'd by the tide that laves
Sictlia's sands of gold.
It bears
Upon its shining side the mystic notes
Of those entrancing airs,»
" Iq the " Histoire Naturelle des Antilles" *bcre is
ao account of some curious fhells, found at Curacoa,
00 the back of which \vere .'ines, filled with musical
charactera so distinct and perfect, that the writer
assures us a very charming trio was sung from one
The genii of the deep were wont to swell,
When heaven's eltrnal orbs their midnight music
roird !
Oh ! seek it, wheresoe'er it floats;
And, if the power
Of thrilling numbers to thy soul be dear,
Go, bring ihe bright shell to my bowcr.
And I will fold thee in such douny dreams
As lap Ihe Spirit of the Seventh Sphere,
When Luna's distant tone falls faintly on his ear!*
And Ihnu ^halt own,
That, through the circle of creation's zone,
Where mailer slumbers or where spirit beams :
From the pellucid tides,3 that whirl
The planets through their maze of soug.
To the smill rill, ihat weeps along
Murmuring o'er beds of pearl ;
From the rich sigh
Of the sun's arrow through an evening sky,«
To the faint breath the tuneful osier yields
On Afnc's burning fields; ^
Thou 'It wuudering own this universe divine
Is mine!
That I respire in all and all in me,
One mighty mingled soul of boundless harmony.
of 1 hem. "On le nomme musical, parcequ'il porie
sur le dos des lignes uoiratres pleines de notes, <]ui ont
une espece de cle pour les mettre en chant, de snrle
que Ton diroit qu'il ne manque que la leltre a cetie
'abl ituie naturelle. Ce cuiieux gentilhomme (M. du
Montel) rappnile qu'il en a vuqui avoient cinq hgiies,
une cle, el des notes, qui formoieni un accord parfait.
Quclqu'un y avnj! ajou'e la letire, que la nature avoit
oiiblite, el la faisoit chan'er en forme de trio, dont
IVir etuii fort agre.ble "—Chap. xix. art. II. The
author adds, a jioet might inngine that these shells
were used by the syiens at their concerts.
^According to Cicero, and his commentator, Ma-
cmbius. the lunar tone is the gr.ivest aiid f.iintesl on
Ihe planetary Iiept chord. •• Quam nb causam sum-
mus ille cceli stellifer cursufl, cujus conversio est con-
ci'alior, atulo el exciiato movetur sono; gravis'-imo
auteni hiC lunaris atque iiiHmus " — 6'om7i. Scip.
Because, says Macrobuis, "spiritu ut in extreniitate
langiiescente jam volvitur, et propter anguslias quibus
penullimus orl-is arctaiur impetu lenioreconvertilur."
— in Sonm. Scip lib. ii. c«p. 4. In their musical
anangemeut of the heavenly bodies, the ancient
writers are not very intelligible. — See Ptohm, lib.
Leone Hebreo, pursuing the idea of Aristotle, that
the heavens are animal, altribuies their harmony to
perfect and reciprocal love. **Non pero nianca fia
loro il peifetto et leciproco amore: la causa prin-
cipale, che ne inostra il loro amore, e la lor amicilia
armonica et la concordairza, che perpetuamente si
trova in loro."— Diilcitr. il di Amore, p. n8. This
"reciprnco amore" of Leone is the (JjiXottjs of the
ancient Empedocies. who seems, in his Love and Hate
of the E enient", to have given a glimpse of the j-rin-
ciples of attractpon and repulsion. See the fragment
to which I allude in Lnertius, AXXote fiiv (piXoTttTt.
(ruvcp;^;o/t£v\ k. t. A., lib. viii. cap. 2. n. 12.
3 Leucippus Ihe atomist, imagined a kind of vor-
tices in the heavens, which he borrowed from
Anaxagoias, and possibly su:^gested to Descaites.
* Heiaclirles, up:n the alIeenrie^ of Homer, conjec-
tures Ihat the i(if I of Ihe harmony of the spheres
origina'ed with this poet, who, in repre-etiting the
solar beam^ as armws, suppcses Ihem to emit a pecu-
liar sound in the air.
* In he account nf Africa which D'Abtancourt has
iranslated. thuie is menlion nf a tree in that countiy,
whose branches when shaken by the hand produce
very sweet sounds. " Le nieme auieur (AbenzegarJ
dit, qu'il y a nn certain arbre, qui produit des gaules
comme d'nsier, et qu'en les prenant a la main et lea
br;inlant, elles font une espece d'harmnnie fcrt agre-
able," &c. &c. — VJfrique de Marmol,
76
JUVENILE POEMS,
Welcome, welcome, mystic shell I
Many a star has ceas'd to burn,'
Many a lear has Saturn's urn
O'er the colJ bos'im of the oceau wept,*
Since tliy aerial spell
Hath in the waters slept.
Noiv blest I'll fly
With the bright treasure to my choral sky,
Where she, who w^k'd iis early swell.
The Syren of the heavenly chnjr.
Walks o'er the great snn? of my Orphic LyrejS
Or guides arnund the Lurnins pole
The winged chariot of some blissful soul : *
While thovi —
Oh, son of earth, what dreams shall rise for thee J
Reneaih Ilispania's sun,
Thou 'It see a jtreamlet run,
Which 1 've imbued witli Ireathing melody; 5
And there, when ni^ht-winds down the current die,
Thou 'It h.ar how like a harp iis waiers sigh;
A liquid chord in every wave ihat flows,
An airy plectrum every breeze that biuws.s
There, by that wondrous stream,
Go, lay thy languiU hrow.
And I will send thee such a gndlike dream,
As never bless'd the slumbers even of hini,^
Who. many a night, \vith his primordial lyre,a
Sate on the chill Pangjem mount.a
1 Alludin? to the extinction, or at least the disap-
pearauce, of some uf (hose fixed slars, which we are
taught to consider as suns, attended each by its system.
Descartes thought that our eanh might formerly have
been a sun. which became ib-cured by a thick incrus-
tation over its surface. This probably suggested the
idea of a central fire.
^ Porphyry says, that Pythagoras held the sen to be
a tear, Ttjv -S-aXarTav tizv £Ka\u zivai daKQVOv
{De Vila ;) and s 'me one el-e. if I mistake nnt, has
added the planet Saturn as ihe source of it. Empc-
dncles, with similar ati'ect.ition, called ihe sea "the
swe^t of Ihe eanh:" IdpojTa Tt]<; yi^j. See JiiUcrs-
husiiis upon Porphyry y Num. 41.
3 The system of the harmonized orbs was styled by
the ancients Ihe Gre:it Lyre of Orpheus, for which
Lucian thu'^ acc'iunis:— ^ 6e Avqt} tTrrniino^ tovtra
T7]V Tojv KLVovft-tviuv a<TTgtov dp/tovtav avvt^ah'
Xeto. k. t, a. in ^strolog.
4 Aat\E ^^vxo-% L<TaoL9[Lovs rots ao-Tpoi?, tviifiE
^' iiia{7TT]v ngos Uao-rov, Km £/t/5^^ao■a? 'i2E
FAZ OXHMA— ''DisTihuling the souls severally
among the stars, and mounting each soul upon a star
as on its chariot"— Plaio, Thixsus.
5 This musical river is mentioned in thi
of Achilles Taiius. Enti noTatx.ov . , t)v 6t aKovaai
^zXr}^ Tov -bdaTog^aXovvTos- The Utin version,
in supplying the hiatus which is in the original, ha>
placed Ihe river in Hi^pania. 'Mn Hi&pania quoque
fluvius est, quern primo ai-pectu," &c. &;c.
I 6 These two lines are translated from the words of
Achilles Tatius. Eav yap oXiyn^ avtfios tis ra£
iivas i^maT), to pLCV vdwp oj? X^Q^V ^^povtTat. to
6e TTVivna TOV v6aTos n^r]lCTOov yivfirat. ro ^iv-
fia 6t u)S KiOaga XaXu. — Lib. ii.
1 Orpheus.
8 They called his lyre apx^i-OTgoTrov l-iTTaxoodov
Op0ctu5'. See a curious work by a professor of Gieek
at Venice, enitled " Ilebdomades, sive septem de
septenario libri."— Lib. iv., cap. 3, p. 177.
9 Eratosthenes, in mentioning the extreme venera-
tion of Orpheus for A[»ollo, siys 'hat he wa^ accus-
tomed to go In the P.tnga'an mouniain at day-break,
and there wait the rising nf the sun, that he liiighl be
the first to hail i's beims. Kniyitpofitvos tc ttjs
*««Tos, Kara Ttjv kiuOtVTiV int to ooos to kuXov-
And, looking to the orient dim,
Watch'd Ihe first lowing of that sacred fount,
From which his soul had drunk its tire.
Oh I think what visions, in that Jontly hour,
Stole o'er his musing breast ;
What pious ecstasyio
Wafted his prayer to that eternal Power,
Whose se;il upon this new born world impreet*l
The vari us forms of bright divinity!
Or, dost thou know what dieanis I wove,
'Mid the deep horror of tint silent bower,'*
Where the rapt Samian slept his holy slumber ?
When, free
From every earthly chain,
From wreaths of pleasure and from bonds of p&b.
His spirit flew through fields above.
Drank at ihe source of nature's fontal number,»3
And taw, m mystic cboir, around him move
The btai-s <.f song, Heaven's burning miuslrelsyl
Such dieams, so heavenly bright,
I swear
By the great diadem that twines my hair.
And by ihe seven gems ihat sparkle there, »*
Mingling their beams
In a soft iris nf harmonious light,
Ob, mortal ! such shall be thy radiant dreams.
I found her not — the chamber seem'd
Like some divinely haunted place
Where fairy fornis had lately beam'd,
And left behind (heir odorous trace!
fiivov riayyntov, itgociinvt to? avaToXa^^ Iva
idT] TOV 'UXiov TTf-uiTov. — KaTao-T£pio-/i. 24.
1 0 There are some verses of Orpheus preserved to us.
which contain sublime ideas of the unity and magni-
ficence of the Dei'y. For instance, those which Jus-
tin Martyr has produced :
OvTos fitv x^Xk
XpvoTcw zvi -^go
£? ovpavoi' t<T7r]ptK7at
K. T. A. ^d Grxc. Cohortat.
It is thought by some, that these are to be reckoned
aniongst the fabrications, which were frequent in the
early times of Christianity. Stilt, it appears doubtful
to whom they are to be attributed, being too pious for
the Pagans, and loo poetical for the Fathers.
11 In one of the Hymns of Orpheus, he attributes a
figured seal to Apollo, wilh which he imagines that
dei'y to have stamped a variety of foims upon the
universe.
I'i Alluding to the cave near Samoa, where Pylhn-
goras devoted the greater part of his days and nights
tn niediation and the mysteries of his philosophy.
larnblich de Vit. This, as Holstenius remaiks, was
in iniif.ition of the Magi.
13 The tetracty;, or sacred number of the Pythago-
reans, on which ihey solemnly swore, and which the7
called -nayav azvaov <Pv(Tt(u<;, *'the fountain of pe-
rennial nature." Lucian has ridicnU-d this religious
arithmetic very cleverly in his Sale of Philnsopheis.
14 This diadem is ii:tended to represent the analogy
between Ihe notes of niusic and the prismatic colours.
We find in Plutarch a vague intimation nf this kin-
dred harmony in colou'S aid sounds. — 0^//i? re fcat
nKoi), iina <piuV7)$ tz xai ^u>toj ti/v &piioviav
cirtipatvov<n. — De Mtisica.
Cas<iodorus, whose idea 1 may he supposed to liave
borrowed, says, in a letter u[ion music to Boetius,
*'Ut diadema oculis, varia luce gemmarum, sic cythara
diversitale soni, blarditur auditui." This is indeed
the only tolerable thought iu the letter. — Lib. ii.
Variar.
JUVENILE POEMS.
77
It felt as if her lips had shed
A sish around liei, ere slie iled,
Which hiine, as on a nielliii^ lute,
mute,
After the
slill
jiLlii
aih
iluX
i deaih,
Of melodies which had been there.
I saw the veil, which, all the day,
Had tiotled ii'er her cheek of rose,
I saw llie couch, where iaie she lay
Ju languor of divine repose ;
And I could trace the hillow'd i rint
Her limbs had left, as pure and warm,
As if 'twere done in laplure's mini,
And Love himself had stamp 'd the form.
Oh my sweet mistress, where wert thou?
Itt pity fly not thus fr.im me j
Thou art my life, my esNence now,
And my soul dies of wanting ttiee.
TO MRS. HENRY TIGHE,
ON READINO HER "PSYCHE.
Tell me the witchinjtale ag^iin,
For never has my heart or ear
Huiip on so sweet, si pure a strain,
So pure to feel, so sweet to hear.
Say, Love^ in all thy prime o!" fatne,
When tile high heaven iiself was Ihmej
When jjiety confessd the tlamc.
And even thy errors were divine;
Did ever Muse's hand, so fair,
A t;!oiv round thy temples spread?
Did ever'lips amhtnsial air
Such fr.igiance o'er thy altars shed ?
One maid there was, who round her lyre
The niysiic mville wildlv wrealh'dj—
But all her sighs wee siirhs of lire.
The myrtle wither'd as she hreath'd.
Oh I you, that love's celestial dream,
In all i's (Uiily, wnuld know,
Let not (he senses' ardeni beam
Too strongly through the vision glow.
Love safest lies, conceal'd in night.
The nigh' where lie.ven has bid him lie:
Ob! shed not Inere unhallow'd ligl.t.
Or, P.-yche knows, the boy willfly.i
« See the story in Apuleius. With re<ppct to this
beiutiful allegory of Love and Psyche, there is an in-
genious idei sugjesled by the sei'i.ilor Kuonarntii, in
his " Osservazioni sopra alcuni f amnienti di vas'i
antii-i." He thinks the fable is taken from some very
occult my>teries, which had long been celebi-ated in
honour of Love ; and accounts, upon this suj'pnsitinn.
for the silence of the more ancient authors upon the
subject, as it was not till towards the decline of pagan
superstition, that wrileis could venture to reveal or
discuss sucll ceremonies. Accordingly, observes this
auihor, we find Lucian and Plutarch treating, wiihout
reserve, of the Dea Syria, ^is well as of Isis and Oi-
ris; and Apuleiiu, to whom we are indehed for the
beautiful story of Cupid and Psyche, has also detailed
some of the myleries of Isis. See the Giornale di
Litterati d'ltalia, torn, xxvii, arlicol. I. See also the
ohstr\ations upon the ancient gems in the Museum
Florentinuni, vol. i., p. 156.
7*
Sweet Psyche, laany a charmed hour,
Through many a wild and magic waste,
To the fair fount and hii st'ul bower »
Have I, in dre.ims, lliy light foot Irac'd!
Where'er thy joys are nuniber'd now,
lieiieaih whatever shades of lesl,
The Genii s of the starry brow 3
Hath bound thee to thy Cupid's breast.
Whether above (he horizon dim,
Along wh ■>e veige our spiiits stray,—
Half sui.k beneath the shadow) rim,
Half brighten'd by (he ui per ray,* —
Thou dwelle^t in a world, all jia-ht.
Or, lingering here, dost love to be,
To other souls, the gualdian bright
That Love was, through this gloom, to the
Still be the song to Psyche dear,
'i he song, whose gentle voice was given
To be, on earth, to mortal ear.
An echo of her own, in htaven.
FROM THE HIGH PRIEST OF APOLI.O,
TO A VIRGIN OF DELPHI. s
Cum digno ttigna
Sulpieia
>' Who is (he maid, with golden hair,
" With eye of hre, and foot of air,
'' Whose harp around my altar swells,
"The sweetest of a thousand shells'"
'T was thus the deity, who treads
The arch of heaven, and proudly sheds
Day from his eyelids — (bus he -poke,
As through my cell his glories broke.
Aphelia is the Delphic fair.s
With eyes of hre and golden hair,
Aphelia's are the airy feet.
And hers the harp divinely sweet ;
I cannot avoid remarking heie an error into which
the French Encyclopedistes have been led by M.
Spoil, in iheir article Psyche. 'I hei sar, '• Petione
lait unrecit de la ponipe nnpdale de ces deux am
(Amour et P-yche.) Deja, dit-il,' &c. &r. The
Psyche of Petrnnius, however, is a servant-maid, i
the marriage which he describes is !h.it of the )oung
Pannychis. See Spon's Reclierches curieuses. Sic.
Dissertat. 5. '
"i Allusions (0 Mrs. Tighe's Poem.
3 Cons(ancy.
* Py (his image the Phalnnists expre-sed the middle
state of (he soul between sensible and iiitelleclual
existence.
5 This poem, as well as a few o'he'S in the folli
ing volume, formed part of a work which I had early
projected, and even announced to the public; hit
which, luckily, perhaps, for myself, had been inter
rupted by my vi-it lo An.erica in the year IS03.
Among lbi.se iniposlmes in which the piiesls of the
pag;iii Irmples are kn-.wn lo have indulged, one t f
most favoori e was lha( of ai nounciiig lo son e
volaiy of (he shrine, llial (he God himself had brcc
ei amourcd of her btaulv, and would descend in
his glory, (o p.ay her a visit w ilhin the recesses of the
fane. An adventure of this desctiplion formed _..
episode in the d.issic romance which I had sketched
out; and the short fragment, given above, belongs (o
311 epistle by which the story was (o have beeu intro-
duced,
f In the 9'h Pvthic of Pindar, wnere Ajiollo, in the
same manner, require, of ( hiion some inforniation
respecdng the fair Cyrene, (li-i Centaur, in obeying,
178
JUVENILE POEMS.
For foot so light has never trod
The lauielM c^'venis i of the gnd,
Is'i't harp so S'tt hilh ever ^iveii
A sigh 10 earth or hymn to heaven.
•'Then tell the virgin to unfold,
«' III luoser pomp, her Inck- of gold,
'* And bid Ihriae eye> nioff fondly shine
*' To welcome down a Spouse Divine j
"Since He, ulio lights the pa h of years —
" Even fruni 'he fount uf uiorning's tcari
*' 'l'i» wheie his selling splend"u-s burn
•' Upon the western sea maid's urn —
**Doih not, in a I hia course, behold
**SiJch eyes of ft e, such h^irof gold,
"Tell her, he comes, in b!is fut piide,
*' Hts hp yet sparkling wiih ihe tide
*'That nianties in Olvmpian bowls,—
*-The nectar of denial souU 1
"For her, tor her he quits the skies,
*' AiiJ to her ki-9 trnni nectar flie-.
*'0h. he would quit Ins 3t,<r-thron'd height,
•' Atid leave the world m pine f..r li^h',
*' Miiht he hut pas> the hours of sh -de,
*' Heside his peerless Delphic maid.
" She, mnr*- than earthly woman blest,
" He, more than god on woman's bieast !"
There is a cave beneath Ihe sleep,*
Where !i itig rdis of ciystal ueep
O'er hrihage of the loveliest hue
That v'.ci spring bfgemm'd « ith dew;
'1 here it'i thr gieenswad's glossy tint
h biigtiteii'd by the recent print
Of many a faun and naiads feel, —
Scarce u uching earth, their step so fleet,—
'Jhat there, by moonlight's ray. hnd trod,
In lii^hl dance, o'er the verdaat and.
*' Thtre, there." Ihe god, im| a^ ion'd, said,
*'Soon as the iwitight tinge h fled,
*' And the dim orb of lu.iar souls 3
"Along its ^hadowy pathway rolls —
*' Tliere ^hall we meet,— and not ev'n He,
"The Grd who reigns immortally,
" Where Babel's turrrts paint their pride
*' Upon th' Euphrates' ^hil^ing tide,* —
*' Not ev'n u hen to hi- midnight loves
*' In mystic majesty he moves,
" Lighted bv many an odorous fire,
"And hymii'd by alt Chaldapa's choir,—
*' E'er yet, o'er mortal brow, let shine
"Such (-ffluence of L'-ve Divme,
"As shall to-night, blest maid, o'er thine."
'ery gravely apologizes for tellmg the GM what his
imniscience must know so perfectly already:
Ki 6c yi X9V "'** ^^9 O'O'pov avTt^ipi|ai,
Ep^u,.
' AA/\' £t$ (Ja^vw^j; yi/aXa (?i)(Topiai radz.
Euripid. Ion. v. 76.
*! The CorycTan Cave, which Paus-anias mentron=.
The inhabitants of Parnassus held it sacred to the
'iirycian nymphs, who were children of the river
Plistus.
3 See a preceding note, ante^ p. 127. It shnuld
seem that lunar spirits ueie of a purer order than
spirits in generd, as Pyihag'-ras uas said by his f 1-
■ ers tn have descended ' from the regions of the
moon. The hereviarch Minis, in the same manner,
.gnied that the sun and moon are the resider ce of
I Christ, and that Ihe ascension was nothing more than
i flight to those orbs.
1 The temi>le of Jnpiter Belus, at Rahylon ; in one
whose towers there was a large chape! set apart lor
these celestial sssigniiti' ns. " N-i man U allowed to
sleep here," says Hen dnius ; "but tiie apar ment \^
appropriated to a female. \\ hom, if w-e '-elieve the
Qialdaean priests, the deiiyselecs from the women
of the country, as his favouii e." Lib. i. cap. ISl.
Happy the maid, whom he; ren allows
To breik for heaven her viigiii vows 1
Hai py the maid ! — her robe of shame
Is whiten'd by a heavenly flame,
Whose glory, with a lingering; trace,
Shines through and deities her race 1 A
FRAGMENT.
Pity me, love! I'll pity ihee,
If (li'iu ii.deed hast felt like me.
AM, all xin bosom's peace is o'er ;
At niehf, which ^oaa my hour of toim,
\Vhen (lom the page of classic lore.
From the pure fount of ancient lav
My soul h..s drawn the placid balm.
Which charm'd its every giief aw^y.
Ah ! there I find that balm no mnre,
1 hose spells, which m ike us oft for->t
The fleeting troubles nf the day.
In deeper sorrows Only whet
The slings they cannot tear axvay.
When to my nillNW rack'd I fly.
With weanea 9en*:e and wakeful eye.
While my bram maddens, where, oh, where
Is that serene cns^'ling pray'r,
Which once has harbinger'd my rest,
When the still soothing voice of Heaven
Hath seein'd to whisper in my breast,
*' Steep on, thy eno s are foigiven !"
No, iho gh I still in semblance pray,
My thoughts are wandering far away,
And ev'n 'he name of Deity
Is murmur'd out in sighs for thee.
A NIGHT THOUGHT.
Hnw oft a cloud, with envious veil,
Olscuresynn bashful light.
Which seems so nmdestlv to steal
Along the waste of night I
'T is thus the world's obtrusive wrongs
Obscure wirli malice keen
Some timid heart, which only longs
To live and die unseen.
THE KISS.
Grow to my lip, thou sncred kiss.
On which my soul's beloved swore
That there shoj'd come a time of hlrss,
When she would mock mv hopes no more.
And fancy shall thy glow fenew,
In sighs at morn, and dreams at night,
And none shall steal thy hnly dew
Til! thou 'ri alisolv'd by rapture's rite.
Sweet hours that are to make me blest,
Fly, swift as breezes tn the gO"I,
Arid let my love, my more than soul,
Cnme blushing to this ardent breast.
Then, while in every glance I drink
The rich n'trflowings of her mind,
Oh ! let her all enamnur'd sink
In sweet ahandnnment resign'd,
Blushing for all our st-uggles past.
And murmuring, " I am thine at last !"
5 Fnntenelle, in his piavful rifacivievto of the
lea-ned materials of Van-Dale, has'telaled in his own
inimital)le manner an adven'nre of ihis kind which
was detected and exposed at Alex.iiidria. See L'Hii
toiie des Oracles di sert. 2. chap. vii. Ciehillon, tm
in one of his most amu>ins little stories, has made the
Genie Mange-Taupes. of the Isle Jonqnille, assert
this privdegeof spnitn^^l beinss in a iraiiter rather
formidable to ihe hu!^band3 of the inland.
JUVENILE POEMS.
79
SONG.
Think on that look whose melting ray
For one swett niotiieni mix'd «iili mine,
And for liiat nmnieiil seeniM to say.
** 1 dare not, or I would be thine !'*
Think on thy ev"ry smile and sclance,
On all thou liabt t:> cr arm and move;
And then fortcive my bosom's trance,
Nor led me it is bin ;o love.
Oh, not to Inve Ihee were the sin :
For sure, if Fife's deciees be done,
Thou, thou art destin'd still to win,
As X am deatin'd to be won I
THE CATALOGUE.
*»Conie, fell me," s^ys Rosa, aa kissing and kisf.
One d-iy she rectin'd on my bieast ;
••Come, lell me the number, repeal me the list,
•' Of the nymphs you have lov'd and carest." —
Oh Rosal ■( was only my fancy thai roved,
My heart at tlie moinent w.is free;
But I'll teil thee, my pirl, how nuny I've loved,
And the number sh-^ll finish with Ihee.
My tutor was Kittv ; in infancy wild
Hhe tauglil me the way to be blest ;
She tanjht me to Inve her, I lov'd like a child.
But Kilty could fancy the icst.
This lesson of dear and enrapturing lore
I have never foient, I allow:
1 hive had it by rote very ofien before,
Bui never l/y heart until now.
Pretty Martha was next, and my soul was all flame.
But my head was so f,,ll of r -ma' ce
That I fancied her into some chivalry dame,
And I was lier knitjht of ihe hnce.
But Martha ^^as not of this fanciful school,
And she lau^h'd a' her loor little kiii2:ht ;
While I thiiu^lit her a fC'dde-s tthe thnuf,^lit me a fool,
And 1 Ml s»ear she was most in the right.
My soul was now calm, till, by Cloris's looks,
Agiin 1 was lempted to rove;
But Ctoris, 1 found, was so learned in books
That she gave me more lo^ic than love.
So I left this yonn? Sappho, and hasten'd to fly
To those swee'er logicians in bliss.
Who arjuL- the point with a s'^uUtflling eye.
And convince us at once with a ki^s.
Oh! Susan was then all the world unto me,
Bu! Susan was piously given ;
And the worst of it was, we c uld never agreo
On Ihe mad ihat was shnrlesl to He
aven.
"Oh. Susan!" I've said, in the monu
nis of mirth,
•• What's lievnlion to ihee or to me
? '
•* I devoutly believe there 's a heaven
on earth,
**Aud lelieve tliat that heaven ^s in iheti *
IMITATION OF CATULLUS.
TO HIMSELF.
MiBcr Catullus deainas inerlirc, &o.
Cease the siphin^ fool to pla^
Cease to Irilie life away;
Nor vainlv think lhose"j"VS thine own.
Which ali, alas, have fal-ely flown.
Whil hou™, Catullus, once were thine.
How fairly seeni'd thy day to shine,
When lightly thou didst fly to meet
The girl whose smile wa« then so sweet —
The )t;irl thou lov'dst with fonder pain
Than e'er thy heart can feel again.
Ye mel — your souls seeni'd all in one,
I. ike Mpers llial c niiiiin»lin« shone;
Thy hc.irl wa< warm enough lor bmb.
And hers, in trulh, was nothing loth.
Such were Ihe hours that once were tbine
But, nh ! those liouis no lonsrer shine.
For now the nymph delights no more
In whai she lov'd so much before:
And all Calulliis now can do.
Is to be proud and frigid too ;
Nor follow where the wanton flies.
Nor sue he bli-s that she denies.
False maid ! he bids f.irewell to thee.
To love, and all love's misery ;
The heyday of his lieart is o'er,
Nor will he c^uil one favour more.
Flv, perjui'd girl ! — but whither fly ?
Who now will ijiaise thy cheek and eye?
Who now will drink Ihe syren tone,
Which tells him th..u art all his own?
Oh, none : — and he who lov'd before
Can never, never love thee more.
" Neither do I condumn thee ; go, and sin no more ! "
SI. John, chap. Till.
Oh, woman, if through sinful wile
Thy S!)ul hath striy'd from honour's track,
>T is niercy only can beguile.
By gentle ways, the wai.deier back.
The slain that on thy virtue lies,
VVavh'd by those te.irs. not long will stay;
As clouds that sully morning skies
May all be wept ii. show'rs away.
Go, go, be innoceni,— and live;
I'lie tongues of men may wound thee sore;
But lleav'n in pi y can forgive.
And bids tliee " go, and sin no more 1**
NONSENSE.
Good reader ! if you e'er liave seen,
Wbe I I'htchu, hjsens to his |iillow.
The mermaids, with ilieir tresses green,
Dancing i poii Ihe we-tern billow:
If you have -cen, at twilight dim,
When the lone spirit's vesper hymn
Float> wild along Ihe w inding shore,
If you have seen, through mist of eve,
The lairy tiain iheir ringlets weave.
Glancing along the spangled green : —
If you have seen all this, and more,
God bless me, what a deal you 've seen I
EPIGRA!\f,
FROM THE FRENCH.
' I never give a kiss (savs Prue.)
" To naushtv man, for 1 abhor it."
Ihe will nntpuea kiss, 'I is true;
She '11 lake one though, and thank you for it.
ON A SQUINTING POETESS.
To no oiic Muse does she her glance confine,
But has an eye, at once, to all (Ae JVijie .'
so
JUVENILE POEMS,
Die wlieii you will, j'ou DeeJ not wear
At ileal e.i's Court a form more fair
'1 Iian Beaulv liere on eartlj lias given ;
Keep but the ioiely looks we see —
The voice we hear — and ynu will be
An augel ready-mads for Heaven I
TO ROSA.
A far coiiserva, e cumulo d'amanll. Patt. Fid.
And arc you then a thin^ of art,
SeJuciiig all, and loving ofiue ;
And liave I sirove to gain a heart
Which eveiy coxcomb thinks his own ?
Tell meat once if this be true.
And I will calm my jealous breast ;
Wdl learn to join ihe dangling crew,
And share your simpers with the rest.
But if your heart be nnt so free, —
Oh : if another share that heart,
Tell n..t the hateful tale to me,
IJut mingle nieicy with your art.
I 'd rather think you " false as hell,"
Than find you In he all divine,—
Thill know that heait could love so wci;,
Tet know that heart would not be mine !
TO P H 1 L L i S .
Fhillis, you liltlerosy rake,
That heart of your. I long to rifie:
Come, give it uie, and do not make
So uiuch ado about a Irijte 1
TO A LADY,
ON HER SINGINQ.
Thy song has laught my heart to feel
Tho e soothing thoughts of heav'nly love-
Which o'er the sainted spirits seal
When lisl'niiig to the spheres above I
When, tir'd of life and misery,
I iiish to sigh my lalest brealh,
Oh, Emma! 1 wilj'fly to ihee.
And Ihou shall sing me into death.
And if along thy lip and cheek
That smile of heav'nly softness play.
Which,— ah! forgive a mind that '8 weak,—
So oft his stol'n my mind away;
Thiu 'It seem an angel of the sky.
That comes to charm nie into bliss:
I 'II gaze and die— VVho would not die.
If death weie half so sweet as Ihisf
SONG.
OS THE BIRTHDAY OF MRi5.
\^R1TTEN IN IRELAND, 1799.
Of all mv happiest hours of joy,
And even I hsve hid my measure,
When hearts were full, and ev'ry eve
Hath kinclled wilh the light of pleasure,
* The words addressed by Lord Herbert of Cher
hory to the beautiful Nun at Murano.— See his Life.
An hour like this 1 ne'er was given.
So lull of friendshi|''s purest blisses ;
youi:g Love himself looks down fiom heavea.
To smile on such a day as this is.
Ihen cnnie, my friends, this hour improve,
tet 's feel as'if we ne'er could sever;
And may the birth of her we love
lie thus with joy remember'd ever!
Oh ! banish ev'ry thought to-night,
VVliicli could disturb our soul's comniunich'i ;
Abaiid'n'd thus 10 dear dcltgh'.
We 'II tv n for once forget ihe Union!
On that let sta'esmen irv their poiv'is,
And tremble iier the' rights they'd die for;
The union of Ihe soul be ours,
And ev'ry union else we sigh for.
Then come, my friends, &c.
In ev'ry eye around 1 mark
The feelings rif the heart o'erflowing;
From ev'ry suul I catch the spaik
Of sympathy, in friendship glowing.
Oh ! could such moments ever fly ;
Oh ! that He ne'er were dmni'd to lose 'em;
And all as biighl as Chirlotle's eye.
And all as pure as Charlotte's bo'^om.
Ttien come, my Iriends, &c.
For me, whate'er my span of years,
Whatever sun may light my rovmg;
Wheher I w ste mv life in tears.
Or live, as now, f.r mirth and loving;
This day shall come wuh aspect kind,
\Vhcrcver fa'e nny cast your rover ;
He'll ihink of those he Irft behind.
And drink a health to bliss that's over!
Then couie, my friends, kw
SON G.I
Mary, I helrev'd Ihee true.
And 1 lias blest in thus believing;
But now I mourn ihat e'er 1 knew
A girl so fair and so deceiving.
Fare ihee well.
Few have ever lov'd like me, —
Ves 1 have I v'd ihee to-, smreiely!
And few h-ive e'er deceiv'd like thee, —
Alas! deceiv'd me too severely.
Fare thee well !— yet think awhile
On one wliose bosom bleeds to douht thee ;
Who now would rather Irii t that smile.
And die wilh thee tli.an live without thee.
Fare thee well ! I 'II think of thee,
Ihou hav'sl me many a bitter token;
For see. distracting woman, sec,
My prace is gone, my heart is broken! —
Fare thee well I
MORALITY.
A FAMILIAR EPISTLE.
ADDRESSED TO
J. AT-NS— N, ESQ. M.R.I. A.
Though long at school and college dozing,
O'er books of verse and bo.^ks of )irosilig.
And copying from their nior.il pagei
Fine recipes lor making sages ;
; written to t!ie pathetic Scotch
JUVENILE POEMS-
SI
Though Inji^ wilh those divines at school,
Who think In iii;>ke us ^uod by rule ;
VVh". in meihoiiic Inrms advinciug,
Teichms in-.iality like dancing,
Tell U5, for Heav'u or monev's sake.
What steps v\e are Ihrnuj;!! hfe to Like:
Ih 'ueh ihu^ my friend, so long eniploy'd,
With so much midnight <iil des'ioy'd,
I must confess, my seaiches past,
I 've o ly learn'd to di/ubt at last.
1 find the doctors and '.he siges
Have ditler'd in all climes and ages,
And two in fitty tcarce agree
On what is pure morality.
'T is like (he rainbow's shifting zone,
And every vision makes its own.
The doctors of the pnrch aivise,
As modes of bdn^ great and wise.
That we should ceise to own or know
The luxuries that from ftelin? flow : —
*' Reason alone must claim direction,
*' And Apathy's the soul's peifection.
**Like a dull Lke ihc heait must lie;
" No- pass on^ gale tior pleasure's sigh,
*' Though Heiv'n tjie breeze, the b'eaih. supplied,
** Must curl the wave or swell the liie 1"
Such was the rigid Zenn's plaa
To f Tm his philosophic man ;
Such wee the modes he taught mankind
To weed the ga'den cf the mind:
They tore from thence some weeds, *t is true,
But all Uie ilowVs were ravaged loo I
Now listen to the wily strains.
Which, on Cyrene's sandy plains
When Pleasure, nymph wiih loosenM zone,
UsurpM the phd<'sophic ih-one,—
Hear what the courtly saire'si longue
To his surrounding pupils sung —
"Pleasuie's tluMmly noble end
**T'> which all human pow'is should tend,
•' And Virfnt gives htr heav'nW lore,
*' Rut to make Pleasu-e p'ease 'us more.
" Wisdom and she were both de ign*d
**To make the senses more refin'd,
*' Thit man might revel, free from cloying,
"Then mosl a ^age when Uiost enjoying!''
Is this morality ! — Oh, no !
F.v'n I a wiser jialh could show.
The flow'r witliin this vase confinM,
The pnre, the unfading flow'r of mind,
Must not hrow all i s sweets away
Upon a moital monlj of day:
No, ' 0, — Its richest breath should rise
In viriue's incense to the skies.
But thus it i', all sects we see
Have u .tchword-i of moiali-y:
Some cry out Venus, ' thers Jove ;
Here 'I is Religion, theie'tis Love.
B'.t uhile »hey Ihu- so widely wander,
While m\ sites dream, and doctors ponder;
And some, in d.a>ecii<s hrni.
Seek Virtue in a ni (Idle term ;
While thus they strive, in Heaven's defiance,
To chain nioia i y with science ;
The plain good niin. whoi-e ac ions teach
Mote virtue 'han a sect can preach,
Pursues his course, uu'-asely blest,
His tiirnr whispMng in his breast j
Nor could he -c a purt-r pan,
Th ugti he had Tiilly all by heart.
And when he diops the fear on woe,
He little knows or cares to know
That Kpicleius blam'd Ihat tear.
By Heav'a appmv'd, to viitue dear!
Oh I when Pve seen the mdrning beam
Fl' atiMg within the dimpled slreaui ;
While Nature, \vak'niiig from the night,
lias just pui on her lobes of light,
Have i, wilh cold opiician's gaze,
Explor'd the doctrine t>{ those rays?
No. pedants, 1 have left to you
Nicely to sep'ra'e hue from hue.
Go, give thai moment up to ait,
When Heav'n and nature claim the heart;
And, dull lo all llieir bebt attraction,
Go — measure angles of rtfraclion.
While 1, in feeling's sweei romance,
Look on each daybeam as a glance
From the great eye of Him above.
Wak'uing his world with lookb ot love!
THE TELL-TALE LYRE.
I *ve heard, there was in ancient days
A Lyre of most melodious spell :
rr waJ heav'n to hear its fairy lays,
If half be true that legends tell.
T was plav'd on by the gentlest sighs,
And to tlieir brt-alh it btt^aih'd again
In sucli entrancing melodies
As ear had never drunk till then!
Not ha-mnny^s serenesl touch
So siilly could the noies pridong;
They were not heavenly snn^ so much
As they were dieams of heiv'nly song!
If sad the heart, whose murmuring air
Along the chords in languir stole,
The numbers it auaken'd th.re
Were eloquence t'rum pity's soul.
Or if the sigh, serene and light,
Was bui ;he breath of fancied woes,
The string, thai fell Us airy flight.
Soon whispcr'd it to kind repose.
And when young lovers tatk'd alone,
If, mid their bliss that Lyre was near
It made their .»ceen's all it,-, own,
And sent forih notes thai heav'n might hear.
There was a nvniph, who long had lov^
But d.i 'd not' tell the world how well:
The shades, where she at evemni; rov'd,
Alone coiild know, alone could tell.
»Tas there, at twilight time, she stole,
Wheu the hist btar announc'd the night,—
Wilh him whoclaim'd her inmo>t soul.
To wander by that soothing light.
It chancM that, in the fairy bower
Wheie blest they woocd e^ch other's smile,
This Lyrf, of sliange and magic power.
Hung wlMsp'ring o'er their heads the while.
And as, with eyes commingling fire,
They liste:;'d to each utht-rVvow,
The youih fu'l ofi would make the I.yre
A pillow lor the maiden's biow :
And, whi'e Hie melting words she breafhM
Were by itsecInTS wafted lound.
Her lock- .'iad with the chords so wreath'd,
One knew not which gave forth the sound.
Alas, their hearts but tittle thought,
While thus they talk'd the houis away,
That every sound the I.yte was la-ight
Would [inger long, and Ion; betray.
82
JUVENILE POEMS.
So mingled with its tuneful sr^ul
VVeie .ill their lender murmurs gfown,
Th^t other sigi.s unaiisvvtrVI siole,
Nor words it breah'd but theirs alone.
Unhappy nymph! ihy name was sung
To every breeze ttiat wanJei'd byj
The sfcrei's of ii,y genile tongue
Were br^atird in sung lo eirlh and sky.
The fatal Lyre, by Envy's hind
Hung high amid the whisp'img grove^
T" every gale by which 'i was fannd,
frxlain-ed the mystery of your loves.
Nor long ihus rudely was thy name
To earth's derisive echoes given ;
Some pitying spirit downward »ame,
And look the Lyre and thee lo he.iven.
There, freed from earth's unholy wrongs,
Potli happy m Loves home shall be ;
Thou, utienng nnu^hl but seraph son^s,
And that sweel Lyre siitl echoing thee !
PEACE AND GLORY.
WRITTEN ON THE APPROACH OF WAR.
Where is now the smile, that lighten'd
Eveiy hero's couch of rest ?
Where is n >w u e h-pe. th.it brighten'd
Honour's eyea-^d Pity's b-east ?
K^ve v\e lost ihe wrea h «e braided
Fnr our weary ivarrinr men?
Jsihe r^ilhless olive faied?
Must the bay be pluck d again ?
Passing hour of sunny weather
Lovely, in ynur light awhile,
Peace and Glory, wed to^eiher,
Wanier'd through our bles ed isle.
Ai d the eyes ff Peace would glisteu,
Dewy as a morning sun,
When the limid mail \vr<uld listen
To tlie deeds her chief had doi.e.
Is their hour of dalliance over ?
Must (he maiden's 'rembling feet
Waft her frnni her warlike l.-ver
To the desert's still reTeat ?
Fare you well! with sighs we banish
N> mph so f^ir and eues's so bright ;
Yet ihe smile, with wliicli ynu vanish^
Leaves behind a soothing light ; —
Soothing light, that Ion? shall sparkle
O'er \our warrior's sangmn'd way,
Throush Ihe field where horrors darkle,
Sheddins hnpe's consoling ray.
Long the smile hs heart will cherish,
To its absent idol true ;
While around him myriads perish,
Glory siill will sigh for youl
SONG.
Take back the sigh, thy lips of art
In passion's moment breath'd lo me J
Yet. no — it must not. » ill not part,
'T is now the life-breath of my heart,
And has become too pure for thee.
Take back Ihe kiss, that faithle s sigh
With all the warmth of t-ulh imprest;
Tet, no — the fatal kiss niay lie.
Upon thy lip its sweets would die.
Or bloom to make a rival blest.
Take back the vows that, ni^hl and day,
My heart receiv'd, I thought, from tbioe;
Yet, no — allow them ftill lo stay,
They might some other heait betray,
As sweetly as they've rmn'd mine.
LOVE AND REASON.
"Qtinnd I'bomme commence a raisonner. il cease d
■eulir." J. J. HoufSfau.l
*T was in the summer time so sweet,
When hearts and fiouers are bo h in season,
Thnt — who, of all the world, should meet,
One early dawn, bnt Love and Reason !
Love told his dream of yesternight,
While Reason talked ab.>ut the weather.
The morn, in snoth, was fair and bright,
And on they took their way together.
The boy in mmy a gambol flew,
While Reason, like s Juno, stalk'd,
And from her portly figure threw
A lengthen'd shadow, as she walk'd.
No wonder Love, as on thev pass'd.
Should find that sunny morning chill,
For still the shadow Reason cast
Fell o'er the boy, and cooPd him still.
In vain he tried his vvings to warm,
Or find a pa hway nol w dim.
For still the maid's gigantic form
Would stalk between the sun and him.
"This must not be." said little Love —
*' I he sun was made for more than you."
So, turning through a myrtle erove,
He bid the portly nymph adieu.
Now gaily roves the laughing boy
O'er many a mead, by many a stream ;
In every breeze inhaling jny,
And drinking bliss in eveiy beam.
From all the gardens, all the bowers.
He culPd the many sweets Ihey shaded.
And nte ihe fruit-; and smelTd the flowers,
Till taste was gone and odour faded.
But now the sun, in pomp of noon,
Look'd blazing o'er the sultry phins;
Alas ! Ihe boy jrew biuijiil snon.
And feier Ihrill'd Ihrnugh all his veins.
The dew forsook his babv brow.
No more with heal'hy'hloom he ^mil'd —
Oh ! where was tranquil Reason now,
To cast her shadow o'er the child?
Reneaih a gteen and a^ed palm,
His foot at length for shel er turning,
He 91W the nymph reclmintr calm.
With brow as cool as his was burning.
"Oh \ take me to that bosom cold,"
In murmurs at her feet he siid ;
And Reason op'd her e-irment's fold.
And flung it round his fever'd head.
He felt her bosnm's icy touch.
And sonn il Uill'd his pulse to rest;
For, ah ! the chill was quite too much,
And Love expir'd on Reason's breas; t
JUVENILE POEMS.
83
Nay, do nnt weep, my Fanny dearj
While ill these arms vou lie,
This world hath not a wish, a fear,
That ouiht lo cost that eye a tear,
That heart, one tingle sigh.
The
->rld !
ah, Fanny, Lnve must shun
One heari to be \u^ only-oue,
Aie quite enuugh for Love.
What can we wish, that is not hero
Retweeii your arms and mine ?
Is there, on earth, a space so dear
As that within the happy sphere
) eul\^
For nie, there *s not a lock of jet
Adown ynnr temples CU'IM,
Within whose glos-y, tangling net,
My soul dnth not, at once, forget
All, all this worthless world.
H'is in those eyes, so full of love,
My only woilds I see ;
I^t but thtir orbs in eunshine move,
And earth below and skies above
May frown or smile for me.
»T was in the fair Aspasia*s bower,
That Love and Learning, many an hour,
In d;tlli.ince met; and Le;irning smil'd
With ple^^ure on the playful child,
Who of'en stole, to find a nest
Within the folds of Learnings vest.
There, as the lislenin* statesman hung
In transpoit on Aspasia's tongue,
The destinies of Athens took
Their clour from Aspasia's look.
Oh happy time, when laws of s ate
When all that rul'd the country's fate,
Its^lory, qtiiet, or alarms,
Was plann'd between two snow-white arms!
Blest times! they could not always last —
And yet, ev'n now, thev are not past.
Though we have lost tlie giant mould,
In which their men were cast nf old.
Woman, dear woman, still the sanie.
While beauty breathes through soul or frame.
While man possesses heart or eyes.
Woman's bright empire never dies !
No, Fanny, love, they ne'er shall say,
Thit beaiiiy^a charm hath pass'd away ;
Give but the universe a soul
Attuii'd to woman's soft control,
And Fanny hath the charm, Ihe skill,
To wield a universe at will.
THE GRECIAN GIRL»S DREAM
OF THE BLESSED ISLANDS,*
TO HER LOVER.
hXf- TE KttXoJ
AnoXXuiV JTEpt IlAiurtvov. Oracul. Mtlric. a
Joan. Opsop. colluta.
Was it the monn, or waa it morning's ray,
Tfcat call'd thee, dearest, from these arms away ?
f 1 It ni9 imagined by some of the ancients that
Scarce hadst thou left me, when a dream of night
Came o'er my spirit so distinct and bright.
That, while I yet can vividly recall
Its witching wonders, thou shall hear them all.
Meihought I s-w, upon the lunar beam,
Two winded bnys, such as thy muse might dreoiDf
Descending fr.im above, at that still hour.
And gilding, with smooth step, into my bower.
Fair as the beauteous spirits that, all day.
In Ainatha's w.irm fnuiits impnson'd a:ay,'
Hut the .it midnight, from th' enchanted rill,
Tu cool their plumes upon some moonlight hill.
At once I knew their mission; — 't was to bear
My spirit upward, through the paths of air.
To that elysian realm, from whence stray beams
So oft, in sleep, had vi^ited my dreams.
Swift at their touch difsolv'd the ties that clung
All earthly round me, and aloft I sprung;
While, heavnward guides, the little geiiii flew
Thro' palbs of light, refresh'd by heaven's own dew.
And fann'd liy airs still flagrant wiih the breath
Of cloudless climes and worlds that know not death.
Thou know'st, that, far beyond our nether sky,
And shown but dimly to man's erring eye,
A mighty ocean of biue ether rnlls,3
Gemm'd with bright islands, where Ihe chosen souls,
Who 've pass'd in lore and love 'heir earthly hours,
Repose for ever in unfading bowers.
Tha' very moon, whose solitaiy light
So often guides thee to my bower at night,
Is no chill planet, but an isle nf love,
Floating in splendour thfugh those seas above.
And peiipled with bright ftirms, aerial grown.
Nor knowing aught of earth but love alone.
'Ihither, ! thought, we wingd our airy way: —
Mrld o'er its villeys stream'd a silvery day,
While, all around, on lily beds of rest,
Reclin'd the spirits of the immortal Blest.*
tl
an ethereal oce.in abnve u*;, and that the sun
and moon are two flna'ing, luniiiifius islands, in which
the spiri:s of the blest reside. Accordingly we find
that the word ilKiavo^ was sometimes synonymous
with aiip, and death was not unfreijuenily called
SlKEavoLo no(}oSy or " the passage of the ocean."
2 Eunapiu', in his life of lamblichus, tells m of
two beautiful little spirits or loves, which lamblichus
raised by enchantmeni from the warm springs at
Gadara; "dicens astantibus fsays the auihor of the
Oii Fatidici, p. 160,) illos e^se loci Genios: " which
words, however, are nnt in Eunapius.
I find frt>m Cellarius that Amatha, in the neigh-
bourlrond of Gadara, was also celebrated for its warm
springs, and I have preferred if as a more poetical
name than Gadara. Cellarrus quotes Hreronymus.
'* Est et alia villa in viciuia G .dai^e nomine Aniatha,
ubi calidjR aquje erumpunt." — GeogJ"a/;A, Jlntiq. lib,
iii. cap. 13.
3 Thisbelief of anocean in the heavens, or" waters
above the firniament." was one of the many physical
erri>rs in which the early fathers bewildered them-
selves. Le P. Baltua, in his '* Defense des Saints
Peres accuses de Pluionisme," taking it for granted
that Ihe ancien's were moe coirect in their notions
(which by no msans afiptars from what I hue already
quoted ) adduces the obstinacy of the fathers, in this
whimsical opinion, as a proof of their repugnance to
even (ru'h (rom the hands of the philosophers, T^.>^
is a strange way of defending the farhers, and attri-
butes much more th<n they deserve to the phih'so-
phets. For an abstract of this work of Raltis, (the
oppnser of Fon'enelle, Van Dale. &c. in Ihe famous
Oracle controversy.) see *' Riblio heqiie des Auteurs
Ecdesiast, du 18o siecle, part I. lorn, ii.'*
♦ There wt;re various opinions among the ancients
with re pect to their lunar es abli>hmeni ; some made
it an elysium, and others a purgatoiy; while some
supposed il to be a kind of entrepot between lieaven
and earth, where souls which had left their bodies,
84
JUVENILE POEMS.
Oh! there I met Ihoje few cnn^enial maids,
Whom iove haih warin'd, in philosophic shades;
There still Leontiuiii,i on her -ase's bieast,
Found lore and love, was tuior'<| and carfSl ;
And Ihe, e the cl.i>p of F\ Unas' 'i gentle arin»
Rfpaid the zeal winch deiliL-d her chaims.
The Athc M-ister,3 m Asna-ia's e.\es,
Forijot the yoke ot" less eiidcartng lies;
VVlnle f,\ir 'IheaiK.,^ innocently fair,
Wrealira playful y her bann.m's flowing: hair,»
Whosa soul now iix'd, its iiansmigr;itions past,
Found in those arms a resting-pl ice, at last j
And smiling own'd. wh-*lc'er his dreamy thought
In mystic numbers long had v-iinly snu^ht,
The One ibat 's lonn'dof I wo whom loie hath bound,
Is the best number gods or roen e'er found.
But think, my Theon, wiih what joy I thrill'd,
When neir a (junt, which ihmunh the valley rill'd,
My fancy's eve beheld a form rtchiie,
(^f lunar tace, but so resenibhng thine
and those that were on their way to join them, were
deposited in the valley^ of Ilec:<te, and remained till
furllier orders. Tot? Trt^jt fftAiyi'i/v atpt Xtyciv
avTa£ KuTOLKEiv, Kai an-' avry^ Kartu j^wpEtv ttj
T^iv TTtptyaov ytvt.aLV.—Stub. l.b. i. Eclug. Physic.
1 The pupil and mistress of Epicurus, who called
her his "dear litile Leiniium" (Atoi'Taptov,) as ap-
pears by a fragment of one of his letteis in Ij^priius.
This Leiintium was a wonian of (a eut ; " she bad the
impudence (says Cicero) lo write agiinst Tiieopbras-
tus ; " and Cicero, al ihe same timet give^i her a tiame
which IS neither polite nor trar slalable. *' Mere-
tricula eiam Leoniium contra 'I he<)ph<a<>tum scribeie
nuv* ^\." ^ Ue Naliir. Deor. She Itfi a daughter
called Danae, who was just as rigid an Epicme^n as
her mother; Komethmg tike Wieland's Danae in
Ag^lhon.
ii would sound much belter^ I think, if the name
were Lei'ntia, a^ it occurs the tirsi lime in Laerlius;
but M. Menage will out liear ot this residing.
^ Pythias wa? a woman whom Aristotle loved, and
to whom afer her death fie paid duine honours,
solemnizing her niemory by ihe -aine -acufices which
the Athenians odered to the Goddess Ceres. For this
impious g-illantry the philosopher was, of cou'se,
censured; but it would be well if certain of our
modern Slagirites showed a little of this supeistition
about the menioiy of Iheir iinalies^es.
3 Socrates, who used to console him elf in the
sociely of Aspasia for ihose ** less endearing ties"
which he found at home with Xantippe. For an
account of this extraonlinaiy creature, Aspasia, and
her school of erudite luxury at Athens, see L'Hitoire
de I'Academie, &.c. torn. xxxi. p. 69. Segur rather
f^ils on the inspiring subject of Aspasia. — *• Les
Femmes," tnni. i. p. 122.
The Author of the "Voyage du Monde de Des-
cartes'* has als) placed these phib)snpheis in the
moon, and has allotted seigueuries to them, as well :is
to the a>tronnniers ([ait ii. p. M3;) but he ought not
to have forgotten their v\ivesand mistrtssesj •* curie
Don Ipsa in morte rtrlmquunt."
* There are some -ensible letters extant under the
nanie of this fair Pyihagmean. They aie addiessed
to her female fr;ends U| on Ihe ediica' ion < f children,
the treatment of serxants, &c. One, in particular, to
Nicostrata, whfse hu band had given her reasons f >r
jealousy, contains such truly considera'e and rational
advice, (hat it ought to be translated for the edifica-
tion nf a!! married ladies. See Gales Opuscul. Myih.
Phys. p. 741.
* Pythagoras was remarkable for fine hair, and
Doctor Thiers (in his Hi^ti ire dt^ Perruques) seems
to take for granted it was all his own ; as he has not
mentioned him among Ihose ancients uho weie
obliged 10 have recourse to the "coma apposititia."
L'Hist. des Perruques, chap. i.
That, oh ! 't was but fidelity in me,
To Hy, to cla-p, and worship it for thee.
*'" ".id of words the unbodied soui requires.
To waft ;
^'li-hi
But by a piiwer, to spiuls only given,
A deep, mule impulse, only (elt in lieaven.
Swifter than nieteor shaft ttin-ugh summer skies,
From soul to soul the glanc'd idea flies.
Oh, my btloved, hnw divinely sweet
Is the puie joy, when kindred spirits meet !
Like him, the rjver-god,6 whose waters flow,
With love their only lijht, through cave^ U t«T
Wafting in Inumph all the flowery biaids.
And festal rings, with which Olympic maids
Have deck'd his current, as an nflering meet
To lav -'t ArethusVs shmingfeet.
Think, uhen he meets at la'st his fount.iin-bride,
Whit perfect love must ihnll the blended tide I
Each lost m eac
Their lot the same for shai
A t\pe of true love, to the deep they run.
'T was thus -
Bu", Theon. *t is an endless theme,
And thou grow'si weary of my half-told dream,
l)h, would, my love, we were together now.
And I would uoo sweet patience lo thv brow,
And make thee smile at all the magic tales
Of slailisrh! boueis and plane aiy vales,
Which niy fond soul, iuspir d by thee and love,
In slumber's lo m h ith fancfuily wove.
But no ; nn more — soon as tn-morrow's ray
O'er soft Ili-sus shall have died away,
I Ml come, and, while love's planet in the west
Shines o'er our meeting, lell thee all the rest.
TO CLOE.
IMITATED FROM MARTIAL.
I could resign that eye of blue,
Howe'erils 'plendr>nr ustd to thiill me;
And ev'n that cheek of roseate hue, —
To lose it, Cloe, scarce w» uld kill me.
Thai snowv r
eck I ne'e
should miss
However ii
uch 1 'ip r
aVd ab. ut it
And sweetly
AS Ihnt lip
can kiss.
1 tltink 1 cu
uld exist V
t'itliout it.
In short, so well I 've learn'd to fast,
Thai, sonth my hue, I know not whether
I might not bring myself at last.
To — do without you altoge her.
THE WREATH AND THE CHAIN.
I bring thee, love, a golden chain,
I bring thee too a flowcy wieath;
The gold shall never wear a s'ain,
The flow'rets Inngsliall swee'ly breathe.
Come, tell me which 'he tie ?hill be,
To bind thy gentle heart to me.
The Chain is fnrm'd of golden threads,
Bright as Minerva's yellow h lir.
When the la^t beam of evening sheds
lis calm and sober lustie there.
6 The river Alpheus, which flowed by Pisa or I
Olympia, and into which it was custonarv to throw I
ofterings . f different kinds, during the celebration of ,
the Olympic games. In the pretty romance of Clito* '
phon and Leucippe, the river is supposed to carry |
the e offerings as bndal gifts to the fountain Arethusa. I
Kat Z7TL TQv ApcOova-av ovtuj tov AA(tt'ov vv(i(^9 t
ToAct. brav ovv 7} tu>v oAu/tn'iujv iopnj, k, t, A. I
Lib. i.
JUVENILE POEMS,
85
The Wrcalh 's of brishlcst myrtle wove,
With suii-lit ilic.ps i.f bliss aiuoiig it,
And many a rose-le.if, cull'J by Love,
To heal his lip when lieis h,ve stmig it.
O'nie, tell me which ihe lie shall be,
I'o bind thy gentle lieut tu nie.
Yes, yes, I read that ready eye.
Which answes whe:; the longue is loilh,
Tl.ou l.k-st Ihe (c-.-si of eithei lie,
And sprejd'st ihy playful hinds for both.
Ah I — if there \\ eie not some InnR wrong,
The world would see them blended ofl ;
The Chain would ni.ike Ihe VVrealli ■■) strong!
The Wreath would make the Chain »o soft !
Then might the gold, Ihe fl"W'rels be
Sweet fetters for my love and me.
But, Fanny, so uid)lesf they twine,
That (heaven alone can tell the reason)
When mingled thus ihey cease to shine.
Or shine but for a Iransieul season.
Whether the Chain mav press too much,
Or that the Wreath is sliglitly braided,
Let but Ihe gold Ihe llow'tcts touch,
And all their bl oni, their glow is faded!
Oil! better to bi; always free,
Than thus to bind my love to me.
The timid girl now hung her head,
And, as she turn'd an i.pward glaocei
1 saw a doubt its tw ilight spread
Across her brow's divine expmse.
Just then, Ihe garland's brightest rose
Cave one of its love-breathing sighs —
Oh ! who can ask how Fanny chose,
That ever look'd in Fanny's eyes ?
" The Wreath, my life, the Wreath shall be
*' The tie to bind my soul to thee."
TO
And hast thou mark'd Ihe pensive shade,
'I'hat many a time obscures my brow.
Midst all Ihe joy, beloved maid.
Which thou canst give, and only thou ?
Oh ! 't is not that I then forget
The bright lo ks lh;il before me ibiiie;
For never Ihrobb'd a bosom jet
Could feel their witchery, like mme.
When bashful on my bnsom hid.
And blushing to have felt so blesfj
Thou dust but lift thy languid lid.
Again to close it on my breast j—
Yes,— these are minutes all thine own.
Thine own to give, and mine to feel j
Tet ev'n In them, iny hearl has known
The sigh lo rise, the tear lo steal.
For I have thought of former hours.
When he who first Ihy soul possess'd,
Like me awak'd ils wi'ching powers.
Like me was lov'd, like me was blest.
Upon his name thy murmuring tongue
Perhaps hath all as sweetly dwell j
Upon his words thine ear hath hung,
With transport all as purely felt.
For him — yet why the past recall.
To damp and wilher present bliss
Thou'rt Eow my own, heart, spirit, all.
And heaven could grant no more than thii
Forgive me, dearest, oh 1 forciue;
I would be first, be sole to tliee,
TSau shouldst have but besun to live.
The J«ur thai gave thy heart lo mc.
8
Tby book of life rill Ihen effac'd,
Love should have kept thai leafailoDe
Ou wliich he first so brightly tracJ
riiat (bou wen, aoul aod all, my owa.
TO 'S PICTURE,
Go then, if she, whose shnde thou art,
No nio'e will let thee snothe my p-iinj
ye», ted her, it h.ts cos? this heart
Some pangs, to give thee back again.
Tell her the smile was not so dear,
Wiih which -he made thy semblance mine,
^9 hitter is the Ijnmiiiff tear.
Wilh which 1 now the gift reaign.
Yet SCO — and could shn still restore,
Aa some exchange for taking thee,
The fnnquil lock which first I wore,
When her eyes found me calm and free;
Could she give back the careFess flow,
The spirit that my heart then knew —
Yet, no, 't is vain — go, picture, go —
Smile at me once, and then — adieu I
FRAGMENT OF A MYTHOLOGICAL HYMN
TO LOVK.i
Ulest infant of eternity ;
Before the day-star le.irn'd to move,
In pomt' of fire, along his ffrand career,
Glancing the beamv shafts of Ir»ht
From hi*, rich quiver to the farthest sphere,
Thou wert alone, oh Love*
Nes'Iine benea'h the wines of ancient Night,
Whose liorrors scem'd to smile in shadowing thee.
No form of beauty sooth'd thine eye,
As through the dim expanse it wander'd wide
No kindred ^pir■it caught thy sigh,
As o'er the watery waste it lingering died.
Unfelt the puise, unknown The power,
That lateiit in his heart was sleeping, —
Oh Sympathy 1 that lonely hour
Saw Love himself thy absence weeping.
But look, what glory through Ihe darkness beams !
Celestial airs along'the water glide: —
What Spirit art thmi, moving o'er the tide
So beautiful ? oh, not of earth,
But, in thai glowing hnur, (he birth
Of the young Gridhead's own creative dreams,
n'isshe!
Psyche, the firstborn spirit of the air.
To thee, oh Love, she turns,
On thee her eyebeam burns :
Blest hour, before all worlds ordain'd to be!
They meet —
The blooming gnd — the spirit fair
Meet in communion sweet.
i Love and Psyche are here considered as the ac-
tive and pa5sive principles of creation, and the uni-
verse is supposed to have received its first Jiarnionizing
impulse from the nuptial sympathy between these two
powers. A marriage is geriera'lv the first step in cos-
mogony. Tima^us held Form to be Ihe father, and
Matter the mother of the World ; Elion and Berouth,
I think, are Snnclioniatho's first spiritual lovers, and
Mancn-ca|iac and his wife introduced creation amongst
the Peruvians. In short, Harlequin seems to have
stud ied cosmogonies, w hen he s^iid "■ tutto il mondo e
fatto come la nostra famiglia."
86
JUVENILE POEMS.
Now, Sympathy, the hour is tliinej
AH lutiire feels the Ihrill divi.,e,
'ihe veil of Chsus is withdrawn,
And their fir»t kiss is great Creatiou's dawn !
TO HIS SERENE HIGHNESS
THE DUKE OF MONTPENSIER,
ON HIS PORTRAIT OF THE LADY ADE-
LAIDE FORBES.
Doninston Park, 1802.
To catch the thought, by paintinsr's 8pell,
Howe'er remote, howeei reliird,
Aii.i o'er the kindling cauv ss tell
The silent story of the niindj
O'er nature's form to e'lnce the eye,
And fix, by immic light and shade,
Her motnins; tinges, ete Ih. y fly,
Her evening blushes, ere they fadej—
Yes, these are Painting's prnude>t powcre ;
The cift, by which her an divine
Above all others proudly towers —
And these, oh Prince! are richly thine.
And yet, when Friendship sees thee trace,
In aininsi living truth exi>rest,
This bright memorial of a face
On which her eye delights to rest;
While o'er the lovely look serene.
The ^mile of peace, the hloom of youth,
The chet-k, thai blushes to be seen,
The eye thit tells the bosom's truih j
While o'er each line, so brightly true,
Our eyes wilh lingeiing pleasure rove,
Blessing the touch whose various hue
Thus brings to mind the furm we love
We feel the magic of Ihy art,
And own it with a /.est, a zeal,
A pleasure, nearer to the heart
Than critic taste can ever feel.
THE FALL OF HEBE.
A DITHYRAMBIC ODE.»
'T was nn a day
When the immrialsat their banquet lay;
The bowl
Sparkled with starry dew,
The weeping of those myriad urns of light,
Within whose orbs, the almighty Power,
At nature's diwnin^ hour,
StorM the rich fluid of ethereal soul.*
Around,
Soft odorous clouds, that upward wing their flight
From eastern isle?
(Where they have balh'd them in the orient ray,
And with rich fragrance all their bosoms fili'd),
III circles flew, and, melting as Ihey flew,
A liquid daybreak o'er the board distiUd.
All. all was luxury !
AU must he luxurv. where Lyseus smiles.
Hfs locks divine
Were crown'd
With a brighi meteor-braid.
Which, like an ever-springing wreath of vine,
Sho: into brilliant leafy shapes.
And n'er his brow in lambcni tendrils play'd ,
While mid the foliage hung,
Like lucid grapes,
A thousand clustering buds of light,
CuUM from Ihe gardens of the galaxy.
Upon his bosom Cytherea's head
Lay lovely, as when first the Syrens sung
Her beauty's dawn,
And all the curtains of the deep, undrawn,
Reveal'd her sleeping in its azure bed.
The captive" deity
Hung lingering on her eyes and lip.
With looks of ecsta-y.
Now, on his arm.
In hlushes s-he repcs'd,
And, while he gazed on each bright charm,
To shade his burning eyes her hand in dalliance stole.
And now Fhe rais'd her rosy mouth to sip
The nectar'd wave
LvEEus ga\e,
And froi'n her eyelids, half*way clos'd,
5eni filth a meliing gleam.
Which fell, like sun-dew, in the bowl :
While her bii^ht hair, in ma?y flow
Of gold descending
Adown her cheek's luxurious glow.
Hung o*er ti.e goblet's side,
And was reflected in its cr)htal tide,
1 Though I h-ive styled this poem a Dithyranibic
Ode, I cannot presume Xn say that it possesses, in any
degree, the characteristics of that species of poetry.
The nature of the ancient Dithyramb c is very im-
perfectly known. According to M. Bure'te, a licen-
tious irregularity of metre, an extravagant research of
thouffht and expres«;inii, and a rude embarrassed con-
struction, are among i!s m-^st distinguishing features;
and in all tliese respects. I have hut too closely, I fear,
followed my models. Bure'te adds " Ces caracteres
des dithyramhes se font sentir a ceux qui li^ent at-
tentivement les odes de Pindtre."— Mcmoires de VA-
cad., vol. X., p. 306. The same opinion may be col-
lected from Schmidi's dissertation upon the subiect
I think, however, if the Dithyrambics of Pindar were
in our possession, we should find that, however wil*^
and fanciful, they were by no nie:ins the tasteless jar
gon they are represented, and that e-.en their irregu
larilv v\as what Boileau calif *'un beau desordre'
Chiabrera, who has been sl\led the Pindar of Italy.
and from whom all its poetry upon the Greek model
was called Chiibreresco fas Crescimheni informs us,
lib. i.. cap. 12 ) has gi\en, amongst his Vendenimie,
a Dithyrambic, '-all' nso de' Greci :" full of those
compourd epithets, uhich, we are told, were a chief
charActeristicof thestilc {(TwOtTovict Ac^tij crroi-
oiiv.— Suid. ^levpafifioSid.)-, such as
Bri>!liii(lr,r!i(n Pegaeo
^ul)ical|)P^^ta^or.
But I cannot suppose that Pindar, even amidst all the
licen-^e nf Dithyrambics, would ever have descended
to ballad-language like the following:
Delia Filli, e helln Clori,
Nnn pill liar prt-Rin a tue bellezze e tad,
Che se Baccn fa '"ezzi alle mie labbra
Fo le fi.he n' vostri hnri.
. esser Torrel Coppier,
E se Iroppo drsiro
Deh fossi io BottigUpr.
Rime del Chiabrera, part, ih, p. 952.
*» This vs a Platonic fancy. The philofopher sup-
poses, in his Tinispus, that, when the Deity bad formed
the sou! of the world, he proceeded to the composition
of other souls, in which process, says Plato, he made
u<e nf the snnie cup. though the ingredients he min-
gled were not qui e so pure as for the former ; and
having refined the mixture with a little nf his own
he distributed it among ihe s'ars, which
rved
of the fluid. — Ta
f ini Tov npoTcpov Kpa77)(>a
OS tpvxiiv Kipavvvs ifiLcryt, \
TtlV 70
JUVENILE POEMS.
87
Like a bright crocus flower.
Whose sunny leaves, at evening hour
With loses of Cyrene blenJins,!
Uao^ o^er the mirror of some silvery stream.
The Olympian cup
ShO[ie in the hands
Of dimpled Hebe, as she wing'd her feet
Up
The eniuvreal mount,
To drain the s -ul-iirops at their stellar fount;*
And still
As the re-piendeiit rill
Gushed forth intu ihe cup with mantling heat,
Her watchful care
\\a^ still 10 cool it= liquid fire
With snow-white sprinklings of that feathery air
The children of (he Pole respire,
In those ench:inted lauds,3
Where lite is all a spring, and north winds never
blow.
But oh!
Bright Hebe, what a tea r^
An'l what a blush were thine,
When, as the breath of every Gr-ice
Wafied Ihy ft-e' along the s'udded sphere,
With a bright cup for Jove himself to drink,
Some star, that shnne beoea-h thy tread,
Riising its amorous he^d
To ki-s those maichless feet.
Checked thy career too fleet ;
And all heaven's host of eye*
Enlranc'd. hut fearful ^U,
Saw thee, sweet Hebe, prostrate fall
Upon the bright floor of the azure skies j «
Where, niid its stars, rhy bemiy by,
As b'ohsom, sh.iken from the spiay
Of a spring ihorn
Lies mid the liquid sparkles of the mom.
Or, as in temples of the Paphian shade.
The worshippeis of Beauiy's queen behold
An image of their rosy idol, laid
Upon a diamond shrine.
i We lesrn from Theophr.isius, that the roses of
Cyrene were particularly fragrant. — Kvoa-fiara ra
if. TO. IV Kx'Qi)VT) ^o6a,
^ Heraclitus CPhysicusJ he'd the soul to be a spark
of the stellar essence— •* ScinMlla stellaris essentiie."
— Macroiiiis, in Sonui. Scip.. lib. J., cap. 14.
3 The country of the Hyperboreans, These people
were supposed to be placed so f;ir nor'h that the north
wind could not afiect them; they lived longer than
any other mortals; parsed their whole time in music
and dancing, &c &c. But the most extravagant fiction
related of ihem is Hiat to which 'he two lines pre-
ceding allude. II was imagined that, jnsead of our
vulgar atmosphere, the H\pfiboreans breathed no-
thing but feathers! According to Her'do'us and
Pliny, this idea was suggesttd by Ihe quanii y of
snow which was observed to fall in ttio-e regions;
thus the former: '{'a tov mtpa ziKa^o^'ras rrjv
Xtova Tov^ l.KvBa^ rt /cat tov^ nc^toiKovs doKnu
Hyuv. — Htrodot. lib. iv. cap. 31. Ovid tells the
fable fiiherwise: see Melamorph. lib. xv.
Mr. O'Halloran, and some other Irish Antiquirians.
have been at great expense of learning to prove that
the strange couniry. where they tonk snow for fea-
thers, was Ireland, and that the famous Ahans was an
Irish Druid. Mr. Rowland however, will have it
(hat Abaris was a Welshman, and Ihat his name is
only a ci»rruption of Ap Kees !
* It is Servius, I believe, who mentions this un-
lucky trip which Hebe ma.1« in her r.ccupaiinn of
cup-bearer; and Hotfman telU it after him : **Cum
Hebe pocula Jovi admin istrans, perque lubricum
minus caute incedens, cecidisset," &c.
The wanton wind,
Which had pursued the flying fair,
And sported mid the tresses uiicontined
Of her bright hair.
Now, as she fell,— oh, wanton breeze 1
Riiflled 'be robe, whose graceful flow
Hung n'er those limbs of unsunu'd snow,
Purely as the Eieunnian veil
Hangs o'er the Mysteries 1 6
The brow of Juno flush'd —
Lovebless'd the breeze!
TheMusesblush'dj
And every cheek was hid behind a l}Te,
While every eye looked laughing through the striogs*
But the brisht cup? (he nectar*d draught
Which Jove himstjlf was to have quali'd ?
Alas, alas, uplurii'd it lav
By the falPii Hebe's side;
While, in slow lingering drops, th' ethereal tide,
As conscious of its own rich essence, ebb'd away.
Who was the Spirit that remeraber'd Man,
In that blest hour,
And, with a wing of love,
Brusli'd ofl' the goblet's scattered tears,
As, trembling near the edge of heaven thev ran,
And sent them flnating to our orb below ? 6
Essence of immortality !
The shower
Fell glowing through the spheres;
While all around new lints of bliss,
New odours an<i new light,
Enrich'd its radiant flow.
Now, with a liquid kiss.
It stole along the thriltins wire
Of Heavep '5 lumn.ous Lvre.7
Stealing the s"ul of rnu-»lc in its flight:
And ni.w, amid the breezes blarjd.
That whisper from the planets as Ihey roll,
The bright libaiion. soltiv fann'd
By all their sighs, meancfering stole.
Thf-y who, fiom Atlas' height,
Beheld this rnsy flame
Descending (hrongh Ihe wa<^te of night,
ThoushI '( "as some planet, who^e empyreal frame
Had kindled, as tl rapidly revnU'd
Around its fervid axle, ai d drssolv'd
Into a flood so bright I
The you'hful Pay,
Wl hin his twilight bower,
Lay sweetly sleeping
On the flLsh'd bo om of a lotos-flower ; "
* The arcane symbols of this ceremony were de-
posi'ed in ihe cista, where tliey lay religiously con-
cealed from the eyes of Ihe profane. They were
generally carried in the procession by an ass; and
hence the proverb, which one may so often apply in
the world, "as nus portat niysteria." See the Divine
Legation, book ii. sect. 4.
6 In the Genponica, lib. li. cap. 17, there is a fable
somewhat like this descent of the nectar to earth.
Ev ovpavcj TUJ7/ Si<uv tvojxovfuv<uv, *cai tov
vtKTagos 7ToX\ov napaKUfitvov, avaa-KtprT)<Tni.
^opiid. TOV Kpwra *cat o"ii(r<r£[(rai tw mtpd} tov
KpttTTjpog Tr]v ^acrtv, kui ntoLTpefpai fitv avrov*
TO i5e vtKTap ct5 Ti;v yT/v i<xi'Stit, k. t. A. Vid,
Autor. de He Rust. edit. Caniab. 1704.
1 Theconstellition Lyra. T he astrologers a ttribut*
great vir'uea to this siijn in ascendenti, which are
enuroeialed by Ponlano, in his Urania:
Emndulaim, muk-clqiii; novo vaga eiilera rintu.
Quo far'BP nasteulum animae ijoocordia ducunt
Pectora. 4:c.
8 The Egyp'ians represented the dawn cf oay by a
young boy seated upon a lotos. EiTt Aiyvnrovs
8B
JUVENILE POEMS,
Whji round him, in profusion weeping,
Dropp'd the celestial shower,
Steeping
The rosy clouds, that curl'd
Ai)Out his infant head,
Like myrrh upon the locks of Cupid shed.
But. when the waking boy
Wav'd his exhaling Iresses through the sky,
O morn of joy 1 —
The lide divine,
All glorious wi h ihe vermil dye
It drank beiie.ilh his orient eye,
UislilPd, in dews, upon the world,
Ai i every drop was wine, was heavenly wiiiel
niesl be the sod. ar.d htesi the flower
fc. On which descended first that shower.
All fresh from Jove's nectarenus springs ; —
(th, far less sweet the flower, the sod.
O'er which the Siiiiit of the Rainbow flings
The magic mantle of her solar God U
RINGS AND SEALS.
Achilles rafita, lib.
"Go! "said the angry, weeping maid,
**The charm is broken ! — once herray'd,
** Never can this wrong'd heart rely
*M)n word or look, on oa^h or sigh.
*' Take back Ihe gifts, so fundly given,
** Willi promis'd faith and vows to heaven J
** That liKle ring which, night and morn,
*' Wiih wedded truth my hand hath wornj
''That seal which oft, in moments blest,
"Thou hast upon my Irp imprest,
*' And sworn ils sacied spring should be
** A fountain seal'J ^ for only'lhee:
•' Take, take them back, the gift and tow,
"All sullied, lost and hateful now 1"
T tnok the ring — the seal I took,
While, oh, her every tear and Innk
Were such as angels look aud shed,
W'hen man is by Ihe world misled.
Gently I whis|;er'd, "Fanny, dertr!
" Not hUf thy lovers gifts are here :
ifogaKuj^ apxv^ avaroXT]^ nat^iov vzoyvov ypa-
0ovras tni Awrdi Ka9t.^o[itvov —Plutarch, ncpi
Tov }it} ,Ypav tfi-fit-rp. See alsn his Treatise de Isid.
et Osir. Observing that the lotos showed i's head
above watt-r at sunrl-e, and sank again at his setting,
they conceived the idea of consecrating this fiower to
rthe
This symbol of a youth sitting upon a lotos is very
frequent on the Abraxases, or R.isilidian stones. See
Montfaucon, torn, ti planche 158, and the "Supple-
ment," &c. tom. ii. lib, vii. chap. 5.
1 The ancients esteemed Ihose flowers and trees the
sweetest up^n which the rainbow had appeared to
rest ; and 'he wood they chiefly burned in sacrifices,
was that which the smile of Iris lad consecraled.
Plutarch. Sym])Os, lib. iv. cap. 2. where (as Vnssius
remarks) Kaiovo-i^ insre^d of KaXovcri, is undoubtedly
the genuine reading. See Vossi'S, for some curious
pariicu'ari'iea of the rainbow, De Origin, et Progiess.
Idololat. lib. iii. cap. 13.
5 " There are gardens, supposed to be those of King
Solomon, in the neishbonrlmod of Bethlehem. The
friars show a fnuntain, which, they say, is (he * sealed
fountain ' to which the holy spouse in the Canticles is
compared ; nnJ they pretend a tradition, thit Solomon
shut up these springs and put his signel upon the donr,
to keep them for his own drinking." — Afaundreirs
Travels. See also the notes to Mr, Good's Transla-
tion of the Song of Solomon.
" Say, where are all the kisses given,
" From morn to noon, from noon to even,-^
" Those signets of true love, worth more
" Where are those gift?, so sweet, so many ?
" Come, dearest,— give back all, if any."
While thus I whisper'd, trembling too,
I,est all the nymph had sworn was true,
1 saw a smile relentii g rise
'ftlid Ihe moist azure of her eves,
l.ike d lylight o'er a sea of blGe,
While yet in mid air hangs the dew.
She let her cheek repoye on mine,
She let my ai ms around her t» ine ;
One kiss was half allowed, and then —
The ring and seal were hers again.
TO MISS SUSAN B— CKF— D»
ON HER SINGING.
I more than once have heard, at night,
A song, like those thy lip hath ?iven,
And it was sung bv shapes of light.
Who louk'd and breath'd, like thee, of heayeQ.
But this was all a dream of sleep.
And I have said, when mnrnine shone,
" Why should the ni«rht-wi ch. Fancy, keep
*■ These wonders for herself alone ?"
I knew not then that fate had lent
Such tones to one of mortal birth ;
I knew not then thai Heaven had sent
A voice, a form like thine on earth.
And ye*, in all that fiowery maze
Through which my path of life has led,
When I have heard the sweetest lays
From lips of rosiest lustre shed j
When I have felt the warbled word
From Beauty's lip, in sweetness vying
With music's oun melodious bird,
When on the rose's bosom l>ing;
Though form and song at once combin'd
Their lovtliest bloom and softest thrill,
My heart hath sigh'd, my ear hath pin'd
For something lovelier, softer slill: —
Oh, I have found it all at last.
In thee, thou sweetest living lyre,
Through which the soul of song e'er pass'd,
Or feeling breath'd its sacred fire,
AH that I e'er, in wildest flig-ht
Of fancy's dreams, could hear or see
Of music's sigh or beauty's light
Is realiz'd, at once, in thee !
IMPROMPTU,
ON LEAVING SOME FRIENDS.
O dulces comitum vatete coetus! Vatullit
No. never shall my soul forget
The frieirds I found so cordial-hearted;
Dear shall be the day we met,
And dear shall be the night we parted.
If fond regrets, however sweef,
Must with the lapse nf time decay
Yet still, when thus in mirth vou meet.
Fill higli to him that 's far away !
3 The present Duchess of HamiltoQ
JUVENILE POEMS.
I.mg be the IiRht of memory found
Alive within V"ur social glass ;
Let that be slill Ihe imgic tound,
O'er which Oblivirn dares not pans.
A WARNING.
TO
Oh, fair as bea\en and chaste as tt^iit I
Ditl nature mould thee all s> bright,
That ihou shouldal e'er he brought to weep
O'er htiguid virtue's fa'al sleep,
O'er sh^me extmaruish'd. honour fled,
peace lost, heart wiiher'd, feeling dead }
No, no ! a star was born with thee,
Which sheds eternal purity.
Thnu hast, within those sainted eyes,
So fair a transcript of the skies.
In lines of haht sucli heaveniy lore,
That man should read them and adore.
Yet hive I known a genMe maid
Whose mmd and form uere both arrayed
In ni^ture's purest light, like thine; —
Who wore that cleir, celestial sign,
Which seems to mark Ifie brow that *» fair
For destiny's peculiar care:
Whose bosom too, like Dinn's own,
Was gruarded by a s-cred zone,
Where the brgtit ffem of virtue shone ;
Whose eyes had, in their light, a charm
Against all wrong, and ^niie, and harm.
Yet, hiple« maid, in one sad hour,
These spells h:ive lost their guaidian power;
The gem has been beguil'd away ;
Her eyes have )nst their chastening ray ;
The modest pride, the guiltless shame,
The smiles that from reflection came,
All, all have fled, :ind left her mind
A faded monument behind ;
The ruins of a once pure shrine.
No longer fit f - r guest divine.
Oh : 't was a sight I wept to fee —
Heaven keep the hst one's fdte from thee I
TO ,
T is time, I feel, to leave thee now.
While \et my souI is something free:
While yet those dangerous eyes allow
One minute's thought to stray fom thee.
)h ! thou becom'st each moment dearer ; :
Every chance that brings me nigh thee.
Brings my ruin nearer, nearer, —
I am lost, unless I fly Ihee.
Nav, if thou dost not scorn and hate me,
lioom nie not thus so sonn tn fall ;
Duties, fame, and hopes await me,—
But that eye would blast them all •
For, thou hast heart as false and cold
As ever yet allur'd or sway'd.
And cnuldst, without a sigh, behold
The ruin which thyself had made.
Tet,— cou/rf I think that, truly fond.
That eve but once would sniile on me,
Kv'n as thou art, how far beynd
Fame, duty, weal h, that smile would be !
Oh ! but to win it, night and day,
Inglorious at thy feet reclin'd,
I 'd si*h my dreams of fame away.
The world for thee forgot, resign'd.
Tliy Ireacbery has undone for ever
WOMAN.
Away, a«-:iy— you're all Ihe same,
A smiling, flulteririg, jilting throng ;
And, wise too la'e, I Gum with sliaiiie,
To think I 've been your slave so long.
Slow to be won, and quick to rove,
Krnni folly kind, from cunnins loath.
Too cold for blis-, too weak for love.
Yet feigning all that 's best in both ;
Still panting o'er a crowd to reign,—
More joy it ijivea to woman's breast
To make ten frigid coxcombs vain,
Than one true, manly lover blest.
Away, away — your smile 's a cuise —
Uh I blot me from the race of n.en,
Kind pityitiff Heaven, by death or worse,
If e'er 1 love such Ihiiigs again.
Noffti TO ^iXmra. Euripida.
Come, take thy harp — 't in vain to musa
Upon the ga hering ills we see ;
Oh ! lake ihy ha^p and let nre lose
All thoughts of ill in hearing thee.
Sin? to me, love ! — though death were near,
Thv sous C'lUld mike my soul foiget —
Nay, nai, in pity, diy that tear,
All may be well, be ha|ij)y yet.
Let me biit see that snowy arm
Otice more upon the dear h irp lie,
And 1 will cease to dream of harm.
Will smile at fate, while thuu art nigh.
Give me that strain of mournful touch,
We ns'd to love lone;, long ago.
As
• hearts had kn
, alas ! they bleed to kn
Sweet notes ! they tell of former peace.
Of all that look'd so smiling then.
Now vaiiisti'd, lost — oh, pray thee, cease,
1 cannot bear those sounds again.
Art then, loo, wretched ? ves, thnu art ;
I see Ihy tears (low fast with mine-
Come, come to this devoted heart,
'T is breaking, but it still is thine !
A VISION OF PHILOSOPHr.
The I
I In Plutarcli's Essay on the Decline of the Oracles,
Cleombrotus, one of the interlocutors, describes an
extraordinary man whom he had mot with, after long
research, upon Ihe banks of the Red Sea. Once in
every year this supernatural personage appeared to
niorlals, and conversed with them; the rest of his
time he passed among the Genii and the Nymphs.
IlEpi T7]V iQvfigav ^aXacaav li'Qov, nvdpuiKot^
ava itav r.Tos dtro^ iVTvyxovovra, raX^a ft (fvv
ratj vvfifl>atSy I'o/mrrt Kai dainoTi, u)5 £0£
_J
00
JUVENILE POEMS.
Min?led ih softness with the vigorous thought
That lowerM upon his hr j\v j and, when he spoke,
'Twas laneu,ige sweeteo'd itito song — such holy
sounds
As oft, they say, the wise and virtuous licar,
Prelusive to the harmony of he.ven,
When death is nigh ; » nnd still, as he uucloa'd
His sacred iijts, an ndmr, all a^ bland
As ocean-breezjs ealher from ihe flowers
Thit blo^snni in tlysium.i brealh'd around.
With silent awe we lis'en'd, while he told
Of the dark veil which many an a^e had hunj
O'er Nature'^ form, till, hn g explored hy man,
The mystic shroud s;rew Ihin and luminous.
And glimpses of that heavenly form shone throus^h :—
Of ma^ic wonders, that were known and taught
By him (or Cham or Zoroaster named)
Who musM amid the mighty cataclysm.
O'er his lucle tablets of primeval lore j 3
And gathering round him, In the s:\cred ark,
The mighty sec re s nf th^t r.rmer globe,
Let not the' livine; star of <icience ■» sink
Beneath Ihe waters, which ingulph'd a world! —
Of visions, by CalHope reveal d
To him, 6 who trac'd upon his typic lyre
spoke in a tone not far removed froir
wheiiCYer he ipened his lips, a frigni
place; (pOcyyofitvov 6e tov tottov evi
9j ■i)di<TTov arroTT
Cleombrolus Je.irncd the ducinne of a plurality of
The diripason of man''5 mingled frame,
And (he grand Hoiic hep'achord of heaven.
Wiih all of puie, of wondrous and arcane,
Which the giave sons of Mochus, many a nighty
Told to the yung and hrigh'-hair'd vintant
Of CarmeKs s.<cred mount 6 — Then, in a flow
70S-
rida.
The celebrated Janus Dousa, a little befre his
death, imagined that he liea-d a strain nf music in (he
See Ihe poem of Heinsius. *■ In harmoniam
n paulo ante obitum audire sibi visus est Dousa."
Page 301.
a tv9a fjLaKap(uv
vaa-ov cuKcai'cc^cg
avpnineQinvtova-tv av-
6tpi.a 6e ;^;pi;troi' (jtXtyti.
Pindar. Olymj). li.
8 Cham, the son of Noah, is supp-st-d to have taken
with him into tlie ark th.; principal doctrines of
magical, or rather of nslu al. science, which he had
inscribed upon some vtry durable snbs'ances, in order
that tht-y might re-ist ihe ravages of the deluge, and
transmit the secrets of antediluvian knowledge to h<s
posterity. See ihe extracts made by Bayle, in his
article, Cham. The identity of Cham and Zoroaster
depends upon the authority of Berosus (or ralher the
impostor Annius), and a few more such respectable
testimonies. See Naude's Apologie pour les Grands
Homines, &c. chap, viii., where he takes more trou-
ble than is necessary in refuting this gratuitous suppo-
ilion.
4 Chamum a posteris hujus artis admira'oribus
Zoroastriini, seu \ivum aslium, prop'erea fmsse dic-
1 el pro Deo habitum. — Bochart. Geograph. Sacr.
iv. cap 1.
' Orpheus,— Paulinus, in his Hehdomades, cip. 2.
iii. has endeavoured to show, alter the Platonists,
that man is a diapason, or oct.ive, made up of a tiia-
lesseron, which is his soul, and a diapenie, which is
his boJy. Those frequent allusions to music, by
wh'ch the ancient philosophers illus rated their sub-
lime theories, must have tended very much to elevate
the character of the art, and to enrich it w i h associa-
tions of the grandest and mfjst interesting nature. See
a preceding note, for their ideas upon the harmony of
the spheres. Heraclilus cnipir d the mixture of
good and evil in this world, to the blended varieties
of harmony in a musical instrument (Plutarch, de
Anim3gProcreil.;)aiidEuryphaum-, thePylhagorean.
in a fragment preserved by StobEPus, de'-cribes human
life, in its perfection, as a sweet and well-tuned lyre.
Some of the ancients were so fai.eiful as to suppose
that the operations of the memory were regulated by
a kind of musical cadence, and that ideas occurred to
it "per arsin el thesin," while others converted (he
whole man in:o a mere harmonized machine, whose
motion depended up' n a certain tension of the body,
amlo^ous to that of the strings in an instrumcnl.
Cicero indeed ridicules Aris'oxenus for this fancy,
and jays, •' Let him teach singing, and leave philoso-
phy (u Aristotle j " but Ari;.totIe himself, though de-
cidedly ojiposed to the harmonic speculations of the
Pythagoreans and Platonisis, could sometimes con-
descend to enliven his doclrmes by reference to the
beauties of musical scit-nce ; a-., iu the treatise Ilcpi
Kovfiov atliibu ed to him, Ka&anep 6z tv x^^**-
Komxpatov KaraQlavToq. k. t. A.
The Abbe Ba'teux. in his eiKjuiry into the doc'rin
of the Stoics, a'tributes to those philosophers the
fame mode of illustration. " L'ame etoit cau-e actn
K'jiiLv acTio^ ; le cnr| s catise passive ijSe tov
rrao-j^ttv: — Tune agis ant dins J'aulre ; et y pre-
nant, pnr son action meme, un caiactere, des fun
des niodifica ions, qu'elle n'.ivoii pas par elle-meme ;
a peu pres comme iMr. qui, chasse dans un instr
le miisique, fait connoitre, par les diflTerens ^o
qu'il proiuit, les diff'erentes modihcations quM y i
C"il." See a fine simile founded up^n (his notion in
Caidinal Polignac's poem, lib. 5. v. 734.
6 Pythagnras is represented in lamblichus as de-
scending with great solemiuiy from Mount Carmel,
for which reas<,n Ihe Carmei'es have claimed hii
one of their fraternity. This Mochus or Muschus,
with the descendaiiis of whom Pythagoras conversed
in Phoenicia, and from whom he derived thedocirines
of ai(unic philosophv, is supposed hy some to be the
same with Mo^es 'lluett has adoj-ted this idea, De-
mon-iratir)n Evanseliqiie, Prop. iv. chap. 2. § 7 ; and
I e Cleic, among.rotheis, has refu'ed it. See Biblinth.
Choisie, turn. i. p. 75. It is certain, however, that
ihe doctrine of aionis \*as knoivn and proniulgated
long before Epicurus. ** With 'he fountains of Demo-
cnliis," says Cicero, "the g-rdensof Epicurus were
waieied ; " and Ihe learned author of the Intellectual
Sys'em has shown, that all the earlv philosophers, till
the time of Plato, uere a'omis s. We find Epicurus,
however, boisling that his tenets were new and un-
borrowed, and perhaps few among the ancients had
any stronger claim to oiiginalily. In (ruth, if
examine their schools'of philo>ophy, notwithstanding
the pecnliaiilies "hich seem to distinguish ihem from
each other, we may generally observe that the differ-
ence IS hut verbal and trifling; and thai, among those
varinus and It-amed heusies, theie is scarcely rne to
be selected, whose opinion^ are its own. original and
exclusive. The doctrine of the world's eternity niay
be traced through all the seels. The continual me-
tempsychosis nf Pyihagora?, the grand periodic year
of the S'bics, (at the cui. elusion "t v\ Inch Ihe universe
is suppo-ed to return (o its origiial order, and com-
mt'Tice a new revolution,) the successive dissolution
and combiiia'ion (f atoms maintained by the Epi-
cureans—all these tenets are but difl'erent intinia-
(ions of the same ffener:*l belief in the eternity of the
world. As explained by St. Austin, the periodic year
of Ihe Stoics dis^igrees only so far w ith the idea of the
Pythagoreans, th^t in ttad of an ddless transmission
of the soul through a variety of bodies, it restores the
same body and soul to re[ieat their foimer round of
exis'ence, so that Ihe " identical Plato, who lectured
in the Academy of Athens, sliali asrain and again, at
certain intervils, duiing the lap^e of eternity, aypear
in the same Academy and resume the same Suc-
tions—'* sic eadeni teinpora tempoialiunique ■
icrum volumina repeti, ut v. g. sicnt in islo sxculo
Plato philosophus in urbe Athenienr., in ea schola |
JUVENILE POEMS,
91
Of calmer converge, he beeuiPd us on Through many a systemj where the scalter'd .ight
Thmugli mat.y a n-ase of Garden and of Porch, Of heavenly truth lay, like a broken beam
que Acadcmil dicta est, discipulos dncuit, [ta per i
tunumcraliilia rttro s»ciila, mulium pit-xis quidcm '
iiitt;rvallis. vr.i ceitis, et idem Flati*, et eadein civitas,
eadeimiiK^ mIimIm, iidenique discipnh reperiii ct per
innimieial.ilirx drinde ckcuU lepeiendi unU—De
Civiiat. Dti, hb. xii. dp 13- Vanini, in hts dia-
hgues. ht3 ^iven us a similar exp.icAtion of the
periodic revnltitu'iis of the world. " Ea de causa,
qui nunc sunt in usu riius, ceniies niiliies fLCiunt,
lotiesque ren.i5ceiitur quoiies cecidcrnnt." 52.
The paradoxical notions of the Stoics upon the
beauty, the riches, the dnmininn of their imaginary
»a»e, arc among the most distinguishing chancterisiics
of Iheir school, and, accniding lo their advocate Lip-
sius, were peculiar lo that seel. "Priora ilia (decretaj
quae passim in philo-ophanlium scholis feie obtinent,
ista quae peculia"ia huic sfc'se et habent contiadiclio-
nem : i. e. paradoxa." — Manvduct. ad Stoic. Philos,
lib iii., dissertat. 2, But ii is evident (as the Al>be
Garnier has remarked, Memnires de l*Acad., toni.
jcxxv.) that even these absurdities of the Stoics are
borrowfd, and ih 't Fla'o is the source of all their ex-
travagant paradoxes. We find their dogma, "dives
qui sapiens," (which Clement nf Alexandria has trans-
ferred fiom the Philosopher to the Chrisli.n, Panla-
gog., lib. iii., op. 6.) expressed in the prayer of So-
cra'es at the end of the Phsedrus. U 6tAc nav tc koi
aXAot (^o-ot Tf?(?£ Sioi, dmijTS /toi KaXut yevia-lJai
rav^oBtv ra^tuflev (re fia-a fX-M* "^^^-S ivro^ su'at
fAoi (f)i\ta- Tr\ov(nov 6c vufju^oifii tov <to(}>ov. And
many other instinces mi<ht be adduced from the
Avrspao-Tac, the XloXntKos. &c. to prove that these
weeds of paradiix were all gathered among the bowers
of the Academy. Hence it is that Cice o, in the pre-
face to his Paradoxes calls them S 'cra ica ; and Lip-
sius eiulting in the paironage of Socrates says " Ille
totus est nosier." This is inde-d a c alition. whrch
evinces as much as can be wished the confusKl simili-
tude of ancient philosophical opininni: the father of
scepticism is here enmlled :<mongst the founders of (he
Portico; he, «ho>e best knowUdge was that of his
own ignorance, is called in to authorize the prctcn
sions nf tlie most obstinate dngniafists in all antiquity.
Rutilius, in his Iiinerarium, his ridiculed the sab-
bath of the Jews, as "las ali mollis imago Dei ;" but
Epicurus gave an eternal h"lyday lo his gods, and,
rather than disturb the slumbeis of Olympus, denied
at once the inteiftrence of a Providence, f^e does
not, however, seem to have been singular in this opin-
ion. Thenphiius "f Antinch, if he deserve any credit,
imputes a similar belief to Pylhasoras : — (/)^<n (IIv-
flayopa?) rt Tiuv Kavrutv ^eovs avOgtunvtv ftrj^sv
AoovTt^HV. And Plutarch, though so hostile to the
followers of Epicurus, has unaccf>untably adopted 'he
very same theological error. Tims, af er quoting the
opinions of Anaxagoras and Plain upon divini y, he
aids, Kotvi»S ovv afiapTavov(nv a^^oTfpot, Art
TOV -9eov ETToirja-av trn(TTt<pofisvov tcuv ai'^po-
mv<uv. — De Pladt. Philwovh., lib. i.. cap. 7. Plato
himself ha^ attributed a degree of inditference to the
gods, which is not far rem-n-ed from the apathy of
Epicurus's heaven ; as thus, in his I'hilebus, where
Pro'archns a ks, Ovkovv tiKog ye ovte x^^P^^'^ ^^'
01'?, oi'TE TO tvavTiov ; and sociates answers Flaw
fiEv ovv ct«os', arrxfift-ov yovv avTtuv iKarigov
•yiyvofttvoi' ectiv;— while Aris'otle supposes a still
more absurd neutrality, and concludes, by no very
flatiering analogy, thit the deity is as incapible of
virtue as of vice. Kai yap wairep ovStv Stjoiov L<nt
KAfCia, ov(5' apcT»|, oirtoj ovSe '■^sov. — Ethic Ntco-
tntch. lih. vii.cap. I. In truth, Aiistotle, upon (he
subject of Providence, was little more crrect than
Epicurus. He suppo-ed the moon to be the limit of
divine interference, excluding of course this sublunary
world from its influence. The tirst definition of (he
world, in -is treatise Tlipi Koa-ftov (if this treatise be
reallv the woik of Aristuile) ai^rees, almost verhum
verbn, with that in the letter of Epicurus to Pytho-
clesj and both omit the mention of a deity. In hi-
Etbics ton, he intima'esa doubt whether (he gods feel
any in erest in the concerns of aankmd. — Et >op
rit," eniftzStia raiv avOpiunivtuv iino -^ituv ytvtrot.
It is true, he adds, *i2o-7rE{/ doKtt, but even ihis is very
sceptical.
In ihe-e erroneous conceptions of Aristotle, we trace
tne cause <f that general legleci which hi> philosophy
experienced among the early Christians. Plato is
doiii much more orthodox, but the obscure enthusi;
of his :^lyle allowed them to accommodate all his I
cies to (heir (iwn purpcpe. ^^ch glowing sleel was
easily moulded, and Platonism became a sword in it
hands of the fathers.
The Providence of the Stoics, so vaunted in the
school, was a power as conlempibly inefficient as tl
rest. All was fate in the sys'em of the Portico. The
chains of destiny were thrown over Jupiter himself,
and their deity was like the Borgia (■( the epigram-
matist, "et Caesar et nihil." Not even (he Language
of Seneca can reconcile this degradation of divini'y.
*' Ille ipse omnium conditor ac rector scripsit quidam
fata, sed st quilur ; seniper paret, semel jussit."— Z.iA.
de Prooideyitia, cap. 5.
Wiih re pect lo the difference between the Stoics,
Perpitctics, and Acaden.ici.in=, the following woids
of Cicero prove that he saw hut liitle to distinguish
them from each otlier: — "Peripiteticos et Academi-
cf'Sj nominibus ditfeientes, re congruentes ; a quibus
Stoici ipsi verbis maglsquam sententiis dis^enserunf."
— Academtc. lib. ii. 5 ; and perhaps what Reid has
remarked upon one of their poin's of controversy
might he apilied as efffclually to ihe reconcilenient
nf all the re-'t. " 1 he dispute between the S'oics a
Pefipatttics was probably all for want of definiiii
The one said they weie good under the contrnl of r
5on, the o'her that (hey should be eradicated." —
Essays, vol. jij. In short, it appears a no less difficult
matter to c^tabtish the boundane. of opinion bet\\e
any two of the philosophical sects, than it would be
to fix the landmarks of those estates in the moon,
which Ricciolus so generously allotted to his bio'her
astri'iionier". Accotdtngly we observe some of the
greatest men of an'iquily passing without scruple froin
school to school, according to the fancy or conve-
nience of the moment. Cicero, the father of Ronan
philo-ophy, is sometimes an Academician, snniedmes
a Stoic ; and, more than once, he acknowh:!eesa con-
formity with Epicurus; *Mion sine causa igitur Epi-
; curus ausus est diccre semper in plunbus bonis <
sapitii em, quia semper sit in voluptatibus." — Twj-
ndan.Qtixst, \\b. V. Though often pure in his theo-
logy, <- icero sometimes smiles at futurity as a fiction ;
I ttiu's, in his Oration for Ctuentius, speaking of punish-
ments in the life to come, he says, '* Quae si falsa sunt,
id quid omnes inlelliguni, quid ei taiidem alind n
eripuit. prseter sensum doloris?": — though here
should, perhaps, do him but justice by agreeing tvith
his comnienta'or Sylvius, who remarks upon
passage. " Hsec autem dixit, ut causae suas sobse
1 rei.'" The poet, Horace, roves like a butterfly thrci
! the schords, and now wings along the walls of the
Poich. now baiks among the flowers of ihe Garden ;
while Virgil, with a tone of mind strongly phiiosopbi
! cal. has \et left us wholly uncertain as to the sect
I which he espoused. The balance of opinion declai
him to have been an Epicurean, but the ancient ;
thor of his life asserts that he was an Ac^demicia
and we liace through his poetry the tenets of almost
all the leading sec's. The same kind of eclecti<
dillereiice i* observable in most of the Roman writer-.
'Ihns Propertius, in the fine elegy to Cynthia, on bis
departure for Athens,
Illic vcl studiis animum emcndnre Platonia,
Incipiam, aut hortis, dotte Epicure, tiiic
Lib. iii. Eleg. 21.
1)2
JUVENILE POEMS.
From the pure sun, which, Ihongh refracted all
Into a. thousand hue?, is sunshine still, ^
And bright thmugh every change ! — he spoke of Him,
The loi.e,2 e'ernal t>ne. who dwells above,
And of the soul's untraceable descent
111 that high fount of spirit, tbrough the grades
Of intt^Uficlual being, till it mix
With aloms va^ue, corrupiible, and dark ;
r yet ev'n then, though sunk in eirihly dross,
Tupted all. nor its ethereal touch
Quite lost, but lasting of the fountain still.
As some brisht river, which h^a roll d along
1 hroush meads ot flowery light and mii.es of gold,
When pout'd at lenglh intn the dusky deep,
i^iiis to take at once its briny taint,
Rut keepj uuchaiisied awhile ihe lustrous tinge,
Or balmy freshness, of the scenes it left. 3
Lactantius asserts that all the truths of Christiani-
ty may be found dispeised through the ancient philo-
sophical sects, and that any one who would collect
these scattered fragmen's of orthodoxy might form a
code in no respeci ditfer.ng fjom that of the Christian.
extitisset aliquis, qui veritatem 3p:irsain per sm-
?ulns per secta-^que ditl'usam colligeret in unum, ac
redit^eret in corpus, is piofecto uon diaseDtirel a no-
bis."— Jiist, lib. VI, c. 7.
* To ^lOVOV KOt lOTJflOV.
I And here the old man ceased — a winged train
Of nvmphs and genii bore him from our eyes,
Thefair illusion (led! and. as I wak'd,
'T was clear that my rapt soul had roamed, the while.
To thai bright realm of dteams. thai spirit-world,
Which mortals ' '--■>- ._....
O'er iiiidDight'i
Though Rroeckhusius here reads, '*dux Epicure,"
vhicli seems to hx the pnet under the banners of Epi-
curus. Even the Stoic Seneca, w h"se doctrines hi*ve
en considered so orthodox, that St. Jerome has
nked him amongst the ecclrsiastical writers, while
Bocc-iccio doubts (in con>i(]eralion of his supposed
correspondence with St Pful) whether Dante should
have pl:tced him in Limb, with Ihe rest of the Pa-
gans—even the rigid Sentca has Le'to^ed such cnm-
inend itions on Epicurus, tha if only tiiose passages of
lis works were preserved to us, we culd not hesiiale,
I think, in pronouncing him a confirmed Epicurean.
Wiihsmiilar inconsistency, we find Porphyry, in liis
work upon abstinence, referring to Ep cun.s as an ex-
nple of the most strict Pytlni;orean lempeiance ; and
Lancelotti (ihe author of " Farfallonj degli an ici Is-
torici") has been seduced by this grave reputation of
Epicurus into the aburd error f>f associating him wiih
Chrysii pu% as a chief of ihe Sloic school. There s
o doubt, indeed, that however the Epicurean sect
light have relaxed from its orisinat puriiy, the
morals of its fr-under v»ere as correct as ihnae of any
nng the ancient philosophers; and his doctrines
upon pleasure, as explained in the letter :o Menteceus,
rational, amiable, aid con isteni «ith nur nature
A late writer, I)e Sahlons. in his Grands Hommes
inges. expresses strong indignation against ihe En-
_ clopedis'es for their just and animated praises of
Epicurus, aud discussing the question, *'si ce philo-
phe eloit vertueux." denies it upon no other autho-
■itv than the calumnies collected by Pluiarcli, who
umself confesses that, on this jiarticular subj.ct, he
consulted only opinion and report, without pausing to
estigate their truth. — AAAa Tr)v dolav^ ov tjjv
n\tjOtiav a-KonovfLzv- To the factions yeal of his
illiberal livals, the Stoics, Epicuru* chiefly owed these
gross rni^repre-entaiions of the li'e and opinions of
himse'f and his associates, which, notwithstindinar ihe
learned exertions of Gassendi, have still left an odium
on Ihe name of his philosophy ; and we ou^ht to exa-
" le the ancient accounts of this philosopher with
about the smie desree of cau'ious belief which, in
reading ecclesiastical history, we jicid to the invec-
;s of the fathers against the he-etics,— trussing as
li'tle to Plutirch upon a do^ma of Epicurus, as we
vould to the vtlienient St. Cyril upon a tenet of Mes-
Drins. (1801.)
The preceding remarks. I wish the reader to ob-
serve, were written at a time, when I thought the
studies 10 which tht-y refer much more iniporian' as
II as more amusing than, I freely confess, they ap-
pear to me at present.
' by lis long track of light
&ky, and call the Galaxy.*
TO MRS.
To see thee every day that came,
And find thee stfll each day ibe same;
In pleasure's smile, or sorrow's tear
To me still ever kind and dear; —
To meet iliee early, leave thee late,
Has been so Jong my bliss, my fate.
That lite, without this cheering ray,
Which came, like sunshine, every day,
And all my pain, my soirow cha^'d,
Is now a lone and loveless waaie.
Where are the chords she u-M to touch ?
The aiis, ihe songs she hiv'd s < much ?
Tliose 6ongs are hushed, those choiUs are rtiU,
And so, perhaps, will every thrill
Of feeling soon be lulTd to rest,
Which late I wak'd in AimaV breast.
Yet, no — the simple notes 1 play'd
Fiom menioiy's tablet soon may'f.ide:
The sougs, « hich Anna lov'd to hear,
Miy vanish from her heirl and ear ;
But friendship's voice shall ever hnd
An echo in that gentle mii-d,
Nor memory lose nor time impair
The sympathies that tremble there.
TO LADY HEATH COTE,
ON AN OLD RING FOUND AT TUNBRIDGE-
WELLS.
"Tun
bridpe en! a ]a m
cmediilan
e de LnndreB, que
leau Test de Parif
Cc qu'il
y a dr teau et de
m I'un ft dans r
Dtie nr'ie
6'y rasseroble au
gal a lit da
terns tlt-e cnux. Li compagnit," &c. A'c
See Memvires de OrammunU Seronii Part. chap. }ii.
Timhiidge.-lVdls.
When Grammont grac'd these happy springs,
Ai'd Tunbrid^e saw, upnn her Pantiles,
The merriest wight of al I the kings
That ever rul'd these gty, gallant isles ;
Like us, by dav, thev rode, they walk'd,
At eve, thev'did as we may do.
And Grammont just like Spencer talk'd.
And lovely Stewart smil'd like you.
The only d.fferenl trait is this.
That woman then, if man heset her,
W^^s rather given to .saying " yes,"
Because, — as yet, she knew no better.
Each night they held a coterie.
Where, every ftar to slumber charm 'd,
Lovers were all they ought to be,
And hubiiids noi the le.ast alarni'd.
Thi
i bold Platoni
in Father Bnu(
inserted in Pi
mage I have taken from a
it's letter upon the Metemp-
I's Cerem. Relig. tom. iv.
pa"sag(
sychosi
* According to Pyihaeoras, the people of Dreams
are souls collec ed together in the Galaxy. — Arjfios
6t OTBtpuiV, Kara TlvOayopav, al i/'t;,\ai dj trvva-
ytffOai. <pij(Tiv £ts 701/ y aXaliav, — Forphjr, de
Antro Nymj-h.
JUVENILE POEMS.
93
Then call'd tliey up their schoolday pranks,
Nor ilinught it much "heir sense beiieatU
To play M liJdles, quips, and cranks
And lurjg show'd wii, and Indies teeth.
Jis—*' Why are husbands like the mini?"
Because, t -rsooth, a hii-baiid's duly
Is but in el the naiiit: .>iid print
That gi*e a currency to beauty.
" Why is a rose in nettles hid
**Like a young widow, fiesh and fiir?"
Because 't is sighing to be rid
Of weedSy that *'have no business there 1 "
And ihii3 thpy niiss'd and thus they hit,
And now iliey struck and now they parried j
And some lav in of full-grown wit,
While tJlhers of a pun miscarried.
*T was one of those facetious nigh's
Thill Graunnont gave this forfeit rinj
For breikin* grave conundrum-nles,
Or punning ill, or — some such thing : —
From whence it c:in be fjirly tracM,
Tlirougli many a brancli and many a bough,
From iwig to Iwiic, until it gr..c'd
Ttie snowy hand that wears it now.
All this I *1I prove, and then, to you,
Oh, lunbndge! and your springs ircnii'col,
I sue.tr by Heaihcote's eye ot bhe
To dedicate th' important chronicle.
Long m:iy your ancient inmates give
Their inaniles to your ni'dern lodgers,
And Charles's Inves in Heathcote live,
And Charles's bards levive in Rcgers.
Let no pedantic fools be there ;
For ever be those f ps abolish'd.
With heads as wooden as thy ware,
And, heaven knows! not half so polish*d.
But still receive ihe young, the eay,
The few who know the rare delight
Of reiding Grammont every day,
Aud acting Gramniout every night.
THE DEVIL AMONG THE SCHOLARS,
A FRAGMENT.
Tt KOKov 6 ytXaj? ;
Chrysost. Homil. in Epist. ad itebrtcos,
# # # «
But, whither have Ihe'C gentle ones.
These rosy nvmphs and black-eyed nung,
With all of Cupid 8 wild rnn.ancing,
Led my truarit brains a dancing?
Instead of studying Uimes scholastic,
Ecclesi islic, or nionas'ic,
Off I fly, careering far
In chaae'of Pollys, prettier f.ir
Than any of their names kes are,—
The polymaths nnd Polvhislors,
Polvglots and all their sisters.
So have 1 known a h^pt-ful \oulh
Sit down in ipiest of lore and truth.
With Innies sufllcient to confound him.
Like Tohu nohu. heaped abound him,—
Maniurra * stuck to 'I heophrastu*,
And Galen tumbling o'er IJomb.istus'a
1 Mamurra, a dogmatic philosopher, who never
doubled aitout any itiing, except who was his ftther.
— ** Nulla de re uiiqnam praeterquam de patre dnbi-
tavil.'* — /m Kif. He w;.s very learned — " La- de-
Jans, (thai is, in his head when it was opened,) le
When 1 1 ! while all that 's learn'd and wiso
Absorbs the boy, he lifts liis eyes.
And through the window of his study
Beholds some damsel fair and ruddy,
Wiih eyes, aN brightly turn'd upon him as
The angel's 3 were on Hieronymus.
Quick hv the foli.'S, widely scalter'd.
Old H. ii'ier's laurel'd brow i>s bitier'd,
Ahd Sappho, headlong sent, tlies just iD
The reveitnd eye of St. Augustm.
Raplur'd he quits each duziiig sage,
Oh, woman, for ihy lovelier page:
Sweet book I — unlike 'he book> of art,—
Whose eirors are thy faireM part ;
In whom ihe dear eriata column
Is the best page in all the volume ! *
But to begin my subject rhyme —
»T W.1S jusi about this devili-h time,
When scarce there happen'd any frolics
Th.it were not done by Diabojtcs,
A eld and loveless son of Lucifer,
Who UTiman scorii'd, nor ;-aw llie use of her.
A blanch of Dagon'.- family,
(Winch U.igon, whether He or She,
Is a dispute that vavly belter is
Rf ferr'd to Scaliger & et ceteris,)
Finding thai, in ihis cige of t(;ols.
The wisest so's ndotn the schools.
Took it at once his head Satanic in.
To grow a sre.it schol istic manikin, —
Punique heurle le I'ersan, I'Heb eu choque PArabi-
que, ponr ut puint pailer de la niauvaise iitelligence
du Latin avec \e G'tc,*' Sic— See VHisloirt dc Mviit'
»miur, tom. li. p 91.
^ Bonibistus was one of the names of that great
schtlar and quack Paracelsus. — " Pliilippus Hoinb.is-
tus latet ^ub ^plendido tegmine Anienli l heophrasti
P^racel-i,'' says Siadeli-is de circumforanea Litera-
loruin vanitate. — He used m fight the devil every
n:glit with a broadswoid, to the no sm:tll terror of his
pupil Oporinus, who has lecoided the circums'ance.
(Viile op.iin. Vit apud Chrisiian. Gr\ph.Vit Select,
quorundam Eriidilis'-imoium, &c.) Paracelsus had
bul a poor oj)inion of Galen: — *'My very beard
(says he in hi- Para!2;i£iium) has more learning in li
than either Galen or Avicenn;!."
3 The angel, who scolded St. Jeroni for reading
Cicero. asGtatian tells ihe story in his " Coneordantia
discordaniium Canonum,"' and s.iys, that for this rea-
son bishops vi-eie not allowed to leid the Class-ca:
'* Episcopus Gentilium libros non legat.*' — Dul'.nct.
37. Bui Grati.m is no orious for lying— besides,
angels, as the illustrioua pupil of Pantenus asriies us,
h^ve got no tongues. Ovx' f^S Vf-tv ra mra, oirtug
EK£ivo(.5 tj ykiuTTa' ov6' av opyava rtj Cwif tptuvij^
ayyEAots. — Cltm. MUxand. ktroniat.
4 The idea of the Rabbms, respecting the origin of
w man. is not a li'Ile smgul .r. They think 'ha^t man
was orisiinlly fo nifd with a tail, 1 ke a monkey, but
that the Oei y cuioifihis a[ pt-ndage, and made woman
of it. Up'-n this cxiiaordinary hupposition the fol
lowing retliclion (s founded : —
i Ihe t
• hftw
The niiiiiy who v>eJH ih a pitirul eU',
Fur lif lakttt lo tnu mil like an id>ot agai
Ami thuH maUcH a Jei'lurable ape uf tii
Why he— l-Qvt-.H he
fi ScTliger. de Eniendat. Tenipor. — Dagnn was
thought by others lo be a rerlatri sea monster, who
cmie every dav out of the Red Sea to leach the
Syrians husbandry. —See Jaques Gattarel (Curiositcs
Inouies, chap, i.), who sa\s tie Ihinks this story of
Ihe se.»-monsler " carries little show of probability
with it."
94
JUVENILE POEMS.
A doctor, quite as learnM and fine as
Scotus John or Tom Aquinas,*
Lully, Hales Irrefiaffabilis,
Or any di'clni of the rabble is.
In lanH:ua!ies2 the folyslots,
Coiiip^r'd lo liiiit, were Bibel sots;
Hechaiei'd more than ever Jew did,
Sanhedrim a.td Hriest included,
Piie-^t nnd holy ^aMhedriui
Wtre une-and seven y fools to him.
Rut chief the learned demon felt a
Zeal so strong lur gamma, delta,
'Ihaf, all for Greek and le.irning's glory,'
He nightly tippled "Graeco more,"
And never paid a bill or bil.ince
Except upon the Grecian Kalends : —
From whence ynji schol.ir^, when they want tick,
Say. to beJiUic'a tn be on lick,
In I05.cs, he was quite Ho P,.nu ; *
Knew as much a^ ever njan knew.
i I wish it were known with any decree of cer-
tainty whether the Commeniaiy on Boelhius attri-
buted to Thomas Aquinas be really the work of this
Angelic Doctor. 'Ihere are some bold assertions
hazarded in it : for instance, he say3 that I'lnio kept
school in a town called Acadeniia, :uid ihai Alcibiades
was a very heauliful \\oman » honi some of Aristo'le's
pupils fell in love with : - " Alcibi ules mulier fuit
pulcherrima, quam videntes quidam discipuli Aris-
loteWs,^' kc — Hec Jheytag Md};arat. Litttrar. art.
86. lorn. i.
2 The followins; compliment was paid to Lauren-
tius Valla, upon his accuiate knowledge of the Latin
language : —
Since Val arriT'd in Pluto's Bhade,
His Qouni* and pniiiouns all so pat in,
Plmo himself wouM be afraiJ
To Bay hiHSoul'ti his own, in Latin!
See for these lines the "Auctorum Censio^of Du
Verdier (p.ige 29.)
3 It is much to be regretted that Martin Luther,
with all his talents for reforming, should yet be vulgar
enough to laugh at Camerarius for writing to him in
Greek. *• Master Joacliim (says he) has ^ent me
some dates and some raisin-, and has also written me
two letters in Greek. As soon as I am recovered, I
shall answer them in Turkish, th.it he too may have
the pleasuie of reading what he does not understand."
" Graeca sunt, legi n n possunt," is Ihe ignorant speech
attributed to Accursius; but very uigusHv : — for, far
from asserting that Greek could not be read, that
worthy juris-consult upon the Liw 6. D. de Bonor.
Possess, expressly savs, *' Graeca* \i\er?e 'possu7it intel-
liffi et legi." (Vide "Nov. Libror. R:irior. Cfdieciion.
Fascic. IV.) — Scipio CarteromacliMs seems to have
been of opinion that there is no salvation out of the
pate of Greek Literature: "Via prima saluMs Graia
pandetur ab urbe:" and the zeal of Lauieotivis
Rhodomannus cannot be i-ufficieiitly admired, when
he exhorts his countrymen, " per gloriam Chiisii, per
salutem patrise. per reipublicae decus et emolumen
tum." lo study the Greek language. Nor must we
forget Phavorinus, the excellent Bishop of Nocera,
who, careless of ail the w--ual commendations of a
Christian, required no further eulngiuni on his tomb
than "Here lieth a Greek Lexicographer."
4 'O nnvv. —The introduction of this language
into English poetry has a good etl'ect, and ought to be
more universally adopted. A uoid or two of Greek
in a stanza would serve as ballast to ttie most "light
0* love '* verses. Ausooius, among (he ancients, may
serve as a model : —
Ov yap fJL(n -^sfiis tcriv in hac regione fiivovri
A|tov ab nostris iiriSivza esse KafiTjvais
He fought the conib.it svllogistjc
With sr. much skill and .ri eristic,
That though y^u were the learned Stagirite^
At once upon ilie hip he had you right.
In mu^ic. though he had no ears
Kxcept for tl.at amoneist the spheres,
(Which niopt ot: all, as he averr'd it.
He dearly loved, 'came no one heard it.)
Yet aptly he, at sight, could read
Kach tuneful di.ierani m Bede,
And find, by Euclid's cOroHaria,
The ratK'S of a jig or aria.
But. as f rail your waibling Delias,
Orpheusfs and Saint Cecili.s,
He ounVI he thought them much surpasa'd
P.v that redoubled Hyah clast S
VVho still coiitriv'd by dint of throttle,
Where'er he went to crack a bottle.
Likewi-e to show his mighty knowledge, be,
On things unknown in physiology,
Wrote many a chapter lu divert us,
(Like that great little man Albertus,)
\V herein he show'd the reason why.
When children first are he.trd to cry
If boy the b.iby chance to be,
HecrjfsO A!— if girl, O E ! —
Which are, quoth he, txceedin^ fair hints
Respecting their first sinful patents;
•'Oh, Eve!"exclaimeth little madam.
While little maeter cries " Oh, Adam I " 8
But, 'I was in Optics and Dioptric,
Our daemon play'd his fi-st and top tricks.
He held that sunshine passes quicker
Through wine than any other liquor;
And thoush he saw no great objection
To steady light and clear reflection,
He thought the aberrating ra\s,
Which phy ab'iut a bumper's blaze,
Were by he Doctois look'd, in common, on,
As a nmre r,ire and nch phenomenon.
He wisely said that the sensorium
Is for the eyes a great emporium.
To which these noted picture-stealers
Send all they can and nieet with dealers.
In mai y an optical proceeding
The br.iin, he said, show'd great good breeding:
For instance, when we ogle women
(A trick which Barbara tulor'd him in,)
Although the dears are apt to get in a
Strange position on the retina,
Yet insantly the modest brain
Doth set them on their legs again *t
Our doctor thus, with "stuff'd suflSciency"
Of all omnigenous omnisciency,
Began (as who would not begin
That h.-id, like him. so much within?)
To let it out in books of all sorts.
Folios, quartos, large and small sorts;
poems, so very deep and sensible
Th.U they were quite incomprehensible,^
Ronsard, the French poet, has enriched his sonnets
and odes with many an exquisite morsel from the
Lexicon. His "chere Knteiechie," in addie-sing his
mistrees, can only be equalled by Cowley's " Anti-
peris:asis-"
s Or Glass-Breaker— Morhofius has given an ac-
count of this extiaordinary man, in a work, publish-
ed 1682,— "De video scypho fracio,"&c.
G Translated almost literally from a passage in
Albertus de Secretis, &c.
1 Alluding to that habitual act of the judgment, by
which, notwithstanding the inversion of the image
upon the retina, a correct impression of the object is
conveyed to the sensorium.
8 Under this description, I believe "the Devil
among Ihe Scholars'' may be included. Yet Leibnitz
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
f).5
PioiC, which had been at learning's Fair,
And bought up all ihe trumpeiy there,
found out the uses of incompiehensibility, wheu he
VIM appoinled secretary to a society of ihilosxpheis
at Nuretiibcrp. cliit^tiy tor his in;;eiiiJity in utiImisj a
cabakMical k-lter. iioroiie wi.rd ..f wh.ch fillier thty
or hi nselfcnuld in rrpret. Sue the Elo^e HI^lollque
de K. de LeibnUz. lEurope Savaiile. — People in all
age-i have loveti to be puzzled. VVe find l!icero
thanking Adieus for havini; .eni him a work of Sera-
pion 'ex quti (s.ys he) qiiidein trgo (quod in'er nos
liceat dicerej millesimam partem vix intelligo." Lib.
ji. epist. 4. And we know that Avicenna, the learned
Arabian, read Aristotle's Metaphysics foity times over
for the mere pleasure of being able to inform the
world that he could not coniprehetid one syllable
throughout them. (Nicolas Massa in Vit. Avicen.)
The tatler'd rags of every vest.
In which the Gieeks and Romans drest,
And o'er her figure swoH'u and ai.tic
Sea ter'd them all with airs so frantic,
Thtl those, who saw what fits she had,
Declared unhapj^y i'f(>^e whs mad I
Epic? he win ,■ ,Mi I s, ..,■■, r.\ ItblJbStS,
All as neat ,.^ ■ i ■, I ■ i, ,<..■., ;
E!i;g, aiidal ,.;-, , . > i ■[ i.h,,,
Gianuiiais, pi i)r -I. uks - ^hl 'twere tedious,
Did 1 bui tell Ihce tialf. to follow me:
Not Ihe scribbling lard of Ftolemy,
No — nor the hoary Tiismegistus,
(Whose writing> all, thank heaven ! havo niissM us,)
E'er till'd with lumber such a wareroom
As this great ** poicus liieiaruni 1"
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
TO FRANCIS, EAnL OF MOIRA,
GENERAL IN HIS MAJKSTY*S FORCES, MAS-
TER-OENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE, CON-
STABLE OF THE TOWER, ETC.
My Lord, — It is impossible lo think of addressine
a Dedication to your Lordship without calling to
mind the well-known reply of the Sparian to a rheto-
rician, who prop sed lo pronounce an eulogium on
HercnJes. "On Ilercule- !" j^ud the honesi Spartan,
"who ever thought of bUniin? Hercules ?'» In a
similar manner the concurrence of public opininn has
left to Iha paneeyrisi of your L'Tdsliip a very s'lper-
fluons task. I shall, therefore, be silent on the subject,
and merely entreat your indulgence to the very hum-
ble inbiite of gratitude which 1 have here the houour
to present.
I am, my Lord,
VViih everv feelins of allachment
and reaped.
Your Lordship's very devoted Servant,
THOMAS MOORE.
27 Sury Street^ St. James^Sy
^pril 10, 1806.
PREFACE. 1
The principal poems in the following collection
were written during ati absence of fourteen months
front Europe. Though curi'sity wa<? certainly not
the motive of my voyage lo America, yet it hippened
that Ihe gratification of curiosiiy "as the only advan-
tage wh-ch I deiived from it. Finding myself in the
cnun'ry of a new people, whose infancy had promised
so much, and whose progress to maturity has been an
object of such interesting speculation, I deiermitied (o
employ the short period of time, wh'ch my plan of
reiurn in ELfope alForded me, in travelling ihn'Ugh a
few of the S'a'.es, and acquiring some knowledge of
theinhabtlants.
The impression which my mind received from Ihe
char<cter aiid manners of these leputilicans, suggested
the Epistles ^^ hich are wnfteo from the cilv of VVa-h-
ingtonand Like Erie.l How Ur I «as rig'h', in thus
I This Preface, as well as the Dcdicition which
precedes it, were prefix'-d originally to Ihe miscella-
neous volume enfitled "Odes and Epistles," of which,
hilherto, the poems relating to my Americao tour
have formed a part.
a Epistles VI., VIL and Vll!,
assuming the tone of a sa'irist against a people whom
I viewed bul as a sinnger and a visiter, is a doubt
which mv feelings did not allow m»* time to invesli-
gafe. All 1 prcMime to answer for is the fidirlily of
tlic jiicture u hich 1 have given ; and though pntdence
might have dictated genifer language, Irulb, i Ihink,
Wi.uld have justified >eveier.
\ went to America with prepossessions by no ni'^ani
unfavourable, and indeed r.itber indulged in niany ol
Ih' se illusive ideis, wiih respect to ihe pnrity of the
enveri ment and the primitive happiness of the people,
which I had early imbibed in my native cunlry,
where, unfortunately, discontent at home enhances
every dis'ani lenip'alion, ;'nd the western world h.is
long been looked to as a relieat from real or imagi-
nary opprtssion ; as. in sh'Tt, the elysian Ailanhs,
where |,ersecuted patriols might find llieir visions
realised, and be welcomed by kindred spiii s to liberty
atid repose. In all Ihese flatteiing expec'atirns 1
found myself conipletely disapporiited, and felt in-
clined to say to Americi, as Hotace says to his mis-
Irtss. " inlenta'a nites." Brissot, in the preface to his
travels, ob.er^es, that "freedom in that country is
earned to so high a degree a» to lorder upon a s'ale
of nature;" and theie certainly is a close approxima-
tion to s.ivage life, not oi }y in the liberty which they
enjoy, bui in the violence of parly spint at^d of pii-
vate animosity vvhicii results f,om .t. This illiberal
zeal embilttTs all s ctal intercourse; aid, though 1
scarcely couM hesitate in selecting the party, whose
viewj. api eirtd to n.e the more pu e ^nd aliMial. >et
I w s so-ry to observe that, in as^eiting iheir opinion",
they boih a some an equal sluie ( f intolerance ; the
Democrats consistently with their princi|)les, exhibit-
ing a vuUarity of r.inconr, which the Federalists loo
ofien are s > f^ifgetful of Iheir cause as lo iniitate.
The lude fanuliantv of ihe lower orders, and in-
deed thj unpolislted state of sociey in gener.l, would
neither sur|Tise nor disgust if ihev seemed to tl(»w
from that simplicity of character, 'that honest ipno.
ranee of the gl ss of refinen.ent uhicli may be looked
for in a new and inexperienced peo|>le. Ftnt, when
we find them arrived at maturity in mrsi of the vUe^,
and all the pride of civilisvinn, wljie Ihey aie s'lll
so far remnved from its higher and better ctiarac^er-
ist;cs, it is nnpossihte not n. ft-et that this vouthfnl de-
cav, ihis crnde anticipation of the natuial period of
cor uption, must re ress e\eTy sanguine hope of the
future ei.ergy and gre>tne'-s r^f America.
I am conscious that, in venturing the^e few remarks,
I hive said just enc ugh to otlVnd, and by no nie<ns
snmcieni t-. convince ;^ for the limits of a preface pie-
vent me from entering into a justification of my opin-
ions, and 1 am commitied ou ifie sulject as efli^ctually
as if I had wfillen volumes in their di-fencc. My
reider, however, is apprised of the very cursory nb-
96
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
011S are fo'jndpd,and
1 the degree of atltu-
Wi'l,
I aj.iilo^.se to ilk
' ncial, whicb occupy
[; .' Ill what maimer U>
u ling Upon their r.ntice
iich a mass of unconi.ec ed trifles, f^uch a world of
I epiciifran atoms as I have bere brought in conflict
loieiher 1 To say lli.it I have lean templed by ihe
Iibenl oflers of my bookseller, 1= an excu-.e which
I can h"pe for but Ihtle indulgence from the cii'ic; yet
I 1 own that, uithoui this seasonable induceinenl, these
pr.ems very possibly wnuld never have been subniit*
ted to the world. The gla-e r-f publication is mo
strong for such imperfect pmduclioiis : thev should be
5howii but tn ihe eye of f.iendship, in that dim light
of privacy which is as f.ivonrable to poetical as to
female "beauty, and servts as a ceil for faults, while it
enlianceti e\eiy charm which it disphy-. Besides,
this is not a period for Ihe idle occupations of poetry,
and times like the present require talent* more active
rful. Few hav
' the
: to 1
POEMS
RELATING TO AMERICA.
TO LORD VISCOUNT STRANGFORD.
ABOARD THE PHAETON FRIUATE, OFF THE
AZORES, BY MOONLIGHT.
Sweet ^fooIl! if, like Crntona's ssge,^
By any spell my hand could tlare
To make lliy disk ils ample page,
Aiid "lite mv Ihnughls, my ivishes there;
How many a friend, whose careless eye
Now wanders o'er that stirry sky.
Should smile, upon thy orb lo meet
The recollection, kind and sweet,
The reveries of fond ie:5ret.
The promise, never to foiRet,
And all my heart and sool would send
To many a dear-IovM, distant friend I
How little, when we parted last,
I Ihoueht those pleasant limes were past,
For eve' pa.t. when brilliant joy
Was all my vicant heart's employ:
When, fresh fpom minh lo minh arain,
We thought the rapid horns too few;
Our only use foi knowledge then
To sather bl.ss from all we ki.ew.
Delicious d.iys of « him arid soul !
When, minf;lini!; loie and lau'h tojether,
We Ican'd Ihe hook on Plewure's bo«l.
And turn'd the leaf wilh Folly's fealher.
Little I thonehl that all were fled,
Thai, ere thai summer's bloom Mas shed,
My eye should see the sail unfurl'd
Thai wafis me to the western world.
And vet, 't was linie ;— in youth's sweet days,
To cool that season's flowing rays,
The heart awhile, wilh wanlon win";,
Mav .liii and dive in IMea<u.e's spring;
Bnl. if il wail for winter's breeze.
T he spriiii; will chill, the heart "ill freeze.
And then, that H"pp. thai fairy Hope,—
Oh I she awak'd such happy ilreams,
And eave my soul such lemplinR scope
For all ils deaiest, fondest schemes,
I See the forcjoin^ Note, p. B5, I.
1 rylhaeoras; who was supposed to have a power
of wnline: upon Ihe Moon by Ihe means of a magic
mirror. — See Bayle. ait. Pylhns:.
Thai not Verona's child of song.
When fl\ in» from the Phrysiin soore,
Wilh liehler heart could bound alon^,
Or pant to be a wanderer more I^
Even n"w delusive hope will steal
Amid Ihe dark legrels I feel,
Soothing, as yonder placid leam
Tuisues the murniuTers of the deep,
And tigh s them wilh consoling gleam.
And smiles ihem into tranquil sleep.
Oh ! such a blessed night as this,
1 often think, if friends "ere near.
How we shouid feel, and gaze wilh bliss
Upon the moon-bright scenery here I
The sea is like a silvery lake.
And, o'er its calm the ve^sel glides
Gently, as if it fear'd to "ake
The slumber of the silent tides.
The 01, ly envious cloud that lowers
Hath hung ils shade on Pico's heishi,*
Where dimly, mid the dusk, he loweis,
And scowling at this heav'n of light, '
Fxulis 10 see the infant storm
Cling daikly round his giant form !
Now, could I range those verdant isles,
Invisible, at this soft hour.
And see the looks, the beaming smiles,
That brighten many an orange bovver;
And c uld I lift each pious veil,
And see the blushing cheek it shades, —
Oh ! 1 should have full many a tale,
To leli of young Azorian maids. 5
Yes, S:rangford. at this hour, perhaps,
^ome lover (not ton idly blest.
Like those, who in llici' ladies' laps
Mav ciadle every wih to rest,)
Warbles, lo touch hi^ dear one's soul.
Those madiigals, of breath divine,
Which Camoens' hirp from Rapture stole
And gave, all glowing warm, to thine.6
Oh I conld Ihe lovet learn fromihee.
And bieathe them with thy gracelul tone,
Such sweet, beguiling niinstielsy
Would make the coldest nymph his own.
But, haik !— Ihe b^atsHain's pipings tell
'T is lime lo bid my dream farewell :
Eight bells: — the middle walch is set;
Good night, niy Stiangfoid I — ne'er forget
That, f.ir beyond Ihe wes'ern sea
Is one, whose heart remembers thee.
STANZAS.
QviLOS is.
• /i£ TTpocrdiw
VtviuatcE TavO^wKua firj aiSuv ayav.
^schyl. Fragment,
A beam of tranquillity smil'd in the west,
The storms of Ihe morning pursued ns no more i
And Ihe wave, while il welcom'd Ihe moment of est,
Slill heav'd, as rememhering ills that were o'er.
3 Alluding to these animated lines in the 44lh Car-
men of Catullus: —
Jam mi"(>e praeterpidann ovet vacari.
Jam lat-ti stuilio ^wdcs vigesount !
* A very high mnuntain on one of the Azores, fmm
which Ihe isl 'ud derives its name. It is said by some
to be as hig5 as Ihe Peak of Teneriffe.
5 I believe it is Guthrie who says, that the inhabi-
tants of the Azores are much addicted to gallantry,
Ihl-' is an ;»B3eriion in ^vhtch even Guthrie ntay bo
credited.
6 These jslands belong to the Portuguese.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
97
Serenely my heart took Ihe hue of the hour,
Its passitnis utre sUepnisj, were uiu'e as the dead ;
And the spirit bec.ihn'd but remember'd Iheir power,
Ai the billow the fuice of the gale that was fled.
I thouaht of those d.ivs, when to pleasure alone
My heart ever graiVcil a whh or li sigh ;
When the s:icl.ifsi einoljcin my bosom hud known,
Was pily lor those who «ere wiser ib.in 1.
1 reilecled, how soon In the cup of Desire
The [learl u( the soul may be melted away;
How quickly, alas, the pure sparkle of fire
We inherit from heav'u, may be quenchM id the
clay ;
4od I pray'd of that Spirit who Ii?Tiled tlie flame,
Thit Pleasuie no more mie:bt its purity dim j
So that, sullied but little, or brisrhtiy (he same.
1 migtit give back ilie boon 1 had b.iriow'd from
Him.
How blest was the thought ! it appeared as if Heaven
Had already an openiri;; lo Paradise shown;
As if, passion all chasten'd ;in<l error forgiven,
My heart then began to be puiely its ov\u.
I lonkM to the west, and the be^u'Iful sky
Which moinihg h.^d clouded, was clouded no
more:
** Oh ! thus" I exclaimed, ** may a heavenly eye
**±3hed light ou the soul that wa^ darkcnM before."
TO THE FLYING-FISH. t
When 1 have seen thy snnw-whjte winj
From the blue wave ;it evening spriii?,'
And show those scales of silveiy white,
So ffady to the eye of light,
As if thy frame were fnrm'd to rise,
And live amid Ihe gloiious skie-s;
Oh ! it has made me pruidly feel,
How like ihy wing*8 impaiient zeal
Is Ihe pure soul, that rests not, pent
Wiihin this world's gro-s element.
But lakes the win^ ihat God hns given,
And rises into light and heweu !
But, when I see that win?, so bright.
Grow languid with a momenta flight,
Attempt Ihe paths nf air in vain.
And sink into the w.ives again ;
Alas! the fluttering pride is o'er;
Like ihee. awhile, the soul miy soar,
But erring man ninst blush to think,
Like thee, agxin the soul may sink.
Oh, Virtue ! when thy clime I seek,
Let not my spirit's th^Ut be weak :
Let me not, hke this feeble thing,
Wilh b ine still dropping from its wing,
Just sp.irkle in the solar glow
And plunge again lo depths below ;
But, when I leave the grosser ihrnng
With whom my soul halh dwelt so long,
» It is the opinion of St. Austin upon Genesis, and
I believe of nearly all tlie Fathers, that birds, like
fish, were originally produced from the waters; in
defence of which idea ttiey have collected every
fanciful circumstance which can tend lo prove a
kindred similiiude bet^^efn them ; rrvyycveiav rots
jtsTOfitvoLS npos ra vijtcra. Wiih this thought in
our minds, when we first ?ee the Flying-Fish, we
could almost fancy, that we are prt-sent at the nio-
nient of creation, '-.ud witness the binh of the first
bird from the waves^
Let me, In (hat a-^piring day.
Cast every lingering stain away,
And, paiiline for thy purer air.
Fly up at oiicti and fijc me iheie.
TO MISS MOORE.
FUOM NORFOLK, IN VIRGINIA, NOVKMBER,
1803.
In days, my Kafe, when life wns new.
When, luli'd with innocence and you,
1 heird, in home's beloved shade,
^ din the world a^ di>t.iiice niide ;
Wh.
erynighl, I
Anil, mild .as ev
Looks on the fa
And blu^s'd the
eary head
mthori;ed bed,
ling's ma'roii hour,
ily shutting flower,
:• evelid^ close,
— -... into pure repose;
I nen. haply if a wetk, a day,
I liiiger'd from tt,at home aw,iy,
How long Ihe little absence seem'd !
How bright the lonk of welcome beam'd,
As mute ynu heard, with eager smile,
My tjies of all that pass'd the while I
Yet now, my Ka'e, a gloomy sea
Rolls wide between thai home and me,
The moon may thrice be b^^rn and die,
Ere ev'n that seal can reach uiine eye,
Which used so oft, so quick H> come,
Slill hre:iihing j]l the breaih of home,—
As if. siill fiesh. tbecoidial air
From hps betov'd were lingering there.
But now, al is,— tar difl'erenl fale !
it comes o'er ocean, slow :md late.
When the dear hmd that fill'd its fold
With woids of bweetue^B may lie cold.
But hence that gloomy thought ! at last,
Beloved K iie, the wa\e^ are past :
1 tread on enrth securely now.
And ihegfeen cedars hung bough
Brea'hes moie refre hnieni lo my eye»
Thau could a Claude's divinest dyes.
At length I touch the ha|ipy snheie
To libeity and virtue dear,
Where man looks up, and, proud to claim
His rank williiu the social frame,
Sees a grand system round him roll,
Himself its centre, sun, and fouI !
Far ftom the shocks of Kurope— far
From everv wild, elliptic star
That, shooting with a devious fire.
Kind ed by heaven's avenging ire,
So oft ha'h into chaos huil'd
The syitums of the ancient world.
The warrior here, in arms no more.
Thinks of the toil, ide confl-ct o'er,
And glorying in the Ireedom won
For hearth and t-hiinc, for f.irc and son,
Smiles on the dusky webs that hide
His sleeping sword's rememberd pride.
While Peace, wiih sunny cln-eks of toil,
Walks o'er the free, unlordcd soil,
Effacing wilh her splendid share
The drops that war had sprinkUd there
Thrice b.^ppy land ! wheie he who fliej
From the dark ills of other skies.
From scorn or want's unnerving woes.
May shelter him in pioud repose :
Hope sings along the yellow sand
Ilib welcome to a pairiol land ;
The miehty wood, wilh p'^mp, receivei
The stranger in it:> world of leaves.
J3
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
Which soon their barren plory yield
To the warm shed and culiur'd field;
And he. who came, of ail bereft.
To whom maliffnaut fate had left
Nor home nor f nenda nor country dear,
Finds home aud friends and couniry here.
Such 15 the picture, warmly ?uch,
That Fancy .oii^, with (lurid touch,
Had paiiiteJ to my sanguii:e eye
Of maii's new world of liberly.
Oh ! ask me not, if Tn.th have yet
Her seal on Fancy's pmniise s-t ;
If ev*n a glimpse my eyes behold
Of that mwgnrd as:e of gold j—
Alas, not yet onegleiming trace! 1
Is'ever did y u'h, who lov'd a face
As sketcliM by some fnnd pencil's skill,
And made by fancy lovelier still.
Shrink back wnh more of sad surprise,
When the live model iret his eyes,
Than I have felt, in sonow felt.
To find a dream on which 1 've dwelt
From boyhood's hour, thus fade and flee
At touch of stern reality 1
But, courage, yet, my wavering heart 1
Blinie not the temple's meanest part,**
Till thou ha-st trac'd the fabric o'er; —
As yet, we have beheld no Diore
Th.»n just ihe porch to Freedom's faoe;
And, though a sable sp^t may ttain
The vestibule, 't is wrong, 't is sin
To doubt the gndhe>d re gus within !
So here I pause — and now, my Kate,
To you, and those dear friends, whose fate
Touches more near this home sick soui
Than all the Pmvers from pnle lo pole,
One word a( parting,— in the t 'ne
Most sweet to you, and most my own.
The simple strain I send you here, 3
Wild th'ush it be, would charni y ur ear,
Bid you but know ihe trance of thought
In which my mind its numbers caught.
»Tw;i9 one of those lialf-wakmg dieams,
That haunt me oft, when music seems
To btar my soul in sound along,
And turn its feelings all to song.
I thought of home, the according lays
Came full of dreams of other days ;
Freshly in each succeeding note
I found some young remembrance float.
Till fiiliowing, as a clue, that strain,
1 wander'd back to home again.
Oh ! love the song, and let it oft
Live on your Up in accents soft.
Say that it tells ym, smtpJy well,
Ail I have bid its wild notes tell,—
> Such romantic work- as " The American Farmer's
Letters," and the account of Kentucky by Imlay,
would sednce us into a belief, that innocence, peace,
i and freedom had deserted the rest of the world for
i Martha's Vineyard and the banks of the Ohio. The
I French travellers, too, almost all from revolutionary
motives, have contributed their share to the diffusino
of this (lallering misconception. A visit to the coun-
try is, however, quite sulficieni to correct even the
most enthusiastic prepossession.
o Norfolk, it must be owned, presents an unfavour-
ble specimen of America. The characteristics of
Virginia in general aie not such as can delight either
the politician or the monlisi, and at Norfolk they
; exhibited in their least a'tncrive form. At the
le when we arrived the yellow fever hid not yet
appeared, and every odour that assailed us in tlie
streets very strongly accounted for its visitation,
3 A trifling attempt at musical composition accom-
panied this Epistle
Of Memory's dream, of thoughts that yet
Glow wiih the light of jny that»s set.
And all ihe fond heart keeps in store
Of friends and scenes beheld no more
And nciw. adieu ! — this artless air.
With a few rhymes, in t^a^^c^ipI fair
Are all Ihe gif s I >et cin boast
'Jo send yi u from Columbia's coast j
But when the sun, with warmer smile,
Shall lighi nie to my de^linM isle,*
You shall have many a cowsIip-t>eII,
Where Ariel slept, and many a shell.
In which that gentle spiiildrew
f rooi honey -flowers the moining dew.
A BALLAD,
THE LAKE OF THE DISxMAL SWAMT.
WRITTEN AT KORFOLK, IN VIRGINIA,
" They tell ofa youti^
death of a girl he loved,
frnm hiu frit-nda, wtiM never aflciwards hrard ut. As he
had frequently enid, in hia ravinpn, that the girl wa« not
dead, but gone tu the Dismal Swamp, it is sujip^.Eed he had
wandered into that dreary wittleriieBs, and had died of
hunger, ur been loiit in some o( its dreadful
Anon.
** They made her a gmve, (oo cold and danip
'* F'-r a snul so w.irm and irue ;
" A nd <he > iroiie to the L ke of Ihe Dismal Swamp,*
" Where, all nieht long, by a fire fly lamp,
"She paddles her white canoe.
** And her fire-flv lamp I soon f^hall see,
" And her piddle I soon 5hali hear:
•'Loi.g.Ui.l l-ving our life ^hill be,
"And 1 '11 hide the maid in a cypress tree,
'* Wtien the footstep of Death is near."
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds ~-
His path was rugged and so-e,
Thr ugh (angled juniper, beds of reeds,
Through many a fen, where the serpent feeds.
And man never trod before.
And, when on Ihe earth he sunk lo sleep.
If slumber his eyelids kneu.
He lay, v\ here the deadly vine dofh weep
Its venr:jnous tear and nightly steep
The flesh with blistering dew i
And near him the she-wolf slirr'd the brake,
And the copper-snake bretth'd in his ear.
Till he starting cried, from his dream awake,
**0h ! when shall I see Ihe dusky Lake,
"And tlie while canoe of my dear?"
He saw the Lake, and a meteor bright
Quick over its surface pl.y'd —
"Welcome," he said, " mv dear-one*s light !*
And the dim shore echoed, for many a uigbt,
The name of the deaib>coId maid.
Tin be hollow'd a boat of the birchen bark.
Which carried him ofl" from shore;
F-r, far he follow'd the meteor spark,
The wind was high and the clouds were dark,
And the boat return'd no more.
< Bermuda.
* The Great Dismal Swamp is ten or twelve miles
distant from Norfolk, and the Lake in the middle of it
v'aDoiit seven niileg lung) is cilled Druninioud's
Pond.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
99
But oH, from the Indi»n hunter's camp
This lover and maid so true
Are seen al the hour of midnight damp
To cross the Lak« by a fire liy lamp,
And paddle their white cauoc!
TO THE MARCHIONESS DOWAGER
OF DONEGALL.
FROM BERMUDA, JANUARY, 1804.
Lady ! where'er you roam, whatever land
Wons tlie bright touches of that artist hand ;
Whelher you sketch the valley's golden meaJs,
Where mazy Lmth his lingering current leads j*
Euaiiii'ur'd citch the mellow hues Ihat sleep,
Al eve, on Meillerie's iinniorlal sleep ;
Or niuMiig o'er the Lake, ai d ly's decline,
Maik the last shadow on that holy shnne.^
Where, many a night, the hhide uf Tell complaiDS
or Gallia's triumph aud Helvetia's chaius;
Oh! hy the pencil for a momeol by,
Tuin from the canvass th<t creative eye,
And let iis splendour, like the morning ray
Upon a shepherd's harp, illume my lay.
Yet, Lady, no— for song so rude as mine,
Chase noi ihe wonders of your art divine;
Srill, radinnt eye, upm the canvass dwell ;
Still, niiieic finger, we.ive your potent spell;
And, while I !>iiig rhe Animated smiles
of fairy nature in these sun-born isles,
Oh, might Ihe song awake some bright design,
Inspire a touch, or prompt one hippy line,
Proud were my snul, to see iis humble thought
On painting's miifor so divinely caughi ;
While wondering Genius, as he lean'd lo trace
The t.ual cnicepiion kindling into grace,
Might love my numbers for the spark Ihey threw,
Aud bless the lay lliat lent a charm to you.
Say, have you ne'er, in nightly vision, stray'd
To those pure isles of ever-blooniing shade,
Which haids of old, wiih kindly fmcy, plac'd
For hajipy spirits in th' Atlantic waste? 3
There listening, while, from earth, each breeze that
came
Brought echoes of their own undying fame,
In eloquence of eye, and dre:inis of song.
They charm'd their lapse of nighlless hours along: —
Nor yet in song, thai mortal ear might suit,
For every spirit was ilself a lute,
Where Virtue waken'd, with elysian breeze,
Pure tones uf thought aud mental harmonies.
Believe me, Lady, when the zephyrs bland
Floated our bark to this enchan eJ land, —
Thee leafy isles upon the ocean thrown.
Like siuds of emerald o'er a silver zone, —
Not all the chmii, ihat ethnic fincy gave
To blessed arbours o'er the western wa\e,
1 Lady Donegall, I ha'I reason to suppose, was at
this time still in Switzerland, where the well-known
pouers of her pencil musl have been fiequeully
akeiied.
a The chapel of Willi:
I Tell on the Lake of Lu-
3 M. Gebelin, says, in his Monde PrimiUf, "Lors-
que Sirabon crnt que les ancieiis theoingiens et poetca
placoient les champs elysees dans les isles de I'Ocean
Atiaiiii(;ue, il n'emendit neu a leur doc'nne." M
Gebelin'ii supposition, 1 have no doubi, is tfie more
correct ; hut that of Strabo is, in the present ins'ance,
most to my purpose.
Could wake a dream, more soothing or sublime.
Of bowers ethereal, and the Spirit's clime.
Briglit rose the morning, every w^ave was still
When the tir-t pe fume of a ctdar bill
Sweetly a^ak'd us, and, wiih smiiing charms,
The fairy harbour woo'd u-* to its arins.4
Geiill\ we stele, befoie the whispering wind,
'I'liiough pl^iniain shades, tb>«t round, like awoiaa,
twin'd
And kiss'd on either side the wanton sails.
Breathing our welcome to these venal vales:
While, far reflected o'er rhe wave serene,
Each WdodeJ island shed so soft a gieen
That the enanmur'd keel, wi h whispering pby,
Through liquid heibage seeui'd tu steal its way.
Never did weary bark more gladly glide,
Or rest its anchor m a lovelier tide !
Along the margin, many a shining dome,
Whi e as the palace of a Lapland ^nome,
Brighien'd the wave ; — in every myrtle grove
Secluded bashful, like a shrine of love,
Snnie elfin mansion (sparkled through the shade;
And, while the foliage interposing play'd,
Lending the scene an ever-changing grace.
Fancy would love, in glimp-es vague, lo trace
The flowery capir;il, the shaft, the porch,*
And dream of temples, till her kindling torch
Lighted me back lo all the glorious days
Of Attic genius; and I seem'd to gaze
On marble, fmm the rich Pentelic mount.
Gracing the umbrage of some Naiad's fount.
Then thought I, tno, of thee, mnst sweet of all
The spiiit race thai c< me al poet's call,
Delica.e Aiiel ! "ho, in brigtier hours,
Liv'd nn Ihe peifume of these honied bowers,
In vtlvel buds, at evenii g, lov'd to lie,
And win Willi music evtry rose's sigh.
Though wtak the ma^ic of my humble strain
To charm your spii it from iis orb again,
Yet, oh, for her, bentalh whose smi e 1 sing,
For her (whose pencil, if your rainbow wing
Were dinim'd or rultted by a winlry sky,
Could smooth its feather and relume iis dye,J
Descend a moment from y-ur starry sphe e,
And, if the lime-tree giove that once was dear.
The sunny wave, the bnuer, the breezy hill,
The sparkling grotio c>m delight you still.
Oh, cull their choicest tints, their softest light,
Weave all these spells into one dream of night,
And, while the lovely artii^l slumbering lies.
Shed Ihe warm picture o'er her mental eyes;
Take for the task her own creative spells.
And brightly show what song but faintly tells.
4 Nothing cm be more romantic than the little har-
bour of SI. George's. 'I he number of beautilul islets,
the singular clearness of ihe water, and the animated
play of the graceful little boats, gliding for ever be-
tween the islai d^, and seeming lo ^all fom one cedar-
grove into anoiher, formed altogether as lovely a
uiiniature of nature's beauties as can well be ima-
gined.
5 This is an illusion which, lo the few who are
fanciful enough to indulge m it, renders ilie scenery of
Bermuda particularly interesting. In the *hort but
beautiful Uvilighlof their spring evening-i, the while
cotages, scattered over the islands, and but partially
seen'thnugh the trees that snrround them, assume
often the appearance of li'tle Grecian temples; and a
vivid fancy njay embellish Ihe poor fisherman's hut
v^ith columns such as the pencil i f a Claude might
imitate. 1 had one favourite object of this kind in
my walks, which the liospitali'y of its owner robbed
me of, by asking me to visit him. He w.is a plain
good man, and received me well and warmly, but I
could never tuiu his house into a Grecian temple
100
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
ro GEORGE MORGAN, ESQ.
OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.'
FROM BERMUDA, JANUARV, 1804.
KtivTj d^ t]Vifiot<r<ra /cat arpoffo?, otti -5-' dXiffXr^g,
AiOviTfi^ Kat fjtaWov Eitidofios flJETrep lirnoiSt
n.ov7(i> tvi<rT7}i<raL.
Catlimach. Hyrmij in Dd. v. II.
Oh, what a sea of stnrm we 've pa's'd ! —
Hi£;h mouiitaiu wave* and fj.miy showeri,
Aiiil bntlling Winds whose swage blast
But ill agrrees with one whose hnure
Have passed in old Anacrenn's bowers.
Yet think do( poesy's bright cliarm
F'Tsook me in ihis rude alarm : '^ —
When close they reePd the timid sail,
When, every f.laiik coniplaiinng loud.
We lahour'd in the n.idnishi gale,
And ev'n our h iughi\ main-niaat bow'd,
Even then, in that imlovtly hour^
The Muse sdlt brought her soothing power,
And, midst the war of waves and wind,
In song's Elysium lapp'd my mind.
Nay, when no numtjers of my own
Responded to her wakening tone,
She npKuM, with her golden key,
The casket where my memory lays
Those gems of classic poesy,
Which time has sav'd fiom ancient days.
Take one of these, to Lais sung, —
I wrote it while my hammock swung,
As one mislit wi ile a di^sertatinn
Upon "i>ui>pended Animation ! "
' This gentlemcin is attached lo the British consu-
late at Nbifolk, His talenis are worthy of a mucl
higher sphere; but the excellent disposi ions of thi
family with whom he resides, and the cordial repose
he enjoys amongst some of llie kindest hearts in the
world, should be almost enough lo atone to him for
the worst caprices of fortune. The consul him-^elf,
Colonel Hamilton, is one among ihe very few instan-
ces of a man, ardently loyal lo his king, and yet be-
loved by the Americans. His house is (he very tem-
ple of hospitali'y, and I sincerely piiy Ihe heart of
th.it stranger who, warm fnim the welcome of such a
board, could sit d^wu to write a libel on his host, in
the t ue spirit of a modern philosophist. See the
'J'ravels of Ihe Duke de la Rouchefuucault Liaucourt,
vol ii.
2 We were seven days on our passage from Nor-
folk to Bermuda, during three uf which we were
foiced lo lay-to in a gale of wind. The Driver sIoo[
of war, in which 1 went, was built at Bermuda of
cedar, and is accoun'ed an excellent sea-boaf. She
was then conmianded l»y my very much regretted
friend, Capttin Complon, who in jiily laM was killed
aboard the Lily in an action with a French privateer.
poor Compton ! he fell a victim to the str.uige im-
pclicy of allowing such .i miserable thing as the Lily
to remain in the service; so small, crank, and
manage:ible, that a well-manned merchautman
at any time a match f-r her.
3 This epigram is by Paul 'he Silentiarv, and may-
be found in the Analt-cla of Brunck, vol' lii. p. 72,
As the reading Iheie is somewhat diflVrent from what
I hive foMowed in this iransla'ion, 1 shall give it as I
had it in my memory at the lime, and .-is it is in
Heinsius. who, 1 believe, first produced the epigram.
See his Foem.>ta.
Hdv fitv t(T7i <}nXij^a TO Aaidos' fjdv St avruv
Gush from your eyelids, such as start
When those who 've dearly lov'd must part.
Sadly you lean your head to mine,
And mute Iho^e arms around me twine,
Ydui hair adow n my bosom 8i)read,
All ;;iittering with the tears you shed.
In vam Pvekiss'd those lids of snow,
For stilll, like cease!e,^s founts they flow,
Bathing our clieeks, whene'er they meet.
Why IS it thus ? do, tell me, sweet !
Ah, Lais! are my ly> tigs right?
Am I lo lose you? .,-night
Our last go, iAise lo lieaven and ma I
Your very tears are tieachety.
Such, while ir jlt I floating hung,
buch was the strain, Moigante miol
The muse and I together sung,
Wiih Boreas to make out the trio.
But. bless the liltle fairy isle !
How sweetly afler all our ills.
We saw the sunny morning smile
Seenely o*cr its fragrant hills j
And felt the pure, delicious flow
Of airs, Ihrtt round Ibis Eden blow
Freshly as ev'n the gales that come
O'er our own healthy bills at home.
Could you but view (he scenery fair,
That now beiiea h my window lies,
You 'd (hink, that nature lavish'd there
Her purest wave, her softest skies.
To nnke a heaven for love to sigh in,
For bards to live and saints to die in.
Cl'ise to my wooded bank below,
In glassy c.ilm the waters sle^p,
And lo Ihe sunbeam proudly show
The coial rocks they love to steep.4
The fainting breeze of morning fails ;
The d^ow^y boat moves slowly past,
And I can almost touch its sails
A' loose they flap around Ihe mast.
The noontide sun a (.plendour pours
That lights up all these leafy shores ;
While his own heav'n, i's clouds and beams
So piclured in the waters he,
That each snail l»ark, in parsing, seems
To float along a burning sky.
Oh for the pinnace lent to thee,*
Blest dreamtT, who, in vision bright.
Didst sail oVr heaven's solar sea,
And touch at all ils isles of light.
Koi rroXv KixXt^ovca aoSeis iv€o<ttdvxov oiyAi/v,
'llfLiTipa Kt<paX7)v d7]()OV Eoito-afici't],
Mfpo/i£f jjv 6* t<}>iXi)(Ta' Ttt d' ois fpocrtpi/j airo
AaKQva iiiyvvfitvuiv Trmrt Kara <TTOfiaTtuv*
Eirrt d' aviiQOfitvcj, Ttvog ovvcxa daKpva Aa^ttg ;
Attdia fii] (It XltctjS' tcTfi yap dpnaTrarai.
* The w.iter is so clear around the island, that the
rocks are seen beneath to a very great depth; and, as
we entered the harbnur, they appeared lo us so near
the 5urface that it t^eemed impossible we should not
strike on them. There is no necessity, of course, for
heaving the lead; and the negro pilot, looking down
at the rocks fmm the bow of the ship. lakes her
through this difficult navigation, wi'h a skill and con-
fidence which seem to astonish some of the oldest
sailoiB.
* In Kircher's " Ecstatic Journey to Heaven," Cos-
miel, the genius of the world, gives Thendidactus a
boat of asbestos, wilh which he embarks into the re-
gions of the sun. *'Vide5{^ays Cosmiel) banc ashes-
tinam naviculam commodita'i tuae pras|-aratani." —
Hmtrar. L Dial. i. cap. 5. This work of Kircher
abounds w ith strange fancies.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
101
Sweet Venus, what a clime he found
W'i hin Ihy orlj's ambrosial round!— l
There spring the breezes, rich and warm.
That 8is:h around Ihy vesper car j
And angels d\«ell, so pure of form
That each appe-*rs a living star.*
These are the >prites, celestial queen I
Thou semlest nightly to the bed
Of her I love, with t.ucli unseen
Thy plantt's brighiening lints to shed ;
To lend Ihat eye a iifflit still clearer,
To Kive thai cheek'one rose-blush more,
And bid that blushing lip be dearer,
Which had been all too dtar before.
Ei, whither means the muse to roam?
'Tib time to call Ihe wandeier home.
Who cnuld have thought the nymph would perch her
Up in Ihe clouds wi-h F^ither Kiicher ?
So, health and love In all your niausioii !
Lont; may tlie biiwl that pleasures bloom in,
The (low of heart, the snuIN expansion,
Mirth ai'd sone, your board illunilne.
At all your feas's. remember too,
When cups are sparkling to the brini|
Thai here is one who drinks lo yny,
And, oh \ as warmly drink to him.
LINES WRITTEN IN A STORM AT SEA.
That sky of clouds is not the sity
To light a lo\er lo the pillow
Of her he loves —
The swell of ynnder foaming billow
Hesembles n»t the liappy sigh
That rapture moves.
Yet do I feel more tranqiiil far
Amid the gloomy wild, of ocean,
Inthi- dark hour,
Than when, in pa^siol^s young emotioiii
I 've stolen, beneath the evening etar,
To Julia's buwer.
Oh '. there 's a holy calm profound
In awe like this, that ne'er was given
To pleasure's th. ill;
'T is as a solemn voice from heaven,
And tlie soul, lis'ening to Ihe ^ouud,
Lies mule and btill.
»Tis true, it lalka of danger nigh,
Of slumbering with ihe dead to-morrow
In Ihe cold deep,
Where pleasure's Ihrob or (ears rf norrow
No more sh dl wake the heart or eye,
But all must sleep.
Well '. — there are some, thou stormy bed,
To whom thy sleep would be a treasure;
Oh ! most to him,
Whose lip hath drain'd life*3 cup of pleasure,
Nor left one hoiiev-drop to shed
Round s ' " "
I When the Genius of the world and his fellow-tra-
veller arrive at the planet Venus they find an i^laud of
lovfcline-s, full of odours and mielligences, wheie an-
gels preside, who shed the cosmetic influence nf this
planet over the earth ; such bein?, according to .islro-
fogers, the "vis intiuxiva" of Venus. When ihey
are in this part of the heavens, a casiii^Hcal question
occurs to TheoJidacius, and he asks, •' Whether bap-
tism may be pei formed » ith the valers nf Venus ?" —
** Anaquis globi Veneris bap ismus instilui possit ?" to
which the genius answers, " Certainly."
1 This idea is Faiher Kircher's. "Tot aniraatos
soles dixisses.'*— Itinerar. I. liial. i. cap. 5,
Yes — he can fniile serene at death:
Kind heaven, ilo thou but chase the tveepinr
Of friends who hive hini;
Tell thein that lie lie? calmly sleeping
Where sorrow's stin^ or envy's Lreath
Is'u more shall niove h.m.
ODES TO NEAJ
WRITTEN AT BERMUDA.
NEA iv^avvEi.
Euripid. Media, t. 967.
Nay, tempt me not to love again,
'1 here was a lime when love was flweet:
Dear Nea ! had 1 known Ihee then,
Our ^ouls had not been slow lo meet.
But, oh, this weary heart hath run,
JSo many a time, the rounds ot pain.
Not ev'n for thee, lliou lovely one.
Would 1 endure such pangs again.
If there be climes, where never yet
The piint nf beauty's fool was set.
Where man may (la^s his loieless nights,
Ui.fever'd bv her false delighls.
Thither my wounded soul would fly,
Where ro-y clietk or r .diani eve
Shnuld bri
Norfelli
iheirblii
De
: to e
ab-e
Ith agii
r pam,
: eyes of li^hl,
ny own,
Thnuirb li'tlepn
Now fl ,at before n
As » hen they tiist ei.aniouriii^ shone,—
What hours and d.iys have I see~n glide,
While fix'd. enchained, by thy side,
Unmindful of the Heeling day,
1 've let life's dream dissolve away.
O bloom ol youih iinrfu>ely shed !
0 moments ! simply, vainly s| ed.
Yet sweetly loo — for Love perfum'd
The flame which thus my life cnsum'd ;
And brilliant w is the chain of tioweis,
lu which he led my vic'im-hours.
Say, Nei, say, couldst thou, like her.
When warm to feel .riid quick lo err,
Of loving fond, of rovrng fonder.
This ihoughtless soul might wish to wander,—
Couldst thou, like her, the \\\A\ reclaim,
Endearing still, reproaching never,
Till ev'n this heari should burn with shame.
And be thy own more fix'd than ever?
No, no— on earth there 's only one
Could bind such faithless folly fast;
And sure on earlli Iiut one alone
Could make such virtue lalseatlasti
Nea, the heart which she forsook.
For thee were but a worllilesa shrine —
Go, lovely irirl, ih.it angel look
Must thrill a soul more pure than mine.
Oh ! thou Shalt be all else lo me.
That heart can fee! or tongue can feign,
1 '11 praise, admire, and worship thee.
But must not, dare not, love again.
Tale iter omne cnTe.
Propifrt, lib. It. ellf. 6.
I pray you, let us roam no more
Along that wild and lonely shore.
102
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
Where late we Ihonghtlets stray'd ;
T was not for us, wJiotii heaveo intends
To be no mnre ihnn simple ttiends,
Such lonely walks were made.
That little Ray, "here turning in
Froiii ocean's i iidc ar d angry din,
As I'lveis -teai lo bliss,
The billows ktss Ihe •■lu.re, and thea
Flow back inin ihe deep again,
As thuugh ihey did nut kibs.
Remember, o'er its circling floaj
In ^vha' a dangerous dream we stood —
Ihe.-siieur sea befme us,
Around u*, alt ilie gloom of grove,
That ever lent its sliade to love,
Wo eye but heaven 's o'er us !
I saw you blush, ynu felt me tremble.
In vain w^.uld luniul art dissemble
All ue then lookM and thought;
'T was more than Inngue could date reveal,
'T was ev*iy thing that young hearts feel,
By Love and Waiure taught-
I stoop'd to cull, with faltering hand,
A shell that, on the golden sand,
Before us faintly gleam'd;
I trembling rais'd it, and when you
Had kist the shell, I kist it too —
How sweet, how wrong it seem*d !
Oh, trust me, 't was a place, an hour,
The worst that e'er the templer'i power
Could tangle me or yuu in ;
Sweet Nea, let us mam no more
Along that wild and lonely >hore,
£ucli walks may be our rL.iu.
You read it in these spell-bnnnd eyes,
And there alone shnuld love be read ;
You hear me say it all in sighs.
And thus ainne should love be s.iid.
Then dread no more; I will not speak j
Although my he.irt lo angnish thrill,
I '11 spare the burning of your cheek,
And look it all in silence still.
Heard you the wi^-h I dar'd to name,
To murmur on that luckles night.
When px-si' n broke the bonds of shame,
And Inve grew madness in your sight?
Divinely through the graceful dance,
Vou seenrd to fi0:Tt in silent snng.
Bending to earth that suony glance,
As if to hght your steps along.
Oh ! how could others dare to touch
That hallow'd form with hand so free,
When but to look was bliss too much.
Too rare for all but Love and me !
With smiling eyes, "hat little thought
How fatal "eie the beams they threw,
My trembling hands you lichtly caught,
And round me, like a spirit, flew.
Heedless of all, but you alone,—
And yoii^ al lea-t, should no; condemn.
If, whfn such eyes before me shniie,
My soul forgot all eyes but them, —
I dar'd to whisper passion'!: vow, —
For love had ev'n of thought beref: me,—
Nay, half-w .y bent to kiss thii binw.
But, with a bound, yotj blushing left me.
Frtnfrt, forget thai night's ofiWnce,
Forgive it, if, alas! you can;
T w;t9 love, 't was passion — f^oul and sense —
T W2a all tliat 's best and worst in oian.
That moment, did th' asgcmblcd eyes
Of heaven and earth my madness view,
I should have seen through earth and skisty
But you alone — but only you.
Did not a frown frnm you reprove,
Myiiads of eyes lo me were none;
Enough f'tr me to win your Inve,
Aiid die upon the spot, wheu won.
A DREAM OF ANTIQUITY,
I just had turn'd Ihe classic pnge,
And irac'd that happy period over,
Wiien blest ;tlike weie youth and age,
And love inspiied the wisest s.ige.
And wtiidom graced the leuderest lover*
Before I Ind me down to sleep
Av\hilel from the lattice gaz'd
Upon ihal stdl ai d m<ionlii:h det^p.
With isles like floating gaideiis rais'd.
For Ariel there his spcrls to keep ;
While, gliding 't wixt their leafy shores
The lone highl-ii;her phed his oars,
I felt,— so strongly fancy's power
Came o'er me in that witching hour,
As if the whole bright scenery there
Were lighted by a Grecian sky.
And 1 then breath'd the blissful air
That late had Ihrilld to Sappho's sigh.
Thus, waking, dreamt I,— and when Sleep
Canie o'er my sense, the dream went on
Nor, through her curtain dim and deep,
Hath ever lovelier vision slione.
I thought that, all enr.<pt, I stray'd
Through that -erene, luxurious shade,*
Whfre Epicurus taught (he Loves
To pidish virtue's native biigh'ness,—
As pearls, we 're told, that fondling di.ves
Have play'd wiih, wear a smoother whitenea*.*
»T was one r.f those delicious nights
Sn common in the climes of Greece,
When day withdraws but half ite lights,
And alt is moonshine, balm, and peace.
And ihou wert ihere, my own belov'd,
And by ihy side I fondly rovd
Through many a temple's leverend gloom,
And many a bower's seductive bloom,
Where Beauty learn'd what Wisdom taught,
And sages sigh d and lover* thought ;
Where schoolmen conn'd no maxims stern.
But all was fnrm'd to soothe or move,
To make the dullest love lo learn.
To make (he coldest learn to love.
And now the fairy pathway seem'd
To lead us through enchanted ground^
Where all that bard h^s eve? dream'd
Ofl ve or luxury blonm'd around.
Oh! 'twas a bright, bewildering ^cene —
Along the alley's deepening green
Soft lamps, that hnng like burning flowers.
And ; ' - ' " ■-■ "- •-- -
nted and illum'd the bowt
1 Gassendi thinks that the girdens, which Pausa-
nlas nieritioiis, in his first book, »ere tho-e of Epicu-
rus; and Stuart says, in his Antiquities of Athens,
'*Near this convent' ithe convent of Hagios Asomatos)
is the I I'ce called at picenl Kepoi, or the Gardens;
and Anipelos Kepos. or the Vineyard Garden : these
v*ere probably the gardens which Pausanias visited."
Vol. i. chiip. 2.
^ This method of polishing pearls, by leaving them
awhile to be played with by doves, is men ioiied b^
the fanciful Cardauus, de Kerum Varietal, lib. Tii>
cap. 34.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
103
Seem'd, as to him, who darkling rovet
Amid the lone Hercyoian grove?,
Appear those countless birds of light,
That sparkle in the leaves at night.
And from their witi^s difl'use a lay
Along the traveller's weary way.i
'T was light of ihat Miy>terious kind,
Thrnugh which the soul perchance may roam,
When It has left this world helund,
AnJ gone to seek its heavenly home.
And, Nca, Ihou wert by my side,
Tlirough all Ihis heav'ii-ward path my guide.
But, lo, as wand'ring thus we ranged
That upward patli, the vision chang'd ;
And now, inetlumglii, we stole along
Through halls of more vuluptuous glory
Than ever liv'd in Ttian song,
Or wantoii'd in Milesian story. «
And nymphs were there, whose very eyes
SeemM sotten'd o'er wiih breath of sighs;
Wh'se evry ringlet, as it wiealh'd,
A mute appeal to passion breath'd.
Some flew, with amber cups, around,
Touring the tlowery wines of Crete ; 3
And, as they pa<-sM with youthful bound.
The onyx shone beueaih their feet.*
While others, waving arms of snow
Eutwiu'd by snakes of burnish'd gold,'
And showing charms, as loih to show.
Through many a thin Tarentian fold.s
Glided among the festal throng
Bearing rich urns of flowers along.
Where roses lay, In Languor breathing.
And the young beegrape,^ round them wreathing,
Hung on their blu!.he5 warm and meek,
Like curls upon a rosy cheek.
Oh, Nea! why did morning break
The spell Ihat Ilius divinely bound me?
Why did i wake? how cmild I »ake
With thee uiy own and heaven around me !
Well — peace to thy heart, though another's it be,
Aud health to that cheek, though il bloom not for v.r
1 In llercynio GermaniiP sallu inusitala genera ah*
turn accepimus, quarum plumse, ignium luudo, collu*
ceant noctibus, — /"iin. lib. x. cap. 47,
^ The Miiesiacs, or Milesian fables, had their ori-
gin in Miletus, a luxurious town of Ionia, Aristides
was the most celebrated author of these liceniinus
fictions. See Plutarch (in CrassoJ, who calls them
OKoAacTa fSiSMa.
3 " Some of the Cretan wines, which Athenaeua
calls Oivo? avOotTfuas, from their fragrancy restni-
biing that of the finest flowers." — Bairy mi H'itiiSt
chap. vii.
4 It appears that in very splendid mansions, the
floor or pavement was fiequenily of onyx. Thus
Martial : ■* Calcatusque tuo sub pede lucet onyx.-'
£pig.50, lib. xii.
3 Bracelets of this shape were a favourite ornament
among the women of amiqui y. ()i tniKapJTiot ofpti^
Kai ai ;vP''-'*'«' f «'5ttt BaiCos Kai Afno-Tayopay «ai
AatCo<i <l>ap^t.aKa.— Philostrat. Epist. xl. Luclan,
too, tells'us of the ppaxioia-t tTpa^covTcj. Sec his
Aniores, where he tlesciiljcs the dressing room of a
Grecian lady, and we lind the ** silver vase." the
rouge, the tooih-pjvvder, and all the *' mystic order" of
arondcra toilet.
vov ano ttjs 'I'agavrtvtuv XPW^'^S Kat Tpu^Tjj,
— PoUvx.
' Apiana, mentioned by Pliny, lib. xiv. and " now
called the Muscatell (a muscaru'm tclis)", says P.mci-
rollus, book i. sect. I. chap. 17.
To-morrow I sail for those cinnamon grove8,8
Where nightly the ghost of (he Carribee roves,
And, far from the light of those eyes, 1 may yet
Their allurements forgive and their splendour forget
Farewell to Bermuda, 9 and long may the bloom
Of the lemon and myrtle its valleys perfume j
May spring to eternity hallow the shade,
Where Ariel has warbled and Waller lo has stray'd.
And thou— when, at dawn, tliou shait happen to roam
Thn-ushlhe lime-cover'd alley thtt leads to thy home,
Where oft, when ihe dance and the revel weie done,
And the stars were beginning to fade in the sun,
I have led thee along, and have told by the way
What my heart all the night had been burning to say—
Oh! think <if the past —give a sigh to ihose times,
And a blessing for me to ibat alley of limes.
If I were yonder wave, my dear,
And thou the ivle it clasps around,
I would not let a foot come near
My laud of bliss, my fairy ground.
If I were yonder conch of gold,
And thou ihe pearl within if plac'd,
1 would not let an eye belmld
The sacred gem my arms embrac'J.
If I were yonder orange-tree,
And thou the blossom hUmming there,
I would not yield a biealh of thee
To scent the most imploiing air.
Oh ! bend not o'er the water's brink,
Give not the wave that odorous sigh,
1 of thine eye,
Th-it glossy hriir, Ihat glowing cheek,
So pictur'd in the wafers seem.
That 1 could sla.lly phwige lo seek
Thy image in the glassy stieani.
Blest fate! at once my chilly grave
And nuptial bed that s'reain might be;
1 Ml wed thee in i's mimic wave,
AnJ die upon the :>hade of thee.
Behold the leafy mane^rove, bending
O'er the walers blue and hlipht,
Like Nea's silky lashes, lending
Shadow to her eyes uf light.
Oh. my bclnv'd I v;\
Some irace of Ihei
•n every star thy gla
Thy blush on eve
■ I turn,
y flow'ret lies.
9 The inhabitants pronounce the n»me as if il were
written Hermooda. See the comnienlalors on the
words "still-vex'd Rermodthes," in the Tempest. —I
wonder it did not occur to some of Ihose all-reading
geritlcn.eii tliat. p *sil ly, llit- di-c.'veier of this •• island
of iv^-. H, I .1, 1.1, ■■ iMi :l,t hur l.ri'ii no le^s a per-
sniu-, I I, 111. .■ . ,1 .' l,n ];. iini.!.;-, w|iO, ahoul lllC
saiiM- ;- I ■, !. M I 1 I, ,,, ,-enlh century),
w.i-. I .III-. Il I III I |||:, .1 ui.'l, 111 Elhi.ipia,
and U^s li-ll us must u-u .l.i li,l i,t..i hs i.f tlie Amazons
and tin; Gridius which hi- i iicoiinUied. — Travels of
the Jcmits. vol. i. I am afiaid, hoivever. it would
lake Ihe Patriirch rather too much out of his way.
10 Johnson does not think Ihat Waller was ever at
Berniuila; but Hie "Account of the Eumpean Settle-
ments in America " affirms it conridentij-. (Vol. ii.)
I mention this work, however, less for its authority
ttian for Ihe pleasure I feel in (jiinlin^ an unacknow-
ledged produclion of the great Edmuiid Burke.
104
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
Nor find I in creation aught
Of bright, or beautiful, or rare,
Sweet to"the sense, or pure to thought,
But thou art found reflected there.
THE SNOW SPIRIT.
No. ne'er did the wave in its element steep
An island of lovelier chirms ;
It blooms in the giant embrace of the deep,
Like Hebp in Hercules' arms.
The blush of ynur bowers is light to the eye,
And their melody balm to the ear;
But the tiery planet of day is ton nigh,
And the Suuw Spirit never comes here.
The down from his wing is as while ae the pearl
That shines through thy lips when they part,
And it falls on the greei, earth as melting, my girl,
As a murmur of Uiine on Ihe he.irt.
Oh ; fly to the clime, where he pillows the death,
As he cradles the birth of the ye.ir ;
Bright are ynur bowers and balmy their breath,
But the Snow Spirit cannot come here.
How sweet to behold him, when borne on the gale,
And brightening ihe bosom of morn,
He flings, like Ihe priest of Diana, a veil
O'er the brow of e^ch virginal thorn.
Yet thiok not the veil be so chillingly casta
Is the veil of a vestal severe;
No, no, thnu wilt see, uha' a moment it lasts,
Should the Snow Spint ever come tjere.
But fly to his region — lay open thy zone,
And he'll weep all his brilliancy dim,
To think that a bosom, as white as his own,
Should not melt in the daybeam like him.
OhI lovely the print of those deiicite feet
O'er his luminous path will appear —
Fly, my beloved ! this island is sweet.
But the Snow Spirit cannot come here.
EvravBa Se Kadwpfiia-Tat i/fiiv* Kat 6, rt jitv
ovoita Tjf vr)<T(f>, ovk. oida' %pvo-ij d* av rrpoj ys
sfAOV ovofia^oiTo. — Philostrat. Icon. 17. lib. ii.
I stole along the flowery bank,
"While many a bending seagrape > drauk
The sprinkle of the feaiheiy nar
That wing'd me round this fairy shore.
'T was noon ; and every orange bud
Hung languid o'er the crys'al flood.
Faint as the lids of maiden's e>e3
When love-thnughts in her bosom riso
Oh, for a naiad's sparry bower,
lo shade me in that glowing hour]
A little dove, of mllk^ hue,
Before nic from a planliin flew,
Ar.d, light along the water's brim,
I steer'd niy genlle bark by him ;
lor fancy Inld me, Love had sent
This gentle bird with kind intent
To lead my s'eps, where I should meet —
1 knew not what, but something sweet.
And— bless the little pilot dovel
He had indeed been sent by Ijive,
To guide me to a scene so dear
As fate allows but seldom heie:
: grnpe, a iiative of thi
One of those rare and brilliant hours,
That, like the aloe's^ lingering flowera,
May blossom to ihe eye of man
But once in all his weary span.
Just where the margin's opening shade
A vista from ihe waters made,
My bird re|.os'd tiis silver plume
Upon a rich banana's bloom.
Oh vi^^ton bright ! oh spirit fair \
What spell, what magic rais'd her there?
'TwasNea! slumbering calm and mild,
And bloomy as the dimpled child,
Who-e spirit in elysium keeps
Its playful sabbath, while he sleeps.
The broad banana*s green embrace
Hung shadowy round each tranquil grace
One little beam alone could win
The leaves to let it wnnder m,
And, sterling over all her charms.
From lip to cheek, from neck to arms,
New lustre to each beauty lent, —
Itself all trembling as it went !
Dark lay her eyelid's jelly fringe
I'pnn thai cheek v^hnse roseate tinge
JSlix'd ;vifh Its fhade, like evening's light
Just touching on the verge of night.
Her eyes, though thus in slumber bid,
Seem'd glowing ihrough the ivory lid.
And, as I thought, a lustre threw
Upon her lip's reflecting dew, —
Such a^ a night-iamp, left to shine
Alone on some secluded shrine,
Miy shtd ut on ihe votive wreath,
Which pious hands h.^ve hung beneath.
Was ever vision hnlfso sweet!
Think, think how quick my heart-pulse oeat,
As o'er tlie rustling bank I stole; —
Oh ! ye, that know'the lover's soul,
ll is for ynu alone lo guess,
That momenl's trembling happiness.
A STUDY FROM THE ANTIQUE,
Behold, mv love, the curious gem
Within "this simple nng of gold ;
»T is hallow'd by ihe touch of them
Who liv'd m classic hours of old.
Some fair Athenian girl, perhaps.
Upon her hand tins gem di^play'd,
Nor thought that time's succeeding lapse
Should see it grace a luvelier maid.
Look, dearest, what a sweet design !
The more we gaze, it charms the morej
Come — closer bt-ing that cheek to mine,
And trace with me i's beauties o'er,
Thnu seest, it is a simple youth
Ry some eiiamour'd nyniph enibrac'd —
Look, as she leans, and say in sonth
Is not that hand most fondly plac'd ?
Upon his curled head behind
II seems in careless play to lie, 3
Yet presses gently, hall inclin'd
To bring the iruanl's lip more nigh.
^The Agiive. This, I am aw. re, is an errore
notion, but it is quite t^ue enough fr)r poeiry. Plato,
I think, allows a poet to be "three removes fiom
truth ; " TptTttTo? atio Tr}<i a^'q^aa^.
3 Somewhat like the symplegma of Cupid and
Psyche at Floience, in which the position of Psyc.ie's
hand is flnely and delicately expressive of alTectioo.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
105
Oh happy maid ! too happv boy !
TIte one eo fond and little loth,
The other yieldine; slow to joy —
Oil Hire, mdted, but blissful both,
Imngine, love, that I am he,
And jUit as warm as lie is chilHng;
Imigine, loo, tli.it thou art she,
Hut quite as coy as she is willing:
So may we try the graceful way
III which theii geutle arms are twiuM,
And thus, like her, my haud I lay
Upon thy wrealhed locks behiud :
And Ihus 1 feel thee breathing sweet,
As slow to miue thy head 1 move j
And thus our lips together meet.
And tlius,— and thus,— 1 kiss thee, love.
Ai-islot. Khttor. lib. iii. cap* 4.
There 's not a look, a word of thine,
My soul hath e'er forgot ;
Thou ne'er hast hid a ringlet shine,
Nor ^iv'n thy locks one sraceful twine
Which I remember not.
There never yet a murmur fell
Fnim that beguiling tnngi.e,
Which did nut, with a liuseriiig spell,
Upon my charmed sell^es dwell,
Like songs fri<m Kdeu suug.
Ah I that I could, at once, forget
All, nil that haunts me so —
And yet, thou witchin;; ^irl,— and yet,
To die weie sweeter tha:. to let
The lov'd remembrance go.
No ; if this slighted heirt musi see
Its f.uthlui pulse decay.
Oh let it die, remt^niheiing Ihce,
Arid, Irke the burnt aroiua, be
Consum'd in sweets away.
TO JOSEPH ATKINSON, ESQ.
FROM BERMUDA.*
" The daylizht Is gooe — but, before we depart,
" One cup shall go round to the friend of mv heart,
" The kiiid(;st, the dearest —oh ! jud^e by the tear
^*I now ^hed while 1 nauie bim, how kiud and bov
dear."
See the Museum Florentinnm, torn. ii. lab. 43, 44.
There are few subjects on which poetry could be mo
interestingly employed than iu illustrating some of
these ancient statues and gems.
« Pinkerlnn has said ihat "a ^nnd Iii^tory and de-
scription of the Bermudis miirbl atVnid a plea
addition lo the geoj;r.iphical lib ary ; " but there ct;r-
tatnly are not materials fir such a work. 'I he island,
since the lime of ils discovmy, has experienceil so
very few vicJssitu'ie-i, ihe i e pie have been so in-io-
lent, and their liade sn limited, that there is but liitle
which the historian could amplify into importance;
and, with respect to 'lit? iiaUral [r reductions of the
country, the few which the inh.ibitanis can be in-
duced to cultivate are o conmrtii in ihe West Indies,
that they have been dcsc ibed by rvery natuialist who
has writ'en any account of those i^l.^nds.
It isofien asserted bv the tr.ms-AIl mtic politicians
that this little colony deseivei moie at euiion from
the mother-country than it lecei'ves, and it ceriamly
was thus in the shade of (he Calabish-Tree,
With a few, who could feel and remember like me,
I he charm that, to sweeten my gobtel, 1 threw
Was a Sigh to the past and a blessing un you.
Oh ! sav, is it thus, in the mirth-bringing hour,
When fi lends are assembled, u lien wit, in Cull flower,
lis fuith from the lip, under H.'Cchus's dew,
losvom^ of ihouaht ever spriN^ing and new —
nu sometimes tenieiT.^er, .md halhnv the brim
Of your cup with a sit-h, as >ou crown it to him
Who IS lonely and ^ad in ihese valleys so fair,
And would pine in clysium, if friends weieaol there
Last niglil, when we came from the Calabash-Tree,
When my limbi were at lest and my spirit was free,
The glow of the gr-ipe and the dreums of the day
Set the magical ^p^ings of niy fancy in play,
And oh,— such a vision as haunted me theu
1 would slumber for ages to witness again.
The many I like, and the few I adore.
The friends who were dear and beloved before,
lim nuver lilt now so beloved and dear.
At the call of my F-ncy, suironnded me here j
And soon,— vU, at once, did (he light of their smiles
To a paiad se brighten this region of isles;
More lucid the wave, as they louk'd on it, flow»d,
And blighter the rose, as they g:Uher'd it, giow'd.
Not tlie'valle;s Heiaen (though water'd l)y lills
Of the pea best Mow. from ih "se pastoral hills.1
Where the Song ri the .^hepherd, pnn.rv.il and wild,
Was taught to the nymphs by iheir mystical child,;
po-8es=es advantages of situation, to which we should
not be long insensible, if ii were once in the hands of
an enemy. I was told by a ceteltraied friend of
Washington, at New York, that they had furn.ed a
plan f.T i:s capture towards the conclusion ol the
American War; »' with the in'enlion (as he expIe^sed
hum^elf, of making it a ne>t of hornets fc<r the aniH-y-
ance of British trade in thai pari of ihe woild."' And
there is no doubt it lies so convenun-iy in the liack lo
the VVest Indies, that an enemy might with ease con-
vert it into a ver; harassing impednntnt.
The plm of liish-p lierkeley fur a college at Per-
muda, where Amcric-in sa^a-es might be converted
;*nd educaled, lhuui;h concurred in by the go\ernment
of the day, was a wild and u-eless speculation. Mr.
Haiiiiltr n. who was g.tvenior ^f the island some
years snce, p'Oposeii, if I mist-ifce not, the esablish-
ment of a marine academy for the i. stiucfion of (hose
children of West Indians, who might be intended for
:tny nautical empb yn.enf. This was a more lational
idei, and for son.elhing of this nature the island is
admirably calculated. But Ihe plan should be much
more extensive, and embrace a geneial system of
ednCition; which *»ouid lelieve Ihe c touisis from
the alternative lo which ihey aie reduced .>t niesent,
of either sending llieir sons to tngland (or iiislruc'ion,
or iuirusiinglhtm to colleges in the sfa'esof Anieiica,
where ideas, by no meius favourable to Oieat Britain-
are ve.y sedulously inculc..:ed.
The wnnien of lit-rniuda, though not generally hand-
sf>nie. have an affection ile 1 mguor in their look and
manner, which is always iniere ting. What the
French imply by ihuir epithet aimautt seems very
much the character of the young Bertnndian girla —
tin' prtdisposiiion to loving, which, with' ut beiu
awakened by any particular object, tliliuses itself
ttirou-h the general manner in a tone of lendernesi
that never ftjls o fascinate. 1 he men of the island,
I confess, are not very civilised ; and ihe old pbilnso.
pher. who imagined that, after Ihi^ life, men v.ould
he chansed in'o niules, and women in'o lurlie-dovc-*,
wr. ul! linl the metamorphosis in some degree anlici-
p ted al lierniuda.
^Mountains of Sicily, upon which D-iphnis, Ihe
first inventor of buccdic poetry, \v;ts tiuised by tlie
nymphs. See the lively description of ihe-e moun-
tains in Di' duriis Siculus, lib. iv. 'W^aia yap opi)
*caro Tqv Et/crXiav EffTtv, it, i^affi KaAAet, K. r. A."
106
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
Could boast such a luslre o'er HnA and o'er wave
As (he magic of love lo this priradise gave.
Oh. maitc of love ! unembellish'd by you,
H^ttl) liiegaidfii a blusji or Ihe landscape a hue?
(Jr shines there a visa in nature or art,
Like ihat which Love opes thro* the eye to the heart ?
Alas, that a vision so happy should fade !
That, when innrnin? around me in brilliancy pJay'd,
The rnse and the stieam I had thought nf at night
Should still lie before me, imfadingly bright ;
While the friends, who had seeni'd to hang over the
stream,
And to gather the roses, had fled with my dream,
Bui look, *vhere, ali ready, in sailing array,
[ The bark that 's to carry these pages away^t
Impatiently flutters her wing to the wind,
And will Foori leave the^e islets of Ariel behind.
What billows, what gales is she fated to prove.
Ere she >leep in the lee of the land that I love !
Vet pleasaril the swell of the billows would be,
And the roar of those gales would be music ?o me.
Not the trai.quill«t ajr that the winds ever blew,
Not Ihe sunniest tears of the summer-eve dew,
Were as sweet as the storm, or as bright as the foam
Of the surge, that would hurry yuur wanderer home.
THE STEERSMAN»S SONG,
WRITTEN ABOARD THE BOSTON FRIGATE,
ii8TH APRIL.'i
When freshly blous the northern gale,
And under courses snug we tly ;
Or when liglii breezes suell the sail,
And ro)aIs proudly svveep the sky ;
*Longside the wheel, unwearied s'lU
I stand, and, as my waictiful eve
Doth mark the needle's faithful thrill,
I think of her 1 love, and cry,
Port, my boy! port.
When calms delay, or breezes blow
Ri^ht from the point we wish to steer;
When by the wind cIo--e-haui'd we go.
And s'rive in v >in ihe poit to near;
X think *t is thi;s the faies defer
My bliss with one that's faraway,
And while remembrance springs to her,
I watch the sails and sighing say.
Thus, my boy ! thus.
But see the wind draws kindly aft.
All hands are up the yarJs to square,
And now the floating stu'n-sails wall
Our stalely ship through waves aisd air.
Oh ! then I thmk that yet fnr me
Some breeze of fortune thus may spring,
Some breeze to waft me, love, to thee —
And in that hope 1 smiling sin;,
Steady, boy ! BO.
TO THE FIRE-FLT.a
U morning, when the eirth and sky
Are flowing with the Mih' of spring,
,Ve see thee not, fhou humble fly !
Nor think upon ihy gleaming wing.
> A ship, ready to sail for England.
5 I left Bermuda in the Boston about the middle of
April, ill company with the Cambrinn and Leander,
aboard the lalter of which was the Admiral, Sir
AziiTerr Mitchell, who divides his ye^r between
Halifax and Bermuda, and is the very soul of society
But when the skies have lost their hue,
Anfl sunny lights no linger play,
Ob, Ihtn we see and bless thee too
For sparkling o'er the dreary way.
Thus let me ho)ie, when lost to me
The lighls Ihat now my life illume,
Some milder joys may come, like thee.
To cheer, if not to warm, the gloom 1
TO THE LORD VISCOUNT FORRES.
FROM THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
If farmer times had never left a trace
Of human fnilty in their orll^ard race,
Nor o'er their pathway wriiten, as thev ran,
One dark memorial of the crlme^ of man j
If every age, in new unconcinus prime,
Rose, like a phenix, from ihetites of time,
To wing Its way unguided ai.d alone.
The future smiimg and ihe p^st unknown ;
Then ardent man would to himself be new,
Eai th at his foot and heaven within his view :
We 1 might the novice ht.pe, the sanguine scheme
Of full perfeclion prompt his daring dream,
Ere cold experience, with her veleran lore,
Could itll him, foots had dreamt as much before.
But, tracing as we do, through age and clime.
The plai s of virtue midst the deeds of crime.
The ihinking follies and the reasoning rage
Of nian. at once the idiot and the sage ;
When still we see, through every varying frame
Of arts and polity, his course ihe same.
And know thit ancient fools but died, to make
A space on earth for modern fools lo take ;
'Tis stiantie, how quickly we ihe past totget;
That Wisdom's self j^hould not be tu'or'd ye',
Nor tire of w.tching for the monstrous birth
Of pure perfection midst the sons of earth I
Oh ! nothing but Ihat soul which God has given,
Could lead us thus to look on earth for heaven:
O'er dross wiihc.il to shed Hie light within,
And dream of virtue while we tee but sin.
Even here, beside Ihe proud Potowmac's stream,
Might vagts s ill pursue he flattering theme
Of d.iys to come, when man shall conquer fate,
Ri=e o'er tlie level of hi? mottal state.
Belie the monuments v{ fiailty past,
And plant perfection in this world at last!
*' Here," might they say, "shall power's divided reign
"Evince thai patiiols have not lied in vain,
'* Here godlike liberty's herculean >nulh,
*' Cradled in peace, and nurtured up by truth
"To full maturity of nerve and mind,
"Shall crush the giants that bestride mankind.*
and good-fellowship to both. We separa'ed in a few
days, and ihe Boston alter a shoit ciuise proceeded to
New York.
3 The livelv and varying illumination, wr'h "hirh
these fire fl es I'ght up the wood- at night, gives quite
an idea of enchantment. *'Puis ces mnuches ae
developpant de I'obscurite de c^-s arbres et s'appro-
chani de nous, nous les voyinns 'ur les orangers voi-
sins, qu'ils melloent toui en feu, nous rendant la vue
de leiirs beaux fruits dores que la nuit avojt ravie,"
&c. &c. — See VUiUoirc dts Antilles, art 2. chap. 4.
liv. i.
* Thus Mope. " Here the sciences and the arts of
civilised life are to receive Iheir hiehest improve-
ments : here civil and religious liberty are lo flourish,
unchecked by the cruel hand of civil or eccles asiical
tyranny: here penius, aided by all ihe imprnvemeiitB
of former age!<, is to be exerted in humanBing niaa-
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
107
** Here shall religion's pure and balmy draught
** Jn form no more from cups of sta'e be quatl'd.
*' But flow fnr all, through nation, rank, and >ect,
'• Free as that heaven its tranquil wave^ retted,
"Around the columns of the public shrine
*• Shall growing arts their srauml wreath entwine,
" Nor breaihe corruption from ihe flowering braid,
" Nor MKiie that fabr.c which they biooni In shade.
*' No longer here shall Jus:ice bound her view,
"Or wrong the many, while she nghis the few ;
*' But take her range through all the social frame,
** Pure and pervading as thar vital flnme
** Which warms at once nur best and meanest part,
** Aud thrills a hair while it expands a heart T'
Oh golden dream ! what soul that loves to scan
The bright disk ra'her than the dark of man,
That ort ns Ihe good, while sniarting wiih the ill,
And loves Ihe woi Id with all its frailty still,—
What ardent bosom doc not spring lo meet
The generous hi'pe, with all that heavenly heat.
Which makes the soul uawilting to resign
The thoughis of growing, even on earth, divine 1
Yes, dearest friend, I see thee glow lo think
The chain of as;es yet m.iy bo.ist a link
Of purer texture Ihwi Ihe world hns known,
And lit to bind us lo a Godhead's throne.
But, is it thus ? dnth even the glorious dream
Borrow from truth Ihat dim, uncertain eleani,
Which tempts us still to t;ive such lai cies 5Cope,
As chock not reason, while they nourish hnpe?
No, no, believe me, 'tis not so — ev'n now,
While yet u(>on Columbia's rising btow
The showy smile of young presump'ion plays,
Her bloom is poison'd and her heait decays.
Even now, in dawn of life, her sickly breath
hums with Ihe taint of enjpires i^ear their death ;
And, like the nymphs of her own wiihering dime,
She 's old in youth, she 's blasted iu her prime. &
Already has the child of Gallia*s school
The foul Fhiloy phy tliat sins by rule.
With all her Ir.uti of reasoning, damning art%
Begot by brilliant heads on worthless heaifs,
Like things Ihat quicken after Nilus' flood,
The venoiii'd biilh of sunshine and of mud,—
Already has she pour'd her poison here
O'er every ch irm that makes existence dear ;
Already blighted, with her blackening trace,
The opening bloom of every >ocial giace,
And all those courtesies, that love to shoot
Hound virtues s'em, Ihe flow'rets of her fruit«
And, were lhe?e errors but the wanton tide
Of young luxuriance or uncha;ten'd pnde ;
The fervid follies and the faults of such
Ab wrongly feel, because they feel loo much;
Then misht experience make Ihe fever less.
Nay, graft a virtue on each warm excess.
But no ; 't is heanless, speculalive ill,
All youth's trangression with all age's chill;
The ap;iihy of wrong, the bosom's ice,
A slow and cold stagnation into vice.
iind, in expanding and enriching their minds with
religious and philosophical knowledge," &c. &c. — P.
5tiy.
» ** What will be the old a?e of this government, if
it 19 thus earlv dicreprt !" Such w.is the rennik nf
Fauchei, the French minister at Philadelphia, in that
famous des[>atch to his government, which was inter-
cepted by one nf nur cruisers in Ihe \ear 1794. 1 his
curi>us mem rial ni:»y i et mnd in Porcupine's Woiks,
vnt. i. p. 279. It remains a striking m-nuinent of
republican intrigue on one side ai d rep hMcaii prnflj.
g.icy On the other; and I woidd recommend the peru-
sal of it to every honesi politician, who ma\ labour
under a moment's delusion with respect to the purity
of American patriotism.
Long has the love of gold, that meanest rage,
And latest folly of man's sinking age.
Which, rarely venturing in the van of lift,
While nobler passions wage their healed strife.
Comes skulking l;ist, with selfi»hness and fear.
And dies, collecting luniber in the rear,—
Long has it p:ilsied every g^J^ping hand
And greedy spirit through this b.irtering land;
Turn'd life to traffic, set the demon gold
So loose abroad that virtue's self is sold,
And conscience, truth, and honesiy are made
To rise and fall, like other wares of trade.^
Already in this free, this virtuous state.
Which, Frenchmen tell us, was ordain'd by fate,
To show the world, what high perfection springi
From rabble senators, and merchant kings,—
Even here already patriots learn lo steal
Their jwivate perquisi es from public weal,
And, guardians of Ihe country's saciedfire,
Like Afric's priest, let out the flame for hire.
Those vaunted demagogues, who nobly rose
From England's debiois to be England s foes,3
Who could iheir monarch in iheir purse forget.
And break allegiance, but to cancel debt, 4
Have prov'd at length, the mineral's templing hue.
Which makes n patriot, can unmake Iiini too.a
Oil! Fieedoin, Freedom, how 1 hate Ihy cant!
Not Eastern Unmbast, not the savage rant
Of purpled madtnen, were lliey iiumber'd all
From Unman Nero down to Russian Paul,
Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base,
As the rank jargon of that factious race,
Who, poor of heart and prodigal (>{ word*,
Foim'd 10 be slaves, ye^ struggling to be lords,
Sfru! forth, -fs p.ttilnis, Tom their negio-maits,
And shout for rights, with lapine in their hearts.
Who can, with pafience, for a moment see
The medley mass of pr.de and misery,
Of wiiips and charters, nianacles and rights,
Of slaving blacks and demcvcjaiic white9,(>
*^ '* Nous voyons que, dans les pays on Ton n'est
afTec'e que de Fesprit de cummerce, on trafique de
toules les actions huniaines et de ton es les vertus niO-
rales." — Montesquieu^ dc VEsprit des Lois, liv. xx.
chap. 2.
3 I trust I shall not be suspected of a wish lo justify
those arbitrary steps of the English government which
the colonies found it so necessary to resist ; my only
object here is to expose the selfish motives of some of
the leading American demagogues.
* The most persevering enemy lo the inferesfa of
this country, amongst the politicians of the western
world, has been a Virginian meichant, who, finding
it easier to settle his conscience than his debts, was one
of the first to raise the s'andard against Great Britain,
and has ever since endeavoured to revenee upon the
whole country the obligations which he lies under to
a few of its merchants.
* See porcupine's account of the Pennsylvania In-
suirection in 179-1. In short, see Porcupine's works
throughout, for ample coirobnration of every senti-
ment which I have ventured to express. In saying
this, 1 refer le-s to the comments of Ihat writer ihan
to the occurrerjoes wliich he has rcia ed aid the docu-
ments which he has preseived. Opiiiion may be sus-
pected ot bias, but fac s speak for themselves.
6 In Virginia the eflec's of ihis s\stem begin to be
frit rather seriously. While t),e master ra^es of
iibtriy, the slave carmot bul catch the contagion, and
accordingly Iheie seldom elapses a moith without
son^e alarm of insurrection amongst the negr'^es. The
acct'-sion of Louisian:*, ii is feared, will increase 'his
embar-assnicnt ; as the numerous emigrations, which
are cxpeci'd lo take place, from the southern sta'es to
this nev\ly acquired leriitory, will consideralily
diminish the white population, and thus strengthen
the pioportion of negroes, to a degree which must
uli'mately tie tutnous.
108
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
And all Ihe piebald polity that reigns
111 free cnnfusion o'er Columbia's plains ?
To thii^k that man, thou jus and genile Gnd !
Should stand before thee wiih a tyrant's rod
O'er creatures like himself, with s -ula fiom thee,
Yet dare to boast of ptifect liherry ;
Away, aw.iy— i *d lather h"ld my neck
By doubtful tenure fn.in a sul an'* beck,
la climes, where liberty has scaice leea nam'd,
Nor any right but th:it uf ruling cUini'd,
'Vhrin ihus lo live, where bastard Freedom waves
Her fustian fla? in mockery over slaves ;
Where — molley laws admiiting no degree
Betwix' the vilely shiv'd and aiidty frte —
Alike the bor.d.ige and Ihe license suit
The bru;e made ruler and the inau made brute.
But, while I thus, my fiiend, in flowerless song,
So feebly paint, wiiat yet I feel so strong,
The ills, the vices of the land, where first
Those rebel fiends, that lack the world, were nurst,
Where treason's arm by n)yaHy was nerv'd,
And Fieuchmeii learu'd to crush the throne they
set v'd -
Thou, calmly lull'd In dreams of classic Ihoughti
By birds illumrn'd and hy ^agea taui^ht,
l^^nfst to be all, upon ibis mortal scene,
That bard hath fancied or that sage hath oeen.
Why should I wake Ihee? why severely chase
The lovely forms i<f virtue and of grace,
That dwfil before thee, like he pictures spread
Ry Spartan matrons round the gen al bed,
Moulding ihy f.ncy, and with tradu^il ut
Brightening the young conceplums of thy hearf.
Forgive me, Forbes — and should the song destroy
One genep'us hope, one thiob of social jny,
One high pulsation of the zeal for mnn,
Which few cm feel, and bless that few who can,—
Oh ! turn to him, beneath wh"se kindred eyes
Thy talents open and ihy virtues use.
Forget where nature his been dark or dim.
And proudly study all her lights in him.
Yes, yes in him the ernng world forget,
And feel Ibat man may leach perfection yet.
TO THOMAS HUME, ESQ., M. D.
FROM THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
Aijjyjjo'o/iat Jnjyij/tara icrwy aniCTa. Koivojva <i>v
KtnovOa ovK txuiv.
Xtnvphont. Ephes, Ep/iesiac. lib. v.
'T is evening now ; beneilh the western star
Soft sighs Ihe lover through his sueet segar,
At.d fills the ears of some consenting she
With puffs and vows, with sntoke and constancy.
The patriot, fresh fmin Freedom'^ councils come,
Now pleas'd retires lo lash his slaves at home j
Or won, perliaps, some black A-pasia's charms.
And dream of freedom in his bondsmaid's arms.*
In fancy now, beneath the twilight gloom.
Come, let me lead thee o'er this ''second Rome ! "5
1 The " black Aspasia " nf Ihe present ****## of
the Uniied Slates, inter Avernales hand ignotissima
nymph;is. has t;iven rise lo much pleasantry among
tlie anti-democrat wiis in America,
0 ■* On the original location of the grnund now
allolted for the seat of the Federal City (says Mr.
WeldJ tlie idenlcal spot on which ihe capitol now
stands was called Home. This anecdote is rela'ed by
many ag a certain pfognostic of the future magnifi-
cence of this city, which is to be, as it were, a second
Rome." — fVe/d'5 Travels^ letter iv.
Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow,
And what was Goose-Creek once is Tiber now : * —
This embryo capital, where Fancy eees
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees;
Winch secnudsigh ed seers, ev'n now, adorn
With shrines unbuilt and heroes yet unborn.
Though nought but i^oods 4 and J n they see,
Where streets should run and sages ought to be.
And look, how calmly in yon radiant wave,
The dying sun prepares his golden grave.
Oh, mighty river I oh, ye banks of shade!
Ye inatchiess scenes, in nature's morning made,
While still, in all th' exuber.mce of prime,
She pour'd her wonders, lavishly sublime,
Nor yet had learn'd lo sloop, with humbler care,
From grand to so:t, from wonderful to fair ; —
Say, were your towering hills, your boundless floods,
Your rich savannas and majestic woods,
Where bards should meditiie and heroes rove,
And woman cliaim, and mari deserve her love,—
Oh, say, was world so bright, but born to grace
Its own half -organised, hill-minded race 5
Of weak baib.irians, swarmitig o'er its breast,
Like vermin gender 'd on the linn's crest?
Were none but brutes to call th»l soil their home.
Where none hut demigi ds should dare to roam ?
Or worse, thou wondrous world ! oh ! doubly worse,
Old heaven design thy lordly land to nurse
The m' tley dregs of every dis'ant clin.e,
Kach blast of anarchy and taint of crime
Wh'ch Europe shake? frf m her perturbed sphere,
In full malii
' to I
nkle here?
3 A litde stream runs th-ough the cily, which, with
intolerable attrclation, they have >tyled'lhe Tiber, It
was originally called Goo^e-Creek.
4 '*To be under the necessity of going through a
deep wooti for one or two miles, perhaps,^in order to
see a next-door neighbour, and in Ihe same city, is a
curious and, I believe, a novel Circumslance.''— H'dd.
letter iv.
The Federal Cily f if it must he called a city) has
not been much increased since Mr. Weld visited it.
Most of tlie public buildings, which were then in
some degree of forwardness, have been since utterly
suspended. The hotel is already a ruin j a great pari
of i's roof his f.illen in, and the rooms .ire left to be
occupied gia'uilously hy the mi>eiable Scotch and
Irish emigr.inls. The President's house, a very noble
slruc'nre, is by no means suited to the jhilosophical
humility of ilspiesent possessor, who inhabits but a
comer of Ihe mansion hiuiself, and abandons Ihe rest
to a stale of uncleanly desolation, which those who
are not philos pliers cannot look at without regret.
This giand edihce is encircled by a very rude pahng,
through which a comui' n rustic stile introduces the
visiieis of Ihe firs! man in America. With respect to
all that is within Ihe house, I shall imitate the pru-
dent foibeaiance of Herodotus, and say, za d iv
anoggijTfo.
The private buildings exhibit Ihe same charac-
teristic dis|ilay of arrogaiit speculation ard premature
luin ; and the few langes nf houses which were begun
some yenrs ago have rema ned so long waste and un-
limshed Ihat tliey aie now for the most part dilapi-
dated.
s The picture which BuiTon and De Pauw have
drawn of the Americ-n Indian, though very humiliat-
ing, is, as far as I can judge, much more correct than
the flattering repre-en'alioiis which Mr. Jellerson hai
given us. See ihe Nrtes en Virginia, where this gen-
tlern^m endeavours (o disprove in general the opinion
maintained so strongly by some philosophers that
nature (as Mr. Jelleison expresses it) bc-lilths her
productions in the WLslcin world. M. de Fauw attri-
butes the imperfection of animal life in America to
Ihe ravages of a very recent deluge, from whose
effec's upon its soil and atmosphere it has not yet
sufficiently recovered. — Rccheiches sur Ics Jtmcrh
cains, part i. torn. i. p. 102.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
109
But hold,— observe ynn litlle mount nf pines,
Where the breeze niumm s and ilie fire-fly shines.
There let thy fancy r.ise, in bold lehef,
The Bculptur'd iriiaue of ihal ve fr.iii chief i
VVhn lost thu rebel's in the hen.'s uame»
And cIirV>'U o'er jimstrate loyalty 1(j fame;
IJeiieath v: iOse sword Columbia's (lairiot train
Cast oif their monarch, that Iheir mob might reigu.
How shall we rank thee npon glory's page?
Thou more than soldier and just less than sage I
Of peace too fond lo act the conqueror^ pirt,
'I'ou long in camps to learn a staiesman's art,
Nature designed thee for a hero's mould,
llut, ere she cast Ihee, lel the stufl"gruw cold.
While loftier snuls command, nay, make their fate,
Thy fate made ihee and forc'd thee to be great.
Yet' Foi tune, who so oft, so blindiv sheds
Her brightest halo round the weakest heads,
Found l/tee undazzled, tranquil as befoie,
Proud to be useful, scorning lo be more ;
Less mov'd by glory's than by dut\'s cl;um,
Ki nnwn the meed, but (-elf-applause the aim;
^11 that thou wert reflects less f mie on thee,
Far less, than al! thou duhi fi.thcar to be.
Nor yet the patriot of (tne land abne.—
For, thine 's a name all na'i'ins claim their own;
And every shoie, where brealh'd the good and brave,
Eclio'd the plaudits thy own country g»ve.
Now look, my friend, where faiut the moonlicht
r«lls
On yon Jer dome, and, in those princely halls,—
If thou canst bn\e, as suie thai s')ul niusi hate,
Which loves the viituons and reveres the great,—
If Ihou canst loathe and execrate with me
The poisonous drug of French phil sophy.
That nauseous slaver of these f.aniic times,
With which filse liber'y dilutes her cunies,—
If thou has' goi, within thy freeborn breast.
One pulse that bents moie proudly than the rest,
Wilti honest scorn for that inglorious soul
Which creeps and winds benea'h a mob's control.
Which courts the rabble's smile, tlie rabble's nod,
And makes, like Egypt, every beast its god,
There, in those walls — but, buiniiig tongue, forbear!
Rank must be leverenc'd. even the rank Ihit 's tliete:
So here I pause — and now, dear Hume, we part;
But oft again, in fr;iijk exchange of heart.
Thus let' us meet, and mingle converse dear
By Thames at home, or by Potowni:^c here.
O'er lake and marsh, through fevers and through fogs,
Midst bears and yankecs, democa's and fiogs,
Thy fo()t shill follow me, thy heari ;tnd eyes
With me sh:ilt wonder, and with me desidse.a
While I, as oft, in fancy's dreim sliall rove.
With thee conversing, through thai land I love.
» On a small hill near 'he capitol there is to be an
equestrian statue of General VVashinglon.
2 In the ferment which the Ftench revolution ex-
cited among the d-^moca's of America, and the licen-
tious sympathy with which they shared in the wildest
excesses of jacobinism, we may find one source of
tha' vulgarity of vice, that hostiliiy to all the gnces
of life, which disiinguishes the pre-ent demagogues
of the United States, and has become irjdeed too gene-
rally the characteris'ic of their countrymen. But
there is another ciuse of the corruption of private
niomls, which, eucnurased as it isbv the government,
and identified with the in'erests of the comniunily,
*icems to threaten the dec^iv of all honest princiide in
Americi. I allude to tho-,e fraudulent violations of
neutrality to which they are indebted for the most
lucrative part nf Iheir Cf-mmerce. and hv which they
h lye so long infringeil and counterac ed the maritime
rieht? and advantages of this country. This unwar-
rantable trade is necessarily abetted by such a system
of collusion, imposture, and perjury, as cannot fail to
ppread rapid c 'nlamination around it.
"To
Where, like the air that fans her fields of greeD,
Her freedom spreads, unfevcr'd and serene;
Andsoveieign man can condescend to see
The throne and laws more sovereign still than be.
LINES WRITTENON LEAVING PHI-
LADELPHIA.
T7}v6£ TTjv noXtv ^tAcoj
Et^wv, tnalia yap.
Sophod. CEdip. Colon, v. 758.
Alone by the Schuylkill a wanderer rov'd,
And bright were its flowery banks to his eye;
But tar, very far were the friends th it he lov'd,
And he gazed on its flowery banks with a sigh.
Oh Nature, though blessed and bright are thy rays,
O er the brow of creation enclian ingly (hVowni
Vet faint are they all to the hisire that plays
In a smile froi'n the heait that is fondly our own.
Nor long did the soul of the stranger remain
Unblest by the smile he had hntcuish'd lo meet ;
Though scarce did he hope it would soothe him again.
Till the threshold of home had been prest by his feet.
But the Jays of his boyhood had slol'n to tlieir car,
And they lov'd what they knew ol so humble a
nanie ;
And they told him, with flat'ery welcome and dear,
That they found in his heart something better than
fame.
Nor did woman — oh woman ! whose form and whose
soul
Are the spell and the light of each path we pursue :
Whether S'mn'd in the tropics or chill d at the pole,
if woman be there, there is happiness too: —
Nor did she her enamouring magic deny, —
That magic his heart had relinquish'd so long,—
Like eyes he had lov'd was /itr eloquent eye,
Like them did it soften and weep at his song.
Oh, blest be the tear, and in memory oft
May its spaikle be shed o'er the wanderer's dream ,
Thrice blest be that eye, and may passion as soft,
As free from a pang, ever mellow its beam !
The stranger is gone — but he will not forget.
When at home he shall talk of the toils he has
known,
To tell, with a sigh, what endearments he met,
As he stray'd by the wave of the Schuylkill alone.
LINES WRITTEN AT THE COHOS, OR FALLS
OF THE MOHAWK HIVER.3
e of morn (ill set of sun
I tfie mighty Mohawk run ;
3 There is a dreary and savage character in the
country immediately about the^e Falls, which is much
more in harmony with the wildness of such a scene
than the cultivated lands in the neighhouihood of
Niagara. See the drawine; of them in Mr. Weld's
book. According to him, the perpendicular height of
the Cohos Fall is fifty feet ; tut the Marquis de Chas-
tellnx makes it seventy-six.
The fine rainbow, which is contlnunllv forming and
he spray rises in'o the light of tlie sun,
110
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
And as I mark'd the woods of pine
A!on5 his mirror darkly shine,
Like tall and glnnniy fnrms hat pass
Before the wizard's midniihl g'ass j
And as I vie»M the huriying pace
Wiih which he ran tiis lurbid race,
Ruhhin^, ahke untir'd and wild,
'I hrou^li shades ihai fro^n'd and flowers that s
Flying by eve y gieeu recess
That %vou'd him lo i(s calm caress,
Yet, s nietimes lurning with the wind,
As if to leave one- look behin5,—
Oft have I thought, and Ihinkins si^hd,
How like to thee, ihou lestless tide,
M.iy be the lot, the life of him
Who roims along thy waei's brim ;
Through what alternate wastes of woe
And flowers of joy my path may go j
How niany a shelter'd, dim retreat
May woo ihe while my weiry feet,
While still pursuing, stdl unblest,
1 wander on, nor dare to rest ;
But, urgent as Ihe doom that calli
Thy water to its deslin'd falls,
I feel the world's bewilderiig forco
Hurry my heirt's devoted course
From lapse to lapse, tilt life be done,
Aud the spent current cease to run.
One only prayer I dare to make,
As onward 'hus my course I lake ;—
Oh, be my f.iUs as brigh' as thine !
May heaven's relenting rainbow bbine
Upon the mi t thai circles me,
As soft as DOW it hangs o'er ibee I
SONG OF THE EVIL SPIRIT OF THE WOODS.!
Now the vapour, hot and damp,
Shed by day's expiring lamp,
Through the misy ether spreads
Every ill the white mandieads;
Fiery fever's thirsty thnll.
Fitful ague's shiveiing chill 1
Hark ! I hear the traveller's song,
As he winds the wood-, along ; —
Christian, 'i is the song of fear;
Wolves are round thee, night is near,
And the wild thou dat'st to roam —
Think, U was once the Indian's home !*
Hither, sprites, who love to harm,
Wheresoe'er you work your charm,
Bv the creeks, or by the brakes,
Where the pale witch feeds her snakes,
And the cayman 3 loves to creep.
Torpid, to his wintry >leep :
> The idea of this poem occurred 'o nie in pas-ing
through the very dreaiy vvildeines-' between Batavis,
a new settlement in the midst of the woods, and the
little village of Buffalo upon Lake Erie. This is the
most fatiguing part of the route, in travelling through
the Genesee country to Niagara.
« "The Five Confederated Nations fof Indians)
were settled along the bniks of the Snsquehannah ai.d
the adjacent country, until the year 1779, " hen Gene-
ral Sullivan, wiih an army of 4000 men, drove Ihem
from their country to Niagara, where, being c bligcd
lo live on silled provisions, to which they were ui. ac-
customed, great numbers of i hem died. Two hundied
of them, it is said, were buiied in one grave, where
they had eucumped,"— Morse's American Geography.
s The alligator, who is supposed to lie in a torpid
Where the bird of carrion flits,
And the f-huddering murderer sits,*
L' ne beneath a roof of blooJ ;
While upon his po.son d food,
Fiom the corpse of him he ^lew
Drops the chill and gory dew.
Hither bend ye, turn ve hither,
E\eb ih-u blast nnd wings that witherl
Cio^s the wandeiing Christian's way,
Le.id him, eie the g.impse of day,
Many a mile of mad'ning error
1 h rough Ihe maze of night and terror,
Till the n.orn behold hiju lying
On the damp earth, pale and dying.
Mock him, when his eager >ight
Seeks the codial cotlage-light ;
Gleam then, like Ihe lightning-bug,
T empl him 10 the den ihal 's dug
For the loul and fanij.-ih'd bniod
Of the she wolf, gaunt f t blood ;
Or. untu the dangemus jjass
O'er Ihe deep and dai V, morass,
Where the trembling Indian brings
Belts of porcelain, pipes, and rings,
T ributes to be hnng in air.
To the Fiend pie&idiiig itieie!*
Then, when night's long labour past,
VVildei'd, faint, he falls at last,
Sinking where the causeway's edge
Moulders in the hlimy sedge,
There let every noxious ihmg
Trail i's filth and tix its t>ting ;
Let (he bull-toad taint him over,
Round hmi let mu quiloes hover,
In his ears and eyeballs tingling,
With his blood their poison mingling,
Till, beneath the solar fires,
Rankling all, Ihe wretch expires 1
TO THE HONOURABLE W. R. SPENCER.
FROM BUFFALO, UPON LAKE ERIE.
Nee venlt ad durra musa voeaia Getafl,
Ovtd. ex Ponto, lib. L ep. 6.
Thou oft hast told me of the happy hours
Enjoy 'd by thee in fair Italia's bouers,
Where, lingering \et, the gho^t of ancient wit
Mids modern mniiks jirofanely dnres to flit,
And Fagan spirits, by the Pope unlaid,
Haunt every stream and smg through eveiy shade.
There still the bard who (if his numbeis be
His tongue's light echo) must have talk'd like thee,-
vtateall Ihe winter, in the bmk of snme creek or pond,
having prevmu ly sw^llnwed a large nuniber of pr
knots, which are his only sustenance during the lii
* 1 his was the mode of punishmenl for mu'der («
Charlevoix tells us) among Ihe Huron'. ** 'I hey laid
the dead body upon poles at the top of a cabin, and ihe
murderer was obliged lo lemain several d.iys t"getht
and to receive all that dropped from the carcass, not
only on himself but on his food."
6 '* We find also collars of porcel-Tin, tobacco, ea;
of m.Vi7e, skins, &c. by the side of diftkuli and danse
ous ways, on mcks, or by the side of the falls j an
these are t-o many offerings ni:tde to Ihe spirits whic
preside in these places."— See CAnrZeuo/x'j i£»er o
the Traditions and the Kchgion oj the Savages of
Canada,
Fa her Hennepin loo mentions this ceremony j he
als' says, *' We took notice of one barbarian, v '
made a kind of sacrifice upon an oak at ihe Cascade
of St. Anthony of Pndus upon the tivfr Misaissipi
— Sec Iltnncjjin's yoyage into North America,
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
Ill
The courtly bard, from whom tliy mind has caught
Those playful, stinsliiue liolyilays of thouglit,
In which the S|)irit laskm^ly n dines,
Iiri§h( wUhnut elf..rt, resim^ while it shines,—
There sliil he roves, :»iui laiighins h>ves to see
How modern piiesis wilh ancitiil rakes a^ree;
How, 'neath the cowl, Ihe iL&tal tcarland shir;es,
And Xxive siill liuds a niche in ChribtiAU shrines.
There silll, too, romi those oiher souls of song,
With whom t^iy spjnt hath commuii'd so long,
That, quick as lis^lit, their i-arest gems of thought.
By Memory's niasjtc to thy lip are brought.
Hu' here, alas ! by Erie's sturuiy like,
As far tntni such bright hautits my course I take,
No proud remembrance o"er the fancy jjlajs,
rio classic dream, no star of other diys
Hath left that visionary light behind,
Thai lingering radl^mce ot intmorlal mind,
Which gilds and hallows even the rudest ^cene,
The humblest shed, where Genius once has been I
All that creation's varying mass assumes
Of grand or lovely, heie aspires and blooms j
Bold rise the mountains, rich the gardens glow,
Bright lakes expand, and conquering i rivers dow j
But mind, inimort'il mind, witliout whose ray
This world 's a wilderness and man but clay,
Mind, mind alone, in barren, still repose,
Noi blooms, nor rises, nor ex)iands, nor flows.
Take Chiistians, Mohawks, democri s, and all
From the lude wig-wam to tlie congress-hall,
From man the savage, whetlier slav'd or free,
To mau the civiliz d, less tame than he,—
'T is one dull chaos, one ui. fertile strife
Bet^vixt half-polish'd and half-baibaroua life ;
Where every ill tlie ancient world c >uld brew
Is mix'd with every giossne^s of the new ;
Where all corrupts, though little can eoiice,
And Qoughl is known of luxury, but its vice 1
Is this the region then, is this the clime
For soaring fancies? fT those dnams sublime,
Which all iheir nii-ncles of litjht reveal
To heads that meditate and heatls ihat feel ?
Alas ! not so — the Muse of Nature l.ghts
Her glories round ; she scales the mountain heights,
And roams (he f.*re8ts ; every woiid'rous spot
Burns wiih her step, yet man regar.ts it not.
She whispers round, her words are in the air.
But Io>t, unheard, thev linger freezing there,^
Without one breith of soul, divinely strong,
Une ray of mind to thaw them into song.
Yet, yet forgive me, oh, ye sacred few.
Whom late by Delaware's green banks 1 knew;
Whom, known and lov'd through many a sncial eve,
*T was bliss to live with, and 'I was pain to leave. 3
!■ This epithet was suggested by Charlevoix's strik-
ing description of the confluence of tl-e Missouri with
Ihe Mississippi. "I believe this Is the finest conflu
ence in t^ie worH, The two rivers are much of the
same breidih, each ab ut half a league ; but the Mis-
souri is by far the most rapid, and seems to enter (he
Mississippi like a conqueior, thinuih which it catries
its white waves to the opposite shnie, without mixing
them : afterwirds it gives its colour to the Mississippi,
which it never loses again, but carries quite down to
the sea." — Leter xxvii.
* Alluding to the fanciful notion of " wordi con-
gealed Ml northern air."
3 In Ihe society of Mr. Dennle and his friends, at
Philadelphia, I passed the few agiee«ble momtn't
which my tour through the St 'les atTnded nje Mr.
Dennie has succeeded inditfusinir through this culti-
vated liitle circle that love for go d li t^ra ure and
sound politics, which he feels so zealously himself,
and which is so very rarely the characteristic of his
countrvnien. They will not, I trust, accuse me of
illiberality for the picture which I tiave given of the
Not with more joy the lonely exile scanned
The writing traced upon the desert's sand,
Where his lone heart but liltic hop'd lo hnd
(ine hace of life, one slamp of human kind,
'I ban did I hail the pur.-, th' enlu^hten'd ze,.I,
Tiiubtien'^rh to reason and the wamith to fccL
Tliennihly poll hand ilie ilUiniinVl fsie,
Wliich."»mid (he nulanili<-lv, heatt ess wast©
My toot h.is ir>ver.'d — oh, )ou -acied few!
1 found by Delaware's gieen b.uik» with y> u.
Long may you loathe the G;tliic dross Ihat runp
Throutch your fair country and conup s its sons:
Long love the ar:9, (he gh rius which adorn
Tliose fields of freedom, wheie your sires were born.
Ob ! if America can ye; be great,
If neither chun'd by choice, nor dnom'd by fate
To the mob-nnnia which mibru'es her now.
She yet can raise the crown'd, yet civic brow
Of Single majesty,— cin add the grace
Of Bank's rich capital lo Freedom's ba^e,
Nor feir the rnighiy shaft will feebler prove
For the fair ornament ihat flowers above ; —
If yet releas'd from all that pedant throng,
So vain of error and so pledged lo wrong,
Who hourly teach her, like themselve?, to hid*
Weakness in vaunt, and btrreiiness in pride,
She yet can rise, can wieathe the Attic chirnis
Of 8 ifi rehiienient round the ponip of arms,
And see her poets flash the flies of son?.
To light her waniors' thunderbolts along j^
It is to you, to souls that favouring heaven
Has made like yours, the glorious tjsk i^- given : —
Oh ! but for sxtch, Colnmbia's day:, were done;
Rank without iipeness, quicken'd witlK.utsuu,
Crude at the surface, ro'ten at Ihe core.
Her fruits would fall, before her spiing were o'er.
Believe me, Spencer, while I wiiig'd the hours
Where Schuylkill winds his way through banks of
floxvers,
Thoueb few the days, the happy evenintrs few.
So warm with heart, so rich with mn d ihey flew,
'Ihai my charm'd soul forgot lis wish to roam,
And res ed there as in a dream of home.
And looks I uiet, like looks I'd lov'd before.
And voices too, which, as ihey trembled o'er
1 he chi id <if memory, foui d full many a tone
Of kindness there in concoid with 'heir own.
Yes,— ue had nights lif that communion free,
'Ihat flow of heart, which I have kno^n with thee
So o(t, BO warmlv; nights of mirth and mind,
Of whims that taught, and follies Ihat rclin'd.
When shall we both renew them ? when, re-'lor'd
'io the g.iy feast and inlellecual board,
Shall I once more enjoy « i h thee and ihine
Those whims :hat teach, those fnlhes that refine?
Even now, as, wandering np n Kne's shore,
I hear Niagara's dis'ani cataract roar,
I sigh for home — alas! thee we^ry feet
Have many a mile to journey, ere we meet.
anATPir, 'flELOYKAPTANTN MNEIAN
BALLAD STANZAS.
I knew by the sm-^ke, that so gracefully curlM
Above the green elms, that a collate was near,
And I said. ••If there's peace lo be found lu Ihe
woi Id,
**A heart that was humble might hope for it here !',
ignorance and cnrrup'ion that sui round them. If I
did nol lute, as I ought, the rabble to which they are
opposed, 1 could not value, as 1 do, the spirit with
which Ihey defy it; and in learning from them what
Americana can /le, 1 but see with the mure indignation
whiit Americans are.
112
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
It was noon, and on flowers that lan^nish'd around
In silence repos'd the volupluous hue ;
Every leaf was at re>t, and I heaid nnl a sound
But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-Ires.
And. '• Here in this lone little wood," I exclaimM,
" Wi'h a m.iid who was lovely lo soul and to eye,
*'\Vho would blu->h when 1 prais'd her, and weep iT
I hlani'd,
" How blest could I live, and how calm could I die !
*' By the shade of ynn sumach, whose red berry dips
"III ihe gush of ihe founi;iiii, how sweet to recline,
»*And to knoiv ihat I sighM upon innocent lips,
" Which had never been sigh'd on by any Lut
mine I "
A CANADIAN BOAT SONG.
WRITTEN ON THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.*
£t remigeni (
Faintly as Inllg the evening chime
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.
Sotm as the woods on shore look dim,
We 'II sinff at St. Ann's our parting h\ mn.*
Row, bn'thers, row, the stream runs fast,
The Rapids are near and the daylight 's past.
> I wrote these words to an air which nur boati
snng to us frequen'ly. The wind was so uufavourable
that they were obliged to row all the way, and we
Were hve days in de-cending; the river frnm Kingston
to Mon'real. exposed to an intense ^un during the dav,
and at night fo'ced to take shelter fiom Ihe dews in
any iniserable hut upon the banks that would receive
U9. But tlie maiinificent sctuery of the St. Lawrence
repays all such diflicullies.
Our voyageurs had good voices, and sung peifeclly
in tune tngetlier. The original words of the air, to
which I adapted these stanzas, appeared to be a long,
incoherent btory, of whicli I could understand bai
Utile, from the barbarous pronunciation of the Cana-
dians. II begins
Deux
And the refrain to every verse was,
I ventured to harmonise this air, and have published
it. Without that charm which associaiion gives to
every little memorial of scenes or feelings that are
pa?;t, the melody mav, perhaps, be thought common
and triHmg; but I lemt-mber whsn we hiive entered,
at sunset, upon one of those beautiful hikes, into u hich
the St. Lawrence so grandly and unexpectedly opens,
I have heard this simple air with ;i pleasure which
the finest compositions of the lirst masters have never
given me ; and now there is not a note of it which
dnes not recall to mv memnry the dip of our oars in
tlie SI. Lawrence, the flight of our boat down the
Rapids, and all those new and fanciful impressions to
which my heart was alive durmg Ihe whole of this
very iniere^tiog voyage.
The above stanzas are supposed to be sung by those
i?o?/Qgein* whogo to the Grand Portage by the Uia-
was River. For an account of this wonderful under-
taking see Sir Alexander Macke-zie's General His-
tory of the Fur Trade, piefixt-d to ha Journal.
« " At the Rapid of St. Ann they are obliged (o take
out part, if not the whole, t.f iheir lading. It is from
this spot ttie C^indiaiis consider 'hey t^ke (heir d. par.
ture, as it pr.ssesses Ihe last chuich on the island,
which IS d(dicated to the tutelar saint of voyagers.'' —
Mackenzie, General History of the Fur Trade.
Why should we yet our s^il unfurl ?
There'is nnt a breaih the blue wave to curl,
Bui, when the wind blows oif the shore,
Oh I sweedy we'll re&t our weary oar.
Blow, breezts. blow, the stream runs fast,
'ilie Rapids are near and the daylight 's past.
Utawas' tide! this treniblin^ mof>n
Shall see us rioat over ihy surges soon.
Saint of this green isle! hear our jnayers,
Oh, grant us cool heavens and favouring airs.
Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast,
The Rapids are near and the daylight 's past
TO THE LADY CHARLOTTE RAWDON.
FROM THE BANKS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.
Not many months hnve now been dream'd away
Since yrnder sun, bei eath whose evening ray
Our l)oat glides swiftlv p:*st these wooded shores,
S'W me where Trent nis mazy current poura,
And Doningtoii'fi old oaks, to every breeze.
Whisper the tale of by-gone centuries; —
Those oaks, to me as sacred as Ihe groves,
Beneath whose shade the pious Persian roves,
And heais the spint-voice of aire, or chief,
Or loved mistiess, sigh in every leaf.3
'Ihere, oft, dear Lady, while thy lip hath snn^
I\Iy own luipolisii'd lays, how pioud 1 've hung
On every tuneful acceni ! prnud to frel
That notes like niine should have the fate to steal,
As o'er Ihy hiiMowing iip ihey sigh'd along,
Such breath i>i passion and such soul of song.
Yes,— I have wondei'd, like si>me peasant boy,
Who sings, on Sabbath eve, his stiaiiis of jtiy,
And when he hears the wild, unlutor'd note
B ick to his ear on softening echoes flo;it.
Believes il still sonie at.sweiing spirit's tone,
And thinks it all too sweet lo be his own !
I dreamt not then that, ere the rolling year
Had fiil'd its circle, 1 should wander here
In musing awe J should (read this wondrous world,
See all its store of inland waers huri'd
In one vast volume doivn Niagara's steep,
Or calm behold them, in transparent sleep,
Where the blue hills of old Toronto slied
1 heir evening shadows o'er Ontario's bed ;
Should trace the grand Cadaraqui. and glide
Down the while lapids of his lordly tide
TIiTOugh n assy woods, mid islets flowering fair,
And blooming glades, wtisre the fi s' sinful pair
Fur cnnsnlaiinii mi^hi have weeping 'rod,
When laiiish'd fiom the garden of their God,
Oh. L-idy ! these are miracles, which n.an,
Cag'd in the bounds of Europe's pign-y sf^an,
Can scarcely dream of,— which his eye must sea
To know how wonderful this world can be I
But lo,— the last tints of the west decline,
And nigh' falls dewy oVr these banks of pine.
Among Ihe reeds, in which our idle boat
Is rock'd to rest. Ilie wind's complaining note
Dies like a half-hreath'd whispeting of (lules ;
Along the wave the gleaming porpoise shoots,
! AnJ I can trace hinC like a waieiy ^ta^,4
': Down the s'eep current, till he fades afar
Amid the foaming bieakers' silverv light.
Where yon rough rapids sjarkle through the night.
3 ** Avendoessi percos'umediaverein venerazione
gli alberi grandi et nntichi, quasi che si.itio spesso
riceltpccoli di ariiime Iiea'e."— Pic/ro della I'alle, parL
second., leHera 16 da i giardini di Sciraz.
* Anburey, in his Travels, has noticed (his shoot-
ing illumiriHiion which porpoises ditfuse at ui^bt
through Ihe river St. Lawrence. — Vol. t. p. 29.
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA,
113
Here, aa alon^ this shadowy bank I stray,
And the snin(ith glass snake i gliding o'er my way,
Slious the dim nimjnlie:lit ihrmigh his scaly form,
Fancy. wiMi all 'he ^celle"s enchantnietil warm,
Heaisiii the nmriuiir dJ the nightly breeze
Some Indian Spinl waible words like these : —
From the land beyond the sea,
Whi htrh:\|ii.y spiii s flee ;
Where, traiisform'd to sicreJ doves,**
Many a blessed Iniliaii rove^
Through ihe air on wini, as whito
As those w nd'nius stones of li^ht,3
Which ihe eye of morning counts
On the Apall chiin mounts,—
Hither »fi niv flight I take
Over HumnVlucid lake,
Where the wave, as clear as dew^
Sleeps beneath the lii,'lil canoe,
Whicli, rcfleced, flouiig there,
Looks as if it hung in air.*
Then, when I have stray'd awhile
Through ihe Muiatatilin i Ie,»
Breathing all i^s hi.ly bloom,
Swift I mount me on the plume
Of my WakOM-nird.Saiid (ly
Where, beiea'h a burning sky.
O'er the bed of Erie's lake
Slumbers many a wa'er-nake,
AViant within the web of leaves,
Whiih the uater-Iily weaves.i
Next 1 chase the fiow'ret-king
Through hia rosy reilm of s[)ring;
See him now, while diamond hues
Soft his neck and wings su£['u e,
In the leafy chalice sink.
Thirsting fur hi> balmy d'ink;
Now behold him all on fire.
Lovely in his l.joks of ire,
t The glass-snake is brittle and transparent.
5 '*The deparied spirit goes into Ihe Country ff
Souls, where, according to sotne, it is tran-formed into
a dove," — Charlevoix^ npon the Traditions and the
Relisio7i of the Savaa:cs of Canada. See the curious
fable of the American Orpheus in Lafitau, tom. i. p.
402.
3 "The mountains appeared to he sprinkled with
white stones, which glistened in the sun, and were
called by the Imliaris luai etoe aseuiah, or spirit-
stunes."— Mackenzie's Journal.
• These lines were suggested bv Carver*^ description
oforieof the Ameiican lakes. ** When it was ealin."
he says, '*and the sun shone bright, 1 cnuld sit in my
canoe, where the depth was upwards of six fa'homs,
and plainly see huge piles of ^time at the boifoni, of
dilVert-nt shapes, some of which appeared as if they
had been hewn ; the water was at lh'5 time as pnre
and transparent as air. and my canoe seemed as if it
hung suspended in that element. It was impossible to
look attentively through this limpid medium, at the
rocks below, without finding, before many minutes
were elapsed, your heid swim and >our eyes no
longer able to behold the dazzling scene.''
* Apres avoir traverse plusieurs isles pen conside-
rables, nous en Imuvanies le qu.Ttrieme jour une ta-
meusc nnmmte ri>le de Marritoualin. — k'oijai(es du
Baron de Lahmitan, torn. i. let. 15. Mana'aulin sig-
nifies a Place of Spirits, and this island in Uke Huron
is held sacied by the Indians.
6 "The Waknn-Bird. which probably is of the
same species with the bird of Paradise, receives its
name from the ideas the Indiana have r.f its superior
excellence ; the Waknn-Bird beine, in their language,
the Bird of the Great Spiri'," — Morse.
1 The islands of Lnke Erie are surrounded to a con-
siderable distance by Ihela'^ge pnnd-lily, whose leave*
spread thickly over the surface of the lake, and form
a kind of bed for the water-snakes in Bummer.
in*
Breaking every infant stem,
Scatleriiii; everv velvet gem,
WliL-re lus little tyrant lip
Had not found enough to sip.
Then my playful hand I steep
^Vliere the gold-tlire.id 8 loves to creep.
Cull troin thence a tangled wicalh,
\Vonls <,f Miagic round it breathe.
And the sunny chap'el spread
O'er Ihe sleeping liy-bird's head, 9
Till, wi'h dremis of honey blest,
Ilaunied, in his downy nest.
By the garden's fairest spells.
Dewy buds and fragrant bells,
Fancy all his soul embowers
In Ihe fly-biid's heaven of flowers.
Oft, when hoar and silvery flakci
Meit along the ruQItd lakes,
Wlien the g ay moose sheds his horas,
When the t ack, at evening, warug
Weary hunters of Ihe way
To the wig-wain's cheering ray,
Then, alofl through frecziuV air,
With the snow. bird 'o sofi and fair
As t!ie ihece that heaven fiinga
O'er his litlle pearly wings,
Lrghl above tiie rocks I play.
Where Niagara's stariy spiay.
Frozen on the cliH', appears
Like a giant's siaiting tears.
1 heie, amid the island-sedg«.
Just upon tlie cataiact's edge.
Where Ihe hflt of living man
Never trtd since time began,
Lone 1 sit, at close of day.
While, bencalh the g,dden ray,
Icy columns gleam below,
Fe.ither'd roui,d wilh filling snow.
And .an arch of glorv springs.
Sparkling .IS Ihe chain of rings
Round Ihe neck of virgins hung, —
\'ir,in3,»i who have wanJer'd young
O'er Ihe " aters of Ihe west
To tile land where spirits rest !
Thus have I charm'd, with visionary lay.
The lonely moments of Ihe nicht away ;
And now, fiesh daylight o'er the v*afer beams !
Once more, embark 'd upon the elitlering slreami,
Our boat flies lisht along ihe lealy slinie,
Shontine the falls, wi houl a dip of oar
Or brealh of ze| hyr, like the mystic bark
The poel saw. in dremis divincl'v dark,
Borne, without sails, along the dusky flood,"a
While on ils deck a pilot angel stood.
8 ''Thegnld-tliread is of the vine kind, and grows
in swamps 'I he roots spread themselves ju>l under
Ihe suiface of the mora-ses, and are easily drawn out
by handfuls. 'I'hey resemble a large eniangled ikeiu
of silk, and aie ofa bright yellow."— A/orie.
9 " L'oiseau mouche, gros cnmme un hanneton, est
de tou'es coulenrs. vives et changeantes : il tire sa
subsistence des fleurs coninies lea alieilles ; son nid eat
fait d'un colion Ires-tin suspendu a une branche d'ar-
bre.'— (-'o^ngc! aux Inila Occidcntales, far M.
Bosnc, secon.le part, lett. xx.
■ 0 Eniberiz.x hyemalis. — See Iml(iy''s Kcntuchi/, p.
280. ■'
*t Lafilan supposes 'hat there was an order of ves-
tal, esinblishe I among Ihe Iroquois Indians. —Mduri
dts Sauvages Americains, ^c. torn. i. p. 173.
H Vedi che sdcgiia eli argomenli uniani :
.Si che renin non vuol. ne altro velo,
Che 1' ale sue tra lit! si lonlani.
Vedi come I' ha drilte verso 'I cielo
Tiatiando I' aerc con 1' elerne penne ;
Che uou si niutan, come mortal pelo.
Dante, J'urgator. cant. il.
114
POEMS RELATING TO AMERICA.
And, with his win?t of living light nnfurt'd,
Coasted the dim shores of aiiother wuild !
Yet, oh ! tielieve me, mid Ihia mingled maza
Of natures bcaunes. where Ihe ta-cy sttays
From cliarni to chann, where evefy finvv'rel's hue
H)ih soiiieliitig stnnge, and every leaf is uew,—
I never feel a joy to pme anJ s ili,
So (iiiy f^lt, as when some bruok or hil!»
Or veteran oak, like hise rtmemberM well,
Smie niouutani ecl;0 or some wild-dowers smell,
(For, who c^n siy by what small fairy tiei
The mem'ry clings to pleasure as ii flies?)
Reminds mv heart of many a svlvan dream
I once indufg'd by Trent's iiis^piring stream
Of all my sunny moms and moonlight nights
On Djningtou's green lawns and breezy heighti.
Whether I trace the tranquil moments o'er
When I have seen thee cull the fruns of lore,
With him^ the pnlish'd warrior, by thy side,
A sister's idol and a nation's pride !
When thou hasi read of heroes, tn>phied high
In aiiciei.l fame, aid I have seen thine eye
Turn to the living hero, while it read,
F'>r pu'e and brightening comments on the dead ;—
Or whether memory lo my mind reraHi
The fes'al zjraucieur of those lordly halls.
When gues's have met around Ihe spa kling board,
And welcome wami'd the cup I hat luxury pour'dj
Whe-i Uie biight future Star of England's throne,
With magic smile, hath o'er the bmqiiet shone,
Winning respect, nor claimms: whai he won,
Rut tem|ieriiig greatness, like an evening sua
Whose light the eye can tranquilly admire,
Radiant, but mild, all softness yei all fire ;—
Whatever hue my recllectionN take,
Even the regret, the very pam they wtke,
Is mix'd vvith h:ippines5 ; — but. ah ! no more —
Lady ! adieu — my heari has lingerM o'er
Those vanish'd times, till all that round me lie*,
i}treaui, banks, ai.d bowers have faded ou my eyes !
IMPROMPTU,
AFTER A VISIT TO MRS. , OF MONTREAL.
'T was but for a moment — and yet in that time
She crowded lli' impressions of many an hour:
Her eve had a glow, like the sun of her clime.
Which wak'd every feeling at once into (lower.
Oh ! could we have borrow'd from Time but a day,
To renew such impre-sions again arid a>iain,
The things we should look and imagine and say
Would be worth all the life we had wasted (ill then.
What we had not the leisure or language to speak,
We should find some more spiritual mode of re-
vealing.
And, between us. should feel just as much in a week
As others would take a nullenuiuot in feeling.
WRITTEN
ONPASSING DEADMAN'S ISLAND,*
IN THE GULF OF ST, LAWRENCE,
LATE IN THE EVENING, SEPTEMBER, 1S04.
See you, beneath yon cloud so dark,
Fast gliding along, a gloomy bark ?
Her sails are full,— tliough the wind is still.
And there blows not a breath her sails to fill !
Say, what do'h that vessel of darkness bear?
^ he Silent calm of the grave is there,
Save nou and again a dea'h knell runic.
And the Hap of the sails with night-fog hung.
There llctli a wreck on the dismal shore
Of cold and pitiKss Labrad-.r;
Where, under Ihe umnn, upon mounts of fros^
Full many a mariner^ boue& ate tost.
Yon shadowy hark hath been to that wreck,
And the dim' blue fire, that lights her deck,
Doth play on as p:»le and livid a crew
As ever yet drank the churchyard dew.
To Deadman's Isle, in the eye of the blast,
To Ueadmau's Isle, she speeds her (ast ;
By skeleton shapes her sails are furl d,
And (he hand that steers is not of this world .
Oh ! hurry thee on — oh ! hurry thee on.
Thou terrible bark, ere the njght be gone,
Nor let mnrning look on to foul a sight
As would blanch for ever her lo^y light I
TO THE BOSTON FRIGATE, a
ON LEAVING HA L1FAX FOR ENGLAND,
OCTOBER, 1804.
NooTov ffpo^aciS yXvKcpov.
Pindar. PyiK 4.
With triumph this morning-, oh, Bos'on ! I hail
The slir of thy deck and Ihe spread of thy sail,
F^r they tell me 1 suon shall be wafted, m thee,
To the flourishing I'sle of the brave and the free,
And that chill Nnva^Scotia's unpromising strand 3
Is the last I shall (read of American land.
Well— peace to the land ! may hersonski!Ow,at length.
That ill hiiih-minded honour lies liberty's strength,
That though man be as fiee as the fetterless wind,
As the wantonest air that the norlh can unbind.
Yet, if health do not temper and sweeten the blast,
If no harvest of mii.d ever sprung wheie it pa»s'd.
1 This is one of the Magdalen Islands, and, singu-
larly ennugh, is the property of Sir Isaac CofTin. 1 he
above lines were suggested by a superstition very
common among sailors, who call this ghost-ship, I
think, *' the Flying Dutchman."
We uere thirteen days on our passage from Quebec
to Halifax, and 1 had been so spoiled by Ihe truly
splendid hospiiality of my friends of (he Miaeton and
Boston, thai I w..s but ill prepared for Ihe miseries of
a Canadian vessel. 'I'he we,»Iher, however, was
pleasant, and the scenery al"i.g ihe river delightful.
Our passage through the Gut of Canso. with a bright
sky and a fair wind, was particularly striking and
romantic.
5 Commai;ded by Captain J. E. Douglas, with
whom I returned lo Engiaid, and to whom I am in-
dtbteit for many, many kindnesses. In truth, I shculd
but offend the delicacy of niy fiiend Douglas, and, at
the same time, do injustice to my own feelings of
gratitude, did 1 at;enipt lo say how much 1 owe to
him.
3 Sir John Wentworlh. the Governor of Nova-
Scotia, veiy kindly allowed me to acconipany him on
his vi^it to the College, which they haie la'ely
ps'ablished at Windsor, about forty miles from Hali-
fax, and I was indeed most pleasantly surprised by
(he beauty and fertili y of the country which opened
upon u^ after the bleak and rocky wildcness by which
Hahfay is surrounded.— I \\as told that, in travelling
onward*, we should find the soil and the scenery im-
prove, and it gave me much pltasure lo know that the
worthy Governor has by no means such an '* mama-
bile legnum " as 1 was, at first sight, iuclined lo
believe.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME. 115
Then unbtest is such freedom, and b'sltfiil its mighty —
Free only ti> luin, and strung but to b!ie;ht!
Farewell lo the few 1 have left with regret ;
Miy Iliey snmeiinu-b rt-call, what I wimot for-ret,
'I'he di:li:tht of llmse evenings.— too bi lef a delight !
When in converse and srmg wehavestol'non tlie nigh';
When they 've askM me the m^Doers, the iniudt or
the mien
Of some bard I had known or some chief I had seen,
Whose glory, thonijh distant, tliey long had ador'd,
Whose name had oft hallow'd the wine-cup they
pour'd ;
And still as, with sympathy humble but true,
I have told of each bright son of f;«me all I knew.
They have lis en"d. andsighM ihat the powerful stream
Of America's empire should pass, like a dre.im,
Without leivingone relic of genius, to say
How sublime was the tide which h:id vamsh'd away!
Farewell to the few — though we never may meet
On this planet a^in, it is soothing and sv^eet
To think that, whenever my song or my n;ime
Shall recur to their ear, they 'II lecalt me the same
1 have been to them now, young, unthouglitful, and
blest,
Ere hope bad deceive me or sorrow deprest.
But, Douglas ! while thus 1 recnll to my mind
The elect of the land we sh -ll soon leave behind,
I can read in the weather-wise glance of thine eye,
As it fnllows the r.irk fiiitinc "ver tne sky,
'I'haltbe faint conimg breeze will be fair fnr our flight,
And shall steal us away, ere the falling of nighi.
Dear Dougl is ! thou kiiowest, w ilh thee by my side,
With thy frrend>.liip tnsoothe me, thy cnur.ige lo guide,
There ie not a bleak isle in those sumineiless aeas,
Where the day cnmes in daikness, or shines but to
freeze,
Not a tract of the line, not a barbarous shore,
'ihat I could not wKh patience, with pleasuie explore!
Oh, think then how gl;.dly I T llow thee new.
When Hope smooths the billowy path of our prcw,
And e.ich prosfterous sigh of the west-springing wind
Takes me nearer the home wliere my heftrt is
enshrin'd ;
Where the smile of a father shall meet me again,
And the ears of a mother turn bliss into pain -j
Where the kind voice of sisters shall steal to my heart,
And ask it, lu sighs, bow we ever cuuld part ? —
Rut see ! — the bent top-sails are ready to swell —
To the boat-l am with thee-Columbia, farewell I
END or VOL. II.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME.
The three satirical Poems with wliich this Volume
coniHieiices, were jujblislied originally wittiout thi
author's name; *• Corruption " and •* Intolennce" ii
the yeir 1803, and "The Sceptic" in the year follow
ioa:. The poli'ical opinions adop-ed in the first of
tliesc Satires— the Poem on Corruption — »ere chiefly
caught up, as is inlmialed in the original Preface,
from the wri inss of Bolingbroke, Sir William
VVyndham, and other s atesinen of that factious
petind, when the sinie sort of alliance took place
between Toryism and what is now called Radicali-m,
which is always likely to ensue on the ejection of the
Tory party from power. » In this sfjnewhat rash
elfusion, it will be seen that neither of the two great
Kngllsb parties is handled with niuch respect ; and !
remember being taken to task, by one of the few of
my Whig acquaintances that ever looked into the
poem, fur the following allusion lo the silencing
efl'ecls of official station on certain orators ; —
; their hum.
But these attempts of mine in the stately, Juvenal ian
style of sitire. met with but little success — never
having attained, 1 believe, even llie honours of a
second edition; and I found that lighter form of
weapon, to which I afterwards betook myself, not
only mote easy to wield, but, from its very lightness,
perhaps, more sure to reach its mark.
It would almost seem, too, as if the same unembit-
tered spirit, the same freedom from all real malice
with whicti, in most instances, this sort of squib-
warfaie has been waged by me, was felt, in some
degree, even by those who uere themselves the
objects of it; — so generously forgiving have I. in
must instances, found them. Eventhe high Peison
age ag'inst wliom the earliest and iierhaps most sue-
ce.sful of my lighter missiles were launched, could
refer to and quote tliem, as I learn from an incident
mentioned in the Life of Sir Walter Scott, wih a
degree of gn„dhutn..ur and plavfuliiess which was
ciedit.able alike to his temper and good sense. At a
memorable dinner given by the Regent to Sir Walter
> Bolingbroke himself acknowledges that "both
parlies weie become factions, in the strict seme of the
in the year ISlo, Scott, among other stories with
which his royal host I'as much amused, told of »
sentence passed by an old friend of his, the Lord Jus-
lice Cleik Biaslield, atiended by ciicums ances in
which the cruelty of this waggish judge was eveD
more conspicuous than his humour. *' 'J he Regent
laughed heartily," says the bingiapliir, "at this speci-
men of Brixfields brutal humour; and "I' faith,
Wal er," said he, "this old big-wig seems to have
taken things as coolly as my tyrannical self. Don'i
vou remember Tom Moure's descripiioo of me at
breakfast ? —
Death-w
In reference to this, and other less exalted Instances,
of the good-humoured spirit in which my "innocui
sales ' have m general been taken, I shall venture to
cite here a few Haltering sentences which, coming as
they did from a poliiical adversary and a stranger,
touched me far more by their generosity than even by
their prai>e. In sr>eakiiig of the pension which had
jnst then been conferred upon me, and expressing, in
wainMernis, his approval of the grant, the editor of
a leading Tnrv journal ^ thus lilierally ex|iresses him-
self:— " We know that some will blame us for our
prejudice— if it be prejudice, in favour of Mr.
Mnorej but we cannot help it. As he tells us him-
self,
the most obdurate political antipathies. # # # We do
not believe that anyone was ever hurt by libels so
witty as those of Mr. Moore:— great privilege of wit,
which renders it impossible even for Ihosa vihoso
enemies w its are, to hate iheni ! "
To return to the period of the Regency : — In the
numerous allacks from the sovernmcnl press, which
my volleys of small shot against the Couil used lo
diaw down upon me, it was constaiillv alleged, as an
aggravation of my misdeeds, Ihat 1 had been indebted
to tlie Royal | ersonage thus assailed by me for many
kind aud substan ial services. Luckily, the list of llie
henciils showered upon me from Ihat high quarter
may be despatched in a few seuteuces. At the re-
a The Standard, August 24, IS35.
lie PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME.
quesl of Lord M'>ira, nne of my earlicet and best
friends, his Royal Urghue-s graciously fjerjuitted me
to dedicate to liim^iny 'Iranslatioi. of ihe Odes of
Anacreon. I was twice, I llniik, admittfd to the
honour of dining at Carlton Houst; and when the
frince, on his being made Recent m t81I, gave his
memiirible fete, I was one of the crowd— ab<,ut 1500,
1 believe, in number — who enjojed the privilege of
bein^ his guests ou the occasion.
There nccur some allusions, indeed, in the Two-
penny Z'osl-B.ig, to the absurd la^ite displayed in the
oinniients of the R-yal supper (able at that fete ; i
and this violation — for such, to a certain extent, I
allow it to hnve been— o( Ihe reverence due to the
lites of the Ho-pi:able Jove,* which, whether ad-
ministered by prince or peasant, ought to be sacied
from puch expo^uie. I am by no means disposed tu
defend. But, whatever may be thought of Ihe taste
or piuderice of some of these satires, there exists no
longer, I ai'prebend, much ditterence of opinion re-
spectuig the chiracler of the Royal personage against
whom ihev were aimed. Aheady, indeed, has the
stem verdict which (he voice ot History cannot but
pronounce upon him, been in some degree anticj-
paled,^ in a sketch of the domestic events of his
reign, supposed to have proceeded fiom the pen of
one who was himself an acior in some of iis most
painful scenes, and who, from hi'^ prt fesaional posi-
tion, commauded a near iUbight into the character of
that exalted individual, both as husband and father.
To the same hi^h authority I must refer for an ac-
count of the mysterious " Book," 4 to which allusion
IS more than once made in the following paees.
One of the first and m bt successful of the numer-
ous trifles I wrote at tliat perioi, was the Parody on
Ihe Regenl*s celebrated Letter, announcing tu the
world that he "had no predilections," &c. Th s
very opportune squib w.is, at firs', circulated pri-
vately; my friend, Mr. Perry, having for some lime
hesifa'ed to publish it. He got some copies of it,
however, prin'ed otf for me, which I sent round to
se\er.»l members of the Whig party; and. havir.g to
meet a number of theni at dinner immediately after,
found it no easy mailer to kepp my couniei^ance while
they were discussing am 'i-g them llie merits of the
Parody. One of Ihe party, i recollect, having quoted
t The same fanteuUs and girandoles —
The same g"M avses, preMy sou's.
That, in this rich and cl issic dome,
Appear so peifectlj at home ;
The same bright tiver, 'mong Ihe dishes,
But not — ah ! not the same dear fishes.
Late hours and claret kill'd the old ones; —
So, steid nf silver and of gold ones,
(It being rather hard to raise
Fish of "thai sptcte now a-days)
Some sprats hive been, by V— rm— h's wish,
Promoted Into silver fish,
And gudgeons (so V— ns— tt— t told
The Reg— tj are as good as gold.
Twopenny Post-Bag, p 136-
a Ante oresslabat Jovis Hospitis aia. Ovid,
3 Edinbrirgh Review, No. cxxxv., George the
Fourth and Qiuen Caroline — '* When the Prince
entered ui>on put)lic life, he was fm-id to have ex-
hausted the resourceiiof a career of pleasure; to have
gained followers wilhout making friends; to have ac-
quired much envy and some admiration among the
unthinkine ni'iltitude of polished society; but not to
command in any quarter either respect or e-ii'eem. * *
The porttait which we have pam'ed of him is un-
doubtedly one of tiie daikest shades, and most repul-
sive form."
4 " There is no doubt whatever that The Book,
written by Mr. Perceval, and privaleiy prinied at his
house, under Lord Eldon's superintendence and his
own, was prepared in concert with the King, and was
intended to sound Ihe alirm against Carlton House
and the Whigs." — £(i. Review, ib.
to me Ihe following description of the stale of both
King and Regent, at that moment,—
grew rallier provoked with me for not enjoying the
fun of the parody as much as himself.
While thus th^ excitenient of parly feeling lent to
the political trifles contained in this volume a reliit
and pungency not their own, an eti'ect has been aitri-
buted to two squibs, wholly unconnected with politics
— the Letters fiom the Dowager Countess of Corke,
and from Me-srs. Lackinglon and Cn.^ — of which 1
myself had not the slightest notion till 1 found it thus
alluded to in Mr. Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scotl.
In s|teaking of the causes which were supposed to
have cot.tiibult-d to ihe comparative failure of the
Poem of " Roktby," the bii'gi.i]>lier says, "It is fair
to add till', anions the Louden circles, at least, some
sarcastic llings. in Mr. Mooies Two-penny Post-Bag,
must have had an unfavourable intluence on this occa-
sion,'"6
Among Ihe translations that have appeared on the
Continent, of the geaer pari of my jioeiical works,
there has been no attempt, as far as I can learn, to
give a version of any of my satirical writings, — with
the single exception of a squib contained in this vo-
li.me, eritiiled " Little Man and Little Soul," i of which
there is a translation into Geman verse, by the late
distmgu shed oriental scholar. Professor Von Bohlen.8
'1 h 'Ugh unskilled, myself, in Germ^m, I can yet per-
ceive—sufficiently to marvel at il— the dexterity
and ease wiih which the Uld Ballad metre of the on-
cinal is adopted and managed in the translation. As
thistrijie may be considered curious, not only in itself,
but still more as connected with so learned a name, I
shall here present it to my readers, premising that
the same eminent Professor has left a version also of
my very early Jacclix^ "The Rdbbinical Origin of
Woman.**
"THERE WAS A LITTLE MAN."
{Translated 'ty Professor von Bohletu)
Es war fin kleiner Mann
L'nd iler hall 'ij kleinen Geist
Und er sprach : kleiner GeiBt sehn wlr zu, 2a, 2o,
6 Twcpenny Post-Bag, p. 135- I avail myself of
the nienlion here of this lafer squib, lo recant a cor-
rection which 1 too hastily made in the two follovviug
Forgetting that Pope's ear wa-^ satisfied with the sort
of rhyme here used, I foolislily altered (and spoiled)
the whole couplet to get rid of it.
6 "See, for instance," says Mr. Lnckhart, "the
Epistle of Lady Corke ; or thai of Messrs. Lacking-
ton, bioksellers, to one of their dandy auUiJts: —
'ShoulJ yrrn fer! any touch oT poetical glow,
We 've a wchenif lo sufc'Eetit :— Mr. So— it, you muftt kncm,
(Who, wc 're HOrry to say it, nnw wurkH fnr the Row,*)
Having quilted tlie Biirdere, to seek new renown,
Ifl comiijp. by louu Quarto (slages, lo Town ;
And beginning wiUi Rnkeby (tlic job's sure to nay)
Meaos to ^ — " - " ■■ - ■ - -
Now, Ihe
g coachc»—
n)
To etarl a fresh Poet through Highgate to
Who. by ra-ans <,f qiiiik prrKjfs— no revises-
May d ' a few villas, bcfoie Sc— 11 jippro-ich
I.nl,-i'd, ir.iur Pepasus be nol . urst sl.abliy,
He'li reach, without fimnd'iing, III least Wuburn Abbey.'"
t Alluding to a speech delivered in Ihe year 1SI3by
the Right Hon. Charles Abbot (then Speaker) against
Mr. Giattan'H motion for a Committee on the ciaiius
of the Catholics.
8 Author of " The Ancient Indian.*'
* Paternoster Row.
CORRUPTION AND INTOLERANCE.
117
Ob uas moglich wchl wird eeyn
Su eiu kleiues K('(;t:leiii
Dm wir liallttii, kleii.er icii und kk-iiter clti. du, do,
Dan w]r hullcii. Kleiner iili uud kkiutr ilu.
Und der kleinc Oei^t, der brarh
Aua Ucrin Luch« »iiiii und Kpruch :
let tehaui.-rn. kitit:-' Mi^uo, du bint kecit, kecki ktck, |
Niiom uicljt ubA Hijsj /wfiicU
Abt-r siifje mir, 2uiii Teufel,
Hat die klelne kiciiie Kt-d' eiiicii iN^fe-li, 7weck, xweck.
Hat die kli^iiie kk-iiie Ked' t:iiit:a z week I
Uod er uprach : kleintri Geist sey t;eHcheut, Birheot.acheut ;
KlciiRT k'ti utid kk-iiter du
tiiiid berurtfii ja duzu
Zu V(.Td:tmineu uinl bt-kthrt^n alle Leut', Lpiit*, Leul*
Zu veiOamiiii^u und btrkctireu alle Lcuk'
Uud Hie linger) beide ao
Der kli-in« Ueist und kleiDU Mann.
Paukleu ab ibre lltde bo kleiu. klein, klein;
Uud die ganz Welt fur wahr
Meintt das auf^cbhnt'iie Vaar
Musst eiH wmiigtB Pfivtleltin iiur eeyn» Beyn, B«y%
Mutibl triu wiDZiKVH I'fait'clein, uur seyii
H.ivinR thus brought togetlier, aa well from the re-
cords of others, as (lOni luy own rtcollection, what-
ever iiicideiilal lights could be thrown Iruni those
sources, on bome of ihe satirical ettusions coutamcd
ill thtsc pages, I sliall now reseive all auch itiniuis-
cences and notices as relate to the Irish Melodies, for
our next vuluine.
It 13 ri^ht my readers should here be apprized, that
the plan of classing my poetical works accoiding: to
the o der of their hrst publication, Is pursued no fur-
ther (haii the Second Volume of this Collection ; and
Ihai, therefore, Ihe arrangement of the contents of the
succeeding Volumes, though not, in a general way,
departing much from this rule, is uut to be depended
upon as ob&erving it.
CORRUPTION, AND INTOLERANCE.
TWO POEMS.
ADDRESSED TO AN ENGLISHMAN BY AN IRISHMAN.
rjtEFACR.
The practice which has been lately introduced into
literature, nf writing very long no es upon very indif-
ferent verses, a))pears to me raher a liappy inven-
tion ; as it supplies us with a mnde of turning dull
poetry to account ; and as hoTsts too heavy for tiie
saddle may yet serve well enough to draw lumber, no
roenisof this kind make excellent beasts rf burden,
and will bear notes, though they may not bear read-
ing. IJesides, the comments in such cas-es are so lilile
under the necessity of pnying any servile deference to
the text, that they may even adopt that Socratic dogma,
" Quod supra nos nihil ad n"s.
In the hrst of ihe two foliowinc Poems, I have ven-
tured to speak of the Revolutinn of IbSS, in language
which has sometimes been employed by Tory wi iters,
and which is Iheiefore neither very new nor popular.
But however an Englishman might be reproached
with ingratitude, for depreciating the n«nis and re-
sults of a measure, which he is taught to regard ;is the
souiceof his liberties — however ungrateful it might
appear in Alderman R— reh to ijuestion for a moment
the purity of th.it glorious era, to which he is indebt-
ed (or the seasoning of so many orations — yet an
Irishman, whu has none of Ihe^e obiit;aijous to ac-
knowledge ; to whose c uniiy the Revolution brought
nothing but injury and insul', and wlio lecollecls that
the book of Molyneus was burned, by order of VViI-
iiam\ Whig Palianient, for daring to extend to un-
fortunate Ireland tho.se principles on which Ihe Revo-
Julion was professedly founded— an Irishman may be
allowed to cri icise freely the measures of that period,
without exposing himself other to Ihe tmpu aiion of
ingraritude, or to ihe suspicion of being iniluenced by
any Pupi h remains of Jacobitisin. No nation, it is
true, WIS ever blessed with a more golden opportunity
of establishing and securing i(s libeilies foi ever than
the conjuncture of Eighty-eight pre'ented to the peo-
ple of Great Biitain. But t^he disgraceful reigns of
Charles and Janies had weakened and degraded Ihe
national charader. The b(jld notions of popular
right, which had arisen out of the snuggles belween
Charles the First and his Parliament, were gradually
supplanted by those slavish d ctrines for which Lmd
H— kesb— ry eulogises the cliurchmen of that period ;
ar.d as the Rertrniation had happened too sor>n for the
purity of religion, so the Revolution came too ia'e for
the spirit of liberiy. Its advantages accordingly were
for the wost part specious and transitory, while the
I evils which it eotailed are strU felt and slill increas-
I ing. By rendeiing unnecessary Ihe frequent exercise
j of Preiogalive,— that unwieldy power which cannot
I move a step without alarm,— it diminished the only
i interference of the Ciown, which is singly and inde-
: peiidenily exposed before tlie people, and w^hose
. abuses tlierefoie are obvious to their se^^es and capaci-
lies. Like the myrlle over a celebrated statue in
Minerva's temple at Aihen^ it skilfully veiled from
the ptblic eye the only obtrusive feature of royalty.
At the same time, however, (hat the Revolution
nbridged this i.npopular aitnbute, it amply compen-
sated by Ihe Sibslitntiun of a new power, as much
more potent in its elVect as it is more secret in its ope-
rations. In Ihe disposal of an immense revenue and
the extensive [almnage annexed to it, the liist foun-
dations of ihis pov\cr of the Cmwn were laid; the
innovation of a tlmding army at once increased and
strengihened it, and ihe few slight barriers which the
Act of Settlement opposed to ils progiess have all
been gr,. dually removed dming the whiggish reigns
Ihat succeeded ; till at length this spirit of influence
has become Ihe vital principle of the state,— an
agency, subtle aiid unseen, which pervades every pad
of the Cuns itution, lurks under all its forms and
regulttes all iu movements, and, like Ihe invisible
sylph or grace which presides over ihe motions of
beauty,
The cause of Liberty and the Revolution are so hahi-
lually associated in the mmds of Englishmen, ihat
probably in objecting to the latter I may lie thought
hostile or inJifierent to the former. But assuredly
nothing could be more unjust than such a suspicion.
The very object, indeed, which my humble animad-
versions would attain is, that in the crisis to which I
think EiiEland is now hastening, and between which
and foreign subjugation she niay soon be conipeiled lo
choose, Ihe errors ai;d omissions of 168S should be
remedied ; and, as it was then her f..te to experience
a Revolution with Reform, so she m;iy now endeavour
10 accomplish a Ref rm wilhou' a Revolution.
In speaking of the i arties which have so long agi-
tated England, it will be observed that I lean as litlle
to the Whigs as to their adversaries. Bolh facr'.ons
have been equally cmel to Ireland, and perhaps
equally insincere m iheir efforts for the liberties c' [
^118^
CORRUPTION.
England. There is one name, indeed, connected with
whiggi-in, of which I can never think but with vene-
ration and tendernos-;. As justly, however, might the
light of the sut) be claimed bv any pariicular nation,
as the sinclinn of that name he monnpdiized by any
par'y whatsoever. Mr. Fox l'eh)[:ged tu maukiod,
and they h.ive lost in him their ablet frie d.
With respect to the few lines ufmn Intolerance,
which I have tubjoined, ihey are but the imperfect
beginning of a Ion? series of Essays, with wh ch I
lie:e menace my readers, upcn the same important
subject, I shall look lo no higher n)eril in the task,
than that of giving a new form to claims and remon-
Btrances, which have often been much more eh que ntly
urged, and which would long ere now have produced
their effect, hut that 'he minds of jome of our states-
met, like the pupil of the human eye, contract (hem-
seKes (he more, the stroi ger light there is shed upon
tbem.
CORRUPTION.
AN EPISTLE.
TaVTa' avTEKXrjKTat 6e avTi toutujI', i;0' wv
anoXoiXe Kaf. vcvuaijKiv i/ 'EXXag. Tavra d'
t<jTi Ti ; ^TjXos, « Ttq EtXrjtpt tl- ytXo}<; av bfioXo'
yij- avyy vui fLTi TOii tXsyxofit'^oiS /iicro?, av rov
Totj T(5 fntTiixa,' raAAa Trat'ra, taa zk tov (Jui-
go6o<uv ijQTijTOi. Dtmosth. Philij)p, iii.
And feel, though close our wedded countries twicfl|
More sorrow for my own than pride from tkinc
Yet pause a moment — and if truths severe
Can find an inlet to that courtly ear,
Which hears no news but W— rd's gazetted lies,
And loves no politics in rhyme hut Pye's,—
If ausht can please thee but ihe good nld saws
Uf '*Chuich and Slate," and '^AViUiam's niatchle«
laws."
And " Acts and Rights of glorious Eighty-eight,"—
Things, which though now a century out of date,
Still serve to ballast, with convenient words,
A few crank arguments fur speeching lords,— *
'I'urn, while I tell how England's freedom found,
Wheie most she look'd for life, her deadliest wound j
How biave she struggled, while her foe was seen.
How faint since Indiitnce lent ihal f ■ e a screen ;
How strong o'er James and Popery she prevad'd,
How weakly fell, uheu Whigs and gold assail'd.*
While kings were poor, and all those schemes un-
known
Which drain the people, to enrich the throne j
Ere yet a yielding Commnt s had supplied
Those chains of gold by which themselves are tied ;
Then proud Prerogative, untaught to creep
Wiih btibeiy's silent foot on Freedom's sleep,
Frank'y avowM his bold enslaving plan,
And claim'd a right from God lo trample man I
But Luther's schism had loo much rous'd mankind
For Hampden's truihs m liigefclong behind ;
Nor ihen, when king like popes had f.tllen so low,
Could pope-like kings ^ escape the levelling blow.
Boast on, my friend — though stript of all beside,
Thy struggling na'ion still retains her piide : i
Thai ptide, which once in genuine glory woke
When Marlboiough fought, and brilliant St, John
spoke ;
That pride which still, hy time and shime unstung.
Outlives even Wh— tel-cke's sword and H— wk— a-
bVy's tongue 1
Boast on, my friend, while in this humbled isle ^
Where Honour mourns and Freedom fears to smile,
Where the bnght light of England's fame is known
But by the shadow o'er our fortunes ihrown ;
Where, doom'd ourselves to nought but wrongs and
slights,3
We hear you boast of Britain's glorious rights,
As wretched slaves, thtt under hitches lie,
Hear th'tse on deck extol the sun aid sky !
Boast on. while wandering thrnugh my native haunts,
I coldly listen to ihy patriut vaunts ;
I Angli suos ac sua omnia impense mirantur; cae'e-
ras nptiones de^pt'ctui habent. — Barclay (as quoted
in one of Drydeu's prefaces).
* Kngland b*-gan very eirly to fee! the efTects of
cruelty towards htr dependencies. " The severity of
her government (says Mscpher.on) contributed mon
to deprive her of the continental dominions of ihi
familv of Flantageiiet thaa ihe arms of France."— See
tiR ^iJtOTT,', vol. i.
3 " Bv Ihe total relnclion of Ihe kingdom r,f Ireland
in I69r{says Burkes the ruin of Ihe naiive Irish, and
in a gieat measure, too, t f the fir^t races of the Eng-
lish, was completely accomplished. The new Eng-
lish interest wasse'tled with as solid a stability .ts any
thing in human alfairs can lo<<k for. A the penal
laws of that unpanlleied code of nppressinn, which
were made after the l.ist event, were manifestly the
effi-c's of national hatred and scorn towards a con-
quered penple, " honi the victors delighted lo traniple
\ upon, and we^e md at a.l afiaid to piovoke." Vet
I thi'4 is the era to which the wise common council of
I Dublin refer ut for *^ invaluable blessing^' ^c.
* It never seems to occur to those oiators and ad-
dres ers "ho round ofl' so mai y sentences ar d para-
grajihs with ihe Bill of Rights, the J.ct of Seiilement,
&c , that most of the prnvisioris which ihese Ads
cnnt:itned f'T ihe preservation of parliam^ntaTy inde-
petdence have been long la^d aside a^ lomantic a:;d
troublesome. I never meet, I conTe^s, wiih a politi-
cian who quotes Fcinnsly the I)eo!aration of Rights,
&c., tn prove the aduai existence fif English liberty,
that I do not think of that marqui?, whom Montesqideo
men'ion>-,* who set abnut looking for niiiie* in the
Pyrenees, on the strength of authorities u hich he h-td
rend in sonie ancient authors. The poor marquis
toiled and searched in vain. He quo ed his authori-
ties to Ihe last, but found no mines after all.
i The chief, perhaps the only advantage which has
resul'ed fmm the s\s em of influence, is ihat tianqnil
course of unin'errupied ac ion which it has given lo
the administration of gDvernmenl. If kings mutt be
paramount in the state (and their minis ers for the
time being always think so), the country is indebted
to Ihe Revolution for enabling them to become so
quietly, and for removing skilfully the danger of those
shocks and collisions which the alarming eflbrts of
prerogative never failed to prcHliice.
Instead of vain and disturbing efforts to establish
that speculative b.ilance of the constitution, which,
perhaps, has never existed but in the pages of Montes-
quieu ai d De Lnlme, a prepnnderance is now silently
yielded to one of Ihe three es'ates. which carries the
other two almost insensibly, bul still efTecfually, along
with it; and even though the path nay lead eventu-
ally to destruction, vet its specious and gitded smooth-
ness almost atones for the danger; atid, like Milton's
bridge over Chaos, it may be ^aid to lead,
•'Smooth, eosy, Inoffensive, down to .'*
6 The drivelling correspondence between James I,
and his *'dng Steenie" (the Duke cf Buckingham),
which we find anmng Ihe Hardwicke Papers, suffi-
ciently shnws. if we wanted any such illustration,
in 0 wh;*t doting, idiotic brains the plan of arbitrary
power may enter.
Liv. ixi. chap. 2.
__J
CORRUPTION,
119
That prnderous sceptre (in wliose place we bow
To Mie light lalisniiiii of iufluence now),
Too gross, too visible to work the spell
Which modern pnv\er pertoims, in fngmerits fell:
In fragments lay, fill, pa'ch'd and painlej o'er
With Ueurs-de-lys, it shone and scourged once more.
*T\vas then, my friend, thy kneeling na'inn quiff'd
Long, lonu: and deep, the cliurchnian'sopia'e draught
Of p 'ssive, jiroiie obedience — then took (light
AM sense of man's true dignity and right;
And Hrilnns slept so sluggish in their chain,
That Fieedom's watch-viiice cali'd almost in vain.
Oh England ! Englind < ivhat a chance was thine,
Whenlhe last tyrant of that ill*slarr*d line
Fled from his sullied crown, and left thee free
To found thy nwn eternal liberty I
How nobly high, in that propitious hour.
Might patriot hands have rais'd the triple tower *
Of British freedom, on a rock divine.
Which neither force could bt-irm nnr treachery mine !
But no — the lumi.oiis, the lofiy plan.
Like mighty B^bel, seein'd too bold for man ;
The cuise of jar. ing ti.ngues again was given
To thwart a work whicti raised men nearer heaven.
While Tories mair'd wliat VVhigs had scarce begun,
While Whigs undid what Whigs themselves had
done,'*
I Tacitus has expres>ed his opinion, in a passage
very freqrently quoted, that such a distribution of
power as the theory of th<; Brlti^h c-nsti ution exhi-
bits is me ely a subject of bright speculation, •* a s}s-
lem more easily praised than praciised, and which,
even could it happen to exist, would certainly not
prove permanent ," and, in truth, a review of Eng-
land's annals would dispose us to agee u ilh the gteat
historian'-, remark. For we find that at no period
wlia ever hn tins balance of the three estates exis ed ;
that the nobles predomimted till the policy oi Henry
VII. and his juccessor reduced theirweighi by break-
ing up the feuJal ststem of properly ; that the power
of the Crown became then supreme and absolute, till
the bol.l encroachments of the Commons subverted the
fabric altogether; that the alternate ascendency of
prerog.tiie and privilege districted the period which
followed the Restoraiion : and Ih.d, lasily, the Acts of
16b8, bv laying the fonidalion of an unbounded court-
infliience, have secured a prepordeiance to the
Throne, which evoiy succeeding year incroases. So
that the vaunted British coiis:itution has never per-
haps existed but in mere theory.
* The monarchs of Great Biitain can never be suf-
ficiently grateful for that accommodating spirit vi liich
led the Revoluiioi ary Whiits to give ,iway the crown,
without imposing any of those restraints or stipula-
tions whcli othei men might have taken advantage of
so f.Tvnurable a moment to eiif .rce. and in the fiaming
of which they bad so good a modrl to follow as the
limitations proposed by the I.nrds Essex and Halifax,
in the debate upon ihe Exclusion Bill. They not
only condesceiiiled, however, to accept of places, but
look care that these di;nltio^ should be no impedi-
ment to their ■' voice potential" in alTairs of legisla-
tion : and although an Act was af er manv yeais suf-
fered to I ass which hy one of its articles ill qualified
pl.acenien from serving as members of Ihe House of
Commons, it was yet not allowed to Imerferc witli
the influence of the reigning monarcli, nor with that
of his successor Anne. '] be purifving clause, indeed,
Wis not to takeeaVct till ..fter Ihe deceaeof Ihe latter
sovereign, and she very c 'nsiderately rejeahd it
altogether. So that, as representation has continued
ever since, if Ihe king were simple enough to send to
foreign courts amba sadors who were nn st of them in
the pay of those courts, he would be just as honestly
futed as are his people. It
umerate all the favours which
were conferred upon Will am bv those "aposiale
Whgs." TI.ey c impl.meiite.i Iiim with the fi.sl sjs-
peuiioo of the Habeas Corpus Act which had been
The hour was lost, and William, with a smile.
Saw Freedom weeping o'er Ihe unhnish'd pilel
Hence all the ills you suffer,— hence remaia
"uch galling fragmems of thai feudal chain,3
Whose links, around yon by ihe Isiorman Hung,
Though loo.ed and broke >o oflen, still have clung.
Hence sly Prerogative, like Jove of old.
Has tunrd liis thunder into showers of gold.
Whose silent courtship Wins secuier jo)'s,*
Taints by degiees, and ruins without noise.
h.azarded since the confirmation of that privilege ; and
this example of our Deliverer's reign has not been lost
upon any of his successois. 'J iiey promoted the
establishment of a .standing army, and circulated in
its defence the celebrated '* Balancing Letler," in
which It is insinuated that England, even llien, in her
bo.isted hour of regeneration, was arrived at such a
pitch of taction and coriuption, thai nolhiiig could
keep her in order but a Whig ministry and a standing
aiiiiy. They refused, as long as they could, toshoiteu
the duration of paiiiamenis; and though, in the
Declaiation of Rigtits. Ihe necessity of sucli a reform
was acknowledged, they were able, by arts not un-
known to modem minisieis, to brand those as traitors
and republicans who urged i .* Hut the arand and
dis'ingttisliing trait of their measures w,is the power
they besowed on the Crown of almost aninhilaling
tne freedom of elections,— of turning tioni its course,
and for ever dehliiig that great slieain of Represent.a-
tion. which had. eieii in Ihe most apitalid | ei lods,
rcflec'ed S"me fe.itiires of the people, but which, from
tlieiiceforth. became the P. clolns, Ihe "aurifer am-
nis," of the couit, and seived as a minor of Ihe
nation. I will and popular feeling no longer. We
need but con ull the wiilings of that lime, to under-
stand the astonishment then excited by nieasuies.
which lhe])r..ctice of a century ha- rendered not only
familiar but necessary, tee a pamphlet called " The
Damier of inercenarv Parliaments," IbSS; Sbale
Tracts, Will. HI. vol. li. ; see al,o "Some Paradoxes
presented a= a New Year's Gifi," (Stale Poems, vol.
iii.)
3 The last great wound given to Ihe feudal system
was the Act of the I2ih of Charles II., which abol-
ished Ihe tenure of knight's service in atjjilc, and
which Blackslone comp.ares, for its salutary influence
upon properiv, to the boasted provisions of Magna
Chaila itself.' Yet even in this Act we see Ihe ettects
of that counteracting spirit which has contrived to
weaken every ellbrt of the English nation lowaids
liberty. The exclusion of copvholders fiom their
share tf elective tights was permit'ed to icmaiu as a
brand of feudal servitude, and as an ob<tacle to the
rise of that slrongcouiilerbalai.ee which an equal re-
presentation of property would opoose to Ihe weight
of the Crown. If the maimgers of the Revolution
had been sincere in their wishes for reform, they
would not only have taken this feber oil" Ihe rights of
election, but would ha>e renewed the mode adopted
m Cromwell's time of increasing the number of
knigbtsof tlie shire, lo the exclusion of those rotten
insignificant borougln which have t iiited the whole
mass of the constitution. Lord Clarei.din calls this
measure of Cromwell's "an alteration hi to be more
w.arraiitable made, and in a better lime." It formed
part of iMr. Pitts plan in I7S3; but Pi t's plan of re-
form was a kind of announced dramatic piece, about
as likely to be ever acted as Mr. Sheridan's " Furtsl-
ers "
* fore enim lutum iter et patens
Converso in pietiurn Deo.
Aurum per medios ire satellites, &c.
Horat.
• See a pamphlet published in IGS3, upon the King's
refusing to sign the Triennial Bill, called "A Dis-
course between a Yeoman of Kent and a Knight of a
Shire."- '• Hereupon (says the Yer.man) Ihe gentle-
man grew angry, and said that 1 talked like a oase
allh man."
120
CORRUPTION.
While parliament?, no more those sacred things
Which make and rule the destiny of kings,
Like loaded dice by ministers are thrown,
And each new set of sharpers cog tlieir own.
Hence ihe rich oil, that from the Treasury steals,
Drips smooth o'er all Ihe Consiiiution's wheels,
Giving the old njaclilne such ).liaut play.l
That Court and Comirrnns jog m.e joltless way.
While Wisdom tieiiiMes for the crazy car,
So gilt, so rotten, carrying fools so far j
It would be a task not uninstructive to trace the his-
tory of Prerogrlive from the date of its strength under
the Tudor princes, wlien Her.rv Vll. and his succes-
sors " laught Ihe penple (as Nathaniel Bacon says)'
to dance to Ihe tune of Allegiance," to the period of
the Kevolutlon, when the '1 hrone, in i!s a'lacks upon
liberty, began to exchange the noisy expl sions of
Prerogali\e for the slenl and eli'ectual air gun of In-
fluence, In following its course, too, since that
memorable era, we shall hnd that, while ihe royal
powt-r lias been ab idged in branches where it might
be made conducive to the in'eresis of ihe people, it
has been lefl m full and un-hackled vigour against
almost every point where the iiilegiity of the consti-
tution is vulnerable. For instance, ihe pouer of
chartering boroughs, to whose capricious abuse in Ihe
hands of the Stuarts we are indebled for most ■ f ihe
present anomalies of represenlation, might, if suG'er-
ed to remain, have in some degree atoned for ils mis-
chief, by restoiing the old unchar erpd biroughs to
their rights, and widening more equally the basis of
Ihe legi;ialurc. Hu', by Ihe Aci of Union with Scot-
land, this pait of the prerogative was removed, lest
Freedom should have a chance of being tiealed, even
by Ihe rust of the spear which had formerly wound-
ed her. 1 he dangerous power, however, of creating
peers, which has been so often exercised for the gn-
vemmerit against the constitution, is still left in free
and unqualified activity; nolwithslaiiding the exam-
ple of ihai celeb a'ed Bill for the limilaiion of ihis
evei-budding branch of prerogative, which was pro-
posed in the reign of George I. under the jieculiar
sanction and recommendation of the Crown, but
which the Whigs ihought iight to reject, with all that
characteristic delicacy, which, in gi-neral. prevents
them when enjoying Ihe sweets of oifice themselves,
from taking any rincourtly advantage of ttie Throne.
It will be recollected, however, that the crea'ion of
the twelve peeis by Ihe Tories in Anne's reign (a niea-
sure which Swift, like a true party man. defends) gave
these upright Whigs ail possible alarm for their liber-
ties
With regard to the generous fit about his preroga-
tive which seized so unroyally the good king George
I., hisloriaiis have hinted Ihat the paroxysm originated
far mure in haired to his son ihau in love to Ihe oni-
slitution.t This, of course, however, is a Cilumny:
no loyal person, acquainted with the annals of the
three Gei rges, could possibly suspect any tme of those
gracious monarclis either of ill-will to his heir, or in-
diflereiice for the consiiiution.
I '-They drove so fist (says Welvpood of the minis-
ters of Charles I.), that it was no wonder that the
wheels and chariot broke.'* (Memniys, p. 35.) — But
Ihis fatal accident, if we may jud^e from experience,
is to be imputed far less to the fnlly and impetuosity
of the drivers, than to the want of Ihat suppling oil
from the Treasury which has been found so necessary
to make a government like that of England run
smoothly. Had Charles tieen as well provided with
this article as his successors have been since the happy
Revolution, his Commons worrld never have merited
from him the harsh ajinellalion of " seditious vipers,"
but would have been (as they now are, and 1 trust
always will be) "dutilul Commnns," "loyal Coni-
« Historic, and Politic. Discourse, &c. part ii. n
114. '^
And the duped people, hourly doom'd to pay
The sums that biibe Iheir liberties away.'i
Like a young eagle, who has lent bis plume
To fleilge the shaft by which lie meets his doooi,-
See their ow ii fealheis pluck'd, to wing the dart
Which rank corruption destines for their lieartl
But soft ! nielhiiiks I hear thee proudly say,
" What I shall I listen to the impious lay,
" That daies, with lory license, to profane
" The bright bequests of William's glorious reign?
" Shall Ihe great wi.-dom of our patriot sires,
" Whom H— wks— b— y quotes and savoury B— nil
admires,
"Be slaiider'd thus? shall honest St— le agree
'■ With virlucus R-se to call us pure and free
" Vet fail to prove it ? Shall our patent pair
" Of wise slate-poeis wasie ihtir words in air,
' And I'—e unheeded bieathe his prosperous strain,
And C— nn— ng lake t/ie peojiles seme in vain ?" a
,. J*"^ f.?"''''^ ' ~ '''• """ Freedom's form should slay
Wheie freedom's spiiit long hath pass'd away '
That a false smile should play aiouud Ihe dead,'
And Hush the features when the soul hath tied ' 4
him ship,
light have
mons," &c. &C-, and would have giver
money, or any other son of money he
fancied.
Ji Among those auxiliaries which the Revolution of
16SS marshalled on the side of the Throne, Ihe bug-
bear of I'opery has not been Ihe least convenient aiid
serviceable. Those unskilful tyranLs, Charles and
James, insleid of profiling by that useful subserviency
which has always distinguished the minislcrs of our
religious esLabhshmeni, were so inlalualed as to nlan
the ruin of ihis best bulwark of their power and
moreover, connec ed llieir designs upor the Church sc!
undisguisedly with their attacks upon the Consiiiu-
tion, th.at they identilied in the minds of Ihe reonle
Ihe luieresis of their religion and their liberties
During those limes, therefore. " No Fopeiy " w.is the
watchword of freedom, and served to keep the public
spiiil awake against the invasions of bigoirv and nre-
rogalive. The Revolulinn, however, by removing
this object of jealousy, has produced a reliance on the
orthrdoxy of the '1 hrone, of which the Throne has
not failed to lake advantage; and Ihe cry of "No
I'opery "having thus lost ils power of alarming the
people against the inroads of the Crown, has served
ever since Ihe very difl'erenl pi.rpose of siieiigthening
tlie Crown ai;aiiist Ihe pretenioi.s and stiu'glcsof the
people. The danger of the Chuich from Papis's and
Pretenrlers was the chief pretext for Ihe repeal of the
Triennial Bill, for Ihe .adoption of a standing army,
lor the numerous suspensions of Ihe Habeas Coipus
Act, and. in short, for all those spiriied infractions of
the constitution by which the reigns of the last cen-
tury were so eminently distirgui-hed. We haie seen
very lately, loo, how the Thione has been enabled
by the same scarecrow s rt of alarm, to select its
ministers from among men, who,e servility is their
only claim to elevation, and who are pledged (if such
an alternative cnuU arise) to take pari with the
scruples of the King against the salvation of the em-
pire.
3 Somebody has said, " Quand tons les pnelM
seraient noyes, ce ne seraient pas grand dommage •"
hut I am aware that this is not fit lansuage to be held
me when ourbirth-dav odes and staie-papeis are
Ml by such pretty poets as Mr. P-e and Mr.
C— nn— ng. All I wish is, that the latter gentleman
would change places with his brother P-e, by which
s we sh'.uld have somew hat less prose in our
and certainly less i oetry in our politics.
' It is a scandal (said Sir Charles Sedley in Wil-
liam's reign) that a government so sick at heart as
ours IS should look so well in the face ;" and Edn-und
Buike has said, in the present reign, " When tht peo-
ple conceive Ihat laws and tribunals, indeven p„pular
-"■'"''■'■■" '" perverted from the ends of Iheir insti-
CORRUPTION,
121
When Home bad lost hep virtue with her rights,
When her (mil tyrant sat on C^tprea-'s lit- i^hts i
Amid his rufllan spit-s, and dooniM to dL;illi
K-vch noble nan.e ihey hl;»st<-d witli iheir brfath,—
Even then, (in mockery «'f that ko den t.me,
When the Uepnhlic rose revered, sublime,
And hi:r [iroiui sons, dill'u-ed f r tni zone to zone,
Gave kins:^ (o every na'inn but their own,)
Even ihe.i the senate and the lrih:ines stond,
In-nltins ma-ks, m show how hi;;h the (loud
Of Freedom flowM, iii t;lorys l)y-ffone day,
And how it ebb'd,— for ever ebb'd away I *
Lf'Ok but around — thnueh vef a tyrant's swnrd
Nor haun's >Mir >lepp nor -jlitters o'er our board,
Thnus;!! hiood be bi-t'er d-awn, by nmtlern q-iacks,
With Ircnry leeches Ihan uith sword or axe;
Yet s^y, could even a prostrate ir Imiies poHer,
Or a mock semte. in Rome's servile hour,
lu'ult SI much the clami-i. 'hf 'igtits nf man,
As doth that fL-lrerM mob. ih it free divan,
Of III tilr 1 .1.1, and honnur.ih e ki ;ivfs.
Of perisit.n'd pUriofs aud prlvile^el 'lives;—
ThaT parly-C'I'iirM mass, whicti nought can warm
But nnk corruption's hett — whose q'ticken'd swarm
Spread their li.^ht wings in Bribcrv's goMen sky,
Unzz for a peri- d lay their e^gs, and die ;—
That greedy vampite, which from Freed >m's tomb
Comes f .r h, with Ml the mimicry of bloom
Upon its lifeless cheek, and suck-; and drains
A people's blood to feed its putrid veins I
Thou stariV, mv friend, afpic'ure drawn so dark—
" Is there no light?" Ihon ask'st— '■ no lingering spark
'* Of ancient fire to warm us? Live? there none,
" To act a Marvell's part ?"3_ab9 ! not one.
7*0 place and power all public spirit tends,
In place and power al! public spirit ends ; <
tuMnn, they ti-d in 'hesc name? of degenerated estab-
lishments only new motives In discontent. Those
bodies which, wlien full of life and beauty, lay in
their arms and were their joy and cmfo-t, when dead
ore loathsome from remenibrance
nts.'* — Thoughts on the prcserit
and putrid become i
of former endeirm
DifC07iCentSt 1770.
i Tutor habcri
Principis, Augustri Caprearnm in mpepedcntls
Cum gresce ChnUaex Juvenal. Sat. x. v. 92.
The senate still ct>ntiniied. durir^g the reign of Titie-
rius, to n-ana!<e all the bu-ineas of the public; the
money was then anJ I ng after coined by their author-
iy, and every other public affair received their sanc-
tion.
We are told by Tacitus of a ceitain race nf men,
who made themselves particularly us- ful to the Ro-
man emperors, and were IhertTnre railed " instru-
iiienta regni," or "couil tonls." From this; it ap-
pears, that my Lords M , C , &c. &c. are by
no means things of modern invention.
^ There is something very touching in what Tacitus
tells us of ihe hopes th^t revived in a few patriot
bosoms, when the death of Augustus was near ap-
proaching, and the fund expec'ation with which (hey
already becan " bom liber atis incassum disserrere."
Accoriiiig to Ferguson, Caesar's inleiference with
the rights of election '-made the subversion of the
republic moie felt thin anv nf the former acts of his
power." — Rimnn RepxibUc, book v. chap. i.
3 Andrew Marvell. the hftnes' oppn^er of the court
during the reign of Charles the Second, and Ihe last
member nf parliament who, according to the ancient
mode, look wa^es from his cons iiuents. The Com-
mons have, since then, noich chinged their pay-
ma'slers. — See the Slate Poems for iome rude but
spirited effusions of Andrew Marvell.
* The following arlles-J speech of Sir Francis Win-
nington, in the reign of Charles the Second, will
amuse tho^e who aie fully aware .T the porfeciion we
have since attained in that system of government
Like haidv plants, that love (he air and sky,
When o«( 'I will thrive— bjt takca ih, 'twill die I
Not bolder truths of sscred Freedom hung
From Sidney's pen or burn'd on Fox's tongue,
Than upstart Whigs produce each market-night.
While yet their coiiscience, as their purse, is Iij''t ;
While debts ai home exci'C their care for those
Wh ch, dire to tell, their much-lovM country owes,
And loud and upright, till iheir prize be known,
They thwart ttie King's supplies lo raibc their own,
Hut bees, on flowers alighting, cease their hum —
So, settling upon places, Whigs grow dumb.
And, th()Ugh mo>t base is he wh'", 'nealh Ihe shade
Of Kreedoin's ensign plies corruption's trade.
And makes the sicied (lag he daies to show
His passport to ihe market nf her fue.
Yet, yet. 1 own, so venerably dear
Are Freedom's grave old anihems to my ear,
That I enjoy them, though by traitois sung,
And reverence Scripture even froin Satan's tonjue.
Niy. when Ihe consii'ution has eX[iired,
I 'II have such men, like Irish wakers, hired
To chant old " Habe;is Colpu^" l)y its side,
And ask, in purchasd diities, why it died ?
See yon smooth lord, whom nature's plastic pains
Would seem tu 've f ^hionM for those Eastern rel^uB
When eum.cii ilmi i h [, und such nerveless things
As men ri-)r,ir I ^-,,1, u,, J,., sen of kings;— 6
Even Ae, to.-., t,, , i, ir m, i. .Jail the worst!)
Dared to a^.MlOM il:r pi [mil's name at first —
Thus Pitt began, and ih'^s begin his apes:
Thus devils, w hen /ir*i raised, lake pleading shapes.
But oh, poor Ireland ! if revenge be swcel
Fit centuries of wrong, for datk deceit
And wilhering insult — for the Union thrown
Into \h\ hitler cup. 6 when thd alone
Of --laverys draught w.is wanting t — if '"or this
Revenge be sweet, thou hast that demon's bli^s :
whose humble beginnings so much astonished the
worthy barcnet. "1 did observe (savs he) that all
those who had pensions, nnd most of those who h-Aii
offices, voled all of a side, as ihey were directed by
some great onicer, exactly as if their business in this
House had been to preserve their pensions and offices,
and not to make laws for the good of them who sent
thein here."— He alludes to llinl pailianjeni which
was called, jpar cxcdlaicc, the Pensionary P-irliamenl.
fi According to Xenophon, the chief circumstance
which recommended these creatures to the seivice of
Eastern priices was the ignominious station they
held in society, and the probability of their being,
upon this account, more devoted to the will and
caprice of a master, from whose notice alone they
derived consideration, and in » hose favour lliey might
seek refuge from the general conempt of mankind. —
A(5o|ot ovTcs ol ivvovxoi Tzapa tol; aAAot? av-
dpioTTOLS Kat Cia 70VTU Cito-noTov tniKovpov n'l-'Oj-
dsovTQt.— Hut 1 doubt whether even an Eastern
prince wi>uld have chosen an entire admiuis:ratioii
upon this principle,
6 "And in the cup an UiiioJi shall be thrown."
htmilct.
t Among the many measures which, since the
Revolution, have contributed to increase Ihe intluence
of Ihe 1 hrone, and In feed up this ''Aaron's serpent"
of Ihe constitution to its present healthy and rtsptcl-
able magnitude, there hive been few more nutritive
than the Scotch and Irish Unions. Sir John Packer
j said, in a drb.tle upon the former question, tliai " he
would submit it to the House, whether nun who h-id
I basely betravcd Iheir trust, by giving ip Iheir ,'nde-
pendent constitution, were fit to be admilied inli Ihe
English House of Commons." But Si: John wnold
have known, if he hnd not been out o( p'ace at the
time, that the pliancy of such maieiials u as not among
the least of their recommendations. Indeed, the pro
1 molers of the Scotch Union weie by no nteans di^ap j
11
122
INTOLERANCE.
For, sure, 't is more than hell's revenge to see
That Kogland tru^is the men who 've ruin'd thee;—
That, in these awful days, when every hr.ur
Creates some new or bUsts some ancient power.
When prnud Napoleon, like th' enchanted shield '
Whose lighi conipell'd each wondering foe to yield,
With baleful lustre blinds the brave and free,
And dazzles Europe into slavery, —
That, in this hour, when patriot zeal should guide,
When Mind should rule, and — fox ahould not have
died,
All thai devoted England can o- pose
To enemies made liends and frieiids made foes,
Is the rank refuse, ihe despised remains
Of that unpilying power, wtmse whips and chains
Drove Ireland tiisi to turn, with harlot glance,
Tow'rds other slioies, and woo Ih' embrace of
France ;—
Those hack'd and tainted tools, so foully fit
For the grand artisan of mischief, P— it,
So useless ever but in vile employ.
So weiik to save, so vigorous to destroy —
Such are the men that guard thy ihrealen'd shore,
Oh England ! sinking England : ^ boast no more.
poitited in the leidins nblect of rheir measure, for the
inumphaiit majiiriiiesof the courl-pariy m parliament
m^y be dated from ihe admision of the 45 a d the lb.
Once or twice, upon the alieiatioii of their la^v of
treason and Ihe impogilion of the malt-tax (nieasure>
which were m direct viola:ion of the Aci of Union),
these worthy North Britons arrayed themselves in
opposition to the court ; but finding thi^ effut for their
countrv unavailing, they prudently determinei I"
think thencefor\\arJ of themselves, and few men have
ever kept lo a laudable resolution more ti inly. The
eitecr of Irish rep. esent.*lion on the liberties of Eng-
land will be no less perceptible and permanent,
Ov5' 6y£ Tav^ov
AemtTai avriKAovTos.'
The infusion of such cher,p and useful ingredients as
my Lord L.. Mr. U. B., &ic. ^c. in'o the legislature,
cannot but act as a powe^ ful al'era ive on the consti-
tution, and clear it by degrees of all tioublesome hu-
mours of honesty.
1 The magician's shield in Ariosto ; —
E toltn per vt^rtu dello spttriiilore
].a hbeil
Cant. 3.
We are lold that Csesar's corle of morality was con-
tained in the following lint;s of Euripides, which thai
great man Irecjuenlly repeated : —
EtTrcp yap aditctiv XPV 7vpavvt.6os Tztpt.
^ The following prophetic remarks occur in a letter
written bv Sir R..bert Talboi, who attended the Duke
of Bedford to Paris in 1762. Talking of states which
have grown powerful in conimerce, he says, " Ac-
coidintj 10 the nature and common cour-e of things,
tliere is a confederacy againsl ttien), and consequently
in the same proporiion as they increase in riches,
ihev appro ich lo destruction. The address of our
King VVilliam, in making all Eur-pe take the alarm
at Fiance, has brought that country before us near that
ineviiable period. We must necessarily have our
lurn, ar.d Great Rri'ain will attain it as soon as France
shall have a declaimer with organs as proper for ihat
political purpose as were those of our William the
Third With'>ut doubt, niy
Lord, Great Britain must lower her tiight. Eurripe
• From Aratus (v. 715.) a poet who wrote upcn
aslrononiy, though, as Cicero assures us. he knew no.
thing whatever "ahout the subject: just as the gre;il
Harvey wine " De Genera:ione," though he hail as
liMe to do with Ihe matter as my Lord Viscount C.
INTOLERANCE,
A SATIRE.
"TMs clamour, which pretenda to be raiped for the
Borely nf ri'ligion, has almost wi,rn out the very appei
ance nf it, and ri-udercd us not only Ihe mo<it divided but
Ihc must iinuiufhl people npnii the face of Ihe earth."
Addtson, Freeholder^ Ho. 37.
Start not, my frimd, nor think Ihe Muse V ill sta'n
Her cbssic fingeiB with the dust jitofane
Of Bulls, Decrees, and all those thundering scrolls,
Which lonk such freedom once with royal souls,3
will remind us of the balance of commerce, as she has
reminded Ftance of the balu-ce of power. The ad-
dress of our statesmen will in.morialjse them by con-
triviiis f M us a descent wbich shall not be a fall, by
making us rather rt-semble Holland than Carthage
and Venice." — LetUrs 07i the French Natiori,
3 The kinj-deposit.g doc'rine, notwithstanding its
many mischievous ab^uid.lies, v^as of no liilie service
to the cause of (..olilical libetty, by inculcating Ihf
right of lesistairce to tyrants, and asserting (tie will of
the people lo be ihe'i-nly true fountain of power.
Bellarmine, the most violent of the .idvncales for
I apal authority, was one of the ft'st to main'ain [Dc
Punif. \\h. i. cap. 7,) "Ihat kings have not theii
auibnntv or office immeiiia elv tiom G d nor his law,
(,ut only from the law of rlation-;; » and id Kiig
J-mes's "Delence of ihe H'shls of Kings a<(aiiist Can
dinal Perron," we find Ins Majesty expie:^sing s'rong
iridigi.aiion against the Cardinal inr having asserted
** that to the deposing of a king the consent of Ihe
people must be ob'ained" — "for by Ihe^e words
(says James) the people are exal'ed above the king,
;ind made the judges of the king's diposing," p, <124.
Even in jMan.mas celebrated book whe^e the non
st^nse of bigotry d^'es no' interfere, INere may be louid
many liberal .uid eidigh'eoed views of the principles
of government, of the resrraints wjiich should be nn-
p'sed up -n royal power, of tl e suboidinaiinn of ihe
Throne to the inieresls of the people. &c. &c. {De.
Rege et Rt^is histiiutimic. See pariicuiaily lib. i.
ca|. 6. 8. and 9.) It is la'her lemarkable, loo, thai
Eiig'and sh' nlj be indebted to another Jesuit for the
earliest defence of that principle upon which Ihe
Revolulion was founded, namely, the right of the
people lo change the succession. (See Dolem
'*Conference--," vvrilten in suppmlof ihe title of ihe
Infanta of S| ain agiinst that of James I ) When
En:<lishmen, therefore, say that Popery is the relitiic
of slavery, they should imt o. ly recollect that the
own b 'asred cinsti'u'inn is the work and bequest of
l-opish ancestors; they should not onlv ren.enpber Ihe
lavs of Edward III., "under whoi'n (sa>s Bolrng-
broke) the constitution of our mrlMinents. and tlie
whole form of our g iveinmen',becinie reduced into
bet'er f)rm;" but they should know that even the
errors ch irged ( n Popery have leaned lo Ihe cauye r.f
iibertv, and that Pap sis weie the hr.st [romnlgators
of the doctrines wtuch led to Ihe RlvoIuIioo. "
general, however, the poliiical piinciples of the
Roman Ca bolica have been described as hippei.ed lo
suit Ihe teo pora y conveniei ce of their oppressors,
and have been rep'-esenled abernately as slavish or
refracloiy, according a'< a prelrxi f -r tormenting them
"as wanting. The same incotisistency Las ina'ked
every other imputaiion a^iainsl them. 'I hey
charged with laxi'y in the (ib>tTvaiice of oath?, though
an (.a'h has been found sufficient to sbut them out
from all worldly advantages 1! they reject certaii
deci-ions <>( Iheir church, they are said lo be sceptics
^nd b.id Chri-tians; if they admit those ve y deci-
sions, thcv are branded as bigo's and bad subjects.
We are b'ld that confidence and kindncsa will make
Ihem enemies to Ihe goveinmen', though we know
INTOLERANCE.
123
When heaveu was yet the pnpe's exclusive trade, (
And kings were damn'd as fast as nuw they Ye made.
No, no — let I)— jt-n— n search the papal chair *
For fra^raiK treasures loii^ for^oiteii rhere;
And, as tlie \viichot sunless L^ipland thinks
'I hat little swarthy gnnmes delight in stinks,
Let sallow p_rc-v-l snuti up the gale
Which wizard U— gen— n's ealhei'd sweets exhale.
Enough for nie, v\tinse heart has learn 'd to !.cora
Bigots alike in Rome or England born.
Who loathe the venom, whencesne'er it springs,
From popes or lawyer-^,* p stry-cnoks or kings,—
t^nough for me to laugh and weep by turns,
As iitinh provokes, or indignation burns,
As C— on— ng v'priurs. or as Fiance succeeds,
As H— wk— sb'ry pioses, or as Ireland bleeds 1
And thou, my friend, if, in these headlong days,
When bigoi Zeil hei diunken antici- plays
So near a precipice, that men the while
Look breathless on and shudler while they smile —
If, in such fearful d.ys, thou 'It dare to louk
'lo haplfs> Ireland, to this rankling nook
VVbich Heaven hath freed from poisonous things id
While G— ff— rd's tongue and M— sgr — ve's pen re-
If thou hast yet no golden blinkers got
Tn shade ihine eyes from this devoted spot,
Whose wrongs, tliough bl.izon'd o'er the world they be,
Placemeti alone are privileged not to see —
Uh I turn awhile, and, though ihe shamrcck wreathes
My homely harp, yet shall the song il breathes
Of Ireland's slavery, and of Ireland's woe^,
Live, when the memory of her tyrant foes
ijhall hut exist, Ml future knaves to warn,
£nibalniM in hale and cmonised by scorn.
When C— sti— r— gh, in sleep s i^l mnre profound
Than his own opiate ti'iigue now deals aiound,
bhall wait th' iinpeachmeni of that awful day
Which even his practised hand caut bribe away.
Yes, nny dear friend, wert thou but near me now,
To ^ee how Spring lights up on Erin's brow
Smiles that shine out. uiicni)qner..bly |(iir,
Even through tlie blood-marks left by C— nid— n 3
there,—
Cnuld'st thou but see what verdure paints the sod
Whicii none but tyrants and 'heir slaves have trod,
And didsl thou know the spirit, kind and brave,
That warms the soul of each insulted slave,
that exclusion and injuries have hardly prevented
them from being its fnends. In short, nothing can
belter illusiiate ttie misery nf tho^e shifis and evasiom
by which a l^ng course of cowaidly injustice must bi
supported, than the whole hisiory of Great Britain'
conduct towards the Cath'd'C part of her empire.
1 The *' Sella Stercoraria" of the popes. —Tin
Right Honourable and learned Doctor will find ai
engraving of tliis chair in Spanheim's " Disquisitio
Historica de Papa Foemina" (p. 118;) and I recom-
mend It as a model for the fashion of thit seat which
the U ctor js about to lake in the privy-counciI of
Ireland.
* When Innocent X. was entreated to decide the
controversy between the Jtsuils and the Jan^enisls, he
answeicd, that '*he had been bred a lav^yer, and had
therefore nothing to do with divinity."— It were to be
Wished that some of our Engbsh pettifoggers koev/
their own fit element as well as Pope Innocent X,
3 Not tlieC— md-n who speaks thus of Ireland :—
**To wind up all, whether we regaid the fruiiful-
ness of the sod, the advantage of the sea, with so
I many cnmnr-dious havens, or the natives themselves,
who ate ^^ailike, insenmus, handsome, and well-cnm-
plexionfd, s'ft-skmned and verv nimble, by reison of
I the pliantne.s of iheir muscle^ Ihis UlanJ is in many
respec s so happy, that GiraUlus might very well say,
I * Naue had regarded with more f ivourableeyes than
] ordinary this Kingdom of Zephyr.* "
Who, tired with struggling, sinks beneath his lot,
And seems by all but watchful France forgot * —
by heart wnuld burn --yes, even thy Pittite heart
Would burn, to think that such a blooming part
Of the world's garden, rich in nature's charms.
And hll'd with soci.il souls and vigorous arms,
Should be the viciini of that canting crew,
So smooth, so gi'dly,— yet so devilish too ;
Who, arm'd at unce with prayer-books and with
wh.ps.5
Blood on their hands, and Scripture on their lips.
* The example of toleration, which Bonaparte has
held foith, Will, 1 fear, produce no other etTect than
that of determining the Bi ilish government to persist,
frnni Ibe \ery spirit of opposiiion, in their own old
system of intolerance and injustice; just as the Sia-
mese blacken their teeth, •' because," as they say,
*• the devil has white ones."*
6 One of *he unhappy results of the controversy
between Prntest.mis and Catholics, is the mutual ex-
posure which their c iminatioiis and lecriminafions
have produced. In vain do ihe Frote=ianls chaige the
Papists wnh closing the door of salvation upon others,
while many of therr own writings and articles breathe
the rame uncharitable spirit. No canon of Constance
or Laleran ever damned heretics more efleciually
than the eichth of the 'J'hirty-nine Articles consigns to
perdition eveiy single member of the Greek church;
and I doubt whether a more sweeping clause of dam-
nation was ever proposed in the niosi bigo ed council,
than that which the Calvinisiic theory of predesti-
nation in Ibe seventeenth of these Articles exhibits.
It is Irua 'hat no liberal Proiestanl avows snch exclu-
sive opinions ; that every honest clergyman must leel
a pang while he subscribes to them ; that some even
assert the Athan.isiaa Creed to be the fiTgery of one
Vigilius Tapseo'is, in the beginning of the sixth cen-
tuty, ar,d that eminent divines, like Joitin, have not
besi'ated lo say, '• ThiTe are propositions contained in
our Liturgy and Articles, which no man of cnnmion
sen^e among us believes."t But, while alt ibis is
fiirelv conceded to Protestan's ; while nobody doubts
their sinceiity, when they declare ihat Ihetr arlicles
are not essentials of (ailh. but a collection of opinions
which hive been promulgated by fallible men, and
from many of which they fee! Ihemsehes juslil:ed in
dissenting,— while so niuch lilerty of letiactaiion is
allowed to Protes ants upon their'own declared aiid
subscribed Aiticles of religion, is it not strange thai a
similar indulgence should be so ob^iii ately refused to
the Catholrcs, upon tenets u Inch their church has uni
formly resisted and condemned, in eveiy countiy
where it has independently flonrivhed ? When the
Catholics say, " The Decree of Ihe Council of Lateran,
which you object to us, has no claim whatever upon
either our faiih or (.ur leason ; it did not even profess
to contain any doctrinal decision, but was merely a
judicial proceeding of that .tssenibly ; and it would be
as fair for us to impu e a wijt-hilling doctrine to tl;e
Protestants, because their first pope, Henry VIIL, w;i8
sanctioned in an indulgence of ihat propensity, as for
you to coicliidft that we have inl;erited a kmg-de-
posing taste from the acts o{ the Council of Lateian,
or the secular pre'ensions of our pope,'. With re-
spect, too, to the Decree of the Council of Constance,
upon ihe strength of uhich you accuse us of breaking
faith with heretic>. we do not hesitate to pionounce
that Decree a calunini'jus forgery, a forgerv. too, so
obvious and ill-f.iljncattd, that none but our enemies
have ever venlured to give it the slightest ciedit for
au;benlic.ly » When ttie Catholics make these de-
clarations (and they are almost weary with ni-king
them,) when they show, too, by their conduct, that
these declarations are sincere, and Ihat their faiih and
morals are no n.oie reguUted by the absurd decrees of
old councils and popes, than their science is intiuenced
t Strictures on the Arlicles, Subscriptions, &c.
124
INTOLERANCE.
Tyranta by creed, and torturers hv text,
Make this life liell, in lionour ofllie next .'
Your R— desd— les, P— re— v— la,— gieat, glorious
Hea>en.
If I 'm presumptuous, le my tongue forgiven,
When heie 1 aweir, l.y my eouI's hope of rest,
1 'd rather have l.een bo. n, e e man was blest
With tlie puie dawn of Reielation's light.
Yes,— rather plunge me back in I'agan night,
And take niv cliance uitli Sncales for bliss.l
1 iiau be the Christian of a faith like this,
Winch liuilds on heavenly c.iiit it= ejrlhly Eway,
And in a convert moui iis to lo-e a piey ;
Which, ir.i8))ing human hearts with d uble holiJ,-
Like Danae's lover mixing g. d and gold,* —
,vbo
Corrupts both state and church, and makes an oath
The knave and atheist*s passport into both ;
Which, while it dooms dissenting souls to know
Nor bliss above nor liberty below.
Adds the slave's sulleriiig to the sinner's fear,
And, lest he 'scape hereafter, racks him heic ! 3
and
by the jiapal anathema against that Irishman
first found out the Amipodes.— is it not strange that s.a
manvstiUvvilfu*y distrust what every guod man is so
much interested in believing}' That so lo .iiy should
prefer the d.irk-lantern of the 13th ctntury to ilie sun-
shine of intellect which has since overspread the
world, and that cveiy dabbler in theology, from Mr.
Lc Wesurier down to the Chancellor of ihe Exche-
f|uer, should date to op]iise the rubbish of Constance
and Lateraii to the bright and triumphaut progress of t
justice, generosity, and truth ?
' In a singular work, written by one Franciscus
Collius, "upon the "^ouls of the Pagans," the author
discusses, with much coolness and erudition, alt the
prob.ble chances of salvation upon which a heathen
philosoplier miglit calculate. Consigning to perdi.ion
without much difiiculiy, Plato, Socrates, &c. the only
sage at whose fate he seems lo hesitate is Pythagoias,
in consideraiion of his golden thigh, and the many
miracles which lie performed. But, having balanced
a little his claims, and fmdine reason to father all these
miracles on the devil, he at Tength, in the twenty-fitth
chapter, decides upon damning him also. {DtAni-
viabus Paganorum, lib. iv. cap. 20. and 25.) 'Ihe
poet Daiite cnmpromi-es the matter with the Pagai s,
and gives them a neutral territory or limbo of iheir
own, where iheir employment, it must be owned, is
not verv enviable — "Sei.za speme vivenio in desio."
Cant. iv. Among the numerous errors imputed to
Origeii, he is accu^ed of having denied the elerniiy of
future punishment ; at d, it he never advanced a more
irrational doctrine, we may venture, I ttiink, lo for-
give him. He went so far, however, as to include Ihe
devil himself in the gcnenl hell-delivery which he
supposed would oi.e day or other take place, and in
tins St. Augnstin thinks him rather too merciful —
"Miserecoidior profecto tuil llngenes, ijui et ipsum
diabolum," &c. (Be t'lmtal. Dei. lib. xxi. cap. 17.)
According to SI. Jernni, it was Origeii's opinion, that
" the devil himself, afier a certain time, will be as
well off as the angel Gabriel " — '■ Id ipsum fore
Gabrielem quod diabolum." (See his Epistlelo Pam-
machivs) But Halloix. in his Defence of Origen,
denies strongly that this leaned father had any such
misplaced tenderness for the devil.
9 Mr. Fox, in his S|ipech on the Repeal of Ihe Test
Act (1790.) thus condemns the inteimixture of le-
ligion with the political cons'i ulion of a s'ate : —
"What purpose (he asks) can it serve, except the
baleful purpo-e of communicating and receiving con-
tamination ? UiidiT sucli an allMiice corruption must
alight upon Ihe one, and slavery overwhelm the
other."
Locke, loo, says of the connection between church
and state, "The boundaries on both sides are fixed
and immoveable. He jumbles heaven and earth
together, the things most remote and opposiie, who
imxes these two societies, which are in their original,
* Virgilius, surnamedSolivagU', a native of Ireland,
who maintained, in ihe gih ceiittirv. Ilie doctiine of
the Antipodes, and was anatluniatised accordingly by
the Pope. John Scotus Engena, another Irishman,
was Ihe first that ever wrote against Iransubstai.tia-
tion.
end. business,
and infinitely dille
ier o?i Tulerntion.
The corruptions introduced into Christianity may
be dated from the peiiod of its establishment un. rr
Coiistanline, nor could all the splendour which it
then acquired atone for the peace and purity which
it lost.
3 There has been, after all, quite as much intole-
rance among Protestants as among Papists. Accord-
ing to the hackneyed quotation —
Iliacoa intra murns peicatur ct extra.
Even Ihe great champion of the Heforniation, Me-
lancthon. whom Jortin calls "a divine of much mild-
ness and jotid-?mIi/re," thus expresses his approbation
of the burning of Servetus: ' Le^i (he savs to Bullin-
ger) quae de Serveti blasphemiis respnndistis, et pieta-
judicia vesira proho. Jndico etiam setiatum
iiseni recte fecisse, quod hominem pertinacem
omissurum blasphemias sustulit ; ac miratus
e qui seveiiiatein illam imprr-bent."— 1 have
great pleasure in contiasting wi'h tbe-e "mild
P.pi
ured" seniiments the following words of Ihe
BaUize, in addressing his friend Conringius:
im anicmus, mi Conringi, ct lametsi diversas
nes lueiiiur in causa reiigionis, nionbus tai
i nou simus, qui eadeni liierarum studia secia-
— HiTman. Cmring. Epistol. par. secui.d. p.
Hume tells
of Chailesthi
of Ihe Kiig-
book which
their great d
that the Commons, in the beginning
list's reign, "attacked Montague,
:liaplains, on account of a mode
bad lately composed, and which, to
isl, saved virtuous Catholics, as well
1118, trnni eteri al toruienls." — In the
same manner a complaint was lodged before Ihe Lords
of the Council against th.t excellent wiiter Hooker,
for having, iu a Sermon against Popery, attempted to
save many of his Popish ancestors for ignorance. —
To these examples of Piotestant toleration I shall beg
leave to oppose ihe following extract from a letter of
old Roger Ascham (the tutor of Queen Elizabeth),
which is preserved among the Harring on Papers, and
lo66, to Ihe Earl of Leices'er, com-
plaining of Ihe Archbishop Young, who had taken
away his prebend in the chuch of Yoik: " Master
B rurne * did never grieve me half so moche in otter-
ing me wrong, as Mr. Dudley and Ihe Pyshopp of
York doe. in taking away my right. No byshopp i
Q. Mary's time would have so dealt with me ; not M
Bourne hymself, when Wmchiser lived, durst have
so dealt with me. For sucbe good estimation in th
dayeseven the learnedst and wvsesl men as Garde:
and Cardinal Poole, made of niy poore service, that
alih'Ugh they knewe perfectly that in religion, both
by open wrjiingeand pryvie laike, I was contrarye
unto them ; yea, when Sir Francis Englefield by name
did note me specialhe at the councill-board, Gardei
would not suffer me lo be called thither, nor toucli
ellswheare, saiinge suche words of nie in a lettre,
though lettres cannot, 1 blushe lo wriie them lo your
lordship. Wii. Chester's good-will stoode not in speak-
ing f.ire and wishing well, but lie did in deede that
for me,t wheieby my wife aid children shall liv
better when I am gone." (See Nu£,t> Antiquas. v
p|i. 9S, 99.)— If 11 en who acted this were bigots,
what shall we call Mr. P-rc-v— I ?
In Sutcliffe's "Survey of Popery" there occurs the
« Sir John Bourne, Principal Secielary of State to
Queen Miiy.
t By Gardener's favour Ascham long held his fel-
lowship, thouth not resident.
INTOLERANCE,
125
But no — far other fiilh, far milder beams
Of heavenly justice warm tile Chrisli ill's dreams
His creed is writ nn Mercy's paje above,,
ily llie pure li.i.ds c.f all-.l is Love ;
fie weeps t.i see aljused Ileligir'il twine
Hound Tyranny's crr.trse brow her wrea'h divine;
And lie, while rriuiid Irini sects and lialior.s raise
1 o tire one G("i llieir v iryinic notes of praise,
niesses each voice, wliate'er its lone may be,
That serves to swell the general harm my. i
Such was the spirit, gentiv, Rrandly bright,
Tirat fill'd, oh Fox! thy peaceful soul wi h light;
\\ bile free and spacious as thai ambrent air
Wlnth fi'ids our planet in its circling cue,
'llie mighty sphere of thy Irar sparenl mind
Kiirbraeed the world, and breathed for all mankind.
Last ol llie great, farewell I — yet lio( the last —
'lliough Britain's sun-hrne hour with tliee be past,
lerne still one ray of glory ^ives,
And feels but half thy loss while Grattan Kvcs.
APPENDIX.
To the fiire^ning Poem, as first published, were
subjoined, in the sha'pe of a N'He, or Appendix, the
following rennrks on ihe History and Music of Ire-
luid. This fragment was originally intended 1o form
part of a Preface lo the Irish Melodies ; but after-
wards fur some leasoo which 1 do not uottr recollect,
Wis thrown a^ide.
Our history, for many centuries past, it creditable
neiiher lo our neighbours iior our--elves, and ought not
111 be read by aiiy I^l^hInan who uishes either to love
Enghnd or to feel proud of Ireland. The loss of in-
dependence verv early debased nurcljar-icter ; and our
feuds aiid lebellions, though frequt-nt and ferocinus,
hui seldom dif.played ihar generous spirit of entei prise
wiiti vvliich (tie pride of an independent monarchy so
long dignified the struggles of ic tiand. It Is true
this island has given binh to hernes who, under more
favourable circumstances, mi:;ht have left in the
hearis of their c-unt ytneii rt-collectinns as dear as
those of a Bruce or a vv'all.ice ; but success
iiig to con^ecr^te re>is'ance, their cause
wiih the disheirlenin;
oppressed country w;is such a blank among rali<ms,
that, like the adveniuies of th.tse woods which Ruialdo
wished to explore, the fame of their actions v\as lost
in the obscurity of the place where ihey achieved
tbem.
• EiTaud> tn quelll boachi
Ma<
as want-
hianded
of treason, and their
follnwing assertion : — '* Papists, that positively hold
the heretical and f.*lse docrines of ihe modern church
of Rome, cannot pns-ihly be sived "—As a contrast
to this and other specimens of Protestant liberality,
which it would be m> ch more easv thin pleasant to
collect. I refer my reader lr> the t)eciar.itinn of Le
Pare Coyrayer ;-dnijbting not thai, while he reads
the seniiiiients of this pious man np'^n loleiation, he
will feel inclined to exclaim with Htflsh»m, "Blush,
ye Protestant bigots ! and be confnundtd at the com-
parison of your own wretched and malignant preju-
dices with Ihe gene-ous and enlarged idei-, the nohle
and animated language of this Popish priest." — Es-
saySy xxvil. p. S6.
I *' La tolerance est la chose du monde la plus pro-
pre a nmener le siecle d'or, et a f 'ire un concert et
mie hirnionie de plusieuts voix et instruments de dif-
fereii's tons el n tes, aus-i agreable pour le moms que
riiniformite d'une seule vt,ix."-Bavle. Coioineniaire
Phil'>sophifiue, &c. part ii. chap, vi.— Roth Rayle and
Locke would have treated the subjrct of Tnleratinn in
a manner much more wnrlliy of themselves and of ihe
cause, if they had wiitten in an age less distracted by
religious prejudices.
11*
Hence it is that the annals of Ireland, through a
lapse of six hundred years, exhibit not one of those
shining names, not one of those themes of nahonal
pride,from which poetry borrows her noblest inspira-
tion; and that history, which ou^ht lo he the richest
£Arden of the Muse, yields no growth to her in this
hapless island hut cypiess and wetds. In truth, the
poet who would embellish his song with allusions to
Iri-h names and events, must he contented to seek
them in those early period'i when our cliar:icter was
yei unallojed aiid Original, before the imp^ litic craft
of our conquerors had divided, weakened, and dis-
graced us. 1 he sole traits of heroism, indeed, which
he can venture at this day to commemo a e, either
with safety !o hiniseh", or honour to his country, are
lo be looked for in tiiose a-.cient times when the na-
tive monarchsof Ireland displayed and fostered virtues
worthy of a better age ; when our Malachies wore
around their necks c liars of gold which they had won
in single combat from the invader.^ and our Briens
deserved and won the waim atiections of a people by
exhitiiing all the most e>limab!e qu.ilities of a king.
It may be said that ihe mngic of (i-adiiion has slied a
charm overihisremoie period, to which it ism reality
but little entitled, and that most of the pictures, which
we dwell on so fondly, of days when this island was
distinguished amidst the gloom of Europe, by Ihe
sanctity of her morals, the spirii of her knighthood,
.ind the polish of her schools, aie little more than Ihe
inventions of national partial! y, — that bright but spu-
rious offsprmg which vanity engenders upon igno-
ra'icp,and with which Ihe first recoids of every pe. pie
.abound. But Ihe sci'pMc is scarcely to be envied who
woild pause for slionger proofs ihan we already
possess of Ihe early elones of Irt-land ; and were even
veraci'y of all these proofs surrendered, yet who
Id not tiy to such Haltering fictions from the sad
adiiis truths which the history of later times pre-
sents to us?
Ihe language of sorrow, however, is, in general,
best suited lo our Mu-.ic, and with themes of this na-
lure Ihe poet niay be amply supplied. There is
scarcely a page of our annals that will not furnish
him asutiject, and «hile the iiaiional Muse of niher
countries adorns her lemple proudly with ir phies of
the p;tvt, in Ireland her melancholy altar, like the
shrine of Pity at Athens, i^ to be kilown only by the
tears Ih^t aie shed upon it j ^^ lacryniis altana su-
1 here is a well-known s'orv, rela'ed of the Antio-
chians under Ihe reign r-f '1 he"dosius, which is not
onlvhnni'ur:ib!e to the powers of mustc in general, but
wh'ich api-Iies so p-culiarlv to the mournful niehdies
of Iielmd.lhat I cannot le'sist the teuipt.ition of intro-
ducing it here. — The pio'y of I he' d'isius u riuld have
been admirahle. had it not been s'auied with intole-
rance; but under his reign was, I telieve, first set the
example of a disqualifying penal code enacted by
Christians against Christians.^ Whether his inter-
ference with the religion of the Antiochians had any
* Arioslo, canto iv.
a See Wari.ei's History of Ireland, vol. i. bonk ix.
* S*atius, ThebuJJ. hb xii.
6 "A sort of civil excommunica'ion (yays Gibbon),
which sepaiated them from Iheir fellow-ci'izens by a
peculiar brand of infamy; and Ihis decbraiion of ihe
supreme magistiate tended to juslify. or at least to
excuse, the insnhs of a fanatic populace. 'Ihe secta-
res were gradually disqualified for the pn-se-sinn of
hoLonrable or b criitive employments and Theodnsius
wassatisfiel with Ins own justice when he decreed,
that, as the Euuomians distingnished the nature of the
Son from that of the Father, they should be incapable
of making their wills, or of receiving any advantage
from leslamcnlary donations."
126
THE SCEPTIC.
share in the alienatinn of their loyally is not expressly
ascertained by historians; hut severe edicts, heavy
lax^itioii, and the rapacity and indolence of Ihe men
whom he sent t;) ^nvern iheni, sufficiently account for
the di3C0hIents of a warm and susceptible people.
Kepeniaiicesoori folIowe<l the crimen rnto ivtuch tlieir
impatience hid hunied them; but the vengeance of
the tiniperur wa-s implacable, and puiiishmen's of ihe
mosl dredful nature bun? over the cry of Aftioch,
wliose dfvoted mhabi'an s, totally resigned to despon
deuce, wandered 'brtu^hthe streets and public assem*
blies, givin; utterance lo their grief in dirges of the
most loucliin^ laineiitatiou.x M leoglh, Flavianu^,
1 MtXjj Tiva o\o(pvpfiov JfAT^oT; kui avfifraOua^
irvv9i{itvoi, TOiS (i£Aait?iatj tTir/dov. — Niccfh'nr,
lib. xii. cap. 43. This story J-. lold also in S^zomen,
lib. vii. cap. 28. ; but unfortunately Chrysostom says
nothiug whatever about it, and be not only had the
their bishf^p, whom they had sent to intercede with
Theodosius, finding all his entreaties coldly rejected,
adop ed the exppdient of teaching these songs of sor-
row which he liad heird from the lips of his unforlu-
nae cou'i'rsmeri to ihe minstrels who performed for
tlie Em|)er6r at tabie. The heart of Theodosius ould
not resist this a|>peal ; tears tell fast inio his cup while
he listened, and the An'.inchians weie forgiven. —
Surely, if music ever spi'ke the misfortunes of a peo-
ple, o. clujI 1 ever cnnciliate forgiveness for tlieirerrors,
Ihe musicof Ireland ou^ht to po3-e-s those powers.
best nppo tu'iities of mforma ion, but was loo fond f
music, as appears by his prai^^es of p=aliiiody (Expo-
sit, iu P-alni. xli.), to omit such a flattering illustra-
tion of its powers. He imputes their reconciliatioD
to the interference of the ,Antiochiaii solitar es, while
Zozimus attributes it to the remcnstiances of the so-
phist Libanius. — Gibbon, I think, dues not even
allude tu this story of the uiusiciaus.
THE SCEPTIC,
A PHILOSOPHICAL SATIRE.
No/iov navTdiV ^airtXta, — Pindar, ap. Berod, lib. iii.
PREFACE.
The Sceptical Philosophv of the Ancients has been
no less misrepresented than the Epicurean.^ Pyrrho
may perhaps have carried it to rather an irrational
excess;— but we must not believe, with Eeatlie, all
the absurdities imputed lo this philosopher: and it
appears to nie that the doctrines of Ihe school, as ex-
plained by Sexlus Empiricus,* are fa-- more suited to
the uants and infiinuties of human reason, as well as
more conducive to the mild virtues of humility and
patience, than any of those systems of philosophy
which preceded the introduction of Chris'ianiiy. 'Ihe
Sceptics may be said to have held a middle path be-
tween the Dogmatists and Academicians; Ihe former
of whom b.-asfed that thev had attained Ihe truth,
while the latter denied that any attainable truth ex-
isted. The Sceptics, however, without either assert-
ing or denying its exisence^ professed to be modestly
and anxiously in search of it; or, as St. Augustine
expresses it, in his liberal tract against the Manichx-
ans. ** nemo nostrum dicat jam se invenisse verita'em ;
sic earn quaeramusquasi ab ulrisque ne3cia'ur."3 From
Ihis habit of impartial investigation, and the neceB--i'y
which it imposed upon them, of studying not only
every system of philosophy, but every art and science,
which professed to lay its o^sis in truth, they necessa-
rily took a wider range of erudition, and were far
more travelled in the regions of philosophy than those
whom conviction or bigotry h^d domesticated in any
piriicular system. It required all the learning of dog-
matism to overthrow the dogmatism of learning ; and
the Sceptics may be said to resemble, in this respect,
that ancient incendiary, who stole from the alUr ihe
fire with which he destroyed the temple. This ad-
vantage over all the other sects is allowed to them
even bv Lipsius, wh- se treati^e on the miracles of the
Virgo Hallensis will sufficiently save him from all
suspicion of sce[iticism. "Lahore, ingenio, memo-
ria." he says, " supra nmnes pene philos'iphos fuis'^e.
— Quid nonne omnia alinrum secia teneie debnerunt
et inquirere, si pnterunl refellere ? res dicit. Nonne
» Pyrrh. Hvpoth. — The reader may find a tole-
rably clear abstract of this work of Sextus Empiricus
in La Verite des Sciences, by Meiseone, liv. i. chap.
ii., &c.
» Lib. contra Epist. Manichasi quam vocant Fundi-
■nenti, Op. Paris, torn. vi.
orationes varies, raras,pubtiles inveniri ad tam recep-
ta^, daras, ceila5(ut videbatur)5enleritiaseverlenda3 r*
&c. &C.4 — Manduct. ad Philosoj:h. Stoic. Dissert. 4.
Between the scepticism of the anciems and Ihe mo-
derns the great difl'erence is. that Ihe former doubled
for the purpose of investigating, as may be exemplified
by the third book of Aristotle's Meiaphysic9,5 while
the latter investigate for the purpose of doubting, as
niay be seen througli most of Ihe philosophical works
of Hume 6 indeed, the Pynhonism of latter days is
not only moie subtle than that of antiquity, but, U
must be c> nfessed, niore dangerous in its tendency.
The happiness of a Christian depends so essentially
upon his belief, that it is but n.itural he should feel
alarm at the progiess of doubt, lest it should steal by
degrees into that region fiom which he is most inter-
esed in excluding it.ai-d poison at last the very spring
of his consolali' n and hope. Still, however, Ihe
abuses of doubling ought not to deter a philosophical
mind from indulging mildly and rationally in its usej
and there is nothing, surely, more consistent with the
meek spirit of Chi istianily, than ihat humble scepti-
cism which pnies-es not to extend i's distrust beyond
Ihe circle of human pursuits, and the pretensions of
human knowledge. A follower of this school maybe
among Ihe readiest to admit the claims of a superin-
tending Intelligence upon his failh and adoration: it
is only to the wisdom of this weak world that he re-
fuses, or at least delays his assent ;— it is only in pass-
ing through the shadow of earth tlial his mind under-
goes the eclipse of scepticism. No follower of Pyrrho
has ever spoken more strongly agaii st the Dognialiste
than SI. Paul himself, in the First Epistle to the Co-
rin'hians; and there are passages in Ecclesiastes and
other parts of Scripture, which justify our utmnst dif-
fidence in all thai human re.^son originates. Even the
* See Martin. Sclioockius de Sceplicismo, who en-
deavours,—weakly, I think,— to refute this opinion of
Lipsius.
» Ecrri dc roicre vnop7}(rat {iov\ofiivoi^ ffpovp-
yov TO diajrop»^o"a; xaAws. — Mtiaphya. lib. iii,
cap. 1.
6 Neither Hume, however, nor Berkeley, are to be
judged by the misrepre^enlalions of Beattie, whose
book, however amiably intended, puts forth a most
unphilosophical appeal to popular feelings and preju-
dices, and is a continued petitioprincipit throughout.
THE SCEPTIC.
127
Sceptics nf antiquity refrained carefully from tlie mys-
teries of thc'ilog^ , and, in en'eiing the temples of re-
ligion, laidaaide their philos'iphy at 'he porch. Sextus
Einpiricus thus declare-, the acquiescence of his ^ect
in ihe generil belu-t of ;. d.vire .ind f-ire-kofuving
Fnurr : — 'J'^ fitv fittxt icar aKoXovOovvr i'; a^olatr-
Twj <pa/itv iivat -^covs Kat trtpofiiv -^tovs kqi
jroovoiiv avTovs (PafiivA In short, it appears to
mV, llinl this rali'iiial uid vxell-iegulated scepiirisrn is
Ihr <iiilv daugh er of the Schnoh that en safely I'e
sflecicd asa tundniaid for Pie'y. He who distrusts
'he liicht of leason, will be the first (o follow a nioie
l.miiiious guide; and if, with an ardent love fiir truth,
he has soui^ht tier in viin through the ways of this
life, lie will but turn with the niorehopeto Ihat be'ter
world, wl ere all is simple, true, and everlasting : for,
there is no parallax at the zenith ;— it i> only near, ur
trouhled horizon that ohjects deceive us lulo vague
and erroneous calculations.
THE SCEPTIC.
As the gay tint, that decks the vernal rnse,^
Not in the flower, but m our vision clows j
As the ripe flivour .f Falemian tides
Not in the wine, b-it in our (as'e re^iites ;
So when, with heartfelt tribute, we declare
ThT Marco's honest and that Susan's fair,
'Tis in our minds, and not in Susin's eyea
Or Mtrco's life, the wor h nrheiu'v li.s:
For she, in flit-nnsi-d China, wnuld ajipeaf
As phin a thiti^ as Lady Anne is here ;
And one li(chr jnke at rirh Loreltos dome
Would rank good Marco with the damn"d at Rome.
There':) no deformity so vile, so ba'e,
That 'tis not S'-.niewhere tlmu^ht a charm, a grace;
No foul reproach, that may not sieal a beam
From other suns, to ble-ich it to esteeiii.3
1 Lib. iii.cap. t.
a "The pirticular bulk, number, fie^u'e, and mo.
tion of the parts of fire orsnowaie really in them,
whe'her any one perceives them or no', and there*
fore they may be called real quall'ies. because they
leally exist in ihose bodies; buf light, heat, white-
ness, or coldness, are no more really in them than
sickness or pain is in mmna. Take away Ihe sensa-
tion of them ; let not ihe eye see lizht or cnlours, nor
the ears hear sounds; lei the palate not taste, nor the
nose smell, and all cfdours, tastes, oddurs. and sounds^
as they are such puticular ideas, vanish and ceaee."—
Locke, book ii. chap. 8.
nivhop Berkeley, it is well known, extended Ibis
doc'rlne evi-n to primary <}ualitiet, and supposed that
matter ilself has but an idea! existence. Hut, h'lw
arc we to apply his theory to that period wtiich pre-
ceded the formation of man. wTen our sys'em of sen-
Mtile tliini;s was produced, and the sun shone, and the
wa era fltwed, without anysen'ient being t" witness
them ? The spectator. ^^ hom Whiston sur'pltes, will
scarcely solve the difficuhy: "To speak my mind
frt-ely," ^ays he. "I believe thai the Messias was
theieac'Uiiily pre-'ent." — 5ee IVhisturiy of the Mosaic
Creation.
3 Boetius employs this argument of the Sceptics
among his consolatory reflections upon the enjpiiness
of fame. ** Quid qnod diversarum gentium mores
inter seatnue insltnta discordant, nl quod apud alios
laude, apud alios supplicio dignum judicetur ?"— Lib.
ii. prnsa. 7. Many amusing instaiices of diversily, in
the tastes. m:tnner9. and morals of different nation^,
may be found throughout the works of that amu-ing
Sceptic Le Mothe le Vayer. — See his Opuscule Seep
tique, his Treatise »' I)e la Secte Sceptrque," and,
above all, tliose Dialogues, not to be found in his
works, which he published under the name of Hnra-
Ask, who is wise? — ynu 'It find the self-same uiao
A 9iE;e in Fnnce, a madman in Japan ;
Ai\d hire some head beneath a mitre swells,
Which there had tingled to a cap and bells:
Nay tiifte may yet jicme monstrous rei^inn be,
Unknown lo Cook, and from Napoleon Iree,
Wheic C~stl— r— gh would for a patriot pass,
And mouthing M ve scarce be deem'd au assl
*' List not to reason (Epicurus cries.)
•'Hut trust the senses, l/mre conviction lies:"*
Alas I t/icy judsie not by a purer light,
Nor keep Ihejr fountains more unlinged and bright;
H tbit so mar. tliem, lhat the Russian swain
Will sigh for tr..in-oil, while he sips Champagne;
And health so rules them, that a fever's heat
Would uiake even Sh— r— d— u think water sweet*
Just as the mind the erring sense * believes,
he erring mind, in turn, tlie sense deceives j
tins Tubero. — The chiff objection lo these writings
of Le Vayer (and it is a blemish which may l)e felt
also in the Esprit des Loix), is the suspicions obscurity
of tie sources from whence he fieijuenlly draws his
, instances, aid ilie indiscriminate use made by him of
the louesl pojiulace of the library,— those lying tra-
velleis and \v, nder-moriger-;, of « hnm Shafiesbury, io
his Advice to an Author, complains, as having tend^-d
in his own time to the ditfusinn ol a very shallow and
vicinu^ soil. .fscepiicism. — Vol. i. p. 532. TheP>r-
rlmnism nf Lf^ Vayer, hi'Wever, is of the most innocent
and plavfnl kind; and Villemandy, the author of
ScepdciMnui Debella us, exempts him specially in the
derlaraiion of war which he denounces agairis' t'"^
oiiier armed neutrals of Ihe sect, in consideration of
the orthodox limits u ilhin which be couliues his incre-
dulity.
4 This was the creed also of those modem Epicu-
reans, whom Ninon de I'Knclos collecled around her
in the Rue des Toumelles. and wh.se object seems to
have been to f^ecry the faculty of reason, as tending
only to embarnss our whole:-ome u-e of pleasures,
without enabling us, in any degree, to avoid their
abuse. Madame des Houlieies. the fair pupil of Ues
Rarreaux in the ar's of p'iC'iy and gallantry, has de-
voted most of her verses to this laudable purpnse, and
is even snch a determined fne to reason, tint, in one
of her pastorals, she congratulates her sheep on the
want nf it. St. Evremont speaks thus upon the sub-
ject : —
Ou 1
] la rlnrte dps angon,
jeiiM df a BJ milieu acim
Which may be thus paraphrased : —
Ha<I miin been made, ut noture's birth.
Of only flame nr only earll).
Had he bcti) rorm'd a perfect whole
Of purely that, or groxsly this,
Thrn Bens.; would neVr have rloudid soul.
Nor sniil redlrnin'd the Bi>n6e'H t>lit>B.
Oh happVr had his li;^ht befu strong.
Or had ht^ nevttr shaTt6 a li^lit,
Wliii-h shin''* en 'iiRh lo show hi,- *8 wroDg,
But not enough lo lead bim right.
* See, among the frngmen's of Petronius. those
verses lieginning '* Fallunt nos ocuti." &c. The most
scep'ical of the ancient poets was Euripides; and it
would. I think, puzzle the whole school of Pyrrho to
produce a doubt more startling than the following : —
Tij A' oidtv ct j^ijv Tovfl' 6 KZK\7}Tai -Savav,
To ^7jv d« -^vrjO-Ktiv xtrri.
See I^ert. in Pyrrh,
Socra'es and Plato were the^and sources of ancient
scep'icism. According to Cicero fde Orator, lib. iii.),
they supplied Arcesilas with the doctrincB of the
128
THE SCEPTIC.
And cold disgust can find but wrinkles there^
Where passion faticies all that's smooth and fair.
A face for which ten tlioiisaud poumls were paid,
Can lell, how quuk belori: a jury llies
The spelt that niock.'d the warm seducer's eyes.
ithr
vhich Judijmeiil'a
Self is the niediui
Cau seldom pass wilhoul beiii^ tuni'd astray.
The smith of KfUiesusi thoui;ht Uiairs shrine,
By which tiis cralt most llinive, the most divine;
And ev'n the iruL Uilh seems not half so true,
When liiik'd wuh une good living as wilh two.
Had VV— Ic— t first been pcnsionM by the Ihrone,
Kings would have sutterd by. his praise alone;
And t* — ine pcrnaps, lor something snug per aun.,
Had lau^h'd, like W— U— sley, al all Rights of Man.
But '1 is not only individual minds, —
Whole nations, too, the same delusion blinds,
'I'hus England, hot from Denmark's smoking meads,
Turns up her eyes at tiallia's guiKy deeds ;
'1 hus. self-pleas'd still, the same dishonouring chaia
She binds in Ireland, she would break in Sitaiu ;
While piajs'd at distance, hut at home toibid,
Kebeis lu Lurk are patriots at Madrid.
If Grotius be thy guide, shut, shut the book,— •
In force alone for haws of Nations look.
Let shipless Danes and whining yankees dwell
On naval rights, with Grutius and Vallel,
VVhile C— bb — t's pnale code alone appears
Sound moral sense lo Knglaud and Algiers.
Wne to the Sceptic, in these party days,
Who wafts to neither shrine his puds of praise!
For him no pension pours its annual fruits,
No fertile sinecure spontaneous shoots ;
Not Aii the meed that crown'd Don H—kh—m's rhyme,
Nor sees he e'er, in dreams of future lime,
Tliose shadowy forms of sleek reversions rise,
So dear to Sroxhmen's second-sighted eyes.
Yet who, that looks to History's d.imning leaf,
Where Whig and Tory, thict opposed to thief,
On either side in lofiy shame are seen.^
While freedom's form hangs crucified between —
Who, B— rd — II, who such rival rogues can see,
But dies from tot/i to Houtsiy and thee ?
If, weary of the world's bewildering maze,3
Hopeless of finding, through its weedy ways,
One flower of truth, the busy crowd we shuD,
And lo the stiades of tranquil learning run.
How many a doubt pursues I ^ how ott we sigh,
When histories charm, to think that histories liel
That all are gr.ive romances, at the best.
And M— sgr~ve*b6 hut more clumsy than the rest.
By Tory Hume's seductive pa^e beguiled.
We faiicv Cturles was just and StraUord mild; 6
And Fox himself, with parly pencil, draws
Monmouth a hero, " for the good old cause !"^
Then, rights and wrongs, and victories are defeats,
As French or English pride the tale repeats;
And, when they lell Corunna's story o'er,
They'll disagree in all, but honouring Moore:
Nay, future pens, to flatter future courts.
May cile perhaps the Faik-guns' gay reports,
To prove that England trimnph'd on tha mom
Which found her Junot's jeat and Europe's scorn.
Middle Academy; and how closely these resembled
the tenets of the Sceptics, may be seen even in Sextus
Empiricus (lib. i. cap. 33.), who with all his distinc-
tions, can scaicely prove any difi'erence. it appears
strange that Epicurus should have been a dogmatist ;
and his natural temper would most prob.ibiy have led
him to the repose of scepticism, had not the Stoics, by
their violent opposition to Jus doctijnes, compelled
liini to be as obstinate as themselves. Fiutaich, in-
deed, in reporting some of his opinion?, represen'
him as having delivered them with considerable hes
tation. — iCTTLKov{iOS ov6zv anoytvwa-Ku tovtiu^
txojitxtos Tov LvSixoiitvQV.—Dt Placxt. Philosop}
lib. ii. cap. 13. See also the 21st and 22d chapter:
But that the leading characteristics of the sect wer
self-suflTiciency and d 'gmatism, appears from wh;
Cicero says of Velleius, iJe Natur. /Jeor. — " Tui
Velleius, fiden'er sane, ul solent isli, nihil tarn verei
quam ne dubitare aliqiia de re videretur."
> Mts, chap. xix. *• For a certain man named De-
metrius, a silversmith, which made silver shnnei
Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen.'
^" Those two thieves," s^iys Ralph, '-betv
whom the nation is crucified." — Use and Abuse of
Parliaments.
3 The agitation of the ship is one of the chief dif-
ficulties which impede the discnveiy »f the longitude
at sea; and the tunmlt and hurry of life are equally
In science, too — how many a system, riis
Like Neva's icy domes, awhi'le halh blazed
With lights of fjiicy and with forms of pri(
Then, melting, mingled with the oblivious
■' '3 Earth usurps the centre of the sky,
y Newlon puts the paltry planet by ;
;ed
favourable to that calm level of mind which is
necessary to an inquirer after truth.
In the mean time, our modest Sceptic, in the
absence of truth, contents himself with probabilities,
resembling in this respect those suitois of heuelope,
who, on finding that they could not possess the mis-
tress herrelf, very wisely resolved to put up with her
maids; tv) Ti7iv£ho7T/j nXtjuia^uv firi dwafitvoi^
Tais" TavT7j-i tfuyvvvTO ^t^aiiai.vai.%.—Pluiardiy
UiiJi UaiSosv AytoyTys.
4 See a curious work, entitled "Reflections upon
Le.irniiig," written on the plan of Agrippa's *' De
Vanitate Scieniarum," but much more honesily and
skilfully executed.
5 This historian of the Irish rebellions has outrun
even his predece-sor in the pime task, Sir John Tem-
ple, for whose character with respect to veracity the
reader may consult Carte's Collection of Oimond's
Original Papers, |^ 207. See also Dr. Nalson's ac-
count of him, in the inlroduction to the second volume
of his Historic. Collect.
6 He defends Strafford's conduct as " innocent and
even laudable." In the same spirit, speaking of the
arbitrary sentences of the Star Chamber, he says,—
"The severity of the Star Chamber, which was
generally ascribed to Laud's passionate disposition,
was, perhaps, in itself, somewhat blameable."
1 Ttiat flexibility of temper and opinion, which the
habits of scepticism are so calculated to produce, are
thus pleadetl f.r by Mr. Fox, in the very sketch of
Monmouth to which 1 allude; and this part of the
picture tlie historian may be ihuught to have drawn
from himself. " One of the most conspicuous leatures
in his charac'er seems to have been a remarkable,
and, as some think, a culpable degree of flexibility.
That such a disposition is preferable to its opposite
extienie wili be admitted by all, who think that
modesty, even in excess, is more nearly allied to wis-
dom than cmceit and setf-sufficiency. He who has
attentively considered the political, or indeed the
general concerns of life, may possibly go still turlher
and may rank a willingness lO be convinced, or, io
some cases, even without conviction, to concede our
own opinion to that of other men, among the prin-
cipal ingredien's in the composition of practical wis-
(jnni." — It is rit-hl to observe, however, that the
Sceptic's re dine>s of concession arises rather from
iiricer'amty than convic'ioii, more from a suspicion
that his own ( pinion may be v^vow^, than from any
persuasion that the opinion of his a.lversary is right.
" It may be so." was the courteous and sceptical for-
mula, uilh which the Dutch were accustomed to
, reply to the sia'ements of ambassulois. See Lloyd^l
State JVo^thies, art. Sir Thomas Wyat.
TWOPENNY POST-BAG,
129
Nttw whims revive hftneath Hescartes's i pen,
Which JtouJ, assall'd by Locke's, expire again.
And when, pertiaps, in pride of chemic pov%ers,
We think the keys u( Naure's kin^id -m ou^s,
Some Liavy's inaiic touch tlie dream unsettlea,
And turns at once our alkalis in inela:s.
Or, should we T0;ini. in iiteiaphy!>ic maze,
ThrouRh fair-huilt Uicnrie- of former days,
Some !)i— miTi-d 'i frnm he iiorlh. niore ably skillM,
Like <'thcr G^'tlis, to ruin ihm to build,
Tramples tnuinpharit lhrous:h our fanes overthrown.
Nor leases one grace, one glory of his own.
Oh, Learning, whatsoe'er thy pomp and boast,
r/»letteiM minds have taught and charm 'd men most.
The rude, uuread Columbus was our guide
To worlds, which learn'd Lactanfius had denied;
And one wild Shakspearc, fallowing Nature's lighti,
Is worth whole plaucts, fiU'd with Stagintes,
See grave Theilogv. when once she strays
From Kevel.ition's path, "hal tricks she plays;
What virions heav'ns,— all fit fir bards to sniff,—
Have churchmen dream'd, from Papias^ down to
King!*
> Descartes, who is considered as tlie parent of
modern scepticism, says, that there is nothirig in the
whole range of philosophy which does not admit of
two opposite opinions, and which is not involved in
doubt and uncerLiinty. " In Philosophia nihil adhuc
reperiri, de quo non in utram(iue parlein disputatur^
hoc est, quod non sit incertuni eldubiuni." Gassendi
is likewise to be added to the list of modern Sceptics,
and Wedderk' pif, in his Dissertation ** De Scepticismo
Erofano ct sacro " (.Argentorat. 1666), has denounced
ramius also as a follower of Pyrrho, for his opinions
upon the Trinity, and some other subjects To these
if we add the n ^ma nf liayle, Mallebranche, Dryden,
I/icke, &c. &c.. I think there is no one who need be
ashamed of doubting in such company.
^ See Ihis gentleman's Acidemia Queslions.
3 Papias lived about the time of the apostles, and is
supposed to have given birth to the heresy of the
While hell itself, in India nought but smnke,6
In Spain's a lurnace, and in France — ajoke.
Hail, modest Ignorance, thou goal and prize,
Th'iu last, besi knowUil-.- of the simply wise!
Hail. liumlj!c l)'.;.l ■, v\i,. i, mmi's waves are past,
• I M purl *> at last,
iHM lured nor awed,
li.ii roar abroad.
. konvvs how frail
lU Bummer's gale,
lose beacon glows
her fnet'ds or foes.
There Faiih retires, and keeps her whi'e sail furi'd.
Till cali'd to spread it for a better world ;
While Patience, watching on the wedly shore,
And, nmlely wailing till the stoini be o er
Oft turns to Hope, who still directs her eye
To some blue .spot, just breaking in the sky !
Such are the mild, the blest associates given
To hini who doubts, — and trusts in nought but
Heaven \
And, there, bv i
Smile at the b;i'tl;. - ,m; ;
Thnr gentle Ch:in'V, wlu
Tlic bark of Vinue, even i
Sits l-y the nightly fire, u^
Chiliastfc, whose lieaven wa^ by no means of a >piri-
tual nature, but rather an anticipation of ihe Prophet
of Hera's elysium. See Kusebius, Hi>t. Ecciesiast.
lib. iii. cap. 33.. and Hieronym. de Scriptor. Eccle-
siast. From all I can find in these authors cincerning
Papias, it seems hardly fair to impute to him those
gross imaginations in which the believers of the sen-
sual millennium iudnlged.
4 King, in his Morsels of Criticism, vol i.. supposes
the sun to be the receptacle of blessed spirits.
5 The Indians call hell *■ the House nf Smoke."
See PiCTrt upon the Religion of the Pan^ans. 'Ihe
reader who is curit>us about infernal matiers, may be
edified by consulting Knsca de Inferno, particularly
iib. ii. cap. 7. 8., where he will find ihe piecise sort
ascertained in which wicked spirits are to he
burned he
after.
6 " Chere Sceptique. douce pafure de mnn ame, et
I'unique port de salut a un esprit quiaimele lepose !'*
— La Mothe le Vayer.
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
BY THOMAS BROWN THE YOUNGER,
Elnpsae manlbas secldere tabellae. — 0»iif.
D EDI CATION,
TO STEPHEN WOOLRICHE, ESQ.
My Dear Woolriche,— It is now about seven years
since I promised {and I grieve to think it is almost as
long since we me') lo dedicate to you the very first
Book, of whatever size or kind, I should publish.
Who could have thought that so many years would
elapse, without my giving the least sigiia of life upon
Ihe subject of this important promise? Who could
have imagined that a volume of dnggerel, al'ter all,
would be the first nftmng that Gratitude would lay
upnn t|.ie shrine of Friendship ?
If you continue, h'lwever, to be as much interested
abmit me and mv pursuits as formerly, you will be
happy 10 hear tliai doggerel is not my only occupation ;
but that I am prenaring to throw my nnne tn the
Swans of the Temple of Immortalitv.i leaving it. of
course, to the said Swan'' to determine, whe'her they
ever will like the trouble of picking it from the
Btream.
1 Ariosto, canto 35.
In the mean time, n. dear Woolriche, like an or-
thodox Lutheran, you must judge of me rather bv my
failli than my works ; and hnwever trifling the tri-
bute vWiich I here ofil-r, never doubt the fidelity with
wliicb 1 am, and always shall be,
Your sincere and
attached friend,
THE AUTHOR
March 4, 1613.
PREFACE.
The Bag, from which the following Letteis sre
selec'ed, was dropped by a 'I'wnpenny Postman about
two months since, and picked up by an emissary of
the Society forthe Suppression of Vice, "ho, supposing
it niijht materially a-^sist the private researches <.f that
Institution, immediately took it to hi'^ emplnyerr. and
was rewarled handsomely for his truble. Such a
treasury of secrets was worth a whole host of inform-
er* ; and, accordingly, like the Cupids of the poet (if
i may use so profane a simile) who "fell at odds
130
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
about the swee'-ba? of a bee," » those venerable Sup-
pressors almost foughl with each other for the honour
and delightof iirst ransacking tlie Post-Bag. Unluckily,
however, il turned out, upon exatninatiDn, that the dis-
coveries of profli?acy which it enabled them to make,
lay chiefly in those upper regions of society, which
their weli-brcd rci^utations forbid Ihein t^> molest or
meddle with. — In C(»n>cquence, Ihcy g;»iiicd but ve y
victims by their prize, and, after I> ms 1'
' under Mr. Uaichard's
quence of this graceless Utile book, a certain diBtio-
gui^hed Personage prevailed upon another tlistinguinh-
ed Personage to withdmv from the author Ih't notice
and kindness with which he had so long and so liber-
ally honoured him. In this story there is not one
sylUblenf trulh. For the maenanimil) "f \he former
of these persons I wrmid, indeed, in no l.\,e answer too
rashly; hut of the conduct of the latltr Inwards my
friend 1 have a proud gralihcat
its violated con;enls, was sold for a trifle t> a friend of
mine.
It happened tnat I had been just Ihen seizf d with an
ambition (having never tried the s rei'gih of my wing
but in a Neivspaper) to publish something or other in
he slwpe of a fioi>k ; and ii occurred lo me that, the
present being such a letter-writing era, a few of thee
Twopenny-Post Epistles, turned into easy verse, would
be as light and popular a task as I could possibly select
f >r a commencement. I did not, ho\\ ever, tJiink it
prudent to give too mmy Letters at firs*, and, accord-
mgly, have bee i obliged (in order to eke out a sufii-
cient number of pages) to reprint some of those trille^,
which h:\d .already appeared in the public journals.
As in the battles of ancient times, the shades of the
departed «ere sometimes seen among the comba'anls,
so I thought I mii;ht mmage to remedy the thinness of
my ranks, by conjuring up a few dead and forgotten
ephemerons to fill them.
Such are the motives and accidents that led to the
present publication; and as this is the hrst time my
Muse has ever ventured out of the go-cart of a New^.
proper, though I feel all a parent's delight at seeing
little Miss go alone. I am also not without a parent's
anxiety, lest an unlucky fall should be thecou-^equence
of the experiment; and I need not point out how
many living instances might be found, of Muses that
have suffered very .-■everely in their he ids, from taking
rather too early and rashly to their feet. Besides, a.
Book is so very different a thing from a Newspaper!
— in the former, your doggerel, without either com-
pany or shelter, must stand shivering in the middle of
a bleik p.ige by itself; whereng, in the latter, it is
comforiauly backed bv ad ertisements, and has some-
times even a Speech of Mr. St — ph— n's, or some-
thing equally warm, for a chaujfcpitd ~ so that, in
general, the very reverse of '* laudatur el alget " is its
destiny-
Ambition, however, must run some risks, and I
shall be very well sati-fied if the reception of these
few Letters, should have the effepi of sending me to
the Fost-Bag for more.
ter. ttie Bag. with it has never ceased to be
he nmst remember
PREFACE
TO THE FOURTEENTH EDITION.
BY A FRIEND OP THE AUTHOR.
In the absence of Mr. Brown, who is at present on
a tour through , I feel myself ealtea upon, ;
his friend, to notice certain misconceptions and mi
representations, to which this little volume of TriMi
has given rise.
In the first place, if is not true that Mr. Brown ha'*
had any accomplices in the work. A note, indeed,
which has hitherto accompanied his Prefice, may
very naturally hive been the origin of such a supposi-
tion ; but that note, which was merely the C'^quelry of
an author, I have, in the present edition, taken upon
myself to remove, and Mr. Brown must therefore be
considered (like the molber of that unique produ^-'tion,
the Cen'aur. fiova Kai p.ovov'^) as alone responsible
th indelible gratitude ;— a gratitude the more cheer-
fully and vxannly paid, from its not being a debt in-
curred solely on his oun -iccount, but for kindness
shared with those nearest ar.d dearest to him.
To the charge of being an Irishman, poor Mr.
Brown pleads guilty; and I believe it must also be
acknowledged that he comes of a Roman Catholic ]
family: an avowal which 1 am aware is decisive of
his utter reprobation, in the eves of those exclusive I
pa'eiitees of Christianity, so worthy to have been the
followers of a certain enlightened Bishop, Donatu5,3
who held *' that God is in Africa and not elsewhere.^*
But from all this it does not necessarily follow that
Mr. Brown is a Papist; and, indeed, I have the
strongest re.uoiis for suspecting tliat they, who s:»y bo,
are somewhat mistaken. Not that I presume to liave
ascertained his opinions upon such subjects. All 1
profess to know of his orthodoxy is thai he has a Pro-
testant wife and tuo or three liille Protestant children,
and that he has been seen at church every Sunday, for
whole year together, lisiening to the sermons of his
ruly reverend and amiable friend, L)r. , and
lehaving there as well and as orderly as nios' people.
There are yet a few other mistakes and falsehood.*
:bout Mr. Brown, lo which I had intended, with all
becoming gravity, 'o advert ; but I begin to think the
task is quite as u-eless as it is tiresonie. Misrepresen-
tations and calumnies of this strt are, like the atgu-
ments and statements of Dr. Duigenan,— not at all the
less vivacious or les» serviceable to their fabiiclnrs.
for having been refuted and disproved a thousand
times over. They aie biought forward again, as good
as new, whenever nialice or stupidity m 'y be in want
of tliem: and ae quite as useful as the old broken
lantern. Ill Fielding's Amelia, which the watchman
always keeps leady by htm, to produce, in proof of
riotous Conduct, against his victims. I shall therefore
give up the f.uitless toil nf vindication, and would
even draw my pen over what I have already written,
had I not promised to furnish my publisher with a
Preface, and know not how else I could contrive to
eke it out.
I have added two or three more trifles to (his edi-
tion, which I found in the Morning Chronicle, and
knew lo be from the pen of my fiiend. The rest of
the volume remains * in its original state.
^pril 20, 1814.
INTERCEPTED LETTERS, ETC.
for the uhole content^; of th(
In the next place it has
volun
aid, that in conse-
I Herrick.
a Pindar, Pyth. 2.— My friend certainly (
LETTER I.
FROM THE PR — NC— SS CH— RL— E Or
W — L— S TO THE LADY B— RB — A
ASK — Y.*
3 Bishop of Casse Nigrae, In the fourth century.
* A new reading has been suggested in the orieinal
of the Ode of Horace, freely transla'ed bv Lord F.ld-
— n. paee 189. In the line '*Sive per Syrleis iter
as-^tuos.is," it is proposed, by a very trifling alteration,
to read " Surtces,^'' iiistt^d of " Sytteis,'" w hich brings
the Ode, it is said, more home to the noble translator
and gives a peculiar force and aplne-^s to the epithet
" aes>luosas." 1 merely throw out this emendation for
the learned, being un.ible myself to decide upon iti
I merits.
I • This young Lady, who is a Roman Catholic, Iiad
TWOPENNY POST-BAG,
131
My dear Lady Bab, you '11 be sliock'd, 1 'm afraid,
When ynu htar Ihe sad rumijus your Ponies have
made
Since (he time of horse-consuls (now lorifj out of date),
No nat;s evei tnnde ^uch a stir in Ihe stale..
Lord Eld— n fust heard —and as instantly pray'd lie
To "God and his Kins;"— that a Popish youni; Lady
(Fo- though you've bright eyes and twelve Ihousand
a yt- ar,
U is still but too true you 're a Papist, my dear,)
Had insidiously sent, by a tall Irish giouin.
Two priist-ridden Ponies, jus! landed froni Rome,
And so full, little rogues, of ponlihcal tricks,
That the dome of St. PauPs was scarce safe from their
kicks.
Off at once to Papa, in a flurry he flies —
For P-ipa always does wh.it these statesmen advise,
Un coiiditioQ that they'll be. in turn, so polite
As In no case whale'er to a'! vise him too right —
" Pretiy doings are here, Sir (he angrilv cries,
While by diut of dark eyebrows he strives to look
** 'T is a ^chenle of the Romanists, so help me God !
*' To ride over your most Royal Highness lougb-
shod —
"Excuse, Sir, my tears — they're from loyalty's
" Rad enough 't was for Troy to be sick'd by a Horse^
"But for us to be ruin'd by Ponies still worse !"
Quick a Council is call'd — the whole Cabn.et sita —
The Aichbishops declare, fnghten'd out of their wits,
That if ojice Popish Ponies shnuld eat at my manger,
From that awful moment the Church is in danger!
As, give them but s'abling, and shnrtly no s'alls
Will suit their proud stomachs but those at St. Paul's.
The Doctor,* and he, Ihe devout man of Leather,*
V— Tis-lt-f, now I.Tviiie their .Siint-he>d? toi;elher,
Declare that these skittish young a-boininatimis
Are clearly foretold in Chap. vi. Revelations-
Nay, they verily think they could point out the one
Wtiich the Doctor's friend Death was to canter upon.
Lord H — rr — by, hnping that no one imputes
To the Court any fancy to persecute bru'es,
Protes's, on the word of himself and his cmnies,
Tlial had these said creatuie* been Asses, not Ponies,
The Court would have started no sort of objeciion.
As Asses were, tfierCj always sure of pro'eciion.
*<lf the Pr— nc— ss mill keep them (says Lord C— s-
tl-r-gh),
" To make them quite hirmless, the onlv true way
'*Is(s5Ctrtain Chief Justices do with their wives)
** To flog them withm half an inch of their lives.
" If they *ve any bid Irish blood lurking about,
'*This (he knew by experience) would soon draw it
out.'*
Should this be thought cruel, his Lordship proposes
'* The new Ke(o snaffle 3 to bind down their noses —
"A pretiy contrivance, made out of old chains,
" Which appears to iudulge, while it doubly restrains;
"Which, h'wcver high-mellied, their ganiesonieiiess
checks
"(Adds his l^rdahip humanely), or else breaks their
necks !"
This proposal receiv'd pretty general applause
Fioni the Statesmen around— and ibe neck-breaking
lately made a present of some beautiful Ponies to the
Pr— nc— ss.
« Mr. Addington, so nicknamed.
a Alluding to a lax lately laid upon leather,
3 The qutfsiion whether a Veto wasfo he ullnwed
to the Crown in the appointment of Irish Catholic
Bishops was, at this time, very generally and actively
agitated.
fliid a vigour about it, which soon reconcil'd
Even Eld— n himself to a measure so mud.
So llie snalHcs, my dear, were agreed to nem. con.f
And my l.nrd C— sti — r — gh, having so ofien shone
In tlie fctttfing line, is to buckle them on.
I shall drive to your door in these ^ctos some day
But, at present, adieu ! —I mu;-t hurry away
To go see wy M.unma. as I 'm suHer'd tn nieet her
For just half an hour by the Qu— i.'s Lest repeater,
Ch— RL— TTK,
LETTER II,
FROM COLONEL M'm— II — N TO G — LI
FR — NC — S L— CKIE, ESQ.
Dear Sir, I »ve just had lime to look
Inio your very learned Rook,*
Wherein — as plain as man can speak,
Whose English is half niodern Gieek —
You prove ihal we can ne'er intrench
Our hnppy isles against the French,
Till Royalty in England's m.ide
A much mnie independent trade ; —
Jn short, umil the House of Guelph
La\s Lords and Commons on the shelf,
And boldly sets up for itself.
All. that can well be understood
In this said Book, is vastly good ;
And, as to what's incomp etiensihle,
I dare be suoru *t is full as sensible.
But, to your work *s imniOttal credit.
The Pr-n-e, good Sir, the Pr— n-e has read it
(The only Book, himeif remarks,
Which he ha^ read since Mrs. Clarke's.)
I-ast levee-mom he look'd ii through,
During that awful hour or two
Of grave tonsorial preparation,
VVhich, to a fond, admiring na'ion,
Sends frtrth, announced by trump and drum,
The best-nigg'd pr— n— e in Chtistendom.
He thinks with ynu, th' imaginatioa
0( partnership in legislation
Cnuld only enter in the noddles
Of dull and ledger-keeping twaddles.
Whose heads on firms are runniiiK so,
They ev'n must have a King and Co.,
And hence, most eloquently show forth
On checks and bala7iceaf and so forth.
But now, he trusts, we *re coming near a
Far more royal, loy.tl era ;
When En^l.tnd's monarch need but say,
"Whip me those scoundrels, C— stI— r— gh!"
Or, " Hang me up those Papists, Eld— n,"
And 't will be done — ay, faith, and well done.
With view to which, I 've his command
To bee, Sir. from your Iravell'd hand,
(Round which the foreign graces swarm 6)
A Plan of radical Reform;
Compil'd and clms'n as best you can,
In Turkey or at Ispahan,
And qui'e iiplurniiig. branch and root,
Lords, Commons, and Burdett to hoot
But, pray, wha'e'er you may impart, write
Somewhat more brief than M.ijor C— rtwr— ^ht:
« For an account of this extraordinary work of Mr.
Leckie, see the Edinbuigh Review, vol. xx.
» " The truth indeed seems to oe, (hat havmg lived
90 long abroad as evidently to have loaf, .n a gr.-at
degree, the use of his native language, Mr. Leckie lias
gradually come, not onlv to s(>eak, but to feel, lik« a
foreigner."— £di«Z;i«;r"/t Review.
132
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
Else, though (he Fr e be Inns in rigging,
'T would t»ke, at least, a forlnig^ht's wigging,-
Two wia;s to every paragraph —
Before he well could get through half.
You Ml send it also speedily —
As, truth In say, '(wixt you and me,
His Highness, hea'ed by your wt.rk,
Already ihiiiks him elf Giand Tnik !
And vou 'd have laugh'd, h.id y'lu seen how
He sc'ar'd ihe Ch— nc— 11— r just i.o^^'.
When (on his Lordship's eniKnng putl'd) he
Slapp'd his back and call'J him " Mufli ! »
The lailors too have got commands,
To put directly in'o hands
All sorts of Diilimans and Pnuches^
With Sashes, Turbans, and Pabou ches,
(While V— rrn— th 's sketching out a plaa
Of new Moustaches a I'Ottotnane)
And all things tilting and expedient
To turkify our gracious R— g— nl I
You, therefore, have no time lo waste ^
So, send your System. —
Yours, ia haste.
POSTSCRIPT,
Before I send this scrawl away,
I seize a moment, just to say,
There's some parts of the Turkish system
So vulgar, 'i were as well you miss'd 'em.
For instance — in Seras^lio ma'ters —
Your Turk, whom girlVh fondness tiatters,
Would fill his Hara'm (tasteless fool !j
With tittering, red-cheek'd things from school.
But here (as in Uiat fairy laod,
Where Love and Age ueut hand in hand ;
Where lips, till six'y, shed no honey,
And Gruid^nis "ere worth any money,)
Our Sultan his much riper notions —
So, let your list of sAe-piomntions
Include those only, plump and sage,
Who've reach'd (he regulation-Age ^
That is. (as near as one can hx
From Peerage dates) full bfiy-six.
This rule's for fav'rites — nothing more —
For, as to wivcs^ a Grand Signor,
Though noi decidedly without them,
Need never care one curse about them.
LETTER in.
FROM G— GE PR— CE R— G — T TO THE
E OF Y TH.*
We miss'd you last night at the " hoary old sinnerV'
Who gave us, as nsual, the cream nf gnod dinners;
His soups scientific — his fi hes quite prime —
His pates superb — and his cutlets sublime !
' The learned Cnlnnel must a'lude here to a descrip
Hon of the Mysterious Isle, in the History of Abdalla.
Son of Hanif,' where such inversions of the order of
na'ure are said to have taken place. "A score of old
women and the same number of old men played here
and there in the couri, some at chuck-faithing, others
at tip-cat or at cackles." And ajain, "Jhere is
nothing, believe me, ntoie eng;»i;iiig Ihm those lovely,
wrinkles," &c. &.C. See Tales of the Eastj vol. lii
pp. 607. 60S.
^ This letter, as the reader wiJI perceive, was
written the day afier a dinner given by the M— rq— s
of H-d-t.
In short, U was the snug sort of dinner to stir a
Stomachic orira«m in my Lord El — b — gh,
Who Slit to, to be sure, with miraculnus force,
And exclaini'd, between mouthluls, "a i/c-Cook, 0(
course ! —
"While you live — (what's there under that cover?
pray, look)-
" While you live- (I'll just taste it) — ne'er keep a
She-Cook.
•*'Ti3 a sound Salic Law — (a small Lit of that
totst) —
'• Which ordains that a female shall ne'er rule the
roast :
'* For Cookery 's a secret— this turtle 's uncommon) —
" Like Masonry, never found out by a woman i"
The dinner, vou know, was in gay celebration
Of my brilliant triumph and H — ni's condemnalioD ;
A conijliment, loo, to his Lordshij) the Judge
For his Speech to the Jury — and zounds I who would
grudge
Turtle soup, though it came to five guineas a bowl.
To reward such a loyal and complaisant soul ?
We were all in hi^hgig — Roman Punch and Tokay
Traveli'd round, till our beads travtlTd just the same
way ;
And we car'd not for Juries or Libels — no — damme !
nor
Ev'n for the threats of last Sunday 's Examiner !
More good things were eaten than said — but Tom
T— rrh— t
In quoting Joe Miller, you know, has some merit;
And, hearing the sturdy Jus iciary Cliief
Say — sated wih turtle — ** I '11 now try the beef" —
Tommy whisper'd him {giving his Lordship a sly
hit)
" I fear 't will be Aung--beef, my Lord, if you try it !"
And C— nid— n was there, who, that morning, had
gnne
To fit his new Marquis's coronet on ;
And the dish set before him— oh dish well-devisM !—
Was,- what old Mother Glasse calls, "a calf's head
surpris'd !"
The brains were near Sh— ry, and 07ice had been fine,
Rut, of late, they had lain sn long soaking in wine,
Ttiat, though we, from courtesy, still chose to cill
These brains very fine, they were no brains at alL
When the dinner was over, we drank, every one,
In a bumper, *• the venial delights of Crim. Coo. ;"
At which H — df— t with warm reminiscences glnated,
And E— b'r— h chuckled to hear himself quoted.
Our next round of toasts was a fancy quite new,
For we drank — and you II own 't was benevolent too—
To those well-meaning husbands, cits, parsons or
pe^rs.
Whom we've, any time, honoured by courting their
de ITS :
This museum of witfols was comical rather ;
Old H— df— t gave M— ss— y, and / gave your f—
th-r.
In short, not a snul till this morning would bud^e —
We were all fun and frolic.— and even the J e
Laid aside, for the time, his juridical fashion,
And through the whole night wasn't once in a pas-
sion 1
I write this in bed, while my whiskers are airing,
And M~c3 has a sly dose rf jalap preparing
For poor T— mmy T— rr— t at breakfast to quaff-
As 1 teel 1 want something to give me a Itugh,
And there's nothing so good as old T— mmy, kept
close
To his Cornwall accounts, af fer taking a dnse.
3 Colonel M'Mahon.
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
133
LETTER IV.
FROM THE RIGHT HON. P— TR — CK
D— GEN— N TO THE RIGHT HON. SIR
J — HN N— CH — L.
DubUn.i
Last week, dear N— ch— 1, nuking merry
At dinner with ouc Secretary,
When all were drunk, or pretty near
(The time foi- dnin°j business tiere,)
Says lie lo nie, "Sweel Bully Bottpm !
"'i'hese Papist dogs — hiccup — 'od rot 'em! —
" Deserve to be bespalter'd — hiccup —
" With all ihe din ev'n you can pick up.
"Hut, aslhePr— ce (here's to lilm — fill —
" Hip, hip, hurra !) — is Tying still
"To humbug Ihem with kind professions,
*' And, as you deal in strong eipreslons —
'• lioifue " — '• tiwlor " — hiccup — and all that-
*' You must be muzzled. D"ctor fa' ! —
" You must indeed — hiccup — that 's flat."—
Ye* — "muzzled" was Ihe word, Sir Joha —
These fools luve clapp'd a muzzle on
The boldest inr.ulh IJlat e'er ran o'er
Wilh slaver of lire times of yoreia-
Was il for this that back I went
As far as Lateran and Trent,
To prove that Ihey, who d.inin'd us then.
Ought now, in turn, be damn'd again ?—
The silent viclini sllll to sil
Of Gr— II— n's fire and C— nn— g's wit,
To hear ev'n noisy M— th— w gibble on.
Nor mention once Ihe W-e of Babylon 1
Oh ! 't IS loo much— who now Will be
The Nishlnian of No Popery?
What Courtier, Saint, or even Bishop,
Such learned tilth will ever iisli up?
If there among our raiiks be one
To take my pljce, 't is thou. Sir John ;
Thou, who, like me, art dubb'd llrght Hon.
Like me too, art a Lawyir Civil
That wishes Papists at the devil.
To whom ihen but lo thee, my friend,
Should Paliicka his Porl-fdio send?
Take il - 'I is Ihine — his learnd Porl-folio,
Wilh ail iis theologic olio
Of Bulls, half Irish and half Roman —
Of Doctriiifs, now believ'd by no man —
t)f Councils, held for men's salvation,
Yel ah\ ays ending in damnation —
(Which shows th il, since Ihe world's creation.
Your Piiesls, whate'er their senile shamming,
Have always had a lasle f ir d.imning,)
And many more such pious scmps.
To prove (whai we^vt long prov'd, perhaps,)
That, mad as Christ Jans usd lo be
About Ihe Thirleerrth Century,
There still are Cliris'iai:s to be h^d
In this, Ihe Nineteenth, just .as mad!
Farewell— I send with this, dear N— ch— I,
A rod or two I 've had in picfile
Wherewi h to trim old Gr-li-n's .iackel.—
The rest shall go by Monday's packet,
P. D.
I This le'ter, which contained some very heavy
enclosures, seems to have been sr-nt lo London hy a
privite hand, and then put iii'o Ihe Twopenny Pust-
OIHce, lo save tri.nhle. See the Appendix.
•i In sendinglhis sheet to the Pre-s. however. I learn
that Ihe '' muzzle " has been 'aken olf, and the Right
Hon. Doctor a^ain let loose 1
» A bad name for poetry ; but D— gen— n is still
worse. As Prudentius says upon a very ditlerent sub'
ject —
Torquotur Apollo
NomlDe percusBUB,
12
Amons the Enclosures in the foregoing Letter was
the folluwing ' ' Unanswerable Argument against
the Papists.^*
« # » •
We 're told the ancient Roman nation
Mide use nf spittle in lu^tntinn j *
{yide Lactaniium ap. G.illaeurn — »
I- e. you need not read but see 'em j)
Now, Iiish Papists, fact surprising,
Make use of spittle in baptizing}
Which proves ihem all, (/Finns, O'Fagans,
Connor., and T'»ole3, alt di>wnright F.igans.
This fact 's enough j — li'l no one tell us
To free such sad, salivous (trllowa.
No, no— the man. baptizM with spittle,
Hath no truth in him — not a tittle 1
LETTER V.
FROM THE COUNTESS DOWAGER OF C — RK
TO LADY .
My dear Lady ! I 've been just sending oat
About five hundred carda (or a snug little Kout —
(By the bye, you 've seen Rukeby ? — this moiuenl got
The Mail-Coach Edition® — prodigiously fine!)
But I can't conceive how, in this very cold weather,
1 'm ever t » bring my five hundred togeiher;
As, unless the Iheiinoineter 's ne^r bailing heat,
Une can never get half of one's hundreds lo meet.
Apropos — you'd have laugh'd tu see Townsend last
night,
Escort to their chairs, with his stiff, so polite,
'Ihe " three m.'ide . Miseries," all m a fright ;
Foor Townsend, like Meicury, hllingtwo posts,
Supervisor of thieoes^ and chief-usher o( ghosts i
But, my dear Lady -
-, canU you bit on some
At least for one night to set London in motion ? —
As to having the K~-g— nt, that show is gone by —
Bi^sides. I 've remarked that (between you and I)
The Marche a and he, inconvenient in more ways,
Have t.iken much la'ely to whi>pering in doorways;
Which — consid'ring, you kuovv, dear, the size uf the
two —
Makes a block that one's company cannot get through ;
And a hiiuse such as mine is, wilh doorways so small,
Has no room for such cumt-etsnine love-work at ,ill.^
(Apropos, ttiough, of love-work — you *ve heard it,
hnj)e,
That Napoleon's old mother's to marry the Pope, —
What a comical pair \) — but. to stick to my Rout,
•r will be hard if -ome novelty c^n't be struck out.
Is there no Algerine. no Kamchatkan arriv'd ?
No Pleiiipo F^cha, three-tail'd and len-wiv'd?
No Russian, whose dissmiant consonant name
Almost rattles lo fragments the trumpet of fame ?
I remember the time, three or r>«r winters bick,
When— provided tlifir wigs were but decently black —
A few Patriot monsteis. from .Spain, were a sigtit
That would people one's house for one, night after
ni^ht.
4 Lustralibus ar;e salivis
Expiat Pers. sat. 2.
ft I have taken the trouble of examining the Doc-
tor's reference here, and find him, for once, cnrrt-ct.
The ft. Mowing are the words of his ir-digi:ani referee
Gallai'13 — " Asserere ion vereinur sacrum bapli^mum
a Papislis pr 'fanari, et sputi usum in peccatorum ex-
piatione a Paginis non a Christianis manusse.^*
6 See Mr, Murray's Advertisement about (be Mail-
Coach copies of Rokeby.
134
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
But— whether fhe Ministers pauj'rf them too much —
(And you know how they spoil whatsoever they touch)
Or, whether Lord G—rge (the young
Has, by^dint of bad poetry, '--"'• — •'
about town)
^ , ten them down,
— certamlv lost one's jye7n'?wiiZar rage j
And the only stray Patriot
Has been at sucli pi
As old Mrs. V— gh-
, (think, how the fit cools !)
s or Lord L— v— rp— i's.
But, io short, my dear, names like Wintztschit,
stopsctiinzoudhott"
Are the Only things now make an ev'ning go smooth off:
So, gel me a Russian — till death I 'm your debtor —
If he brings the whole Alphabet, so much the belter.
And — Lord I if he would but, in character, sup
OH' his fish-oil and candles, he'd quite set me up !
^u reuoir, my aweet girl — I must leave you in
haste —
Little Gunter has brought me the Liqueurs to taste.
POSTSCRIPT.
By tbe bye. have you found any friend that can con-
strue
That L:itin account, t'other day. of a Monster?!
If we can't get a Russian, and that thiii^ in Latio
Be not too improper, I think 1 Ml bring that in.
LETTER VI,
FROM ABDALLAH,^ IN LONDON, TO MO-
HASSAN, IN ISPAHAN.
Whilst thou. M'lhissan. (happy thou !)
Dost daily bend thy loyal brow
Before our K^u^ — our Asia's treasure!
Nutmeg nf Comfort ; R"se of Pleasure ! —
And bear'st as many kicks and biuises
As the said Rose and Nutmeg chonses ;
Thy held still near the bowstring's borders,
And but left on lill further orders —
Through London streets, with turban fair,
And caf'an, fl'ia'ing to the air,
I saunter on, 'he admiration
Of this shnrt-coated population —
This sew'd-up r -ce — this bulldn'd nati'->n —
Who, while they boast their laws so free,
Leave not one limb at liberty.
But live, with all their lordly speeches,
The slaves of buttons and tight breeches.
Yet, though they thus their knee-pans fetter
(They're Christians, and ihey know no better)^
in some things they 're a thinking nation j
And, on Religious Toleration,
I own I hke iheir notions quite.
They are so Persian and so right !
You know our Sunnites,* — hateful dogs !
Whom every pious Shiite flogs
1 Alluding, 1 suppose, to the Litin Advertisement
of a Lusus Nalnras in rhe Newspapers lately.
* 1 have made ninny inquiries about this Persian
gentleman, but cannot saiistac'orjly ascertain who he
ts. From his noiions of Rfligious Liberty, ho-vever,
I conclude that he is an importation of minister? ; and
he has ^irrived just in time to assi?r the P e and
Mr. l^ck— e in their new Oiient^l Plan of Reform.
— See the second of these Letters. — How Ahdall ill's
epistle to Isp.ihan found i's way into the Twopenny
I post-Bag is moTe than I cm pretend to account for.
I 3 " C'est un honnete homme," ^aid a Tuikish go-
I vernor of De Ruyterj "c'est grand dommage qu'il
toit Chretien."
I * Su7i7iites and Shiites are the two leading sects
' into which the "..ihomelan world is divided; and
Or longs to flog 6 — 't is true, they pray
To God, but in an ill-bred way ;
With nerher arms, nor legs, nor faces
Stuck in their righ', canonic places.^
'Tis (rue, Ihey uor^hip Alis name— i
Their Heav'n and oiirs aie just the same —
(A Persian's He«v'n is eas'ly made,
'T is but black eyes and lemonade.)
Yet, though we've tried for cen uriesback —
We can't persuade this stubborn pack,
By bastinadoes, screws, or nippers.
To wear th' establish'd pe^-green slippers.8
Then, only think, the libertines !
They wash their tnes — Ihey comb their chins,^
With many more such deadly sins ;
And what "s the worst, though last 1 rank it)
Believe ;he Chapter of the Blanket !
Yet, spite of tenets so flagitious,
{Which jjtiist, at bottom, be seditious j
Since no man living would refuse
Green slippers, but from treasonous viewsj
Nor MaOi his toes, but v^'ilh intent
To overturn the govemn.ent,)—
Such IS our mild ind tolerant way,
We only curse them twice a day
(According tn a Form that's set,)
And, far fnni torturing, only let
All orihodox believers oeal 'em.
And twitch Iheir beards, where'er they meet 'em.
As to the rest, they 're free to do
Whate'er their fincy prompts them to,
Provided they make noihing of it
Tow'rds rank or honour, power or profit;
Which things, we nai'nlly expect.
Belong to wt, the Establish'd seel,
Who disbelieve (the Lord be thanked !)
Th' aforesaid Chapter of the Blanket,
T he same mild views of Toleiaiinn
Inspire, I find, thiii button'd nation.
Whose Papists (fu)l as giv'n to rogue,
And only Sunmtes with a brogue)
Fare ju-t as well, with all their fuss,
As rascal Suuutiesdo with us.
The tender Gazel I enclose
Is for my love, my Syrian Rose —
Take it when night begins to fall.
And throw it o'er her mother's wall.
rest thou the hour we pist,-
* the happiest and the last ?
they have gone on cursing arid persecuting each othei
without any intermission, for about eleven hundted
years. The Sunni is the established sect in Turkey,
and the Shia in Persia ; and the differences bet'
them turn chiefly upon tho=e important points, which
our pious friend Ahdallah, in the true spirit of Shiite
Ascetidency, reprobates in this Letter.
* " Les Sunniles. qui etoienf comme les CalhoHques
de Musulmanisme." — D'Htrhclot.
fi " In contradistinction to the Souni
prayer;* cross their r.:^nds
bieast, the Schiahs drop th<
and as the Sounis, at certai
ho in their
' lower part of the |
8 in straight liies; I
lods of the prayer,
press their foieheads on the ground or carpet, the
Schiahs," &c. &c — Forster's Voyage, ,
T *' LesTurcs ne de esteni pas Ali reciproqucn«ent ;
an coniraire, ils le lecoimuissent,'* &c. &.C. — Ciiardin.
8 "The Shiites wear green clippers, which the
Sunniles consider as a great abomination.'* — Mariti.
9 For these points of difference, as well as fi)r the !
Chapter of the Blanket, r mu't refer the reader (not
h.ivmg the book by me) to Picarl's Accoaut of the .
Mahometan See's. |
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
135
Oh ! not so sweet the Siha thorn
To summer bee-J, al break of morn,
Not half so suet-r, through d^le and dell,
I'o C^tnels^ ears the tinkling betl|
A-i is Ihe snolhing niemnry
Of that one precious hour to me.
How cnn we live, so far apart ?
Oh! whv not rather, heart (o heart,
United live and die —
Like those sweet biid^, that fly together,
With feather always toucliing feather,
Linked by a hook and e}e ! i^
LETTER VII.
FROM MESSRS. L — CK — GT — N AND CO.
TO • , ESQ.3
Per Post, Sir, we send your MS. — look'd it thro'—
Very sorry — but caii'i uiideriake — 't would n't do.
Clever work. Sir !— would get up prodigiously well —
Its only defect is — it never would sell.
And thoufi;h Statesmen may glory in being unboushtf
III an Author 'I is not so desirable thought.
Hard times, Sir, — most books are too dear to be
read —
Though the gold of Good-sense and Wit's small'
change nre fled.
Vet the pa}}cr we Publishers nass, in their s'ead,
Kises hijrtier each day, and ('t is frightful to think H)
Not even such names as F — tz^ — r—d's can sink it!
However, Sir — if you 're for trying again,
And at somewhat ihai 's vendible — we are your men.
Since the Chevalier C — rr 3 took to marrying lately,
The Trade is in want of a Trawllei' greatly —
No job, Sir, more easy— your Cauutry once plann'd,
A innn'h abon-d ship and a fortnight on land
Puts your Quarto of Travels, Sir, clean out of hand.
An Ea4-lndia pamphlet's a thing that would tell—
And a lick at the P ipisis is sure to sell well.
Or — suppo-iug you've nothing original in you —
Write PartKiies, Sir, and such fame it will win you,
You "11 get to the Blue-stocking Rouis of Albinia ! *
(Mind — not to her dinnei'S — a secondhand Muse
Musm'l think of aspiring to mtss wiih the Blues.)
Or — in case nothing else in this world you can do —
The deuce is in 't, Sir, if you cannot rcviexol
Should you feel any touch of poetical glow,
We've a Scheme to suggest — Mr. Sc — tt, you must
know,
(Who, we're sorrytnsay it, now works for //(ei?(7MJ,*)
Having quilled the Horders, to seek new renown.
Is coiuiijg, l-v Ion? tiuario Mages, to Town ;
» This will appear strange to an English reader, buf
it is lite ally tr^insla'ed fmm AbHallah's Persian, and
the cuiinus bitd lo wh eh he alludes is (he Juftak, of
which I find the following account in Richardson: —
* A sort of I ird, that s said to have but one wing ; on
'he r.ppnsite side In i hich the male has a hook and
the ft-m^le a ring, so Ihar, when they fly, they are
fastened together."
*! From mo'ives of delicacy, and, indeed, o( fellow-
feeling, I suppress the nime of the Au'hnr. whose
rejfc ed manuscript was enclosed iu this letter. See
the Appendix.
3 Sir John Carr, the author of "Tours in Ireland,
Holland, Sweden," &c. &c.
* This alludes, I believe, to a curious cnrre-pon-
dence. which is said to have passed lately betwL*eii
Alb— n— a. Countess of B— ck— gh— ms— e.'and a cer-
tain ingenious Parodist,
* Paternoster Row.
And beginning with Rokeby (ijie job h sure to pay)
Means to do ail the Gentlemen's Seats on the way.
Now, the Scheme is (though none of our hackneys can
beat him)
To start a fresh Pnet through Highgale to meet him ;
Who, by means of quick proofs — no revises — long
cn.-iches —
May do a few Villas, before Sc— tt appi-oaches.
Indeed, if our Pegasus be not curst shabby.
He'll reich, without found'ring, al least Woburn-
Abbey.
Such, Sir, is our plan — if you 're up to the freak,
'T is a match ! and we 'II put you in trainitig next
week.
Al present, no more — in reply to this Letter, a
Line will oblige very much
Yours, et cetera.
Temple of the Mioses,
LETTER VIM.
FROM COLONEL TH — M — S TO
8K — FF — NOT — N, ESQ.
Come to our Fete,6 and bring with thee
Thy newest, best embroidery.
Cf>me to our Fe'e, and show a^ain
That pea-gieen coat, thou pink of men,
Which rharm'd all eyes, thai last surveyed it ;
When Br-mm— Is ^elf inquii'd '• who made it ?"
When Cit^ came wond ring, fmm Ihe East,
And thought ibee Poet Pye at least .'
Oh I come, (if haply 't is thy week
For looking pale,) with paly cheek ;
Though more we love thy roseate days.
When Ihe rich rouge-pot pours its blaze
Full o'er thy face, and, amply spread.
Tips ev'n thy whisker-tops with red —
Like the last tints of dying Day
That o'er some darkling grove delay.
Bring thy best lace, thou gay Philander,
(That lace, like H— rry Al-x-nd-r,
'l"oo precious to be wa h'd,) — thy rings,
Thy >eal9— in short, thy pretiies't things !
Put all ihy wardrobe's glories on.
And yield in frogs and fringe, to none
But the great R — g — t's self alone ;
Who — by particular desire —
For that 7itght only, means to hire
A dress from Romeo C — les, Esquire.t
Hail, first of Actors ! « best of R— g_(s !
Born for each other's fond allegi mce !
Both gay Lotharios — both good dressers —
Of serious Farce both learn'd Professors —
Both circled round, for use or show.
With cock's combs, wheresoe'er they go! 9
Thou know'st the time, thou man of lore'
It lakes to chalk a ball-room floor —
Thou know'st the time, too. well-a-day !
It takes tndaice that chalk ;
xay.
6 This Let'er enclosed a Card for the Grand Fete on
the 5th of February.
1 An amateur actor of much risible renown.
8 Quern tu, Me'pnmene, semel
N.iscentrm placido luminey vidcris, kc, Ilorat,
The Man, \\\\nn whom lliou liaM dcignM to look funny.
Oil. Trai;it!y'M Muf-e ! at Ihe hmir of hi« hirlh —
Let themii y wli«l (hey will, that *» Ihe Man for my money,
(Jive others thy tears, hul let me have Ihy mirlti !
9 The crest of Mr. C— les. the very amusin* ama
lenr traeedian here alluded to, was a cock ; and mosi
profusely were his liveiies, harness, &c., covered with
this ornament.
*o To those, rvlio neither go to balls nor read Ihe
Morning Post, it may be necessary to ri'ention, Iti&l
136
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
The Ball-rnom opena — far and nigh
Comets and suns beneath us lie;
O'er snow-white moons and s'ars we walk,
And ll.e lloor seems one sky of chalk I
But soon shall lade that bright deceit.
When many a maid, wilU busy feet
That sparkle in Ihe lustre's ray.
O'er the while path shall bound and play
Like Nymphs along the Milky Way : —
With every step a 5:ar hath tied,
And suiii 510W dim beneath their tread !
bn passeth lite— (thus Sc—tt would write,
And spiusier> read him with delight,) —
Hours are not feet, yet hours trip on,
'lime is not chalk, yet lime 's soou goue ! 1
But, hang this long digressive flight ! —
1 meant to say, thou 'It see, that night,
What falsehood rankles io their hearts,
Who say the Pr e neglects thearfs —
Neglects the arts?— no, Str— hi— g,'i no;
Thy Cupids answer *■ t is not so j "
And every floor, that night, shall tell
How quick thou daubest, and how well.
Shine as thou may st in French veimilion,
'J'hou 'rt 6esl, beneath a French cotillion j
And still com'st oti, whateer thy faults,
With Jiying colours in a Waltz,
Nor need'st Ihou mourn the transient data
To thy best works as&ign'd by fate.
While some chet-d'ceuvres live to weary one,
Thine boast a short life and a merry one
Their hour of glory past and gone
With *^ Molly put the kettle on I " 3
But, bless my soul ! I 've scarce a leaf
Of paper leU — so, must be brief.
This festive Fete, in UcU will be
The former Fete 's facsimile ; ■»
The same long M.isqueiade of Rooms,
All trick'd up in such odd costumes,
(These, V— rt— r,5 are Iby glnrious works!)
You'd swear Egyptians, Moors, and Turks,
Bearing Good^Taste some deadlv malice,
Had clubb'd to raise a Fic-Nic i^alace ;
And each to make the olio pleasant
Had sent a State-Room as a present.
The same fauteuils and girondoles
The same gold Asse-i,^ pretiy '-ouls !
Tliat, in this rich and classic dome,
Appear so perfectly at home.
The same bright nver 'mong the dishes,
But 710/ — all I not the same dear fishes -
Late hours and claret kill'd the old ones
So 'stead of silver and of gnid ones,
(It being rather hard to raise
Fiih of that specie now-a-days)
Some sprats have been by Y — rm — th's wlsb,
Promoted into 6'iiuer Fish,
the floors of Rall-ronms, in general, are chalked, for
safety and for ornament, with various fanciful devices.
1 Hearts are nol flint, yel flints are rent,
Hearls are not tteel, yet steel is bent.
After all, however, Mr. Sc— tt may well say to the
Colonel, (and, indeed; to much better wags than the
Colonel,) ^aov /iui/iEcc^ai 7/ fufizLadai.
^ A foreign artist much patronized by the Prince
Regent.
3 The name of a popular country-dance.
4 *' C— rl— I— n H e wjll exhibit a complete /ac-
sixnile, in respect to interior ornament, to what it did
at the last Fete. The jame splendid draperies," &.c.
&c. — Morning Post.
fi Mr. Walsh Porter, to whose taste was left the
furnishing of Ihe rooms of Carlton House.
6 Thesait-cellars on the Pr e's own table were
in the form of an Ass with Panniers.
And Gudgeons (so V— ns— tt— t told
The K— g— t; are as good as Gold!
APPENDIX.
LETTER IV. Page 133.
Among the papers, enclosed in Dr. D — g — n— n's
Letter, uasfcundan Heroic Epistle in Latin verse,
from Pope Joan to her Lover, of which, as it is rather
a cuiious document, 1 shall venture to give some ac"
count. 1 his female Pontitlwas a native of England,
tor, according to others, of Germany), who, at an
early age, disguised herself in male altire, and fal
lowed her lover, a young ecclesiastic, to Athens,
where she studied with such etlect, that upon her
arrival at Rome, she was thought worthy of being
raised to ihe Fouiihcate. I'his Epistle is addressed
to her Lover (whom she had elevated to the dignity
of Cardinal), sonn after the fatal accouchemtaity by
whtch her yallibiiiiy was betrayed.
She begins by remindmg him tenderly of the time,
"hen they were together ai Alliens — when, as she
says,
— " by Ilissus' stream
" We whispering walk'd along, and learn'd to speak
" The tenderest feelings in the purest Greek j —
■* Ah, then how little did we think or hope,
»^ Dearest of men, that I should e'er be Pope ! 1
" That I, the humble Joan, who^e housewife art
"Seem'd just enough to keep thy house and heart,
" (And those, alas, at sixes and at sevtus),
" Should soon keep all the keys of all Ihe heavens !"
Still le^s (she continues to say) could they have fore-
seen, that such a calastrophe as had happened iu
Council would befall them— that she
" Should thus surprise Ihe Conclave's grave decorum,
" And let a little Pope pop out before 'em —
" P"[)e Innocent! al^s, the only one
*' That name could e'er be justly fix'd upon."
She then very pathetically laments Ihe downfall of
her grealnebs. and enumerates the various tieasuies to
which she is doojued to bid farewell for ever : —
"But oh, more dear, more precious ten limes over —
'*Faiewell my Lord, mv Cardinal, my Lover!
'• I m ide thet Cardinal — thou niad'st me — ah 1
*' Thou mad st the Papa of the world Mamma !
I have not time at present to translate any more of
this Epistle; but 1 presume the argument which ihe
Right Hon. Doctor and his friends mean to deduce
from it, IS (in their usual convincing strain) 'hat Ro-
manists must be unworthy of Emancipation Jioio,
because thty had a Petlicnal Pope In the Ninth Cen-
tury. Noihing can be moie logically clear, and I find
that Horace had exactly the same views upon the
subject,
Romanut (eheu pnstcri rcgu'jilis !)
Emancipatus Fueminae
Fert vallum '
LETTER VIL Page 13a.
The Manuscript, found ercloscd in the Bnokseller's
Letter, turns out to be a Meln-Drama, in two Acts,
' Spanheini attributes the unanimity, with which
Joan was elected to that innate and irresistible charm,
by which her sex, though latent, operated upon the
instinct of the Cardinals — "N'on vi aliqu.T, sed con-
cordiier, omnium in se convei«.o des;derio, quae sunt
blandieutis sexus artes, lalentes in hac q janqiiam t"
TWOPENNY POST-BAG.
137
eotilled "The Book." l nf which the Theatres, of
course, had had the refusal, bt'fore it \\as presented to
Messrs. L— cti-n^l— n & Co. This rejeded Dnn-a,
however, po>£esses considerable nieni, and 1 bhall
take ihe liberty of laying a sketch of it before my
Readers.
The first Act opens in a very awful manner — Time,
three o'elnck in ibe morning — Scn?e, the BonrbOn
Chamber a in C— rl— 1— n House— Entt-r 'he P e
R— er— t solus — Afier a few broken sentences, he thus
exclaims : —
Awny — Away —
Thou haiinlM my fancy so, thou devilish Rook,
I nieel thee — irace ihee, wheresne'er I look.
1 see thy dinint;d ink in Eld~n's brows —
I see \hy foo'-scap on my H— rtf — d's Spouse —
V — ns — 1(— 's head lecills thy halhern case,
And alt thy hlanh'leavts stare from H— d — r's face!
While, turning here (laying his hand on his heart),
I tind. ah wretched elf.
Thy List of dire Errata in myself.
(IValhs the sta^e m considerable agitation^
Oh Roman Punch ! oh potent Curacoa!
Oh Maraschino '. Mare-chiio oh I
Delicious dr;tms ! why have you not the art
To kill this gnawing Jiook'woi'm in my heart?
He is liere iiiteiTupted in his Soliloquy by perceiving
on the ground some scnbtded frte;nieD's of pajjer,
which he ins'au'ly collects, and " by ihe Vizht of two
maeiiificent cuidelaliras" discnvers the followins; un-
connected words, " t'Vife ncgUcicd^'' ~- *■ ihe BociC^ —
*' IVrons: Measures''''—^'- the Queen'*— '• Mr. LamherV^
— "(/leR— g-t.
Ha ! treason m my house ! — Curst words, that wither
My princely B'»u1, (shaking the papers violently)
what Demon brought you hither?
*' My Wife;" — "the Bgok" tool — stay— a nearer
look —
(holding the fras^ments closer to the Candtlabras)
Alas ! too plain, H. double 0» K, Book-
Death and destruction !
He here rings all the hells, and a whole legion of
valets enter. A >ccnc of cnrsin* and sweaiine (very
much in the Ge-man s^le) ensues, in the course .T
which mes-*engers are despatched, m dilterent direc-
tions, for tht: L— rd Ch-nc-ll-r, Ihe D- e of C—
b-i— d. &c. &c. 'I'he intei media'e time is filled up
by another Soliloquy, at the cnnclnsion of u hich the
aforesaid Personas;es rush on alarmed; Ihe D— ke
with his stays only half-'aced. and the Ch-nc— II— r
with his "ig thrown has ily overan old red ntghl-cap,
'* to maintain the becoming splendour of his office." 3
The R— g— t produces the appillin^ fragmen's upon
which Ihe Ch— nc — II— r breaks nui into exclamations
of loyally and tenderness, and relates the following
portentous dream.
< There iv.as. in like manner, a mysterious Riok, in
the I6th Century, which emph-yed all the anxmus
curiosity of the Learned of th:il time. Every one
s[inke of it : many wrote again-l it ; though it does
not appear Ihat anybody had ever seen it ; and Grotius
is of opinion Ih-il no such Book ever existed. It was
entitled *' Liber de tribus impostoribus." (See Mor-
hof. Cap. de I.jbns damnatis.) — Our more mndern
mystery of ■* the Book" resembles this in many par-
ticulars ; and, if he number of Lawyers employed in
drawing it up be staled correctlv, a slight aller.itinn
of the title into »' a tribus impnstoriiais" would pro-
duce a cr>incidence altogctlier very remark Me. !
5 The same Chamber, doubtless, lint was prepared '
f'>r the reception of ihe Bourb>ns at Iht fir^t Gnnd
Fete, and wliuh w:.s ornamn.led CH " furlhc Delive-
rance of Europe'') \wi\hfl<xtrs-de-lys.
3 "To enable th^ individual, who holds the office
of Chancell'.t, .'o niain'ain it in becoming splendour." ,
(A hnid Jaueh.) Lord Castlereagh's Speech upon \
ihe {'icC'Chancelloi-'s Bill, . I
~\2^
'T is scarcelv two hnurs since
I had a fearful dream if llice, my P e .—
Methought I heard Ihee, midst a conrrly tfowd,
Say from lliy throrie of pold. in niandale loud,
" VVoisliip my whiskers !" — fiuiejusj not a knee wii
1 here
Rill bent and worshipp'd Ihe Illuslrinus Pair,
Which curl'd in ccaiscii.us majesty! ijmll) out hit
handkcrclMf) — while cries
Of '•Whiskers, wlll^ke^s !" shnok Ihe echoing skies.—
Just in that prl'"i""« li'ur, melhou^hl, there came,
Wilh looks of injur-d piide, a Prii.celv Dame,
And a young maiden, clinging hy her side,
As if she fear'd some lyraui would divide
Two liearts Ihat nature and aifeclion lied !
The Malrim came— within her righi hand glow'd
A radiint torch ; while from her lejt a load
Of Papers hung — (wifts his eyes) collected in her
The venal evidence, the slanderous tale,
Tlie wounding hint, Ihe cuireiit lies tiiit pass
F om Post to Criurier, forni'd Ihe motley mass ;
Which, wilh disdain, before the 'I hroue she throws,
And lights the Pile beneath thy princely nose.
(ITeejis.)
Heav'ns, how it blaz'd I — I 'd ask no livelier liie,
( With animation) To roast a Papist by, my gracious
Sire!- J> / =
Bat ah ! the Evidence — (■iceejjs again) I mourn'd to
Cast, as it burn'd, a deadly light on Ihee:
And Tales and Hiins their raid sparkles flung.
And hiss'd and cnckled. like an old maid s tongue ;
While Post and Courier, fiilhlul to their fime
Made up in stink for what Ihey lack'd in flame.
When, lo, ye Gods ! the tire ascending I'risker,
Now singes out, now l.glils tht olher whisker.
Ah! where was Ihen the .Sylphid, that unfurls
Her fairy s'andard in defence of curls ?
Throne, Whiskers, Wig soon vanish'd into smoke,
The w atchman cried " Past One," and — I awoke.
Here his Lordship weeps more profusely than ever,
and Ihe R— g— t (who lias been very much asilat.-d
during the recital of the Dream) liy a mnvemeiit as
cha acerislic as that of Charles Ml. when he wis
shut, clasps his hands to his whiskers In feel if ail be
really safe. A Privy Council is held — all the Ser-
vants, Sic. are examined, and it appears iha' a Tailor,
who had come to measure the K — g — t for a Dress
(which takes ihiee whole pages nf Ihe best superfine
clinquant in describing) was the only jerson who had
been in the Bourbon Chamber during Ihe day. II is,
accordinsiy, determined to seize the Tailor, and the
Cnuncil breaks up with a unanimous resolution to be
vigoious.
'I'he commencement of the Second Act turns chiefly
upon the Tiial and Imjinsonment of two Hiolhersi-
but as this forms the iindtr plot of the Drama. I shall
content myself with ixnacting from it Ihe followiug
speech, which is addressed lo Ihe two Brothers, as
they '-exeunt severally" lo Fiisou : —
Go to your prisons — though Ihe air of Spring
No mountain conhiess lo your cheeks shall bring ;
Though Summer flowers shall pass unseen away.
And all your portion of the glorious day
Mav be some solitary beam thai falls.
, upon you
alls
Some b< am that en'ers', tremhlin^ as if au 'd,
To tell how giy the young world laushs abrond !
■Vet go— for Ihoujhis as blessed as the air
Of Siiriiig or Summer flowers await you there;
le, who feasts his courtly crew
Thnughts, s
elfe
I {•*''
I ihel
-the smiles that light within —
1 he 7.1-al, whose circlin; charities begin
With the few lov'd-oncs Heaven has plac'd it near,
And spread, till all Mankind are in its sphere ;
I Mr. Leigh Hunt and liis brother.
138
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS,
The Pride, that sutfers without eaunt or plea,
And the fiesh Spnit, that can warble free,
Through prison-bars, its hymn to Liberty!
The Scene next changes to a Tailor's Work -shop, and
a fancit'ully-arran2;ed group of these Artists is discover-
ed upon the Shop-bnard — Their task evidently of a
royal nature, from the profusion of gold-lace, frogs,
&c. that lie about — They all rise and come forward,
while one of them sings the following Stanzas to the
tune of " Derry Down."
My brave brother Tailors, come, straighten your knees,
For a moment, like geullemen, stand up at ease,
While I sing of our P e (and a tig for his railers)
The Shop-board's delight ! the Maecenas of Tailors !
Derry dowu, down, down derry down.
Some monarchs take roundabout ways into note.
While His short cut to fame is — the cut of his coat;
Philip's Sod thought the World was too small for his
Soul,
But our K — g — t's finds room in a lac'd button-hole,
Derry down, &c.
Look through all Europe's Kings — those, at least
who go loose —
Not a King of them all 's such a friend to the Goose.
So, God keep him increasing in size and renoun,
Still the fattest and best fitted F e about town !
Derry down, &c.
During the " Derry down " of this last verse, a ine>>
senger fioro the S— c — t— y of S e's Office rushes
on, and the singer (who, luckily for the etfecl of the
scene, is the very Tailor suspecied of the mysterious
fragments) is interrupted in ilie midst of his laudatory
exertions, and hurried away, to the no small surprise
and conslernalioii ol his comrades. The Plot now
haslens rapidly in its developernent — the manage-
ment of Oie Tailor's examination is highly skilful, and
the alarm, which he is made to betray, is natural
without being ludicrous. The explanation, too,
which he finally gives is not more smiple than satis-
factory. It appears that the said fragments formed
part of a self-exculpalory note, which he had intend-
ed to send to Colonel M'M n upon subjects purely
professional, and the corresponding bits (which still
lie luckily in his pocket) being produced, and skilfully
lard bt'side the others, the following billet-doux is the
satisfactory result of their juxta-position.
Honoured Colonel — my Wife, who 's ths Queen of all
slal'erns,
Neglected to put up the Pook of new Patterns.
She sent the wrong Measures too— shamefully wrong —
They 're the same us'd for poor Mr, Lambert, when
young ;
But, bless you ! they wouldn't go half round the
R-g-t-
So, hope you '11 excuse yours till death, most obedient
This fully explains the whole niyster>' — the R— g— t
resumes his wonted smiles, and the Drama terminates,
as usual, to the satisfaction of all parties.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
SXOAAZONTOS ASXOAIA.
THE INSURRECTION OF THE PAPERS.
A DREAM.
*• It would be Impossible for his roynl highness to disen-
f;a({e his person from the Bccumulaliii^ pitt; of pnpers that
encompassed il. — Lord Cnstlerench's Specc/i iipan Colo*
net M'Mahon'8 Appotntmenti April IJ, lf^l2.
Last night I toss'd and turn'd in bed.
But coul J not sleep — at length I said,
»' I 'II think of Viscount C— stl— r— gh,
*'Aiid of his speeches— that 's the way."
And so it was, for ins'anlly
I slept as sound as sound could be.
And then I dreamt —so dread a dream
Fuseli has no such theme;
Lewis never wrote or borrowed
Any horror, half so horrid !
Methoiight the Pr e, in whisker'd state
Before me at his breakfast sate j
On one side lay unread Petitions,
On t'other, Hints from five Physicians ;
Here tradesmen's bills,— official paptrs,
N'^tes from niy Lady, drams for vapours —
There plans of saddles, tea and teas',
Death-warranisand the Mornii^g Post.
When lo ! the Papers, one and ;
As if at srmie magician's call,
Began to flutter of themselves
From desk and table, floor and shf
And, cutiing each snme diilerent <
Advanc'd, t'U Jacobinic papers !
As though they said, "Our soled
"To BufTocite his Royal Highnes
The Leader of this vile sediiion
Was a huge Catholic Petition,
Ives,
With grievances so full and heavv,
It IhreaienM worst of all tlie bevy.
Then Common-Hall Addresses came
In swaggering sheets, and look their aim
Right at (be R— g-t's «ell-dress'd head,
As rf determined to be read.
Next Tradesmen's Rills began to fly.
And Tradesmen's BiiU, we know, mount high;
Nay ev'n Death-warrants thought they'd best
Be lively too, and join the rest.
But, oh the basest of defections!
His Ijctier about '* predilections" —
His own dear Letter, void of grace,
Now (lew up in its parent's face I
Shock'd " i'h this breach of filial duty.
He just could murmur •* et Tu Bnite?^
Then sunk, subdued upon the floor
At Fox's bust, 10 rise no more!
I wak'd — and pray'd, with lifted hand,
" Oh ! never may this Dream prove true
**Thou!;h paper overwhelms the land,
*' Let il not crush the Sovereign too I"
PARODV OF A CELEBRATED LETTER.i
Al length, dearest Freddy, the moment is nigh,
When, wiih P— re — v— I'a leave, 1 may throw my
chains by ;
And. as time now is precinus. the first thing I do,
Is to sit down and write a wise letter to you.
» Leiter from his Royal Highness the Prince Regent
to the Duke of Vnrk, Feb. 13, Vi\2.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
139
I meanf before now to have ^ent you this Letter,
But Y — mi— tU and 1 thought perhaps 'twould be
belter
To wait till the Irish affairs were decided —
(That i9, till both Houses had prosed aud divided,
Wiih all due appeanuce of thought and digestion)—
For, though H— rtf— rd House hwd long settled the
question,
I thought it but decent, between me and you.
Thai the two otliey Houses should settle it loo,
I need not remind you boiv cursedly bid
Our atiairs were all looking, when Father went mad j"
A stiait-waisicoat on him and restriclioiis on me,
A more limilcd Monarchy could not well be.
i was cali'd upon then, in that moment (<f puzzle,
To chonse my own Minister — just as they muzzle
A playful young bear, and then mock his disaster,
By bidding him choose out his own daticing-master.
I thought the best way, as a dutiful son,
Was to do as Old Royalty's self would have done.^
So I sent word to say,' 1 would keep the whole batch in,
The same chest nf tools, without cleansing or patching;
For tools of this kind, like Marlinus's >conce,3
Would lose all iheirbenuty, if purified once;
Aud think — only think— if our Father should find,
Upon graciously coming ngain to his mind,*
That improvement had spotl'd any favourite adviser—
That R— ?e was grown lioiiesl, or W— sim— rel— nd
That R— d-r was, ev*n by one twinkle, (he brighter—
Or L— v — rp— Ps speeches but half a pound lighter —
What a shock to hi> old royal heart it would be !
No ! — f.ir were such dreams of improvement from me :
And it pleased me to hud, at the House, where, you
ki.ow.a
There 's sucii good mutton cutlets, and 'trong curac^a.c
That the Marchioness call'd me a duteous old boy.
And my V—rui— ih's red whiskeis grew redder fi>r joy.
You know, my dear Freddy, how off, if I would,
By the law uf last Sessions i mi^ht have done good.
1 rnight have withheld these poliijcdl noodles
From knocking (heir heads against hot Yankee
D!K>dles ;
I might have (old Ire'and I pitied her lot,
Might have soolh'd her with hope — but you know I
did not.
And my wish is, in truth, that the best of old fellows
Should not, on recovering, have cause to Ik jealous.
But find that, while he has been laid on Ihe shelf,
We 've been all «.f us nearly as mad as himself.
Vou smile a' niy hopes — but the Doctors and I,
Are the last that cau (hink the K— ng ever will die.T
» *' I think it hardly necessary to call your recollec-
...m to the recent circumstances under \vhich I as-
sumed Ihe authority delegated to me by Pailiament."
— Pnnce's Letter.
^ '*My sense of duty to our Royal father solely de-
cided that choice." — /6id,
8 The antique shield of Martinus Scriblerus, which,
upon scouring, turned out t-j be only an old sconce.
* " I waived ■niy peisnnal gratification, in order that
his Majefiiy might resume, on his re-toratioii to health,
every power and prerogative." &c. — /6id.
6'* And I have the sitisfac'ion of knowing that
such was the opinion of persons for whose judg-
ment," &c. &c. — Ibid.
6 The leiter-wrjter's favourite luncheon.
' '* I ceriainly am the last person in (he kingdom to
A new era 's arriv'd 8 — though you 'd hardly believe
And all things, of course, must be new to receive it.
New villas, new fetes (which ev'n Waithmaa at-
tends) —
New siddies, new helmets, and — why not new
friends ?
I repeat it, *' New Friends" — for ! cannot describe
The delight I am in with this p— re— v— I tribe.
Such capering! — Such vapouring 1 — Such rigour!
— Such vigour !
North, South, East, and West, they have cut such a
figure,
That soon they will bring the whole world round our
And leave us no friends — but Old Nick and Algiers.
When I think of Ihe glory they 've beaniM on my
chains,
'T is enough quite to turn my illustrious brains.
It is true we are bankrupts iri commerce and riches,
But think how we find our Allies in new breeches!
We 've lost the warm hearts of the Irish, 'I if granted,
But then we've got Java, an island much wanted,
To put the last lingeiing few wtjo remain.
Of the Walcheren wan lOis, out of their pain.
Then how Wellington iights ! and how squabbles his
brother !
For Papists the one, and with Papists the other;
One crushing Napoleon by taking a Citv,
While t'oiher lays waste a whole Calh'l'ic Committee.
Oh, deeds of renown ! —shall I bougie or flinch,
With such pri'SpfCts befoie me? by Jove, nut an inch.
No — let England's atfairs go to rack, if they will,
We'll look after th'aflaiis of Ihe Ci/ntinent'sftW ;
And, wi h nothing at home but at iriation and riot.
Find Lisbon in bread, and keep Sicily quiet.
I am proud to declare I have no predilections,^
My hcatt is a sieve, where some scalter'd affections
Are just danc'd about for a moment or two,
And ihe^Her they are, the more sure lo run through :
Neither feel I lesentmen's, nor \vish thcie should
come ill
To nioital — except (now I think ou't) Beau
Br.
Who Ihieateu'd last year, in a superfine passion.
To cut me. and bring the old K— ng into fashion.
'Ihis is all I cin lay to ny conscience at present;
When such is my lemner, so neutial, so pleasant.
So royally free fmm all troublesome feelings,
So little eiicumber'd by fai'h in my dealings,
(And that 1 'm consistent the world -will allow
What I was at Newmarket tlie same I am now.)
When such are my merits (you know I hate crackinff.)
I hope, like the Vender of Best Patent Blacking,
" To meet with the gen'rous and kind approbation
*' Of a candid, enlighten'd, and liberal naiion."
By the bye, ere I do e this magnificent Letter,
(No man, except Pi le, could h.<ve uril you a belter,)
'T would please me if Itiose, whom 1 've hunibug'd so
long 10
With ttie notion (good men !) that I knew right from
wrong.
Would a few of them join me — mind, only a few —
To let too much light in on me never wnuld do ;
whom it can be permitted to despair of our royal
father's recovery." — /'n^iCL'f Lttier.
8 '' A new era is now arrived, and I cannot but re-
flect with satisfaction," &c. — Itid.
s " 1 have no predilections to indulge, — no resent-
ments to graiify."— /i^■(i.
i« " 1 cannol conclude wl'hout expressing ihe grati-
fica'ion 1 should feel if some of itiose persons with
whom the early habits of my public life were formed
would strengthen my hands, and constitute a pari ©f
my government." — /bid.
140
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS)
But even Grey's biiglitiiess shan't make iiie afraid,
While 1 've C— ii.d— u and Eld— n lo fly to for shade ;
Nor will Holland's clear mlellecldo us much harm,
While there's W— slm— rel— ud near him to weakea
the
As for Moira's high spirit, if aught can subdue it,
Sure joinius with H-rIf— rd aud Y— rm— th will
do It!
Between R— d— r and Wh— rt— n let Sheridan sit.
And the fogs will soon qr.euch even Sheridan's wit:
And agaiusi all the pure public feeling that glows
E»'u in Whilbiead himself we've a Host lu G— rge
R— se :
So, in shoit, if they wish to have Places, they may,
And I '11 thank you lo tell all these malleis to Grey,'
Who, I doubt not, will write (as there's no time to
lose;
By the tvvopenny post to lell Gienville the news;
And now, dciresl i'red {though I've no predilection),
Believe me yours always with truest aflection.
P. S. A copy of this is to P— re— 1 going — 3
Good Lord, how St. Stephen's will ring with his
crowing i
ANACREONTIC TO A PLUMASSIER
Fine and feathery artisan.
Best of Pluniis's (if you can
With your art so far presume)
Wake for me a I'r— ce's Plume
Fealhers soft and feathers raie,
Such as suits a Prince to wear.
Firs', thou downiest of men,
Seek me out a fine Pea-hen j
Such a Hell, so tall and grand,
As by Juno s side might sland,
If there were no cicks at hand.
Seek her feithers, soft as down.
Fit to shine on Pr— ce's crown;
If thou canst not hiid ttiem, stupid 1
Ask the way of Prior's Cupid.3
Ranging these in ortler due,
Pluck nie next an old Cuckoo;
Emblem of the liajipy lalfs
Of easy, kind, cornuled males.
Pluck him well — be sure you do
IVho wuuld'nt be an old Cuckoo,
Thus 10 have his plumaje blest.
Beaming on a R— y— 1 crest ?
Bravo, Plumist ! — now what hirj
Shall we find for Plume the third 1
You niuit get a leirned Owl,
Bleakest of black-letter fowl —
Bigot bird, thai hales the light,*
Foe to all Ihat 's fair and bright.
Seize his quill^, (so form'd to pen
Books,' Ihat shun the search of men;
Books. Ihat, far from every eye.
In "swelter'd veiiOm sleeping" lie.)
Stick them in between ihe two,
Proud Pea-hen and Old Cuckoo.
Now you have the triple feather,
Bind the kindred stems together
i '*you are authorized to communicate these senti-
ments to Lord Grry. w'ho, I have no doubt, will make
them known to Lord Grenville. — Prince's Letter,
^ '' I slnll 'end a copy of this letler immediately to
Mr. Perceval."— Ziirf.
3 See Prior's poem, entilled " The Dove."
* P— re— V— i.
6 In allusion to '* the Book" which crea'ed such a
sensation at that pet iod.
With a silken lie, whose hue
Once was brilliant Butf and Blue;
Sullied now — alas, how much I
Only fit for Y— rm— th's touch.
There — enough — thy task is done
Present, worthy G ge's Son :
Now, benCTth, in letters nea',
Write " 1 serve," and all 's complete.
EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OTA
POLITICIAN.
IVcdnesday,
Through M— nch— st— r Square took a canter just
now —
Met the old yellow c?ion'o(,6 and made a low bow.
This I did, of course, thinking, 't was loyal and
civil,
But got such a look — oh 'I was black as the devil !
How unlucky \--inco^. he was trav'iling about.
And I, like a noodle, must go find him out.
Atcm.
To 1
;prii
)w chariot I ride,
cely inside*
Tfivrsday,
At Levee to day made another sad blunder —
What can be come over me lately, I wonder?
The Pr— ce was as cheertui, as if, all his life,
He had never been troubled with Friends or a
Wife —
'*Fine weilher," says he — to which I, who must
prate.
Answered, *' Yes, Sir, but changeable rather, of late.''
He look it, I fear, for he look'd somewhat irruif.
And handled his new pair of whiskers so rough,
That before all the courtiers I fear'd Ibey 'd come
olt;
And then. Lord, how Geramb '' would triumphantly
scotf !
JVfem — lo buy for son Dicky some unguent or lotion
To nourish his whiskers — sure road to promotion I 8
Saturday,
Last ni^ht a Concert — vastly gay —
Given by Lady C— sll— r— gh.
My Lord loves music, and, we know,
Has'Mvvo strings al'Aa\stohis bow, "9
lu choosing songs, the R — g — I nam'd
" Had 1 a heart for falsehood fram'd,^
While genlle H— rif— d begg'd and pray'J
For *' Young I am and soi'e afraid,^
EPIGRAM.
What news to-dav ? — " Oh ! worse and
'■ Mac 10 is the Pr— ce'- Privy Pur=e !"■
The Pr — ce's Purse ! no. no, you fool.
You mem Ihe Pr— ce's Ridicule.
u The incog, vehicle of the Pr— ce.
' Baron Geramb, the rival of his R H. in whiskers
8 England is not the only country where merit of
this kind is noticed and rewarded. " I remember,"
says Tavernier, "To have seen one of ihe King of
Persia's porters, whose mn-tachcs were so long that
he could tie them behind his neck, for which reason
he hid a double pension."
0 A rhetorical figure used by Lord C— stl— r-gh,
in one of his speeches.
10 Colonel M— cm— h— n.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
141
KING CRACK ! AND HIS IDOLS.
WRITTEN AFTER THK LA TL: NE(iOTIAT10N
FOR A NEW M — N — STRY.
King Crack was llie best of all possible Kings,
(At least, so his Couitiets would swear (o you
gladly,)
But Crack iiitu- and then would do heCrodox things,
And, at last, to(»k to worshipping Images sadly.
Some broken-down Idols, that long had been placM
In his hihtr's old Vabimt, pleas'd him so much,
That he knctt dou n arid wofshipp'd, thougli — such
was his taste ! —
They were monstrous to look at, and rotten to touch.
And these were tlie beautiful Gods of King Crack ! —
But his People, disjaining to worship such things,
Cried aloud, one and all, "Come, vour Liodsliips must
pack —
"You'll not do for uj, though you may do for
Kings."
Then, trampling these images under their (eQ^^
'J'liey sent Crack a petition, beginning " Great
Caesar !
" We Ve willing to worship ; but only entreat
"That you'll tiiid us some dtcenter Godheads than
these are,"
" I '11 try," says King Crack — so they furnisli'd him
models'
Of belter.shap'd Gods, but he sent them all back j
Some were chisell'd too hue, some had heads 'stead
of noddles.
In short, they were all miuh too godlike for Crack.
So he took to his darling old Idols again.
And, just mending ttieir legs and new bronzing
their faces.
In open defiance of Gods and of man,
Set the monsters up griuning once more in their
places.
WHAT'S MY THOUGHT LIKE?
Quest. Why is a Pump like V— sc— nt C— sti— r— gh ?
Jiiisw. Because il is a slender thing of wood.
That up and down ils awkward arm doth sway,
And cofjlly spout and spout and spoul away
In one weak, wasliy, everlasting flood 1
EPIGRAM
DIALOGUE BETWEEN A CATHOLIC IlELE-
GATE AND HIS R— Y— L H— GHN— SS
THE D — E OF C — n — L— D.
Said his Highness to Ned,'- with that grim face of his,
" Why refuse us the K.(o, dear Catholic Neddy ?"
"Because, Sir," said Ned, looking full in his phiz,
" You 're f'lrhidding enough, in all conscience,
alreaJy !"
« One of those antediluvian Princes, with whom
M:inelho and Whistnn seem so intrma'e'y acquainted.
If we had the Memoirs of Thoth, frnni which Mane-
tho compiled his Ilislnrv. we should find, I dare sav,
that Crack wa= only a Regent, and tl at he, pi-rhap's,
succeeded Typhon, who (as Whiston says) was Ihe
last Kingofthe Anlediluvian Dynasty.
» Edward Byrne, the head of the Delegates of the
Irish Catholics.
WREATHS FOR THE MINISTERS.
AN ANACREONTIC.
Hillicr, Flora, Queen of Flowers !
Hasle llice from t)ld Bromplon's Lower* —
Or, (if sweeer ih,at ab de)
From Ihe King's well-odour'd Rtou,
Where each lillle nucery bud
Brealhes the dust and quatVs ihe mud.
Hither come and gaiiy twine
Brightes' herbs and llowtrs of thine
Into wreaibs for those, who rule us.
Those, who rule and (some say) fool us —
Flora, sure, will love to please
England's Household Deiiies ! 3
First you must then, willy-nilly,
Fe ch wie many an orange lily —
Orange of ttie darkest dye
Irish (i— rt'— rd can sufiply ; —
Choose me out the l ingest sprig,
And stick it in old Eld— u's wig.
Find me next a poppy posy.
Type of his harangues so dozy,
Ga'land gauily, diiil and cool,
To crown Ihe head of L— v— rp— 1.
'Twill console his brilliant brorts
For that loss of laurel boughs.
Which they suBcr'd (what a piiy!)
On the road to Paris City.
Next, our C— sil— r— gh to crown.
Bring ii,e from Ihe County Down,
Wilher'd Shamr.icks. " hich have been
Gilded o'er, to hide the green —
(Such as H— dt— t biouglit away
From Fall-Wall last Patricks I)ay4) —
Stitch the g aland through and through
With shabby threads of every hue ; —
And as, Goddess t — eiitre voiis —
His L .idsliip loves (though best of men)
A little ti^ytiire, now and then,
Crimp the leives, lh"U first of .Syrens,
Crimp them with Ihy cuiling irons.
Thai 's enough — away, away —
Had 1 leisure. I could say
Ibiw the oldest rose lh.il grows
Must he pluckd to deck Old Rose —
Hnw Ihe Doctor's i brow should sniilo
Crowii'd with wreaths of camomile.
But time presses — to Ihy taste
1 leave the rest, so, priihee, haste I
EPIGRAM.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN A DOWAGER AND
HER MAID ON THE MGUT OF LORD
Y — RK— TH'S fete.
" I wart the Court Guide,'' ^aid mv lady, " lo look
" If Ihe House. Seymour Place, lie at'30 or 20.'' —
" We 've Ic'S' the Court Guide, Ma'am, but heie 's the
Red Beck.
" Where \ou 'il land, I dare say, Sejmour /"/acey in
plenty I"
3 The ancients, in like manner, c owned their
Lares, or Household Grds. See Juvt-nal, Sat. 9 v.
13S. — Plulaich, too, tells us that Household Gods
were then, as Ihey are now, "much eiven to War
and penal Statutes." — iptvvviuCus nai rrotvi/xovj j
4 Certain llnsel. imitations of the Shamrock which |
are distribu'ed by ihe Servants of C n Ht
every Patrick's Day.
* The sobriqiiet given to Lord Sidnioulh.
]42
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
HORACE, ODE XI. LIB. II.
FREELY TRANSLATKD BY THE PR — CE
K — U — T.^
1 Come, V— rm— th, my boy, never Irouble your
Ab ut wh il your old crony,
Tbe Kinpeior Honey,
Is tlouig or brewing on Aluacovy's plains j
3 Nor tremble, my lad. at the state of our granaries:
Should lilt-re come famine,
Still pleniy (o cram in
You always shall have, my dear Lord of the Stan-
Brisk let us revel, while revel we may ;
* For the gay bloom of htty soon passes awav
And I lien people get f^t,
And intirni, and --all that,
5 And a wig (I coufess ii) sn clumsily sits.
That it frightens the liiile Loves out of their vrits;
6 Thy whiskers, too, Y— rm— th ! — alas, even they,
Though so rosy they burn,
Too (juickly must turu
(What a hearl-Lireaking change for thy whiskers!)
to Grey.
Your mill I about matters you dnn't UTiders'and ?
Or whyshnu J you wrileyourseltdown fur an idiot,
Because ■* yoUy" forsooih, "/uivc Uie'pen in your
hand .' ''
Think, think how much better
Than scribbling a teller,
(Which both you and I
Shnuld avoid by Ihe bye,)
How much pleastnter 'I is to sit under Ihe bust
Of old Charley, 9 my friend here, and drink like
While Charley look- sulky and frowns at me. just
As the Ghobl iu the Pantomime frowns at l)ou
Juan.
10 To crown us, Lord Warden,
In C— mb — rl— nd"s garden
Grows pien'y of monk's hood in venomous sprigs :
While Otto of Rojcs
Refreshing all noses
Shall hweetly exhale from our whiskers and wigs.
I This and the following are extracted from a
Work, which may, some time or oiher, meet ihe eye
of the Public — ei.liiled ** t)des of Horace, done into
English by seveial Persons of Fashion."
a Quid beliic'-sus Can'aber, et Scythes,
Hirpine Quincii, cogitet, Hadna
Uivisus objecto, lemiltas
Q.,sre.e.
s Nee trepides in UbUin
Fosceniis asvi pauca.
* _ fugit retro
Levis juvenlas et decor.
* Pelleiite lascivos amures
Caintie.
6 Neque uno Luna rubciis nitet
Vultu.
' Quid EEternis minorem
Consilns aninmm faligas?
' Cur nnn sub alta vel plalano, vel hac
Pinu jaceiites sic tenieie.
9 Charles Fox.
»• Rosa
Canos odora'i c.ipillos,
Duni licet, Assyriaque nardo
Potamiis uncti.
"What youth of the Household will cool cur Nona
In that sireaiTilel delicious,
That down 'midst Ihe dishes.
All full nf Kold fishes,
" h (low? —
13 Or « hii
Unio M
III
rpau
And!
r Sq e,
f the gentle Marc^iesa be there ?
Go — bid her has'e hither,
13 And let her bring with her
The newest No-Poperv Sermon that's going —
'*Uh ! let her come, with her dark tresses llowing,
All gentle and juvenile, curly and gay,
iu Ihe manner of— Ackeruiann's Dresses for Maj 1
HORACE, ODE XXII. LIB. U
FREELY TRANSLATED BY LORD ELD — N.
i^The man \vho keeps a conscience pure,
(If not his own, ai leasl his Prince's,)
Through toil and danger walks secure.
Looks big and black, and never winces.
iGNo want h.is he of sword or dagger,
Cock'd hat or ringlets of Ger mib ;
Though Peers may laugh, and Papists swagger,
He doesn't care one single d-nm.
nWhelher midst lri<h chairmen going
Or ihrough St Giles's alley- din-,
'Mid driinken Sheelahs, blisting, blowing,
No matter, 'I is all one to him.
'8For instance. I, one evening late,
Upon a g.ay vacation sally.
Singing the prai e nf Church and Slate,
Got cGod knows how) to Cranbnurne Alley.
11 Quis pner ocius
Restinguel ardeiiiis Falerni
Pncula pnelti-cunte lympha
i> Quis eliciel domo
Lj den ?
13 Eliuina, die age, cum lyra (qu. Jiar-a)
MatureL
1* Incnmtam Lacseias
More coniam reiigata nodo.
15 Integer vitae scelerisque purus.
16 Nnn eget Mauri jaculis, neque arcu,
Nfc veuenatis gravida sagi lis,
Fusee, pharelra.
1' Sivc per Svrles iter ass'uosas,
S^ive fac urns per inhos|iilalem
Caucasum, vel qux loca fabulosus
Laiiibit Hydaspes.
The Noble Tiansla'or had. at first, laid Ihe scene
of these imagined dangers i f his Man of Conscience
among the Pajiis's of .Spain, and had transla'ed ihe
words '• qujB ]ncA fabtdosus lamlit Hyda-pes" thus
— " The /aUidg Spaniaid licks Ihe Fiench;" l.ut,
recollecting that it is our interest just now tn be re-
spectful to Spanish Catholics (Ih'ugh ihere is certain-
ly no earhly reason f.r our being even cimnmnly
civil to Irish ones), he altered the pa-sage as it sta'ids
at present.
18 Nanique me silva lupus in Sabina,
Duiii nieini cmto Lalagen, et ultra
Terminuin cuiis vag'T expedilis,
Fugil inermein.
I cannot help callinz ihe reader's allenlion to the
peculiir ingenuity with whicli these lines are para,
pliia-ed. Not to ineulion Ihe h^ppy conversion of the
Wolf into a Papist (seeing lint Komulu^ " as suckled
by a wolf, that R >me was founded by R inului, and
that Ihe Pope his always reigned at Rome.) there is
something particularly neat in supp isiiig '•ultra
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
143
When lo ! an Irish Papist darted
Acrnss my path, gaunt, gnni, and big^
I did l)Ut frov\n, and oil' he slAi-ltd,
Scar'd at me, even williout my wig.
» Yet a more fierce an I raw-bnn*d dog
Goes not lo Muss in Dublin CMy,
Nor shakes his brofjue o'er Allen's Bog,
Nor spouti in Catholic Commiltec.
» Oh ! place me midst O'Hourkps, O'Tooles,
Ihe ragiCd roval-Wood of Tara ;
Or place me where Dick M— rl— n lules
'J he houseless wilda of Connemara ;
a Of Church and Stale I 'II warble st II,
•|hnu»h ev'n Dick M—rt—n's self should grumble;
Sweet Church and .Stale, like Jack and Jill,
* So lovingly upon a hill —
Ah ! ne'er like Jack and Jill to tumble !
THE NEW COSTUME OF THE MINISTERS.
Novo monslra creavlt.
Ovid. MelartK^rph. 1. 1. ». «7.
Having sent off the troops of brave Major Camac,
Wiih a swinsini horse-tiil al each valmous back,
And such helmets, God bless us ! as never deck'd any
Male creature before, except Signor Giovanni —
" Let's see." said the R— g— t (like Titus, perplex'd
With the duties of empire.) •' whuui shall 1 dress
He looks in the gla*s — but perfection is there.
Wig, whiskeis, and chin-tufls .ill right to a hair ; »
Not a single cx-curl on his forehead he traces —
For cuilsare like Minis'eis, strange as the case is,
The /a/ver they aie. the more lirm in '.heir places.
His coal he next views — but the coal who could
cloiihl ?
For hisY— im— Ih'sown Frenchifitd hand cut it out;
Eveiy pucker and seam were niaJe mailers of state,
And a Grand Household Council v\a!> held on each
plait.
* ? sl.all he new-rig his
termxftum^ to mean vacation-time; and then the
modest cnnsciousnes> with which the Noble and
Leiriied Translator his avoided toucliin^ upnn the
words ■' curls expcdilw," (<ir, as it ha* b.en otherwise
read. " caiwi'j expeditis,''*) and the felicitous idea of
his beiii5 ■'inerniis" ^\ hen "withnut his wje," are
alin^elher the most deleciablo Sj ecimetis ot [lara-
phrase in our language.
Quale portentum neque militaris
Dau
. alii
ulelif
Nee Jubae lellus genca' leuuum
Arida nuirix.
3 Pone me pigris uhi nulla campis
Arbor ^Esliva recre itur aura :
Quod Utus mundi, net^ulas, malusque
Jupi'er urgct.
I must here remark, that ihe said Dick M— rt— n
bemg a very good fellow, it was not at all fair to
make a " in^Ius Jupiter " of him.
3 Dulce rideniem Lalagen aniabo,
Dulcc loquentem.
■•There cannot be imigined a more happy illus-
tration of Ihe ineeparabiltiy of Chnrch and Slate, and
their (what is called) '* standing and falling together,"
than this ancient apologue of Jack and Jill. Jack, of
course, represents (he S:ate in lUU ingenious li.tle
Allegory,
Jack fell down.
And btuh'. his Crown,
And Jill came lurabhng aflfr.
» That model of Frinces, the Emperor Commodus,
was particularly luxurious in (he drt^ssiit» ;tnd orna-
menting of his hair. His conscience, however, would
not suffer him to trust hiniself with n barber, and he
used, accordingly, lo b' vn off his heard— " limore
lonsoris." says Lampridius. (Hist, ^u^wtt. Scrip-
tor.) The dissolute /Elius Verus, too, was equilly
attentive to the decoration of his wig. (See Jul.
Capilolin.) Indeed, this was not ihe on/y princely
trait in the character of Verus. as he h;id likewise a
I most hearty and dignified contempt for his Wife. See
I his iusuliing answer to her in Sparlianus.
Then wh<im shall h.
brother,
Great C— mb-rl— d's Duke, with some kickshawr or
olher?
And kindly invent him mote Christian-like shapes
For his feather bed nt-ckclorhs and pillory c^>cs,
Ahl nn_I,ere hi^ ardour would meet w.ih delays.
For the Duke bad been lifely pack'd up in new Stays.
So complete for ihe wjnler.'be >aw verv plain
*r would be devilish liard work to unpack him agtin.
So, what's to be done? — there's the Ministers,
bleS'^ *eni ! —
As he ninde Ihe puppets, why shouldn't he dress 'em ?
" An excellent thought !-c <ll thf (ailors— be nimble-
"Let Cum bring his spy-glass, and II— rtf-d her
thimtije J
"While Y— rm— th shall give u?, in spile of all
quizzers,
*' The last Paris cut with his true Gallic scissors,"
So saying, he calls C— sH— r— gh. and the rest
Of his heaven-horn statesmen, to come and be drest.
While Y-rm— Ih, with smp-like and brisk expe-
dition,
Cuts up, all at once, a lirje Cath'Iic Petition
In long tailors' measures, (the P e crying '* Well-
done!")
And first puts in hand my Lord Chancellor Eld— n.
CORRESPONDENCE
BETWEEN A LADV AND GENTLEMAN,
UPON THE ADVANTAGE OP (WHAT IS
called) *' having law ® ON 0NE*8
SIDE."
The Ocntleman''s Proposal,
" I.eege aurea,
B'ei place, et lice."
Come, fly to these arms, nor let beauties so bloomy
To one frigid owner be tied ;
Your piutles may revile, and your old ones look
gloomy,
But, dearest, we've Law on our side.
Oh! think the delight of two lovers congenial.
Whom no dull decorums divide;
Their error how sweet, and iheir laptureshow wniai,
When once they 've got Law on Iheir side,
nr is a thing, that in every King's reign has been
Then why should il now be deciied ?
If the F.ther has done it, why shouldn't Ihe Son, loo ?
For so argues Law on our side.
And, ev'n should our sweet violation of duty
By cold-blooded jurors be tried,
They can hut bring it in •' a misfortune," my beauty,
As long as we 've Law on our side.
» In allusion to Lord Ell— nb— gh.
144
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
The Lady^s J3ns7ver,
Hold, hold, my ^ood Sir, go a liMle more slowly:
For, srant me so faithless a bride,
Sucli siiiiie-s as we, a^e a liiHe too IowIj/j
To hope to have Law on our side.
Had you been a great Pr:iice, to whose star shining
The people should lotik for their guide,
Then your liiijliuess (and welcome!) might kick
down decorum —
You 'd always have Law on your side.
Were y^u ev'n an old Marquis, in mischief grown
hoary.
Whose heart, though it long ago died
To [he pleasures of vice, is alive to Us glory ~~
you still would have Law on your side.
Hut for you, Sir, Crim. Con. is a path full of troubles ;
By my advice therefore abide.
And leave the pursuit lu those Princes and Noble*
Who iiave such a Law on their side.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESS
FOR THE OPENING OF THE NEW THEATRE
OF bT ST— PH— N,
INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN SPOKEN BY
THE PROPRIETOR IN FULL COSTUME,
ON THE 24tH of NOVEMBER, 1612.
This day a New House, for your edification,
VVe open, nv st thinking and i ight-he.ided n.ilion !
F.vcusu the materials — though rotten and bad,
'IhtT 're I he hesl tha' for ninney just now could be had ;
And", if echo the charm of such hi-uses should be,
You will find it shall echo my speech to a T.
As for actors, we 've got the old Company yet,
The sime motlev. odd, tragi-comical set;
And considVinj^ thev all weie bui clerks t'other day,
It is truly surprising hr.w well they can ]>l.iv.
Our Manager,! [he, who in Uls'er was nursf,
And sung Erai ^o Brah for the galle ies (ir-I,
But, on lindiiig /^tfl-inierest a much beUer thing,
ChanjM his note of a sudden, to God save the Khig,)
Sfill wise as be 's blooming, and fat as he s clever,
Himself and his speeches as lengthy as ever.
Here oilers you still the full use of his bre.ith.
Your devoted and long-winded proser till death.
Vou remember last season, when things went per-
We had t ' engage (as a block to rehearse on)
One Mr. V— ns — ti— t, a good sort of person.
Who's also euiploy'd for this stason In plav.
In " Raising ihe Wind,'' and "the Devil to Fay."^
We expect too— at least we've been plotting and
Tn eel thai t:r<a' actnr fmm Liverpool, C— nn— g ;
And, a^ ..[ '!:'■ ( rrv,,, '[lore "s nothmi: attracts
Like a L{ ! ,. n'.iMM-.Mi-hi HI 'iwixt the acts.
If tlu- Ml . ', ! ; ^^ ith'heh'-l|.of SirP— ph-m,
Gi-n|:r,.-. .' r ■ Mv nn,! C— nn-gsh-.uldslop"em,
Wh<>kn'>\vs hut we 'tl hnve to announce in the papers,
*' Grand h^ht — econd time — with addi'ional capers."
Be your taste for the ludicrous, humdrnm, or sad,
There is pleniv of each in this House lo he h.td.
Where our Manager rule'h, there weeping will be,
Fi»r a dead hand at tragedy always was he j
1 Lnrd C— sti— r— gh.
^ He had recently been appointed Cha
Exchetjuer.
And ihere never was dealer in dagger and cup,
Who 50 srnili?tgly goX all his tragedies up.
His powers poor Ireland will never foiget.
And Ihe widows of Walcheren weep o'er them yet.
So much for the actors; — for se::rel machinery.
Traps, ai'd deceptions, and shitting of scenery,
Y— nn— ih and Cum aie tlie best we can find,
To transaci all that tiickery business behind.
The former's emploj'd lr.o to teach us French jigs,
Keep Ihe whiskers in curl, and look after the wigs.
In taking my leave now, I 've only to say,
A few ^eats in the florise, not as yet sold away.
May be had of the Manager, Pat C— stl— r— gh.
THE SALE OF THE TOOLS
Inblrnmenla rvuni. — Tacitus,
Here's a choice set of Tools for you. Ge'mmen and
Ladies,
They '11 fit you qui'e handy, whatever your trade is ;
(Except it be CabiikLt-rnaking ; — no doubt,
In that delicate service they 're lather wotw out ;
Though their owner, bright youth! If he'd had his
own will.
Would have bungled away with titem joyously still.)
You can see they've been pretty well hack'd — and
Whar tool is there job afier job wil! not hack?
Their edge is but dullish, it must be confess'd,
And thfir temper, like E nb'r h's, none of Ihe
best;
But you '11 liod them good hard-working Tools, upon
trying,
Wer'l but fir their brass^ they are well worth the
buying;
They're famous fnr nnking IHnds, sliders^ and screens^
And aie, someof ihtm, excellent turning machines.
1 he first Tool I '11 put up (thev call it a Chanctllor)
Heavy concern ro b th puiclM.er and seller.
Though made of pig iron, \et worthy of note 't is,
'Tis ready to melt at a half minute's notice. 3
Who bids? Gen le buyer! 'twill turn a^ thou shapes! j
' r will make a g nd ihumb-crew lo tor ure a Papist j
Or else a cramp-iron, to slick in the wall
Of some church Ihal old women are feaiful will fall;
Or better, perhaps, (for I 'm guessing at ramloni,)
A hfavv ding-chain for some L-lwyer'^ old Tandem.
Will nobody bid? It is cheap, I am sure, Sir-
Once, twice. — going, going,— thrice, gone! — it is
yours, Sir.
To pay re-idy money you sha'n't be distres',
As a hill at long date suits the Chancellor best.
Come, Where's the next Tool? — Oh! 'tis herein
This implement, Ge'mnien, at first was a Vice;
(A tenacious and close sent of to^d. that will let
Nolhing out of its gra^p it once happens tn get ;)
But it >i[ice has leceived a new coa'ing of Tm,
Bright enongh for a Prince to behold himself m.
Come, what shall we say for it ? biiskly ! bid on,
VVe '11 the sooner get rid of it — going — quite gone,
h tools, if not quickly knnck'ddown,
t cost their owner— how much ? why, a
God be
Might at
Crown
The next Tool I 'II set up has hardly hnd handsel or
Trial as yet, and is also a Chancellor-
Such dull things ns these should be sold by the gross ;
Yet. dull a- it is, 't will be found to shaoe cZose,
And like other close shavers, some counge lo gather,
This blade first began by a flourish on leather.*
3 An allusion to Lord Eld — n's lachrymose tenden-
cies.
4 "Of Ihe tixes proposed by Mr. Vansittart, that
principally opposed in Parli.iment was Ihe additional
duly on leither." — .^7in. Register.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
145
] You shall have it for nothing — then, marvel with nie
At the leirilile (iiiktring work tliere must be,
' Whore > Tnol iuch as this is (I 'II leave you to judge it)
U placed by ill luck a. the top of tht Budget I
LITTLE MAN AND LITTLE SOUL.
A BALLAD.
DEDICATED TO THE RT. HON. CH — RL — S
ABB— T.
Et einf-are pares.
1S13.
Tflere was a little Man, and he had a little Soul,
And he said, •' Little Soul, let us try, try, try,
"Whellier it's within our reach
" To make up n little Speech,
"Just between little you and lillle I, 1, 1,
" Just between little you and little 1 !"-
Then said his little Soul,
Peeping from her little hole,
** I protest, little Man, you are s'out, stout, stout,
*' Hut, if it 's noi uncivil,
" I'ray tell me what ttie devil
"Must our liitle, little speech be about, bout, bout,
" Must our liitle, little speech be about ?"
The little Man Inok'd b\g,
Wilh th' assistance of his wi^.
And he call'd his little Soul to order, order, order,
Till she fe»rM he *d make her jog in
■Jo gaol, like Thomas Crojgan,
(As she wasn't Duke or Earl) to reward her, 'ward
her, 'ward her.
As she wasn't Duke or Earl, to reward her.
The litlle Man then spike,
*' Little snul, it is no joke.
** For as sure as J — cky F— II — r loves a sup, sup, sup,
" I will tell ttie Prince and People
" What I think of Church and Steeple,
"And my liitle patent plan to prop them up, up. up,
*• And my little patent plan to prop them up."
Away then, cheek by jowl,
Little Man and little .Soul
Went and spoke Iheir little speech to a tittle, tittle,
little.
And the world all declare
That this prif;?ish liitle pair
Never yet in all their lives look'd so lillle. little, litlle,
Never yet in all their lives look'd so little I
REINFORCEMENTS FOR LORD
WELLINGTON.
1S13.
As recruits in these times are not easily ?nt.
And the Marshal must have them — pray, why should
we not.
As the last and, I grant it, the worst of our loans to
him,
Ship off ttie Ministry, bndy and bones to him ?
'Ihe.e's not in all England, I 'd venture to swear.
Any men we could half so conveniently spare;
And, though they 've been helping the French for
\l years pisi,
j( We niay thus make them useful to England at last.
C— sll— r— gh in our sieges might save some disgrace*,
Being us'd tci Ihe tahhig and keeping of places;
And Volunteer C-iin-g, still ready for joining,
Might show oll'his talent for sly uiidirmtning.
Cnnid the Household but spare" us its glory and pride.
Old H — df~t at Aorji-UJWif again might be tried.
And tlie C— f J— st— e make 2i bold charge aX his side:
While V— ns— tl— I cond victual Ihe troops upon (icA,
And the Doctor look after the baggage and sick-
Nay, I do not see why the great R— g— t himself
Should, in times such as these, stay at home on the
shelf:
Though ihiough narrow detiles he's not fitted to pass.
Vet who could resist, if he bore down en masse r
And though f'ff, of an evening, perhaps he niigtil prove.
Like our Spanish confed'rates, " unable 10 niove." i
Yet there 'soile thing in war of advaniage unbounded.
Which is, that he could not with ease be surroumicd.
In my next I shall sing of their arms and equipment ;
At preseot no more, but — good luck to the shipment !
HORACE, ODE I. LIB. III.
A FRAGMENT.
Otii prr>'Rnum vulgus ft arceo :
Favele liiiKui.s: carmiiia non prlu«
Au'lila Musarum sacerdns
Virginitiua piierihtjue canto.
Regum timendorum in propriiis ereges,
Beges in ipi>os imperium cut Joviu.
1SI3.
I hale thee, oh. Mob, as my Lady hales delf ;
To .sir Francis I 'II give up ihv claps and ihy hisset,
Leave old Magna Charta to shift for itself.
And, like G— d*v--n, write books fur young mas-
md
Oh ! it IS not high rank thai can make the heait merry.
Even monarclis themselves are not free from mis-
hap:
Though the Lords of Westphalia must qualie before
Jerry,
Poor Jerry himself has to quake before Nap.
HORACE, ODE XXXVIIL LIB. L
A FRAGMENT.
Persicnfl odi, pner, ddparatuB ;
Mitte sccrart, RoeH v»o I'^cortim
Sera inorelur.
TRANSL.\TED BY A TREASURY CLERK,
WHILE WAITING DINNER FOR THE
RIGHT HON. G — RGE R — SE.
Boy, tell the Cook that I hate all nick-nackeries,
Fricassees, vol-au-venis, [lutfs. and gim-crackeries —
Six by Ihe Horse-Gund^ ' — old Geoigv is late —
Bu' conie— lay the lable-cloih— pounds ! do not wait,
Nor atop to inquire, while 'he dinner is slaving.
At which of his pKices Old R— e is delaying 1 a
' The charac'er given to the Spanish soldier, in Sir
John Murray's memorable dfs|iatch.
^ The literal closeness of Ihe version here cannot
bui be admiied. The Tianslaor has added a long,
erudite, and flowery note upon Rcscs, of *vhich I can
merely give a speci'men a' present. In tlie hist plrce,
he ransacks llie Uosarium Politirnuio( Ihe Persian
poet Sadi, with Ihe hope r'f linding some Political
Roses, to match the gentlentaii in the text — but in
vain; he Hien tells us that Ciceio accused Verres of
13
146
IRISH MELODIES.
IMTROMPTU,
UPON BEING OBLIGED TO LEAVE A PLEA-
SANT PARTY, FROM THE WANT OF A
PAIR OF BREKCHKS TO DRESS FOR DIN-
NER IN.
1810.
Between Adam and me the great ditTerence is,
'I'linugh a paradi-e ctcli has been forc'd to resign,
Thai he never wore breeches, (ill tuni'd out nf his,
While, for want uf uiy bieeches, I 'ni banish'd from
re|)osirji? upon a cushion " Melitenai rosa farlumy^'
which, from the odd mixture of words, he supposes to
be a kmJ of Iri^h Bed of Roses, like Lord Castle-
reach's. The learned Clerk next favours us with
some remarks upon a well-known punning epiiaphon
fair Rosamond, and expresses a most loyal hope, ihat,
if ** Rosa munda " mean •* a Rose with clean hands "
it may be found applicable to Ibe Right Honourable
LORD WELLINGTON AND THE MINISTERS,
1813.
So gently in peace Alcibiades smil'd,
While in battle he shone forlh so terribly ffrand,
That the emblem thev ^ravM on his seal, was a child
With a lUundtrbolt ptac'd in its mnuceut hand.
Oh, Wellington, long as such Ministers wield
Your magnificent a-im, the same emblem will do;
For while l/iey'ie in the Council and you in the Field, '
We 've the babies in them^ and the Ihunda- m yuu I .
Rose in question. He then dwells at some length
upon the " Kosa aurca^^'' which, 1houa;h descriptive, ■
in one sense, of the old Treasury Statesman, yet, as
being consecrated and worn by the Pope, must, of
course, not be biought into the same atmosphere with
him. Lastly, in reference to the words ^^ old Rose,'*
he winds up with the pathetic lamentation of the Poet
" consenuisse Rosas.'' The whole nore indeed dhows
a knowledge of Roses, that is quite edifying.
IRISH MELODIES.
DEDICATION.
TO THE MARCHIONESS DOWAGER
OF DONEGAL.
It 13 now many years since, in a Letter prefixed to
the Third Number of the Irish Melodies, I had the
pleasure of inscribing the Poems of Ihat work to your
Ladyship, as to one whose character reflected honour
oil the country to which they relate, and whose friend-
sliip had long been the pride and happiness of their
Author. With the same feelings of attection and
respect, confirmed if not increased by the experience
of every succeeding year, 1 now place those Poems in
their present new form under your protection, and
With perfect sincerity,
Your Ladyship's ever attached friend,
THOMAS MOORE.
PREFACE.
Though an edition of the Poetry ff the Irish Melo.
dies, separate from the Music, has long been called
for, yet, having, for many reasons, a strong objection
to this sort of "divorce, I should with difficulty have
consented to a disunion of the words from the airs,
had it depended solely upon me to keep them quietly
and indissniubly together, Bu', besides the various
shapes in which these, as well as my other lyrical
wrilineis, have been published throughout America,
they are included, of course, in all theedili.-ns of my
wo'ks prined on ihe CoMtine-it, and have also ap-
peared, in a volume full of tvpognphical enors, in
Dublin. I have therefore readily acceded to ihe wish
expressed by the Proprietor of the Irish Meloiies, for
a revised and cnmpieie edition of the poetry of the
Work, though well aware that my verges must lose
even more ihan Ihe " miimse d'niidium^* in being
detached from the beautiful airs lo which it was Iheir
' good fortune to be a^socil^ed.
I The Advertisements which were prefixed to the
[ different numbers, the Prefatory Le'ier upon Mu»ic,
I &c. will be found in an Appendix at the end of the
I Volume.
IRISH MELODIES,
GO WHERE GLORY WAITS THEE.
Go where glory wai's thee.
But while fame elates thee,
Oh! still remember me.
When Ihe praise thou meetest
To thine ear is sweetest,
Oh I then remember me.
Other arms may press thee,
Dearer friends caress thee,
All the jojs thai bless ihee,
Svveeier far may be ;
But when friends are nearest,
And when joys are dearest,
Oh ! then remember me !
When, at eve, thou rovest
By Ihe s'ar ihou lovest,
Oh I then remember me.
Think, when home reluming.
Bright we
' clo
liber me.
Oh! thu
Oft as sun
Wlien thir
Once so lov'd by ihee,
Think of her who wove them
Her who made Ihee love then
Oh! then remember me.
When, around thee dying,
Autumn leaves are lying,
(Jh ! then remember ine.
And, at night, when gazing
On the gay hearth blazing,
Oh! still remember me.
Then should music, stealing
All the soul of feeling.
To thy heart appealing.
Draw one tear from thee ;
Then let memory bring thee
Str.Tins I us'd to sing thee,—
Oh ' then remember me.
IRISH MELODIES.
147
WAR SONG.
REMEMBER THE GLORIES OF BRIEN THE
BRAVE. I
Remember the glnnes of Brien the brave,
Th<»' the (Ji*ys of the hero are o'er ;
Tho' lost m Mononia i ai.d cold in the grave,
He returns to Kiiikora3 no more.
The star of the helil. which so ofien hath pour'd
l(s beam nn the battle, is set ;
But Ciiough of its glory remains on each sword.
To light us to victory yet.
Mononia! when Nature embellish'd the tint
Of thy fields, and thy niount.iins so (air.
Did she ever intend thai a tyrant sliould print
The footatep of >lavery there ?
No ! Freedom, whose smile we shall never resign,
Go, lell our invaders, the Danes,
That M is sweeter to bleed for an aee at thy shrine,
Than to sleep but a moment iu chains.
Forget not our wounded companions, who stood *
In the day of distress by our side;
While the moss of 'he valley grew led with their blood,
They stirrVI not, but conquer'd and died.
That sun which now blesse. our arms with his light,
S«w them fall upnn Ossnry's plain ; —
Oh : let him n-it bimh, when he leaves us to-night,
To find that they fell there in vain.
ERIN! THE TEAR AND THE SMILE IN
THINE EYES.
Erin, the tear nnd (he smile in thine eyes,
Blend like the rainbow that hangs in thy skies 1
Shining through sorrow's sireani,
Saddening through pleasure's beam,
Thy suns with doubtful gleam,
Weep while they rise.
Erin, thy silent tear never shall cease,
Erin, thy languid smile ne'er shall increase,
Till, like the raini ow'b light,
Thy various lints unite.
And form in heaven's sight
One arch of peace 1
OH! BREATHE NOT HIS NAME.
Oh ! breathe not his name, let it sleep in the shade.
Where cold and unhonour'd his relics are laid :
Sad, silent, and dark, be the tears ihat we shed.
As the night-dew lh;tt fills on the grass o'er his head.
i Brian Bnrnmhe. the great monarch of Ireland,
who W.18 killed M the battle of Clontarf, in the be-
ginning of the nth century, afler having defeated the
Dalies in twenty-five engagements.
0 Munster. 3 The palace of Brien.
-< This alludes to an interesting circumstance Telafed
of the Dalgais (he favourite troops of Brien, when
they were interrupted in iheir return from the battle
of Clontarf, by Filzpatrick, prince of Ossoiy, The
wounded men entrea'ed that they might be allowed to
fight with the rest. _ Ae( stakes (they said) be stuck
in the e^ouiid, and suffer each of us, tied to and sttp-
ported by one of these stakes, to be placed in his rank
bif the side of a sound man." •* Between seven and
eight hundred wounded men (adds O'Halloran) pale.
emaciated, and supported in this manner, appeared
mixed with the foremost of the troops ; — never was
iuch another sight exhibited." — History of Ireland,
book xii. chap. i.
Bui the ni^ht-dew that falls, though in silence it weep%
Shall brighten with verdure the grave where he sleep*;
And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls,
Shall long keep his memory green in cur souls.
WHEN HE, WHO ADCRES THEE.
When he, who adores thee, has left but the name
Of his t^anlt and his sorrows behind,
Oh ! say wilt then weep, when they darken the fame
Of a life that for thee was resign'd ?
Yes. weep, and however my fues may condrnin,
Thy tears shall etlace iheir decree ;
For Heaven can witness, though guilty to them,
I have been but too faithful to thee.
With thee were the dreams of my earliest love ;
Every thought of my reason was thine ;
In my last humble prayer to the Spirit above,
Thy name shall be mingled with mine.
Oh I blest are ttie lovers and friends who bhall live
The days of thy glory to see ;
But the next dearest blessing that Heaven can give
Is the pride of thus dying for thee.
THE HARP THAT ONCE THROUGH TARA'S
HALLS,
The harp that once through Tara's balls
The soul of music shed.
Now hangs as mnte on Tara's walls,
As if thatM»ul were fled.—
So sleeps the pride of former days,
So glory's thrill is o'er,
And hearts, Ihat once beat high for praise.
Now feel that pulse no more.
No mere to chiefs and ladies bright
The harp of Tara swells;
The chord alone, (hat breaks at night.
Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus Fieednm now so seldom wakes.
The only throb ..he gives,
Ib when some heirt indignant breaks,
To show that still she lives.
FLY NOT YET,
Fly not yet, 't is just the hour.
When pleasure, like the midnight flower
That scorns the eye of vulgar light,
Begins to bloom for sons of night,
And maids who love the moon.
T was but to bless these hours of shade
That beauty and the moon were made;
'T is then their soft attractions glowing
Set the tides and goblets flowing.
Oh! stay,— Oh! stay,—
Joy so seldom weaver a chain
Like this to-nighi, that oh, 't is pain
To break its links so soon.
Fly not yet, the fnunt th.it play'd
111 times of old through Ammon'a shade,^
Thoueh icy cold by day it ran,
Yet still, like ^oul8 of mirth, began
To burn when night was near.
And thus, should woman's heart and looki
At noon be cold as winter brooks,
8 Solis Fons, near the Temple of Ammon.
148
IRISH MELODIES.
Nor kindle lill the night, relurnina;,
Brings Iheir genial hour for burning.
Oh 1 stay,— Oh 1 stay,—
When did morning evei break,
And lind sucli beaining eyes awake
Ao those that sijaikle here ?
OH I THINK NOT MY SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS
AS LIGHT.
Oh! think not my spirits are always as light,
And as free front a pang as Ihey seem lo you now;
Nor expect that the htarl-be^ming smile utto-night
Will return with to-morrow to brighten niy brow.
No : — lite is a waste oi wearisome hours.
Which seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns ;
And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers,
Is always the first to be touched by the tliorns.
But send round the bowl, and be happy awhile —
May we never meet wor^e, in our pilgrimage here,
Than the tear thai enjoyment may gild with a smile,
And the smile that compassion can turn lo a tear.
The thread of our life would be dark, Heaven knows !
If it were not with fnendirliip and love itilertwin'd J
And I care not liow soou I may sink to repose,
When these blessings shall cease to be dear to my
mind.
But they who have lov'd the fondest, the purest.
Too ofttii have v\ept o'er the dream Ihey believ'd ;
And the heait that has sluuiber'd iu friendship se
curest,
Is happy indeed if 't was never deceiv'd.
But send round the bowl ; while a relic of truth
Is in man or in woman, this praytr shall be mine, —
That the sunshine of Inve may illumine our youth,
And the moonlight of friendship console our de-
cline.
THO' THE LAST GLIMPSE OF ERIN WITH
SORROW I SEE.
Tho' the last elimpse of Erin with sorrow I see,
Yet wherever thou art sliaM seem Erin to me;
In exile thy bosom shall siill be my home,
And thine eyes make my clinjate wherever vre roam.
To the gloom of some desert or cold nicky shore,
Where the eve of the s'ranger can haunt us no more,
I will fly with my Coulin, and think tlie rough wind,
Less rude than the foes we leave frowning behind.
And I '11 gaze on thy gold hair as graceful it wreaihes,
And hang o'er (hy soft Naip, as wildly it breathes;
Nor dread that the cold-heaited Saxon will tear
One chord from that harp, or one lock from that hair.i
t " In the Iwen'y-eighth year of the reign of Henry
VIII,, an Act was made respecting the habits, and
dress in eeneral. of the Irish, whereby all | ersous
were restrained from being shirr or shaven above the
ears, or from wearing Glibbes, or Coulins (long
locks), on their heads, or hiir on their upper lip,
called Cromnieal. (in tjiis occasion a song was writ-
ten by one of our batds, in v\ hich an Irish viigin is
made to give the preference to her dear Coulin (or
the youth with ilie HnwinK locks) to all strangers (by
which the English were meint). or those who wore
their habits. Of this song, the air alone has reached
us, and is univer-ally admired."— lViilkcr''s Histori-
cal Memoirs of Irish Sards, p. 134. Mr. Walker
informs us also, that, about the sanie period, there
were some harsh measures taken against the Irish
Mu.Etrels.
RICH AND RARE WERE THE GEMS SUE
WORE.^
Rich and rare were the gems she wore,
And a bright gold rin^ on her wand she borej
But oh ! her beauty was far beyor.d
Her sparkling gems, or snow-wbile wand.
" Lady ! dost thou not fear to s'ray,
"So lone and lovely through this bleak way?
" Are Erin's sons so good or so cold,
" As not to he tempted by wonian or gold ? "
" Sir Knight ! I feel not the least alarm,
"No son of Erin will otternie harm: —
'' For though they love woman and golden store,
"Sir Knight! tliey love hone ur and virtue morel"
On she went, and her maiden sniile
In safetv lighted her rnuiid the green isle;
And bit'st for ever is she who relied
Upon Erin's honour, and Erin's pride.
AS A BEAM O'ER THE FACE OF THE
WATERS MAY GLOW.
As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow
While the tide runs in daikness and coldness below,
So the cheek may be ting'd with a warm sunny smile,
Though the coldheart to ruin runs darkly the while.
One fatal remembrance, one sorrow that throws
Its bleak shade alike o"er our joys and our woes,
To which life nothing darker or brighter can bring
For which joy has no balm and affliction no sting —
Oh ! this thought in the midst of enjoyment will stay.
Like a dead, leahess branch in the summer's bright
ray;
The beams of the warm sun play round it in vam,
It may smile in his light, but it blooms not again.
THE MEETING OF THE WATERS.3
There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet
As that vile in whose bnsnm the bright waters meet ;*
Oh! the last rays of feelmgand life must depart,
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade froni my heart.
Yet it was not that na'ure had shed o'er the scene
Her purest of crystal and brighle-t of green ;
'T was not her soft magic of streamlet or hill,
Oh I no, — it was something more exquisite still.
*T was that friends, the belov'd of my bosom, were
2 This ballad is founded upon the following anec-
dote : — "The people were inspired with such a spirit
of honour, virtue, and religion, by the great example
of Brian, and by his excellent administration, tha', as
a proof of it, we are informed that a young lady of
great beauty, adorned with jewels and a costly die s,
undertook a j'Hirney alone, from one end of the king-
dom to the other. \\'\ h a wand only in her hand, at
the top of which was a rine of exceeding great value;
and such an impression had the laws and government
of this Monarch made on the minds of all the people,
that no attempt was made upon her hnnnur, nor was
she robbed of her clothes c jewels." — IVamer^s Hit-
to7~y of Ireland, vol. i. book x.
3 "The Meeting of the Waters" forms a part of
that beautiful scenery which lies between Kalhdruni
and Arklow, in the county of Wicklow, and these
lines were suggested by a visit to this romantic spot,
in the summer of the year ISO/.
4 The rivers Avon and Avoca,
IRISH MELODIES.
149
wc love.
Sweet vale of Avoci ! how calm could 1 rest
In Ihy b.>s<.m of sliaJe, wiih the friends I love besf^
Where the atomia that we feel in this cold world
should cease,
And our hearts, like thy waters, be miDgled in peace.
HOW DEAR TO ME THE HOUR.
How dear lo me the hour when daylight dies,
And suiibtanis nifti along the silent sea,
For then sweet dreams of other days aiise.
And memory breathes her vesper sigh lo ttiee.
And, as I watch the line of light, that pbys
Along the smooth wave tow'rd the burning west,
3 long to tread that golden path of riys,
And tbiuk U would lead to some bright isle of rest.
TAKE BACK THE VIRGIN PAGE,
WRITTEN ON RETURNING A CLANK BOOK.
Take back the virgin page,
White and unwritten still;
Some haiid more calm and sage,
The leal must fill.
Thoughts come, as pure as light,
Pure as even you require ;
But, oh ! e'ch woid I write
Love turns to lire.
Yet let me keep the book :
Oft shall my heart renew,
When on its leaves I look,
Dear thnunhts of ynu.
Like you, 't is fair and bright;
Like you, too bright and fair
To tel wild p.is^ion write
One wrung wish there.
Haply, when from those eyes
Far, far away 1 roam,
Shi'uld calmer ihnu£;his arise
TowVds you and home j
Fancy may trace ^onle line,
Worthy ihoae eyes to meet,
Thoughts that not burn, but shine,
Pure, calm, and sweet.
And as, o'er ocean far.
Seamen Iheir records keep,
Led by some hidden star
Through the cnid deep;
So may the words I write
Tel! thro' what storm" I stray —
You still the unseen light,
Guiding ::ty way.
THE LEGACY.
Whe^ in death I shall calmly recline,
0 bear mv heart lo my mistress dear ;
Tell her it I'iv'd upon smiles and wine
Of Ihe brightest tme, while it lin^er'd h«'
Bid her cot shed one tear of sorrow-
To sully a heait sn brilliant and light ;
But balmy dn)ps of the red grape borrow.
To bathe Ihe relic from mo-n till night.
When the light of my song is o'er,
Then take my harp to your ancient ball;
Hang it up al that friendly door,
Where weary travelle s love to call.'
Then if some bard, who roams forsaken,
Revive its soft note in passing along.
Oh ! let one thought of its master waken
Your watmesl smile for the child of song.
Keep this cup, which is now o'erflowing,
To grace yuur revel, « hen I 'm at rest ;
Never', oh ! never its balm bestowing
On lips thai btauty halh seldnm blest.
But when s-mie warm devoted lover
To her he adnies shall lia'he its brim,
Then, then my spirit around stiall hover.
And halluw each drop tliat fuama fur him.
HOW OFT HAS THE BENSHEE CRIED
How oft has the Renshee cried,
How oft has death uniied
Bright links that Glory wove,
Sweet bonds entwtn'd by Love !
Peace to e.ich manly soul that sleepeth ;
Rest to each faithful eye that weejieth;
Long niay the fair and brave
Sigh o'er Ihe hero's grave.
We're fall'n ui)on gloomy days I *
Star after siar decays,
Every bright name, that shed
Light o'er the land, is i/ed.
Dark falls the tear of him who mourneth
Lost joy, or hope that ue*er returnelh ;
But brighily (Iowa the tear.
Wept o'er a hero's bier.
Quench'd are our beacon lights —
'Jhoii, of the Hundred Fighls ! 3
Thnu, on whose burning tongue
Truth, peace, and freedom hung! *
Both mute,— but long as valour shineth.
Or mercy's soul at war repineih,
So long shall Erin's pi ide
Tell how they liv'd and died.
WE MAY ROAM THROUGH THIS WORLD.
We may roam thro' this world, like a child at a feast,
Who hut sips of a sweet, and then flies to the rest ;
And, when pleasure begins to grow dull in the east,
We may order our wings and be ofl' to the we&t :
Bui if hearts that feel, and eyes that smile.
Are the dearest gifts that heaven supplies.
We never need leave our own green isle,
For sensitive hearts, and for sunbriglit eyea.
1 '• Tn every Jiouse was one or two harps, free tt^ all
travellers, v'bo were the more caressed, (he mure
they excelled in music." — CHalloran.
2 I have endeavoured here, without losing that
Irish character, which it is my object to ptei^crve
throushout this work, to alludeto Ihe sad and omi-
nous fatality, by which England has been deprived of
so many great and good men. at a moment when she
Diost requires all the aids ot talent and integrity.
3 This designation, which has been before ajiplied
to Lord Nelson, is the title given to a celebrated Irish
Hero, in a Poem by O'Guive, Ihe bard of OWiel,
which is quoted in the " Philosophical Survey of the
South of Ireland," p. 433. "Con, of the hundred
Fights, sleep in thy grass-grown tomb, and upbraid
not our defeats with Ihy victories.'*
* Fox, *' Ronianorum ultimus.**
]3*
150
IRISH MELODIES,
In England, the garden of Beauty is kept
By a dragon of prudery placed within call ;
But so ofi this unaiiiiable dragon has slept,
That the garden 's but carelessly watch "d after all.
Oh I they want the wild sweet-briery fence,
Which round the flowers nf Erin dwells ;
Which warns the touch, while winning the sense,
Nor chirms us least when it niost repels.
Then remember, whi;rever your gnblet is crown'd,
Thro' this world, whether eastward or westward
you ro.im,
vVhen a cup to the sn-ile of dear woman goes round,
Oh 1 remember the smile that adorns her at home.
In France, when the heart of a woman sets sail,
On the ocean of wedlock ils for'une to try,
Love seldom eoes far in a vessel so frail,
But just pilofs her otf, and then bids her good*bye.
While the daughters of Erin keep the boy,
Ever siiiiltug beside hi:^ faiihful oar.
Through billows of woe, and beams of joy,
The same as he look'd when he left the shore.
Then remember, wherever your goblet is crown'd,
Thro' this world, wiieiher eastward or westward
When a cup to the smile of dear woman goes round,
Ob I remeotber the smile that adorns her at home.
EVELEEN'S BOWER.
Oh ! weep for the hour,
When to Eveleen's bower
The Lord of the Valley with false vows came:
The moon hid her light
From the he:ivens ihat night,
And wept behind her clouds o'er the maiden's shame.
The clouds pass'd sonn
From the ch-sie cold moon.
And heaven smil'd .'gain with her vestal flame:
But none will see the d:»y,
When theclotids shrill pass away.
Which that dark hour left upon Eveleen's fame.
The white snnw lay
On the tiairou' puth-way,
When the Lord of the Valley crost over the moor ;
And manv a deep print
On the white snow's tint
Show'd the track of his footstep to Eveleen's door.
The next sun-s ray
Soon melted away
Every tr^ce on the path where the false Lord came;
But there's a light above,
Which alnne can remove
That stain upon tiie snow of fair Eveleen's fame.
LET ERIN REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD.
Let Erin remember the days of old,
Ere her faithless snnsbetrav'd her;
When Malachi wore ihe collar 6f goId,i
Which he won from her proud invader.
> "This brought on an encounter between MalachL
(the Monarch of Ireland in the lenih cer,tnry) and the
Danes, in «hicli Malachi defeated two of iheir ch^ni-
pi( lis, wtiom he encountered successively, hand to
When her kings, with standard oF green unfurlM.
Led the Red-Branch Knights to danger;— 4
Ere the emerald gem of the wcslern world
Was set in the crown of a stranger.
On Lough Neagh's bank as the hsherman strays,
When the clear cold eve -s declining,
He sets the round lowers of other days
In the wave beneath hmi shining;
Thus shall memory often, in dreams sublime,
Catch a glimpse of the days thai are over:
Thus, sighing, look through the waves of time
For the long*faded glories they cover.a
THE SONG OF FIONNUALA.*
Silent, oh Moyle, be Ihe roar of thy water,
Break not, ye breezes, vour chiin of repose,
While, murmurmg mournfully, Lir'a lonely daughter
Tells to the night-star her tale of woes.
When shall the swan, her deatli-note singing,
Sleep, with wings in darkness furl'd ?
When will heaven, ifs sweet bell ringing,
Call my spirit from this slormy world ?
Sally, oh Moyle, to thy winder-wave weeping,
Fate bids me languish long ages away ;
Yet sill in her darkness doth Erin lie sleeping,
Still doth Ihe pure light its dawning delay.
When will that day-star, mildly springing,
Warm our isle with peace and love?
When will heaven, its sweet bell ringing.
Call my epirit to the fields above ?
hand, taking a collar of gold from the neck of one,
and carrying ofl' the sword of the other, as trophies
of his victory." — Wanitr's History of Ireland, vol.
i. book ix.
^ " Military orders of knights were very early
established in Ireland : long before the birth of Christ
we find an hereditary order of Chivalry in Ulster,
called Ciiraidhe 7io Craiolhe ritadh, or the Knights
of the Red Br.inch, from their chief seat in Emania,
adif.ining to the palace of (he Ulster kings, called
Tcfig/i na Craiubhe ruadh, or the Academy of the
Red Branch; and contiguous to which was a Urge
hospital, founded for the sick knights and soldiers,
called hroiil'hear^, or the House of the Sorrowful
Soldier. "— 0'//a/^oran's Introduction, ^c, part i.
chap 5.
3 It was an old tradition, in the time of Giraldns,
that Lnush Neagh had been originally a fountain, by
wliose sud'Ien overflowing the country was inundatedi
and a whole region, like the Atlantis of Plaio, over-
whelmed. He says lhat the fishermen, in clear wea-
ther, u-ed to point out to strangers the tall ecclesiasti-
cal toivers under the water. Piscaiores aqux iliius
turres cedes lasticas, qum more, jjatrix arctse sunt et
altx, necnonct rotu7ids, sub uudis inanifcste streno
tenifore coiispiciunt. et cxtraneis transctaitilnis, rei-
que causas admirantibus, frequenter ostcjidw it —
■Jopogr. Hib. dist. 2. c. 9.
4 To m^ke this story in'elligible in a song would
require a much grea'er number of verses than any one
is authorized to inflict upon an audience at once ; the
reader must therefore be content to learn, in a note,
that Fionnuala, Ihe daughter of Lir, was. by some
supernatural power, Iransfoimed into a swan, and
condemned to wander, for manv hundred years, over
certain lakes and rivers in Ireland, till the coming of \
Ch'i>tianiiy, uhen the first sound of Ihe mass-hell was
tn be the sign.il of her release. — I found Hiis fanciful
fiction among some manuscript translations from the
Irish, which were begun under the direction o( that
enlightened friend of Ireland, the late Countess of
Moira.
IRISH MELODIES.
151
COME SEND ROUND THE WINE.
Come» send round ihc wine, and leave points Of belief
To sinipletod sages, and reasoning fouls ;
This nionient 's a (lower too fair and brief,
To he witherVi and stAJn'd by the dust of the schools.
Your glass niay be purple, and mine inav be blue,
But, while ihey ai e lilld from the same bright bowl,
The lonl, who would quarrel for diflerence of hue,
Deserves not the coniforl Ihey shed o'er the soul.
Shall I ask the brave soldier, who fights by my side
In the cau^e of mankind, rf our creeds'agree ?
Shall 1 give up the friend I have valued and tried,
If he kneel not before the same alt.ir with me?
From the heretic girl of my aoul should I fly,
To seek somewhere else a more orthodox kiss?
No, perish the hearts, and the laws that try
Truth, valour, or love, by a staudard like this 1
SUBLIME WAS THE WARNING.
Sublime was the warning that Liberty spoke,
And grand was the moment when Sp.miards awoke
Into life and revenge from the conqueror's chain.
Oh, Liberty 1 let not this spirit have rest,
Till it move, like a breeze, o'er the waves of the
west —
Give the light of your look to each sorrowing spot,
Nor, cih, be the Shamrock of Erin forgot
While you add to your garland the Ulive of Spain'
If the fame of our fathers, bequeafh'd with their rights,
Give to country its cbarm, and to home \t< delights,
If deceit be a wound, and suspicion a stain
Then, ye men of Iberia, our cause is the same !
And oh ! may his tomb w.mt a tear and :i name,
Who would ask for a nobler, a holier death,
Than to turn his last sigh into victory's biea'h,
For (he Shamrock of Eriu and Olive of Spain 1
Ye Blakes and O'Donneh, whose fathers resign'd
The green hills of their youth, among s'rangcrs to find
That repose which, at home, they had sigh'd for in
Join, join in our hope that Ihe flame, which you light.
May be felt yet in Krin, as calm, and as brii;hr,
And forgive even Albion while blushing she draws,
Like a truant, her swoiJ, in the long-slighted cause
Of the Shamrock of Erin and Olive of Spain!
God prosper Ihe cause ! — oh, it cannot but thrive,
While the pulse of one patriot heart is alive,
Its devotion to feel, and its i ights to maintain ;
Then, how sainted by sorrow, its martyrs will die!
The (ineer of Glory shall point where they lie ;
While, far from the footstep of cnward or slave.
The young spirit of Freedom shall shelter their grave
fieuealb Shamrocks of Erin and Olives of Spain 1
BELIEVE ME, IF ALL THOSE ENDEARING
YOUNG CHARMS.
Believe me, if all those endearing younj charms,
Which I ^7.e on so fondly to-day,
to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms.
s moment thou art,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still beador'd, astl
Let thy loveliness fade as it w
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
V\'3uld entwine itself verdantly still.
It is not while beauty anrf you'h are thine own,
And Ihv cheeks UTiprofanM by a tear.
That the "fervour and faith of a snul can he known,
To which time will but make thee more dear :
No, the heart that has truly lov'd never forgeti,
" it as truly loves on to the close.
As the sun-Ilower turns on her god, when he set^
lie same look which she turuM when he rose.
ERIN, OH, ERIN.
Like the bright lamp, that shone in Kildare's holy
fane.i
And burn'd thro* long ages of darkness and storm,
Is Ihe heart that sorrows have frowu'd on in vam,
Whose spirit outlives then), uuf idiiig and warm.
Erin, oh, Erin, thus bright thro' the tears
Of a long night of bondage, thy spirit appears.
The nations have fallen, and thou still art young,
Thy sun is but rising, when oihers are set;
And iho' slavery's cloud o'er thy morning hath hung,
The full noon of freedom shali beani round thee yet.
Erin, oh, Erin. Iho' long in the shade,
Thy star will shine out when the proudest shall fade.
Unchill'd by the rain, and unwak'd by the wind.
The lily lies sleepiiig thro' winter's cold hour.
Till Spring's light (ouch her fetters unbind,
And d:iylight and liberty bless the young flower.l
Thus Erin, oh, Erin, thy winter is pa^I.
And Ihe hope that liv'd'throMt shall blossom at last.
DRINK TO HER.
Drink to her, who long
Halh wak'd the poet's sigh,
The girl, who gave to song
Whit gold could never buy.
Oh ! woman's heart was made
For minstrel hands alone;
By otiier (irgeis plav'd.
It yields not hilf the tone.
Then here's 'o her, ^^ ho Inn?
Halh wak'd the poefs sigh.
The girl who gave to song
What gold could nevet buy
At Beauty's door of glass,
When Wealth and Wit once stood,
They ai^k'd her, *' which might pass } '
She answer'd. " he, who could."
Wiih golden key Wealth thought
To p.iss — but 't would not do:
While Wit a diamond brought.
Which cut his bright way through.
So here's to her, wh . long
Halh wak'd the poet's sigh.
The eirl, who give to song
What gold could never buy.
The love that seeks a home
Where we»lfh or grandeur shines,
Is like the gloomy gnome.
Thai dwells in dark gold mines.
But oh ! the poet's love
t'an boasi a bi ighter sphere j
;horT
above
'Iho' woman keeps ii here.
i The inextinguishable fire of St. Bridget, at KiU
dare, which Giraldus mentions : — " Apud Kildariam
occurrit Ignis Sanciae Brigida?, quem inextinguibitem
vocani ; noil quod extingui non pO'sit, sed quod lam
solicite nioniales et sanclae muliercs ignem, suppetente
materia, fovent et nutrinnt, ut a tempore virgmis per
tot annofnm curricula semper mansit inextinctus " —
Girald. Camb. dt Mirabil. Hibcm. dist. 2. c. 3-1.
^ Mrs. H. Tighe, in her exquisite lines on the lily,
lias applied this image to a s'lll more important
object.
152
IRISH MELODIES.
Then drink to her, who Img
Haih wakd ihe poet's sigh,
The girl, who gave to song
What guld could never buy.
OH! BLAME NOT THE BARD.*
Oh ! blame not the bard, if he fly to the bowers,
Where Pleasure lies, carelessly smiling at Fame ;
He was born f-r much nu)re, and in happier hi^urs
His soul nii^ht have burn'd with a hulier flame.
Tlie slriijg, ihat nr.w lai.-ui hes loose o'er the lyre,
MIkIiI b;u-e bent a proud bow to ihe warrior's dart ;^
Ami I lie lip, which now bre.ithes but thesnngof desiie,
Mi;<ht have pour'd ihe full tide of a palriul's beait.
But alas for his country ! — her pride is gone by,
And Ibal spirit i> brn'ken. which never would bend;
O'er tl.e rum her children in secret must s'gh.
Fnr 'I is treason to love her, and dcalh to defend.
Uiipriz'd a^: her sons, till they 've learned lo belray j
Undisliuguith'd Ihey live, if tbcy shame not their
And the torch, that would light them thro' dignity's
way,
Must be caught from Ihe pile, where their country
expires.
Then bl,
He
t the bard, if in plensure's soft dream,
houtd try to forgei, wl.at he m ' '
can heal
but a hope — let a vis'a but gleam
Thruugh the gloom of his country, and mark how
he'll fL-el!
That instant, bis heart at her shrine would lay down
Every passion it nurs'd, every blis^ it ador'd ;
While the myrrle, now idly enlwin'd with his crown,
Like the wreath of Harmodius, should cover bis
sword 3
Bnl tho' glory be gone, and tho' hope fade awny,
Thy name, Invtd Erin, sliail live in his songs;
Not ev'ii in Ihe hour, when his henrl is most gay,
Will he lose the remembrance of thee and thy
The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains ;
The sigh fif Ihv harp shall be sent o'er Ihe deep,
Till ihy masters 'thentselves, :is Ihcy rivel Ihy chains,
tjhatl paubc al Ihe song of their captive, and weep!
W^HH>E GAZING ON THE MOON'S LIGHT.
While gazing on the moon's light,
A nvmenl from her smile 1 tiirn'd,
To tnnk at orbs. ihat. more bright.
In lone and distant glory buru'd.
1 We may siijiprse ths npolngy to hai-e been uttered
by one of Ihr)-e u,iiiJL'iiinc baids, whom .Spenser ^o
severely, and, perhaps, tmly, de.<ribes in his State of
Irelind, and whnse (juenis. he tells lis, " were spiin
kled with snme pietty flower, of iheir na'ural device
which have good grace and comeliness unio tbein, Ih
which it is great pity to sen abu'^ed t<» the gracing of
wickedness ai:d vice, wbicli, with good usa^e, uould
serve to rtdnrn .ind beautify virtue."
^ It is coi'jec'ured by Wormius, that the name of
Ireland Is derived from Yr, the Runic for a hoWj in
the use of wliich weapon the Irish were once very
expeit. Ttiis derivation is certainly more cteditable
to us than Ihe fidlowing: "So Ihat Ireland, called the
land of /re, fmni the cnnstant broils theiein for 400
I years, was now becme the land of conc'rd" —
Lloyd's State IVorthits^ art. The Lord Grandison.
3 See the Hymn, allribu'ed lo AIc:eus, Ev fivprov
K}.aSL TO li^^o^ ^opj^ffuj — "■! will carry my sword,
hidden in myrtles, like Harmodius, and Anstogitun,"
l&c.
1 :
But ( 00 far
Each proud star,
For me to fee] its warming flame;
Much moe dear
That mild sphere.
Which near our planet smiling came: *
Thus, Mary, be but Ihou my own ;
While bi'igh'er eyes unheeded play,
I 'II love those moonlight looks alone.
That bless my home and guide my way.
The day had sunk in dim showers,
But midnight now, with lustre meet,
lllumin'd all the pale flowers,
Like liojie upon a mourner's cheek,
I said (while
The moon's smile
Pl.iy'd o'er a stream, in dimpling bliss,)
" The moon looks
*' On many brooks,
*' The brook can see no moon but this j " »
And thus, I thought, our forrunes run,
For many a lover looks to thee,
While oh ! I feel there is but 07ic,
One Mary in the world for me.
ILL OMENS.
When daylight was yet sleeping under the billow,
And stars in the heavens still lingering shone,
Young Kittv, all blushing, rose up from her pillow-,
The last time she e'er v. as to press it alone.
For the youth whom she treasured her heart and her
soul in,
Had pnmii ed to link the last tie before noon ;
And when once the young heart of a maiden is stoleD
The maiden herself will steal after it soon.
As she look'd in the class.which a woman ne'er misseSj
Nor ever w.nts time for a sly glance or two,
A butterfly, 6 fresh from the night-flower's kisses,
Flew over the minor, and shaded her view.
Enrag'd with the Insect for hiding her graces,
Shebrush'd him — he fell, alas; never to rise:
'*AhI such," said Ihe girl, " is Ihe pride of our faces,
•* For \vhich the soul's innocence too often dies.''
While she stole thro' the garden, where hearts-ease
was growing,
She culld some, and kiss'd oflf its mght-fallen dew;
And a rose, further on, Inok'd so tempting and glowing.
That, spite of her bas!e. she must gather it too ;
But while o'er the rose^ too carelessly leaning.
Her zone flew in two, and the hearts-ease was lost ;
"Ah! this means,'' said the girl, (and she sigh'd at
its meaning,)
" That love is scarce worth the repose it will cost I"
BEFORE THE BATTLE.
By the hnpe within us springing.
Herald of to-morrow's strife;
By that sun, whose light is bringing
Chains or freedom, death or life —
* "Of such celestial bodies as are visible, Ihe sun
excepted, the single moon, as despicable as it is in
coni| arison 'o most of Ihe othera, is much more bene-
ficial than Ihey all put together." — VVIiistoyi's Theory^
f,-c.
In the Entrct}e7U d'Ariste, among other ingenious
emblems, we find a s:arry sky without a moon, with
these words, Non niille^ quod ahscns.
6 This imas:e was suggested by the following
thousht, which occurs somewhere in Sir William
Jones's works : '' The morm looks upon many night-
flowers, the night-flower sees but one moon."
6 An emblem of the soul.
IRISH MELODIES,
153
Oh ! remember life can be
Ko charm fur hiiii, who lives nM free!
Like the Jay*st.ir in ihc wave,
Sinks a hcio m his grave,
Midst the dew'-f^U of a lution^s tears.
Happy is he o'er whose decline
The smiles of home may sjolhing shine
And light hmi down the sxep of years : —
Rut oh, how blcbt they sink to lebt,
Who close their eyes on victory's breast t
OVr his watch-fire'a fadmff enibers
Now ihe foennn's cheek tuma white,
When his heart that field lenienibers,
Where we lamed his tyrant might.
Never lel him bind again
A ch.iin, liku !h it we broke from them.
Hark : the h^ni of con.bAi calls —
Ere Ihe golden evening: falls,
IVby »e pledge that horn in triumph round ! i
Many a heart that now be;its hi'h.
In slumber cold at ni?lil shall lie,
Nor waken even al victory^s souid : —
But oh, how blesi that hero's sleep.
O'er whom a wond'nng world shall weep I
AFTER THE BATTLE.
Night clos'd around the conqueror's wnr,
And hghlnings show'd the distant hill,
Where those whn Inst that ilreaJful diy,
.Stood few and faint, but fearless s!ill.
The soldier's hope, ibe patriot's zeal,
For ever dinim'd, for ever crost —
Oh 1 who shall say what heroes feel,
When all but life and honour's lost?
The hsi sad hour nf freedom'? dream,
And valour's task, moved slowly by,
While mute they watch'd, till mornin^N beam
Shruld rise and sive lliem l-^ht to die.
There 's yet a world, where smuIs are Iree,
Where tviants taint not nature's bliss:—
If death that world's bright openin-< be.
Oh ! who would live a slave in this ?
'TIS SWEET TO THINK,
'Tis sweet to think, that, where'er we rove,
We are sure lo (ind s -metiims bli>sfi,l and dear.
And th>t. when we 'le far fnuii the lips we Inve,
We 'vc but to make love t^ lliu lips we are near*
The he.rt, like a tendril, nccustomM tnclin?,
' ■ ■" rv wheie it will, cannot tlourish alone,
1 10 the neires', and hiveliest thjng,
ne wiih itself, and make closely its own,
hat pleasure, where'er we rove,
imething, still, that is dear,
But Willi
It can t
Then oh !
To be s
And to kti
We 've
ow, wht?n far fiom 'ne lips we love,
but to make love to the tips we are near.
5 *'The Irish Coma was not entirely devoted to
marfial purposes. In the heroic a^es, our ancestors
quaffed Meadh out of them, as (he Danish hunters do
their beverage at tho day."— IValher.
» 1 believe it is Mannontel who siys, " Quand on
tVa pas ce que Von ai7ne, ilfattt aimerce que Von o.*'
— There ate so m my nntter-nf-fact people, who take
such jettxd"ejpn*r as this defence of inconstancy, (o be
the actual :ind genuine sentii
them, ttiat ihey compel one,
matter-of-fact ^is ihemaelves,
Demncritus was not the wor;
-layfully contended that sno
mus, in any decree, the h
an ingen
1 of folly.
iients of hi
in self-defence, to be as
and to remind them, that
e physinlogisi, for having
w was black; nor Eras-
, for having written
'T were a shame, when flowers around us rise,
To make light of the rest, if the rose isn't there ;
And the world s an rich in resplendent eyes,
' r wete a pity to limit one's love to a pair.
Love*s win^ aud the peacock's are nearly .ilike,
ihey are both of them bright, but they 're change-
able too.
And, wherever a new beam of beauty c-in strike,
It will tincture L'lvcs plume with a diiierenl hue.
Then oh ! what pleasure, where'er wr ruve,
It) be sure to hnd SMnieilun-;, still, that is dear,
And l>i kno>v, when far from Ihe hps we love,
We've but to make love to the lips we are near.
THE IRISH PEASANT TO HIS MISTRESS.^
Through grief and through danger thy smile hath
cheer'd my w.iy,
Till hope seem'd to bud from each thorn that round
me lay ;
The darker our fortune, the brighter our pure love
burn'd.
Till shinie into ginry, till fear into zeal was turn'd;
Ves, slave as I was, i;i ihy arms my spirit fell free.
And blc^ss^d even tjie sorrows that made me more dear
to thee.
Thy rival was lior.our'd, while thou wert wrong'd
niid scorn'd,
Thy crown w,is of briers, while gold her brows
adorn'd ;
She woo'd me to lemple-',while thou lay'st hid in caves,
Her friends were all masters, while thine, alas 1 were
slaves:
Vet cold in the earth, at Ihy feet, I would rather be,
They slander thee sorely, who say thy vows are frail —
Hadst thou been a f.dse cue, thy cheek had look'd less
p.ile.
They say, too, so long thou hast worn those lingering
chains.
That deep in thy heart they have printed their servile
Oh! foul is the slander, — no chain could that soul
subdue —
Where shiueih (/inspirit, there liberty shincth too!*
ON MUSIC.
When tliro' life unblest we rove,
Losing all thilniade life dear,
Should some notes we used to love,
In days of boyhood, meet our ear,
Oh ! how welcome bi eatlies the strain !
Wakening thnuijhfs that long have slept ;
Kindhng former smiles at^^ir.
In faded eyes that lung have wept.
Like the gale, that sighs along
Beds of oriental flowere,
Is the grateful breath of song,
That once was heard in happier hours;
Fill'd with balm, the gale sighs on,
Though the floivers have sunk in death;
So, when pleasure's dream is gone,
Its memory live^ in Music's breath.
Music, oh. how faint, how weak,
Language fades before thy -pell !
Why should Feeling ever speik,
When thou canst breathe her soul so well ?
allegoricatly, the ancient Church of
* " Where the Spirit of the Lord is, tbero 'm
liberty.*' — S/.i'au;, 2 Corinthians^ iii. 17.
154
IRISH MELODIES.
Fri'indshtp's b?.!my words may feign,
Lovi's are ev'ii'more false Ihan they;
on I 't is only music's strain
Can sweetly soothe, and not betray.
IT IS NOT THE TEAR AT THIS MOMENT
SHED.i
It is not the tear al this moment shed,
VVhe.i the cold turf his just been laid o'er him.
That can teil how helov'd was the fne-id that's fled,
Or how deep in our hearts we deplore hira.
>T is the tear, thro' many a Ion? day wept,
' 1' is life's whole path o'ershaded ;
>T h the one rememb-ance. fondly kept,
When all lighter griefs have faded.
Thus his memory, like some holy light.
Kept alive in our hearts, will improve them,
For worth shtll look fiirer, and truth moie bright,
When we think how he liv'd but to love them.
And, as fresher flowers ihe sod perfume
Where buried samls ire lymff,
So CUT hearts shall borrow a sweet'ning bloom
From the image he left there in dying I
THE ORIGIN OF THE HARP.
'Tis beltev'd that this Harp, which I wake now for
thee,
Was a Siren of old, who sung under the sea ;
And who often, at eve, ihro* ihe bright wa ers rov'd,
To meet, on the green shore, a youth whom she lov'd.
But she lov'd him in vain, for he left her to weep.
And in tears, alt the night, her gold tresses tn steep ;
Till heav'n lonk'd wiih pity on true-love so warm,
And chang'd to this soft Harp the sea-maiden's form.
Still her bnsnm rose fair — still her cheeks smiPd the
While her sea-beauties gracefully form'd the light
frame ;
And her hair, as, let loose, o'er her white arm it fell,
Was chang'd to bright chords utl'ring melody's spell.
Hence it came, that this soft Harp so long hath been
known
To mingle love's language with sorrow's sad tone;
Till thmi didst divide th^m, and leach the fond lay
To speak love when I 'm near thee, and grief when
away.
LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM.
Oh ! the days are gone, when Beauty bright,
My heart's chain wove ;
When my dream of life, from morn till night,
Was Inve. still love.
New hnpe may bloom,
And days mav come,
Of milder calmer beam.
But there's nnlhinchalf so sweet in life
As love's youncdreim:
No, 'here's nothins half so sweet in life
As love's young dr*;am,
Tho' the bard to purer fame may soar,
When wild voulh*<* past ;
Tho' he win the wisp, who frown'd before,
To smile al last ;
Thesf lines were occasioned liy the loss of a very
IT <nd lear relative, who had died lately at Ma-
_._ shed ;
ling's winged dream ;
He'll never meet
A joy so sweet,
In all his noon of fame,
As when first he sung (o woman's ear
His sDul-felt flame,
And, at every close, she blush'd lo hear
The one lov'd name.
No,— :hat hallow'd form is ne'er forgot
Which first love trac'd ;
Still it lingering haums the greenest spot
On meiiiury's waste.
'T was odour fled
As soon
'T wa . ..^_
»T was a light that ne'er can shine agaiD
On life's dull siream;
Oh ! 't was light (har ne'er can shine again
Ou life's dull stream.
THE PRINCE'S DAY.^
Tho' dark are our sorrows, to day we'll forget the;
And smile through our tears, tike a sunbeam in
showers:
There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them.
More fi'rm'd to be gr.iiefu! and blest Ihaa ours.
But jus; when Ihe chain
Has ce.sed tn pain,
And hope has enwreatU'd it round with flotvers,
Theie comes a new link
Our spir
i to :
Oh the joy ihat we tasie, like the light of the poles,
Is a tf.ish amid daikne^. too biilhant to stay ;
But, Ihnugh 'twere the last liltlespaik in our souls.
We must light it up now, ou our Prince's Uay.
Contempt on the minion, who calls you disloyal !
Tho' herce to your foe, loyonr friends you are true ;
And the tribute most high to a head that is royal,
Is love from a heart that loves liberty too.
While cnwards, who blight
■ fanif
ght.
Would shrink from the bltze of the battle array,
IheStandiid of Green
In front would be seen,—
Oh, my life on your f^ith ! were you summon'd this
minute,
You 'd cast every bitter remembrance awav,
And sh'iw what the arm of old Erin has in it,
When rous'd by the foe, on her Prince's Day.
He loves the Green Isle, and his love is recorded
In hearls, which have suflei'd too much to forget;
And hope shall be c^n^vn'd,and attachment rewarded.
And Erin's gay jubilee shine out yet.
The gem may be broke
By niar.y a siroke,
But Dothin? can cloud its native ray ;
Eich fiagment will cast
A light, to the last,—
And thus. Erin, my courilry tho' broken thou art,
There 's a lustrff within thee, that ne'er will decay j
A spirit, which beams through each suffering P'''rt,
And now smiles at all pain on the Prince's Day.
WEEP ON, WEEP ON,
W«p on, weep on, your hour is past ;
Your dreams nf pii'Ie are o'er;
The fatal chain is round you cast,
And you are men no more.
^ Thi*! son? was wri'ten for a fete in honour of the
Prince of Wales's Birthd.y, given by my friend, Ma-
jor Bryan, at his seat in the county of Kilkenny.
IRISH MELODIES.
155
In v&in the hero's heart hath bled ;
The sage's tongue hath warn'd in vain j—
Ob, Freedom ! once Ihy flame halh fled,
Jt never light:* again.
Weep on — perhaps in after days,
They '11 learn to love your name ;
When many a deed may wake in praiso
That long halh slept in blame.
And ivhen they treaU the ruiuM isle,
Where re^i, at length, the lord and slave,
They '11 wondei ing ask, h'lvv hands so vile
Could conquer hearts so brave?
•• 'T was fate," they '11 say, " a wayward fate
*' Your web of discord wove ;
•* And while your tyianis ioin'd in hate,
"Vnu never jo.n'd in love.
"But hearis fell otT, rhat ought to twine,
"And man profan'd what Gi>d had given j
••Till some were heard lo curse the shrine,
'* Where others knelt to heaven 1 "
LESBIA HATH A BEAMING EYE.
Lesbia hath a beaming eye,
Rut no one knows for whom it beameth :
Right and left its arrows fly,
But what ihey aim al no one dreamelh.
Swee'er 't is to gaze upon
My Nora's lid that seldom rises;
Few its idoks, but every one,
Like unexpec'ed liijht, surprises I
Oh, my Nora Creina, dear.
My gentle, b.ishfu! Nora Creina,
Beauty lies
In many eyes.
But Love in yours, my Nora Creina.
Lesbia wears a robe of gold.
But all so close the nymph hath lic'd if,
Not a charm of beauty's mould
Fresumps lo s'ay "here naiure plac'd it.
Oh 1 my Nora's gown for me,
Ttiat floats as wild as niounlaln breezes,
leaving every beauty free
To sink or swell as Heaven pleises.
Yes. my Nora Creina, dear,
My simple, graceful Nora Creina,
Nature's dress
The dress you wear, my Nora Creina.
Lesbia hath a wit refin'd,
Rut, when is points are glciming round us,
Who can tell if they 're design'd
To dazzle merely, or lo wi^und us?
PiUow'd on n.y Nora's heart.
In safer slumber Love reposes —
Bed of peace ! whose roughest part
is but the crumpling of the roses.
Oh! my Nora Creina, dear.
My miid, mv an less Nora Creina!
\Vit. iho'bnghr,
Halh nosuch lieht,
As warms your eyes, my Nora Creina.
I SAW THY FORM IN YOUTHFUL PRIME.
I saw Ihy form in you'hful prime,
Nor thought that pale dec^y
Would steal hefnte ihe steps of Time,
And waste its bloom away. Mary !
Tet still thv features wore that light,
Which fleets not with the breath ;
And life ne'er look'd more truly bright
Than in thy smile of death, Mary I
As streams that run o^er golden mines,
Yet huniblv. calmly glide.
Nor seem to know (he wealth that shinea
Within Iheir gentle tide, Mary I
So veil'd beneath the sintplest guise,
Thy radiant genius shone,
And that, which charm'd nil other eyes,
ijeem'd worthless lu thy own, Mary >
If souls could always dwell above,
Thou ne'er hadsl left that sphere ,•
Or could we keep the souls we love,
We ne'er bad lost thee here, Mary!
Though many a gifted mind we meet,
Though fairest forms we see,
To live with them is far less sweet.
Than to remember thee, Mary 1 >■
BY THAT LAKE, WHOSE GLOOMY SH(lRE.«
By (hat Lake, whose gloomy shore
Sky-lark never warbles o'er,3
Where the elilF hangs high and steep,
Young Saint Kevin s'ole lo sleep.
" Here, at least," he caUnly said,
" Woman ne'er shall find my Led.'*
Ah : the good Saint little knew
What that Wily sex can do.
'T was from Kathleen's eves he flew,—
Eyes of nmst unholy blue!
She had lov'd him well and long,
Wish'd him hers, nor thought it wrong.
Wheresoe'er the Saint would fly,
Siill he heard her light foot nigh j
East or west, where'er he turn'd,
Still her eyes before him burn'd.
On the bold cliff'
bosom cast,
In
nquil now
he
sleeps at last ;
Drf
anis of lie
av'n
, nor thinks that e'er
\Vr
man's sni
le can haunt him there.
Hu
nor earlh
heaven is free
i'rn
m her pf)v
'er,
if fond she be :
Kv
2n now, M
hilr
calm he sleeps,
Ka
hieeii o'er
hill
leans and weeps.
Fearless fihe had track'd his feet
To this rocky, wild retreat ;
And when morning met his view,
Her mild glaices met it loo.
Ah, your baints have cruel hearts!
Sternly from his bed he s'arts,
And with rude, repulsive shock.
Hurls her from the beetling rock,
Glendatough. thy gloomy wave
Soon was gentle Kathleen's grave !
Soon the saint (yet ah ! too late.)
Felt her love, and mourn'd her fate.
When he said, " Heav'n rest her soi
Round the Uke light music s'ole;
And her ghost was seen to glide,
Smiling o'er the fatal tide.
< I have here made a feeble effort to imitate that
exquisite inscription of Shenstone*?, " Heu ! o
minus est cum reliquts versari quam tui niemini:
*This ballad is founded upon one of the many
s'ories related of S'. Ki-vin, whose bed in the rf-ck is
lo he seen at Glendah'Ugh. a most gloomy
tic spot in the county ot Wicklow.
3 There are many other curious traditions concern-
ing this Lake, which nray be found io
gan, &c.
incern-
is. Col-
156
IRISH MELODIES.
SHE IS FAR FROM THE LAND.
She is far from the land where her young hero aleeps,
And lovera are mund her, siehing:
But coldly she turns from tbeir gaze and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying.
She sings the wild song of her dear native plains,
Every no?e which he lov'd awaking ;—
Ah ! little they thir.k wlio delight in her strains,
How the heart of the Minstrel is hreakiug.
He had livVI for his love, for his country he died,
'1 hey were all that to life had entwin'd hmi ;
Njrsoon shall the tears of hi3 country be dried,
Nor long will his love stay behind him.
Oh ! make her a grave where the sunbeams rest,
When Ihey promihe a glorious niorrniv;
They'll shineo'erhersleep,iikeasniilefrom the West,
From her own lov'd island of sorrow.
NAY TELL ME NOT, DEAR.
Nay, tell me not, dear, that (he goblet drowni
One charm of feelimj, one fmd regret j
Believe ine, a few of ihy angry frowns
Are all I 've sunk in its bright wave yet.
Ne'er hath a beam
Been lost in the stream
That ever was shed from thy form or aoul ;
The sf)ell of those e\e8,
The balm of thy sighs,
Still float on the surface, and hallow my bowL
Then fancy irot, deares', that uine can sttal
One blissful dream of the heari from me;
Like founts that awaken the pilgrim's zeal,
The bowl but brightens my love for thee.
They tell us that Lnve in his fairy bnwer
Had tuo blush-roses, of birth divine;
He sprinkled the fine with a lainbnw's shower
But baih'd the other wi-h mantling wine.
Soon did the buds
That drank of the flnnds
Distiird by the rainbow, decline and fade;
While ihnse \vhirh the tide
Of ruby had dy'd
All bhish'd into be miy. like thee, sweet maid !
Then fancy not, dearesi, that wine can steal
One blissful dream of ihe heart from me ;
Like founts, that awnken the pilgrim's zeal,
The bowl but brightens my love for thee.
AVENGING AND BRIGHT.
Avenging and bright falls the swift sword of Erin 1
On hini who the biave sons of Usna betray 'd 1 —
ForevVy fond eye he hath waken'd a tear in.
A drop from his heart-wounds shall weep o'er her
blade.
I 'I he words of this snng «eie sujges'ed by tlie
verj- aticient Irish siory cali^ed *' Deirdri, or the La-
mentable Fate of the Soi.sof Usnach," which has been
translated literally from lh»f Gaelic, by Mr. IVFUna-
gan (see vol. i. of TVnrisactions of the Gnclic S ciety
of Dublin), and upon which il appears 'hat the '• Dar-
thulaof Macpho.snn" U founded. '1 he tre-.chery of
Conor, King of Ulster, in pu'ting to deith Ihe three
sons of Usna, was the cause of a desolating war against
UU'er, uhich terminated in the desliuction of Lm ni.
"This story (savs Mr. O'Flatagan) has been, from
time immemorial, he d in high lepule as one of the
thnst tra5;ic stones of the Irish. These aie, 'The
detth of Ihe children of louraiii' 'The deatli of the
By the led cloud that hung over Conor's dark dwell*
When Ulad's^ three champions lay sleeping in
go-e —
By the billows of war, which so often, hiiih swelliDg,
Have wafled these heroes to victory's shore —
We swear to revenge them ! — no joy shall be tasted,
The harp shall be silent, the maiden unwed,
Our halU shall be mule aiid our tie ds shall lie ivasted,
Till vengeance is wreak'd on the murderer's head.
Yea. monarch ! tho' sweet are nur home recollect ions,
Though sweet are the tears that from tenderness fall;
Though sweet are our fricudshtps, our hopes, oui
atreciinns.
Revenge on a tyrant is sweetest of all !
WHAT THE BEE IS TO THE FLOWERET.
/fe,— Whnt the bee is to Ihe floweret,
When he looks for honey -dew,
Throus;h the leaves that close embower it,
That, my love, 1 '11 be to you.
She, —What the bank, with verdure glowing,
Is to waves that wander near.
Whispering kisses, while they 're going,
That 1 'II be to you, my dear.
STie.— But they siy, the bee 's a rover.
Who u ill fly. when swee's are gone;
And, when once the kiss is over,
Faithless brocks will wander on.
/Tc— Nay, if flowers will lose their looks,
^If sunny banks will wear away,
'T is but righr, iha' bees and brooks
Should sip aud kiss llieui, while tbcy may*
LOVE AND THE NOVICE.
"Here we dwell, in holiest bowers,
" VVhere angels of light o'er our orisons bend ;
" Where sighs of devotion and breathings ol flowers
"'jo hea\en in mngled odour ascend,
" D.I not di^turb our calm, oh. Love!
*'Sn like is thy form to the cherubs above,
*' It well might deceive such heart? as ours."
Love stood near the Novice and listen'd.
And Love is no novice in taking a hmt ;
His lau2;hmg blue e}es soon uilh piety glisten'a;
His losy wing lurn'd to he.*ven's own tint.
•' Who would have thuu^ht," the urchin cries,
*' That Love C'mld so well, sn gravely disguise
'*Hi-s wanderii'g wings, and wounding eyes?"
Love DOW warms tht-e, waking and sleeping,
Youne: Novice, to him all thy nri-,ons ri^e.
Be tinges the heavenly fount with his weeping,
He biightci.s the ceners flame wiih his sighs.
children of Lear' (both regarding Tuntha de Danans):
and this 'The death of the children of Usnach.'
which is a Milesian story. '» It will be recollected,
that in the Second Number of these Melodies, there is
a ballad upon the story nf the children of Lear or Lir:
"Silent, ch Moyle!" &c.
Whatever n ay be thought nf those sanguine claims
to antjqui'y, which Mr. O'Ftanagan and others ad-
vance for Ihe li:erature of Irelaid, it would be a last-
ing repioach upon our nalionality, if the Gaelic re-
searches of thi^ eeiitlpman did not' meet with all the
liberal encouragement they iO well nicrjt.
* "Oh, Nasi ! view that cloud that I here see in the
sky ! I see over Eman-£;reen a chilling cloud of blood-
tinged red " — Deirdri's Song.
3 UMer.
IRISH MELODIES.
157
Love is the Saint en^llrin^l in thy breast,
Ami angels tlieniselves would admit sucil a guest|
If he came to then; cloth'd in Piety's vest.
THIS LIFE IS ALL CHEQUER'U WITH PLEA-
SURES AND WOES.
This life is all chequer'd with pleasures and woes,
That cha>e one auoltier like waves of llie deep,—
Each brighlly or darlily, as onward it flows,
Relleciing our eyes, as they sparkle or weep.
So closely our whims on our miseries tread,
That ihe laugh is awak'd ere the teir can be dried :
And, as fast as Ihe rain-drop of Piiy is slied,
'I he goose-plumage of Fully can turn it aside.
But pledge nie Itie cup — if existence would cloy,
With hearis ever happy, and heads ever wise,
Be ours the li^ht .Sorrow, half-sister to Joy,
And the light, brilliant Folly that flashes and dies.
When Hylas was sent with his uin to Ihe fount,
Thro' helds full of light, and with heart full of play.
Light rambled the boy, over meadow and mount,
And neglected his task for the llowers on the way.>
Thus many, like me, who in youth should have lasted
'J'he fountain that runs by Philosoiihy's shrine.
Their time with the flowers on Ihe margiu have
was'ed.
And left their light urns all as empty as mine.
But pledge me the goblet; — while Idleness weaves
T hese flowerets logether. should Wisdom but see
One bright drop or two that has fall'n on Ihe leaves
Froci her fountain divine, 't is sufijcieut for me.
OH THE SHAMROCK
Through Erin's Isle,
To sp^n awhile.
As Love and Valour wander'd,
Wilh Wit, the sprite,
Whose quiver bright
A thousand arrows squandei'd.
Where'er they pass,
A triple grass^
Shoots up, » ith dew-drops streaming,
As softly green
As emeralds seen
Thro' purest crystal gleaming.
Oh the Shamrock, the gieen, immortal Shamrock 1
Chosen leaf.
Of Baid and Chief,
Old Erin's native Shamrock I
Says Valour, »'See,
" They spring for me,
"Those leafy gems of morning!"
Sa^s Love. "No, no,
*' For ?nr they grow,
*' My fragrant palh adorning,*
Hut Wit perceives
The Iriple leaves.
And cries, "Oh ! do noi sever
" A type, that blends
"Ttiree godlike inends.
" Love, Valour, Wit, for ever I"
» Proposilo florem prrEtnlit officio.
Prcyirl. lib i. eleg. 20.
' II is said thai St. Patrick, \>hen preaching Ihe
Trinity to the Pagan Irish, usoil to illusl a'e his sub-
ject by reference to hat specie- of irrfoil called in
Ireland by the name of the Shunnck; and hence,
perhaps, the Island of Saints adop'eJ this plant as her
tiational emhiem. Hope, ainong the a' cients, was
sonielimes represented as a beatitiful child, standing
upon ti|>-toes, and a trefoil or three-coloured grass in
her hand.
Oh the Shamrock, the grten, immortal Shamrock 1
Chosen le /
Of Hard and Chief,
Old Erin's native Shamrock !
So firmly fond
May last the bond.
They wove that inorn together,
And ne'er miy lall
One drop of gall
On Wit's celestial leather.
May Love, as twine
Hisflo
idlVll
Of thorny falsehood need 'em j
May V.ilour ne'er
His standard rear
Against the cause of Freedom !
Oh the Shamrock, Ihe green, immortal Shamrock!
Chosen leaf
Of Bard and Chief,
Old Erin's native Shamrock !
AT THE MID HOUR OF NIGHT.
At the mid hovirof night, when sta^sare weeping, I fly
To the lone vale we lov'd, when life shone warm in
thii
eye
And I think oft, ifspirits can steal from the regions
of air.
To revisit past scenes of delight, thou will come to
me there.
And tell me our love is remember'd, even in the sky.
Then I sing the wild song 't was once such pleasure to
hear !
When our voices commingling brealh'd, like one, on
the ear ;
And, as Echo far off through the vale my sad orison
rolls,
I think, oh my love! *t is thy voice from the King-
dom of Souls,3
Faintly answering tlill Ihe notes that once were so
dear.
ONE BUMPER AT PARTING.
One bumjjer at parting ! — Iho' many
Wivc circled the hoard since we met.
The fullest, the saddest of any
Remains to be cro« n'd by us yet.
The sweetness that pleasure halh in it.
Is alwavs so slow 'n come forth.
That seldom, alas, till Ihe minute
It dies, do we know half its worth.
But come, — may our life's haptiy measure
Be all of s
up;
They 're born on Ihe bosom of Fie
They die 'inidsl the tears of the cup. '
As onward we journey, how pleasant
To pause anil inhabit awhile
Those few sunny spots, like the present.
That 'mid the dull wilderne-s smile!
But Time, like a pitiless master,
Cries '■ Onward \ " and spur, the gay hourg-
Ah. never doth Time travel faster.
Than when his way lies among flowers.
But come — may our life's happy measure
Be all of such moment- made up ;
Thev 're horn on the liosoni of Pkasiire,
Thi-y die 'mid-t the tears of the cup.
" There are countries." says Montaigne. " where
they believe the soul of the happy live in ail nianner
of liberty, in delightful fields ; and that it is those
souls, repeating the words we utter, which we call
Echo."
14
158
IRISH MELODIES.
We saw how Ihe sun look'd in sinking,
The waters beneath him hnw brtghl j
And now, let our farewell of drinking
Resemble that f.uewell of light.
You SAW h(.w he iirnsh'd, by darting
His beam <i'er a deep billow's hrint —
So, till np, let's stiine at our parting,
In full liquid gloty, like Itim.
And oh! may our lile's h.ipp) measure
Of momens like ihis be made up,
'T ^'■aa bom on the bnsoiii of Pleasure,
It dies 'mid the tears uf the cup.
'TIS THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER,
'T is the last rose of summer
Lefi blooming alone ;
All her h>vely cnnipanioni
Are faded and gone ;
No flower of her kindred,
No rose-hud is nigh,
To reflect back her bhishes,
Or give sigh for sigh.
I '11 not leave thee, thou lone one I
Topiueon the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep tliou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy ma'es of the garden
Lie sceiiiless and dead.
So soon may; follow,
When friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie wiiher'd,
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! uho would inh;ibit
This bleak world alone?
THE YOUNG MAY MOON.
The young May moon is beaming, love.
The glow. worm's lamp is gleaming, love,
Plow sweet to rove
Through Mnrn.'s grove,>
When the drowsy world is drenming, love!
Then awake ! — the heavens lodk bright, my dear,
'T is never loo late for delight, my dear,
And the best of all ways
To lengthen our days,
Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dearl
Now all the world 13 sleeping, love,
But Ihe Sage, his s'ar-watch keeping, love,
And 1, whose star,
More glorious far,
Is the eye from thai casement peeping, love.
Then awake ! — till rise of sun, niv dear,
The Sage's glas'. we *ll shun, my dear,
Or. in vvatching the flight
Of bodies nf light.
He mighi happen to take ihee for one, my dear.
THE MINSTREL. BOY.
The Minstiel-Boy to the war is gone.
In the ranks of death you 'H find him;
His fa her's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him.-
** Land of song!" said the warrior-bard,
*'Tho'all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy nghts slialt guard,
•*0/ie faithful harp shall praise thee! "
The Minstrel fell !— hut Ihe foeman's chain
Could nut bring his proud soul under j
The hirp he loi'd ne'er spoke again.
For he tore its chords* asunder j
And said, '' No chains shall sully thee,
*'Thou soul of love and bravery !
" Thy songs were made for ihe pure and free,
" They shall never sound iu slavery."
THE SONG OF 0»RUARK,
PRINCE OF BREFFNI.'*
The valley lay smiling before me.
Where lately i left her behind j
Yet I trembled, and sitmething hung o'er nie,
That saddened the joy of my mind.
I look'd for the lamp which, she told me.
Should shine, when her Pilgrim returu'd;
But, though darkness began to enfold me,
No lamp from the battlements buru'd I
I flew to her chamber — *t was lonely,
As if the lov'd tenant lay dead ;—
Ah, would }l were death, and dea'h only !
But no, the young false one had fled.
And there hung the lute that could soften
My very worst pains into bliss j
While the hand that had wakM it so often.
Now throbb'd to a proud lival'skiss.
There was a time, false^l of women,
When Brett'ni'sgood sword would have sought
That man, thm' a million of foemen,
Who dar'd but to wrong ihee in thought!
While now — oh degenerate d.»ughter
Of Erin, how fall'n is thy f:>Die !
And thro' ages of bondage and slaughter.
Our country shall bleed for thy shaDie.
Already, the curse is upon her,
And strangers her valleys profane ;
They come to divide, to dishonour.
And tyrants they long will remain.
i "Steals silently to Morna's grove." — See, in Mr
Bunting's collection, a poem Iranslitcd from the Irish
by the late John Brown, one of my earliest college
companions and friends, whose death was as singular' |
ly melancholy and unfortunate as his life had been |
amiable honourable, and e^iemplary. |
^ These stanzas are founded upon an event of most '
melancholy impor'ance to Ireland ; if, as we are told ,
by our Irish historians, it gave England the first op-
portunity of profiting by our divisions and subduing
u9. The following are the circumstances, as re-
lated by O'Halloran : — " The king of Leinster had
long conceived a violent affection for Dearbhorgil,
daughter to the king of Meaih, and though she had
been for some time married to ORuark^ prince of
Brefl'ni.yet it could not restrain his passion. They
earned on a priva'e conespondence. and she informed
him that O'Ruai k intended soon to go on a pilgrimage
(an act of piety frequent in those diys). and conjured
him to embrace that opportunity of conveying her
from a hu-'band she dttested to a lover -he adoTed.
Mac Murchad too punctually f>be\ed Ihe summons,
and had the lady conveyed to'his capi'al of Ferns."—
The monarch Roderick espoused the c;iuse of O'Ruark,
while Mac Murch.id tied to England, and obtained
I the assis'ance >'( Henrv II.
" Such," adds Giral^us Cambrensis (as I find him in
an old translation ), " is the variable and fickle nature
of woman, by whom all mischief in the world (for
the most part) do happen and come, as may appear by j
Marcus Antoniua, ant? by the destrucliou of Troy."
- J
IRISH MELODIES.
15')
banner rearingi
But onward ! — the green banner re:
Go, tlesh every sword to the liiUj
Or. fmr side is Virlue :ind Erin,
Uu theirs is tbe Saxun aud Guilt.
OH ! HAD WE SOME BRIGHT LITTLE ISLE
Of OUR OWN.
Oh ! had we some bright lillle isle of our own,
111 a blue summer ocean, taroiiand alone.
Where a leaf never dies in the still bluomlng bowers,
And the bee bauqueis ou through a whole year of
Jiowers ;
Where the sun loves to pause
With so fcmd a delay,
Tli;it the ni^ht only draws
A thm veil o'er the day;
Where simply to feel that we breathe, that we live,
Is worth (he best joy that life elsewhere can give.
There, with souls ever ardent and pure as tbe clime,
We sliouldlove,aslhey lov'd in the first golden lime;
'J'he §low of the sunshine, the balm of the air,
Would steal lo our heart<^, and make all bummer there.
Wilhafleciicn.ii, free
From decline as the bowers,
And, with hope, like the bee,
Living always on flowers.
Our life should resemble a loni;; day of lia;ht,
And our death come on, hoiy and calm a^ ihe Dtgbt.
FAREWELL! — RUT WHENEVER YOU WEL-
COME THE HOUR.
Farewell ! —but whenever you welcome the hour,
That awakens Ihe mght-snng of mirth in your bower,
Then think of the friend who once welcom'd it too,
And foigot his own griefs to be happy with you.
H IS gi iefs may return, not a hope may reniaiii
Of the few that have bnghten'd his pathway of pain,
But he ne»er will forget the short vision, that threw
Its euchanlmeut around him, while liogering with
you.
And still on that evening, when pleasure fills up
To the highest top sparkle each hearl and each cup,
Where'er my path lies, be it gloomy or bright,
My soul, happy friends, shall be wi'ih you thnt njsht ;
Shall join iu your revels, your sports, and your wiles,
And re'urii to me, beaming all o'er with your sniiles—
Too blest, if il tells me that, 'mid the gay cheer
Some kind voice had murmur'd, "I wish be were
here I"
Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of jny,
B ii(ht dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy;
Which come in the mght-lime nf sorrow and care,
And bring h^ck the features thai joy used to wear.
I/)ng, long be my hearl with such memones fill'd !
Like thevase, in which roses h:iveonce been dis-ili'd—
You may break, yu may shatter the vase, if ynu will,
Bit the scent of tbe roses will hang round it still.
OH! DOUBT ME NOT.
Oh ! d. ubt rue not — the season
h o'er, when Folly made me rove.
Arid now the vestal. Reason,
Shall watch Ihe hre awak'd by Love.
AUho* this heart was early blown,
And fairest hinds disturb'd the tree.
They only shook some blossnnis down,
Its fruit has all been kept for thee.
Then doubt me not — the season
Is o'er, when Folly made me rove,
And now the vestal, Reason,
Shall watch Ihe hie awakM by Love.
And tho' my lute no longer
May sing of Taj-^ion's ardent spell,
Yei, dust me, all the stronger
1 feel the bliss I do not tell.
The bee through many a garden roves,
And hums his lay oi courtship o'er,
But when be tiuds the Ilower he loves,
He settles there, and bums no more.
Thendoub' me n'>t — the se.isoii
Js o'er, when Folly kept me free,
And now the vestal. Reason,
Shall guard the Ilame awakM by thee.
YOU REMEMBER ELLEN.*
You remember Ellen, our hamlet's pride.
How meekly she blessed her humble lot,
When the stranger, William, had made her his bride,
And love wa^ the li^ht of their lowly col.
Totjelher they toil'd through winds and rains,
'I ill William, at length, in sadness said,
" We must seek our fmtune on other plains i** —
Then, sighing, she left her lowly shed.
They roam'd a long and a weary way.
Nor much was the maiden's bean at ease,
When now, at close t,( one stormy day,
They see a proud castle ami ng the trees.
"Tn-uighl." 5aid the jouih, "we'll shel'er there:
*'The wind blows cdd, the hour is late : "
So he blew the horn with a chieftain's air.
And the Porter bow'd, as ihey pasa'd the gate.
"Now, welcome, Ladv,'* exclaimed the youth, —
*' This cislle is thine, and these dai k woods all I »»
She believ'd him crazed, but his words were Irulh,
F.ir Ellen h Lady of Rosna Hall I
And dearly the Lord of Rosna loves
Whai William tbe s ranger woc'd and wed ;
And >he light ot bli:^>>. in these iordly groves,
Shines pure as it did in the lowly shed.
I'D MOURN THE HOPES,
IM mourn the hn| es that leave me,
If thy smiles had left me tof>;
I'd wie|) when friends deceive me,
If Ibi.u vvert, like Ihem. untrue.
But w bile I 've thee before me,
With heart so warm and eyes so bright,
N" clouds can linger o'er me.
That smile tuins them alt to light.
*T is not in fate lo harm me,
While fate leaves thy love to me;
*T IS not in joy to charm me,
Unless joy be Mmed with thee.
One minute's dream about thee
Were worth a lone, an endless year
Of waking bli's »iIbont 'h-e,
My own love, my only dear !
And tho' tbe hope be gone, love,
1 hat long sparkled o'er our way,
Oh! we shill journey on, love,
More safely, without its ray.
Far better lights shall win me
Along the path I *ve yet lo roam:'^
The mind that burns within me.
And puie smiles from thte ai home.
I This ballad was suffgested by a well-known ai
interesting story told of a certain noble taiuily
England.
rr
u;o
IRISH MELODIES,
Thus, when the lamp that lighted
'1 he iraveller ai first goes out,
He feels awhile benighted,
And looks round in ff-av and doubt.
But soon, the prospect clearing,
By cloudless starlight nn he treads,
And thinks no iatnp so cheeung
As that light wbicb Heaven sheds.
COME O'ER THE SEA.
Come oVr the sea,
Maiden, with me,
Mine thru' sunshine, sorm, and snows:
Se.isons may roll,
But the truK soul
Burns the same, where'er it goes.
Let fite frown on, so we love and part not;
'Tis lite wherethmi art, 'tisdeaih where thow art not.
Then come o'er the sea,
M:Aiden, with me,
Come wherever the wild wind blows;
Seasons may roll,
Ent the true s^ul
Burns the same v%here*er it goes.
Was not the sea
Made for the Free,
Land for couris and chains alone ?
He
But. on the waves,
Love and Liberty 's all our own.
Nn eye to watch, and no tongue to wound us,
Ail earth forgot, and all heave. i around us —
ThfU come o'er ihe sea,
Maiden, with me.
Mine thro* sunshine, storm, and snows ;
Seasons may roll.
But the irue' soul
Burns the same, where'er it goes.
HAS SORROW THY YOUNG DAYS SHADED.
Has sorrow thy young days shaded.
As clouds o'er the morning fleei ?
Too fast have those yonng days laded.
That, even in sorrow, were sw eet ?
Does Time with his cold wing wither
Each feeling that once was de.ir? —
Then, child of misfortune, come hither,
I 'il weep with Ihee, tear (or tear.
Has love to that soul, so tender.
Been like lur Lagenian mine.!
Wheie sp.irkles of golden splendour
All
rthe
But. if in pursuit we go deeper,
Allur'd hv the gleam that shone,
Ah! f.ilse as Ihe dieam of he sleeper.
Like Love, the bright ore is gone.
Has Hope, like Ihe bird in the st.ir)',^
That fiitled from tree lo tree
With the talisman's glittering glory —
Has Hope bt^en ih «> bird to thee ?
On branch after t.rarch alighting,
The gem did she still display.
And, when neare-t :ind mo^t inviting,
Then waft the fair gem away f
i Our VVicklow Gold Mines, to which this verse
allude?, deserve, I fe«r, but too well the character
here given of them.
^ " The bird, liaving eot its prize, settled not far
ott; with the talisman in his month. The prince drew
near it. hoping it ^vould drop i( ; b^it, as he approached,
the biid took wing, and settled a^ain," &u:.— Arabian
Nit:kts.
If thus the young hours have fleeted,
When sorrow itself looked bright;
If thus Ihe fair hope hath cheated,
'J hat led (hee along so light;
If thus the cold world now wither
Each feeling that once was dear : —
Come, child of misfonuue, come hither,
1 'U weep with thee, tear for tear.
NO, NOT MORE WELCOME,
No, not more welcome the fairy numbers
Of music fall on the sleeper's ear,
When half-awaking from feaiful slumbers.
He thinks li.e full quire of heaven is near,
Than came that voice, when, all forsaken,
This heait 1 >ng had sleepirg I.im,
Nor thought its cold pul^e would ever waken
To such benign, blessed sounds again.
Sweet voice of comfort ! 't was like the stealing
Of sunnner winiJ throSome wreathed shell —
Each secret winding, etch inmost feeling
Ofall my soul echoed to its spell.
*T was whispt-red balm— 't was sunshine spoken !
I'd live years of gnef and pain
To have my long sleej) of sorrow broken
By such benign, blessed sounds again.
WHEN FIRST I MET THEE.
When first I met thee, warm and young,
There shone such truth about thee,
And on thy lip such promise hung,
I dij not d^re to doubt thee.
I saw thee change, yet s'ill relied.
Still duns; with hope the f<inder.
And ihought, tho' faJ e to all beside,
from me thou couldst not wander.
But go, deceiver! go,
The heart, whose hopes could make it
) falM
l)e^eIves that thou shouldst break it.
When every tongne thy follies nanfd,
I (it;d the unuelcome story;
Or found, in ev'n the faul's Ihey blam'd,
Son-e gleams of future glory.
/ still was true, when nearer friends
Conspired to wrong, to slight Ihee;
The heart that now thy falsehood rends,
Would then have bled to right thee.
Btil go, deceiver' go,—
Some day. perhaps, thou 'It waken
From pleasure's dre.tm, to know
The grief of hearts forssken.
Even now, tho' youth its bloom has shed,
No lighrs rf age adorn thee:
The few, who lov'd thee once, have fled,
And they who flaiter scorn thee.
Thy midnight cup is pledg'd to slaves,
No genial ties enwre.ilh it;
The smiling there, like light on graves.
Has rank cold hearts beneath it.
Go — go — tho' worlds V' ere thine,
I wou'd not now surrender
One tail. tless tear of mine
For all thy guilty splendour!
And days may come, thou false one ! yet,
When even ih .se hes shall sever;
When th u wilt call, with vain regret.
On her thou 'st lost forever;
On her who, in Ihy fortune's fall,
Wiih smiles had still receiv'd thee,
And gl idly died lo prove tliee all
Her fancv lirst beiiev'd thee.
IRISH MELODIES.
lef
Go — go, — H is vain to curse
'T is weakness to upbraid thee
Hate cainint wisli thee worse
Thau guilt and shame have made thee.
WHILE HISTORY'S MUSE.
While History's Muse the memorial was keeping
Of all that theda.k liand of Destiny weaves,
Beside her (he Genius of Erin stood weeping,
For hers was the story that blotled the leaves.
Rut oh ! how ihe tear in her eyelids t^rew hriglit,
When, aiter whole pages of sorrow and shanie>
She saw History write,
Wiih a pencil of light
That illuniM the whole volume, her Wellington'a
name.
" Hail, Star of my Isle '." said the Spirit, all sparkling
With l>eams, such as break, from her own dewy
skies —
'*Thro' ages of sorrow, deserted and darkling,
»' I 've watch'd fi>r some i^lory like thine to arise.
" For, Ilio' Heroes 1 've number-d, unblest was iheir lot,
*'And unhillow'd they sleep in the cross-ways of
Fame j —
*-Ilutoh! there is not
" One dishonouring blot
"On the wreath that encircles my Wellington's name.
" Yet still the last crown of thy toils is remaining,
** The grandest, the purest, ev'a thou hast yet
known;
** Tho' proud was thy task, other nations unchaining,
'* Far prouder to heal the deep wounds of thy own.
"At the fool o( that throne, for whose weal thou hut
'Go, plead for the land that first cradled thy fain«|
" And, bright o'er the flood
"Of luT tears and her blood,
' Let the rainbow of Hope be her Wellinguiu's name
THE TIME I'VE LOST IN WOOING.
The time I 've lost in wooing,
in watching and pursuing
The li2:ht, that lies
In wnniaM's eyes,
Has been my heart's undoing.
Tho' Wisdom oft has sought me,
! scorn'd the lore she brought mo
My only books
Were wonmi's looks.
And folly 'b all they 've taught me.
Her smile when Beauty granted,
1 hunff with gaze enchanted,
Like him the Sprite,*
Whom maids by nitrht
Oft meet in glen ihat 's haunted.
Like him, too. Beauty won me,
But while her eyes were on me,
If once their ray
Was lurn'd away
O! winds could net outrun me.
1 This alludes to a kind of Irish fairy, which is to
be met with, they say, in the fields at dusk. As long
as you keep your eyes upon him, he is fixed, and in
your power; — but the monnent you look away (ai>d
tie is ingenious in furni^^hing some inducement) he
vanishes. I had thought that this was the sprite
which we call Ihe Leprechaun ; but a high authority
upon such sulijfcs. Lidy Morgan, (in a note upon her
national and inleres'ing novel, O'Donnel,) has given a
very different account of that goblin.
And are those follies going?
And is my proud heart growin
Too cold or wise
For brilliant eyes
Again to set it glowing
No, vain, alas I th' endeavour
froni bonds so sweet to sever)
poor Wisdom's chance
Against a glance
Is now as weak as ever.
WHERE IS THE SLAVE
Oh, where 's the slave so lowly,
Condemu'd to chains unholy,
Who, could he burst
His bonds at first,
Would pine beneath them slowly?
What soul, whose wrongs degrade it
Would wail till time decay'd it,
When thus its wing
At once may spiing
To the throne ot Him who made itr
Farewell Erin,— farewell, all,
Who live to weep our fall 1
Less dear the laurel growing,
Alive, untouch'd and blowing,
Than Ihat. whose braid
Isplnckd to shade
The brows with victory glowing.
We tread the land Ihat bore us,
Her green Hag glitters o'er us.
The friends we've tried
Are by our side.
And Ihe foe we ha^e before us.
Farewell, Erin,— farewell, all,
Who live to weep our fall !
COME, REST IN THIS BOSOM.
Come rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer,
Tho* Ihe herd have lied from thee, thy home is still
here ;
Here s'ill is Ihe smile, that no cloud can o'ercast,
And a heart and a baud all thy own to the last.
Oh 1 what was love made for, if 't is not the same
1 hro' joy and thro' lormenl, thro' glory and shame?
I know not, I ask nf)t, if guilt 's in Ihat heart,
I but know that 1 love tliee, whatever thou art.
Thou hast call'd me thy Aneel in moments of bliss,
And ihy Aneel I '11 be, 'mid the hormrs of this,—
Thro' the furnace, unshrinking, Ihy steps to pursue,
And shield thee, and save Ihte, — or perish there too I
»TIS GONE. AND FOR EVER.
d for ever, the light we saw breaking,
hrst dawn o'er ihe sleep of the dead-
er 18 gone
Like H(
When Man, from the slumber of a^es iwaking
Look'd upward, and bleas'd tlie pure ray, ere it fled.
'T is gone, and the gleams it has left of its burning
But deepen the long night of bondage and mourning.
That dark o'er the kingdoms of earth is returning
And darkest of all, hapless Erin, o'er thee.
For high was thy hope, when those glories were
darting
Around thee, thro' all Ihe gross clouds of the world j
When TruHi, from her fetters indignantiy starling,
At once, like a Sun-burst, her banner unfurPd.*
a '* The S.in-bur.t" was the fanciful name given by
the ancient Irish to the Royal Banner.
162
IRISH MELODIES.
Oh ! never shall earth see a moment so splendid !
'1 hen, then — had one Hymn of Deliverance blended
The ton»ues of all nalious — how sweet had ascended
The tirsl nole of Liberty, Erin, from thee !
But, shame on those tyrants, who envied the blessing !
And shame on the light race, unworthy its good,
Who, at Dtath's reekiui; al ar, lilie furii-s, caressing
The youiig hope of Freedom, b.ip.iz'd it in bluod.
Then v.iiiish'd for ever that fair, sunny virion,
Which, spite of the slavish, the cold hearCs derision,
Shall long be remember'd, pure, bright, and elysian,
As tiisl it arose, my lost Erin, on thee.
1 SAW FROM THE BEACH.
I saw from the beach, when the morning was shining,
A barb o'er the wafers move gloriously on ;
I came when the sun o'er that beach was declining.
The bark was still there, but the waiers were gone.
And such is the fate of our life's early promise,
So passing the spring-tide of joy we have known ;
Each wave, that we danc'd on at morning, ebbs
from us,
And leaves us, at eve, on the bleak shore alone.
I^e'er tell me of glories, serenely adorning
The close of our day, the calm eve of our night j—
Give me back, give me back the wild freshness of
Morning,
Her clouds and her tears are worth Evening's best
light.
Oh, who would not welcome that moment's returning.
When passion first wak'd a new life thro' liis frame.
And his soul, like the wood, that grows precious
burning.
Gave out all its sweets to love's exquisite flame.
FILL THE BUMPER FAIR.
Fill the bumper fair!
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Care
Smooths away a wrinkle.
Wit's electric flame
Ne'er so swiftly passes,
As when thro' the frame
It shoots from britnniing glasses.
Fill the bumper fair I
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Care
Smooihs away a wrinkle.
Sages can, Ihey say.
Grasp the lightning's pinions,
And bring down its ray
From the starr'd dominions : —
So we. Sages, sit,
And, 'mid bumpers bright'ning,
From the Heaven of Wit
Draw down all its lightning.
Vould'sl thou know what first
Made our souls inherit
rhis ennobling thirst
For wine's celes ial spirit?
t chaiic'd upon thai day.
When, as bards inform us.
slole
vay
The living fires llial warm i» i
The careless Youth, when up
To Glory's fount aspiring.
Took nor urn nor cup
To hide the pilfer'd fire in
But oh, his joy, when, round
, The halls of Heaven spying,
Among the stars he found
A buwi of Bacchus lying !
Some drops were in that bowl.
Remains of last nighl's pleasui
With which the Sparki of Soul
Mix'd (heir burning treasure.
Hence the goblet's shower
Hath such spells to win us;
Hence its mighty power
O'er that flame within us.
Fill the bumper fair!
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Caie
Smooihs away a wrinkle.
DEAR HARP OF MY COUNTRY.
Dear Harp of my Country ! in darkness I *'ound thee.
The cold chain of silence had hung o'er ihee long,'
When pmudly, my own Island Harp, I unh und Ihee,
And gave all thy chords lo light, freedom, and song!
The warm lay of love and the light noie of gladness
Have waken'd thy fondest, thy liveliest Ihiill ;
But, so oft hast Ihou echo'd the deep sigh of sadness.
That ev'n in thy mirth it will steal Irom thee still.
Dear Harp of my coumry ! faiewell lo thy numbers.
This sweet wiealh of song is the last we shall Iwine !
Go. sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers,
Till toncli'd by some hand less unwonhy than mine ;
If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover.
Have ihrobb'd al our lay, 't is thy glory alone;
1 was but a^ the wind, parsing heedlessly over,
And all the wild sweetness I wak'd was thy own.
' In that rebellious but beautiful song, " When
Erin first rose," there is, if I lecollect right, the fol-
lowing line : —
"The dark chain of Silence was tlirown o'er the deep."
The chain of Silence was a sort of practical figure
of rhetoric among the ancient Irivh. VValker tells us
of "a celeb'a'ed contentinn for precedence between
Finn and Gaul, near Finn's palace at Almhaim,
where the attending Bards, anxious, if possible, to
produce a cessation of hostilities, >hook the chain of
Silence, and flung themselves anvng the ranks." S^-e
also the Ode to Gaul, tfie Soil of Montij in Miss
Brooke's Rdiques of Irish Poetry,
END OF VOL. III.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME.
The recollections connected, in my mind, with that
early perioi ni niy life, when I lirst thought of inter-
pre ing in verse the louching language of my country's
music, tempt me a^.^in lo advert to th"se long p.ist
days; 2nd. even at the risk of being thought lo in-
dulge overmuch in what Colley Cibher calls "the
great pleasure of writing about one's self all day," to
Do;ice briefly some of those impressions and influences
under which the atttempt to adapt \vnrds to our an-
cient Mel dies was for some lime meditated by me,
ani. at last, undertaken.
There can be no doubt thit to the zeal and industry
of Mr. Bunting his country is indebied ( t the preser-
va'ion of berold naiioii.il »irs. During (he prevaleace
of the Penal Code, the music of Ireland waa m »de to
share in the fate of its people. Both were alike shut
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME.
1G3
out from the pale of civilised life; and seldom any
where but in ihe huls of Mie proscribed race could the
sweet voice of the songs of olher days be heard. Evt-n
of ihai cias>, ihe itinerant harpers, auiong whom for
a l>ng peiiod our aiicieni music had been kepi ali\e,
there reiiiijiied but tew lo cmtiinue the precious tr.»-
ditiuii ; and a gteal music-meeting held ai Kelfa^t in
the year 1792, at which Ihe two or three still remain-
ing of Ihe old race of wandering harpers as-.istrd,
exhibited Ihe hst public elioit made by ihe lover* of
liish music, to preserve to their coumry ihe only
grace or ornanieul left to her, out of Ihe wreck of all
her libei ties and hopes. Thus what the fierce legis-
Utuie of the F»le liad endeavoured vainly through so
many centuries lo effect,— ihe utter extinciion of Ire-
land's Miosii-elsy,— ihe deadly pressure of the Tenal
Laws had nearly, at the clo^e of ihe eighteenth cen-
1 tury, accompliiihed ; and, but for the zeal and tntetli-
gent research of Mr. Bunting, at that crisis, the gieater
part of our nm.sical treasures woiild probably hive
been hist to Ihe world. It was in the year 1796 that
this gentleman published his first volume; atid tlie
national spirit and hope then wakened in Ireltnd, by
the rapid spread > f the democratic piinciple ihrimghoul
Kurope, could not but insure a mosi cordial reception
for such a work; — fla'leriiig as it was to the fond
dreams of F.riu's early da\s, and containing in itself,
indeed, remarkable testimony to the truth of her claims
to an early dale of civilisaii'n.
It was in the yetr 1797 ihat, through the medium
of Mr. Bunting's book, I was tirst made acquainted
with the bfau ies of our native music. A yung friend
of our family, Edward Hudson, Ihe nephew of an
eminent deulist of Ihat name who placed with much
taste and feeling on the flute, and, unluckily ir him-
self, was but too deeply warmed with tlie patriotic
ardour then kindling around him, was the first who
made known o me this rich ntine of our counir)'s
melodies ;— a mine, front ihe wirking of which my
humble labours as a pi el have since derived their sole
lustre and value. About ihe sanie period I fnimedan
acnuaintai.ee, whi^h soi.n grew into iutinjacy, with
young Rubeit Emmet. He was my senior, I think,
by one class, in the university ; for when, in the first
ytar of iny course, 1 became a meniber of the Debat-
iDi! Sociei\, — a sort of nursery to the autlK>rised His-
torical Society — 1 found him in full reputation, n<>t
only for his learning and eloquence, but :tUo for the
blanielessness of his life, and the grave suavity of his
manners.
Of the political tone of ibis minor school of oratorj-,
which was held weekly at the roonis of dilfereoi
resident member!:, some notion may be fo nied fmm
the naure of the questions proposed fur discussion,—
one of which, 1 recillect, was, *• Whe'her an Aristo-
cracy or a Democracy is nu'Sl favourable to the ad-
vancement of science .»nd liierUure?'' while another,
bearing even more pointedly on the relative position
of the government and the people, at this crisis, was
thus significantly profiounded : — '* Whether a soldier
was bound, on all occasions, to ol ey the orders of his
comm nding officer ?" On the former of ihese (jues-
lions. the effect of Emmet's eloquence upon his young
auditors was, I lecollect, most sriking. The piohi-
bitinn agunst touching upon modern politics, which
it was subsecjuently found necessary lo enforce, had
not yet lieen inln^uced ; and Emmet, who took of
course ardently the side of deniocracy in the debate,
after a brief review of Ihe republics of antiquity,
showing how much they had all done for the advance-
ment of science and the' arts, procteded, lastly, to the
grand and i erilnus exaniple, then pasf.ing before alt
eyes, the young Republic of France. Referring -o the
circumstance tnld of Cae-ar, iha', in swimming across
the Rubicon, he contrived to carry with him hn Com-
mentaries and his sword, Ihe young orator said, " Thus
Fiance wades through a sea nf storm and blood ; but
while, '■- fne hand, she wields the sword againsi her
agicressors, with the other she upholds Uie glories of
science and literature unsullied by the ensinguined
tide ihrough which she s'ruggles. In another of his
remarkable speeches, I remember his saying, " When
a people advancing rapidly in knowledge and power,
perceive .at last how far Iheir government is lagging
behind them, what then, 1 ask, is to be done in such a
case? What, but to pull Ihe government uji to the
people ?"
In a few months after, both Emmet and myself
were admitted members of the greater and recognised
institution, called the Historical Society; aid even
here, the political feeling so rife abroad contrived 10
mix up its restless spirit with all our debates and pro-
ceedings; notwithstanding the constant watchfulness
of the colleee authorities, as well as of a sirong party
within the Society itself, devoted adherents to the
policy rif the gt»vernmeiit, and taking invariably part
%viih the Provost and Fellows in all their restrictive
and inquisitorial measures. The most distinguished
and eloquent of these supporters of power weie a
young man named Sargent, of whose fate in after
days I know nothing, and Jebb, the late Bishop of
Limerick, who was then, as he continued to be
through life, much respected for his private worth
and learning.
Of the popular side, in the Society, Ihe chief cham-
pion and ornament was Riberl Emmet ; and though
every care was I:iken to exclude from (he subjects ol
debate all questions verging tt)ward>* ihe politics of Ihe
day, it was always easy enough, by a side-wind of
digression or allusion, to bring Ireland and the pros-
[lecis then opening upon her within the scope of the
orator's view. So exciting and powerful, in this re-
spect, were Emmet's speeches, and so little were even
the most eloquent of the adverse party able to cope
with his powers, th;it it was at length thought ad-
visable, by the higher authorities, lo send amor'g us a
man of more advanced standing, as well as belonging
lo a former race of renowned speakers, in Ihat Society,
in order that he might answer the speeches itf Emmet,
and endeavour in obviate Ihe niischievous impression
they were thought to produce. The name of this
mature champion of the higher powers it is not neces-
sary here In record; but the object of his niission
among us was in some respect gained ; as it uas in
replymg to a lor^g oration of his, one night, that
Emmet, much to the mortification of us who gloried
in him -■'s our leader, became suddenly embarrassed in
the middle of his speech, and, to use the parliament-
ary phiase, broke down. Whether from a moment-
ary confusion in the thread of his argument, or p.-s-
sib y from difhdence in encountering an adversary so
much his senior,— for Emmet "as as modest as he
was high-minded and brave,— be began, m the full
career of his eloquence, to hesilate and repeal his
words, and then, alter an effort or two to recover him-
•elf. Bale down.
It fell to my own lol to be engaged, about the same
time, in a brisk struggle with the dominant party in
the Society, in consequence of ,i burlesque poem
which I gave in, as candidate for Ihe Literary Medal,
entitled *' An Ode upon Nothing, with Notes, by Tns-
megistus Rusiituslius, I). I).*' &c. &c. For this squib
against the gre.t Dons of learning, ihe medal was
voted to me by a triumphant nMJcrily, But a motion
was made in the following week to rescind this vote ;
and a fierce contest beiween the two parties ensued,
which 1 at last put an end to by vrduntarily withdraw<
ing mv composition from the Sf>ciety's Bonk.
1 have already adverted to the period when Mr.
Bunting's valuable volume first became known lo me.
There elapsed no very long time before I was myself
Ihe hippy proprietor of a copy of the work, and,
though never regularly instructed in music, could
play over Ihe airC with tolerable facility on the piano-
forte. Robert Emmet used soiiu times to sit by me,
when I was thus engaged ; and 1 remember one day
his starling up as from a reverie, when I had just
finished playing that spirited tune called the Red
Fox,» and exclaiming, " (.)h, that I weie at the head
of t» en'y thousand men, marching to that air ! "
i ** Let Er
nemher the days of old.'
]G4
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME.
How little did I then think that in one of the most
touchinsrtit the sueet airs I used tn jiiay to him, his
OWD dying words would find an interpreter so wonhy
of their sad, bnl proud feelinK; * or that another of
those mournful strains '^ wnuld lon^ Lie associated, in
the hearts of his counlryni'-n, \\\\.\\ ihe memory of
her a wlio shared « ith Ireland his last blessing and
Though fully alive, of cnur»e, to the feel'ingrs which
such nm&ic cnuld not but inspire, 1 hid not yet under-
taken the task of ad.ipliiii; words to any of Ihe airs;
and il was, 1 am nshamed lo say, in dull and turgid
prose, thit I made my first appearance in print as a
champi in of Ilie popular cause. Towards the latter
end ol the year 1797, the celebrated newspaper called
*' The Press" was set up by AnliurU'Connor, Thomns
AdJis Enjmeti, and other chiefs of the United Irish
conspiracy, with Ihe view of preparing and ripening
the public mind f r Ihe great crisis then fast approach-
ing. This memor.tble juurn.tl, according lo the im-
pression I at pre^^ent regain of it, was far more distin
guished for ear11estnes5nfpurpf.se and m're[iidity, than
for any great display of literary talent; — the bold
letters written by Emmell (the elder), under the
signature of "Montanus.'' being the only composi-
tions I can now call to mind, as entitled to praise for
their literary merit. II required, however, but a
small sprinkling of talent to make bold writing, at that
lime, palatable; and, froni the expeiience of my own
home, 1 can answer for the avidity with which every
line of this daring journal was devoured. It used to
come out, I think, twice a week, and, on the evening
of publication, I always read it aloud to our small
circle after supper.
It may easily be conceived that, what with my
ardour for the national cause, and a growing con-cjnus-
ness of some little turn for authorship, I was na urally
eager to become a contribulor lo ihose patriotic and
popular columns. But the C(>n5tant anxie'y about me
which I knew my own family fell,— a feeling more
wakeful far than even their zeal in the public cause,
— « ithheld me from hazarding any step that miglit
cause them alarm. I had ventured, indeed, one
evening, to pop privately into the lelter-bnx of The
Press, a short Fras^ment lu imitation of Os-ian. But
this, though inserted, p.S'^ed oft" quietly ; and nobody
was, in any sense of the phia^^e, the wi^er for if. I
was soon lempted, however, to try a more daring
flight. Without cnnimunicatiitg my secret to anyone
but Edwaid Hudson, I addressed a Ion? Letiei, in
prose, to the of , in which a pro.
fusion of bad tlowers of iheloric was enwreittied
plentifully wiih that weed which Nhakspeare calls
"the cockle of rebellion.'- and. in the same manner
as before, committed il tremblingly to the ch.inces of
Ihe letter-box. I hardly expected my piose would be
honoured with insertion, when, lo, on the next even-
ing of publicaiion, when, seated as usual in my li lie
corner by Ihe fire, I unfolded the i^per for the pur-
pose of reading it to my select auditoiy, there was niy
own Letler st;iring me full in the face, being honoured
with so conspicu"u9 a place as lo be one of the fiisl
articles my audience would expect to hear. Assum-
ini^ an outwird appearance of ease, while every nerve
Within me was trembling, I conrived to accomplish
the reading of the Lelter without raising in either of
my auditoVs a suspicion that it was my own. I
enjoyed the pleasure, loo, of hearing it a good deal
li'-aised by ihem ; and might have been temp'ed by
this to acknowledge myself the author, had 1 not
fonn.I that ihe language and sentiments of Ihe article
were considered by both to be " very bold,"*
< *' Oh, breathe not liis name."
1 " She is far from the laud where her young hero
sleeps."
3 Miss Curran.
* So thought also higher authori'ies ; for amnng the
ertrirU front Tb** PrpsR brought forward by theSeciet
I was not destined, however, to remain long unde>
tecied. On the following day, Edward Hudson,* —
Ihe only one, as I have said, entrusted with my secret,
called to pay us a morning vi^it, and had not been
long rn the mom, conversing with my nio'her, when
lonkioL' significantly at me, he sa:d, •' Well, you saw
" Heie he stopped ; but ihe mother's eye bad
foilnwed his, with the rajiidiry of lightning, to mine,
and at once she perceived the whole truth. "That
Letter was yours, then?'" she a>ked of me eagerly;
and. without hesita'ion, of course, 1 acknowledged Ihe
fact ; when in the most earnest manner she enlreated
of me never agiin to have any connexion with that
paper; and, as every wish of hers was to me law, I
readily pledged the solemn promise she required.
Though well av^are how easily a sneer may be
raised at the simple details of this domes'ic scene, 1
have yet ventured to put it on record, as atiording ao
ins'ance of the gentle aid womanly watchfu'ness,—
the providence, as il may be called, of the linle world
of home,— by which, although placed almost in the
very curren' of so headlong a movement, and living
familiarly with some of the" most djhng of ihose who
propelled it, I yet was guarded from any participation
in their secret oaths, counsels, or plans, .nid thus
escaped all share in that wild s'ruggle to which so
many far better men than myself fell victims.
In the mean while, Ihisgieat conspiracy was hasten-
ing on, with fearful precipitancy, to its outbreak ; and
vague and shapeless as are now knovvn to have been
the views, even of those who were engaged praci-
cally in the plot, it is not any wonder that to the
young and uniliaied like myself it should have opened
prosptcts partaking far more of the wild dreams of
poesy than of the plain and honest prose of real life.
Bur a crisis was then fast approaching, when such
se'f-delusions C'^uld no longer be indulged; and when
Ihe mys'ery which had hitherto hung over the plans
of the cons|iira'ors was to be rent asunder by the
stern hand of power.
Of the horrors tliat fore-ran and followed the flight-
fu! explosion of the year I79S, I have neither incli-
nation, nor, luckily, occasion to speak. But among
th'se introductory scenes, \vhich had somewhat pre-
pared the [iublTt mind for such a catastrophe, there
was one, of a painful description, which, as Iiaving
been myself an aclor in it, I may be allowed briefly
to notice.
It WAS not many weeks, I think, before this crisis,
that, owing to information gained by the college
authorities of the rapid spread, amottg the studenls,
not on'y of the principles, but ihe organisation of the
Iri^h Union. 6 a solemn Visilation was held by Lord
Clare, the vice-chancellor of the University, with the
view of inquiring into the extent of this branch of the
plot, and dealing summarily with those engaged in it.
Imperious and harsh as then seemed the policy of
thus setting up <t sort of inquisitorial tribunal, armed
Comniittees of the House of Commons, to show how
formidable had been the designs of the United Iiish-
men, there are two ur three paragraphs cited from
this redoubtiible Letter.
b Of the depth and extent to which Hudson had
involved hiniself in ihe conspiracy, none of our faniily
had harljourtd the least notion ; till, on the seizure of
the thirteen Leins'er delegates, a' Oliver Bond 9, in the
month of March, 179S, we found, to our asionishment
and >orrow, that he was one of ihe number.
To those unread in Ihe painful histor> of this period,
it is right lo mention that almost all Ihe leaders of the
United Irish conspiracy were Pro'eslan s. Among
those companions of my own al'uded to in these pages,
1 scnicely remember a single Catholic.
6 In the Report from the Secret Committee of the
Irish Hou«e of Lords, this extension of the plot to the
College is noticed zl^ " a desperate pn^ject of the same
faction to corrupt the youth of the country tjy intro-
ducing tlieir organised system of treason into the Uni-
versity."
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME.
1(^5
with the power of examining witnessea on oalh, and
ill a place devoted to the inslructinn oi' yimth, 1 can-
not but confess that the facts which came out in the
course of the evidtnce, ^^ellt far tuvvaids justifying
even this arbiliary pruceedin^; and to iJie ntany v\h ',
like myself, were acquainted only with the general
views of the Union leadeis, wilhoul even knowing,
except from conjtctuie, who those leaders uere, ur
what their pl.ins (ir objei;ts, it was most slanling lo
hear the disclosures winch every succeeding wiliiess
brought forth. There were a few, — and among that
number, poor Rubtrt Eniniet, John Brown, and the
two* ** * * *s,» whose total absence from the
whole ^cene, as well as ttie dead silence that, day after
day, followed the calling out of their mines, pro-
claimed how deep had been Iheir share in the unlaw-
ful proceedings inquired into by this tribunal.
Iliit there was one young friend of mine, ****##,
wliose appearance among the suspected and examin-
ed as much surprised as it deejJy and painfully in-
terested me. He and Emmet had long tjeen intimate
and attached friends; — their congenial fondness for
niathenuticat studies having been, 1 think, a t^r mure
binding symp.ilhy belween lliem than any ari-^ing out
of their political opinions. From his bemg called
up, however, en thi^ diy, when, as it appeared alter-
ward:>, all the most imporlaut evidence was brought
forward, there could be little doubt that, in addiiion lo
his intimacy with Emmet, the college authorities
must have possessi^d >ume niiorination which led them
lo suspect him of being an accomplice in the con-
spiracy. In the coU'Se of his examination, some
qiiestinns were put to him which he refused to
answer, — most probably from their tendency to in-
volve or inculpate others; and he was accordingly
dismis>ed, with the melmchtly certainly that his
future prospects in life were bias ed ; it being already
known ihal the punishment for such contutnacy was
nut merely expulsion from the University, but exclu-
sion from all the learned [trofessions.
The proceedings, indeed, of ihis whole day had
been such as to send me ti> my home in the evening
wi'h no very agreeable feelings or p Ohptcls, 1 hid
heard evidence given afiecling even the live* of snme
of those friends whom 1 had long regarded with ad-
uiiraiioii as well as atlcclion ; and what wr.s stilt
worse than even their danger. — a dinger ennobled, I
thought, by the cause in u hich they sutieied,— was
the -shameful spectacle exhibited by Uiose who had
appeared in evidence asaiusi ihem. Of these wit-
nesses, the greater unntljer had been themselves in-
volved in the plot, and now canie forward ei her as
voluntary informers, or else were driven by 'he fear
of the cimsequences of refusal to secure their own
safely at the expense of companions and friends.
I well remember the gloym, so unusual, that hung
over our faniily circle on that evening, as, talking
together of the events of ihe day, we discussed the
likeliho'd of my being among those who uould be
called up for txamination on the morrow. The
deliberate conclusion to vvhich niy dear Iioncsl ad-
viseis came, was that, overwhelming as the conse-
quences weie to all their plans and hnpes for me, yet,
if the ques'inns leading tu criminate others, which
had been put to alnnst all examined on that day, and
which poor * * * » alone h.*d refused to answer, 1
must, in (he same nianiier, and at all risks, return a
simdar refusd. I am not quite certain whether I re-
ceived any ititima inn, on the following morning, that
I was to be one nf those examined in the cour^e of the
day; but I rather think some such notice had been
conveyed (o me ; — and, at last, my awful turn came,
and 1 stood in presence of the formidable tribunal. ,
'Ihere sate, with severe look, the vice-ch.tncellor, and,
by his side, the memorable Doctor Duigenan,—
memorable for his eternal pamphlets against the
Catholics.
'J he oath was proffered to me. "I have an objec-
tion, my Lord," Slid i, '* lo laking this oath." "What
is your objt,-cli"n ? " he asked sternly. "I have no
fears, my Und, that any thing I might say would
criminate myself; but it might lend lo involve others,
and I despise the character of the person who could
be led, under any such circumstances, lo infotm against
his ass(ici.ites." I'his was aimed at some of Ihe reve-
lations of Ihe pieceding day ; and, as 1 learned after-
wards, was ^o understodd. '*How old are you, Sir ?'*
he then askrd. "Between seventeen and eighteen,
my Lord." He then turned to his assessor, Uuigenan,
and exchanged a few words with him, in an under
lone of voice. " We cannot," he resumed, again ad-
dressing me, "sutler any one (o remain in our Uni-
versity, who refuses to labft this oath." "1 shall,
then, iny Lord," i replied, "lake the oath,— still re-
seiving to mjself the power of refusing to answer
ariy such questions as I have just described." " We
do not sit here to argue wnh you, Sir," he rejoined
shaiply ; upon which I took the oath, and seated my-
self m Ihe witius^es' chair.
The following are the (Questions and answers that
then ensued. After adverting to Ihe proved existence
of United Irish Societies in the University, he asked,
«' Have you ever belonged lo any of these societies ?"
*' No, my Lord." *• Have you ever known of any of
the proceedings that h.ok. plane in (hem ?'' " No, my
Lotd." '*Uid you ever hear of a proposal at any of
their meetings, for Uie puichase of arms and ammu-
nition ?■' " Never, my Lord." " Did you ever hear
of a proposition made, in one of these societies, with
respect 10 the expediency of aesassinalion ?" " Oh no,
niV Lord." He then luined again to Duigei an, and,
after a tew words with him. snid to nie: — " When
such are the answers you aie able to give,^ pray what
was the cause of vour great lepugnance to taking the
oath ?" **1 have already tcdd your Lordship my chief
rea>ou ; in addition lo which, it was the tiist oath I
ever took, and the hesitation was, 1 think, natural. "3
I was now dismissed without any f^ilher question-
» One of these btothers has long been a general in
the French army; havins taken a |iait in all those
great enterprises of Napoleon winch have now be-
come matter of history. Should these pages meet the
eye of General ■ • • • "^ they will c«ll lo his mind
the days we pas'-ed lo^eher in Ntirmandy, a few ^um-
niers since; — more esptcially our excursion to Ba\-
eux, when, as we talkeii ou Ihe way of old college
times and friends, all Die eventful and s'otmy scenes
he had passed tlnough since aeeined forgotten.
1 There had been two q'jestions put *o all those
examined on Ili-i first day,—*' Were you ever asked to
joinanvof these societies ?"— and "By whom were
you a-k"ed?"— which I sh*uld have refused lo answer,
and must, of course, have abided Ihe consequences.
3 For the correctness of the above report of this
short examination, i can pretty confidently answer. It
may amuse, therefore, my readers, — as showing the
manner in which biographers make the most of ^niall
iacts.—to see an extract or two from another account
of Ihis affair, published not many years since by an
old and zealous friend of our fan.ily. After stating
with tolerable correctness one nr two of my answers,
the writer thus prt^ceeds : — '* Ui)nn Ihis, Lord Clare
repeated the question, and >oung M'>oie made such an
appeal, as caused his Lordship lo relax, austere and
rigid as he was. The words I cannot exactly remem-
ber; the eubs'ance was as follows: — that lie entered
college to receive 'he education of a scholar and a
gentleman; that he knew not how to compromise
these characters by informing against his college com-
panions; that his own speeches in the debating so-
ciety had been ill construed, when the wor>l that
could be said of them was, if truth had been spoke'i.
thai they were panotic that he was awaie of
the higli-niindtd nobleman he had the honour of ap-
pealing to, and if his lordship could for a moment
cndescend lo step from his high station and place
himself in his situation, (hen ^ay how he would act
under such circunistances,— it would be his guidance."
— IJerbtTt's Irish yaneties, London, 1636.
166
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME.
ing; and, however tn-io^ had been this short opera-
tion, was amply repaid for it by the kind zeal with
which my young triends and coinpamons Hocked to
congratulate me j — imt so much, 1 was inclined to
hope, on my acquittil by Ihe ccuii, as on the ntanner
in which I had arqui ted rnyxcff. Of my reception,
on returning home, afier the feats en'ertaioed of so
very ditfererjt a result, 1 will not attempt any descrip-
tion ; — il was all that siuJi a home aloue could fur-
nish.
I have been induced thus to continue down to the
very verge of the waruing outbreak of 1798, the slight
sketch nf my early diys which I ventured to com-
mence in the First Vnjumenf ihis C' 'I lection : nor could
I have furnished the Irish Melodies wiih ;'ny more
pregnant illustia'ion, as it was in those times, and
among Ihe ever.ts then stirring, (hat the feeling which
afterwards found a voice in my country's mu^ic, was
1 and I
ured.
i shall now string loge'her such detached notices
and memoranda respecting this woik, as I think may
be likely to interest my readeis.
Of the few songs written vvith a concealed political
feeling.— such as *• When he who adnres thee," and
one or two more,— the mnsi successful, in its dav, was
"When firs' I me' ihee warm and young," which
alluded, in its hidden sense, lo the Fr.nce Regent's
desertion nf his pntiiical friends. It was little less, I
own, than prnfanai 'n to disturb the sentiment '•{ so
beautiful an air by any connexion with 'uch a subject.
Ihe great succe s nf this soiig. eoon after 1 wrote itt
among a large pirtv slaving at Chalswoith, is thus
alluded in n.one of Lord Byron's iefers to me: — ■' I
have heard fiom Lnndon that you have left Chats-
worth and all 'here full of * entusymu^y'
and. in particular, that * When fi.st I met thee* has
been quite overwhelming in is eti'ect. I told you it
was one of the best things you ever vvrote, though
that dog * # » * wanted yuu lo omit pait nf it."
It has been sometimes su|)pi.sed ttiat •• Oh, tireathe
not his name," was meant to allude to Lord Edwal"d
Fitzgeiald : but this is a mistake; the song having
been suggested by the well known passage lu R >bert
Emniet'o dying speech, "Let no man write my epi-
taph let my tomb remain uninscribed, ii>I
other times and other men shall learu to do justice to
my memory."
The fei'ble attempt to commemorate the glory of
our great Duke—*' When Hisory'a Muse," &c. — is
in so far remaikable, that it made up amply f*ir its
w.tni of poetical spirit, by an out pnuring,r> rely granted
to bard) in these days, of the si'irit ot Prophecy. It
was in the year 1S15 that th« following lines fiist Diade
their appearance : —
And Bljll Itie last rrnwn nrthy toils Is remaining,
Tlie granUesl, the purest, ev'n tkou hast yet knnwn ;
Though [troiid waa tliy l:isk, other natioiui unchaitiing.
Far proud<-r to heal the deep wuunda of thy own.
At tht; foot of that throne, for whuse weal thnu hast stood.
Go, plead for the laud that firHt cradled thy fame, Sec*
About four'een years after these lines were written,
the Duke of Wellington reconmiended to the throne
the grt-at measure of Catholic Emuicipalion.
The fancy nf the " Origin of the Irish Harp," was
(as I have elsewhere acknowledged) * suggested, by a
I '* When, in consequence nf Ihe compact en'ered
into between goveinment and the chief leaders of the
conspirac\', the State Prisoners, before proceeding into
exile, were allowed to see their friends, I paid a vi'-il
to Edward Hudson, in the jail of Kilniainham, where
he had then lain immured for fnur or five nmn b-,
hearing of friend afier friend being led nut to death.
and <
rpec 1
found 'hat to ;
ek hi
I toe
ith ch<
lilude he had made a large
1 on the wall of his prison
ling that fancied origin of the Irish Harp.
some years after, 1 adopted as the Nubjecl of
Melodies.'"— /,(/« and Death of Lord
rd Fitzgerald, vol. i.
of til
drawing made under peculiarly painful circumstances,
by the friend so otten mentioned in this sketch, Ed-
ward Hudson.
In connexion with another of these matchless airs,
—one that defies all potliy lo do it justice,— I find the
following singular and touching statement in an article
of Ihe Quarterly Review. Speaking of a young and
promising poetess, Lucretia Davidson, who died very
eaily from nervous excitement, the Reviewer says,
*' Stie was particularly .sensitive to music. There was
one song (it was Moore's Farewell lo his Harp) to
which she look a special fancy. She wished to hear
it only ai twilight,— thus (wi fa that lame perilous love
of excitement which made her place ttte .d^oliaii harp
m the window when she was ci>mp05ing,j seeking to
increase Ihe ell'ect which Ihe song produced upon a
nervous system, already diseasedly susceptible; for it
is said that, whenever she heard this song, she became
cold, pale, and almost fainting ; yet it was her favour-
i'e of all songs, and gave ncciston to those verses ad-
dressed in her litteemh year lo her sister."^
With the Melody enlilied •* Love, Valour, and
Wit," an incident is connected, which awakened feel-
ings in me of proud, but sad pleasure, to think that
my songs had reached the hearts of some of the
descendants of those great Irish families, who found
themselves forced, in the dark days of persecution, to
seek in other lands a refuge from theshime and ruin
of their own ; — those, whtse stoiy I have thus asso-
ciated with one of their country's most characteristic
Ye Dlakes and O'Donnella. v^hose fathers rceiBii'd
The green hills of their youth, amony 8iraiigL-rs to find
That repuse which at home they had sigh'd for iu valu.
From a foreign lady, of this ancient extraction, —
whnse names, could 1 venture to mention them, «oiild
lend to the incident an additional Irish charm. — ] re-
ceived, about two years since, through the hands of a
gentleman to whom it had been entrusted, a large
portfolio, adorned inside with a btauiiful drawing,
representing Love, Wit, and Valour, as described in
the song. In the border that surrounds the drawing
are introduced the favourite emblenis of Erin, the
harp, the shamrock, the mitred head of St. Patrick,
together with scrolls containing each, inscribed in lel-
teis of gold, ttie name of some favourite melody of
the fair artist.
This present was accompanied by the following let-
ter from the lady her-elf ; and her Irish race, 1 fear,
is bm toodiscermble in the generous indiscretion with
which, in this ins ance, she allows praise so much to
outstrip desert : —
" Lc 25 ^outj 1836.
** Monsieur,
•• Si les poetes n'etoient ei» quelque sorte une pro-
priete intelleciuelledoni chacunprend sa part a raison
de la puis-arice qu*ils exercent, je ne saurois en verite
comnient fa ire pour just ifier nion courage I — car il en
falloit beaucnup pour avoir ose consacter mon pauvre
t:iient d'amaleur a vos delicieuses pne^ies, et plus
encore pour en renvoyer le pale reflet a son veritable
auteur.
•* J'espere toufefois que ma sympathie pour I'lrlande
vous feia juger ma foible prndnciion avec cette heu-
reu-e partialife qui imp'se silence a la critique: car,
si je n'appariiens pas a I'lle Veite par ma nai-sance,
ni mes relations, je puis dire que je m'v imeresse avec
un cccur Irlandais, et que jai conserve plus que le
nomde mes peres Cela seul me fait esperer quemes
pefi's vf>yageurs ne subiront pas le triste noviciat des
e'rangera. Puissent-ils remplir leur mission sur le
sol natal, en agis.ant conjoiniement et toujnurs pour la
cause Irlandaise, et arnener enfin une ere nouvelle
pour cetie heroique et malheureuse nation: — le
nioyen de vaincre de tels advers^ires s"ils ne foul
qu'un ?
"Vous dirai-je, Monsieur, les doux moments que je
dois a vos ouvrages ? ce i-eroit repeter une fois de plus
^ Quarterly Review, vol. xH. p. 294.
IRISH MELODIES.
isr
[idfpit de I'espace
ce que vous entendez tous les jours et de tous les cojds
de la lerre. Aussi j'ai garde de vous ravir un terns
trop precieux par Techo de ces vieilles verites.
" Si jamais nion etoile me conduit en Irlande, je ne
m'y croirai pas etraneere. Je sais que le passe y
laisse de longs souvenirs, et que la conforu
desirs et des e perancesrapprocnecni
et du teins.
•*Jusque la, reccvez, je vou8 prie, I'aasurance de ma
l^arfaite consideration, avec laquelle j'ai I'hooueur
d'etre,
" Monsieur,
" Votre tres-humble servantc,
*'LA COMTESSE ••••♦.»
Of the translations that have appeared of the Melo-
dies in diliereiit languages, I sliatl here mentioa such
as h:ive come to my knowledge.
Z.a(m.— " Cantus Hibernici,'* Nicholas Lee Torre,
London, 1835.
Italian.— O. Flechia, Torino, 1S36.— Adele Custi,
Milan.., 1836.
French —Madame Belloc, Paris, 1823.— Loeve Vei-
mars, Paris, 1829.
^twsia/i.— Several detached Melodies, by the popu-
lar Russian pnet Kozlof.
Polish. — Seleciions, in the same manner, by Niem-
cewich, Kosmian, and others.
I have now exhausted not so much my own recol-
lections, as the patience, I fear, of my readers ou this
subject. We are told of painteis calling those last
touches of the pencil which Ihey give to sume favour-
i'e picture the "ultima basia ;" and with tlie same
sort of atFectionate feeling do I now take leave of the
liish Melodies, — the only work of my pen, as I very
sincerely believe, whose fame (thanks to the swte'l
music in which it is enibalmed) may bnast a chance
of prolonging its existence to a day much beyond our
IRISH MELODIES.
CONTINUED.
MY GENTLE HARP.
My gentle Harp, once more I waken
The sweetness of thy slumbering strain j
In teais our last farewell was taken,
And now in fears we meet again.
No li?ht of joy bath o'er thee broken.
But, like thnse Harps whose heav'nly ekill
Of slavery, dark as ibine, bath spoken,
Thou bang'st upon the willows still.
And yet, since last thy chord resounded,
An hour of peace and triumph came,
And many an ardent bosom bounded
With hopes— that now are turn'd to shnmfi.
Yet even then, while Peace was singing
Her halcyon song o'er land and sea,
Tbo' jny and hope to others bringing,
She only brought new tears to thee.
Then, who can ask for notes of pleasure.
My drooping Harp, from chords like thine?
Alas', the lark'- gay morning me sure
As ill would suit the swan's decline !
Or how shsll I. who love, who bless ihee.
Invoke i!:y breath for Freedom's strains.
When ev'n the wreaths in which I dress Ibee,
Are sadly mix'd - half fiow'rs, half chains?
But come — if vet thy frame can borrow
One breith of jov, oh. breithe for me,
And sh"w the v^orld, in chains and sorrow.
How sweet thy niusic still can be;
How gaily, ev'n mid gloom surrounding,
Thou yet canst wake at pleasure's thrill —
Like Memnon's broken image sounding,
'Mid desolation tuneful still I &
IN THE MORNING OF LIFE,
In the morning of fife, when its cares are unknown
And its pleasures in all their new lustre begin,
When we live in a bright-beaming world of our own
And the light that surrounds us is all from within ;
Oh 't is not, believe me, in that hapjiy time
We can love, as in hours of less transport we may ;—
Of our huiiles, of our hopes, 't is the gay sunny prime,
But att'ection is truest when these fade away.
When we see the first glory of youth pass us by,
Like a leaf on the slreani that will never return ;
When our cup, which had sparkled with pleasure so
high.
First tastes of the other, the dark -flowing urn ;
Then, then is the time when atltction holds sway
With a depth and a tenderness joy nei.er knew j
Love, nursed aniong pleasures, is faithless as they.
But the love born of Sorrow, like Sorrow, is true.
In climes full of sunshine, though splendid the flowers,
Their sighs have no freshness, their odour no worth ;
'Tis the cloud and the mist of our own Isle of showers,
That call the rich spirit of fragrancy forth.
So it is not mid splendour, prosperity, 'mirth,
That the depth of Love's generous spirit appears ;
To the sunshine of smiles it may first owe ils birth.
But the soul of its sweetness is drawn out by tears.
AS SLOW CoR SHIP.
As stow our ship her fnamy tmck
Against the wind was cleaving.
Her trembling pennant still look'd back
To that dear isle 'I wa« leaving.
So loath we part from all we love,
From all the links that bind us;
So turn our hearts as on »e rove,
To those we 've left behind us.
When, round the bowl, of vanish'd years
We talk, wi'h jnyous seeming —
With smiles that might as well be tears,
So faint, so sad their beaming;
While mem'ry brings us back again
Each early tie that twined us.
Oh, sweet's the cup that circles then
To those we 've left behind us.
And when, m other climes, we meet
Some isle, or vale enchanting.
Where all looks flowVj^ wild and sweet,
And nought but Inve is waniing;
We think how great had been our bliss.
If Heav'n had but a'sign'd us
To live and die in scenes like this.
With some we 've left behind us!
As IravMIers off look back at eve.
When east waid darkly facing,
To grize upon that light they leaie
Still faint behind them glowing.
So, when the clo-e of plensuie's day
'I'o gloom halb near cnnsign'd us,
We 'urn to catch one fading ray
Of joy that's left behind us.
168
IRISH MELODIES.
WHEN COLD IN THE EARTH,
When cold in the earth lies the friend Ihou hast loved,
Be his faults and his follies foie;ot by thee then ;
Or. if Irom their slumber the veil be reniov'd.
Weep o'er them in silence, and close it ;igain.
And oh ! if 't is pain to remember how far
From the pathways of light he was tempted to roam,
Be it bliss to remember that thou wcrt the star
That arose on his darkness, and guided him home.
From thee and thy innocent beauty first came
The revealin^s, that taught him true love to adore,
To feel the brisjht presence, and turn him with shame
From the idols he blindly had knelt to before.
O'er the waves of a life, long benighted and wild.
Thou earnest, like a soft golden calm o'er the sea;
And if happiness purely and glowingly smiled
Uu his ev'aing horizon, the light was from thee.
And tho\ sometimes, the shades of past folly might
And tho' falsehood again would allure him to stray,
He but turn'd to the glory that dwelt m those eyes,
And the folly, the falsehood, anon vanish 'd away.
As the Priests of the Sun, when their altar grew dim.
At the day-beam aioiie could its lustre repair,
So, if virtue a moment grew languid in him,
He but flew to that smile and rekindled it there.
REMEMBER THEE.
Remember thee? yes, while there's life in this heart,
it shall never forget thee, all lorn as thou art ;
More dear in thy sorrow, thy gloom, and thy showers,
Than the rest of the world in Ibeir sunniest hours,
Wert thou all that I wish thee, great, glorious, and
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea,
1 might hail thee with prouder, with happier brow.
But oh ! could 1 love thee more deeply than now ?
No, thy chains as thev rankle, fhy blond as it runs,
But make thee more painfully dear to thy sons —
Whose hearts, like the young of the deserf-bird's nest,
Drink love in each life-drop that flows from thy breast.
WREATH THE BOWL
Wre.ath the bowl
With flowers of snul,
The brightest Wit can find us :
We'lMake a flight
TowVds heaven to nighf.
And leave dull earth behind ui.
Should Love amid
The wreaths be hid,
That joy, th' enchanter, brings us,
No danger fear,
While wine is near.
We'll diown him if he stings us.
Then, wreath the bowl
With flowers of soul,
Tlie brightest Wit can find us;
We'll take a flight
Tow'nls heaven tn-night,
And leave dull earth behind us.
'T was nectar fed
Of old, 't is said,
Tbei- Jnnos, Joves ApoUos
And man may brew
His nectar ion.
The rich receipt 's as follows ;
Take vv
ne like If
19,
Lei loni
s of bliss
Around il w
ell be blended.
'I'lien b
iiig Wit's
beam
To wai
ji the sti
earn,
And there 's
your nee
ar, splendUt
So wren
til the bo
vl
Willi n
nvers of
oul,
The brighie
t Witca
find us;
We'll lake a Hiffht
Tow'ris beaveuto-nijht,
And leave dull earth hehiud us,
Ssy, whv did Time
His glass sublime
fill up with sands unsightly,
VVhen wine, he knew,
Runs brisker through.
And sparkles far more biightly ?
Oh, lend il us.
And, smiling thus,
The glass in two we 'II sever,
Make pleasure glide
In double tide,
And fill both ends forever!
Then wreath the bowl
Wilh flowfrs of soul
The brightest Wit can find us;
We '11 take a flight
Tow'rds heaven lo-night,
And leave dull earth behind us.
WHENE'ER I SEE THOSE SMILING EVES.
"Whene'er I see those smiling eyes,
So full of hope, and jny, and light,
As if no cloud could ever rise,
To dim a heav'n so purely bright —
I sigh to think how soon that biwv
111 grief may lose its every ray.
And ihat light heart, so j-yous now,
Almost forgel it once was gay.
For time will come wilh all its blights,
The ruined hojie, the friend unkind.
And love, that leaves, where'er it lights,
A chill'd or burning heart behinil ; —
While youlh, Ihat now like snow appears,
Ere sullied by Ihe dark'ning rain.
When once 'I is touch'd by sorrow's tears
Can never shine so bright again.
IF THOU'LT BE MINE.
If thou 'It be mine, the treasures of air.
Of earth, and sei, shall lie at thy feel;
Whatever in Fancy's eye looks fair,
Or in Hope's sweet music sounds most sweef.
Shall be ours — if thou wilt be mine, love 1
Bright flowers shall blnoni wherever we rove,
A voice divine shall talk in each stream ;
The stars shall look like worlds of love,
And this earth be all one beautiful dream
la our eyes — if thou wilt be mine, love!
And thoughts, whose source is hidden and high.
Like streams, that come from hciven-ward hi b,
Shall keep our hearts, like meads, Ihat lie
To be bathed by Iho-e eternal rills,
Evergreen, if thou wilt be mine love!
All this and more Ihe Spirit of I.nve
Can breathe o'er Iheni. who feel his spells;
That heaven, which forms his lion e above.
He can make on earth, wherever he dwells,
As thou '11 own,— if thou wilt be mine, love!
IRISH MELODIES.
169
TO LADIES' EYES.
To Ijiidies* eyes around, b^y.
We can'l refuse, we can't refuse,
Tho' briehl eyes so .ibound, boy,
'T is hard lo choose, 't is hard 10 choose.
For thick 2s stars that lighten
Yon airy bow'rs, ynn airy bnw'rs,
The countless eyes that bngh'en
This eirth of ours, this earth of oura.
But fill ilie cup — where'er, boy,
Our chriice may fall, our choice may fall,
We're suie lo find Love 'here, boy.
So drink them all ! so drink them all !
Some looks there are so hnly,
Thev seem but givn. they seem but glv'D,
As shining beacons, solely.
To light to beav'n, to light lo heav n.
While some — oh! ne'er believe them —
With tempting ray, wiih tempting ray,
Would lead us (God forgive them !)
The oilier way, the other way.
Bui fill the cup— where'er, b>y,
Our choice may fall, our choice may fall,
We 're sure to lind Love there, boy,
So drink them ail 1 so drink Ihem all I
In some, as in a mirror.
Love seems pourtray'd. Love seems pourlray a,
But shun the fi itlenng error,
'T is but his shade, 't is but his shade.
Himself has fixd his dwelling
In eyes we know, m eyes we know,
And lips— bul this is telling —
So here they go ! so here ihey go !
Fill up, fill up— where'er, boy.
Our choice may fall, our choice may fall,
We're sure to find Love there, boy.
So drink them all ! so drink them all !
FORGET NOT THE FIELD
Forget nol the field where Ihey perish'd,
The truest, the last of ihe brave,
All gone— and liie bri2ht hope we cherish'd
Gone with them, and quench'd in their grave !
Oh ! could we from death but recover
Th'fe hearts as they bounded before.
In the face of hi?h heav'ii to fi'ht over
That combat for frecd.'m once more;
Could Ihe chain for an instant be riven
Which Tyranny flung round us Ihen,
No, 't is not in Man, nor in Heaven,
To let Tyranny bind it again !
But 't is past — and, iho' btazon'd in story
The name of tur Victor mav be.
Accurst is the march of that glory
Which treads o'er Ihe hearts of the free.
Far dearer the grave or the prison,
Illumed by one patriot name.
Than the trophies of all, who have risen
On Liberty's ruins to fame.
THEY MAY RAIL AT THIS LIFE.
They may rail at Ihis life — from the hour I began it,
1 f.un.l it a life full of kindness and bli>s:
And, until ihty can show nic some hapiiier planet,
More social and hrighl, I 'II conteni nie w ilh Ihis.
As long as the world has such lips and such eyes,
As before me ttiis moment enraplmed 1 see,
They may say what thev will of their orbs in the skies.
But this earth is Ihe planet for you, love, and me.
In Mercury's star, where each moment can bring them
New sunshine and wit from the fountain on high,
Tho' the nvniphi may have li velier poets lo sing theni,«
They 've none, even there, nioie enamour d than 1.
And, as long as this harp can be waken'd lo love.
And that eve ils divine iuspiralion shall be.
They mav talk as thev will of their Edeiis above.
But Ihis earth is the planet for you, love, and me.
In that star of the west, by whose shadowy splendour,
Ai twilight so often we 've roam'd thrnugh the dew
There are maidens, perhaps, who have bosoms as
tender.
And look, in their twilights, as lovely as you.a
But tho' they were even more briglil Ihan Ihe queen
Of that isle they inhabit in heaven's lilue sea,
As 1 never those fair young celesiials have seen,
Why— this earth is the plaoel for you, love, and me.
As for those chilly orbs on the verge of creation,
Where sunshine and smiles must be ecpially rare.
Did Ihey want a supply of cold hearts for that station,
H&iv'n knows we have plenty on earth we could
1 ! thiiik what a world we should have of it here.
If the haters of peace, of atieclion and giee,
'ere to fly up to Saturn's comfortless s| here.
And leave earth to such spirits as you, love, and me,
OH FOR THE SWORDS OF FORMER TIME!
Oh for the swords of former lime !
Oh for the men who boie them,
When arm'd fiir Right, they stood sublime,
And tvranls crouch'd bef re them:
When free yet, ere courts began
With honours lo enslave him,
The hi St honours worn by Man
Were tliose which Virtue gave him.
Oh for the swords, &c. &c.
Oh for the Kings who flourish'd then !
Oh for the pomp Ihal crown'd them.
When hearts and hands of fieeborn men
VVeie all the ramparN round them.
When, safe built on bosoms irue.
The Ihroiie was but the cer.tre,
Round which Love a circle drew.
That Treason durst not enter.
Oh for the Kines who flourish'd Ihen!
Oh for Ihe pomp tliat crnwn'd them,
When hearts and hands of freeborn men
Were all the ramparts round them !
ST. SENANUS AND THE LADY.
ST. SENANUS.'
**0h ! hasle and leave
•* Unholy bark, ere mi
s sacred isle,
iig smile ;
1 Tons leshabitans de Mercure sont vUa.—PluraUU
du Maiid&a.
» La Terre pourra etre pour Venus I'etoile du ber-
ger ei la mere des amours, comnie Venus Test pour
nous. — Ibid.
a In a metrical life of S'. Si-nanns, which is taken
from an old Kilkeniiv MS., and may be found among
the .Seta Savclonim HiUrniz, we are told of his
flight lo Ihe island of Scalleiy, and
to .admit any woman of the nariy
efused
isler >
nt, St, Ca
had taken to the island for the express purpose ol
introducing her to him. The following was the un-
gracious answer of Senanus, according to his poetical
biographer :
15
170
IRISH MELODIES.
** For on thy deck, though dark it be,
** A female form I see ;
*' And I have sworo this sainted sod
"Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trud,'*
THE LADY.
•* Oh ! Fnther, send not hence my bark,
"Through wintry winds aiul billows dark:
•* ] come v\ith bumble heart io share
" Thy morn and evening prayer ;
•' Nor mine the feet, oh ! holy Saint,
"The brightness of thy sod to taint."
The Lady's prayer Senanus spurn'd ;
The winds blevv fresh, Ihe bark returnM ;
Eul legends hint, that had the maid
Till morn-iiig's Hght delay'd,
And given the sahit one rosy smilei
She ne'er had left his lonely isle.
NE'ER ASK THE HOUR.
Ne'cY ask the hnur — what is it to us
How Time deals out his treasures?
The golden momeiUs lent us thus,
Are not his coin, but Pleasure's.
If cnunting ihem o'er could add to their blisses,
I M number each glorious second :
Bui moments of joy are, like Lesbia's kisses.
Too quick and sweet lo be reckon'd.
Then fill the cup— what is ii to ua
How time his circle measures?
The fairy hours we cWI up thus,
Obey no wand but Pleasure's..
Youn^ Joy ne'er thought of counting hours.
Till Care, one summer's morning,
Set up, among his smiling floweis,
A dial, by way of warning.
But Joy loved better to gaze on the sun
As long as its liijht was glowmg,
Than to watch with old Care how the shadow stole c
And how fast that li^ht was going.
So fill the cup— IV hat is it to us
How Time his circle measures?
The fairy hours we c;tll up thus,
Obey no wand but Pleasure's.
SAIL ON, SAIL ON.
Sail on, sail on, thou fearless bark —
Wtierever blows the welcome wind,
It cmnot lead to scenes more dark.
More sid than tho?e we leave behind.
Each wave th^it passes seems to say,
'* Though deatli beneath our smi!c may be,
" Less cold we are, less false than they,
" Whose smiling wreck'd thy hopes and thee."
Sail on, sail on,— through endless space —
Through c^lni — through tempest— stop no more:
The stormiest sea's a res'ing place
To him who haves such hearts on shore.
Or — if some desert land we meet,
Where never yet false-hear'ed men
Profan'd a world, that else were sweet,—
Then re.l thee. ba:k, but not till then.
Cui Prnecvl, quid foeminia
Commune est cum mmiachtt T
KfC te nee uU-im aUnm
See the Mta. Sanct. Hib., page 610.
According to Dr. Ledwicli, St. Senmus was no less
9 personage than the river Sliannon ; but O'Connor and
olherantiquanansdeiiy thenietaniorphose indignantly.
TH E PARALLEL,
Yes, fad one of Sion,i if closely resembling.
In shame and in sorrow, (by wither'd-up heart—
If drinking deep, deep, of the sAtue "ccp uf treiD-
biiiig"
Could make us thy children, our parent thou art.
Like thee do'h our nation He conquered and broken.
And fall'n from her head is ihe once royal crown;
In her streets, in her halls, Desolation hath spoken.
And "while it isdty yet, her sun hath gone down."*
Like thine doth her exile, *mid dreams of returning,
Die f tr froni tlje home it were life to behold j
Like ihine do her sons, in ihe day ot their mourning,
Remember the bright things thaibl&ss'd them of old.
Ah. well may we call her, like thee " the For5aken,"»
Her boldest are vanquisli'd, her proudest are slaves;
And the harps of her minstrels, when gayest they
waken.
Have tones mid their mirth like Ihe wind over
gravei !
Yet hadst thou thy vengeance — yet came there the
That shines out, at last, on the longest dark night.
When Ihe sceptre, that smote thee with slavery and
Was shiver'd at once, like a reed, in thy sight.
When that cup, which for others Ihe proud Golden
City*
Had biimm'd full of bitterness, drench'd her own
lips ;
And the world she had trampled on heard, without
pity.
The bowl in her halls, and the cry from her ships.
When the curse Heaven keeps for the haughty came
Her merchants rapacious, her rulers unjust.
And. a ruin, at last, for the eanhworm to 'cover,*
The Lady of Kingdoms ^ lay hiw m the dust.
DRINK OF THIS CUP.
Drink of this cup ; — you 'II find there 's a spell in
Its every d'Op 'gaii'st the ills of mortality ;
Talk of the cordial that sparkled for Helen !
Her cup was a fiction, bu' this is reality.
Would you forget Ihe dark world we are in,
Just las'e of the bubble that gleams on the top of it ;
But would you rise ^bove earth, 'ill akin
To Immortals themselves, you must drain every
drop of it;
Send round the cup — for oh. there's a spell in
Its every drop 'gainst the ills of mortality j
Talk of the cordial thjt spa-kled for Helen !
Her cup was a fiction, but this is reality.
Never was philter fnrm'd with such power
To charm and bewilder as ihis we are quaffingj
Its magic began when, in Autumn's rich hour,
A harvest of gold in Ihe fields it stood laughing.
1 These verses were written after Ihe perusal of a
treatise by Mr. Hamilton, professing to prove that Ihe
Irish were origimlly Jews,
1 *' Her sun is gone down while it was yet day.'* —
Jer XV. 9.
5 "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken," —
Isaiiih. Ixii. 4.
6 " Thy pomp is brought down to ths erave . • • • •
and the worms cover thee." — Isaiah, xiv. 4,
6 ** Thou Shalt no more be called the Lady of Kiog*
doms." — Isaiah, xlvii. 5.
IRISH MELODIES.
171
There having, by Nature's enchaatnient, been fiUM
With th£ balm and the bloom of ber kiudliest
I weather^
This wonderful juice from its cnre was distill'd
To enliven such ht-arls as are here brought together.
Then diink of the cup— you'll hnd there's a spell in
Its every drop '£r,iin t the ills of mortality ;
Talk of the coidial that sparkled for Helen!
Her cup was a ficiion, but this is reality.
And though, perhaps — but breathe it to no one —
Like liquor the witch brews at nildni«tht so awful,
This philier in secret was fir^t t.iu^lit to flow on,
Yet 'I is n't less potent for being unlawful.
And, ev'n though ii taste of the smoke of that flame,
Which in silence extiac'ed its virtue forbidden —
Fill up — there 's a fire in some hearts I could name,
Which may work too its charm, though as lawless
and hiJden.
So drink "f the cup — for oh, there 's a spell in
lis every drop 'gainst the ills of mortality ;
Talk of the cnrdial 'hat sparkled for Helen!
Her cup was a fiction, but this is reality.
THE FORTUNE-TELLER.
Down in the valley come meet me to-night,
And i 'II tell ynu your (orlune truly
As ever '1 was told, by the [lew-nmon's light,
To a young maiden, shining as newly.
But, fnr the world, lei no one be nigh,
Lest haply the stars should deceive me;
Such secrets between ynu and me and the sky
Should never go f.irtlier, believe uie.
of hia
If at that hour the heav'ns be not d
RIy science shall cill up befo
A male apparition,— the image
Wtiose destiny '( is to adore you.
And if to that phantom you *I1 be kind.
So fondly around you he Ml hover.
You '11 hardly, my dear, any difference find
'Twixt him and a true living lover.
Down at your feet, in the pale moonlight,
He 'li kneel, with a warmth of devotion —
An ardour, of which such an innocent sprite
Ynu 'd scarcely believe had a notion.
What o^her thoughts and events may arise,
As in destiny's book I 've not seen them,
Must only be left to t*ie stars and your eyes
To settle, ere uiCi'niiig, between them.
OH, YE DE ADI
Oh, ye Dead ! oh, ye Dead ! i whom we know by the
light you give
From your cold gleaming eyes, though you move like
men who live.
Why leave yon thus your graves,
In fir.-'ff fields and waves.
Where the worm and the sea-bird only know yourbed,
To haunt this spot where all
Those eyes that wept your fill,
And the hearts that waiPd you, like your own, lie
dead?
I TauI Zealand mentions that there is a mountain in
some part of Ircl-ind. w here Hie ghosts of persons who
have died m foieign lands walk about and converse
with those they niee', like living people. If asked
whv they do not return to their homes, they siy ihey
are obliged to go to Mount Hecla, and disappear im-
mediately.
It is true, it is true, we are shadows cold and wan;
And the fair and the brave whom we lov'd on earth
are gone ;
But still thus ev'n in death.
So sweet the living breath
Of the fields and the flow'ra in our you 3i wo wanderM
o'er,
That ere, condemn'd, we go
To freeze *mld Hecla's snow,
We would taste it awhile, and thins we live once
more !
O'DONOHUE'S MISTRESS.
Of all the fair months, that round the sun
In light-linkM dance their circles run,
Sweet May, shine ihou fnr me ;
For still, when thy earliest beams arise,
That youih, who beneath the blue lake lies,
Sweet May, returns to me.
Of all the bright haunts, where daylight leaves
Its lingering smile on golden eves,
Fair Lake, thou 'rt dearest to me ;
For when the last April sun grows dim,
Thy Naiads prepare his steed ^ fnr him
Who dwells, bright Lake, in thee.
Of all the proud steeds, that ever bore
Young plumed Chiefs on sea or shore.
While Steed, most joy to thee !
Who still, with the first vounc glance of spring.
From under that glorifius lake dost bring
My love, my chief, to me.
While, white as (he sail some hark unfurls,
When newly launch'd, thv long mane 3 curls,
Fair Steed, as white and free ;
And spiiits. from all the lake's deep bowers
Glide o'er ihe blue wave scattering flowers,
Around my love and thee.
Of all the sweet deaths that maidens die,
Who^e lovers beneath the cold wave lie,
Most sweet that death will be.
Which, under the next May evening's light.
When thou and thy steed are lost to sight,
Dear love, I '11 die for thee.
ECHO.
How sweet the answer Echo makes
To music at night.
When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes,
And far away, o'er lawns and lakes.
Goes ansvvering light.
* The particulars of the tradition respecting O'Do-
nohne and his White Horse, may be found in f"
Weld's Account of Killarney, or nmre fully detailed in
Derrick's Letters. For miny years after bis death,
the spirit of ihis hern is supposed to have been seen or
the niornins of May-day. gliding over Ihe lake on hi)
favourite white hor-e. lo the sound of sweet unearthly
music, and preceded by groups of youths and maidt
who flung wreaths of delicate spring flowers in
path.
Among other stories, connected with this Legend of
the Likes, if is said ihal there was a ynung and beau
lifui girl whose imagination was so impressed with
the idea of ihis visionary chieftain, that she fancied
herself in love with him, and at last, in a fit of insani-
ty, on a May-morniug threw hdself into the lake.
3 The boatmen at Killarney call those waves which
come nil a windy day, crested with foam, "O'Douo-
hue's white horset."
173
IRISH MELODIES.
Yet Love hath echnea truer iar,
Aud far more eweer.
Than e'er beneath the moonligi.s star,
Ul' horn or lute, or scit't euilar,
The 5ongs repeal.
'Tis when the sis:h, in voulh sincere,
And niily then,—
The sitch th.it 's breath'd for one to hear,
Is by Ihat one, tha» c.iily dear,
Breathed back again 1
OH BANQUET NOT.
Oh banquet not in tho-e shining bowers,
Where Youth resorts, but c 'ine to me:
For mine 's a guden of fadfd flowers,
More fii for sorrnw, for age, and thee.
And theie we shall have our fe-isl of tears,
And many a cup in silence pour ;
Our guests, llie shades of former >ear3,
Our toasts, lo lips that bloom no more.
There, while the myrtle's withering boughs
Their lifeless leaves around us shed,
We'll brim the bow] lo broken vows.
To friends long lost, the changed, the dead.
Or, while snme blighted laurel waves
Its br.mches o'er the dreaiy spot,
We 'II drink to those neglected graves,
Where valour sleeps, unnamed, forgot.
THEE, THEE, ONLY THEE.
The dawning of morn, the daylight 's sinking,
The nighi's long hours still find me thinking,
Of ihee, thee, only thee.
When Iriendi are met, and goblets crown'd,
And smiles are near, that once enchanted
Unreach'd by all Ihat sunshine round.
My s-iul, like s''>me d irk spot, is haunted
By thee, thee, only thee.
Whatever in fanieN high path could waken
My spirit once, is now forsaken
For Ihee, thee, rnly thee.
Like shores, by which some headlong bark
To th' ocean hurries, resting nei.er.
Life's scenes t;o by me, bright or dark,
1 knnw not, heed not, hastening ever
To thee, thee, only thee.
I have not a j^y but of thy bringing,
And pnin itself seems sweet when springing
From thee, thee, only thee.
Like spells, that nought on earth can bre:»k,
Ti I lips, that know the chnrm, have spoken.
This heait. hovve'erthe world mav wake
Its grief, ils scorn, can bu' be broken
By ttiee, thee, only thee.
SHALL THE HARP THEN BE SILENT.
I Shall the Harp then be silent, when he who first gave
To our counrry a name, is withdrawn frnm all eyes ?
Shall a MinP'.rel of Enn stand nuite by 'lie grave.
j Where the fifst- where the la^-t of her Patriots lies?
No— fnint tho' the dea'h-son^ may fall frm his lips,
Tho' his Harp, like his soul, may with sliadows be
crost,
Yet, yet shall it sound, 'mid a nation's eclipse.
And proclaim lo the world what a star hath been
lost ;i—
- where he
of alt tis'.e;
What a union of all the affec'ions and powers
By which life is exalted, embellish'd, rehned.
Was emt-raced in that spirit — u h"se centre was ours,
While its mighty circumfereuce circled mankind.
Oh, who that loves Erin, or who that can see,
Through the wa.ite of her annals, that epoch sub-
Like a p> ram
And his glo
That ojie lucid interval, snatch'd from the gloom
And ihe madness of ages, « hen fill'd « ith his soul,
A Nation o'erleap'd the dark bounds of her doom,
And for 07ie sacred mstant, touch'd Liberty's goal ?
Who, that ever hath heard him — hath drunk at the
Of that wonderful elcquence, all Erin's own,
In whose Iiigh-thoushted daring, the Hre, and Ihe force,
And the yet untamed spring of her spirit are shown ?
An eloquence rich, wheresoever ils wave
Wander"d free nud Iriumphant, with thoughts that
shone through,
As clear as the brook's "stone of lustre.'' and gave,
With the flash of the gem, i'.j solidity too.
Who, that ever approach'd him, when free from the
crov\d,
In a home lull of love, he delighted to tread
'Mong the trees which a nation had giv'n, and which
bowM,
As if each brought a new civic crown for his head —
Is there one, who halh Ihus, through his orbit of life
But at distance observed him — through glory,
through blame,
In the calm of retreat, in the grandeur of strife.
Whether shimng or clouded, still high and the
same, —
Oh. no, not a heart, that e'er knew him, but mourna
Deep, deep oer the grave, wlicrc such glory is
shrined —
O'er a monument Fame will preserve, 'mong the urns
Of the wisest, the biavest, the best of mankind !
OH, THE SIGHT ENTRANCING.
Oh, the sight entrancing,
When morning's beam is glancing
O'er files airay'd
With helm and blade,
And plumes, irt the gay wind dancing)
When henrts aie all high beating,
And the trumpet's voice repealing
That song, whose breath
May lead (o death,
But never to retreating.
Oh, the sight enliancing.
When morning's beani is glancing
O'er files array'd
With helm and blade,
And plumes, in the gay wind dancing.
Yet, 't is not helm or feather —
For a^k yon despot, whether
His plumed bands
Coidd bring snch hands
And hearts as ours together.
Leave pnnips to (ho-e who need 'em —
Give man but heait and freedom,
And prnud he braves
The gaudies! slaves
That crawl where monarchs lead 'em.
The sword may pieice the beaver,
Stone walls m time m'«y sever.
* These lines were " ritten on the death of our great |
» the ye
r 1S20.
niended
B only the t _
ittid to be sung- j
IRISH MELODIES.
173
T h mind alone,
VVorth steel and stone,
That keeps lueri free for ever.
Oil, that sight eiitraiicitig,
When the ujoriiing's beam is glancing,
O'ei lUes a I ray 'd
With helm and blade,
And iu rrecdomS cause advancing 1
SWEET INNISFALLEN.
Sweet Innisfallen, fare thee well,
May calm and sunshine long be thine I
How fair thou art let others tell,—
To feci how fair shall long be mine.
Sweet Innisfallen, long shall dwell
111 memory's dieani ihal suiiuy smile,
Which o'er Ihee on 111 it evening fell,
When first I saw thy fairy isle.
'T was lighi, indeed, too blest f r one,
Who had to luin to paihs of care —
Through crowded hauii s again to run.
And leave Ihee bright and silent there;
No more unlo thy shores to come,
But, on the woildN rude iccan tost.
Dream of thee sometimes, as a home
Of sunshine he had seen aud lost.
in thy
Like sorrow's
veeping hours
:e, a, 1 do now,
thy blooming bowers,
;il on beauty's brow.
For, though unrivall'd slill thy grace.
Thou dust not look, as then, I'lO blest,
But thus in shadow, seem'si a place
Wheie erring man might hope to rest-
Might hope to rest, and find in thee
A gloom like Eden's, on the day
He left I's shade, when eveiy tree,
Like thine, hung weeping o'er his way.
Weeping or smiling, lovely isle I
And all Ihe lovelier for thy tears —
For iho' but rare thy sunny smile,
'T is heav'u's own glance when it appears.
Like feeling hearts, whose joys are few,
But, w hen indted they come, divine —
The brighle-t lighl the sun e'er ihrew
Is lifeless to one gleani of thine 1
'T WAS ONE OF THOSE DREAMS.t
'T was one of those dreams, that by music are brought,
Like a briglit summer haze, o'er the pi-et'a waim
thought —
When, lost it. the future, his soul wanders on,
And all of Ihis life, but its sweetness, is gone.
The wild no'es he heard o'er llle water were those
lie had taught to sing Erin's daik bondage and woes.
And the breath i f the bujle now wafted them o'er
From Dinis' green isle, to Glena's wooded shore.
He li-ten'd — w hile. high o'er Ihe eagle's n.de nest.
The lingering sounds mi their way loved to rest;
And the echoes sung back fiom Iheir full mouutiin
quire.
As if liitb to let song so enchanting expire.
• Written during a visit to Lord Eenmare, at Kil-
larney.
15* "
It seem'd as if ev'ry sweet note, that died here,
Was again brought Jo life in some airier sphere,
e heav'n in those hills, wheie the soul of the strain
That had ceased upon eaith v/as awaking again !
Oh, forgive, if, while listening to music, whose breath
Seem'dlo circle his name wiih a charm against death.
He should teel a proud Spirit wrhin him proclaim,
"Even so shall thou live in the echoes of Fame :
" Even 80, ihn' thy memory should now die away,
'"T will be caught up again in some happier day,
" And the hearts and the voices of Erin [irolong,
** Through Ihe answering Futuie. thy name and thy
song."
FAIREST! PUT ON AWHILE.
Fairest! put on awhile
I hese pinions of light I bring thee,
And o'er thy own green isle
In fancy let me wing thee.
Never did Ariel's plume.
At golden sunset hover
O'er scenes so full of bloom.
As I shall waft thee over.
Fields, where the Spring delays
And fearlessly meets the ardour
Of the warm Summer's gaze,
Wiih only her tears to guard her.
Rocks, through myrtle bouglis
In grace majestic frowning.
Like some bold warrior's brows
That love hath just been crowning.
Islets, so fiestilv fair.
That never hath bird come nigh Iheni,
But from his couise thro' air
He haih been won down by them ; i —
Types, sweet maid, of thee,
Who'e look, wh' se blush inviting.
Never did Love yet see
From Heav'n, wiihout alighting.
Lakes, where Ihe pearl lies hid,'
And caves, where the gem is sleeping,
Bright as the tears thy lid
Lets fall in lonely weeping.
Glens,* wliere Ocean comes.
To 'scape the wild wind's rancour.
And Harbours, worthiest homes
Wheie Fieedom's (leet can anchor.
Then, if, while scenes so grand.
So beanliful, shine before thee.
Pride for thy own dear land
Should haply be stealing o'er thee,
Oh, let grief come first.
O'er pride ilself victorious — [
Thinkin» how man hath curst |
What Heaven had made so glorious !
9 In describing the Skeligs (islands of ihe Barony ol
Forth), llr. Kealingsays, "1 liere is a certain attrac-
tive vinue in the soil which draws down all the birds
that aOcmi.t to fly over it, and obliges them to light
upon the rock.
» " Nennius, a British writer of the nin'h century,
mentions Ihe abundance of pearls in Ireland. Their
princes. he says, hung them behind their ears: and
this we find confirmed by a present maile A. C. I09J,
bv Gilbert, Bishop of Linierick, to Anselm, Aich-
bishop of Canlerliiiry, of a considerable quantity of
Irish pearls." — O'Halloran. "I
I « Glengariff. !
174
IRISH MELODIES,
QUICK! WE HAVE BUT A SECOND.
Quick ! we hsve but a second,
Fiil rnund the cup, while vou may;
for Time, the chin I, ha h beckou'd,
And we must away, away !
Grasp the pleasure th I 's flying,
For nh, not Orpheus' s'rain.
Could keep sweet hours from dying,
Orchauii theii> 10 life again.
Then, (juick ! we have but a second.
Fill round the cup, while you may;
For Time, the churl, hath beckou'd,
And we must away, away 1
See the glass, how it Rushes,
Like some yung Hebe's lip.
And half nieeis thine, and blushes
That thou shouldsl deljy to sip.
Shame, oh shame unto thee,
If ever ihou seest thai d-iy,
When a cup or lip shall woo thee,
And tuMi untoucli'd away !
Then, quick ! we liave but a second.
Fill round, fill round, while you may;
For Time, the churl, hath beckou'd,
And we must away, away !
AND DOTH NOT A MEETING LIKE THIS.
And doth not a meeting like this make amends.
For all the l"iii; yeare 1 've been wand'ring away —
To see thus around me niy youth's eaily friends,
As smiting and kind as in ihat liappy day ?
Though haply o'er some nf your brows, as o'er mine,
Thesnow-lall of lime m .y be stealing— what Iheu ?
Like Alps in the sunset, thus lighted by wine.
We '11 wear the gay tinge of youth's roses again.
What soften'd remembrances come o'er the heart,
In gazing on thnse we 've been lost to so long!
The sorrows, the joys, of which once ihey weie p»rt.
Still round tliem. like visions of veslerday, ihrong.
As letters some h.nid hath invi^ibly trac'd.
When held to the flame will s.eil out on the sight,
So many a feeling, that lon» seem'd ttfjCfd,
The warmth ot a moment like this brings to light.
And thus, as in memory's bark we shall glide,
To visit the scenes of our boyhood anew,
Tho' oft we may see, looking down on the tide.
The wreck ot full many a hope shinmu through;
Yet still, as in fancy we point lo the flowers.
That once made a garden of all the gay shore,
Deceived for a mnmenl, we'll think them still ours,
And breathe the fresh air of life's morning once
more.'
So brief our existence, a glimpse, at lie most.
Is all we cm haveof ihe few ive hold dear;
And oft even joy is unheeded and Ir.sf,
For want of some he irt, ihat could echo it, near.
Ah. well may we Mope, when lh:s short life is gone,
To meet in some woi Id of more pt-nnanent bl:ss,
For a smile, or a gni*p of Ihe hand, ha-t'uing on,
Is all we enjoy of each other in this.a
Juuri
Je
charmans, quand je songe a vous heuieux
ase renionter le fleuve de mes ans :
Etm
Respire encore fair pur du n.alin de la vie.
» The same ihoujhl h is been happih expressed by
my friend Mr. Washington I' vmg in h\i Srnc, bridge
Hall, vol. i. p. 213. The sincere pleasure which 1
feel in calling this gentleman mv fritnd, is much en.
hancd by the rellecii .n that he is too go 4 an Ameri-
can, to have admitted me so readily to such a distinc-
tion, if he had not known that my feelings towards
But, come, the more rare such delights to the heart,
The more we should welcome and bless Iheni the
They're ours, when we Dieel, — they are lost when
we pail,
Like buds thai bring summer, and fly when 'lis o'er.
Thus circling the cup, hand in hand, ere we drink.
Let Sympathy pledge us, thro' pleasure, thro' pain,
That, fast as a feelii g but touches one link,
ijer magic shall seud it direct thro' the chain.
THE MOUNTAIN SPRITE.
In yonder valley there dwelt, alone,
A youth, whose moments had ca mly flown.
Till spells came o'er him, and, dai and night.
He was hauuted and watch'd by a Mountaiu Sprite.
As once, by moonlight, he wander'd o'er
The golden sands of that island shore,
A fooi-print sparkled before his sight — '
'T was llie fairy foot of the Mountain Sprite 1
Beside a fountain, one sunny day.
As bending over the stream he 1 y,
There peep d down o'er him two eyes of light,
And he saw in that mirror Ihe Mountain Sprite.
He turn'd, but, lo, like a startled bird,
That spirit fled 1 — and the youth bui heard
Sweet mu-ic, such as marks the night
Of some bird of song, from the Mountain Sprite,
One night, still haunted by that bright look,
1 he bi.y, bewildei'd, his pencil toi k.
And, guided only by memory's tight.
Drew the oiice-»een form of Ihe Mountain Sprite;
"Oh, thou, who lovest the shadow," cried
A voice, low whisp'ring by his side,
" Now turn and see,"— heie the youth's delight
Seal'd Ihe rosy lips of the Mountain Sprite.
" Of all the Spi. its of land and sea,"
Then rapt he iiiurmur'd, " there 's none like thee,
" And oil, oh, oft, may Ihy fool thus light
"lo this lonely bower, sweet Muuulaiu Sprite !"
AS VANQUISH'D ERIN.
As vanquish'd Erin wept beside
The ISoyiie's ill-fated river.
She saw » here Discoid, in ibe tide,
Had dropp'd his loaded quiver.
" Lie hid," she cned, " ye veiiom'd darts,
" Where morial eye may shun you:
" Lie hrd — the slain of manly hearts,
** i hat bled for me, is on you."
But vain her wish, her weeping vain,—
As Time loo well hath taught her —
Each year Ihe Fiend re'urns again.
And dives into that waer;
And brings, iriumphant, from beneath
His shafts of desolation,
And sends them, wing'd w ith worse than death.
Through all her madd'nritg nation.
Alas, for her who sits and mourns,
Ev'n now, besi.le Ulat river —
Unwearied siill Ihe Fiend returns,
And stored is s ill his quiver
the great and free country that gave hinr birth, nave
been long such as every real lover ol the Irberly and
happiness of the human race must entertain.
IRISH MELODIES.
175
** When will this end, ye Powers of Good ?''
She weeping asks for ever;
But nnly hears, tVnin nut that flood,
The Demon answer, "Never!"
DESMOND'S SONG.l
By the Feal's wave benighted,
No star in the skits,
To thy dnor by L^ve lighted,
I fusi s;\w rim^e eyes.
Son.e vnice whisper^ o'er ine,
As the thieshold I cmst,
There was rum before me,
if I loved, I was lost.
Love came, and brought sorrow
Too soon in his Iriiin j
Vet so sweet, ihU to-morrow
'T «ere welcome again.
Though misery's full measure
My portion should be,
I would dram it with pleasure,
If pour'd out by thee.
You, who call it dishonour
To bow to this flame,
If you 've eyes hmk but on her,
And blush while you blame.
Hath the pearl less whiteness
Recluse of its birth ?
Ha'h the violet less brightness
For grov\ ing near earth ?
No -Man for his glory
To aiice^-lry flies;
But Woman's bnelit story
Is told in here\t-s.
While the Monaich but traces
Thro' mortals his line,
Beauly, born of the Giaces,
Haiiks next to Divine I
THEY KNOW NOT MV HEART
They know not my heart, who believe there can be
One stain of this earth in its feelings for thee ;
Who think, while I see thee In beauty's y.uiig hour,
As pure as the morning's first dew on the flow'r,
I c uld h.irm what I love,— as the sun's wanton ray
But smiles on the dew-drop to waste it away.
No— beaming with light as those ynun? features are.
There 'a a light round thy he^t which is lovelier far:
I' t> not Ihit cheek — 'i is the soul dawning clear
Thro' its innocent blush makes ihy beauty so dear;
As Hie sky we look up to, though glorious and fair.
Is look'd up lo the more, because Heaven lies there !
1 WISH I WAS BY THAT DIM LAKE.
When
t "Thomas, the heir of the Desmond family, had
accidentally been so eniiajcd in the chase, that he was
lienightt^d near Tralee. and obliged to take shelter .it
the Abhev of Feal. in the house of or.e of Ms deperd-
ants, called Mac Cnrmic. Caihfiine. a beautiful
daughter of his host, insian'ly inspired the Earl with
a violent passion, which he could not subdue, lie
married he',and by Ihi^ inlet i ir .illiance alien.-.letl his
followers, whose bru'al pride rrsarded his indulgence
of his love as an unpardonable degndat:on ui hi>
family.'*— Lttand, vol, ii,
a These verse'; are meant to allude to that ancieot
Of this vain world, and half-way lie '
In death's cold sh idow, ere they die.
There, there, far from thee,
Deceilful world, my home should be;
Where, come what might of gloom and pain.
False hope should ne'er deceive again.
The lifeless skv, the mournful sourrd
Of unseen waters falling round ;
The diy leaves, quiv'ring o'er my head.
Like man, unquiet ev'n when dead I
These, ay, these shall wean
My soul from life's deluding scene,
And turn each thought, o'ercharged with glooro,
Like willows, downward tuw'ids the tomb.
As they, who to their couch at night
Would win repose, first quench the light,
So must the hope?*, th.*t keep this breast
Awake, be quench'd, ere it can rest.
Cold, cold, this heart mu-t grow,
Unmoved by either joy or woe,
Like freezing founts, where all that's thrown
Within their current turns lo stone.
SHE SUNG OF LOVE.
Shp sung of Love, while o'er her lyre
The rosy rays of evening fell,
As if to feed with their so(i fire
The sou! within lh.it trembling shell.
The same rich light hung o'er her cheek,
And play'd uround those lips that sung
Ami spoke, as flowers would sing and speak,
If Love could lend their leaves a tongue.
But soon the West no longer burn 'd.
Each ro-y ray from hei^'n withdrew;
And. when to g-ize again I tnrn'd.
The minsTel's form seem'd fading too.
As if her light and heav'n's were one,
The glo-y all had left that frame ;
And from her glimmering lips the tone,
As fiom a parting spirit, canie.3
Who ever loved, but had the thought
Th.it he and all he loved niusi p.rt?
Filld Willi this fear, I flew and caught
The r-ding image to my heart —
And cried. " Oh Love ! is this thy doom ?
"Oh li?ht of youth's resplendent day!
" Must ye then lose ynur golden bloom,
'* And thus, like f-unsliine, die away?'*
haunt of superstition, called Patrick's Purgatory. " In
the midst of these gloomy rejjions of Donegal (sayi
Dr. Campbell) lay a lake, which was to become (he
mystic theatre of (his fabled and intermediate state.
In the lake were several islands; but one of them
was dignified with that called the Mouth of Purga-
tory, which, during the da'k ages, attracted the notice
of all Christendom, and w;<s the rtsort of penitents
and pilgrims from almost every country in Europe "
»MI was," as the same writer tetjs us, "one of the
most dismal and dreary spo!s in the North, almost in-
accessible, through deep glens and rugged niounlain
frightful wiih impending rocks, and the hollow niu
niurs of the western winds in dark caverns, peopled
only wilh such fantastic beings as the mind, however
gay. is, from s'r.ui?e association, wont lo appropriate
In such gloomy scent s " — Strictures on the Etclesias-
lical and Literai'y History of Irdaiid.
3 The thought here was sngiesled by some beautiful
lines in Mr. Rogers's poem of Human Life, begii
ning —
" Nnw In the plimmcring, dyin? light she grows
Lens and V-ss eaitlily."
176
IRISH MELODIES.
SING — SING — MUSIC WAS GIVEN.
Sing — sing —Music was piven,
To brishleii Iheg.iy, ami kmclle tiie loving;
Soul« here, liiie planets in Heaien,
By harmony's laws alor.e are kept moving.
Beaulv nwy bnasl of her ejcs anJ her cheeks,
But' Love from tlie lips his Irue archery wings;
And she, whu hul feathers the dirt when she speaks,
Al once sends il home to the heart when she sings.
Then ?liig — sing — Music was given.
To briglilen the g.iy, and liindle the loving ;
Souls here, like planets in Heaven,
By harmony's laws alone are kept moving,
VVIien Love, rock'd by his mother.
Lay sleeping; as cilm as slumber could make him,
"Hush, hush." said Venus, "no other
*' S.veet voice bul his oi\n is worthy (o wake Dim.'
Dreaming of music he slumber'd Ihe while,
Till faint from hi- lip a solt melody broke,
And Venus, enchanted, look'd on with a smile,
While Love lo his own s" eet singing awoke.
Then sing — sing — Music was given.
To brighten the gay, and kindle the loving;
Soiih here, like planets in Heaven,
By harmony's laws alone are kept moving.
THOUGH HUMBLE THE BANQUET.
Though humble the banquet to which I invite Ihee,
Thou 'It find there the best a poor bard can com-
mand ;
Eyes, helming with welcome, shall throng round, to
light Ihee,
And Love serve the feast with his own willing hatjd.
And though Fortune may seem to have turn'd from
the dwelling
Of him thou regardest her favouring ray,
Thou wilt find there a gift, all her treasures excelling,
Which, proudly he feels, hath ennobled his way.
'Tis that freedom of mind, which no vulgar dominion
Can turn from the path a pure conscience apptoies ;
Which, wilh hope in the heart, and no chain on the
pinion,
Holds upwards its course to the light which it loves.
'T is this makes the pride of his humble retreat,
And, with this, though of all other lieasures be-
reaved.
The breeze of his garden to him is more sweet
Than the costliest incense that Pomp e'er j eceiv'd.
Then, come,— if a hoard so untempting hath power
To win thee from grandeur, its best shall be thine;
And there's one, long the light of Ihe bard's happy
bower.
Who, smiling, will blend her bright welcome with
SING, SWEET HARP,
Sing, sweet Harp, oh sing to nie
Some song of ancient thays,
Whiise 8'iundi. in this sad memory,
Long buried dieanis shall laise ;—
Some lay that tells of vanish'd fame.
Whose light once round us shone;
Of noble pride, now turn'd lo shame,
And hopes for ever g"ne, —
Sing, sad Haip, thus sing to me;
Alike ourd-om is cast.
Both lost to all but memory,
We live but in Ihe pas'.
Howmnurnfullv Ihe midnight »ir
Among thy chords doth sigh.
As if it sought some eciio there
Of voices lung gone by ;_
or Chief airs, iiow fnri^nt, who seem'd
The foremost then in fame;
Of hards who, once immortal deem'd.
Now sleep without a name.—
In vain, sad Harp, ihe midnight air
Among thy chords do'h sish ;
In vain it sefks an echo there
Of voices long gone by.
Could'st thou but call those spirits rounil.
Who once, in bower and hall,
Sate listening to thy magic sound,
Now mule and mouldering all; —
But, no; they would but wake to weep
Their children's slavery ;
Then leave them in their dreamless sleep.
The dead, al least, are free ! —
Hush, hush, sad Harp, that dreary tone.
That knell of Freedom's day ;
Or, listening lo its death-like moan,
Let me, too, die away.
SONG OF THE BATTLE EVE.
TIME — THE NINTH CENTURY.
To-morrow, comrade, we
On Ihe battle-plain nmst be,
Theie to conquer, or both lie low!
The morning star is up.—
But there 's wine still in the cup,
And we 'II take another quail', ere we go, boy rt
We 'II take another quaff, ere we go.
*T is true, in manliest eyes
A passing tear will rise.
When we think of the friends we leave lone :
But what can wailing do?
See, our goblet 's weeping too I
With its tears we '11 chase away our own, boy ctt
With its tears we'll chase away our own.
But diylisht's stealing on ; —
The la-t that o'er ns shone
Saw our children around us play,
The next— ah ! where shall we
And those rosy urchin^ he?
But — no matter — gra^p thy sword and away, boy
away ;
No matter — grasp thy sword and away I
Let those, who brook the chain
Of Saxon or of Dane,
Ignobly by their fire-sides stay;
One sigh to home be given.
One heartfelt prayer to heaven.
Then, for Erin and her cause, boy, hurra I hurrs!
hurr« !
Then, for Erin and her cause, hurra!
THE WANDERING BARD.
What life like that of the bard can be,—
The wandering tiard, who roams as free
As 'he mountain !aik that o'er him sings,
And, like that lark, a music brings
Wiihin him, where'er he comes or goes —
A fount that for ever Hows !
The world 's to him like some plav-grouiid.
Where fairies dance their moonlithrri.und J-
If dimm'd the turf ivhere late Ihey tiod.
The elves but seek some greener sod ;
So, when less bright bis scene of glee.
To another away flies he !
IRISH MELODIES.
IT
Cl\, what would have been young Beauty's doom,
Wiihou' a bard to fix tier bloom ?
They lell u>, in 'he ntoon's biight round,
Tilings lost in ihisiitik world are found;
Su cbaiiiis, rui ea'th loii^ (lasii'd and gone,
In tlie p>.el's lav live on —
Would ye have sniiies that ne'er grow dim ?
Ynu 've only to give them all ti» him,
Who, with but a touch of Fancy's wand,
Can lend Iht-ni life, this life beyond,
And fix Ihein hi^h, in Poesy's sky,—
Young siars thai never die !'
Then, welcome the bard wf.ere'er he comes,—
For, tlinugh he hath couiilless airy homes,
To whicii his wing excursive roves,
Vet still, fr'ui time to lime, he loves
To light upon earih and fitid such cheer
As brightens our banquet here.
No matter how far, linw tket he flies.
You 've only to light up kiud young eyes,
Such signal fires as here are ^iven,—
And down he 'II drop from Fancy's heaven,
The minute such call to love or mirth
Proclaims be 's wanting ou earth 1
ALONE IN CROWDS TO WANDER ON.
Alone in crowds to wander on.
And feel that all the ch.irm is gone
Which voices dear and eyes beloved
Shed round us once, where'er we roved —
This, this the doom must be
Of all who've loved, and lived to see
The few bright things they thought would stay
For ever near them, die away.
Tho* fairer forms around us throng,
Their smile. 1o ollies all belong.
And want that chami which dwells alone
Round those the fond heart calls its own.
Where, where the sunny brow ?
The long-known voice — where are thev now?
Thu9 ask I still, nor ask in vam.
The silence answers all too plain.
Oh, what is Fancy's magic worth,
If all htr art cmnot call forth
Or.e blis5 like thise we felt of old
Fiom lips now nmte, and eyes now cold ?
No
ell i
As soon could she bring back again
Those eyes themselves from out the grave,
As wake again one bliss they gave.
I'VE A SECRET TO TELL THEE.
1 've a secret to tell thee, but hush ! not here, —
Oh ! not where the world its vigil keeps :
I 'II seek, to whisper it in thine ear.
Some shore where the Spirit of Silence sleeps;
Where summer's wave unmurmuring dies,
Nor fay can hear the fountain's gu>li ;
Where, if but a ir-te her night-bird sighs,
Tiie rose saith, chidingly, *' Hush, sweet, hush !
! Theie, amid the deep silence of that hour,
! When siars can be heard in ocem dip,
I Thyself shill, under some rosy bower,
I Sit mute, wiih thy finger on thy lip;
. Like hint, ttie boy,i \\h< born among
j The floweis that on the Nile-stream blush,
I Sits ever thus, — liis only song
I To earth and heaven, " H ush , all, hush I ^*
The
SONG OF INNISFAIL.
; fr( m a land beyond the sea,
' 'the
And I
Set sail, in their good ships, gallantly.
From the sunny land of Spain.
•'Oh, Where's the Isle we've seen in dreams,
" Our desin'd home or grave ? ' »
Thu^ sung the> as, by the morning's beams,
They Btvept the Atlantic wave.
And, lo, where afar o'er ocean shines
A spaikle of radiant green.
As though in that deep l.iv emerald mines,
Whose light thio' the wave w;»s seen.
•' 'T is lunisTail 2 _ 't is Iniiisfail !'»
Rings o'er ihe echoing sea ;
While, bending m heav'n, the warriors hail
That borne of the brave and free.
Then turn'd thev unto Ihe Eastern wave,
Where now their Day-God's eye
A look of such sunny omen gave
As lishled up sea and sky.
Nor frown was seen through sky or sea.
Nor tear o'er leaf or sod.
When first on their Isle of Destiny
Our great forefathers trod.
THE NIGHT DANCE.
Strike the gay harp I see the moon is on high.
And, as true lo her beam as the tides of (he ocean,
Young hearts, "hen (hey feel the soft light ot litrcye,
Obey the mute call, and heave into motion,
Then, sound notes — the gayest, the lightest.
That ever took wing, when heiv'n look'd brightest !
Again ! Again !
Oh ! could such heart-siitring music be heard
In that City of Sta'ues desciib'd bv lomancers,
So w.kenine its spell, even stone would be stirr'd,
And statues themselves all start into dancers!
Why then delay, with such sounds in opr ears,
And the flower of Beauty's own garden before ug,—
While st.irs overhead leave the song of their spheres,
And li-.i'niMg to ours, hang wondering o'er us ?
Again, that strain !— to he-ir jl thus sounding
Alight set even Death's cold pulses bounding —
Again I A^ain !
Oh, what delight when the youthful and gay.
Each with eye like a sunbeam and foot like a fea-
ther,
Thus dance, like the Hours to the music of May,
And mingle sweet song and sunshine together 1
THERE ARE SOUNDS OF MlRTH.
There are sounds of mirth in the night-air ringing,
And lamps from e\ery casement sh"wn ;
While voices blithe within are singing.
That seem to say '* Come." in every tone.
Ah ! once how light, in Life's young season,
My heart had lt*ap'd at that --weet l;iy ;
Nor paus'J to ask of greybenrd Reason
Should I Ihe syren cal'l obey.
^ *' Milesius renienihered Ihe remarkable prediction
of the piiiicipil Druid, who foretold that the po^terity
ofGadelus should obt.in Ihe pnsvession of a Western
Island (which was Ireland), and there inlMbit.'» —
3 The Ishnd of Destiny, one of the ancient naiUM
of Ireland.
178
IRISH MELODIES,
And, see — the lamps sfill livelier glitter,
The syren lips more foodly sound;
No. seek, \e nymphs, some victim liner
To sink' in your rosy bundase bound.
Shall a bard, whom not the world in arms
Could bend to lyraonys rude conlrol,
Thus quail, al sight of woman's cbain.s,
And yield to a smile his frecborn aoul?
Thus suns the sage, while, slyly stealing,
The nymphs iheir feliere around hini cast,
Aud,— their laughing eyes, Ihe while, concealing,-
Led Freedom's Bard iheir slave ai last,
for the Poet's heart, still prone lo lovin?,
Was like that r"Ck of the Uiuid race,'
Which the gentlest touch at once set moving.
But all earth's power couldn't cast fruui i^s base.
OH ! ARRANMORE, LOVED ARRANMORE.
Oh ! Arranmore, loved Arranmore,
How oft 1 dream of thee,
And of those days when, by thy shore,
1 wander'd young and fiee!
Full many a path I 've tried, since then,
Throush pleasure's flowery maze,
But ne'er could tiiid the bliss again
1 felt in those sweet days.
How blithe upon thy breezy cliffs
At sunny nmrii I 've stood.
With heart as tinunding as ihe skiffs
That danced along thy flood ;
Or, when the we-lein wave grew bright
With daylight's parlii g wing.
Have sought tliat Eden in its light
Which dreaming poets sing'i; —
That Eden where th' imniortal brave
IJivell in a land serene,—
■Whiisebow'is bevoiid Ihe shining >vave,
Al sunset, oft ai-e seen.
Ah dream loo full of sadd'ning truth !
The
-the
Are like the hi'|-es 1 built in youth
As sunny and as vain 1
LAY HIS SWORD BV HIS SIDE.
Lay his sword by his side, 2 — it hath served him too
well
Not to rest near his pillow below ;
To the last moment tiue, from bis hand ere it fell,
lis point was still turn'd lo a Hying foe.
Fellow-lab'rers in life, let them slumber in death,
Side by side, as becomes tlie reposing biave,—
That sword which beloved s ill unbroke in its sheath,
And himself unsubdued in his giave.
Yet pause — for, in fancy, a still voice I hear,
As if breathed from Ins brave bean's remains ; —
F.iiiit echo of that which, in Sl.very's ear,
Once sounded Ihe \var-word, *' Burst your chains!"
1 The Ricking Stones of the Druid«, son e of which
no force is able to dislodge from their stations,
2 "The inhabitants of Arranmore are still per.
luaded that, in a cle.r dav, they ran see from tliis
coast Hy linsail or the Enchanted Islmd, tl e Paradise
of the Pagan Irish, and concerning \vhicb thev relate
a number of romaii'ic stories." — JieauforVs AilciciU
Topop-afjhy of Ireland.
2 It was the custom of the ancient Irish, in the man-
ner of the Scythians, to buiy Ihe favourite swords of
their heroes along with them.
And it cries, from the grave where the heio ties deep,
" Tho' the d ly of your Cliieflain for ever hath set,
'* Oh, leave not his swnrd thus inglorious to sleep, —
" It hath victory's life in it yet !
" Shf'uUl some alien, unworthy such weapon to wield,
" Dare to touch lliee, mv oun gallant sword,
•"Tlien rest in ihy >bealh,'like a lalisman seal'd,
" Or re urn to the grave of thy chainless lord.
" But, if gr.isp'd by a hand that hath leain'd the proud
use
" Of a falchion, like thee, on the battle-plain,—
'Then, at Liberty s sui ons. like rglilning let lonse,
'•Leap forth from thy datk sbeatb again I "
OH, COULD WE DO WITH THIS WORLD
OF OURS.
Oh, could we do with this wnrld of ours
As thou dnst with thy garden boi\ets,
Reject the weeds and keep the flowers,
What a heaven on earth we'd make it!
So bright a dwelling should be oui own.
So warran'ed free from sigh or frown.
That angels soon would be coming down.
By the week or month to take it.
Like these gay flies that wing thro' air.
And in themselves a luslie bear,
A slTk of lisht, still ready there.
Whenever Ibey wish lo use il ;
So, in this world I 'd make for ilice,
Our hearts should all like fire-flies be.
And the flash of wit or pnesy
Break forth whenever we choose it.
While ev'ry jny that glads our sphere
Ha'h still some shadow hovering near,
In this new world of ours, mv dear,
Such shadows will all be omitted ; —
Unless they're like that graceful one.
Which, wtien thou 'rt dancing in the SUD,
Still near thee, leaves a charm upon
Each spot where it halh flitted !
THE WINE-CUP IS CIRCLING.
The wine-cup is circling in Almhin's hall,*
And Its Chiet, 'mid his heroes reclining.
Looks up, with a sigh, to ihe tiophied wall,
Where his sword hangs idly shining.
When, balk! that shout
From the vale witlmut,—
" Arm ye quick, the Dane, the Dane is nigh ! "
Ev'ry Chief starts up
Fr i- foaming cup,
And "To baltle, to battle! " is the Finian's cry.
The mins'rels have seized iheir harps of gold.
And thev sing such thrilling iiumbeis,-
>T is like the voice of the Brave, of old,
lire. king forth f nm their place of slumbers!
Spear lo buckler rang,
As the miu'lrels sansr.
And llie Suubiirst s o'er them floated wide;
Whi'e leiiicmb'ring the yoke
Which their fathers broke,
" On for liberty, for liberty !" the Fini ms cried.
* The PaLace of Fin Mac-Cumhal (Ihe Fingal of
Macjiheison) in Leins'er. It was buiH on the top of
the hill, which has retained from Ihenco ibc name of
Ihe Hill of Allen, in the C"unly of Kildaie. The
Finians,orFeiii.. " ere Ihccelebialed Nalionil Mililia
of Ireland, which this Chief commanded. The intro
dnclion of the Danes in the ab.ve song is an ana-
cbronisni common to most of Ihe Fmian aud Ossianic
legends.
fi '1 he name given to the banner of the Irish.
IRISH MELODIES.
173
Like clouds of the night the Northmen came,
O'er the valley of Alnihin lowering ;
White onward moved, in the light of its fame,
Thai bamitrr if Eriti, to\\eriiig.
With ilie miiighiii; shock
Kiiii^ c'.iA' and rockf
While, rank un r.uik, (he invaders die:
And the -hout. thai ta^t
O'er the dyin^ passd,
Wjs *'viclory! "victory 1 "— the Fiuian's cry.
THE DREAM OF THOSE DAYS.
The dream of those days when first I sun:? thee iao'er,
Thy triuinph hath slain'd the charm thy sorrows then
And ev'n of the light which Hope once shed o'er thy
chains,
Alas, not a gleam to grace thy freedom remains.
Say, is it that slavery sunk so deep in ihy heart,
That still the dark brand is there, tho' chainless thou
art;
And Freeilom's sweet fruit, for which thy spirit long
b.irnM,
Now, reaching at last thy Hp, to ashes hath lurn'd ?
Up Liheity*3 s'eep by Truth and Eloquence led,
With eyes on her temple fix'd, how proud w.»8 thy
tread I
Ah, better thou ne'er h^d'st lived that summit to gain.
Or died in the porch, than thus dishuuour the fane.
FROM THIS HOUR THE FLEDGE IS GIVEN.
From this hour the pleda:e is given,
From this h^ur my snul is thine:
Come whit will, fnim earth or heaven,
Weil or woe, thy fa^e be mine.
When the proud and great stood by thee,
None dared ihv rights o spurn ;
And if now ihev'ie faUe nnd fly thee,
Shall I, too, ba-ely tun.?
No ; — whate'er the fires that try thee,
lu the same this heart shall burn.
Tho* the sea, where thnu embaikest,
Otreis now no friendly shore.
Light may come where all looks darkest,
Hope liath life, when life seems o"er.
And. of those past ages dreaming,
When gl irv derk'd ihv brow,
Oft [ fondly tiiiuk. Ihoui^h seeming
Sofall'n and clouded n .iv,
Thou 'It again break fonh, all beiming,—
None so bright, so blest as thou I
SILENCE IS IN OUR FESTAL HALLS.«
Silence is in our festal halls, —
Sxveet Son of Song ! ihy c-urse is o*er;
In vnin on thee sad Eiipi cxlls,
HerniinsTel's v ice responds no more: —
All silent as th' Eohan shell
Steeps at the close of snnie biight day,
When ihe sweet breeze, ihal waked i's swell
At sunny morn, bith died away.
I It is hardly necessary, perhaps, to inform the
reader, th it ihese lines a'e nieant ns a Irihule of sin-
ceie friendship tn the memory of an old and valued
cnlleigue in this work, Sir John Stevenson.
Yet, at our feasts, Ihy spirit long.
Awaked by music's spell, shall risej
For, name so Iink'd with dea'hiess song
PaMake
I char!
And ev'n within the holy fa e.
When music wafts Ihe soul to heaven,
On<.' thought t.. him, whose tarliest stiain
Was echoed there, shall long be given.
But. where is now tlie cheeiful day,
The social night, when, by thy .side,
He, who now weaves this pirtiug lay,
Hjs hkilless voice vMth thme allied;
And sung tho^ songs wh- se ever> tone,
When bard and minsirei lont; have past,
Shall slill, in sweetness all their own,
Embaliii'd by iaiiie, undying last.
Yes, Erin, thine alone the fame,—
Or, if thy bard have shaied the crown,
Fn)m ihee the borrowed glory c^me,
And at Ihy feet is now bid do»u.
Enough, if Freedom still inspire
His latest song, and st>ll Iheie be,
As evening closes round his lyre,
One ray upuu iti chords from thee.
APPENDIX:
CONTAINING
THE ADVERTISEMENTS
Originally prejbcfd to the Diffcrtnt Numlerif
AND THE
PREFATORY LETTER ON IRISH MUSIC,
ADVERTISEMENT PREFIXED TO THE FIRST
AND SECOND NUMBERS.
Power lakes the liberty of announcing to the Public
a Work which has long been a Desideratum in this
countiy. I h"Ugh the Ijeauties of the National Musie
of Ireland have been veiy generally felt and acknow-
ledged, yet it has happened, through the want of ap-
propriate English words, and if the arrangement ne-
cess.iry to adapt them to the voice, tliat mnny of the
most excellent composi'ions havehi'heito leinainedin
obscurity. It is intended. Iherefoie. to f rm a Col-
lection of the best Original Irish Melodies, with cha-
racteristic Symphonies and Acconipaninienis ; nod
wi'h Words containing, as frequently as possible,
allusions to the manners and history of the countiy.
Sir John Ste%ensnn has very kind'y consented to
undertake the arrangement of the Air^ ; and Ihe lovers
of Siniple National music may rest secure, that In such
taslelul hand-, the n.iti^e charms of the original me-
hidy will not be S'Crificed to the ostentation of science.
In the poetical P.^ri. power has had promises of
assistance from several distinguished Li'e'ary Cha>ac*
leis; particulaily from Mr. Moore, whose lyrical
tilent is so peciili:irly suited to such a task..ind whose
zeal in the undertaking \v'-\l he host understood frcra
the followini Extract of a Letter which he has id-
dresse.1 to Sir John Stevenson on the si^bjtci : —
*I feel very anxious rhnt a work of this kind should
be undertaken. We have too Jong neglected the only
talent for which our English neigl'b'Ufs ever deigned , |
to allow us any credit. Our Na'i 'iral Music has
never been properly collected j'i and, v^hile the con>-
^ The writer forgot, when he made this asserti-'n,
that Ihe public are mdehted to Mr. Bunting for a very
valuable C'JIection of Irish Music; and tlKit the pa-
triotic eeniu<i of Miss Owenson has been employetj
upon some of our finest airs.
180
PREFATORY LETTER ON IRISH MUSIC.
posers of the Cnntinent have enriched theirOperas and
Sonatas with Mtlodies borrowed from Irelaiid,— very
often wiihoiit even the liOnesty of acknowledgment,—
we have kit ihtse treasures, in a §reat degree, un-
cla.nied and fusiiive. 'I hus nur Airs, like too many
of our couiitrjiiieii, have, for want of protection at
home, passed into the service of furtifji.ers. But we
are come, I hope, to a heiter [leriod nf both Politics
and Music J and liow much they are conneced, in
Ireland at least, appears too pl.iinly in the tone of
sorrow and depression which chaiac erizes most of our
early Son^.
"The ia-k which you propose to me, of adapting
words to these ai-s, is by no means easy. The Poc,
who would follow the various semimen s which they
express, niust feel and undeistand th.it rapid fluctua-
tion of spirits, that unaccountable mixtuie of gloom
and levity, which cnmpo-es the character of my coun-
trymen, and has deeply tinned their Music. Kven in
their livelit-t strains we tind S''me melancholy note
intrude, — some minor Third or (lat Sevenlh, — which
thiows its shade as it pisses, and makes e\en mirtli
inlereslin^. If Burns had been an iii^hinan (^md 1
Wduld willingly give up all our clainis upurj Ussian for
him), his heart would have been proud of such luusic,
and his genius would liave made it immorial.
"Another difficulty (which is, I owever, purely me-
chanical) arises li^ni the irregular structure of many
of those airs, and the lawless kind of metre which it
will in conseipience be nt-cessary to adaji! to them. In
these instances Wie Poet must wrie, not lo the e\e, but
to the ear ; and must be cntent to have his verses of
thai description which Ciceio mentinns, ' Qucssicantu
spolinvcris nuda reniait.lit oratw.^ 'I hal tieauilul
Air, 'TheTwisfingoniie Rope,' wh.ch has all the
romantic character of the Swiss Ranz des loaches, is
one of those wild and sentimen'al pokes which it will
not be very easy to lie dnwn in sober wedlock with
Poetry. However, notwihs anding all these difficul-
ties, and the very modeiate poition of talent which I
can bring to surmount ihem, the design appeals to me
80 truly National, that I shall feel much pleasure in
giving it ail the assistance in my power.
*' Leicestershire, Ftb. 1S07."
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD NUMBER.
In presenting the Third Number of this work to the
Public. Power tjegs leave h. ntft-r his ncknowleds-
ments for the very libeial patronage wi'h which it lias
been honoured ; ai d to expie^s a hope that the una-
bated zeal of those who have Inthertn s'> admirably
conducted it, will enable him to continue it thiough
many future Numbers with equal spirit, variety, and
t»ste. The siock of popular Melodies is far from
being exhausted ; and (here is stil! in reserve an abun-
dance of beautiful Airs, which call upon Mr. Moore,
in the language lie so well understand--, to save them
from the oblivion to which tliey are hastening.
Power respectfully trus's he will not be thought
Eresumptuous in saying, that he fiels proud, as an
rishman, in even the very suboidina'e share "hich
he can claim, in promn jng a Woik so creditable lo
the talents of the Count ly,— a Work which, from the
spirit of nationality it b eathes, will do more, he t^
C'tnvinced. towaids liberalizing the feelings of society,
and producing thai biolhcrhood of sentiment which it
) is sn much our interest to cheri>Ii. than could ever be
effected by the mere arguments of well-inteiitioned but
uninteresting politicians.
in general, I have much pleasure in selecting onefrom
thai number, to whom rny share of the Work is par-
ticulaily dedicated. 1 know that, though your Lady-
ship lias been so long alisent fmm Ireland, >ou still
continue to remen.btr it well and warmlv,— that you
have not sufl'ered the altrattions of Engliah society to
produce, like the taste of the lotus, any forgeifulness
f your own cnuiitrv, but that even the humble tribute
vhich ! otlerdeiives its chief claim upon your inte-
rest and sympathy from the appeal which it niakes lo
• patriotism. Indeed, absence, lioweier fatal to
; atlectiuns of (he heart, rather tends to strengthen
our love for the land wliere we weie born; and Ire-
aiid is the country, of all othei^, wh ch an exile from
t must remember wi'h most enihusiasm. Those few
darker and less amiable traits with w bich bigoiry aud
misrule have stained her character, and which are too
apt to disgust us upon a rit-aifr in'e'cnirse, btcome at
a dislaiice s^-fientd, or aitog. ther invisible. Nothing
is renieuibered but Itei virtues and her misfortunes,—
the zeal with which she his always loved liLer'y, and
the barbarous policy which has aluays withheld it
from her, — the ease with which her generous spirit
might be conciliated, and the cruel iigei.u.ly which
has been exerted to *• wring her mtn unduiiiuli.ehs '''
It has been often rt-m.rktd. and s'lll ofeitr fell,
thai in nur music is found the truest v( all comments
upon our history. The tone ol deliance, succeeded by
the linguor of despondency,— a bust of turbulence
dying away into snftness, — the sorrows cf one moment
lust ID the levity of the nex',— ai:d all that romantic
uiixtu e of mirh and -adness wh;ch is naturally pro-
djiced by the eiJoits of a lively temperament to shake
off, r,r forget, the wrongs which lie upon it. Such are
the features of our Ins ory and character, which we
find strongly and f.iiibfully reflected in our music ; and
there are even many airs, wliich it is difficult to
li^ten to, wi'hout recalling some period or event to
which their expression seems applicable. Sometimes,
for instance, when the strain is open and spirited, yet
here and there shaded by a mournful lecolleclion, we
can fancy that we behold the brave allies of Mon-
tro•^e,^ muching to the aid of the royal cause, notwith-
standing all the petfidy of Charles ar d his ministers,
ai d remenibering just enough of pa?t suH'erings to en-
hance ttie genernsify of their present sacrifice. The
plaintive melodies i)f Carolan take us back to the
limes in whicli he lived, when our pour countrymen
were driven to worship their God in cavefs, or to quit
lor ever the land of iheir birth,— like the bird that
abandons the ne^t which human touch Ik-s violated, lu
many of these mournful songs we seem to hear the
last farewell of the exile,3 mingling regret for the ties
LETTER TO THE MARCHIONESS DOWAGER
OF DONEGAL,
PREFIXED TO THE THIRD NUMBER.
While the publisher of these Melodies very properly
inscribes them to (he Nobility and Gentry ut Ireland
1 A phrase which occurs in a Letter from the Earl
of Desmond lo the Earl of Ormond. in Elizabeth's
time. — Scrinia Sacra, as quoted by Curty.
a There are some gratifying accounts of the gallan-
try of these Irish auxiliaries in '-The complete His-
tory of the Wars in Scotland under Montrose" (It»60).
See particularly, for the conduct of an Irishman at the
battle of Abeidten. chap. vi. p. 49 ; and for a ri jhiite
to the bravery of Colonel O'Kyaii, chap. vii. 55.
Clarendon owns that the Ma.quis of Montrose was
indebted for much of his miraculous success lo ihe
small band of Irish heroes undef Macdounell.
3 The associations of the Hindu music, though more
obvious and defined, uere far less toiictiiiig and cha-
racteristic. They divided their songs according to ihe
seasons of the year, by which (says Sir William June-)
*• Ihey were able to recall the memory of autumnal
inerrimeiit. at the close of the htrvesi. or of separation
and melancholy duiing the cold months,*' &c.— ^Wa-
tic Transactions, vol. iii. on the Musical Modes of ilie
Hindus.— Wliat the Abbe du Bos says of the sym| ho-
niesof Luily, may be assented, with much more pio-
b;*bility, of ourbbid aud impassioned airs: — "Ellea
auroiettt produit de ces etl'ets. qui nous paroisaent f^bu
leux dans le recit des ancieus, si on les avcil hit euten-
PREFATORY LETTER ON IRISH MUSIC.
181
which he leaves at home, wiih sanguine hopes of ihe
high honours tiia' .iwail hioi nbroail,— such honours as
weie vvun on he field of fontenoy, where the valour
of Irish ( alh'lics turntd the fonune of the day, and
extorted (i-jui Genixe the Second that memorable
clain.tiinn, •' Cutst-d be the lawa which deprive w
such subjects!*'
T1k)U!;Ii much has been said of the antiquity of our
iTiusic, it is certain that our lineat and most popular
airs are modern ; and perhaps we may look no further
than the la t disffraceful century for (he origin of moat
of these wild and iiiehncholy strains, which were at
once the ottspring and ^niact' of grief, and were ap-
plred (o the miod as mu^ic was furmerly to Ihe b'dy,
*• decantare Inca duleulra." Mr. Pinktrton is of opin-
ion 1 (hat none of ihe Scotch popular airs are as old
as the middle of llie sixteentli century j and thout^h
musical antiqnaiies refer us. for sume df < ur melo-
dies, to so early a period as the fifh century, 1 am
persuaaed that there are few, cf a civiliztd descrip-
tion, (and by this I mean to exclude all the sava£;e
Ceanaiia, Criea,^ &c.) which c:in claim quite so an-
cient a date as Mr. Finkerton allows to the Scotch,
ilul music is not the ouly subject upnn which our
taste for antiquity has been rather ui reasonably in-
dulged; and, however heretical it may be to dissent
froni these nimantic Bpeculations, I cannot help think-
ing that it is possible to love our country very zeal-
ously, and to feel deeply interested in her honour and
happiness, wiihiiui believing that Irish was ihe lan-
guage spoken in Paradise; 3 that our ancestors were
kind enough to take the trouble of polishing the
Greeks,* or that Abaris, the Hyperborean, was a
native of the North of Ireland. 6
By some of these zealous antiquarians it has been
imagined that the Irish were early acquainted v^ ith
counter-point ; 6 and they endeavour to support this
conjecture by a well-known passage in Giraldus,
where he dilates, with such elaborate praise, upon the
beauties of our national minstrelsy. But the terms
of this eulogy are much too vague, loo deficient in
technical accuracj^, to prove that even Giraldus him-
self knew any Ihmg of the artifice of counter-point.
There are many expre-sion- in the Greek and Latin
writers \vhich niight be cited, wi'h much more plau-
sibility, to prove that they nnderslood the arrange-
ment of music in parts ;i and it is in general now
dre a des hommes d'un naturel aussi vif que les Aihe-
njens."— Rcfiex. sur la Pcmttire, &c. tom. i. sect. 45.
1 Dissertation, prefixed to the 2d volume of his
Scottish Ballads.
» Of which some genuine specimens may be found
at the end of Mr. Walker's Wurk upon the Irish baids.
Mr. IJuntiiig has di^fii^ured hi-s last splendid volume
by too many of these barbarous ihapsodies.
3 See Advertisement to the Transactions of the
Gaelic Society of Dublin.
4 O'Hailoran, vol. i. part iv. chap. vii.
s Id. ib. chap. vi.
6 It is also supposed, but wilh as little proof, that
they understood the diesis, or enharmonic interval. —
The Greeks seem to have formed their ears to this
delicate gradation of s'>und ; and, whatever diflicul-
ties or objections may lie in the way of its practical
use, we must agree with Rleisenne, (Preludes de
PHarmonie, quest. 7.) that the t'teory of Music would
he imperfect withoi.t it. Even in practice, loo, as
Tosi, among others, very justly remarks, (Observa-
tions OD Florid Song, chap, i. sect- 16,) there is no
good perfiirmer on the vi- hn who d es not make a
sensible difference between D sharp and E Hal. though.
from the imperfection of the iristrumeuf, they are ihe
sanie notes upon the piaiio-forle. Theefftcl of nmdu-
laiion Dy enharmonic transitions is also very striking
and beautiful.
1 The words noiKiXia and tTEpo^tovia, in a pasra^e
of Plato, and some expressions cf (Jicero in Fngment,
lib. ii. de Republ., mduced the Abbe Fiaguier to
_ __
conceded, 1 believe, by Ihe learned, that, howi
grand and pathetic tiie melody of the ancients may
t,a\e been, it was reserved for Ihe ingenuity of
modern Science to transmit the "light of Song"'
thiougli the v.iriegaling piism of Harmimy.
Indeed, the irre^iular scale of tlie early Iri-h (in
which, as in the music of Scotland, the inteiva' '
the f.,urth %>as wannngS) must have furnished but
wild and refiactory subjects 'o the harmnni-t. It wa
only when the invention of Gtndo began to be known,
and the po" ers of the harp 9 were enlarged b^ nd
ditional airings, that our airs can be supposed lo'have
assumed the sweet cliaracter which interests u.
present ; and while Ihe Scotch persevered in the old
mutilation of the scale, '0 our music became ly de-
grees more amenable to the laws of harmony and
C"Uiiter-poiiit.
While profiing, however, by Ihe improvements of
Ihe moderns, our siye still keeps ils original charac ■
maintain that the ancients had a knowledge of coun-
ter-point. RI. Burette, however, has answered him,
I think, satisfactorily. (Examen d'un Passage de
f laion, in Ihe 3d vol, of Fii-toiie de I'Acad.) iM. Huel
is of opinion (Pensees Diverses), thai what Cicero
>ays of the music of the fpheics, in his dream of
Scijiio, is sufficient to prove an acquaintance with
haritiony ; but one of the strongest passages, which 1
rec"llcct, in lavour of ihis supposi ion, occurs in Ihe
'Irtaiise (Dtpi Koo-^ov; attributed to Aristotle —
Mova-^KTjic o|£is ifia xoi /Sapiif, k. t. X.
8 An ther lawless peculiarity of our music is the
frequent occurrence of, what composers call, conse-
cutive fifths; but ihis, I must say, is an irregularity
which can haidly be avoided by jiersnns not convers-
ant with all the rules of composition. If I may ven-
ture, indeed, to cile my own wild attempts in Ihis
way. It is a fault which I find myself continually com-
mitting, and which has even, at times, appeared so
pleasing lo my ear, that I have suriendered it to the
critic w ilh no sm ill reluciancf May there not be a
little pedantiy in adhering too rigidly to this rule ? —
1 have been told ihat there are instances in Haydn, of
an undisguised succession of fifths; and Mr. Shield,
in his Introduction to Harmony, seems to iulimaie
that H indel has been sometimes guilty of the saiiie
irregularity,
s A singular oversight occurs in an Essay upon Ihe
Irish Harp, by Mr. Beauford, which is iiiserled in the
Appendix o Walker's Historic il Memoirs : — " The
Irish (says he) accoiding to Biomlon. in the reign of
Heiiiy II , had two kinds of Harps. ' Hibernici lanien
in duobus music! generis instriinifciilis, quanivis prie-
cipitem el velocem, suavem tameu et jucuiidum : the
one greaily hold and quick, the other suit and pleas-
ing.'—How a man of Mr. Beaufoid's learning could
so mistake the meaning, and mutila'e the grammali-
cal construction of ihis extract, is unaccountable.
'Ihe following is the passage as 1 find it entile in
Bromtou; and it requires but linle Latin to perceive
the injustice which lias been done lo the words of the
old Chronicler: — -'Jit cum Sc lia, hujus lerrae filia,
uialur lyra, tympario et choro, ac Wallia citliara,
• ubis et choro Hibernici tanien in duobus musici
generis ins ruuienXis, quamvis jirscipitejn etvdoa:m,
suavem tamen et jticundam, cri^pitis modulis et
inlricatis nntulis, cfficiunl Anrt/uuiiani."— Hist.
Anglic. Script page 1075. 1 should not have thought
Ihis error worth lemarking, but that the compiler of
the Dissertalion on the Harp, prefixed to Mr. Bunt-
ing's last Work, has adopted it implicitly.
"> The Scotch lay claim to some of our best airs, but
there are strong tiails of difl'erence between ihcir
melodies and ours. They had formerly the same
passion for robbing us of oui Saints and llie learned
Dempster was f.T this oflence called "The Saint
Stealer." It musi have been some Iri>hm>n, 1 sup-
pose, who, by way of reprisal, stole Deni|ister'a
beiutiful wife from him at Pis t.— See this anecdote in
Ihe Pinacolhica of Erythnus, part i. page 3h,
1«2 PREFATORY LETTER ON IRISH MUSIC.
ler sacred from llieir refinements; and though Caro- borrow an image of St. Augustin '), from which the
}h.n, it appears, had fienueni npporiunities of hearing wine of error might be adniinislered. To those who
the works of Geniiniiiil and oilier great masters, we ideulify naliorialiiy with Irea-on, and who see, in
but rarely hnd him siiciificing his nalive siniplicily to ] every ett'orl for Ireland, a system of hos ility towards
any ambition of tlieir otnamenls, or alfeciation of j Englai.d,— lo those, too, who, nursed in the gloom of
their science. In that curious cmiposition, indeed, ] prejudice, are alarmed by t)ie f.intest gleam of libe-
called his Concerto, it is evident that he laboured to j raliiy that threatens lo disturb Iheii d..rkness,— like
imitate Corelli ; and this union of manners, so very : thai Deniophon of old, who, when the sun sboae upon
„_, , kind of uneasy sen^a- ! him, shivered,' — to such men I shjil not ctindescend
tion which is fell at a n.ixture of ditfeient styles of i to oBei an apology for the too gieat warmth of any
architecture. In eeneral, however, the artless flow ! political seutimeiil which may occur in the course of
of our music his pie>erved il-elf free from all tinge : these pages. But as there are mam, among the more
of foreign innova'ion ; « and ihe chief corruptions of , wise aud tolerant, who, with feeliig enough to mourn
which we have to complain arise from ilie unskilful , over tlie wrongs of their ci.untry, and sense enough to
performance of our own itinerant musicians, from ' perceive all the danger of noi redressing Ihem, may
whom, too frequently, the aiis are noted down, encum- i yel be of opinion that allusions, in the least degree in-
beied by their tas'eless dec .rations, and les, onsible , flainmatory. should be avoided in a publication of this
for all their ignorant anomalies. Though it be some- ! popular descripiiou— I beg of these respecled persons
times impossible to trace ihe original sriain. yet, in to believe, thai tliere Is no one who more smceiely
most of them, "aun per ram, is aiaa refulget,"* the deprecates than I do, any apjieal to the passions of an
pure gold of ^he melody shines through the ungiace- j isnoraiit and angry multitude; but that it is not
ful foliage which surrounds it,- and ihe most delicate | through that gross and inflammable region of society,
and difficult duty of a compiler is to endeavour, by a work of ihis nature coulj ever have been intended
ie:renchingthese inelegant sujierlluities, and collating to circulate. It loots much higher lor its audience
the various methods of playing or -inging each air, to and leadeis,— it is found upon the piano-fortes of the
restore the resutarily of its foini, and the chaste sun- rich and the educated,— of tliose who can ati'oid to
plicity of its character. have their national zeal a little stimulated, without
1 must again observe, th.it in doubting the antiquity exci'ing much dread of the excesses into » hich it may
of our music, my scepiicism extends but to Ihose po- hurry them ; and of many whose nerves may be, now
lished specimens of the ait, which it Is difficult to and then, alarmed with advantage as much more is lo
coiiceiveanterii>r lot he dawn of modern improvement; ' be gained by their fears, than could ever be expected
and that I would liy no means invalidate 'he claims ^ fioni their justice.
of Ireland lo as early a rank in the annals of min- Having thus adverted to the principal objection,
Btrelsy, as the nios' zealous antiquary may be inclined which has been hitherto made to the p* etical part of
lo allow her. In addition, indeed, to the power which this work, allow me to add a few woids in defence of
music must always have possessed over the minds of my ingenious coadjutor. Sir John Stevenson, who has
a people so ardent and susceptible, the stimulus of , been accused of having spoiled the simplicity of Ihe
persecution was not wanting to quicken our taste into ] airs by Ihe chromatic richness of his symphonies, and
enthusiasm; the cliarms i f s mg were ennoblel with the elaborate variety of his harmonies. We might
Ihe glories of martvrdom, and the acts agiinst mm- cite the e>aiiiple of the admirable Haydn, who has
strels, in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, were sp ried thiough all the n.azes of musical science, in
as successful, I doulit not, in making my c,iuntr\men ] his arrangemeni of the simplest Scottish melodies; but
musicians, as the penal laws have been in keeping I it appears lo me, that Sir John Stevenson has brought
them Catholics. I to this task an innate and national feeling, which it
With respect to the verses which I have written for | would be vain lo expect from a foreigner, however
these Melodies, as (hey are intended rather to be sung tasteful or judiciius. Through many of his own com-
than read. I can answer for Iheir sound with soniewhat ' positions we trace a vein of Irish sentiment, which
more confidence than for their sense. Yet it would be i points him out as peculiarly suited to catch the spirit
affectation to deny that I have given much atleniioii to I of his country's music ; and, far from agreeing with
Ihe task, and that it is not through any want of zeal those fastidious ci it.cs who think that his symphonies
or industry, if I unf rtunately disgrace the sweet airs ' have noiliing kindied wiih the airs which they inlro-
of my cou'ntiy, by poelry altogether unworthy of their duce, I would say that, on Ihe contrary, they resenible,
laste, Iheirenerey, and their lei. derness. in general, those illuminated initials of old nianu-
Thoiigh the humble, nature of my contributions lo scripts, which are of the same character with Ihe
Ihii work may exempt' them from Ihe rigours of liie- writing which follows, though moie highly coloured
rary criticism, it was not to be expected that those and more curiously ornamented,
touches of political feeling, those tones of national In those airs, which he has arranged for voices, his
complaint, in which the poelry sometimes sympa- skill has particulatly distinguished itself, and, though
thizes with the music, would be sullered to pass with- it cannot be denied that a single melody most nalu-
out censure or alarm. It has been accordingly said, rally expresses the language otfeeling and passion, yet
that Ihe tendency of this publication is mischievous, tJ ] often, w hen a favourite strain has been dismissed, as
nd that I have chosen tti
dangerous politics, — as fair and precious vessels (to
1 Among other false refinements of the art, our
music (With the exception perhaps of the air called
'•Mamma. Mamma.' and one or two more of the
same ludicrous description,) has avoided that puerile
mimicry of natural noises, mo inns, &c. which d,s-
graces so often the works of even Handel himself.
U'Alembert ought to have had better taste than lo
become the patron of Ihis imitative affectation,— i)i.!-
cours Pretitninaire de V Encydopetlie The reader
may find some good remarks on the subject in Avison
upon Musical Expression; a work which, though
under Ihe name of Avison, was written, it is said, by
Dr. Brown.
» Virgil, ^neid, lib. vi. verse 204.
* See Letters. undT Ihe signatures of Tinraeus, &c.
in he Muming Post, Pilot, and other papers.
charm of novelty for the ear, it retu
in a haimonized shape, with new claims on our inte-
rest and attention; and to those who study the deli-
cate artifjcea of conip'sitinn. the construction of the
inner parts of these piece, must atTord, 1 think, con-
siderable satisfaction. Every vo ce has an air to itself,
a flowing succe-sion of notes, which might be heard
with pleasure, independently of the rest ;— so artfully
has the harmonist (if I may thus express il) gavelied
the melody, distributing an equal portion of its sweet-
ness to every part.
If your Ladyship's love of Music >Tcro not well
* " j»jon accuso verba, quasi vasa electa atqiie pre-
tiosa ; sed vinum erroris quod cum eis nobis propina-
lur." — Lib. i. Confess, cliap. xvi.
6 This emblem of niodern bigots was head-butler
(Tijairt^on-oio;) to Alexander the Great. — Sell.
Empir. Pyi-rk. Hypoth. Lib, i.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
183
known to nie, I shnnld not have hazarded so long a
let'er upon the subject : but as, | robably, 1 may have
presumed too far upon your partiality, the best revenue
you nnw can lake is to write me just as long a letter
upon Painlin* ; and I promise to allend to your theory
of the art, with a plea>ure only surpassed by thil
which 1 li.u'e so often deriped from your practice of
it.— May the mind which "^uch talents adorn, continue
calm as il is brighr, and happy as it is \iriuousI
Believe me, your Ladyship's
Grateful Friend and Servant,
THOMAS MOORE.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FOURTH
NUMBER.
This Number of the Melodies ought to have ap-
peared much earlier J and ihe writer of the words is
ashamed lo cnnfess, that the delay of its publication
must be impu'ed chiefly, if not entirely, to him. He
finds it necessary to make this avowal, not only for
the purpose of removingall blame froin the Publisher,
but in consequence of a runinr, which has been cir-
culated industriously in Dublin thai the Irish Gnvern-
meiit had lulerfered to prevent the continuance uf the
Work.
This would be. indeed, a revival of Henry Ihe
Eiglith's enactments against Minstrels. And ii is fla'ter-
ing lo find Ih^t ^o much importaiice is attached to our
compilaion, even by such persons as the inven'ors of
the report. Bi>hop Lowth, it is true, was of opinion,
that 07Je fiong. like the Hymn to Harmodius, would
have done more 'ow nds r.-usms the spirit f.f Ihe Ro-
mans, than nit the Philippics of Cicero. But we live
in wiser i\nd less musical times; ballads have long
lost their revolutionary powers, and we question if
even a '* LillibuHem"' wjuld produce any veiy jcnouJ
consequences al present. It is needless, therefore, lo
add, thai there is i o truth in the report j and we trust
that whatever belief It obtained was fnunded mce
upon the character of the Gouirnmcjit ihan of the
Work.
The Airs nf ihe last Number, though fnll of origi-
nality and bein'y, were, in general, [lerhaps, too
cnriitusly selected to become all at once as popular as,
we Ihink, they deserve to be. The public are apt to
IfC reserved towards new acquaint-incea in music, and
this, perhaps, is one of Ihe rea-ons why many modern
composers introduce none but old friends lo their no-
lice. It is, indeed, natural that persons, who love
music onlv by assnciaiion, should be somewhat slow
in feeling the charms of a new and stranee melody ;
while Iho-e. on the other hand, who have a quick
sensibility fnr this enclianting art. will as natuiallv
set'k and enjny novelty, because in every variety of
s'rain they find a fresh cunibination of ideas ; and the
sound has scarcely reached the ear, before the heart
has as ra|iidly rendered it into imagery and sentiment.
Alter all, huwevtr, It cannot be denied ihit Ihe most
popular of our National Airs are also Ihe most beauti-
ful ; and it has been our wish, in the pre-ent Num-
ber, lo select fjom those Melodies only which have
long been lisened to and admired. The le^st known
in the colleclioni^the Airof ^'Love's Young Dream ;^^
but it will be found, 1 think, one of those easy and
artless strangers whose merit Ihe heait instantly ac-
knowledges. T. M.
Sury Street, St. Jameses, Ncv. ISII,
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH NUMBER.
It is but fair (o those, who take an interest in thia
Wnrk, to stale lha( it is now veiy near its termination,
and that the Six h Number, which shall speedily 3).-
ptar, will, most probably, be the last of Ihe series.
Three volumes will then have been completed, ac-
cording to the original |)Ian, and ihe Proprietors desiro
me to say that a List of Sub-cribers will be publishtti
wilh Ihe cnncluding Number.
It is not so much, i must add, from a want of
materials, and sill les' from any abatement of zeal or
industry, ttiat we have adopted the reanluiionof bring-
ing our task to a ricse; but we feel so proud, still
more for our country's sake than our own, of the
general interest ivhich this purely Irish Work has
excited, and so anxious lest a particle of that interest
should be lost by too long a protraction of Its exist-
ence, that we think it wiser to take away the cup
from the lip, while lis llavour is yet, we trust, fresh
and aweet, than to lisk any further trial of the charm,
Or give so much as no! to leave some wish for more.
In speaking thus, I allude entirely lo Ihe Airs, which
are. of course, Ihe main aitrac lon of these Volumes;
and ihough we hive still a great many popular and
delightful Melodies lo produce,* it cannot be denied
that we should soon experience considerable diffcully
in equalling the richness and novehy of the earlier
numbers, for which, as we had the choice of all before
U-, we naturally selected only the most rare and beau-
tiful. The P> etry. tot), would be sure to synii)a(hise
with the decline of Ihe Music; and, however feebly
my words have kepi pace «ith the excellence of the
Airs, they would follow Iheir /a/img- off: I fear, wilh
wonderlul alacrity. Both pnde ai.d prudence, there-
fore, counsel us to come to a close, while yet our
Work is, we believe, flourishing and attractive, and
thus, in the imperial attitude, ^* stantes niori," before
we incur the cliarge either of altering for Ihe worse,
or what is equally unpardonable, conlinuing loo long
Ihe s.inie.
We beg to say, however, that it is only in the event
of our failing to find Airs .is gnod a-; most of those wc
have given, 'hat we mean thus to anticipaie the natural
period of dissolution (like those Indians who when
their relatives beconie worn out, put them to dealh) ;
and ihey wlio a: c desirous of retarding this Euthana-
sia if the Irish Melodies, cannot better effect their
wish than by contributing in our collection,— not what
are called curious Airs, for we h^ve abundance of
such, and Ihey are in general, only curious,— but any
real sweet and expressive Songs of our Country,
which either chance or research may have brought
into their hands. T. M.
Mayjicld Cottage^ Ashbourne^ VecemUrj 1S13.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SIXTH NUMBER.
In presenting this Sixth Number to Ihe Public as
our last, and bidding adieu to Ihe Irish Harp for ever,
we shall not answer very confidently for the strength
of nur resolution, nor feel quite sure that it may not
turn out to be one of those eternal farewells which a
lover takes occasionally of his mistress, merely to
enhance, perhaps, the pleasure nf their next meeting,
(lur only motive, indeed, for discontinuing Ihe Work
was a fcrthal our Ireisures weie nearly exh.iusted,
arid a n 'lural unwillii gness to descend to the gather-
ing of mere seed-|iearl, after the really prec'wjs gems
it has been our lot to string together. The announce-
ment, however, of this intention, in our Fifth Num-
ber, has excited a deg-ee of anxteiy in the loveisof
Irish Mu-ic, not only | leasant aid fla'tering, but
liighly useful to us ; for the various conlnbulions we
1 Among these is Savounia Deelish, which I have
been hi'herio only witliheld from selecting by the
diffidei ce I fed in treading upon ihe same ground
uith Mr. Can pbell, whose beautiful words to this
fine Air have taken too strong possession of .ill ears
and he:»rts, forme to think of following in his foot-
steps wi'h any success. 1 suppose, however, as a
marer of duly, I must attempt the air for our next
Number.
184
DEDICATION, &c.
have receired in consequence, have enriched our col-
tectinn with so many choice and bc.iutiful Airs, thai
should we adhere to our present resolution of publish-
ing no more, it would certainly furnish an instance
of forbe,irance unexampled in the history of poefs
and musicians. To one Gentleman in paiticular, who
has been for m:iny years re>ii!en' in England, but who
has not forgot, among his various pursuits, either the
language or the melodies of his native country, we
beg lo ofler our best thanks for the many interesting
communications with which he has favoured u-. We
trust that neither he nor any other of our kind fi iends
will relax in those efforts by which we have been so
cori-iderablyassisted ; (or, though our work must now
be looked ujjon as detune', yet — as [teauniur found
out the art of nukitig the cicada &ing after it was
dead — it is just possible that we may, some time or
other, try a similar experiment upon the Irish Melo
T. M.
Mayfiddj Ashbourne, March, 1815
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SE-
VENTH NUMBER.
Had I consulted only my own ju Jtrment, this Work
would not have extended beyond the Six Numbers
already published ; which contain the flower, perhaps,
of our national melodies, and have now attained a
rank in public favour, of which I would not willingly
risk the (orfeiture, by degenerating, in any vvay, from
tho:ie merits that weie its source. Whatever trea-
sures of our music were still in reserve,{and it willbe
seen, I trust, that they are i-umerous and valuable,) I
would gladly have left to future poets to glean, and,
with the ritual words " tibi trado^^^ would have de-
livered up the torch into other hands, before it had
lost much of its light in my own. But the call for a
continuance of the work has been, as I understand
from the Publisher, so general, and we have received
80 many contributions of old and beautiful air>,» — the
t One Gentleman, in particular, whose mme I shall
feel happy in being allowed to mention, has not only
sent us nearly forty ancietit airs, but has cnmiutii-
caled many curious frasinents of Irish poetry, and
some interesting Iraditions current in the country
where he resides, illustrated by sketches of the ronian-
suppression of which, for the enhancement of those
have published, would too much resemble the
policy of the Dutch in burning their spices,— that I
; been persuaded, though not without much diffi.
dence in my success, to commence a new series of the
Irish Melodies. T. M,
DEDICATION TO THE MARCHIONESS OF
HEADFORT,
PREFIXED TO THE TENTH NUMBER.
It is with a pleasure, not unmixed with melancholy,
that I dedicate the last Number of the Irish Melodies
to your Ladyship; nor can I have att^ doubt that the
feelings with which you receive the tribute will be of
the same mingled and saddened tone. To you, — who
though but little beyond the seasonof childhood, when
the earlier nunibers of this work appeared,— lent the
aid of your beautiful voice, and, even then, exquisite
feeling for music, to the h:ip[>y circle who met, losing
them together, under your laiher's roof, the gratifica-
tion, whatever it may be, which this humble oflering
brings, cannot be otherwi>e than darkened by the
mournful reflection, how niany of the voices, which
then joined with ours, are now silent in death I
I am not without hope that, as far as regards the
grace and spirit of the Melodies, you will find this
closing portion of the work not unworthy of what has
preceded it. The Sixteen Airs, of which the Number
and the Supplement consists, have been selected from
the immense mass of Irish music, \vhich has been for
yeas pist accumulating in my hands; aijd it was from
a desire to include all that appeared most worthy of
preserva'ion, that the four supplementary songs which
follow this Tenth Number have been added.
Trusting that I may yet again, in remembrance of
old times, hear our voic«-s lozeiher in someof the har-
monized airs of this Volume, I have the honour to
subscribe myself.
Your Ladyship*s faithful Friend and Servant,
THOMAS MOORE.
Sloftrtan Cottage, May, 1S34.
tic scenery to which ihey refer j all of which, though
too late for the preseni'Number, will t)e of infinite
service to us in the prosecution of our task.
NATIONAL AIRS
ADVERTISEMENT,
It is Cicero, I believe, who says " natitra ad mo-
dos ducitnur;^^ and the abundance of \vild. indigenous
airs, which almost every country, except England,
possesses, sufficiently proves the truth of his assertion.
The lovers of this simple, but ineresting kind of
music, are here presented with the first number of a
collection, whith. I trust, their contributions will
enable us to continue. A pretty air wittu ut words
resembles one of tho^e half creatures of I'lato, which
are described as wandering; in search of 'he ren.ainder
of themselves through the world. To supply this
other half, by uniting" with congrnial words the many
fugitive melodies which have hitherto had none. — or
ordy such as are tminlelligible to the generality of
their hearers.— is the obJL^ct and ambition of the pre-
sent work. Neither is it < ur inten i m to cnifije our-
selves to what are snc'ly called National Meiodie-,
but, wheiever we meet with any wandering nnd
beautiful air, to which poetry ha-i not yet assigned a
worthy home, we shall venture lo claim it as an estray
swan, and enrich our humble Hippocrene with its
song.
NATIONAL AIRS.
A TEMPLE TO FRIENDSHIP.*
(SPANISH AIR.)
' A Temple to Friendship." said Laura, enchanted,
'* I MI Luild in this garden, — the thought is divine I'
Fler temple was huilt, and she now only wanted
An iniage of Friendship to place on the shrine.
NATIONAL AIRS.
185
She flew to a sculptor, uho set tiown before her
A Friendship, tile f.iiiest tii9 art cniild in\eiit ;
But so cold and bO d'.ill. Dial tlie youthful adorer
Kavv plainly this was iiiit ^he idul site meant.
'Oh 1 never,'* she ciied, "could ! thiiik of enshrining
"An image, whose looks are so jovless and dimj—
'But yon lillle gild, upon roses lecliniug,
•' We 'II make, if you plensi:, Sir, a Friendship of
him,"
So the har^ain was struck ; with the lillle und laden,
,'ihe joylully Hew to her shrine in the grove :
'Farewell," said the sculptor, "you're not the fust
maiden
" Who came but for Friendship and took away
Love."
FLOW ON, THOU SHINING RIVER.
(PORTUGUESE AIR.)
Flow on, thou shininir river ;
Rut, ere thou leach the -ea,
Seek Elba's bower, .ind give her
'I'he wreaths I fling o'er thee.
And tell her thus, it slie'll be mine,
Tlie c rrrent of cur lues >hall be,
"With joys along their cour-e to shine,
Like those sweet flowers oo tliee.
But if, in wandering thither.
Thou find St she mocks my piayefi
Then leave those wreathe to «iiher
Upon ihecnld bank ttieie;
And tell her thus, when youth ii o'er,
Her lone and lovele.s charms shall b«
Thrown by upon life's weedy shore.
Like those sweet flowers from tbee.
ALL THAT 'S BRIGHT MUST FADE.
(INDIAN AIR.)
All that 's bright must fade,—
The brightest still the I'.eeest
All that's sweet "as made.
But tn be lost when sweetest.
Stars iha' shine and fall ; —
Tlie (lower (hat drops iu springing: —
These, alisl are type; of air ^'
To which our hearts are clinging.
All that's blight niusi fade,—
The brightest still (he fleetest:
All that s sweet was made
But to be lost when sweelesi !
Who would seek or prize
Delights that end in aching?
Who would trust to (ies
That even hour are breaking?
Better far to be
In utter darkness lying,
Than to be bless'd wiih liehl and see
Thai light forever flving.
All that 's bright must fade,—
The brightest siill the fleetest;
All th.at's sweet was made
But to be lost when sweetest I
SO WARMLY WE MET.
(HUNGARIAN AIR.)
So wirmly we met and so fondly we parted.
That which was the sweeter e'v'n I could not tell,—
Tl.it first look of welcome her sunny eyes darted.
Or that tear of passion, which bless'd our faiewell.
To meet was a heaven, and lo part thus another,—
Our joy and our sorrow seem'd rivals in bliss;
Oh ! Cupid's two eyes are not liker each other
iu smiles and iu tears, than that moment to this.
The first was like day-break, new, sudden, delicious, —
'1 he da» n of a |>leasuie scarce kindled up \ et ;
The last like the fare » ell of daylight, more precious,
More glowing and deep, as 'tis nearer its set.
Our meelii.g, though happy, was tinged by a sorrow
To think ttiat such ha}ipitiess could not remain ;
While our jiartiug, though sad, gave a hope that
Would bring back the bless'd hour of meeting a^ia.
THOSE EVENING BELLS
(AIR. — THE BELLS OF ST. PETERSBURGH.)
Th"se evening bells ! those evening bells J
Hn
any a tale llle
Of youth, and home, and that sweet time,
When last I heard their soothing chime !
Those joyous hours are past away;
And nuny a hean, that II. en was g»y.
Within the tomb now d.irkly dwells.
And heais no more those evening bells.
And so 't will be when I am gone;
That luneful peal will still ring on.
While other bards shall walk these dells.
And sing your praise, sweet eveuing bells 1
SHOULD THOSE FOND HOPES.
(PORTUGUESE AIR.)
Should those fond hopes e'er forsake thee.l
Winch now so sweetly (hy liear( employ ;
Should the cold woild come (o wake (hee
From all thy visions of youth and joy;
Should the gay fiiends, for whom thou wouldst banish
Him who once thought thy yoin g heart his own.
All. like spring birds, f.ilsely vanish.
And leave thy winter unheeded and lone;-*
Oh ! 't is then that he thoo hasi sligh(ed
Would come lo cheer thee, when all seem'd o'er;
Then the IruanI, lost and blighted.
Would to his bosom be taken once more.
Like that dear bird we both can remember,
Who left us while summer shone round.
But, when chill'd by bleak December,
On our thieshold a welcome still found.
REASON, FOLLY, AND BEAUTY.
(ITALIAN AIR.)
Reason, and Folly, and Beauty, they say.
Went on a partv of pleasuie one day :
Folly' plai'il
Around the maid,
The bells of his cap rung merrily out :
While Reason look
To his sermon-book .—
Oh ! which was the pleasanter no one need doubt,
Which was the pleisaiiter no one need doubt.
I Thi>
of 'he
^ instances among' my
lyrical poems,— (hough the above, it must be owned,
is an extreme ca!e,—where the melie has been necej.
sarily sacrificed to Ihe structure of the air.
16«
Beauty^ uhj likrs 1o be thought very sage,
Turn'd for a moment to Reason's dull page,
Till Folly s. id,
*' Loi.k here, sweet Inii^ !" —
The sight of his c^p brought her back to herself;
VVhile Reason read
His le-ives of lead,
With no one to mind him, pnor sensible elf!
No,— no one to mind him, poor sensible elf!
Then Reason grew jealous of Folly's gay cap j
Had he that on. he her heart mighi entrap —
*' 'I'here it is,"
Quoth Folly, "old quiz!"
(Folly was alwavs gond-naiured, 't is said,)
"Under the jun
*' There', no such fun,
"As Reason wiih my cap and bells on his head
"Reason wiifa my Cap and bells on his head 1"
But Reason Ihe head-dress po awkwardly wore,
That Beauty now liked hirn siill less ihan before:
While Folly took
Old Reason's book,
And twislcd the leave-' iii a cap of such ton.
That Beauly vow'd
(Thnush nut aloud),
She liked him still heiier in that than his own.
Yes,— liked him still belter in that than his own.
FARE THEE WELL, THOU LOVELY ONE I
(SICILIAN AIR .)
Fare thee well, thou lovely one!
Lovely s'itl. but dear no more
Once his Soul of irulli is gone,
Love's sweet life is o'er.
Thy words, wha'c'er their flati'ring spell,
Could scarce have thus deceived ;
But eyes thai acted truth so well
Were sure to be believed.
Then, faie thee well, thou lovely one!
Lovely still but dear no more;
Once his snui of truh is gone,
t/>ve's sweet life is o'er.
Yet thnse eyes look constant still.
True as slars thev keep their li^ht :
Still those cheeks their pledge fulfil
Of blushiogaluays bright.
'T is onlv on thv chanceful heart
The blame of (al>ehood lies j
Love lives in every niher pirt,
But there, alas! he dies.
Then, f.tre thee well, thou lovely one!
Lovely still, but dear no more ;
Once his soul of truth is t^one,
Love's sweet life is o"er.
DOST THOU REMEMBER,
(pORTlTGrTESE AIR.)
DosI thou remember that pince so lonely,
A place for lovers, and lovers only,
Where hrst I told thee all my secret sighs?
When, as the moonbeam, that trembled o'er thee.
Illumed ihy blushes, I knelt before thee,
And read mv hope's sweet triumph in those eyes?
Then, then, while closely heart was drawn to heart,
Love bound us— never, never mere lo part!
And when I callM thee by names the dearest i
That love could fancy, the fondest, nearest. —
"My life, my only life 1" among the lesl j
In Ihofie sweet accents that still enthral me,
Th'iU saidst, 'Ah' wherefoie ihv life thus call me?
*'Thy sou!, thy snul's ihe name that I love best;
*'For life soon pas-sts,— but how faless'd to be
'* 'J liat Soul which never, never parts from thee?"
OH, COME TO ME WHEN DAYLIGHT SETS.
(VENETIAN AIR.)
Oh, come to me when daylight sets;
Sweet! then come to me,
When snioothly so our gondolets
O'er Ihe moonlight sea.
When Mirth 's awake, and Love begins,
Beneath that glancing ray,
With sound of lutes and mandolins,
To steal young hearis away.
Then, come to me when daylight sets;
Sweet ! Ihen come to me,
When smoothly go t.ur goudolets
O'er ihe moonlight sea.
Oh, Ihen's Ihe hour for those who love,
Sweet, like thee and me;
When all's so calm below, above.
Wh
In He;iv'n and o't
idens sing sweet barcarolles,'
And Echo
So sweet, that all vvithears and souls
Sh luld love and listen then.
So. come lo me when dajlight sets;
Sweet ! then come to me.
When snioothly go our gondolets
O'er the tuuouligbt sea.
OFT, IN THE STILLY NIGHT.
(scotch air.)
Oft, m the stilly night.
Ere Slumber s chain has bound me,
Fond Memory brings the light
Of o her days aniund me;
The smiles, the tears,
Of bovhnrd's years,
The words of love then spoken ;
The eye'* thai shone,
Now dmim'd and gone.
The cheerful hearts now broken I
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere Slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad Memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
When I remember all
The friends, so Imk'd together,
I've seen ar.und me fall.
Like leaves in wintry wealher
I feel like one.
Who trea-is alone
Sonie banquel-h.*ll deserted,
Whose Itehts are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed!
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere Slumber's cham has bcund mt.
Sad Memory brings the light
L/f other days around me.
1 The thought in ihis ve
original Portuguese words.
5 Barcarolles, softe de chan^ions en langne Veni-
borrowed from the tienne. que chantcnt les gondoliers a Venlse. — Rou»'
seau, Dictionnairt de Musiqite,
NATIONAL AIRS.
187
HAKKI THE VESPER HYMN IS STEALING.
(RUSSIAN AIR.)
Hark ! the vesper hymn is stealing
O'er the waters soft and clear;
Nearer vel aiiJ nearer pealing,
Jubilate, Amen.
Farther now, nnw fai (her stealing,
Soft it fades upon the ear.
Jubilate, Amen,
Now, like moonlight waves retrealinj
To the shore, it dies along ;
Now, like ani^ry surges meeting,
Breaks the mingled tide of song.
Jubilate, Amen.
Hushl again, like waves, retreating
To the shore, it dies along,
Jubilate, Aniea.
LOVE AND HOPE.
(SWISS AIR.)
At morn, beside yon summer sea,
Young Hoiw ai.d Love reclined ;
But scaice had nooii'tide come, whtn he
Into his bark leap'd smilmgly,
And left poor Hope behind.
" 1 go," faid Love, *' to sail awhile
** Across this sunny main ; "
And then so sweet his parting smile,
That Hope, who never dreamt of guile,
Believed he'd come again.
.She linger'd there till evening's beam
Along the waters lay ;
And o'er the sands, in thoughtful dream,
Oft traced his n une. whiclfstill the stream
As often washd away.
At length a sail appears in sight,
And tnw'rd the maiden moves!
»T is Weahh that comes, and giy and bright.
His golden bark reflects the light.
But ah I it is not Love's.
Another sail — 'I was Friendship show'd
Her night-hmp o'er the sea ;
And calm the light that lanjp bestow'd ;
But Love had lights that warmer glow'd.
And where, alas ! was he ?
Now fast around the sea and shore
Night threw her darkling chain;
The sunny sails were seen no more,
Hope's morning dreams of bliss were o'er,—
Love never came again !
THERE COMES A TIME.
(GERMAN AIR.)
There comes a time, a dreary time.
To him whose heart hath flown
O'er all the fields of youth's sweet prime.
And made each flower its own.
'T is when his soul must first renounce
Tho.e dreams so bright, so f .nd ;
Oh! then 's the time to die at once,
For life has nought beyond.
When sets the sun on Afric's shore.
That instant all is nighi ;
And so should life at once be o'er.
When Love withdraws his light ; —
Nor, like our northern day, gleam on
Through twilight's dim delay,
The cold remains of lustre gone.
Of fire long pass'd away.
MY HARP HAS ONE UNCHANGING THEME.
(SWEDISH AIR.)
My harp has one unchanging theme.
Dire strain that still comes o'er
Its languid clinrd, as 't were a dream
Of iny that 's now no more.
In vain I try, with livelier air.
To wake the hreatiiing string;
That voice of other times is there,
And saddens all I sing.
Breathe on, breathe on, thou languid strain.
Henceforth be ail my own;
Though thou art oft so full of pain
Few hearts can bear thy tone.
Yet oft thou 'rl sweet, as if the sigh.
The breath that Pleasure's wings
Gave out, ivhen last they wanton 'd by.
Were 3lil] upon thy strings.
OH, NO — NOT EV'N WHEN FIRST WE
LOVED.
(CASHMERIAN AIR.)
Oh, no — not cv'n when first we loved,
Wert thou as dear as now thou art ;
Thy beauty then my senses moved,
But now thy virnes bind my heart.
What was but Passion's sigh before.
Has since been lurn'd to Reason's vow ;
And, though I then might love thee more,
Trust me, 1 love thee better now.
Although my heart in earlier youth
Might kindle with more wild desire.
Believe me. it has gain'd il truth
Much more than it has lost in fire.
The flame now warms my inmost core.
That then but sparkled o'er my brow.
And, though I seem'd to love thee more.
Yet, oh, I love thee better now.
PEACE BE AROUND THEE.
(scotch air.)
Peace be around thee, wherever thou rov'st;
May life be for thee one summer's day.
And all that thou wishesi, and all that thou IotV,
Come smiling around thy sunny way !
If sorrow e'er this calm should break.
May even thy tears pass off so lightly-
Like spring-showers, they'll only make
The smiles that follow shine more brightly.
May Time, who sheds his bliehl o'er all,
And daily dooms some joy to death,
O'er thee let years so gently fall,
They shall not crush one flower beneath.
As half in shade and half in sun
This world along its path advances,
May thai side the sun 's upon
Be all that e'er shall meet thy glances !
188
NATIONAL AIRS.
common sense and genius
(frencu air.)
While I touch the gtrin?,
Wreathe niy brows with laurel,
For the tale i sing
Has, for once, a moral.
Common Sense, one night,
Though not used to g.*Dibols,
Went out by moonlight,
With Genius, on hia rambles.
While I touch the string, kc.
Common Sense went on,
Many wise tilings saying j
While the light thntshoue
Soon set Genius straying.
07ie hU eye ne'er rais^jd
From the patli before hiui;
Toother idly gazed
On each night-cloud o'er him.
While I touch the string, &c.
So they came, at last,
To a shady river;
Common Sense soon pass'd,
Safe, as he doth ever;
While the boy, whose look
Was in Heaven that minute,
Never saw the brnok,
But tumbled headlong in it !
While I louch the string, &c.
How the Wise One smiled,
When safe oVr the torrent,
At that youth, so wild,
Dripping from the current I
Sense went home to bed ;
Genius, left lo shiver
On the bai.k. 't is snid.
Died of thai cold riverl
While i touch the string &c.
THEN, FARE THEE WELL,
(OLD ENGLISH AIR.)
Then, fare thee welt, my own dear love,
This world has now tor us
No ereiter grief, no pain above
The painof parting thus,
Dl:
■ love
The pain of parting thus.
Had we but known, since first we met,
Some few short hours of bliss.
We mi?ht, in numbering them, forget
The deep, deep pain of this,
Dear love !
The deep, deep pain of this.
But no, alas, we've never seen
One glinipse nf pleasure's ray.
But s'ili ihere came some cloud between.
And chased it all away,
Dear love !
And chased it all awiy.
Yet, ev'n could those sad moments last,
Far dearer to my heart
Were hours of grief, together past,
Than ye:irs of mirth apart,
De.ir love !
Than years of mirth apart
Fsrewell ! on
r hope
was bor
n in
fears,
And liurved
'mid V
ain le^r
Is;
Like winter .
iins, i
ro>e in
earn
Likelhem
n tear
, It sets,
Dear
love !
Like them
n tear
B It lets.
GAILY SOUNDS THE CASTANET.
(MALTESE AIR.)
Gaily sounds the castanet,
Beating lime to bounding feet,
When, after daylight s golden set,
Maids and youths by moonlight meet.
Oh, then, how sweet to move
Through all that maze of mirth,
Led by light from eyes we love
Beyond all ejes on earth.
Then, Ihe joyous banquet spread
On the cotil and Iragnnt ground,
Willi heav'n's bright sparklers overhead.
And still bnghrer sparkling round.
Oh. then, how sweet to s<y
Into some loved ones ear,
T hough's reserved ihmugh many a day
'J"o t>e thus whisper'd heie.
When the dance and feast are d'me,
Arm in arm as home we stray,
How sweet to see the dawning sun
O'er her check's warm blushes pliy I
Then, too, the farewell kiss —
1 he words, whose patting lone
Lingers siill in dreams of bliss,
That haunt young hearts aloue.
LOVE IS A HUNTER-BOY.
(languedocian air.)
Love is a hunter-boy,
Who makes young hearts his prey ;
And, in his nets of joy.
Ensnares them night and day.
In vain conceat'd they lie —
Love tracks them everywhere;
Id vain aloft lliey fly —
Love bboots them flying there.
But 'I is his joy most sweet,
At early dawn to trace
The print of Beauty's feet,
And give the trembler chase.
And if, ihrough virgin snow.
He tracks her footsteps fair,
How sweet for Love to know
None went before bim there I
COME, CHASE THAT STARTING TEAR
AWAY,
(FR ENCH AIR.)
Come, chase that starting tear away,
Ere mine to nieet it springs;
To-night, at least, to-night be gay,
Whate'er tn-niorrow brings.
Like sun-set gleams, that linger late
When all is dark'ning fast.
Are hours like these wesnatch from Fate —
The brightest, and the last.
Tiien, chase that starting tear, &c.
To gild the deepening gloom, if Heaven
But one bright hour allow.
Oh. think Ih.il one bright hour is given^
In all its splendour, now.
Let's live it out — then sink in night,
Like waves that from the shore
One minute swell, are fnuch'd with li^t.
Then Inst for evermore 1
Come, chase that starting tear, &C.
NATIONAL AIRS.
189
JOYS OF rOUIH, HOW FLEETING!
(PORTUGUESE AIR.)
Whisp'rinffs, heard by nakeful maids,
To whom Ihe niglii-stars guide u»;
Stolen walks ihrou^h moonlight shades,
With th'.se we love beside' us,
Hearts beating,
At meeting;
Teafs slariing,
At parting;
Oh, sweel youth, how soon it fades!
Sweet joys of youih, how fleeting!
Wand'rin^s faraway from home,
With life all new before us ;
Greetings warm, when home we come,
From heans whose prayers watchd o'er us.
Tears starting,
At parting;
Heans be.ling,
Oh, sweet youlh, bow lost on some !
To some, how bright aud flee'ing!
HEAR ME BUT ONCE
(FRENCH AIR.)
Hear me but once, while o'er Ihe grave.
In which our Love lies c*ild and dead,
I count e.ich flatt'riiig hope he gave
Of joys, now lost, and charms now fled.
Who could have thought the smile he wore,
When litst we met, would fadeaway?
Or that a chill would e'er come o'er
Those eyes so bright through many a day ?
Hear me but once, &c.
WHEN LOVE WAS A CHILD,
(SWEDISH AIR.)
When Love was a child, and went idling round,
'Mong flowers, the whole sunmjer'.s day,
One morn in ihe valley a bovver he found,
So sweet, it allured him lo stay.
O'erheid, from the trees, hung a garland fair,
A fountain ran d-iikly beneath ; —
»T was Pleasure had hung up the flow'rets there ;
Love knew it, and junip'd at Uie wre.ah.
But Love didn't know — and, at his weak years,
Wliat urctiin was likely to know ? —
Thit Sorrow had made of her own salt tears
The fountain that mumiur'd below.
He caught at the wreath— but with too much haste,
As bo>s when impatient will do —
It fell in those waters of briny tas e,
And the flowers were all wet through.
This garland he now wears night and day;
And. though it all sunny appears
Witb Pleasure's own lisht, each leaf, they say
Still tastes of the Fouulaiu of Tears.
SAV, WHAT SHALL BE OUR SPORT TaDAY?
(SICILIAN AIR.)
Say, what shall be our sport to-day ?
There 's noihing on earth, in sea, or air.
Too bright, ton high, loo wild, too gay,
For spirits like niine to dare !
'T is ike the reluming bloom
Of those days, alas, gone by,
Whe.. I loved, each hour— I scarce knew wbom-
And was blcss'd — I scarce knew why.
Ay — those were days when life had wings,
And flew, oh, flew so wild a height,
That, like the lark which sunward springs,
'T was grddy with too much light.
And, though of some plumes bereft,
With that sun, too, nearly set,
I've enough of light and wing still left
For a few gay soarings yet.
BRIGHT BE THY DREAMS.
(WELSH AIR.)
Bricht be thy dreams— may all thy weeping
Turn into smiles while thou art sleeping.
Mav those by de-ith or seas removed,
The friends, wh-. in thy spring-tmie knew thee,
All, 'hou hast ever prized or loved
In dre.ims come smiling to thee!
There nny the child, whose love lay deepest,
Dearest of all, come while (hou ^le^est;
Still as she was — no charni forgot —
No lustre Inst that life had given ;
Or, if changed, but chairged to what
Thou 'It find her yet in Heaven !
GO, THEN — 'TIS VAIN.
(SICILIAN AIR.)
Go, then — 't is vain lo hover
'I hus round a hope that 's dead ;
At length my dream is over;
'T was su eet — 't was false — 't is fled I
Farewell ! since nought it moves thee,
Such truth as mrne lo see —
Some one, who f,ir less loves thee.
Perhaps more bless'd will be.
Farewell, sweef eyes, whose brightneis
Ns'.v life around me shed;
Farewell, fnlse heart, whose lighttiesB
Now leaves me death instead.
Oo. iiow, those chaims surrender
To some new lover's sigh —
One wh", though far le«s tender,
May be mere bless'd Uian 1.
THE CRYSTAL-HUNTERS.
(SWISS AIR.)
O'er mountains bright
With sn'.w and light,
We CryslalHuiiterfi speed along;
While rocks and caves,
Arid icy waves,
Eat-h instant echo to our song;
And, when we nieel with stoie of gemi,
We grudge not kiiifi;s their diadems.
OVr m'luntaiiis bright
Wi h snow and light,
We Crystal-Hunters speed along;
While gntts and caves,
And icy waves,
Each ir.staul echo to our song.
Not h-ilf 50 oft Ihe lover dreams
Of spaikles from his lady'p eyes,
As we nf thoBe refreshing gleams
That tell where deep the crystal lies;
190
NATIONAL AIRS.
Though, next to cryst.il, we too grant,
Thatladie&' eyes may most enchant.
O'er mountains brig;ht, &c.
Sometimes, when on Ihe Alpine rose
Theeolden sunset leaves its -ay,
So like a ^ein theflow'iet ulnws,
We rhither b<^nd our he dlong w.iy ;
And, though we htid i,o treasuie here,
We bless the rose that shines so fair.
Oer mountain^ bright,
Withsnnw and light.
We Crys'al-Hunters speed along;
While rocks and caves.
And icy waves.
Each instant echo to our song.
ROW GENTLY HERE.
(VENETIAN AIR.)
Row gently here,
My gondoher,
So snfOy wake the fide,
That not an ear,
On earth, niay hear,
But herg to whom we glide.
Had Heaven but tongues to sjieafe, as well
As s'arrv eyes to see,
Oh. think what" tales 't would have to tell
Of wand'ring youths like me 1
Now rest thee here,
Mygndolier;
Hush, hush, f-r up I go,
To climb yon light
Balcony's height.
While thou keep'st watch below.
Ah! did we lake for Heaven abnve
But half such paius as we
Take, day and night, fir woman's love,
What Angels we should be!
OH, DAYS OF YOUTH
(FRENCH AIR.)
Oh, days of youth and joy, long clouded,
Why thus for ever haunt my view?
When in the grave your light lay shrouded,
Why did not Memory die there too?
Vainly doth Hope her strain now sing me,
Telling of joys that yet remain —
No, never more can thi^ life bring me
One joy that equals youth's sweet pain.
Dim lies the way to death before me,
Cold winds of Time blow round my brow ;
Sunshine of youth! that once fell o'er me,
Where is your warmth, your glory now ?
^Tis notth.it then no pain could sting nie;
'Tis not ttiat now no Joys remain ;
Oh, M is that life no more can bring me
One joy so sweet as that worst pain.
WHEN FIRST THAT SMILE.
(VENETIAN AIR.)
I When first that smile, like sunshine, bJess'd my sight,
Oh whst ;
nn tht
' love, of calm and pure delight,
SeeniM in that buiile lo pass bftoie nie.
NeVrd.d the peasant dream of summer skies.
Of golden fruit, and fiarves's si)nn:iirig.
With fonder hope than I of those swft-t eyes,
And of Ihe joy their light was bringing.
I Where now are all thnse fondly-promised houn?
Ah! woman', f.ilh IS like her brightness-
Fading .IS fasi as rainbows, or day-llower,-.
Or augtit that 's known for gr.ce and iightness.
Short as the ^e^^iaIl's pia>er, at close of day,
Should be e.icb vow ot Li\e's repeating;
luick let him worship Beauiy's precious ray —
Even while he kueels, that ray is fleeting !
PEACE TO THE SLUMBERERSl
(CATALONIAN AIR.)
Peace to the slumberers!
They lie on the battle-plain,
Wiih no shroud to ever them ;
The dew and the summer rain
Are ait that weep over them.
Peace to the etumberers!
Vain was their bravery ! —
The fallen oak lies where it lay.
Across the wintry river ;
But brave hearts, once swept away,
Are gone, alas I forever.
Vain was their bravery I
Woe to the conqueror !
Our limbs shall lie as cold as theirs
Of whom his sword bereft us,
Ere we forget the deep arrears
Of verige3,nce ihey have left us!
Woe lo the couqueror 1
WHEN THOU SHALT WANDER.
(SICILIAN AIR.)
When thou shalt wander by that sweet liglit
We u-ed to g.i2e on so many an eve,
When love was new and hope vvas bright,
Ere 1 could doubt or thou deceive —
Oh, then, rememb'ring how swift went by
Those hours of transport, even thuu may'st sigh.
Yes, proud one I even thy heart may own
That love like ours was far loo sweet
To be, like sumnjer garments, 'hrown
A'iide, when pas&'d ihe summer's heat ;
And wi-h in v-iin to know again
Such days, such nights, as biessM thee theo.
WHO'LL BUY MY LOVE-KNOTS?
(PORTUGUESE AIR.)
Hymen, late, his love-knots selling,
Caird at many a majiten's dwelling:
None could doubt, who saw or knew them,
Hymen's call was welcome to them,
"Who'll buy my love knots?
"Who'll buy my love-knots?"
Soon as that sweet cry resminded.
How his baskets were surrounded I
Maids, who now first dreamt of trying
These gay knots of Hymen's tying ;
Dames, who long had sat to watch him
Passing by, but ne'er could catch him ; —
" Who'll buy my love-knots?
" Who '11 buy my love-knois ? " —
All at that sweet ciy assembled ;
Some laugh'd, some blush'd, and some trembled.
** Here are knots,*' s:^id Hymen, taking
Some loose flowers, **of Love's own makln|(|
NATIONAL AIRS.
101
'ill
** Here are gold ones — you may trust 'em " —
(These, of course, found ready cubtom.)
**Coine, buy my love-knots!
•■Come, buy my I .ve-knt» s !
"Some are hbellM 'Knols to lie men —
"Love Ihe linker — itnuglit of Hymen."*
Scarce iheir bargains were cnniplefed,
When Ihe nvmi)h> all cried, '• We're cheated I
" See ^he^e flowers — Ihey 'le dtouping sjdiy ;
" This goid-knot, too, ties but badly —
" Who 'd buy such love-knots ?
'* Who'd buy such love-knots?
*' Even this tie, with Love's name round it —
" All a sham — He never bound it."
Love, who saw (he whole proceedino^.
Would have laugh'd, but fi,r good breeding;
While Old Hymen, who was used to
Cries like Ihat these dames gave loose to —
" Take back our iove-kuots !
*• Take back our love-knots ! '*
Coolly said, '* There 's no returning
** Wares ou Hymen's hands — Good morning I ^
SEE, THE DAWN FROM HEAVEN.
(to an air sung AT ROME, ON CHRIST-
MAS EVE,)
See, the dawn from Heaven is breaking
O'er our siglit.
And Earth, from sin awaking,
Hails the light!
See those groups of angels, winging
From the realms aliove.
On their brows, from KJl-m, bringing
Wreaths of Hope ar,d Love.
Hark, their hymns of glory pealing
Through the air,
To mortal ears revealing
Who lies there 1
In Ihat dwelling, d .rk an J lowly,
Sleeps Ihe Heavenly Son,
He, whnse hon.e's above,— the Holy,
Ever Holy One!
NETS AND CAGES.*
(SWEDISH AIR.)
Come, listen to my story, while
Your needle's task you ply ;
At what I sing some maids will smile,
While >ome, perhips, may sieh.
Though Love's the theme, and Wisdom blamet
Such florid songs an curs,
Yet Truth sometimes, like eastern dames,
Can speak her thoughls by fli»wers.
Then lis'en. maids, come lis'en, while
Your needle's ta^k you ply ;
At wh^t 1 sing there 's some may smile,
While some, perhaps, will sigh.
Young Cloe, bent on catching Loves,
Such nets had le.irn'd to frame.
That none, in all our vales and grovei.
E'er caught so much small game:
« Suggested by the following remark of Swift*3: —
*'The reason why so few n.arriaaes are h^ppy. is,
bec:»use young ladies spend theirtinie in making nets,
not in making cages."
But gentle Sue. less giv^n to roam,
While Cloe's nets were laking
Si'ch lots of Loves, sal still ai home,
One little Love-cage making.
Come, listen, maids, &c.
Much Cloe 1 (ugh'd at Susan's task;
But nu'k how ihings went on:
Thee li^ht-c^ughl Loves, eie you could ask
Their name and age, were gone !
So weak poor Cloe'^ nets were wove.
Thai, though she charm 'd into them
New ganie each hour, (he youngest Lovo
Was able (o break thniugh them.
Come, listen, maids, &c.
Meanwhile, young Sue, whose cage was wrought
Of bars too strong to sever,
One Love with golden pinions caught,
And caged him (here for ever;
Instruc'ing, thereby, all coque'les,
Whate'er their looks or ages,
Thar, though 't is pleasant weaving Nets,
'T is wiser to make Cages.
Thus, maidens, thus do I beguile
'Ihe task your fingers ply.—
May all who hear like Sus:iD smile^
And not, like Cloe, sigh 1
WHEN THROUGH THE PIAZZETTA.
(VENETIAN AIR.)
When through the Piazzetia
Night breathes ht-r cool air.
Then, dearest Ninelta,
I'll come to thee there.
Beiieilh thy mas-k shrouded.
Hi!
s, th 'Ugh cloudedj
■eningS'ar
In earb, then, resembling
Some gay gondolier,
I'll whisper thee, trembling,
"Our bsrk, love, is near:
"Now, now, while there hover
"Those clouds o'er ilie moon,
■^^T will wnit Ihee sale over
*Yoii silent Lagoon.'*
GO, NOW, AND DREAM.
(SICILIAN AIR.)
Go, now, and dream o'er that jov in thy slumber—
Monients so sweet ascain neVr shall tliou number.
Of i'ainV bitter diaught the flavour neer flies.
While Pleasure's scarce touches 'he hp ere it dies.
Go, then, and dream, &c.
That moon, which hungo'er yourpirling.so splendid,
Often will shine again, bright as she then did —
Hui. never moie will the be;im she saw burn
In those hajipy eyes, at your meeling, return.
Go, then, and dieam, ^c.
TAKE HENCE THE BOWL.
(NEAPOLITAN AIR.)
Take hence the bnwl ; — though beaming
Krighily asbowl e'er shone,
Oh, it but se's me dre:iming
Of happy days now gone.
192
NATIONAL AIRS,
There, in its clear reflection,
As iti a wizard's g'a^s,
Losr li'tpes and dead atfection,
Like sbades, before nie pass.
Each cup I drain brinss hither
Some scene of 1,1 iss gone by ;—
Brisbt lips, ton brijhl to wilher,
Warm hearts, too warm to die.
Till as the dream comes o'er me
Of tlio^e Inng.vanish'd years,
-Alls, the wine before tne
Seeois turning all to tears 1
FAREWELL, THERESA
(VENETIAN AIR.)
Farewell, Th
He
Will
Swifi o'er the wide wave shall wander from thee.
' yon cloud that over
n's pale night-star gath'ring we see,
rce from ihat pure orb have pass'd, ere thy
Long, like that dim cloud, I 've hung around Ihee,
Dark'ning thy prospects, sadd'ning tliy browj
With gay heart, Theresa, and bright cheek I found
thee;
Oh, think how changed, love, how changed art thou
now!
But here I free thee : like one awaking
Fr(mi fearful slumber, fhnu break'st the spell;
'Tis over — the moon, too, her bondage is breaking —
Fast are the daik clouds ; Theresa, fdrewell !
HOW OFT WHEN WATCHING STARS.
(9.*.V0YARD AIR.)
on, when the watching stars grow pale.
And round me steeps the moonlight scene,
To hear a (lute through yonder vale
r from my casement lean.
" Come, come, my love !" each note then seems to s;
Oh, come, my love ! the night wears fast away !'
Ne
orlal (
Could words, though warm they be,
Speak Pa-sion's langmge Jiilf so clear
As do those notes to nie !
Then quick my own light lute I seek,
And strike the chords with loudest swell;
And, though they nonghl lo others speak.
He knows their language well.
" I come, my love !" each note then seems to say,
**I come, my Invel — thine, thine till break of day.'
Oh, " eak the power of words,
The hues of i)ainting dim,
Compared to what those simple chords
Tliea say and paint lo him !
WHEN THE FIRST SUMMER BEE.
(GERMAN AIR.)
When the fir^t summer bee
()*er the ynuog rose shall hover,
Then, like thai gay rover,
I 'II come lo Ihee.
He to (lowers, 1 to lips, full of sweets to the brim -
What a meeling, what a meeting for me and for hii
When the first summer bee, &c.
Then, to every bright free.
In the garden he'll wander;
While I, oh, much fonder,
Will stay with thee.
In search of new sweetness through thousands LeTI
run,
While I find the sweetness of thousands in one.
Then,, to every bright tree, tc.
THOUGH 'TIS ALL BUT A DREAM.
(FRENCH AIR.)
Though 't is all but a dream at the best.
And slill, uhen happiest, soonest e'er,
Yet. even in a dream, lo be ble>s'd
Is so sueel, that ] ask for no more.
The bosom that opes
With cirliesl hopes.
The soonest finds those hopes untrue;
As Howers that first
In spring-time burst
The earliest wilher loo!
Ay — H is all but a dreara. See.
Though by friendship we oft are deceived.
And find love's sunshine soon o'ercast,
■Vet friendship will slill be believed,
And love tiusled on lo the last.
The web 'mong the leaves
The spider weaves
Is like the charm Hope hings o'er men :
Though often she sees
'T is broke by llie breeze.
She spins Ilie bright tis-ue again.
Ay —'1 is all but a dieam, &c.
WHEN THE WINE-CUP IS SAHLING.
(ITALIAN AIR.)
When the wine-cup is smiling before us,
And we pledge round to liearls that are true, oov
h'ue, ' '
Then the sky of this life opens o'er us,
And Heaven gives a glimpse of its blue.
Talk of Ad.im in Eden reclining.
We .ire beiler, far betler ofl' ihus, boy. thus;
For hijn but two bi ight eyes were shining —
See, whal numbers are sparkling for us !
When on one side the grape-juice is dancing,
While on I'olher a blue eye beams, boy, faeami,
'T is enoush, 'Inixt the wine and the glancing,
To disturb ev'n a saint from his dreams.
Vet. though life like a river is flowing,
i c^re not how last it goes on, boy, on.
So Ihe grape on its bank is siill growing.
And Love lights the waves as they run.
WHERE SHALL WE EURV OUR SHAME ?
(NEAPOLITAN AIR.)
Where shall we bury our shame ?
Where, in w^^^t desolate place,
Hide the last wreck of a name
Broken and stain'd by disgrace?
De «th may dissever the chain,
Oppres-ion will cease when we 're gone ;
Bu' the dishonour, the stain,
Die as we may, will live on.
Was it forlhis we sent out
Liberty's cry from our shore?
Was it for Ibis Ihat her shout
Thrlll'd to the world's very core?
NATIONAL AIRS,
193
Tbns to live cowards and slaves ! —
Oh, ye free hearts thai lie dead,
Do you not, ev'n in your graves.
Shudder, as o'er yi'u we tread?
NE'ER TALK OF WISDOM'S GLOOMY
SCHOOLS.
I M A H R A T T A. AIR.)
Ne'er lalk of Wisdom's gloomy schools ;
Give me llic sage wlio's able
T" draw his moral Ihuui^lits aud rules
From Ihe study of the table ; —
Who leains hoiv lightly, fleetly pas*
This world and all thai 's in it,
From the bumper that but crowns his glass,
Aud is gone again next minute !
The diamond sleeps within the mine,
The peail bene.th the water;
While Jrutli, more precious dwells in wine,
The grape's own rosy daughter.
And noiie can prize her charms like him,
Oh, none like him obtain her,
Who thus can, like Leander, swim
'i'biough sparkling flouds to gain her 1
HERE SLEEPS THE BARD.
(HIGHLAND AIR.)
Here sleeps the Bard who knew so well
All the sweet windmgs of Apollo's shell
Whether its music roll d like torrents near,
Or died, like distant streamlets, on the ear.
Sleep, sleep, mute b.iid ; alike unheeded now
The storm and zephyr sweep thy lifeless brow ; —
That storm, whose ru^h is like thy martial lay ;
That breeze which, like thy love-song, dies away t
DO NOT SAY THAT LIFE IS WANING.
Do not say that life is waning,
Or that Itope's sweet day is set ;
While I've thee and love rcuiajning.
Life is in th' horizon yet.
Do not think those charms are Hying,
Though thy roses fade And fall;
Beauty hath a grace utidying,
Which in these sui vives them all.
Not for charms, the newest, brightest.
That on other cheeks mav shine,
Would I change the least, the slightest.
That is Img'ring now o'er thine.
THE GAZELLE.
Dost thou not hear the silver bell,
Thro' yonder lime-trees ringing?
'Tis my lady's light gazelle.
To me her love thoughts bringing,-
All the while that silver bell
Around his d.irk neck ringing.
See. in his mouth he bears a wreath,
My love hath kist in tying;
Oh, what tender thoughts beneath
'Those silent flowers are lying,—
Hid wi'hin the niystic wreath.
My love hath k:st in lying I
Welcome, dear gazelle, to thee.
And joy 10 her, the fairest.
Who thus hath breathed her soul to me.
In every leaf tlioii beaiest;
Welcome, dear gaeelle, to thee.
And jny to her the fairest!
Hail ye living, speaking flowers,
'J'hat breailie of l,t r who bound ve;
Oh, 't was not in tieds, or lioueis, '
'Twas on her lijif, she f und ye ; —
Yes, ye blushing, 5|.eakiiig tloHers,
''T was on her lips she found ye.
NO — LEAVE MY HEART TO REST.
No — leave my heart to rest, if rest it may,
When you'h, and love, and liope, have pass'd away*
Could'bt thou, when summer h-urs are lied.
To some poor leaf that's fall'n and dead.
Bring back Ihe hue it wore, the scent it shed ?
No— leave this heart to rest, if rest it may.
When youth, and love, and hope, have pass'd away.
Oh, had I met thee then, when life was bright,
Thy smile might still have fed its tranquil light;
But now thou com'sl like sunny skies,
Too late to cheer the seaman's eyes.
When wreckd and lost his bark before him lies !
No — leave this heait to rest, if rest it may.
Since youth, and love, and hope, have pass'd away.
WHERE ARE THE VISIONS.
*' Where are the visions that round me once hover'd,
** Forms that shed grace from their -hadows alone j
"Looks fresh as light from a star just discovered,
"Aiid voices that Music might take for her own ?"
Time, while I spoke, with his wings resting o'er me,
Heard me say, "Where aie those visions,oh where?'!
And pointing his wand to the sunset before me,
Said, with a voice like the hollow wind, " There."
Fondly I looked, when the wizard had spoken,
And there, mid t)ie djni-shlitinj ruins of day,
Saw, by their light, liki^ a lal.si.nn broken.
The last golden fr.tgtiieiits vi h;.pe melt away.
WIND THY HORN, MY HUNTER BOY.
Wind thy horn, my huri'er buy,
And leave thy lute's iiigloiious sighs;
Hunting is the hero's joy.
Till war his nobler game supplies.
Ha>k ! the liound-bflls rinirinit sweet.
While hunters shout, and the wor-ds repeat,
Hiili-ho ! Hilli-ho 1
Wind again thy cheerful horn,
Till echo, faint with answering, dies:
Burn, bright torches, burn till nairii,
And lead us where the « ild biar lies.
Hark ! the cry, " He 's found, he 's fcraud.'
While bill and valley our shouti resoiii,<l,
Hilli-lio! liilli-lia.
OH, GUARD OUR AFFEC' :CK.
Oh, guard our affection, nor e'er let it feel
The blight that this world o'er the warmest will slwli
While the faith of all round us is fading or pas!.
Let ours, ever green, keep its blxim to the Iwt.
17
194
NATIONAL AIRS.
Far safer for Love 't is to wake and to weep,
As lie used in his prime, than go smiling to sleep;
for de;tlh on his slumber, cold death follows fast,
While the love that is wakeful lives, on to the last.
And thii\ as Time gathers liis clouds o'er our hfad,
A shnde snn.ewhal diirker o'er life Ihey may tpread,
TranspareLil, :it least, be the sliadow they cai',
Ho ihat Lovers softcaM light may shine through to the
last.
SLUMBER, OH SLUMBER,
"Slumber, oh slumber; If sleeping thou mak*st
**Wy heart beat so wildly, I 'm lost if thou wak'st."
Thus sung I to a maiden,
Who slept one summer's day,
And, like a flower o'erladen
With loo much sunshine, lay.
Slumber, oh slumber, &c.
**£reat):e not, oh breathe not, ye winds, o'er her
cheeks ;
"If mute thus she charm me, Vm lost when she
speaks.*'
Thus sing I, while, awaking,
She murmurs words tliat seem
As if her lips were taking
Farewell of some sweet dream.
Breathe not, oh bieathe not, &c.
BRING THE BRIGHT GARLANDS HITHER.
Bring the bright garlands hither,
Ere yet a leaf is dyin^ ;
If so soon they must wither,
Ourg be their last sweet sighing.
Hark ! that low dismal chime !
'T is the dreary voice of Time,
Ob, briijg beauty, bring roses,
Bring all ihat yet is ours;
Let life's day, as it closes.
Shine to the last thro' flowers.
Haste, ere the bowl's declining,
Drink of it now or never ;
Now, while Beauty is shining,
Love, or she 's lost for ever.
Hark ! again that dull chime,
*T is the dreary voice of Time,
Oh. if life be a torrent,
Down to oblivinii going.
Like this cup be its cutrent,
Blight to the last drop flowing I
IF IN LOVING, SINGING,
If in loving, singing, night and day
We could tiifle merrily life away.
Like a'oins dancing in the beam.
Like day-flies skimming o'er the stream,
Or summer blossoms, born to sigh
Their swee'ne^s out, and die —
How brilliant, thoughtless, side by side,
Thou and I could make our minutes glide !
Nn atoms ever glanced so bright,
No d;iy-flies ever danced so light,
Nor summer blossoms mix'd their sigh,
So clo^e, as thou and 1 !
THOU LOV'ST NO MORE.
Too plain, alas, my doom is spokt-n,
Nor canst thou veil the sad truth o'er;
Thy heart is changed, ihy vow Is bioken.
Thnu lov'sl n-t m'»re — thou lovsl no more.
Tho' kindly still tho^e eyes heboid me,
The smile is gone, which once they worej
Tho> fondly snll those arms enfold me,
'T is not the same — thou lov'st no more.
Too lon^ my dream of bliss belie\ ing,
I've ihoughi thee all thou weil I. lore j
But now — alas 1 there 's no deceiving,
*!' IS all too plain, thou lovM no more.
Oh, Ihou as soon the dead couldst wakeo,
As lost aflection's Itfe restore,
Give peace to her lb<il is forsaken.
Or bring back him who loves no more.
WHEN ABROAD IN THE WORLD.
When abroad in the world thou appearest.
And the yTiung and the lovely are there.
To my heait while of all thou 'rl the dearest,
To my eyes thou 'rt of all ttie most fair.
They pass, one by one,
Like wavch of the sea,
That say to the Sun,
"See, how fair we can be.'*
But Where's the light like thine.
In sunorshadeto^hine?
No — no, 'mong them all. there is nothing like thee
Nothing like thee.
Oft, of old, without farewell or warning.
Beauty's st-lf used to sttal from the skies ;
Fiiug a mist round iier head, sr>me fine morning,
And po.t down to earth m dis:^uise ;
But, no m.ilter what shioud
Around her mighl be,
Men peep'd through the cloud.
And whisper'd, *■ 'T is She."
So thou, whore ihnusauJs are,
Shin'st forih tlie only star, —
Tes, yes, *m(>ng them all, there id oolLiug like thea,
Nothing like thee.
KEEP THOSE EYES STILL PURELY MINK.
Keep those eyes still purely mine,
Tho' far ott" I be:
When on others most they shine.
Then think they 're turu'd on me.
Should those lips as now respond
To sweet minstrelsy,
When their accenls aeem most fond,
Then think Ihey 're breathed for me.
M'ke what hearts thou will Ihy own,
If when all on thee
Fix their charmed thoughts alone,
Thou thiuk'at the while on me.
HOPE COMES AGAIN.
Hope comes again, to this heart long a stranger,
Once more she sings me her (!at ering stiain j
But hu^h, gentle syren — for, ah, theie's less danger
In still bulfring on, than iu hoping again.
Long, long, in sorrow, too deep for repining.
Gloomy, but tranquil, this b snm haih lain ;
And joy coming now, like a sudden light shining
O'er eyelids long darkeu'd, would bring me but paia.
Fly then, ve visions, that Hope would shed o'er me;
L('?t to the future, my sole cb.ince of rest
Now lies not in dreaming of bliss that's before me,
But, ah — in forgetting how once I was blest.
NATIONAL AIRS.
196
0 SAT, THOU BEST AND BRIGHTEST,
O saT, thou best and brightest,
My fiial love and my last,
When he, whom now ihou slightest,
From life's dark scene hath jiast,
Will kinder ihous^hls then move Ihee?
Will pitv «ake onethiill
F>r him who lived tu love thee,
Aud dying luved Ihee still ?
If when, that hour recalling
From which he dales hia woes,
Thnu feei'st a tear-drop falling,
Ah, blu^h not while it flows i
But, all the past forgiving,
Bend gently u'er tits shrine,
And say, " This heart, when living,
With all its faults, was mine."
WHEN NIGHT BRINGS THE HOUR.
When night brings the hour
Of starlight and joy,
There comes to my bower
A fairy-wing'd bny ;
With eyes so bright,
So full of wild arls,
Like neisof light,
To tangle young hearts j
With lips, in whose keeping
Love 8 secret may dwell,
Like Zephyr a-leep in
Some rosy sea shell.
Guess who he is,
Name bu( his name.
And his best kiss,
For reward, you may claim.
Where'er o'er the ground
He prints his light feel.
The nuvv'is there are found
Most shining and sweet i
His looks, as snft
As lightning in May,
Though dan£:erous ofi,
Ne er wound but in play:
And oh, when his wings
Have brush'd o*er my lyre,
You 'd fancy its strings
Were turning to fire.
Guess who he is,
N tme but his name,
And his best kiss.
For reward, you may claim.
LIKE ONE WHO, DOOM'D.
Like one who, doomM o'er distant seas
His weaiy pith to measure,
When home at length, with fav'ring breeze,
He brings the far-sought treasure ;
His ship, in sight of shore goes down,
That shore lo which he h^^sled ;
And all the wealth he thought his own
1b o'er the waters v\a:.ted !
Like him, tliis heart, thro' many a track
Of toil and sorrow stravlt.g.
One hope alone hroneht fundly back.
Its toil and giief replying.
Like him, alas, I see that ray
Of hcpe before me perish,
And one datk minute sweep awav
What years were given lo cherish.
FEAR NOT THAT, WHILE AROUND THE*
Fear not fb^t, while nmund thco
Life's varied bieasln^s pour.
One 6igh of hers shall >vuo>id thee,
Whose smile thou sctk'sl no moro.
Nn, deid Ai.d cold for ever
Let our past luve reinatn ;
Once gone, its si'iiit nevLT
Shall bauDt thy rest a^ain.
May the new ties that bind lhe«
Far sweeter, happier prove,
Nor e'er of me remind thee,
But by their truth and love.
Think how, asleep or waking,
Thy image haunts me yet:
But, how this heart is breaking
For thy own peace forget.
WHEN LOVE IS KIND.
When love is kind.
Cheerful and free.
Love 's sure to find
Welcome from me.
But when Love brings
Heartache or pang,
Tears, and such things —
Love may go hang I
If Love can sigh
F r one alone,
Well pleaded am I
To be that one.
But should I »ee
Love giv'n to rove
To two or three,
Then — good-hy Love I
Love must, in short.
Keep fond and true,
Through good report
And evil too.
Else, here I swear.
Young Love may go.
For aught ! care —
To Jericho.
THE GARLAND I SEND THEK
The Garland I send thee was cull'd from thos*k*f)wert
Where thou and I ivander'd in long vanish'd haurs;
Not a leaf or a blossom its bloom here dispU^s,
But bears some remembrance of those happy days.
The roses were gathered by thai garden gate.
Where our meetings, Iho' early, seemed always too
late;
Where ling'ring full oft through a summer-night*B
Our partings, tho' late, appeared always too soon.
The rest were all cull'd from the hanks of that glade,
Where, watching the fuo^ef. so often we've stray'd.
And mourn'd, as (be time went, that Love had no
power
To bind in his chain even one happy hour.
HOW SHALL I WOO?
If I ^peak to thee in friei-dshlp's name.
Thou ihinkst I speak too coldjy;
If I mention Love's devnied lltnie,
Thou lay'st I speak too boldly.
Vm
SACRED SONGS.
BeUveen these two iincqu^! fires.
Whvd
s to llie_.
.eudship, tlio' en foot she come,
I'm a'fricnt], if such thy heart requires,
If jnore lliou seeker, a lover.
Which 5.*iali It be ? How shall I woo?
I'air one, choose betweeu the two.
Tho' ihe wings of Love will brightly play,
When firsl h^ ciunes la woo thee,
Tlicre *s a chai ce ihat he in.iy liy away
As( s- af '■" ^ - '""— '
\Vhi.. ....p,
No hidits of fancy iryii'g,
\Vi], Iheictore, oft be fou-.d at home,
When Love abinad is llyii.g.
Which shall it be? How sh.ill I woo?
Dear oue, choose betweeu Ihe two.
If neither feeling suits thy heart,
I^l'a see, tn please the'e, whether
We may not learn some precious art
To mix their charms together;
Ooe feeling, btill more swei't, to forna
Kitim two BO sweet alre*dy —
A friendship that like love is warm,
A love like friendship ste;idy.
Thi.s let it be, thus let me won,
I)eare::t, thus we'll join the two.
SPRING AND AUTUMN.
Every season hath its pleasures ;
Spring may boast her flowery prime,
Tet the vineyard's ruby treasures
Brighten Autumn's sob'ier time.
So Life's year begins and closes;
Days, tho' shortening, siiU can shine;
Phillis when she miglit have canght me,
All Ihe Spring looked c-y and shy.
Yet her^clf m Autumn sought me,
Wheu the flowers were all gone by.
Ah, toolafe;— she found her hwer
Calm and free beneath his vine,
Drinking to the S[. ring-time over,
In his best autumnal wiue.
Thus may we, as years are flying.
To iheir flight our pleasure's suit,
Nor regret the blossouis dying,
While we still may taste the fruiL
Oh, while days like this are ours,
Where's the lip that dares re[)ine?
Spring may lake our loves and flow'rs,
bo Autumn leaves us friends and wiue.
LOVE ALONE.
If thou wonld'st have thy charms enchant our eyes,
First xvin our hearts, for there thy enipire lies:
Beauty in vain would mount a heartless thione,
Her Right Divine is given by Love alone.
What would the rose with all her pride be worth,
Were there no sun tn call htr brightness forth ?
Maidens, unloved, like flowers in darkness thrown,
Wail but that light, which comes from Love alone.
Fair as thy charms in yonder glass appear,
Trust not their bloom, they 'II ftde from year to year:
Would'si thou they siill should hhineas first they ihone.
Go, fix iby mirror in Love's eyes aloue.
SACRED SONGS.
TO EDWARD TUITE DALTON, ESQ.
THIS FIRST NUMBER OF SACRED SONGS IS INSCRIBED
BY HIS SINCERE AND ArFEUTIONATE FRIEND
THOMAS MOORE.
Mayfxld Cottage, Jlshboume, May, IS16.
SACRED SONGS.
THOU ART, O GOD.
(air.— UNKNOWN.*)
^The dny is thine; the night ateo is thine: thou hast
pfppBrf'iI the light and the sun.
"Tlmu hiist 6L-t all the birders of the earth : thou hast
made Hummer aud uiater." — Psalm, Ixxiv. IC, 17.
Thou art, O God, the life and light
(If all this wondrnus world we see;
Its qlow by day, its snii'e by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee.
I I have heard that this air is hy the late Mrs.
Sheridan. It is ^une; to ihe henuliful old words, *' 1
do cunfrss th u'rt smO'lh and Jnit."
Wherever we turn, (hy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine!
When Day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of Even,
And we can almost think we gaze
Through golden vistas into Heaven —
Those hues, that make ihe Sun's decline
So soft, so radiant, Lord ! are Thine.
When Night, wiih wings of s'arry gloom,
O'ershadows all the eanh and skies,
Like some dark, beautenus bird, whose plome
Is sp irk ling " ith unnuuiber'd eyes —
That sacred glonni, those fires divine.
So grand, so countless, Lord ! are Thine.
When voufhftil Spring amund us breathej,
Thy Spirit warms her fragrant sigh ;
And every flower the Summer wreahet
Is bnrn beneath that kindling eye.
Where'er we turn, thy gloiies shine,
And all.lhings fair and bricht are Thins,
SACRED SONGS.
197
THE BIRD, LET LOOSE.
(air. —BEETHOVEN.)
The bird, let loose in eastern Bkies,l
Whtn hastening fondly home,
NeVr stoops to eanh her wing, nor flies
Where idle warMers roam.
But tiigh she shoots ihrough air and llght^
Above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds lier flight,
Nor 8h.idow dims her way.
So grant me, God, frnjn every care
And stain of passion free.
Aldt, through Virtue's puierair.
To hold my course to 'I'hee I
Ho sin to cliiud, no lure lo stay
My Soul, as hiinie she springs;
Thy Sunshine on her jr-yful way
Thy Freedom iu her « ings !
FALLEN IS THY THRONE.
(air. — MARTINI.)
Fall'n is (hy Throne, oh Israel !
Silence is o'er ihy plains;
Thy dwellings all liedesnlate.
Thy children veep in chains.
Where are Ihe dews th:»l fed thee
On Etham's barren shore?
That fire fmm Heaven which led thee,
Now lighls thy path no more.
Lord ! thou didst love Jerusalem —
Once she wa^ all thy own ;
Her love thy f,iirest heritage,*
Her power thy gh'iy's throne.'
Till evil came, and bligtited
Thy lotig-lov'd olive-iree ;« —
And Salem's shriies were lighted
For oiher gods than Thee.
Then sunk Ihe star of Snlyma —
Then pas-.'d her glory's day,
Like he.ith that, in the wilderness,*
The wild wind whils aw^iy.
Silent and waste her bowers,
Wheie once the mighty trod,
And sunk ihnse guilty tuwers,
While Baal reign'd as God,
•'Go'»— said the Lord — "Ye Conquerors I
*'Steep in her Mntid ynnr swords,
"And raze to earth her b,ittlements,6
*' For they are not the Lord's.
" Till Zion's mournful daughter
•'O'er kindred bones shall tread,
**And llinnnm's vale of slnughleri
*' Shall bide but half her dead •■'
« The carrier-pigeon, it is well known, flies at an
eleva'ed pitch, in order to surnrunt every nbslacl
between her and the place to which she is destined.
^"I have left mine heritage; I have given the
dearly-beloved of n.y soul iiilo ihe hands of her ene-
mies." — Jeremiah, x'n. 7.
\VHO IS THE MAID?
ST. Jerome's love,»
(air. — BEETHOVEN.)
Who is the Maid my spirit seeks.
Through cold reproof and slander*8 blifM?
Has she Love's roses on her cheeks?
Is hers an eye of this world's light?
iS'o— wan and sunk with midnight prayer
Are the pale Infks of her I ^oye j
Or if. at times, a light be there,
Jts beam is kindled from above.
1 chose not her, my heart's elect,
From those who seek their M-ker'a ihrios
In gems nnd garlands piotidly dcck'd,
As if themsehes were things divine.
No — Heaven but faintly warms the breait
That beats beneath a broider'd veil j
And she who comes in glittering vest
To mourn her frailty,'stiil is frail.9
Not so the faded form I prize
And love, because its bloom is gone;
The glory in those sainted eyes
Is all the gr»ce her brow puts on.
And ne'er was Beauty's dawn so bright,
So touching as Ihat firm's decay.
Which, like the alt,.r*s trembling light,
In holy lustre wastes away.
THIS WORLD IS ALL A FLEETING SHOW.
( AIR. — STEVENSON.)
This world is all a fleeting show,
Fo
illusion given ;
mules of Joy. the tears of Woe,
Iful shine, deceiiful (low —
ire's nothing true but Heiven !
The
Dece
Th
And false the light on Glory's plume,
As fading hues of Even;
And Love and H-^pe. and Reauty^s bloom,
Are blossoms galher'd for the tomb —
There 's nothing bright but Heavea I
Poor wanderers of a stormy day.
From wave to wave we're driven,
And Fancy's flash, and Rea-on's ray.
Serve but to light the troubled way —
There "s nothing calm but Heaven!
OH THOU WHO DRVST THE MOURNER'S
TEAR.
(AIR. — HAYDN.)
Oh Thou who dry'si the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could nnt fly to Thee!
* "The j^ord called thy name a green oUve-Iree;
fair ani of goodly fruil." kc. —Jer. xi. 16,
6 " For he shall be like the heath in Ihe desert.'- —
Jer. xvii. 6.
'"Therefore, behold, the days come, aaith the
liOrd, that it th*U no more be called Tophet, nor the
Valleyof the Son of Hinnom.bnt the Valley of Slaugh-
ter; for they shall bury in Topliet till there be no
place." — Jer. vii. 32.
8 These lines were susgesfed by a passage in one of
St. Jer.mie's Letters, replying lo some calumnioya
remarks ihat had been circulated respecting his inti-
macy with ihe milron Paula: — "Numqnid me ves-
tes sericae, nite^U!^ gennnaB, prcta f^cies, aut auri
rapuil ambilio ? Nul<a foil alia Rom% matronarum,
quae meam possit edomare mentem, ni^i )ns:en^ atque
jejunans. fleiu pene CKcata " — Epi^t. ".St tii\ Tf'Utem,^*
9 Ov ycrp Kprso^opsiv ryv fatcpvovaav Ja.—
Chrysost. Homil, 8. in Epist. ad Tim,
17*
198
SACRED SONGS.
The friends who in oor sunshine live,
When WfUter cnines, are flown;
And he who has but tears lo give,
Must weep Ihnse tears alone.
But Thou wilt heal that bmken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their tra^nnce from the woundtd part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.
When jny no longer soothes or cheers,
And even the hope that threw
A moment's sparkle oVr nur tears,
Is dininiM and vanish'd too.
Oh, who would bear life's stormy doom,
Did not thy Wing of Love
Come, brightly wafting through the gloom
Our Peace-branch from above ?
Then sorrow, touch'd by Thee, grows bright
With more than rapture's ray j
Ab darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day !
WEEP NOT FOR THOSE.
(air.— AVISON.)
Weep not for those whom the veil of the tomb,
In life's happy morning, hath hid from our eyes,
Ere sin threw a blight o'er the spirit's young bloom,
Or earth had profaned what was born for the skies.
Deathchill'd the fair foun'ain.ere sorrow hadsiain'd it;
'T was frozen in all the pure light of iis course,
And but sleeps till the sunshine of Heaven has un>
Cinin'd it,
To water rhat Eden where first was its ponrce.
Weep not for those whom the vt-il of the tomb,
In life's happy morning, ha'h hid from our eyes.
Ere sin threw a blight o'er the spiri's young bloom,
Or earth had profaned what was born for the skies.
Mourn not for her, the young Bride of the Vale,i
Our gayest and loveliest, lost lo us now,
Ere life's early luslre had time to grow pale.
And the garland of Lnve was yet fresh i>u her brow.
Oh. then was her moment, dear spirit, for flying
From this gloomy world, while its gloom was un-
known —
And the wild hymns she warbled •'O sweetly, in dying,
Were echoed in Heaven by lips like her own.
Weep not for her — in her sprjng-'ime bhe flew
To that land where the wings of the soul are un-
furl'd ;
And now, like a star beyond evening's cold dew,
Looks radiantly down on the tears of this world.
THE TURF SHALL BE MY FRAGRANT
SHRINE.
(air. — STEVENSON.)
The turf shall be my fragrant shrine ;
My temple. Lord! that Arch of (hine;
« This second ver^e, which I wrote long after th
first, alluries to the fiteof a very [nvtlv and amiable
girl, the daughter of ttie lata Coir nel Kainbrisge, whn
was married in Astibourne church, Ocu.ber 31, I8I5,
and died of a fever in a (ew weeks af'er : the sound
of her marriige-hells set-med scarcely out of our ears
when we heaid of her death. Dunne her !asf deli-
rium she sung sever tl hymns, in a voice even clearei
and vweeter llian usuti, and :tnioiig itiem were somt
: from the present c^-lleclion, (pariicu'aily, '* Th'
nothing hrieh' but H "■ '■ • -"
My censer's breath the mountain airs,
And silent thoughts my only prayers.^
My choir shall be the moonlight waves,
W hen murmuring homeward to their ca\ei,
Or when the stillness of the sea,
Even more than uiusic, breathes of Thee !
I '11 seek, bv day, some glade unknown.
All light and silence, like thy Throne ;
And the pale stars shall be, at Qight,
The only eyes that watch my rite.
Thy Heaven, on which 't is bliss lo look,
Shall be my pure and shining book,
Where I shall read, in words of flame,
The gluries of thy wondrous name.
I '11 read thy anger in the rack
That clouds awhile the day-beam's track,*
Thy mercy in the azure hue
Of sunny brightness, breaking through.
There 's nothing bright, above, below,
From flowers th»i bloom to stars that glow,
But in its light my soul can see
Some feature of thy Deity :
There's nothing dark, below, above,
But in its gloom I trace ihy Love,
And meekly wait that moment, when
Thy touch shall turn all bright again I
sound the loud timbrel.
Miriam's song.
(air. — AVISON.^)
" And Miriam, the Prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took
a timbrel in her hsrtd ; and all the wfimrn went out after
her, with timbrels and with dances." — £xod. xv. 20.
Sound the loud Timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea !
Jehovah h'S trinmph'd — his pe' pie are free.
Sine — for the p-ide of the Tyrant is broken,
Hischirio'Nhis horsemen, >]| splendid and brave-
How vain was their boast, for the Lord bath but
spoken,
And chiriors and horsemen are sunk in the wave,
Sound the loud Timbrel o'er Egvpt's dark sea ;
Jehovah has tnumph'd — his people are free.
praise to the C"nquernr, praise to the Lord !
His wnrd wasour arrow, his breath was our sword. —
Who sh.Tll teturn to tell Egypt the slory
Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride ?
For the Lord hMh lonk'd nut from his pillar of gIo.y,4
And all her brave thousands are dash'd in the tide.
Sound the loud Timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea,
Jehovah has triumph'd — bis people are free I
GO, LET ME WEEP.
(air. — STEVENSON.)
Go, let me weep — there's blis-< in tears.
When he who sheds them Inly feels
Some lingering stain < f early years
Effaced by every drop that steals.
*i Pii orant tacite,
3 I have -iO much altered the charac'er of this air,
£ fif oue of Avison'
fishioned co-icertos. that, \\ilhnut this acknowledg-
ment, it could h-irdly, I ihink, be lecoemzed.
4 «' And it came to pass. that, in the morning watch,
^^ ^ _ __. _, , .._ _ y inter- 1 the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptims,
I erting girl bad often heard' me siug during the sum- through the pilhr of fire and of the clnud, and trou-
nier. | bled the host of the Egyptians " — fxod. xiv. 84.
SACRED SONGS.
19!)
The fruitless showers of worldly woo
Fall dark to earth and never rise ;
While tears thai from repentance (low,
Id bright exhalemirnt reach the skies.
Go, let me weep.
Leave me to sigh o'er hours that flew
More idly iban the summer's wind,
And, while they pass'd, a fr^^rance tlirew,
But left no trace of sweets behind. —
The waimest si^li that pleasure heaves
Is C'dd, 13 faint to (hose that swell
The heart, where pure repentance grieves
O'er hours of pleasure, loved tuo well.
Leave me Id sigh.
COME NOT, OH LORD.
(air. — IIAYDN.)
Come not, oh Lord, in the dread robe of splendour
Thou wor'st on the Mount, in the day of thine ire ;
Come veil'd in thot-e stiadows, deep, awful, but tender,
Which Mercy flinsa over thy features of tire!
I/>rd,thou rememb'rest the night, when thy Nation *
Stood fronting her Foe by the red-rolling stream;
O'er F-gypt (by pill;»r shed dark dcsnialion,
White Israel bask'd all the night in its beam.
So, when the dread clouds of anger enfuld Thee,
From us, in thy mercy, the dark side remove;
While shrouded in terrors the guilty behold '1 hee,
Oh, turn upon us the mild light of thy Love!
WERE NOT THE SINFUL MARY'S TEARS.
(air, — STEVENSON.)
Were not the sinful Mary's tears
An oftering worthy Heaven,
When, o'er the faults of former years,
She wept — and was forgiven ?
When, bringing every balmy sweet
Her d 'y of luxury stored,
She o'er her Saviour's hallnw'd feet
The precious odours pour'd ; —
And wiped them with that golden hair,
Where once the diamond shone;
Though now those gems of grief were tbtn
Which shine for God alone!
Wee not those swee's, so humbly shed —
That hair — those weeping eyes —
And thesrmk heart, that inly bled —
Heaven's noblest sacrifice?
Thou, that hast slept in error's sleep,
Oh, would'st thou wake in Heaven,
Like Mary kneel, like Mary weep,
"Love much''* and be forgiven!
AS DOWN IN THE SUNLESS RETREATS.
(air. — HA\ DN.)
As down in the sunless retreats of the Ocean,
Sweet flowers ;tre spriiming no mortal can see,
So. deep in my soul the -till pr.yer of devolini,
Untieard by the world, rises s-leiit to Thee,
i "And il came hetxveen the camp of the Ef^yptians
and the r^mp of Israel ; and il was a cloud and d trk-
nes' to tlieni. but it gave light by night to these.'* —
Exod. xiv. 20.
My God! silenr, to Thee —
Ture, warm, silent, to Thee.
As siill to the star of its worship, though clouded,
1 he needle points faithfully o'er the dim jea.
So. dark as 1 roam, in this winti-y world shrouded,
The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee,
My God ! trembling, to Thee,
True, fond, trembling, to Thee.
BUT WHO SHALL SEE.
(air. — STEVENSON.)
But who shall see the glorious day
When, throned on Zion's brow.
The Lord shall rend that veil away
Which hides the na'ions now?3
When earth no more beneath the fear
Of his rebuke shall lie;*
When pain shall cease, ar,d every tear
Be wiped from every eye.*
Then, Judah, thou no more shalt mourn
Beneath the heathen's cliain;
Thy days of splendour shall return,
And :4ll be new again.**
The Fount of Life shall then be quaff'd
In peace, by all who come ; i
And every wind thai blows shall waft
Some long-lost exile home.
ALMIGHTY GODI
CHORUS OF PRIESTS.
(AIR, — MOZART.)
Almigh'yGod! when round thy shrine
The F.alm-tree's heavenly branch we twine,8
(Emblem of Life's eternal ray.
And I.ove that " fadelh ho! away,")
We bless the flowers, expanded all,9
We bless the leaves that never fall,
And trembling sav,— " In Eden thus
" The Tree of Life mny flower for us I"
When round ihv Cherubs — smiling calm
Without their flames »o— we wieaihe the Palm,
» *' And he will destroy, in this mountain, the face
of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that
is spre.id over all nations." — Isaiah, xxv. 7.
4 "The rebuke of his people shall he take away
from off all the earth." — Isaiah, xxv. 8.
* '* And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; neither shall there be any more pain." — Act),
xxi. 4.
6 "And he that sat upon the throne said. Behold, 1
irnke all things new." — Rev. xxi. 5.
1 " And whosoever will let him lake the water of
life freely.'* — Rev.xxW. 17.
8 "The Scriptures having declared that the Temple
of Jerusalem was a type of ihe Me-*siah. it is natural
to conclude that the pahns, whicli made so corspicu-
ous a figure in that s'ruciure, reprt-sen'ed 'hat Life
and hiimurtality \vhich were brought fo lijhi bv the (
Gospel." — Ohstrvatiuns on the Palm, as a sacred
Etnbltm, by W. Tiiihe.
» " And he carved all the walls of the house round
about with carved figures of cherubiins. aud palm-
trees, and openJlowtrsV — I Km^s, vi. 29.
10 " When the passover of the tabernacles was re-
vealed to the great lawgiver in the mount, then the
SACRED SONGS,
Oh God ! we feel Ihe emblem true —
Thy Mercy is eternal tno,
Thnse Cherubs, with their smiling eyes,
That crown of Faim which never dies,
Are bul the types of Thee abive —
Elernal Life,' ajid Peace, and Love !
OH FAIR! OH PUREST!
SAINT AUGUSTINE TO HIS SISTER.'
(air.— MOORE.)
01 faT ! oh purest ! be thou the dove
That flies alone to some sunny ^rove.
And lives unseen, and bathes her wing,
All vestal white, in the limpid spring.
There, if Ihe hovering hawk be near,
That limpid sprin» in its mirror clear
Reflects him, ere he reach his prey,
And warns the timorous bird away.
Be ihou this dove;
Fairest, purest, be thou this dove.
The sacred pa^es of God's own bonk
Shall be the spring, the eternal brook,
lu whose holy mirror, night and day
Thou MI study Heaven's reflected ray;
And should the foes of virlue dare,
With gloomy wing, to seek thee there.
Thou wilt see how dark their shadnws lie
Between Heaven and ihee, and trembling fly I
Bo !h u that dnve ;
Fairest, purest, be Ihou that dove.
ANGEL OF CHARITY
(AIR. — HANDEL.)
Angel of Charity, who. from above,
Comest to dwell a pilgrim here,
Thy voice is music, thy smile is love,
And Pity's soul is in thy tear.
When on the >hrine of God were laid
First-fruits of ail most g'>nd and fair,
That ever bloom'd in Eden's shade,
Thine was the holiest oflering there,
Hope and her sister. Faith, were given
But as our guides to yonder sky ;
Soon as thev reach the verge of heaven,
There, lost in peifed bliss, they die.*
But, long as Love, Almighty Love,
Sh;*n on his throne of thrones abide,
Thnu, Charity, shslt dwell ;ibove,
Smiling for ever by His side !
cherubic images which appeared in that structure
were no longer sui rounded by flames; for the taber-
nacle was a type of the dispensati m of mercy, by
which Jehovah confirmed hU gracious c'>venant to
redeem mankind." — Observations on the Palm.
J In St. Augustine's Treatise upon theadv mfages of
» solitary life, addressed to his sister, there is the fol-
lowing fanciful passage, from which, the reader will
perceive, the thought of this song was taken : — *' Te,
80ror, nunquam nolo essesecurain, ^ed timere semper*
que tuam fragilita'em habere suspectam, ad inslar
psvids colunibae frequentare rivos aqur'rum et quisi
in speculo accipitris cemere supervolaittis efligiein el
cavere. Rivi aquarum sententiae sunt scripturarum,
quae de llmpidissinio sapienllas funle proflueutes,"&,c.
sjc.'-'Dt Vit. Ereynit. ad Soj-urcm.
4 *' Then Faith shall fail, and holy Hope shall die,
One lost in certainty, and one in joy." Prior.
BEHOLD THE SUN.
(air. — LORD MOKNINQTON.
Behold the Sun, how bright
Frn[]i yonder E;i^t he springs,
As if the soul of hie and light
Were breathing from his wings.
So bright Ihe Gnspel broke
Upon the s;tuls of men;
So fresh the dre:imiug world awoko
In Tiuih's full radiance then.
Before yon Sun arose,
Stars clusier'd through the sky —
Bul oh how djm, how pale were those.
To His one burning eye !
So Truth lent many a ray.
To bless the Pagan's night —
Bu', Lord, how weak, liovv cold were Ihey
To Thy One glorious Light I
LORD, WHO SHALL BEAR THAT DAY.
(air. — DR. BOYCE.)
Lord, \vho shall bear that day, 90 dread, so splendid,
VVhen we shall see 'hy Angel, hov'riug o'er
This sinful world, with hand to heav'n extended,
And hear him sweir by Thee that Time's no more ?3
When Earth shall feel thy fast consuming ray —
Who, Mighly God, oh who shall bear (hat day?
When through the world thy awful call halh sounded—
" Wake, all ye Dead, to judgment wake, ye Dead !"*
And from the clouds, by seraph eyes surroundtd,
The Saviour shall put for'h his radiant head ; 5
While Earth and He-.v'n before Him pa^saway 6 —
Who, Mighly God, oh who shall bear that day ?
When, with a glance, th' Eternal Judge shall sever
Earth's evil spirits from the pute and bright,
And say to those, *' Dep -rl from me for eier !"
To //je5P,'-Crme, dwell with nie in endless light !" i
When each and all in silence take their way —
Who, Mighty God, oh who shall bear that day ?
OH, TEACH ME TO LOVE THEE.
(air. — HAYDN.)
Oh, teach me to love Thee, to feel what thou art,
Till, fill'd With the one sacred image, my heart
3 ''And the angel which I saw stand upnn the sea
and upon the earlii, lifred U|> his hand to heaven, and
sware by Him Ihat Uvelh for ever and ever, that Ihere
should be time no longer." — Rev. x. 5, 6.
* "Awake, ye Dead, and come to judgment."
6 " They shall see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven —and all the angels with him.'' —
Matt. xxiv. 30, and xxv. 31.
6 '' From his f-ice the earfh and the heaven fled
away," — iJeu. xx. IL
■I "And before Him shall be gathered all nations,
and He shall separate 'hem one from another.
"Ihen shall the King say unto Ihem on his right
band, C"me, ye blessed of my Father, inherit Ihe
kingdom prepared for you, &c.
*''l'hen shall Hesay also unto them on the left hand.
Depart from me, ye cursed, &c.
"And these shall go away into everlasting punish-
ment ; but the righteous into life eternal."— Mii(/. xxv.
37 et seq.
SACRED SONGS.
201
Shall all other paEsions disown ;
Like snme pure teiuple, thai shines apart,
Reserved fur 'Ihy wot ship alone.
Id joy and in sorrow, thn-ugh praise and through
bhnie.
Thus still Irt me, livin? and dyin^ (he same,
Id Thy service bloimi and decay —
Like some Ic-ne alar, whose votive flame
In holiness wasteth away.
Though born in this desert, ai.d doomM by my birth
To pain and alUictinn, lo darkness and dearth,
Un I hce lei luy spirit rely —
Like some rude dial, thit, fix'd on earth,
Siill looks for its li^ht from the sky.
WEEP, CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
(AIR.— STEVENSON.)
Weep, weep for him, the Man of God — •
111 yondt-r vale he sunk to rest j
But none of earih can point the sod "^
That flowers above his s.icred bre.ist.
Weep, children of Israel, weep!
His doctrine fell like Heaven's rain, 3
His woids lefresh'd like Heaven's dew —
Ob, ne^er shall Israel see again
A Chief, to God and her S'. true.
Weep, children of Israel, weep !
Remember ye his parting gaze,
His farev\ell song by Joi-daii's tide.
When, full of gh.ry nnd of d;.ys,
He saw the pomised land — and died.*
Weep, chitdren of Isr;iel, weepl
Tet died he not as men who sink,
Before our eyes, to soulless clay ;
But, changed to spirit, like a wink
Of suiiimer lighinin^, i)assM away.*
Weep, childieu q{ ibiael, weep !
LIKE MORNING, WHEN HER EARLY
BREEZE.
(AIR, — BEETHOVEN.)
Like morning, when her early breeze
Breaks up the surface of Ihe seas,
'Jhat, III tliose furrov\s, dark with night,
Her hand may sow ihe seeds uf light —
Thy Grace can send ils breathings o'er
'Jhe Spirii. dark and V st tcfure;
And, iresh'ning alJ i^ depths, prepare
Vor Tiulh divine to enler there.
J *• And Ihe children of l-rael wept for Moses in
the plains uf Mnab.''— ZJdwf. xxxiv. S.
2 " And he buried him in a valley in the land of
Moab: but no man knc.welh of his sepulchre unto
this day."— /itrf. ver. 6.
3 ** My doctrine shall diop as the rain, my speech
shall distil as ihe dew." — Moses^ Song.
* " ""^Jave ciused thee to see it with thine eyes, but
tliou sh^ll not go over ihither." — /)tK(. x.xxiv. 4.
6 '• As he w;is going lo embrace Eleazer ;iiid Joshua,
and was si ill discoursing with iht-m, a cloud slond
over him on the sudden, a' d he disappeared in a cer-
tain vallijy. although he wrote in ihe Holy Books iJial
he died, which was done out of fear, lest tlity should
ventuia to say tha', tiecau e of his ext jot.liiiaty
virtue, be went to Qod.^' — Jvscphus, book iv. chap.
Tiii.
Till David louch'd his sacied lyre,
In ailtiice lay ih' unbreathing wire;
But u hen he swept ils chords along,
Ev'u Angels sioop'd to liear that song.
So sleeps the soul, till Thou, oh, Lord,
Khali deign to touch ils lifeless cliotd —
Till, w;.ked by Tine, ils breath shall rise
la music, worthy of the skies 1
COME, YE DISCONSOLATE.
( AIR . — GERMAN.)
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish,
Come, ai Gnd'a altar fervenily kneel ;
Here biing your wounded heans, here tell your
anguish —
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heaU
Joy of Ihe desolate. Light of the straying,
Hope, when all others die. fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, in God's name s.iyii)g —
'* Earth has no soirow that Heaven cannot cure.'*
Go, ask the infidel, what boon he brings us,
VVtiat charm for aching hearls he can reveal,
Sweet as that heavenly promise Ho\>c sings us —
*' Earlh has no sorrow that God cannot heal.'*
AWAKE, ARISE, THY LIGHT IS COME.
(air. — STEVENSON.)
Awake, arise, thy light is come; 6
The nalions, thai befoie oulshone Ihee,
Now al thy feet lie dark and dumb —
The glory of the Lord is on thee !
Arise — the Gentiles to thy rav.
From ev'ry nook of earih sh.ill cluster
And kings and princes haste to pay
Their homage to thy lising lustre. i
Lift up thine eyes around, and see.
O'er foreign fields, o'er farthest waters.
Thy exiled ^ons relum to thee,
To thee return thy home-sick daughlers.8
And camels rich, from Midisn's tents.
Shall lay iheir treasures down before thee:
And S.ba bring her gold and sceni-s
To fill ihy Air, and sparkle o'er thee.9
See, who are these that, like a cloud," o
Are gaUieiiiig from ail earth's dnniinions.
Like doves, long ;tbsent, when allow'd
Hocjewaid to shoot their trembling pinions.
Surely Ihe isles shall wait forme,**
The ships of Tarshish round will hover,
To bring thy fOos acro^s ihe sea,
And waft their gold and siher over.
B*' Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and ths
glory of the Lord is lisen upon thee." — Isaiah, Ix,
T *' And the Gentiles shall cnme (o thy light, and
kings lo the brightness of thy rWw^." — fUd.
8 " Lift up ihine eyes round about and see; all
they gather Ihemselvts together, tlit-y come lo lliee:
thy sons shail come from afar, and Ihy daunbters shall
he ntirsed al ihy =ide." — /iid.
9 " I he mu.titude of camels shall cover thee ; the
dromedaries of Midiaii and Ephahjall they from
Sheba shall come j (hey shall bring gold and ii.ceiibc."
— IbiJ.
10 " wim are these th t fly as a cloud, and as the
doves to their win.iuws? " — /tid.
11 "Surely the isles shall wait forme, and the ships
20i2
SACRED SONGS.
And Lebanon thy pomp shall grace — »
The fir, Ihe pine, the palm victorious
Shall beautify our Holy Place.
And make the ground 1 liead on glorious.
No more shiil Discord haunt thy ways,*
Nnr ruin waste Ihy cheerless nation j
But thou bhalt call thy portals, Prai^e,
And thou shalt name thy walls, Salvation.
The sun no more shall make thee brighl,3
Nor moon shall lend her lustre to ihee,
But God, Himself, shall be thy Light,
And flash eternal glory through thee.
Thy sun shall never more go down ;
A ra", from heav'n itself descendtd,
Shall light thy everlasting cro«n —
Thy days of mouruiugall are ended.*
My O'^^n, elect, and righteous Land !
Tl K Branch, f t ever green and vernal,
WhKh I have planted wiih this hand —
lnV thou &halt in Life ElernaU^
THERE IS A BLEAK DESERT.
(AIR. — CRESCENTINI.)
Thijre is a bleak Desert, where daylight grows weary
Of wasting its smile on a region so dreary —
What may that Desert be?
'TIS Life, cheerless Life, where the few joys thai come
Are lost, like that daylight, for 't is not ibcir home.
There is a lone Pilgrim, before whose faint eyes
The water he pants for but sparkles and (lies —
Who may thai Pilgrim be?
'T is Man, hapless Man, through this hfe tempted on
By fair shining hopes, that in shining are gone.
There is a bright Fountain, through that Desert
stealing
To pure lips alone its refreshment revealing —
What may that Foui.tnin be?
'Tis Truth, holy Truth, that, like springs under
ground,
By the gifted of Heaven alone can be found. 6
There is a fair Spirit, whose wand hath the spell
To point where those waters in secrecy dwell —
Who niav that Spirit be?
'Tis Fsith, humble Faith, who hath learn'd that.
vhe
nd bends to worship, the Truth must be there '.
of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their
silver and their gold with them." — Isaiah, lie.
I " The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee ;
the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to
beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make
the place of my feet glorious." — Ibid.
^"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
wasting nor destruction within Ihy borders ; but thou
shalt call thy walls, Salvation, and thy gales, PraibC."
— Ibid.
3 "Thy sun shall be no more thv light by day;
neither for brightness shall the mooii give light unto
thee: but the Lord shall be unto tliee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy gh'ry."— /Wd.
* "Thy sun shall no more go down; for the Lord
shall be thine everlasting licht, and the days of thy
mourning shall be ended." — Ibid.
» "Thy people also shall be all righteous; they
shall inherit the ImJ ft.r ever, thf branch of my
planting, the work of my hands." — Ibid
t> In singing, the following line had_ better be
aJo}»te<I,—
•' Can but by the gifted of Heaven be found.**
SINCE FIRST THY WORD.
(air.— NICHOLAS FREEMAN.)
Since fi^^t Thy Word awaked my heart
Like new life dawning o'er me.
Where'er I turn mine eyes, Thou arL
All light and love before me.
Nought else 1 feel, or hear or see —
All bnnds of earth 1 sever —
Thee, 0 God, and only Thee
1 live for, now and ever.
Like him whose fetters drnpp'd away
When ligh' shorje o'er his prison, ^
My spirit, touch'd by Mercy's ray,
Hath from her chains arisen.
And shall a soul Thou bidst be free,
Return to bondage ? — never !
Thee, O God, and only Thee
I live for, now and ever.
HARK! »TIS THE BREEZE.
(air. — ROUSSEAU.)
Hark ! 't is the breeze of twilight calling
Earth's weary children to repose;
While, round the couch of Nature falling,
Gently the night's soft curtains close.
Soon o'er a world, in sleep reclining,
Numlierlpss stars, through yonder dark,
Shall look, like eyes of Cherubs shining
From out the veils that hid Ihe Ark.
Guard us, oh Thou, who never sleepest,
Thnu who, in silence ihnned above,
Throughout all lime, unwearied, keepest
Thy watch of Glory, Pow'r, and Love.
Grant that, benea h Ihine eye, securely,
Our souls, awhile from life u ithdrawn,
May. in their darkness, slilly. purely,
Like "se.iled fountains," rest till dawD.
WHERE IS YOUR DWELLING, YE SAINTED?
(AIR — HASSE.)
Where is your dwelling, ye Sainted
Through what Elysium more bright
Than fancy or hope ever painted.
Walk ye in glory and light ?
Who the same kingdom inherits?
Breathes there a soul that may aare
Look to that world of Spirits,
Or hope to dwell with you there?
Sages! who, ev'n in exploring
Nature through all her bright wayi,
Went, like the Setaphs, adoring,
And veil'd your eyes in the blaze —
Martyrs! who left for our reaping
Truths you had sown in your blood —
Sinners! whnm lon^ years of weeping
Chaalen'd from evil to good —
Maidens! who, like the young Crescent^
Turning awav your pa'le brows
From earth, and the light of the Present,
Look'd to your Heavenly Spouse —
S^y, 'hrough what region enchanted
Walk ye, in Heaven's sweet air?
Say, to wha' spirits '1 is eranted,
Bright souls, to dwell with you there?
1 "And, behold, the angel of the Lord cinie upon
him, and a tight shined in the prison, and his rbaiiu*
fell off from his hiud..'' ~ ^cts, xii. 7.
SACRED SONGS.
303
HOW LIGHTLY MOUNTS THE MUSE'S WING. IS IT NOT SWEET TO THINK, HEREAFTER
(air. — ANONYMOUS.)
How lightly mounts the Mtise's wine:,
Wliose thetiie is in the 5l<ie> —
Liite morning tarks, that sweeter sing
The Dcircr Heav'n iliey rise.
Though Love his magic lyre may tune.
Yet ah, ttie tlow'rs he round it vvieailies
Were pluck'd bene.ttli pnle Passion's moon
Whose madness in their oJour bieathes.
How purer far the sacred lute,
Round which Devotion lies
Sweet tiow'rs that turn to heav'niy fruit,
And palm thai never dies.
Though War's high-sounding harp may be
Most welcome to iLe hero's ears,
Alas, hisctiordsof vic'ory
Are wet, all o'er, with human tears.
How far more sweet their numbers run,
Who hymn, like Saints above.
No victor, but th' Eternal One,
No trophies but of Love !
GO FORTH TO THE MOUNT.
(air. — STEVENSON.)
Go forth to the Mount— hi ing the olive-branch home,'
And rejoice, for the day of our Freedom is come !
From that lime.^ when the moon upon Ajalon's vale,
Looking motionless down,3 saw the kings of the
earth,
Iq the presence of Gnd's mighty Champion, grow
pale —
Oh, never had JuJah an hnur c.f such mirth !
Go forth to the Mount — bring the olive-braiich home,
And rejoice, for the day of our Freedom is come !
Bring myrtle and palm— bring (he boughs of each tree
That '» worthy to wave o'er Ihe lenls of the Free.'
From that day, when the footsteps of Israel shone,
With a light not their own, through the Jordan's
deep tide,
Whose w.iter8 shrunk back as the Ark glided on — *
Oh, never had Judah an hour of such pride!
Go forth 10 Ihe Mount — bring the olive-branch home,
And rejoice, for Ihe day of our Freedom is come!
I "And th.it they should publish and proclaim in
all their cities, .ind in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth
unto the mount, and fetch olive-bfauches," &c. &c
A'e/l. viii. 15.
» " For since Ihe days of Joshua the son of Nun
unto that day had not the children of Israel done so:
and there was very gre^it gladness." — lUoL 17.
»"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibenn ; and thou.
Moon, in the valley of Ajalon." — /osA. x. 12.
<" Fetch olive-branches, and pine-branches, and
mvrtle. branches, and palm-branches, nnd branches of
thick trees, to make booths."- A'cA. viii. 15.
» " And Ihe priests ihal hare Ihe ark of the cove-
nant )f the l.nrd stood firm on dry ground in the
midst rf. Jordan, and all ihe Israelites passed over on
dry protiud." — Joth. iii. 17.
(air. — HAYDN.)
Is it not sweet to think, hereafter,
When the Spirit leaves this sphere,
Lo»e, with deathless wing, shall waft her
To those she long hath niourn'd for here ?
Hearts, from which 't was death to sever,
Eyes, this world can ne'er restore,
Theie, as warm, as bright as ever.
Shall meet us and be lost no more.
When wearily we wander, asking
Of earth and heav'n, where are they.
Beneath whose smile we once lay basking,
Blest, and thinking bliss would stay I
Hope still lifts her radiant finger
Pointing to th' eternal H.une,
Upon whose portal \et ihey linger,
Looking back for us to come.
Alas, alas — doth Hope deceive us?
Shall friendship— love— shall all those tiea
That bind a moment, and llicn leave us,
Be found again where nothing dies?
Oh, if no other boon were given,
To keep our lie:»rls from wrong and Btam,
Who would not try to win a Heaven
Where all we love shall live again?
WAR AGAINST BABYLON.
(air. — NOVEL LO.)
" War against Babylon ! " shout we around,*
Be our banners Itirough earth nnfurl'd ;
Rise up. jenations, yekings, at the sound— 1
" War against Babylon ! " shout through the world I
Oh, ihou, that dwellest on many waters,8
'1 by day of pride is ended now ;
And ilie dark curse of Israel's daughter*
Breaks, like a thunder-cloud, over thy brow 1
War, war, war against Babylon!
Make bright the arrows, and galher Ihe shields,'
Set the standard of Gi:d on hiih ;
Swarm we, like locusts, o'er all her fields,
"Zion"our waich\^ord, And "vengeance " our cry 1
Woe 1 woe ! — the time of ihy visitation to
Is come, [iroud Land, thy doom is cast —
And the black surge of desolation
Sweeps o'er Ihy guiliy head, at last !
War, war, war against Babylon !
« "Shout against her round about.»—/er. 1. 15.
■■ " Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet
among the nations, prepare the nations against her,
call bgelher against her the kingdoms." &c. &c.—
liiid. li. 27.
any walen, thy
' Make bright the arrows ; gather the shieldi
. . set the standard upon the walls of Bibylon."
) " Woe unto them ! for their day is com*, tha
: of their visilalion !" — /ii'd. I. iii.
204
THE SUMMMER FETE,
THE SUMMER FETE
TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. NORTON.
For the groundwork of the following Poem I am
indebted lo a niemoTable Fere, given some years since,
at Boyle Farm, Ihe seat of Ihe late Lord Henry Fitz-
gerald. In commemoraiion of that evening — of
which the lady to whom these pa^es are inscribed
was, I well recollect, one of the most distinguished
ornainen^s — I was induced at Ihe lime to write some
veues which were aferwards, however, thrown aside
uvifinisbed, on my discovering that the same task had
been undertaken by a nnble poet,i whose playful and
happy jtu-cftsprit on the subject has since been pub-
lished. It was but lately, Iha', on finding the frag-
ments of my own sketch among my papers I thought
of founding on them such a de'Cupiion of an imagi-
nary Fete a» mi<ht furniith me with situations for the
iutroduction of music.
Such is the origin and object of Ihe following Poem,
acd 10 Mrs. Norton it is, with every feeling of admi*
ra'iou and regard, inscribed by her father's warmly
attached friend,
THOMAS MOORE.
Sloperton Cottage, November, IS3I.
THE SUMMER FETE,
" \Vhere are ye now, ye summer days,
"Thai cnce inspired the pnel's lais?
" Bleel time! ere Eneiand's nvniphs and swains,
" For lack of sunbeams, tonk lo cuals —
" Summers of lijhi. undimm'd bv raii.s,
** Whose only mocking irace remains
*' In watering-pots and parasols."
Thus spoke a youn^ Patrician maid,
As, oil the morning of that Fete
Which bards unborn shall celebrate,
She backwaid drew her curtain's shide,
And, closing one halfdazElcd eye,
Peep'd with the other at the sky —
Til' important sky, whose lizhl or gloom
Was to decide, this day. Ihe doom
Of some few hundred beauties, wits.
Blues, Dandies, Swains, and Exquisites.
Faint \\ ere her hopes ; for June had now
Set in wi'h all his usmi rigiur !
Youik; Zephyr yet scarce knowing how
To nurse a bud, or fan a bough,
But Euius inperpeiu,il vigour;
And, such the biling summer air.
That she. Ihe nymph now neslling there —
Sn'iff as her own bright gems recline,
At iii?lii, wiihin their cotton shrine —
H*d. more than once, been caught of late
Kneeling befoie her blazing grate,
Like a young wor-hipper of fire,
Wi'h h.nds uplifted to Ihe tlanic.
Whose gloiv, as if to woo ihem ninher,
Through the white fingers flushing came.
But r,!i ! the lishf, the unhoped-for lish'.
That now illumed this morning's heaven!
Up sprung lanthe at the sight.
Ttough — hark ! — the clocks but strike eleven
t Lord Francis Egerton.
And rarely did the nymph surprise
Mankind so early with her eyes. "
Who now will say that England's sun
(Like England s self, these spendthrift dan)
His stock of wealih halh near outrun.
And must retrench his golden rays —
Pay for the pride of sunbeams past.
And to mere moonshine come at last?
" Calumnious thought !" lanthe cries.
While coming mirlh lil up each glance,
And, prescient of the ball, her eyes
Already had begun to dance :
For brighter sun Than thai which now
Sparkled o'er London's spires and fower»,
Had never beni from heaven his brow
To kiss Firenze's Cily of Flowers.
What must it be - if thus so fair
jMid the smoked groves of Grosvenor Square —
Whai must it he wheie Thames is seen
Gliding between his banks of green
While rival villas, on each side.
Peep from ti.eir bowers to woo his tide.
And, like a Turk between two rows
Of Harem beauties, on he goes —
A lover, loved for ev'n the grace
With which he slides from their embrace.
In one of those enchanted domes,
One, the mosi flowery, cool, and bright
Of all by which that river roams.
The Fele is lo be held lo-nighl —
That Fele already link'd to fame.
Whose cards, in many a fair one's sight
(When look'd for long, al last they came,)
Seeni'd ciiclcd wilh a fairy light ;—
That Fe'e to which Ihe cull, the flower
Of England's beauty, rank arid power,
From Ihe young spinster, just come out,
To Ihe old Premier, too long in —
From legs of far descended gout,
To the last new-mustachio'd chin —
All were convoked by Fashion's spells
To the small circle ivhere she dwells,
Collec'ing nightly, to allure us,
Live atoms, which logether hurl'd,
She, like another Epicurus,
Sets dancing thus, and calls " Ihe WorH."
Behold how busy in those bowers
(Like May-flies, in and out of flowers,)
The coiinlless menials swarming run.
To furnish forth, ere set of sun,
The banquel-table richly laid
Beneath yon a" nine's lenglhen'd shade.
Where fruits shall lempl, and wines eiitil»,
And Luxury's self, at Gunter's call.
Breathe from her summer-throne of ice
A spirit of coolness over aU.
And now the important hour drew nigh,
When, 'ncath Ihe (lush of evening's sky.
The wesl-end " world" for mirth lei loose,
And moved, as he of .Syracuse tl
Ne'er dreamt of moving worlds, by force
Of four-horse power, had all combined
Through Grosvenor Gate to S) eed iheir course.
O Archiaiedrs.
THE SUMMER FETE.
205
Leavinfp that portinn of minkind,
VVhoBi they call " Nubody," behind j--
No elir for LnjiJoii's leisis lo-Jay,
Nn moo . tif bi-ai.tv, new Ihis M.v,
T,i Ipiil U.-, iiijhther cifsceiil lay;—
Nolliitiic, In shorl, fnr car or eye,
Bui iivt> ,.111 belles, and wlls f;i>i;e by,
The lelles o( a past beau-munde,
A world, like Cuvier's, loig dethroned!
Ev'ii i'arli.nieni Ihi^ evening nods
Benea^t) 111' harangues of minor gods,
On half its usual opiate's share;
Tlie *reat dispensers of repose,
The tirsl-rale furnishers of piose
Being all call'd to — prose elsewhere.
Soon aa through Grosvenor's lordly square i
That last inipre^nahfe rrdiubt,
Where, guarded Willi Pattician care,
Pnineval Error slill holds out —
Where never gleam of gas must dare
'Gainnt aiii*ient Darkness to revolt,
Nor sninn'h Macadam hope to spare
The dowagers f>ne single jolt ; —
Wliere, far too sta'ely ai7«I sublime
To priitil by the lights of lime.
Lei Inlellect march how it will,
They stick to ml and watchmen slill : —
Eouu aa through that illu-trious squaie
The first epislobiry hell,
Snii'.iiin bv fits upon the air,
or parling pennies rung the knell ;
W.irn'd by thai lell-iale of llie hours,
And by the div-light's weltering beam.
The ynuiig If.ilb'e, « ho, wiih flowers
Half crown'd, had sat in idle dream
Belore her glass, scarce knowing where
Hei lingers roved through Ihat bright hair.
While, all capriciously, she now
Dislodged some curl from her white brow.
And now again re;daced it there; —
As though her task was me.nl to be
One endless change of ministrv —
A rouling-npot Loves and Graces,
But 10 plant others in their places.
Meanwhile — what sirain is thai whirh finals
Through the small boudoir ne,-.7— like notes
Of some young bird, its 'ask repealing
for the next Imnel music-nu'eting?
A voice it was, whose gentle sounds
Still kept a m-idest octave's bounds,
Nor ye' hid ventured to e.iall
I's rash ambilion to B alt,
Tlial point towards which when ladies rise.
The wi.e man takes his hat and — Hies.
Tones of a harp, loo, gently played,
■"" "■ ■" ■ )lce communing;
Came
■ilh this yiiu'hfiir'
Tones true, for once, wilhout Ihe _ ^
Of thai inflictive process, tuning —
A process which inusl oft have given
Poor Milton's ears a deadly wound;
So pleased, among Ihe joys of Heaven,
He specifies " harps ever tuned "'i
She vvlio now sung this gentle s'rain
Was our young nymph's siill younger sister -
Scarce ready yet for Fashion's Irain
In their light legions to enlist her,
But counted on, as sure to bring
Her force into the field nexl spring.
' 1 am not certain whether the Dowagers of this
Sijuare hive vet yielded to the innova inns of Gas and
Police, but at ihe time when Ihe above lines "ere
svritlen they slill obslma'elv persevered in their old
rKTime ; and would not sufl'er Ihemselves to be either
Weil guarded or well lighted.
^ their golden harps they took —
fiaryis ever luiied. Paradise Lost, book iii.
The SOI g she thus, like Jubal's shell.
Gave forlh "so sweellv and so well,"
Was one in Morning Post much fjn.ed
From a rfiuuif collection, n.imcd.
"Slings ci( the Toilei" — every Lay
Taking frsubjfcl of its Muse,
Some bianch of feminine array.
Some ilniii, with full scope, to choose,
From diain.'ndsdovvn li. dancing shoes ;
From Ihe las! hal thai Herbaulls bauds
Bequeath'd loan ailiniring wnrld,
Down to Ihe latest flounce that s'ands
Like Jacob's Ladder — or expands
Far forlh, tempestuously nnfnri'd.
Speaking of one of these new Lays,
The Morning PosI thus sweetly says : —
" Not all lh.1t breathes from Bishop's lyre,
"Ihal Harnetl dieams or Cooke conceives,
" Can match for swcelness, strength, or fire,
"This fine Canlata u|,on Sleeies.
" The very notes themselves reveal
" The cut of each new sleeve so well;
" A flat betrays the linlccillcs.'i
" Light fugues the liying lappets tell ;
•' While rich cathedral ciinrds awAe
"Our homage for the Manchts dEotijue.'"
T was the first opening song— the Lay
Of all least deep in loilet-lore.
That Ihe young nymjih, lo is bile away
The tiring-hour, thus »arWed o'er; —
SONG.
Array thee, love, arr.iy Ihee, love,
In :ill thy best array Ihee;
The sun 's below — the moon 's above —
And Night and Bliss obey Ihee.
Put on Ihee all Ihat 's bright and rare.
The zone, the wiealh, Ihe gem,
Not so much gracing charms so fair.
As borrowing grace from Iheni.
Array thee, love, array thee, love.
In all lliat's bright airay Ihee;
Thes.in's below — Ihe moon's above —
And Night and Bliss obey Ihee.
Put on ;^e plumes thy lover gave,
The plumes, that, prnudly dancing.
Proclaim lo all, where'er ll'iey wave,
Vic'orioiis eyes advancing.
Bring fo.lh Ihe tobe, wh se hue of heaven
From theedeiives such light,
Th il Iris would give all her seven
To boast but mie so bright.
Anay Ihee, love, ariay thee, love,
Sc. &c. &c.
Now hie Ihee, love, now hie Ihee, love.
Through Pleasure's circles hie thee.
And hearts, where'er Ihy foots'eps move.
Will be it, when they come nigh Ihee.
Thy every word shall be a spell,
Thy every look a ray,
And tracks of wondering eyes shall tell
The glory of thy way i
Now hie thee, love, now hie thee, love.
Through Pleasure's circles hie Ihee,
And hearts, where'er thy foots'eps move.
Shall beat when they come nigh Ihte.
Now In his Palace of the West,
Sinking lo slumber, the bright Day,
Like a tiieil monarch f'liu'd to rest,
Mid the cool aiis of Evening lay ;
18
206
THE SUMMER FETE.
While round his couch's golden rim
The gaudy clouds, like courtiers, crept —
Strugglmg each otherV^ ligh' m dim,
And catch liis la i sniiU ere he slept.
Hnw e-ny ^5 0'ertlie gliding I h;»n.es
The gniden eve Us \u^'t^ pour'd.
Shone out the high-iioni k ights and dames
Noiv ijrnuped ai(iuiid that lt;-,t;il boardj
A living mass of plumes and ll()vvt;rs,
As hough they 'd iiihl'M loth birds and bowers—
A pe pled rainbow, swamiirjg through
Wiih hat.ilaiiisof every hue;
Wiile, as ihe sparkliitg juice of France
Hiiih ill theciy^tal brimineis flowed,
Each 5un»et ray that imxed by chance
Wiih the wine's sparkles, showed
How Bunbe.mis may be taught to dance.
If not in written form exprest,
'T was known, at leisf, to every guest,
That, though n 't bidden to pa ade
Their scenic powers in masquerade,
(A pastime little found to thrive
In (he bleak fog of England's skies,
Where wit '3 ihe thing we best contrive,
As masqueraders, to disguise.)
It yet was hoped — .nnd well that hope
Was answered by the young and gay-
That. in (he t>NletS task to-day,
Fancy should lake her wihies' scope; —
That Ihe npt milliner should be
Let loose through fields of poesy.
The tailor, in invemive trance,
Up to the lieighfs u( Eiic clamber,
And all the egions of Romance
Be ransicked by the fetnme dt chanihre.
Accordingly, with gay Sultanas,
Rebeccas, Sapphos, Roxalanas —
Circassran slaves wh'>ni Love would pay
Half his maternal re*hns 'o ransom j —
Young nuns, whose chief religion lay
In looking m"st profanely handsome; —
Muses in muslin — pastoral maide
With hats from the Arcade-ian shades,
And fortune-lellers, rich, t was plain,
As forIune-Au«(er* form'd their train.
With these, and more such female groups,
Were mixed no less fant.^stic (rnops
Of male eshibiters — all willing
To look, even more than usual, killing; —
Beau tyran's, smock-faced braggadocios,
And brigaiids, charmingly ferocious ; —
M. P.'s turned Turks, good Moslems then,
Who, last night, voted for the Greeks;
And Friars, staunch No-Popeiy men,
In close ctinfab with Whig Caciques.
But where is she — the nymph, whom lata
We left before her glass delaying,
Lik«: Eve, when bv the lake she sate,
In the clear wave her charms surveying",
And saw in that first glassy mirror
The first fair face thnt lured to error.
•' Where is she," a^k'st thou ?— watch all looks
As cent'ring to one point they bear,
Like sun flowers by the sides of brooks,
TurnM to the sun— and she is there.
Ev'n in di-guise, oh never doubt
By her own light you 'd track her out :
As \Then the nionn, close shawl'd in fog,
Steals as she thinks, through heaven incoe..
Though hid herself, some sidelong ray,
At every step, deects her wtij.
But not in dark disguise to-night
Hath our young heroine \eiIM her light ; —
For see, she walk^ the eaith. Love's own,
His wedded bnde. bv holiest vnw
pledged in Olympus, and ninde knowD
To mortals by the type which vow
Hangs glittering on her »nriwy btoWf
That butieifly, mysterious trinket.
Which means Ihe Soul (Iho' few would tbiok 10,
And sfiarkling thus on brow so white,
Tells us we 've Psycht^^ere lu-night !
But liaik ! some a"ng hath caught her ears —
And, lo, how pleased, as though she'd ne'er
Heaid the Grand Upeia of the Spheies,
Her goddess-ship approves the air;
And to a mere terrestrial strain,
Insjurcd by nought but pink champagne.
Her bu lertiy as giily nods
As though she sate with all her train
At some great Concert of the G0J3,
With Pha:bus leader — Jove director,
And half the audience drunk with nectar.
From a male group the carol came
A few Kay youth-, whom round Ihe board
Tlie last-tt ied flask's superior fame
Had lured to taste the tide it pour'd;
And one, who, from his youth and lyre,
Seem'd grandson lo the Teian sire,
Thus gaily sung, while, lo his song,
Replied in ch rus the g.iy tlirong: —
SONG.
Sonti
rials the
ly be, so wise, or so fine,
AS in evenings iiRe this no enjoyment to sec;
But as /'77i not particular— wit, love, and ivii.e,
Are for one night's antnsement sutiicient for nie.
Nay— humble and strange as my tastes may apjiear.
If driv'n to the wnrs', I could mnnage, thank Heavec,
To put Dp with ejes svich as beam round me here, [
And such wine as we're sipping, siJt days out of
So pledge me a bumper — your sages profound |
Maybe blest, if ihey will, on their own paient plan: \
But a-, we are not sages, why —send the cup rouud— ;
We must only be happy the best way we can.
A reward by some king was once ofTer'd, we're told, i
To whoe'er c.mld invent a new bliss for mankind: j
But talk oineiii plensuies ! — give me but the old,
And I'll leave your inventors all new ones they find.
Or should 1, in quest of fresh realms of bliss,
Set -ail ill the pinnace of Fancy some day,
Let the rich rosy sea I embark on be this, I
And such eyes as we 've here be :he stars of my way !
In the mean time, a bumper — your angels, on'hi^h,
May h.ive pleasures utjknown to life's limited span ;
But as we are not Argels, why— let the fiask fly —
We must only be Inppy all ways that we can.
Now nearly fled was sunset's light,
Leaving but so much of its beam
As cave to olijects. bte so bright.
The C'louiitig of a shadowy dream;
And there was stiti where dav had set
A flush that spoke him lothto die —
A last link nf his glory yet.
Binding 'ogether ear h and sky.
Say, why is it that twilight best
Bee 'mes even brr-ws the loveliest ?
That dimness, with its anfiening touch,
Can bring out giace, unfelt before,
Anil cliarms we ne'er can see too much,
Wh n seen but half enchant the more?
Alas, it is that every joy
In fulness finds its worst alloy.
And half a bliss, but hoped or gue^s'd.
Is sweeter than the « hole pnsseis'd ; —
That Beauty, when least shone ipon,
A creature most ideal grows;
And there's no light from moon or sun
Like that JmagLnaiion tlnnws;—
THE SUMMER FETE,
207
\ is, alas, that Fancy shrinks
Even fmni a brijlit reali V,
And tuninif inlv, feels and ihinks
Far heavenlier Ihings ihan e er will be.
Such was ih' effec of twiliglil's h"ur
On the fair giouln IliaS i ii..d and rminj,
From elade lo giol, fri.nj lj;uik lo bower,
Now wan.ler'd Ihrouch Ihis f.irv tfiound;
And ihnsdid Fancy— ai.d cliampagne —
Work on the sight their dazzling spells,
'fill nymphs thai look d, al nonn-ilay, plain,
Now brighlen'd, in the gloom, to belles;
And the brief interval nf t nie,
' r wixl after dinner and before,
To dowagers brought bick their prime,
And shed a halo round iwoscore.
Meanwhile, new pastimes for the eye,
'I he ear, the f.incy quick succeed ;
And now along the waters liy
Light gondoles, of Venetian breed,
VViih knights and dames, wli", calm reclined,
Lisp out love-sonnets as they glide —
Astonishing old Thames to find
Such doings on his moral tide.
So bright was still that tranquil river,
Wilh the lasl shift from Daylight's quiver,
Thai many a group, in turn, were seen
Embarking on its wave serene ;
And, 'mong the rest, in chorus gay,
A band of mariners, fiom th' isles
<Jf sunny Greece, all song rind smiles,
As sinonlh they (lualed, lo the play
Of their oars' cadence, sung Ihis lay: -
TRIO.
; on the ses
t hoy,
Our home is
Our home i
When Nature gave
The ocean-wave.
She mark'd il for the Free.
Whatever slorms befall, boy.
Whatever storms belall.
The island bark
Is Freedom's ark.
And fioals her safe ibrough all.
Behold yon sea of isles, boy,
Behold yon sea of isles.
Where every shore
Is sparkling o'er
With Beaiilv's richest sm
For us hath Freedom claim
For us hath Freedom cla
Those ocean-nests
Where valour rests
His eagle wing untamed.
d.boy,
And shall Ihe Moslem dare, boy.
And shall Ihe Moslem dare.
While C.recian hand
Can wield a brand,
To plant his Crescent there ?
jjo — by our fathers, no, boy,
No, by the Cioss we show —
I Mail
rills
> hills
Like pleasant thouehls that o'er Ihe mind
A minute conie, and go again,
Ev'n so, by snatches, in the wind.
Was cauglit and lost that choral strain,
Mow full, n.'W faint upon llie ear.
As the bark floated far or near.
tt length when, lost, the closing note
Had down ihe wateis died along,
•.,vlli Irnni another faiiy boat,
Freighled with music, came tliij sciag. —
SONG.
Smoothly flowing through verdant vales,
Geiille liver, thy curient runs,
Shellei'd safe fnm winter gales.
Shaded cool from summer suns.
Thus our Youth's sweet momeuts glide.
Fenced with tiow'ry shelter round;
No rude tempest wakes Ihe lide.
All iis path IS f.iiry ground.
But, fair river, the day will come.
When, woo'd liy whisp'ring groves in vain.
Thou 'II leave Ihiise banks, ihy shaded home,
To mingle with 'he stormy niain.
And thou, sweet Vnulh, too s on wilt pan
Into the worlds unshellerd sea,
Wheic, once thy wave hath inix'd, alas,
All hope of peace is lost fur thee.
Next turn we to the gay saloon,
Resplcideni as a summer noon.
Where, *neath a pendent wicath of lights,
A Zodiac of llowers and lapeis —
(Such as in Kussian ball-rnoms sheds
Its glory o'er young dancers' heads) —
Quadrille peifirms her mazy rites.
And reigns supreme o'er slides and capers; —
Working to death each opera strain,
As, with a foot that ne'er reposes.
She jigs through sacred and prolane.
From " Maid and Magpie '' up to " Mosei ; " — »
Wearing out tune, as las! as shoes.
Till fagg'd Rossini scarce respiies;
Till Mayerlieer fnr mercy sues.
And Weber at her feet expires.
And now Ihe set hath ceased — the bowB
Of fiddlers t.sle a brief repose.
While light along the painled floor.
Arm wilhin arm, the couples stray.
Talking their slock of n-,thii gs o'er,
1 ill — nothing 's let', at l.asr, lo say.
When, lo ! — lunsl opportunely seni —
Two Exquisites, a he and she.
Just bionght from Dandvland and meant
For Fashion's grand Menagerie,
Eiiter'd the room — and scaice \\ere there
When all tlnck'd round iheni. glad to stare
At any monsters, aity whete.
Some thought them perfect, to their tastes;
While others hinled that the wais's
(That in particular of the he thing)
Left far too ample room for biealliing:
Wheieas, lo meet Ihese cri'ics' wishes.
The isthmus there should be so small,
That Exquisiles at last, like fishes,
Musi 111 mage not to breathe at all.
The female (ihese sinie critics said),
Thriujh orrhodrix frum loe h. chin,
Yet lack'd that spacious width of head
To hat of loadslnol much akin —
That build of bonnet, whose extent
Should, like a doctrine of dissent.
Puzzle church-doors to let it in.
1 In England the fartition of this opera of Rossini
was transferred to tlie story of Peter ibe Hermit ; by
which means Ihe indecorum of giving such names as
" Moyse " " Phar.ann," Sc. to Ihe dances selected
from it (as was done in Paris), hai
oidwi.
208
THE SUMMMER FETE.
Hnwever — sad as 't was, no dfiubt,
Th-it nynipli so -mart should go about,
Willi head uncn.iscinusof ihe place
It mif^ht In till in InlinileSiince —
Tel all allow'd that, r.f her hind,
A pretiler snow 'I w.is hnrj lo /i. d ;
While of ihat (ioubitul geni-s, "dressy men,"
The male \v,.s tlioui:!i' a fiisl-rale 'pecimeu.
Such SavanSy loo, as u-i-hd tn Irace
The manners hal,ils of lliis race —
To know what rank (if rank al all)
'Jlnni; leas'riiig ihinzs to hem should fall —
What sort of nolions heaven imparls
T" high-tuill he.ds and lijhi-laced hearts,
And liow lar Sonl, which, Plato says,
Abhors restraint, can act in slays —
Might now, if eilied with discerning,
Fii'd opportunities if learnii.g:
As the-e t\vf> c'lalnres— from iheir pout
And frown, 'twas plain— had just l.ill'n out;
And all theii liille ihoughl.-., of course,
Weie stirring in full fret and f.Tce; —
Like niitLS, thr.'ugh micro-cope espied,
A world of nothing! magnihed.
But mild the vent such beings seek.
The tempest of their s'luls lo speak:
As Opera swains to fiddles sigh,
To fiddles light, lo hdd es die,
Even so ihi! tender couple ^et
Their well-bred woes to a Duet.
WALTZ DUET.i
Hli.
Long as T wallz'd with only thee,
Each bl.ssful Wednesday ihit went by,
Nor slyiish Siiiltz, nor neat tsugee
Ad Mii'd a youth so bltsl as 1.
Oh ! ah ! ah l oh !
Those happy days are gone — heighho !
SHE.
Long as with thee I skimm'd the ground,
Nnr yet was sroin'd l"r Lady Jane,
No blither nvniph telotumd round
To Coliinei's immortal strain.
Oh ! ah ! &c.
Those bajijiy days are gone — heighbo !
H E .
With Lady Jane now whirl'd about,
1 know no bounds of imie or brealh ;
And, should Ihe chirmers head hold out,
My heart and heels are hers lilt death.
Oh I ah : &c.
Stdl round aud round through life we'll go.
SHE.
To Lord Fi'znoodle's eldest son,
A youth renown'd for wais c^ats smart,
1 now have given (e.\cnse Ihe puu)
A vested interest in my heart.
Oh ! ah ! &c.
Still round and round with him 1 'II go.
II E .
What if, by fond remembrance led
Again lo wear our mutual chain,
For me fhon cnr'st Filznoodle dead.
And I hvnrit from Lady Jane.
Oh! ah: &c.
Still round and round again we'll go.
II is hardly necessary to remind Ihe reader Ihat
Duet is a parody of ihe ofen-lrinslated and paro-
died ode of Horace, " Uanec gratus eram tibi," &c.
SUE.
Though he the Noodle honours give.
And thine, de.r yintll, are not so high,
With thee in endless wall?. I 'd live.
With ihee, to Weber's Stop-Wallz, die!
Oh ! ah ! &c.
Thus rouiid and round through life we '11 go.
lExcunt wanting.
While thus, like
i that dance away
lay,
These gay Ihinis. bon but lo quadrille,
'1 he ciicle of iheir doom fulfil —
(Ihat dancing doom, whose law decrees
T hat they should live, on the aleit toe,
A life of ups and-downs, like keys
Of Bmaduood's in a long concerto : — )
While thus the fiddle's spell, within.
Calls np its realm of restless sprites.
Without, as if some Mandarin
Were holding there his Feast of Lights,
Lamps nf all hues, fi.m walks and bowers,
Broke on 'he eje, like kindling flowers,
'Fill, budding into lit;hl, each tree
Bore is full frnil of brilliancy.
Here shone a garden — lamps all o'er,
As th 'Uuh the Spirits of ihe Air
H'd lak'n It in their heads lo pour
A shower of summer nielei.is there ; —
While tierea lighted shrubbeiv led
I o a small lake that sleeping lay.
Cradled in foliage, but, oer-head,
Open to tieaven's sv^eet breath and ray;
While round its rim tlieie liurnings.ood
Lamps, iviih young fiowers be.ide them bedded,
That shrunk from such warm neighbourhood ;
And, looking bashful in Ihe fiood,
Blu-h'd lo beiiold themelves so wedded.
Hither, tn this embouer'd retreat,
Fit but for nights so still aiidsucef :
Nights, such as Kdeu's calm recall
In lis first lonely houi, when all
Ho silent is, behm, on high.
Thai if a star falls down tlie sky,
You almost tliiiik ynu hear it fall —
Hither, to this recess, a few.
To siiiin the dancer^' v\ ilderirig noise.
And give an hour, ere night-time Hew,
To mus'c's more elhereal joys,
Came, with liter voices — ready all
As Echo, wailing lor a call-
in hymn or ballad, dirge or glee.
To weave their mingling minstrelsy.
And, first, a dark ey'd nymph, array'd —
Like her. whom Art hath deaihle > made.
Bright Miina Lisa 'i — with Ihat biaid
Of hair acioss the brow, and one
Small geiii Ihat in the centre shone —
With lace, loo, in its form re embliii»
Da Vinci's lle,iul.es — the daik eves.
Now lucid, as thiough cystal ireniblii g,
Now soft, as if sufluscd with sighs —
Her lute. Ihat hung beside her. tonk,
And, bending o'er it with shy look.
More tieautiful, in shadow thus.
Than when with life most luminnus,
Pass'd her light finger o'er the chords.
And uug to them these mournful words: —
SONG.
Bring hither, bring thy lute, while day iadvinz —
Heie will I lay me, and list lo Ihy song;'
«The celebrated portrait by Lionardo da Vi»ci,
vhich he is said lo have occupied four y airs in paiot-
THE SUMMER FETE.
209
Should tones of other dnys
Tones cf 1 liglit liearl, n
And let Iljy llieiiie be \
Siui, (
;aga
ix with its sigl
' banlsh'd so to
: but pain,
n, thou mournful lute — day is fast going,
huuii will its light Iroui thv chords die away j
One lillle gleam in the west 'is still glowing,
When that halli vanish'd, farewell to thy lay.
Maik, how it fades!— see, it is fled !
^ow, sweet lute, be thou, loo, dead.
The group, that late, in garb of Greeks,
Suijg their light chorus o'er the tide —
Forma, such as up the wooded creeks
(If Helle's shore at noon-day glide.
Or, nightly, on her glistening sea,
Woo Ihe bright waves wiill melody —
Mow liiik'd their triple league agam
Of voices sweet, and sung a strain,
Such as, had S.p|.lio's tuneful car
liut cauglit it, on Ihe tai.il sleep.
She would have paused, entranced, to heaPf
And, for that day, deferred her leap.
SONG AND TRIO.
On one of those sweet nights that oft
'Iheir luslreo'er ih'Aigean fling,
Keneaih my casement, low and soit,
1 heard a Lesbian lover smg ;
And, listening both with eir and ihought.
These sounds upon the night-breeze caugiit —
'• Oh, hapjiy as Ihe gods is he,
*' Who g-izes at this hour on thee !"
The song was one bv Sappho sung.
In Ihe first love-dreams i.f her Ijre,
When words of passion from her tongue
Fell like a shower of living fire.
And still, at close of every strain,
1 heard these burning words again —
*' Oh, happy as the gods is he,
" Who listens at this hour to thee ! "
Once more to Mona Lisa lurnM
Kach asking e}e — nor turn'd in vain ;
Though Ihe quick, transient blush that burn'd
Bright o'er her cheek, and died again,
Shnw'd with what inly shame and fear
Was utter'd what all loved to hear.
Yet not lo sorrow's languid lay
Uid she her Ime-song now devote;
But thus, with voice thai, like a ray
Of southern sunshine, seem'd to float-
So rich wilh climate was each note —
Call'd up in every heart a dream
Of Italy with Ibis soft theme : -
SONG.
Oh, where art thou dreaming,
On land, or on sea ?
In niv laltice is aleaniing
The watch-light for thee;
And this food heart is glowing
veic
: IhB
And the night is fast going,
Sat thou art not come :
No, thou corn's! not !
T IS the time when nighi-flowers
Should wake from their rest;
•T is the hour of all hours,
When the lu'e singetb best.
1), *
But the flowers are half sleeping
Till //ly glance they see;
And the hustiM lute is keeping
its music lor thee.
Vet, thou coni'st not!
Scarce bad the last word left her lip
When a light, boyish loroi, with liip
Fanlaslic, up the green walk came,
trank'd in gay vest, lo which the hama
Of every laiii|. he pass'd, or blue,
Orgreeii, orciliiison, lent its hue:
As thouL;h a live caineleon's skm '
He had despoilM, to robe him in.
A zone he wore of clattering shells.
And fiom his lofty cap, where shone
A peacock's plume, Ihere dangled bells
That rung as he came dancing on.
Close after him, a paic— il. dress
And shape, his miniature express —
An ample basket, hll'J with store
Of toys and trinkets, laughing bore;
Till, having .each'd tins verdant 5e?t,
He laid il at his master's feel.
Who, half in sjieccli and lip.il in song,
Chauutud this invoice lo the thiong: —
SONG.
Who '11 buy ? — 't is Folly's shop, who '11 buy ? —
We've toys to suit all ranks and ages;
Besides our usual f. ols' supply.
We 've lilts of playthings, too, for sages.
For reisoneis, here 's a juggler's cup.
That fullest seems when nothing's in it;
And nine-pins set, like systems, up,
To be knock d down the following minu'e.
Who '11 buy ? — 'tis Folly's shop, who'll buy?
Gay caps we here of foolscap make.
For bards to wear in dog-day weather;
Or bards the bells alone may lake.
And leave to wits the cap ai d fealher.
Tetotums we 've for |ialriots got.
Who court Ihe mob with an ics humble;
Like theirs the palriol's dizzy lot,
Agloiious spin, and Iher — a tumble.
Who '11 buy, <ic. &c
Here, wealthy misers to inter.
We 've shrouds of neat post-obit paper ;
While, for Iheir heiis, we 've ^ta'cfcsitver.
That, favt as ihev can wish, will caper.
For aldermen we ve dials true.
That tell no hour but that of dinner;
For couitly paisoi.s sermons new.
That suit alike both saint and sinner.
Who'llbuy, Sic.&c.
No time we've now to name our terms.
But, whalsne'er the whims that seize you,
This oldest of all moilal firms.
Folly and C"., will try lo please you.
Or, should you wish a daiker hue
Of g'U'ds than we can rccnnmend you,
■Why then (.s we with lawyers dn)
To Ivnaveiy's shop ue-tl d.ior ivc'll send you
Who '11 buy, &c. &c.
While ihus tlie blissful moments roli'd,
Monienis of rare and lee ing liglil,
That show themselves, like grains of gold
In the mine's refuse, few and bright;
Behold where, cpeiiing far away,
'I he long Conservatory's range,
Strlpp'd of 'he llowers it wore all day,
But gaining lovelier in exchange,
210
THE SUMMER FETE.
I Dresden's costliest ware,
ich as Gods niigh share.
Presents, (
A supper sue
Ah niuch-Iov'd Supper! — blithe repast
Of other liiues, IK>« (hviiidliiig last,
Since Dinner far into the night
Advanced ttie niarcti of appeii'e;
Deploved his never-ending foices
Of various vintage and three crmrses,
And, lilie those Uoths wlio play d the dickens
Witii Rome and all her sacred chickens,
Put Supper and her fowls so whre,
Legs, wings, and drumsticks, all to flight.
Now waked once more by wine — whose tide
Is the true Hippocreue. where glide
The Muse's swans with happiest wing,
Dipping their bills, liefore they sing —
The niinslrelsof the tble gleet
The listening ear wiih descant sweet :
SONG AND TRIO.
THE LEVEE AND COIICHEE.
Call the Loves around.
Let the whispeiing sound
Of their wings be heard alone,
Till soft to rest
My Lady blest
At tiiis bnghi hour hath gone.
Let Fancy's beams
Play o'er her deani«,
Till, louch'd with light all through,
Her spirit be
Like a summer sea.
Shining and slumbering too.
And, while thu.<t hush'd she lies.
Let the nhisper'd chorus rise —
»Gooil evening, good evening, to our Lady's bright
eyes "
But the day-beam breaks.
See, our Lady w kes !
Call the Loves around once more.
Like stars that wait
At Morning's gate,
Her first sreps to adore.
Let the veil of night
From her diwning sight
All gently pass away.
Like mists that flee
From a summer sea,
Leiving it full of day.
And, while her last dream flies,
Let the whisper'd chorus rise —
" Good morning, good morning, to our Lady's bright
eyes."
SONG.
If to see thee be to Inve thee,
If to love thee be to prize
Nought of earth or heav'n above thee,
Nor to live but for those eyes :
Ifsuchlovelo morli.l given.
Be wrong to ear'h. be wrong to heaven,
'T is not for thee the fault to bhme.
For from those eyes the madne-s came.
Forgive but thou the crime of loving.
In this lieart more pride 't will raise
To be thus wrone, with iliee a|iproving,
Than light, with all a world to praise!
Fut say, while lieh' these songs resound.
What means that buzz of wliisper-ng round,
From lip lolip — asif IliePower
Of Mystery, iu this gay hour.
Had thrown s^me secret (as we (ling
Nuts among children) to that nug
Of rosi, restless lip-, to be
Thus scramb ed foi so wantonly?
And, mark ye, still as each reveals
The mystic news, her hearer s eals
A look low'rds yon enchanted ctiair.
Where, like ihe Lady of ihe Masque
A nymph, as exquisi'e'y fair
As Love himself for bride could ask,
Sits blushing deej), as if aware
Of the wing'd secret circling (here.
Who is this nymph ? and what, oh Mt>-',
What, in the name of all odd things
That woman's resiless brain pursues.
What mean these mystic whisperings?
Thus runs the tale : — yon blushing maid,
Who sits in beauty's light array'd,
While o'er her leans a tall young Dervise,
(Who fnim her e>es, as all observe, is
Learning by heart itie Mariiage Service,)
Is tlie bright heroine of our song. —
The Love-wed P-yche, whom so long
^Ve've miss'd among this mortal train.
We thought her wiiig'd to heaven again.
But no — eat th si il I demands her smile ;
Her friends, ihe Gods, oiust wait awhile.
And if, for maid of heavenly birih,
A young Duke's prnffei'd heart and hand
Be things worth waiting for on earth.
Both are, this hour, ai lier command.
To-night, in yonder half-lii si ade.
For love concerns expressly meant,
The fond proposal lirst »as made,
And love and silence blu-h'd consent.
Parents aid friends (all lieie, as Jews,
Knchantcrs, housemaids, Turks, Hindoos,)
Have heard, approved, and blest the ijej
And now, hadsl thou a poet's eye,
'i hou mighi'st behold, in th' air, above
Th.il biiliianl brow, triumphant Love,
Holding, as if to drop it down
Gently upon her curls, a ciown
Of Ducal shape — but. oh, such gems !
Pilferd from Peri diadems.
And set in gf Id like iliat which shines
To deck Ihe Fairy of the Mines :
In short, a crown all glorious — such as
Love orders when he makes a Duchess.
But see, 't is morn in heaven : the Sun
Up the bright orient hath be-un
'lo canter his iliiniortal lean-;
And, though not >et arrived in sight.
His leaders' nostiils send a s'eam
Of radiance fnrh, S" rosy b' ight
As makes their onward path all light
What 's to be done ? if .Sol will be
So deuced early, so must we ;
And when 'he day thus shines ontright,
Ev'ii dearest friends must bid good night.
So, farewell, scene of mirth and masking,
Now almost a by-gone rale ;
Beauties, late in lamp-Iigbl basking
Now, by daylight, dim and pale ;
Harpers, yawning o'er your harps.
Scarcely knowing flats from sharps;
Mothers who. while bored you keep
Time by m d.iing. nrd to slei p :
Heads of hair, that s'ond last night
tVipe. crispy, and upright.
But have now, alas, one sees, a
Leaning like the tower of Pisa;
Fare ye well — thus sinks away
All that's mighty, all tliat 's bright;
Tvre and Sidon had their day.
And even a B.1II — has but its night I
END OF VOL.
IV.
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.
211
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.
Id spite of (he satirist^s assertion, tliat
I foolish thing
I.gn
AThat %
1 shall yel venture to prefix to this Volume a few in-
trnduclury pae:es, out relatiiii; so niucli to the iSoiigs
which it cotilaihs as to mv own thoughts and recollec-
tions respecting song-wtit'mg in general.
The do e alliance known to have existed betxveen
poetry and mnsic, dnriiig the infancy of both these
arts, has sonielimes led 'O the coi elusion that they are
essentially kindied to each other, arjd that the true
poet oushi to he, if not practically, at least in ta
indi
That
Hit
lh<
early times of ancient Cireece. and that her poets then
not only set their own verses to music, but sung llieni
al public festivals, there is every reason, from all we
know on the subject, to believe. A similar union be-
tween the two arts attended the dawn of mode<n lite-
rature, in the twelfth century, and was, in a certain
degree, continued down as far asllie lime of Feirarch,
"hen, as it appears from his o»n menior.ndums.lhat
poet used to sing his verses, in composing iheni ; t and
when it was tlie custom with all writers of sonne'sand
canzoni to prefix to their poems a sort of key-nole, by
which the intonation in reciting or chanting them
was to be regulated.
As the praclice of uniting in one individual, — whe-
ther Bard, Scald, or Troubadour,— the chaiacter and
functions both of musician and poet, is known to have
been invaiiably the mark of a rude state of iocie'y, so
the gradual separation of these two callings, in accord-
ance with that great principle of Political Economy,
the division of labour, h's been found an equally sure
index of improving civilization. So far, in England,
indeed, has this partition of workmanship been car-
ried, that, with the signal exception of Millon, there
is not to he found, I believe, among all the eminent
poets of England, a single musician. II is but fair, at
the same 'inie, to acknowledge, that out of the ivoiks
of these very poets might be produced a select num-
ber of songs, surpassing, in fancy, grace, and tender-
ness, all that tlie language, perhaps, of any other
country could furnish.
We witness, in our own times,— as fir as the know,
ledge or prac'ice of music is concerned,— a similar
divorce between the two arts; and my friend and
neighbour, Mr. Bowles, is the onlv distinguished poet
of our day whom I can call to mind as being also a
musician « Not to d" ell further, hi>wever, on living
writers, the strong feeling, even to tears, with which
I have seen Byrj'ii listen to some favourite melody,
has been elsewhere described by me ; anil the musical
taste of Sir Walter Scolt 1 ought to be the last person to
call in (jueslinn, after the very cordial tribute he has
left on record to my own untutored minstrelsy.3 Hut
1 The fr'llnwing is a specimen of these memoran.
dums, as given by Fnscolo :— " 1 must make these two
verses ovei agiin, singing them, and I must transpose
them— 3 o'clock, A. .M. 19lh October." Frequenly
to swinets of that 'ime such notices as the following
we?e prefixed : — hUmiatum per Francuni" — " Scrip-
tof deJit sooiini."
« The late Rev. William Crowe, author of the
noble poem of ■' Lewisdeii Hill," was likew ise a mu-
sician, and has left a Ireatiseon Eogli-h Versification,
to whii:ti his knowledge of the sister art lends a pecu-
liar interest.
So little dnes even the origin of Ihe woid "lyrick,"
as applied to poetry, seem to be present to the minds
of some writers, that the pnet, Voung, has left us an
Essiy on Lyric Poetry, in which there is not a single
aJlusion to !\Iusic, from beginning lo end.
a Life by Lockhart, vol. vi. p. 12S.
I must say, that, pleased .as my illustrious friend an-
peared really lo be, when I first sung for him at Ab.
botsford, it was not till an evening or two alter, at his
own hospitable supper-table, that I saw him in his trua
sphere of musical enjoyment. No sooner had the
ijnai^h taken lis round, after our repast, than his
trieiid. Sir Adam, was calltd upon, with the general
acclaim of the whole table, for the snng of "Hey
tutlie lattie." and gave il out to us with all the true
national relish. But it was during Ihe chorus that
Scotts delight at this festive scene chitfli showed
itself. At Ihe end of every verse, the whole cmiipani
ro e from theirseats, and stood round the table with
arms crossed, so as to grasp ihe hand of the neighbour
on each side. Thus interlinked, we continued to
keep measure to the strain, by moving our arms up
and down, all chanting forth v ciferously, "Hey
tultie taltie, lley tultie taltie." Sir Walter's enjoy,
ment of this old Jacobite chorus, — a little increased,
doubtless, by seeing how I entered into the spirit of it,
— gave to Ihe whole scene, I confess, a zest and charm
in my eyes such as the finest musical performance
could »ot h.ive btstowed on it.
Having been thus led to allude to this visit, I am
tempted lo menlinn a few other circumstances con-
nected with It. From Abbutsford I proceeded to
Edinburgh, whiiher Sir Waller, in a few days after,
followed ; and during my short stay in that city an
incident occurred, which, though already mentioned
by Scolt in his Diary, ■> and owing its chief interest to
the cooiiexion of his name with it, ought not to l>e
omitted among these memoranda. As I had expressed
a desire to visit the Edinburgh theatre, which opened
hut the evening liefore my departure, it was proposed
to Sir Waller and myself, by our friend JetlVey, that
we should dine with him at an early hour for thai
purpr-se, and both were good-natured enough lo ac-
company me to the theatre. Having found, in a
volume s sent to me by sonie anonynious correspond-
ent, a more circunisiantial account of the scene of that
evening than Sir Walter has given in his Diary, I
shall here avail mi self of its graphic and (with one
exception) accur.te details. After adverting to the
sensation p-oduced by the apjiearance of the late
Duchess of St Alban^ in one of the boxes, the writer
thus proceeds:— "There was a general buzz and
stare, for a few seconds ; the audience then lurned
their b.icks to the lady, and their attention lo the
stage, to wait till the first piece should be over ere
they intended staring again. Just as it terminaied,
another pirly quielv glided in'o a box near that tilled
by Ihe Duchess. One phasing female was with the
three male comers. In a minute the cry ran round :—
•Eh, you's Sir Waller, »i' Lockhart an' his rife,«
and wl.a's the wee bil bodie wi' Ihe pavskie ter. ?
Wow, but il 's Tarn Moore, jusi — Scott, Scott!
Moore, Moore I' — with shouts, cheers, bravos, ani
applause. But Scott would not rise to appropriate
these tributes. One could see that he urged Moore
to do so; and he, though m destly reliiclanl, ai lasl
yielded, and bowed band nn heart, with much aiiinia-
lion. The cry for Scolt was then redoubled. He
gathered himself up. and, with a benevolent bend,
acknowledged this deserved welcome. The orches-
tra played alternately Sc tch and Irish Melodies."
Among Ihe choicest of my recollections of that
4 " We went to the theatre together, and the house
being luckily a givid one, received T. M. with rap-
ture. I could have hugged them. f"r il paid back the
debt of Ihe kind reception I met with in Ireland."
» Written by Mr. Benson Hill.
6 The writer w.a3 here mistaken. There was one
lady of our party ; but neither Mr. nor Mrs. Loclhart
as present.
212
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.
flying visit to Edioburgh, are the few days I passed
with I/)idJeft'iey at his agreeable retre.ii, Craig Crook.
I had then recently uriiien the words and music of a
glee contained in this volume, 'Sl.ip ahoy I" which
there won its hrst honours. So nfien, indeed, was I
called upon to reptal it, ihat ihe upland echoes of
Craig CrO'k ought long to have had its buiden by
heart.
Having thus got on Scottish ground, I find myself
awakened to the remembiai.ce of a name which,
whenever song-writint; is Ihe theme, ought to rank
second to none in that sphere uf poetical fatne. Robeit
Hums was wholly im-killed in music; yet the rare
art of adapting words huccessfully to notes, of wed-
ding vei-se in congenial union uith melody, which,
were it lOt fur his example, I should s.iy none but a
poet vei jed in the sisier-art ought to aHempt, has yet,
Ly him, wilh Ihe aid of a mus^c, to uhich my own
country's str<ini are al"ne cniparable, been exercised
wi'h io workniaiily a hand, as well as wilh so lich a
varie y of p:ission. playfulness, and power, as nn song-
writer, peihaps, but himself, has ever yet disjilaied.
That Burns, however unLiught, was yet, in car and
feeling, a musician, i is clear fmm the skill with
which he adapts liis verse to the structure and cha-
racter of each diflerent str.iin. Still more strikingly
did he prove his fitness for this pi culiar task, by the
sort of instinct with which, in nn^re th.m one in-
glance, he di.-cerned the real and innaie seniimeut
which an air was calculated lo cnvey, thouiih alw:iy.
befoTC a5s icialed wi h woids e.\pres>'ing a to ally dif-
ferent feeling. Thus the air of a ludicrous old &ong.
"Fee him, father, fee him," has been made ihe
medium of one of Burns's mnst pathetic efl'usioi.s ;
while, still more marvellously, "Hey tuttie taitie'
h« been elev ited by him into that heroic strain,
•'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled ; "—a song which,
in a great nalional crisis, wnuld be i f nn-re avail than
all the eloquc'ce of a Demosthenes. i
It was impossible that the example of Burns, in
these, his highei iiispiralinns, should not materially
contribute to elevate the cliaracler of EnsUsh Eong-
writing, and even to lead to a re-vniou . f the gifts
which it requires if not, as of old, in the same iiidi-
vidual, yet in Ihat per:ect i-ynn.athy betwetn poet
and mu>ician which alnmst am mnis to ide:itity, and
of which we have sei-n. in our own limes, so inter-
est! g an example in Ihe few snnss bearing the uniiei
names of th^se two s;sier mu-e:i, Mro. Arkwrighl,
and (he late Mrs Hemins.
Very different was the state of the snng-depTrtment
of English poesy at the time when hist [ tried my
novice h.uid at the lyre. 'I'he divorce Leiween song
and sense had then reached Us utmost range; and to
all verses connected with nm^ic, from a Birth-d.Ty
Ode di'wu to the libretto of the las' new opera, mit^ht
fairly be applied the solution Fi,:;a>o gives of the
quality of the words of soneis, in gei^eral, — " Ce qui
ne vaut pas la peine d'etre dit, on le ch inte."
It may here be suggested that the convivial lyrics of
Captain Morris pre-ent an exception lo the t;eneral
character I have given of the songs of this period ;
1 It appears certain, notuilhsianding, that he was,
In hisyou'h, wholly insensible to music. In speik-
i'lg of him and his broiher, Mr. Mu'dnch, their pre-
ceptor, says, " Roher 's ear, in puticular, was re-
markably dull and his voice U' tui-able. It wa-* long
before 1 could get him to distinguish oue tune from
another."
^ I know not whether it has ever been before re-
marked, that the well-known lines in one of Burus's
most spirited songs.
may possibly have been su?:gested by the following
pasea^e in WychcrU-y's play, 'he "Counlry Wife:"
— *' I weigh the man. tt^t liis title; 'lis not the
King's stamp can m^ke the me'al bciter."
and, assuredly, h^d Morris written mi3ch that at all
ai proached the following verses of his "Keasons for
Drinking," {which I quote from recollection,) few
would have equ.dled him either in fancv, or in that
hgh'er kind of palhos, which comes, as in Ihis in-
stance, like a few melancholy notes in the middle of
a giy air, throwing a soft and passing slial*: Lver
lirlh :
"My
N.i tTul>c Hit^hu
But rouml a bowl nhe Ml dip and fly,
Like ewall.ms round a lukt.
jr tlien tlie nymph must hiivt* her fihare.
Before she Ml bieR» bf-r Bwain.
Wtiy, that I ihiiik'8 a rentiou fair
To fill my glass ugaio.
*'Then, many & lad I lik'd is dead,
And many a lub.s giowu old ;
And, as ttie li'sson strikes my head,
My weary heart gruws rold.
B'll wine awfiile httliist otT ilespair,
^ay, bids a hnpe remain; —
And ih.ll I Think'8 a reason fair
To till my glaaa again."
How far my own labours in this field — if, indeed,
the gathering of such idle flowers n.ay be so desig-
naed — have helped to advance, or even kept pace
wilh the progiessive imp'ovt nienl I have here de-
scrilied. it is not fur me to presume to decide. 1 only
know rjial ill a strong and inborn feeling for music
lies the source of v\ hatever ta ent I m^y have shown
for pnetical composition ; and that it was the eflorl to
iran-Iate into language the eniolions and passions
which XT\m\c appeared to me to expre s, liial hrst led
to my writing any poetry at all deserving of Ihe name.
Dr>den has happily described music as being ■* in-
ar iculate poetry ; " and I have always fell, in adapt-
ing woids to ail expressive air, that I was but btstow-
ing upon it the gift of articulation, and thus enabling
it 10 speak to oihers all th^t was conveyed, in its
wordless eloquence, to myself.
Uvvingtolhe space I w s led to devote to my Irish
reminiscences, in our last Volume, 1 found myself
oliliged tf> postpone some recollections, of a very dif-
ferent de-ciipiion, respecting the gala at Boyle Farm,
by which my poem, entitled 'I he Summer Fete, was
• uggesied. In an old lelter of my own, 'o wnirh I
have had acce?^, giving an account of this brilliant
fe-iival to a friend m lieland, I find some memoran-
dums which, besides their reference to the subject of
the pf^em, con'ain s ^me incidents also connec ed wilh
the first ai'pearance befoie the piblic of one of the
most successful of all my wriings, the stoiy of ihe
Epicurean. I shall give my extiac's from this lelter,
in their original diary-like form, without alteration
or dressing : —
Jure 30, 1837.— Day threatening for the Fe'e. Was
with Lnrd E-sex3 at three o'clock, and sarled about
half an hour afier. The whole road swarming with
carriages and four all the way to Bnyie Farm, uJiich
l.ady (fe Knos has lent, for ihe occasion, to ileir^ ;—
the five givers of the Fele. being Lords Chesteifieid,
Ca^tlereagh, Alvanley, Henry de Roos, and li .be»t
Grosverior, subscribing four or hve hund'ed pounds
eich towards it. *lhe an^ngements all in 'he Vftry
best ta^te The pavilion for quadrilles, on Ihe br^r.k
of the river, "i'h steps destending to ihe water,
quite e:»s;ern— like what one sees in Daniel's pictures.
Towards five ihe elite nf the giy world »as assem-
bled— the women all looking the:r best, and scarce a
single ugly face to be found. About half past fiv«.
sat down to dinner, 450 under a tent on the lawn, ana
fif;y to the Royal Table in ihe conservatory. 'Ihe
'lyrolese musicians sung duiing dinner, and there
3 1 cannot let pa<s the incidental mention here of
this social and public-spii ited ncjblenian, without ex-
pre-sing my strong sen-e of his kmdiy qualities, anJ
lamenting the loss which not only society, but the
cause of sound and progressive Political Refoim, has
sustained by his death.
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
213
were, after dinner, gnndoUs on 'he river, with Cara
dori, I)e Begiiis, Velluti, &c., s-iogini^ barcaroUea and
ro« iiig 0(1' occasionally, so as to let their voices die
avxay and ajain return. After these succeeded a
pary in dominos, Madame Vestns, Fanny Ayion,
Ac, who rosved ab >ui in the sanie manner, and sun?,
among other things njv gcndida song, " Oh, come to
me uhen daylight sets.''' '1 he evening was delicious
and, as soon as it grew d^rk, Itie Kfoves were all
lighted up with cohmied lamps, in diflerent shajies
and devices. A little lake near a gtolio took my
fancy paiticularly, the shrubs all round being illumi-
nated, and the lights reflected in ihe wattr. "Six-md-
Iwenty of the preliiesi girls nf the world of f shion,
Xhe F # » » * t » rs, Br * d * * * lis. De R • * s's,
Miss F * * Id * # » g. Miss F * x, Miss R * ss * 11,
Miss B # * ly, were dresst-d as Rosietes, and opent-d
the quadrilles in the pavilion While talk-
ing wiih l>— n (Lord P's. brother), he said to me, - I
never read any thing so ti)uching ua the death of
your heroine." " What ! " said 1. *• have you got so
f.ii already ?»» "Oh, I read it in the Litenry
Gazette." This anticipation of my cala^lrrphe is
abominable. Soon after, the Marquia F~lm— a said
to nie, as he and 1 and B — ni stood together, looking
at the gay scene. "'Ihis is like one of your Fetes."
*'0h. ye^,"said B— m, thinking he alluded to Lalla
Rookh, "quite niienial." •' Non, non," replied
P— Im— a "Jeveux dire cette Fete d'Athenes, dont
j'ai lu la description dans la Gazette d'aujnurd'hui."
Respecting the contents of the present Volume I
have bu' a few more words to add. Accustomed as 1
have always been to consider my songs as a sort of
compound creations, in which the music forms no I
e:isential a part than the verses, it ia with a feel
which 1 can hardly ejpect my unlyrical readers to
uiiders'and,lhat I see such a swa-ni of songs as crowd
these pages all sepai a'ed fiom the beautiful airs which
have formed hitheno their chief ornament and
Etrengh— their "decusit luiamen." But, indepen-
dently of th'S uneasy feeling, or fancy, there is yet an-
other inconvenient consequence of the divorce of the
Js from the music, which will be more easily,
perhaps, comprehended, and which, in justice to my-
If, as a metru-Mionger, ought to be noticed. 'I'hose
:casional breaches of tlie laus of rhythm, which the
task of adapting woids to aits demands of the poet.
though very frequently one of the happiest results erf
his skill, become blemishes when the verse is sejw-
rated from the melody, and require, to justify th«Ci,
the presence of hu music to whose wildness or sncut-
ness the saci itice had been made.
Ill a preceding page of this preface, 1 have men-
lioned a TreaUse by (lie late Kev. Mr. Crowe, on
English versification; and 1 remember hia Idling mc,
in reference to the poin' I have just touched upi u,
that, hhould another edition of that woik be called for,
he meant to produce, as examples of new and anoma-
lous forms of veisilication, the following songs from
the Irish Melodies : — "Oh ihe days are gone when
Beauty bright" — "At the mid hour of night, when
stars are weeping, I fly,"^ and, "Through grief and
through danger thy smile hath cheered my way."*
1 I shall avail myself of ihis opportunity of noticing j
the charge brought by Mr. Bunting against Sir John I
Stevenson, of having made alterations in many of the [
airs that formed our Irish Collection. Whatever
chantres of ihis kind ha\e been ventured upon (and j
they "are but few and slight,) the responsibiliiy for
them rests solely wilh nie ; as, leaving the Harmo-
nist's department to my friend Steven>on, 1 reserved
the selectionandmanagement of the melodies entirely
to myself.
EVENINGS IN GREECE
In thus connecting together a serirs of Songs by a
thread of poetical narrative, my chief object has been
to combine Recitatiun wilh Music, so as to enable a
greater number of persons to join in the performance,
by enlisting, as readers, those who rnay not feel will-
ing or competent lo take a part, as singers
The Isl.ind of Zea, where the scene is laid, was
called by the ancients Ceos, and was 'he birth-place
of Simoiiides, Bacchylides, and other eminent person-.
An account of its p'csent stale may be found in the
Travels of Dr. Clarke, who says, that **it appeared
lo him tn be the best cultivated of any of Ihe Grecian
Isles."— Vol. vi. p. 174. T. M.
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
FIRST EVENING.
*Theskv is bright — the breeze is fair,
'*And the mainsail flowing, full and free —
*Our farewell wo'd is woman's prayV,
** And the hope before u? — Liberty I
•'Firewell, farewell.
"To Greere we give our shining blades,
•*And our heaits to you, young Zean Maids!'
" The moon is in the heavens above,
*' And the wind Is on the foaming sea —
* Thus shines the star of woman's love
.iberty !
1 "On the glorious sirife of Lit
' "Farewell, farewell.
** To Greece we give our shining blades,
" And our hearts to you, young Zean Maids !
Thus sung (hey from the bark, that now
Turn'd to the sea i's gallant prow,
Bearing within it heails as hnve.
As e'er sought Freedom o'er the wave;
And leaving on that islet's shnie.
Where still the farewell beacons burn,
Friends, that shall many a day look o'er
The long, dim sea for their return.
Virgin of Heaven! speed their way —
Oh, speed their way, — the chosen flow'r.
Of Zea's youth, the hope and stay
Of jiarenis in their wintry hour.
The love of maidens, and the pride
Of the young, happy, blushing bride,
Whose nuptiil wreath has not yet died —
All, all are in that precious bark.
Which now, alas, no more is seen— ■
Though every eye siill turns to mark
The moonlight spot where it lud been.
Vainly you look, ye maidens, sires.
And mothers, your beloved a' e gone ! —
Now may vou quench those signal fires,
Whose ligh' they long hu.k'd back upon
From their dark deck — watching the flame
As fast it f-ded f'OUi their view,
With tJiouiffr.'B, ^hat, but f )r manly shame,
H>d ii.&dd them droop and ><cvcp li^» >ou
Honi£ to your chandters ! home, nA i>iiy
For the bright coming of that day.
314
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
When, blessM by lieav
The Crescent from ilit
And your b ave \\ ar tn
Will brin^such ftlorie
As shall, for mu y an
Shed light aroiind thei
n, the Cr'ss shall sireep
n^ hack,
and home.
There is a Fount on Zea's isle,
Round which, i^i s ft lusutia ce, smile
All the sweet flowers, of every kind.
On which the sun of Greece looks down,
Fie sed as a lover on the crown
His mistress for her brow ha'h twined,
When he beholds eacti floweret there,
Himself bai wjsh'd her mnst to wearj
K«re bloomed the lau' el-rose,' whose wreath
Han<' radiant mund the Cypriot shrines,
And here ih'i?e bnimbU-floWers, that breathe
Their odour into Zante's wines:^ —
The splendid woodbine, ihst, al eve,
To grace their floral diadems.
The lovely maids f Fatmos weave : 3 —
And tha f .ir plant, whose tantiled stems
Shme I;ke a Nereid's hair,* when i^pread,
Dtsheveli'd, o'er her azure bed ; —
All ihese bi ight children < f the clime,
(Each at its own most genial time,
Tlie summer, or the year's sweet prime).
Like beautiful ear;h-stirs, adorn
The V.dk-y, where that Fount is born:
While round, to grace its cradle green,
Groups of Velani oaks are ^eeii,
Towt-ringoti every Vfidant height —
Tall, shadowy, in the evenmg light,
Like Genii, set to waich ihe birth
Of some enchanted child of earth —
Fair oaks, that over Zea's vales,
Stand with their leafv pride wnfurlM ;
While Commerce, fr m her ihousand snils
Scatters their fruil throughout the world ! "
*T WIS here — as soon as player and sleep
(Those truest friends to all wh > weep)
Had ligh eu'd every heart, and made
Ev'n sorrow wear a s Tier shades
»T w^s here, in Ihis secluded sp>'t.
Amid wirose breathings cJm and sweet
Grief might be s mthed, if noi forgot,
The Zean nymphs resolved to meet
Bach evening now, bv Ihe ^aIne light
That saw their farewell tears that'nigbt;
And try, if sound of lute and snng,
If wandering nnd tiie moonlight flowerg
In various talk, could charm along
With lighter step, the lingering hours,
Till tidings of (hat Bark should come,
Or Victory waft their warriors honie!
When first (hey met —Ihe wonted smile
Of greeting having gleam'd awhile —
'T would touch ev'n Moslem heait to see
The sadness thai cante suddenly
O'er their young brows, when they look'd round
Upon that bright, enchinted ground ;
And thought, how niany a lime, with those
Who H'lw weie gone to the rude wars.
They there h 'd n.e', at evening's close,
And danced tilt m-n a outshone Ihe s-ars !
» ** Nerjiim Oleander. In Cyprus it retains its an.
cient name, Rhodojiphne, and the Cyoriots adorn
their churches wjih the flowers on feast-days," — Jour-
nal of Dr. Hibtkotye^ fValpole^s Turkey.
aid.
* Lonicera Caprifolium, used by the girls ol Fatmos
fcv garlands.
* Cuscutta europaea " From the twisting and twin-
ing of the stems it is compared by he Greeks to the
dishevelled hair oi the Nereids,'' — Wxl'poli's Turkty.
* *' The pm<hic« of the island in these acorns alone
amounts annually tc fifleen thousand quiulals.'' —
ClarAe'f TrawU,
But seldom long doth hang th' eclipse
Of sorrow o'er such youthful breasti^
The bieath from her own blushing lipv,
Tha' on the maiden*s mirror rests,
Not swifter, lighter from the glass,
Than sadness frotn her brow doth pass.
Soon did they now, as round the Well
They sat, beneath the rising moon —
And some, with voice of awe, would tell
Of midnight fays, and nymphs who dwell
In holy founts — while some would tune
Their idle lutes, that now had lain,
For days, without a single strain ; —
And others, from the rest apart.
With laugh that told the lighten'd heart,
Sat, whispering in each other's ear
Secrets, that all in turn would he:ir;«
Stion did ihey find this thnuglitless play
So su ifily steal their griefs away.
That many a nymph, thoush pleased the while-
Reproach'd her r)wn forge ful smile,
And sigh'd to tliink she could be gay.
Among these maidens there was one,
Who 10 Leucdia t intt had been
Had stood, beneath the evening sun,
On Its white towering clitis, and seen
The very spot where Sappho sung
Her svvaii-like music, ete she sprung
(Still holding, in that fearful leap,
By her loved lyie,) into the deep,
And dying quench d [he latal tire,
At once, of bo:b her heart and lyre.
Mutely they lis'en'd all — and well
Did the young travell'd maiden tell
Of Ihe dread height to which that steep
Beei les above the eddying deep ' —
Of the lone sea-birds, wheeling lound
The dizzy edge with mournful souhd —
And of tho-e scented lilies a found
Still blooming on that fearful place —
As if caird up by Love, to grace
The immortal spot, oer which the last
Bright footsteps of his martyr passM \
While fresh to every listener's thought
The^e legends of Leucadia brought
All that of Sappho's hapless flame
Is kept ahve, siill watch'd bv Fame —
The maiden, tuning her soft' lute.
While all the rest stood round her, mute,
Thus sketch'd the languishment of soul.
That o'er the lender Lesbian stole ;
And, in a voice, « hose thrilling tone
Fancy might deem the Lesbian's own,
One of those fervid fragments gave,
Which s:ill,— like sparkles of Greek Firo,
Undying, ev'n benea'h the wave,—
Burn on thro' Time, and ne'er ejcpirc.
SONG,
As o'er her loom the Lesbian Maid
In love-sick languor hung her head.
Unknowing where her fingers stray'd.
She weeping turn'd away, and said,
6 Now Santa Maura — the island, from whoie
clifTs Sappho leaped into Ihe sea.
1 "The precipice, which is fearfully dizzy, is about
one hundred and fourteen feet from the water, which
is of a profound depth, as appe.irs from the dark blue
colour and ihe eddy that plays round the pointed and
projecting rocks." — Uoodissoii's Ionian Isles,
• See Mr. Goodisson's very interesting de«<riptioii
of all these circumstances.
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
215
**0h» my sweet Mother — H is in vain
" I cannot weave, as once I wove —
** So wilder'd is my heart and brain
" With thinking of that youlh I love !" «
Again the wel» she tried to trace,
Rut tears fell o'er each tangled thread j
While, looking m her mothei's face.
Who walchtul o'er her leauM, she said,
"Oh, n.v sweei Mother — 'tis in vain —
" I cannot weave, a, once i uove —
*'So vvildei'd is mv heart ai-d brain
** With thinking of that >oulh Hove!'*
A silence follow'd this sweet air.
As each in tender niu^in^ stood,
Thinking, with lips that moved in pray'r,
Of Sappho and that fearful flood :
While bonie, who ne'er till now had known
How much ilieir hearts resembled hers,
Felt as they made her griefs iheir own,
That (Aey, too, were Love's ivorshippers.
At lengh a murmur all but m.ite.
So faint it was, came from the lute
Of a young melancholy maid,
Whose fingers, all uiiceitain, play'd
From chord to chord, a^ if in chase
Of some lost melody, some strain
Of other times, whose faded trace
bhe ftoughi among those chords again.
Slowly the liaH-forgntten theme
(Though born in feelings ne'er forgot)
Came to her memory — as a beam
Falls broken o'er some sh.ided spot j—
And while her lute's sad symphony
Fill'd up each ^igIllng pmse between;
And Love himself might weep to see
Whit ruin comes where he hath been —
As wither'd s'ill Ihe grass is found
Where fays have danced their merry round —
Thus simply to the listening throng
She bieath'd her melaticholy snng : —
SONG.
Weeping for thee, my love, through the long day,
Lonely and wearily life wears away.
Weeping for ihee, my love, through the long nigW —
No re^t in dirkncss no joy in li^hi !
Nought left but Memory, whose dreary fread
Sounds ihroush this ruin'd heait, wlie-e all lies dead-
Wakening the echoes of joy long fled!
Of many a stan2i, this alone
Had scaped oblivion— like Ihe one
Strav fragment of a wreck, which thrown,
Willi the lost vessel's name, asiiore,
Tells who they were that live no more.
When thus 'he heart is in a vein
Of tender thought, the simplest strain
Can touch it with peculiar power —
As when the air is warm, Ihe scent
Of the moat wild and rus ic flower
Can fill the whole rich element —
And, in 'uch moods, the homeliest tone
That 's link'd with feelings, once nur own -
With friends or joys gone by — will be
Worth choirs of loftiest harmony I
But some there were, among Ihe group
Of damsels there, too liaht of hearl
To let their spirits longer droop
Ev'n under music's meltiugart;
' ' I have attempted, in these four lines, to give some
; idea of that beautiful frasmenl of Sappho, beginning
j TXvKita /irtTEo, which represents so truly (as Warton
j remarks) "the languor and lisilessness of a person
deeply in love."
And one upspringing, with a bound,
From a kiw bank of flowers, look'd round
With eyes that, though so full of light,
Had still a trembling tear within ;
And, while her fingers, in swift flight,
Flew o'er a fairy mandolin,
Thus sung the song her lover late
Had sung to her — the eve before
That joyous night, when, as of yore,
All Zea met, to cclebraie
The Feast of May, on the sea-shore.
SONG,
When the Balaika**
Is heard o'er the sea,
I'll dance the Romaika
By moonlight with thee.
If wsves then, advancing,
Should steal on our play,
Thy white feet, in dancing,
Shall chase them away.s
When Ihe Balaika
is heard o'er Ihe sea,
Thou 'It dance the Romaika,
My own love with me.
Then, at the closing
Of each merry lay,
How sweet 'tis, reposing,
Benea'h the night ray I
Or if. declining.
The moon leave the skies,
We'll talk by the shining
Of eachotlier'8 eyes.
Oh then, how feally
The dance we 'II renew,
Treading so fleetly
Its light mazes through : *
Till s'ars, looking o'er us
From heaven's high bow'rs,
Would change their bright chorus
For one dance of ours I
When Ihe Balaika
Is heard o'er Ihe sea,
Thou 'It dance the Romaika,
My own love, wiih me.
How changingly for ever veers
The hearl of youth, 'twixt smiles and tears !
Ev'n as in April, the light vane
Now ])oinls to sunshine, now to rain,
Ins'ant this lively lay dispell'd
The shadow from each blooming brow.
And Dancing, joyous Dancing, held
Full empire o'er each fancy now.
^ This word is defrauded here, I suspect, of a sylla-
ble ; Dr. Clarke, if I recollect right, makes it '* Ba-
lalaika.'*
3 *' I saw above thirty parties engaged in dancing
the Romaika upon the sand ; in some of (hose groups,
the girl who led them chased the retreating wave." —
Voii^tass on the Modem Greeks.
< "In dancing the Romaika (says Mr, Douglass)
they begin in slow and solemn step till they have
gained the time, bul by degrees the air becomes more
sprightly; the conductress nf the dance sometimes set-
ting to her partner, snnietimes darting before the rest,
and leading them through Ihe most rapic revolutions;
sometimes crossing under the hands, which are held
up to let her pass, and giving as much liveliness and
she can to the figures into which she cot]- j
due's her compan
he. in all h.
or losing 1h(
vhile their business is to follow'
enfs, without breaking the chain,
316
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
But siy — ivhat shall the measure be ?
*• Shall we the old Kimiaika tread,
(Some eager ask'dj "as anciently
*"T was by Uie maids <'f Dcl^s led,
•' When, slow at fiisi, llieii circling fast,
** As the giy spiiits rose — ar last,
** Wilh hand irt hand, like links, enlock'd,
'* Throu^ti the light air ihey seem d to flit
"In labyrinthine nuze, thai mnck'd
•* The dazzled eye that follow'd it ?"
Some call'd aloud " the Foun'ain Dance !"
While one young, darlt-ey^d Amazon,
Whose btep was ait-like, and who^e glance
flashd. like a >abre in the sun,
Sportively said, "Shame on these soft
*' And Ians;uid strains we hear so oft.
"I)<*ugher-i of Kreednm ! have not we
*'l..earird iVom our h)vers and our sires
"The Dance of Greece, while Greece was free-
" 'i'hat Dance, where neiiher rimes nor lyres,
** But sword nnd shield clash on the ear
*' A music t\ rants quake to hear ? i
" Heroines of Zea, ai m with me,
"And dance the dance of victory !'*
Thus saying, she, with playful grace.
Loosed the wide hat, thai o er her face
(From AnatoUa^ can.e the maid)
Hung, stiadowing each snnny charm ;
And, with a fair young armourer's aid,
Fixing it on her rounded arm,
A mimic shield with prule di play'd ;
Then, springing tow'rds a grove that spread
Its canopy of foliage near,
Fluck'd otf a lance-like twi?, and said,
*'To arms, to arms!" while o'er her head
She waved the light branch, as a spear,
Fromply the laughing maidens all
Obeyed their Chief '> heroic call ;—
Round the shield-arm of each was tied
Hal, turb.n, shawl, as chance might be ;
'i'he grove, their verdant aimi'ury.
Falchion and lance^ alike supplied ;
And as their glossy locks, let free,
Fell down their sh.mlders careltssly,
You might have dieam'd you ^aw a throng
Of yimihful Thvads. by the beam
Of a May m'On, bounding almg
Peneus' silver-eddied * stream !
And now Ihev stepp'd, with measured tread,
Martiallv, o'er the shining field j
Now, to the mimic combat led
(A heroine at each squa'lron's head,,
Struck lance to lance and snord to sliield:
While still, through every varying feat,
Their voices, heard in contrast sweet
With some, of deep but s"ften'd sound.
From lips of aged sires around.
Who smiling vvaich'd iheir children's play-
Thus sung the ancient Pyrrhic lay : —
Such were the sounds, to which the warrior boy
Danced in those happy days, when Greece was fie
When Spart,.'s youth, ev'n in the hour of joy,
Thus irain'd their steps to war and victory.
" Kaise the buckler — poise the lance —
*' Now here — now ttitre — retreat — advance!*'
Such was the Sitattau warriors' dance.
"Grasp the falchion —gird the shield —
"Attack— defend — do all, but yie,d."
Thus did thy sons, oh Greece, one glorious night,
Dance by a moon like this, till o'er the sea
That mnrning dawn'd by whose immortal light
They nobly died for Ihee and liberty [ S
'■ Riise the buckler — poise the lance —
"Now here- now there— retreat — advance!"
Such was the Spartan heroes' dance.
Scarce had Ihey closed this martial lay
When, tlmging their light spears away,
The c.mbalan s, iu broken ranks.
All breathless from the war-field fly;
And down, upon the velvet banks
And riduery sl-'pes, exhausled lie,
L'ke ro^y huntresses of I iirace,
Resting at sunset iiom the chase.
*' Fond girls !'* an aged Zean said —
One who, himself, had fought and bled,
And n 'W, wilh feelings, half delight,
Half sadness, walch'd their mimic fight —
"Fondma.ds! who thus with War can jest —
" Like Love, in Mars's helmet drest,
"When, in liis childish innocence,
"I'lea.ed with the shade that helmet fliugs,
"He Ihmks not of the blond, that thence
" Is droi)pjng o'er his snowy wings.
"Ay — true it is. young patriot miids,
*• If Honour's arm siill won ihe fray,
*' If luck but shone on riglilems blades,
'* War were a game for gods to play !
, ala
,vho well
Halh irack'd the fortunes of ihe brave —
par me, in mournful ditty, tell
What glory waits the patriot's grave: —
SONG.
As by the shore, at break of day,
A vaDquish'd Chief expiring lay.
Upon the sands, with broken swnrd,
He traced his farewell to the Free;
AntI, there, ihe last unfinish'd word
He dying wrote was " Liberty !"
At night a Se;i-bird shriek'd the knell
Of him who ihus for Freedom fell;
The words he wrote, ere evening cami
Were cover'd by I lie sounding sea i—
So pass a»av the cause and n^me
Of him who dies for Liberty ■
That tribute of subdued applause
A charm'd, but timid, audience pays,
That murmur, w hich a minstiel diaws
FriMii hearis, that feel, bul fear to praia
Fnlhnv'd this song, and left a pause
Of sih-nce af'eri', that hung
Like a fix'd spell on every tongue.
For a description of the Pvrrhic Dance, see De
Guys, &c. — It aj)pears from Apuleius (lib. x.) (hat
this war-dance was, among the ancients, sometimes
performed by females. I
a See the costjime of the Greek women of Natolia
in Casttilan''5 Mccurs des Olhomans. j
> The sword was the weapon chiefly used in this » It is 'aid that Leonidas and his companions em- j
^*"*^^* ployed themselves, on the eve of ihe battle, id uuiic i
* Homer, 11. 2. 753. and the gynmastic exercises of their coanlry. j
At length, a low and tremulous sound
Was heard fiom m dst a group, that rouui
A bashful inai*en >t.od, to hide
Her blushes, while the lute she fried-
Like roses, gathering round to veil
The song of some young nightingale,
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
217
Whose trembling nole? steal out between
The clustery leaves, herself unseen.
And, while that voice, in tones that more
Through feeling than through weakness crr'd,
Cai
ith a f
r.grr
Th' attentive ear, Ijiis strain was hearil: —
SONG.
I saw, from yonder silent cave,*
Two Fountains runnins, side by side,
The (»ne was Mt^m'rv's limpid uave,
The other cold Olilivion's tide.
•' Oh Lnve :" ^aid I, in thoughtless mood,
As deep I drank ot Leilte's stream,
" Be all my sorrous in this flnod
'•Forgotten like a vanisb'd dream 1"
But who could bear that gloomy blank.
Where jny was Insl as well as pain ?
Quickly of Memory's fount I drank,
And brought ttie past all back again ;
And said, "Oh Lme! wha-e'er niy lot,
*' Still let this soul to thee be true —
*' Rather than have one bliss forgot,
*' iie all my pains remember'd too I"
The group that stond around, to shade
The blushes of that bashful m^id,
Had, by degrees, as came the lay
More stnmgly forth, retired away.
Like a fair shell, whnse valves divide,
To show the fairer pearl ln?ide:
For such she was— :» crea*ure, brigbl
And delrcate as tliose diy-flow'rs,
Which, while they last, make up, in light
And sweetness, what they want in hours.
So rich upon the ear had grown
Her voice's melody — i's tone
Gatlierine; new coursj^e. as it fnund
An ech'i III each b'>som round —
1 ha', ere the nymph, wi h d 'Wncast eye
S'ill on the chords, her Inie laid by,
*' Another Snng,'' all lips exclaimed.
And each some xn <tchless f.tvouri e named ;
While blushing, as her fingtrs ran
O'er the sweet chords, she thus began : —
SONG.
Oh, Memory, how coldly
Thou paintest 'y>y gone by :
Like rainbows, thy pic'ures
But mournfully shine and die.
Or, if some tin:s 'hou keepest,
That former days recall.
As o'er each ime ihou weepest
Thy tears ellace them all.
But, Memory, too truly,
'i'hou paintest crief that 's past ;
Jny's colours are fleeting,
But 'ho-e of Sorrow last.
And, wliile thou bring'st before us
Dark pictures of past ill,
Life's evening, closing o'er us,
But makes ibem darker still.
So went the moonlight houre along.
In this sweet giade ; and so, with song
"This morning we paid our visit to the Cave of
Trophonius, and the Fountains <■( Memory and Obi
vion, just upon the waer of Hercyna. which flow
through stupendous ivcks " —IVilliams^s Travels t;
Greece.
And witching sounds — not such as they,
The cvmbahsts of Os?a, pliy'd,
To chase the moon's eclipse away,3
Rut soft and holy — did each maid
Ijuhleu her heart's eclipse awhile,
And win back borrow to a smile.
Not far from this secluded place,
On the ?ea*5hore a ruin stood ; —
A relic of th' exiinguish'd race.
Who once look'd o'er that foamy flood,
When fair loulis,^ by the light
Of co'den sunset, on the sight
Of mariners who sail'd ihat sea,
Rose, like a city of chrysolite,
Cali'd from tlie wave by witchery.
Thib ruin — now by barbarous hands
Debased into a molt-y shed,
Where the once splendid column stands
Inverted on its leafy head —
Fomi'd, as they teli, in times of old.
The dv\elling of that bard, whose lay
Could melt lo fears the stern and cold,
And sadden, mid their mirth, ihe gay —
Simonides,* who^e fame, through years
And 3ges past, still bright appears —
Like liesperus, a star of tears !
'T was hiilier now — to catch a view
Of the white waters, as they play'd
Siltntlv in the light — a few
Of the more restless damsels strayed ;
And some would linger 'mid the scent
Of hanging foliage, that perfumed
The ruin'd walls; while others went,
Culling whatever Iioweret Lloonid
In the lone Ie>fy si ace between,
Where eilded ctianibers once had been j
Or, turning sadiv to the sea,
Sent o'er the wave a sigh unblest
To some brave champion of the Free —
Thinking, alns, h-iw cold might be,
At that siill hour, his pl.ice of rest !
Meanwhile there came a sound of song
From the dark ruins — a faint strain.
As if some echo, thai among
Those minstrel halls had slumbered long,
Were murmuring into life again.
But no — llie nymphs knew well the tone —
A maiden of their train, who loved,
Like the night-bird, to sing alone.
Had deep into those ruii s roved.
And ihere, all other thoughts forgot,
Was warbline o'er, in lone delight,
A lay that, on ihat very spot.
Her lover sung one moonlight nighl : —
SONG.
Ah ! where are Ihey, who heard, in former hours,
The voice of Song in these neglected bow'rs?
They are gone — all gone I
The youth, who told his pain in such sweet tone,
That all. who heard him, wish'd his pain their own-
He is gone — he is gone I
And she, who, uhiJe he sune, sal lis'enirpbv.
And thought, tostrains like these 't were sweet lodie —
She is gone — &he too is gone !
5 This superstitious custom of the Thessalians exists
also, as I'ietio della Valle tells us, among the Persians
3 An ancient ctty of Zea, the walls of which were
of marble. Its remains (says Clarke) "extend from
the shore, qni'e into a valley watered by the streanis
of a fountain, whence loulis received its name.'*
* Zea was Ihe birth-place of this poet, whose venes
are by Catullus called "tears."
la
218
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
'T is thus, in future houn, some bsrd will say
Of her, who hears, and him, who sin^ (his lay-*-
They aie gone — they both are gone !
The moon was now, from heaven^s steep,
Rendinic In dip her silvery urn
Into the bright and silenl deep —
And the y>un^ n\m|jlis, on iheir return
From those romantic ruins, found
Their other playmales, ranged around
The sacred Spruii;. prepared lo tune
Their parting hyniri,i ere sunk the moon
To that fair Fountain, by wh -se stieam
Their hearts had form d so many a dream.
Who has not read the tales, that tell
Of old Eleusis' sacred Well,
Or heard what legend-smgs recount
Of Syra. and its hn!y Fount.1
Gushing, at once, from tl:e hard rock
Into the laps nf living flowers —
Where village niaiden> loved to flnck,
On summer-niahts, and, l,ke the Hours,
Link'd i.i harninujo'i- danc^- and son?,
Charin'd the unconscious night along;
While holy pilgrims, on their way
To Uelos' isle, s'ood looking on.
Enchanted wi h a scene so gay,
Nor sought their boats, till morning shone.
Such was the *cene Ihis lovely g'ade
And its fair inmates now display'd.
As round the Fount, in liIifc«^i r::'^.
They went, in cadence sIct/ jud light,
And thus to th^t enchanted S:;.rlzf;
Warbled their fareweil for Ice night: —
SONG.
Here, while the moonlight dim
F^lls on that mossy brim,
Sing we our Founlain Hymn,
Maidens of Zta !
Nothing but Music's strain,
When Lovers part in p'in.
Soothes, illl they meet again,
Oh, Maids of Zeal
Bright Fount, so clear and cold
Round which the nymphs of old
Stood, with their I'^cks of gold,
Fountain of Zea !
Not even Cas'aiy,
Famed though its streamlet be,
Murmurs or shines like Ihee,
Oh, Fount 01 Zeal
Thou, while our hymn we sing,
Thy Silver voice shalt bring,
Answerm?, answering,
Sweet Fount of Zea !
t These "Songs of the Well," as they were called
aidoig the ancients, still exist in Greece. De Guys
■ 3 US that he h is seen "the young women in Princes
^nd, as-enib'ed in the evening ai a jiuhlic well,
ieiily strike up a dance, while others sung in con-
cert to them."
" The inhabitants of Syra, both ancient and mo-
dern, mav oe considered as tht: ivorshippers of water.
~" e old f luntirn, at which the nymphs of the inland
;mhled in ihe earliest age*, exists in its original
state; the same rendezvous as it was formerly, whe-
r of love and galUntry, or of gossiping and tale-
telling. It i^ neir lo ihe town, and Ihe most limpid
water gushes coiitinmlly from he solid mck It is
\ regarded by the inhibi'anis with a degree of religious
I veNerati( n ; and Hiey preserve a fradi i-rn, that ihe
Eilgrimt of old lime, in their way lu DeUs, rtsoited
ither for punfica ion," — Clarke
For, of all rills that run,
cpafkliog by moon or sun,
Thou art the fairest one,
Bright Fount of Zea!
Now, by those stars that glance
Over heav'n's stilt exp.mse,
Weave we our mirthful dance,
IJaughlers of Zea !
Such as, in former days.
Danced they, by Dian's rays.
Where the Eurolas strays,^
Oh, Maids of Zea !
But when to merry feet
Hearts with no echo beat,
Say, can the dance be sweet ?
Maidens of Zea !
No, nought but Music's strain,
When lovers part in pain,
Soo'hes, till thev meet again.
Oh, Maids of Zeal
SECOND EVENING,
When evening shades are falling
O'er Ocean s eunny sleep.
To pilgrims' hearts recalling
Their home beyond the deep j
When, rest o'er all descending,
The shores ujrh gladness smile,
And lutes, their echoes blending,
Are heard from isle to isle.
Then, Mary, Star of the Sea«
We pray, we pray, to thee 1
The noon-day teaipest over,
Now Ocean toils no more.
And wings of halcyons hover,
Where all was strife before.
Oh, thus may life, in closing
lis short tempestuous day,
Beneaih heaven's smile reposing,
Shine all its stoims away:
Thus, Mary, Sar of the Sea,
We pray, we pray, tu thee !
On Hclle's sea the light grew dim,
As the Ia<t sounds of that sweet hyma
Floa'ed alonj its azure tide-
Floated in light, as if the lay
Had niix'd with sunset's fading ray,
A"d light and song toge'her died.
So soft through evening's air had brealhM
That choir of ynuthful voices, wreathM
In many linked harmony,
That b als. then huirying o'er the sea.
Paused, when ihey reach'd this f-iiry shore,
And liuger'd till the strain was o'er.
Of those young maids who *ve met to fleet
In song atid dance this evening's hours.
Far happier now the bosoms heal,
'I ban when they last adorn'd the$e bowers;
For tidings of ghd sound had come,
At break of day, fiom the far isles —
Tidings like biealh of life to some —
That Zea's sons would soon wing home,
Crown'd with the light of Victory's smiles ;
• " Qualis in Eumtae ripis, aut y^r jug^ Cynthi
Exercet Diana choros." — Kirgii.
♦ One of the titles of the Virgin:- "Maria iMu*
linatrix, sive Stella Maris."— /iirfor.
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
219
To meet that brightest of alt meeds
That wait on high, heroic deeds,
When gentle eyt:<) that sctice, for tears,
Could trace the warrior's paiiiiig track»
Shall, like a misty morn that clears,
When the long absent ^iun api ears,
Shine out, all bliss, to hail him back*
How fickle still the ynuthful breast ! —
More fond of chan^^e than a young mooH)
No j .y so new was e'er possest
But Youth woijd lesve for newer soon.
These Zeaii nymphs, ihough biiglit the spot,
Where first tht-y held their evening play,
As ever fell to fairy's lot
To wanton o'er by midnighl's ray,
Had now exchanged that sheltered scene
For a w ide glade beside the eea —
A lawn, wliose sofi expanse of ^reeo
Turn'd to the west sun Mnitingty,
Ai though, in conscious beauty bright,
It joy'd to give him light for ii^hi.
And ne'er did evening more serene
Look down fiom heaven on lovelier scene.
Calm lay the flond around, wliile fleet,
O'er ihe blue shining element,
Light barks, as if with fairy feet
That stiirM not the hush'd waters, went ;
Some that, ere rosy eve fell o'er
The blushing wave, with mainsail free,
Had put forth f r< ni the Attic shore.
Or the near Isle of Ebony ; —
Some, Hydiiot barks, ihat detp in caves
Beneaih Colonna's pillar'd clitis,
Had all day lurk'd, and o'er the waves
Now shot their long and dart-like skiffs.
Woe (o 'he cfaff, however fleet.
These sea-hawks in theii course shall meet,
Laden wKh juice of Lesbian vines,
Or rich from Naxo&> emeiy mines ;
For not mure sure, when owlets flee
O'er the dark crags of Pendelee,
Doth the night-faicon mark his prey,
Or pounce uu it more fleet than they.
And what a moon now lights the glade
Where these young island nymphs are met 1
FuII*orb'd, yet pure, as if no shade
Had touch*d lis virgin lustre yet ;
And freshly bright, as if just made
By Love's ()wn hands, of new-born light
StoPn from hiamoiher's star to-night.
On a bold rock, that o*er the flood
Jutted from thai soft glade, there stood
A Chipel, fronting towards the sea, —
Built in some by-gnne ceniury, —
Where, nightly, as the seama'n's mark.
When waves rose high or clouds were dark
A lamp, bequeath'd by some kind Saint,
Shed o'er the wave its glimmer faint,
Waking in way-worn men a sigh
And pra\er to heaven, as they went by,
'T was there, around that rnck-built shrine,
A group of maidens and their sires
Had stood to wa'ch Ihe day's decline.
And, as the light lell o'er their lyres,
Sung to the Queen-Star of the Sea
That soft and holy melody.
But lighter thoughts and lighter song
Now woo Ihe coming houis along.
Tor, maik, where smooth 'he herbiige lies.
Yon gay pavilion, curiaiu'd deep
With silken folds, throush which bright eyes,
From time lo time, are seen to peep j
While twinkling ligh's that, to and fro.
Beneath those veils, like meteors, go.
Tell of some ppells at work, and keep
foung fancies chamVi ii> mu e suspen-e.
Watching \^UM next may shine from thence.
Nor long the pause, ere hands
Thnt mystic curtain bnckward drew,
And all, that late but shone between,
In half-c«uglit ifleains, now burst to view
A picture 't was of the early days
Of glorious Greece, ere yet those rays
Of rich, immortal IVlmd were hers
That made mankiiid her worshippers:
While, yet unsung, her landscapes shone
With glory lei.t by heaven ahme:
Nor temples c'own'd her nameless hills,
Nor Muse immortalised her rills;
Nor aught but the mule poesy
Of sun, and stars, and shining sea
Illumed that land of bards to be.
While, pie^cieni of the gifted race
That yet would realm so blest adorn.
Nature took pains to deck the place
Where glorious Art was to be born.
Such was the scene that mimic stage
Of Alliens and her hills portrayed;
Athens, in her first, youthful age.
Ere yet Ihe simple violet braid, I
Which iheii adorn'd her. had shone dowm
The glory of earth's lotiiesi crown.
While yet undream'd, her seeds of Art
Lay sleeping in ihe marble mine —
Sleeping til) Genius bade them start
lo all but life, in shapes divine;
Till deified the quarry shone
And all Olympus stood in stone !
There, in the foreground of that scene,
On a soft bank of living green.
Sate a young nymph, with her lap full
Of nev\I) galher'd flowers, o'er which
She graceful lein'd. infeni to cull
All that was there of hue most rich,
To form a wrea'h, such as the eye
Of her young lover, who stood by,
With pallet mingled fresh, niight choose
To fix by Painting's rainbow hues.
The wreath was form'd ; the maiden raised
Her speaking eye^ to his, while he —
Oh not upon the flowers now gaz'd,
But on that bright look's wiichery.
While quick, as if but then the thought,
Like light, had reach'd his soul, he caught
His pencil up, and, warm and true
As life itself, that love-look drew:
And, as his raptured 'ask went on,
And forth each kindling feature shone.
Sweet voices, through tlie moonlieht air,
From lips as moonlight fresh and pure.
Thus hail'd the bright dream passing there,
And sung the Birth of Portraiture.^
SONG.
As once a Grecian maiden vrnve
Her garland mid tlie summer bowers,
There stood a youth, with eyes of love.
To watch her while she wreaih'd the flowers.
The youth was sktlPd in Painting's art,
Rut ne'er h:»d sliulied woman's brow,
Nor knew « hat mai;ic hues the heart
Can shed o'er Nature's chainis, lill now.
CHORUS.
Blest be Love, to whom we owe
All that '8 fair and bright below.
' "Violet-crowned Athens." — Pindar,
* The whole of this scene was suggested by Pliny's
and bis mistress Glycera,
•22U
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
His hand had pictured many a rose,
And sketch'd ihe raya tliat lii;ht ihe brook j
But what were these, or whit weie those,
To woniao's blu'-h, to womau's look?
" Oh, if such ni;tgic pow'r there be,
" This, this," he cried, " is all my prayer,
"To paint tliat living light I see,
** Aud fix the soul thai sparkles there."
His prayer, as soon as breaihM, was heard j
His pallet, toucb'd by Ldve, grew warm,
And Painiingsaw her hues franaferr'd
Front Ijfeless flower^ to woman's form.
Still as from tint to tint he stole,
Thft fair design shone out the more.
And there was now a life, a soul,
Where only colours glow'd before
Then first carnations learn'd to speafe,
And lilies into life were brought;
While, mantling on the maiden's cheek,
Youn? roses kindled into thought.
Then hyacinths their darkest dyes
Upon the locks of Reanty threw;
And violets, transform'd to eyes,
Eushiin'd a soul within their blue.
CHORUS.
Blfst be Love, to whom we owe
All that's fafr and bright below.
Sing was cold and Faintingdim
Till song and Fainiing h:aru*d from him.
Soon as the scene had closfd, a cheer
Of genile voices, old and vo'jEg,
Rose frnni the groups 'hat stood to bear
This tale of yore so aptly sung;
And while some nymphs, in h iste to tell
The workers of Ihat fairy gpell
How crown'd with praise their task had been,
Stole in behind the curtainM scene.
The res', in h^ppv converse siray'd —
Talking Iha' ancient iove-'ale o'er —
Some, to the groves Ihat skirt the ghde,
Some, to Ihe chai)el by the shore,
To loi.k what lights were on the sea,
And think of the' absent silently.
But soon that summons, known so well
Thioiigh bower and hall, in Eastern lands,
Whose sound, more sure than gong or bell,
hovers and slaves alike commands, —
The cl:ippingof young fema'e hands,
Calls back the groups from rock and field
To see some new-fnrm'd scene reveal'd ; —
And fleet and eager, down the slopes
Of Ihe ereen glade, like antelopes,
When, in lheir\hirs(, they hear Ihe sound
Of distant rills, the light nymphs bound.
Far different now the scene — a waste
Of Libyan s smds, by moonlight's ray;
An ancieiit well, whereon were traced.
The warning words, for such as siray
Unarmed there, '• Drink and away 1" i
While, near it. from the nisht-ray screen'd,
And like his bells, in hush'd repose,
A cimel slept — young as if wean'd
When last the star, Canopus, rose.*
1 The traveller Shaw mentions a beautiful rill in
Barbery, which is received into a large basin called
S/iJ-ub wee knib, "Drink and away"— there being
great danger of mee ing with thieves and assassioi, '
such places.
* The Arabiin shepherd has a peculiir ceremony
weaning the voung camel: when the proper tii
arrives, he turns the cimel towards the rismg s':
i Cauppus, a;id says, " Do you see Canopus? iu.izi tl
3 huo
Such was the back-ground*3 silent scene;—
While nearer lay, fast slumbering too,
In a rude tent, wiih brow serene,
A youth whose cheeks of way-
And pilgrini-bonnet, told the tale
Tha' he had been to Mecca's Vale:
Haply in pleasant dreams, ev'n now
Thinking the long-wish'd hour h come
When, o'er the well-known porch at home,
His hand shall hang the aloe bough —
Trophy of his accomplish'd vow, 3
But brief his dream — for now the call
Of the camp-chiefs from rear to van,
" Bind on your burdens," * wakes up all
The u idely slumbering caravan j
And thus meanwhile, to greet the ear
Of the young pilgrim as he wakes,
The s'jng of one who, lingering near.
Had waich'd his slumber, cbeerly breaks.
SONG.
Up a' d march 1 Ihe timbrel's sound
Wakes the slumb'ring c^mp around j
Fleet thy hour of rest hath gone,
Armed sleeper, up, and on !
Long and weary is our way
O'er Ihe burning sands lo-day ;
But to pilgrim's homeward feet
Ev'n the desert's path is sweeU
When we lie af dead of night,
Looking up -o heaven's light.
Hearing but the watchman's tone
Faintly chantm^ "God is one,"*
Oh what Ih'iUKhts then o'er us come
Of our dist ml vil^tge-home,
Where that chant, when evening se'a.
Sounds from all the mioarets.
Cheer thee! — soon shall signal lights,
Kindling o'er (he Red-Sea heights.
Kindling quick from man to man,
ifbiil our coming caravan : s
Think what bliss thai hour will be I
Looks of home again to see.
And our names again to hear
Murmui'd out ty voices dear.
So pass'd the desert dream away,
Fleeting as his who heard this lay.
Nor long the pause between, nor moved
The spell bound audience from that spolj
While still, as usual, Fancy roved
On to the joy that yet was not j—
Fancy, who ha'h no present home,
But builds her bower in scenes to come.
3 *' Whoever returns fmm a pilgrimaje to Mecca
hangs this plant (the mitreshaped Aloe) over
street door, as a token of his having performed this
holy journey." — Hasselquixt.
4 This form of notice (o the caravans to prepare for
marching was applied by Haftz to the necessity of i
linqui-hing the pleasures of this world, and preparing
for death: — " For me what room is there for plea-
sure in the bower of Beauty, when every moment the
bell makes proclamation, * Bind on your burdens ?'"
5 The watchmen, in the camp of (he caravans, go
their rounds, crying one after another, *' God is Cue,"
&c. &c.
6 "It was customary," sayi Irwin. ** to light op
fires on the monntair... wMhin'viewof Cosseir, logive
notice of the approach of the caravans that caoia Irou
the Nile."
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
221
Walking for ever in s light
That flows from regions out of sight.
But see, by gradual dawn descried,
A mJuiitain realm— nigged as e'er
Upraised to heav'n its summits bare,
Or told to earth, with frown of i-ride,
That Freedom's falcon nest was Uiere,
To*^ high for hand of lord or king
To nood her brow, or chain her wing,
»Tis Maina's land— her ancient hills,
The aluide of nymphs i —her countless rills
And torrents, in ibeir downward da^h
Shining, like silver, ihrough the shade
Of the sea-pine and flowering ash —
All with a tru'h so fresh pnurtray'd
As wants but touch of Itle to be
A world of warm reality.
And now, light bounding forth, a band
Of moumaineers, all smile^, ndvance^
Nymphs with their lovers, hand in hand,
XJnk'd in the Ariadne dai;ce j a
And while, apart from that gav throng,
A rr.instrel ynuth, in viried song,
Tells of the loves, ftie joys, the ilia
Of the^e wild cliildren of the hills,
The rest by tu'ns, or fierce or gay,
As war or sport inspires the hy,
Follow each change that wakes the strings,
And act what thus the lyrist sings : —
SONG.
No life is like the mountaineer's,
His home is near the sky,
Wheie, throned above Ihi-i world, he hears
Its strife at dis'ancedle.
Or, should the sound of hostile drum
Proclaim below, *• We come — we come,"
Each crag 'hit totvers in air
Gives answer, '* Come who dare I"
While, like bees, from dell and dingle,
Swifl the swaiming warriors mingle,
And their cry " Hurra!" will be,
*'Huri-a, to victory I'*
Then, when battle's hour is over,
See Ihe happy mountain lover.
With the nymph, who '|| soon be bride.
Sealed blushing by his side,—
Every shadow of his lot
In her suimy '^mile forgot.
Oh. no life is like the nr untaineer's,
His home is near the sky.
Where, throned above this'world, he hears
ItE
Nor only thus through summer suni
His blithe existence cheerly runs —
Ev'n winter, h\e:xk and dim,
Bring, joyous hours to him;
When, his nrte behind him flinging.
He watches the roe-buck spiinging.
And away, o'er the bills aw.y^ ^*
Re-echoes his glad " hurra."
Then how hies', when ni^ht is closing,
By the kindled hearth reposing.
To his rebeck's drowsv song.
He beguiles the hour al"ng ;
Or. provoked bv merrv elances,
To a brisker movement dances.
a See, tor
veli
L .=zz
■ virgiiiibus bacchala I.aconis
account of this dance, De Guy's Tra-
Till, weary at last, in slumber's chain
He dreanis o'er chase and dance agaiUi
Dreams, dreams them o'er agaic.
As slow that minstrel, at Ihe close,
Sunk, while he sun?, to feign'd repose,
Aptly did 'hey, whose niiniic art
FolUnv'd tlie changes of his lay,
Pourlray the lull, Ihe nod, the start,
Through which, as faintly died aivay
His lute and voice, the minstrel pass'd,
'T ill voice and lule lay bush'd at last.
But now far other son^ came o'er
Their startled eats — song that, at first.
As solemnly the night-wiiid bore
Across the wave its mournful burst,
Seern'd to the fancy, like a dirge
Of some lone Spirit of the Sea,
Singing o'er Helle's ancient surge
"The requiem of her Brave and Free.
Sudden, amid their pastime, pause
The wondering ii\ inphs ; and, as Ihe sound
Of that strange music nearer draws,
Willi mute enquiring eye look round.
Asking each o'her what can be
The souice of this sad minstrelsv ?
Nor longer can they doubt, the song
Comes from some island-bark, which now
Courses the bright waves swifl along,
And siion, perh.ips, benea h Ihe bro.v
Of Ihe Saint's Hock will shool its prow.
Instantly all, with hearts that sich'd
'Twixl fear's and fancv's influence.
Flew lo Ihe rock, and saw fioni thence
A red-saii'd pinnace tow'rds Ihem glide,
Whose shadow, as il swept the spiay,
Scaiier'd Ihe moonlight's smiles away.
Soon as the mariners saw that ihroirg
From the cliff gazing, young and old
Sudden they slack 'd their sail and song;
And, while their pinnace idly roll'd
On the light surge, these tidings told :
'T was from an isle of mournful name,
From Missoloiighi. last Ihey cam-, —
Sad Missoloiighi, sorrowing yet
O'er him, the noblest S'ar of Fame
Thai e'er in life's young glory set ! —
And now were on their mournful way,
Wafting Ihe news through Helle's isles ; —
News that wouM cloud ev'n Freedom's ray.
And sadden Victory 'mid her smiles.
Their tale thus told, and heard, wiih pain,
Out spread thegalliol's \\ ings again J
And, as she sped her swift career,
A^ain tha' livmn rose on Ihe ear —
"Thou art nnt dead— Ihou ait not dead ! "
As oft 'I was sung, in azes flown.
Of him, the Aihen.an, who. to shed
A tyrant's blood, pour'd out his own.
SONG.
Thou art not dead — thou art not dead ! 3
No. dearest Harmodiu., no.
Thy soul, to realms above us fled,
Thnugh. like a star, il dwells o'erhead,
Still lights this world below.
Thou art not dead — 'hou art not dead I
No. dearest Ilarniodiis. no.
Through isles of light, where heroes tread
And flowers ethereal oiow,
■ 4tXTa0' 'ApfioSt* ovmt jcQvqKu^,
19*
222
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
Thy god-like Spirit now is led,
Thy Up, with life ainhrosiai fed,
i'orgels all laste of woe.
Thou art not dead — tlinu art not dead !
HOf deare&t ilariiiodius, iiO.
The myrtle, round that falchion spread
Which struck the mimortal blow,
Throughuut ail time, with leaves unshed —
The patriot's hope, the tyrant's dread —
Kouod Freedom's shrine shall grow.
Thuu an not dead — thou art not dead 1
J*to, dearest Harinodius, no.
Where hearts like thine have broke or bled,
Though quench'd the vital glow,
Their memory lights a tiame, instead,
Which, ev'u Irnm out the narrow bed
Of death Us beams shall throw.
Thou art not dead — thou art not dead I
Mo, dearest Harmodius, no.
Thy name, by myriads sung and said,
from age to age shall go,
Long as the oak and ivy wed,
As bees shall haunt Hymetius* head,
Or Helle's waters How.
Thou art not dead — thou art not dead!
^o, dearest harmodms, uo.
'Mong those who Hnger'd listening there, —
ListeiJing, with ear and eye, as long
As breath of night could tow'rds them bear
A murmur of that mournful song,—
A few there were, in whom the lay
Had call'd up feelmgs far too sad
To pass with the Lrief strain away,
Or turn at once to theme more glad;
And who, in mood untuned to meet
The light laugh of the happier tiatn,
Wander'd to seek some moonlight seat
Where they might rest, in converse sweet,
Till vanish'd smiles should come again.
And seldom «'er hath noon of night
To sadness lent mure soothing light.
On one side, in the daik blue sky,
Lonely and radiant, was the eye
Of Jove himself, while, on the oiher,
'Mopg tiny s ars that round her gleam'd,
The young moon, like the Ronian mother
Among her living "jewels," beamed.
Touch'd by the lovely scenes around,
A pensive maid —one who, though young,
Had known what 'twas to see unwound
'I'he ties by which her heart had clung —
Waken'd her soft tanibuura's sound.
And to its faint accords thus sung: —
SONG,
Calm as, beneath its mother's eyes,
In sleep the smiling infant lies,
So, watch'd by all the stars of night.
Yon landscape sleeps in light.
And while the ni«ht-breezedies away.
Like relics of (iome faded strain,
Loved voice*, lost for many a day,
Seem whispering roui d a^ain.
Oh youth ! oh love ! ye dreams, that shed
Such glory once— where are ye lied?
Pure ray of light that, down the sky.
Art pointing, like an angel's wand,
As if to guide to realms that lie
In that bright sea beyond :
Who knows but, in some brighter deep
'Jhan even that tranquil, moon-lit main.
Some land may lie, wheie those who weep
Shall wake to smile again!
With cheeks that had regain'd their power
And play of smiles,— and each bright eye.
Like violets after morning's shower,
The blighter for the tears gone by.
Back to the scene such smiles should grace
These wandering nymphs their path retrace,
And reach the spot, with rapture new
Just as the veils asunder flew,
And a fresh vision burst to view.
There, by her own bright Attic flood,
The bh.e-ey'd Queen of Wisdom stood ;—
Not as she haunts the sage's dreams,
Wiih trow unveii'd, divine, severe;
But Roften'd. as on birds she beams,
When fresh from Poesy's high sphere,
A music, not her own, she brings.
And, through the veil which Fancy flings
O'er her stern features, gently sings.
But who is he — ihat urchin nigh,
With quiver on the ro^e-trees hung,
Who seems just dropp'd from yonder sky.
And stands to watch Ihat maid, with eye
So full of thought, for one so young? —
Thatchild — but, silence! lend thine ear.
And thus in song the tale thou 'It hear : —
SONG,
As Love, one summer eve, was strayinj.
Who should he see, ai that soft hour,
But young Minerva, gravely playing
Her flute within an olive bower.
I need not say, 't is Love's opinion
That, grave or merry, good or ill.
The sex all bow to his dominion,
As woman will be woman still.
Though seldom yet the boy hath given
To learned dames his smiles or sighs,
So handsome Pallas lonk'd, that even.
Love quite forgot the niaid was wise.
Besides, a youth of his discerning
Knew well that, by a shady rill,
At sunset hour, whaie'er her learning,
A woman will be woman siill.
Her flute he praised in terms exiatic, —
Wishing it dumb, nor cared how soon ;—
For Wisdoni's notes, howe'er chromatic,
To Love seem always out of tune.
But long as he found face to flatter,
The nymph found breath to shake and thrill
As, weak or wise — it doesn't matter-
Woman, at heart, is woman still.
Love changed his plan, with warmth exclaimioj
" How rosy was her lips* soft dye !'*
And much tha' flute, the flatterer, blaming,
For twisting lips so sweet awry.
The nymph look d down, beheld her features
Reflected in the passing rill.
And started, shock d— for, ah, ye creatures!
£v'u when divine, you 're women still.
Quick from the lips it made so odious
1 hat graceless flute the Goddess took,
And, white yet filPd wjlh breaih melodious,
Flung it into the glassy brook ;
Where, as its vocal life was fleeting
Adown the current, faint and shrill,
T was heard in plaintive tone repeating,
*' Woman, alas, vain woman sliU !'*
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
223
Ad inttrvfti of dark repose —
Such as the sniumer hgliini' g knows,
'Tvvixt rtabh and Hash as slill more bright
The quick revealment comes and goca,
Op'-uiiig c.ich lime the veila of mghl,
To show, wilhiu, a world of Ii2;hi —
Such pause, so brief, now p.iss'd between
This last ^^y vhwn and the scene,
Which now its depth of li^ht disclosed.
A bower it seenrd, an Indian bower,
Wiitiin whose shade a D>mph reposed,
Sleeping away uoim's sunny hour —
J-ovciy as she, the hrnte, who weaves
ller mansion of sweet Duiva leaves,
And there, as Indian legends say,
Drcama the long summer hours away.
And mark, how chaim'd thi^ sleeper seems
Wiih some hid fancy — hhe, too, dreams!
Oh for \ Wizard's art to tetl
The wonders that now ble^s her sight I
'T is done — a true., hfdier spell
Than e'er from wizard's lip yel fell
'i'bus brings her vision all to light;
SONG,
•' Who comes so gracefully
" Glidmg alou?,
" Wliile Ihe blue rivulet
*' Sleeps t') her song j
•'Song, richly vying
" Wiih the faint sighing
" Which swans, in dying',
** Sweetly prolong ?'*
So sung Ihe shepherd-boy
By the stream's side,
W;itching that fairy boat
Down the flood glide,
t,ike a bird winging.
Through the waves bringing
That Syren, sitieing
To the hush'd tide.
" Stay," said Ihe shepherd-boy,
** Fairy-boat, stay,
** Linger, sv\eet minstrelsy,
" Linger, a day."
But vain his pleading,
Fast him, unheeding.
Song and tioat, speeding,
Glided away.
So to our youthful eyes
Joy and h^'pe shone ;
So, while we gazed on them,
Fast they flew on j —
Like Ilowers. declining
Ev'n in the twinintr,
One moment shining,
And, Ihe next, gone I
Soon as the imagined dreim went bv,
Uprove the nyniph, wiih anxious eye
Turnd to Ihe clouds, as though some boon
She wailed from that sun-biisiht dome,
And marveird that i( came nt)t soon
As her young thnugh's would have it come.
But joy is ill her glance ! — the wiug
Of^a white bird is seen above ;
And oh. if round his neck he bring
The ^ong-wi^h'd tidings from her love,
Not half so precious in her eyes
Ev'n that high-omen'd bird i would be,
Who dooms the brow o'er which he tlies
To wear a crown of Royalty.
> The Huma.
She had h
Tl
lUtdi
elf, last (
elemeut.
le walch'd till, lessening out of sight,
F.ir lo the golden West it went,
WaflJiig to hint, her dis'ant love,
A missive in that language wrought
Which ilowers can speak, when aptly wove,
Each hue a word, each leaf a thought.
And now — oh speed of pinion, known
'J'o Love's light messengers alone 1 —
Its farewell of the golden lakes,
She sees another envoy fly,
With the Wish'd answer, through the sky.
Welcome, sweet bird, through the sunny air wi f
ingi
Swiff liast thou come o'er Ihe far-shining sea,
Like Seba's dove, on thy snowy neck bringing
Love's written vows from my lover to me.
Oh, in thy absence, wlial hours did I uuuib*» '. -^
Sa> ing oft, " Idle bird, how could he rest ?"
But thou art come at lasl, take now thy slumber,
And lull thee in dreams of all thou lov'st best.
Yet dost thou droop — even now while I uff er
Love's happy welcome, thy puUe dies away ;
Cheer ihee, my bird — were'il life's ebbing flutter,
This fondling bosom should woo it to slay.
But no— thouVt dying— thy last task is over-
Farewell, sweet martyr, to Love and to me '.
The smiles thou hast wakend by news from mv
lover, ■'
Will now all be turn'd into weeping for thee.
While thus this scene of snng (their last
For the sweet sunmier season) pass'd,
A few presiding nymphs, whose care
Waich'd overall, invisibly.
As do those guardian sprites of air.
Whose watch we feel, but cannot see.
Had from Ihe circle— scarcely miss'd,
Ere they were sparkling there again —
Glided, like fairies, to assist
Their handmaids on the moonlight plaia
Where, hid by intercepling shade
From the strav glance of curious eyes,
A feast of frui s'and wines was laid
Soon to shine out, a glad surprise I
And now the moon, her ark of light
S'eering throuih Heav'n, as though she bor«
In safely llimugh that deep of night.
Spirits of earth, the good, the bright,
To some remote immortal shore,
Had half-nay sped her glonous way.
When, round reclined on hillocks green,
In groups. bene.a'h thai Iramiuil rav,
'i tie Zeans at their feast were seen.
Cavuas Ihe pic ure-uvery maid
Wh-'in la'e the lighted i-rcne display'd,
Slill in her fancy gaibarray'd ; —
1 he Artbian pilgrim, smiling here
Be ide the nymph ol India's sky;
White 'here tile Mainiote mountaineer
Whi-.per"d in young Mineiv I's ear.
And urchin Love stood laughing by.
Meantime the elders round the boarri,
By ninth and wit themselves made young.
High cups (if juice Zacyn'hian pour'd,
Aud, while the flask went round, thus sung : -
29A
EVENINGS IN GREECE.
Up.
»giii
■1 wixt the tluodanil brii
When hath the world ^el eyes on
Aughl to ii.alch ihis hgiit,
Winch, o'er our cujj's horizon,
Dawns ia bumpers blight?
Truth ill a deep well Helh —
So tilt wise aver:
But Truth ihc fictdenielh —
Water suits not her.
No, her abode's in brimmers,
Like this mighty cup —
Waiting till ive, good swimmers,
Dive to bring her up.
Thus circled round the snn^ of glefi,
And all was tutiefJ mi-th Ihe while,
Save on ilie cht-eks of some, whose smile,
As fix'd ihey gaze upon tlie se:i,
Turns into paleness suddenly !
What see they there? a bright blue light
That, like a me eor, glidme; o'er
The distant wave, grows on The sight.
As though *t were winged to Zea s ghore.
To some, 'mon? those who came to gaze,
It seem'd ihe niglii-lght* far away,
Of some lone fisher, by ihe blaze
Of pine loich, luring on his prey;
While others, as, '(wixt awe and mirth.
They breatli'd the bless'd Panaya's » name,
VowM that such light was n"t of earih,
But of that drear, iH-omen'd flame,
Which mariners see on sail or mast,
When Death h coming in the blast.
While marvelling thus they stood, a maid,
Who sate apar'. with downcast eye,
Nor yet h-id, like (he lesl, surveyed
That coming light which now was njgh,
Soon as it met her sight, with cry
Of pain-like joy, '■ ' I is he ! 't is he ! "
Loud she exdami'd, and, hurrving by
The assembled thnng. rush'd (ow'rds the sea.
At bur.-t so wild, alarm'd, amazed,
All stood, like statues, mute, and gazed
Inio each other's eyes, to seek
What meant such mood, in maid so meek?
Till now. the tale wa^ known to few,
Bui now from lip to lip it flew: —
A youth, the flower of all the band,
Who lale had left ihis sunny i.hore,
When last he kis^M th-t maiden's hand,
Lingering, to kiss it o'ei and o'er,
By his sid brow too plainly told
The ill-onii-n'd th'.ught which cross'd him thei
That once those han-Is should lose their hold,
They ne'er would meet i
In^
Lin h\i
nistn
■trt from Self as free
But wit
As zeuf
VeiiM her own fears to l>anish his; —
Willi frank lebuke, but still more vain,
Did a rnugh warrior, \\ h<i stood by,
Call to hi. inird this maMial strain.
His favouriie oucb, ere Beauti's eve
Had taught his soldier-heart to sigh : —
1 The name which the Greeks give to the Virgin
Marv.
SONG.
March ! nnr heed those arms that hold the^
Though so fondly close ihey come;
Closer still will they enfold thee,
When thou bring'sl fresh l-turels home.
Dost thou do(e on woman's brow?
Dost Ihou live but in her breath?
M^rch ! — one hour of victory now
Wins thee woman's smile till death.
Oh, whit bliss, when war is over,
Beauty's long-miss'd smile to meet,
And, when wreaths our temples cover,
Lay them shining at her feet.
Who would not. that hour to reach,
Breathe out life's expiring sigh, —
Proud as waves that on the beach
Lay their war-crests down, and die.
There ! I see thy soul is burning-
She heiself, who clasps thee so.
Paints, ev'n now, thy glad reiurning,
And, while clasping, bids thee go.
One deep sigh, (o passion given,
One last gluwmg tear and then —
March '. — nor rest thy sword, till Heaveu
Brings thee to those aims again.
Even then, ere loth their hands could part,
A promise the you^h gave, which bore
Some balm unto the maiden's heart,
Thas soon as the fierce li^ht was o'er,
To hnme he 'd speed, if safe and free —
Nav. ev'n if d\ing, still would come,
So the blest word of ** Victoiy !"
Might be Ihe last he 'd breathe at home.
*' By day," he cried, " Ihou 'It know my bark ;
•' Hut, slmuld I come through midnight dark,
*'A blue light on the prow shall tell
*'That Greece hath won, and all is well 1»
Fondly thje maiden, every night.
Had stolen to seek "hat promised light;
Nor long her eyes had now been turned
From Witching, when the bignal burn'd.
Signal of jnv — for her, for all —
Fleeilv the boat now nears the land,
While voices, from the shore-edge, call
For lidings of the long-wish'd band.
Oh. the blest hour, when those who ^ve been
Thiough peril's paths by land or sea,
Lockd in our arms ag.iin are seen
When heart to heart we fondly strain,
Questioning quickly o'er and o'er —
Then hnid them oft; to gaze again.
And a^k. though answet'd oft before,
If thej', indeed, are ours once more ?
Such is the scene, so full of joy,
VVhich welcomes now this warrior-boy.
As fahers. sisteis, friends all run
Bounding to meet him — all but oue,
Who, slowest on his neck to fall.
Is yet the happiest of them all.
And now behold him, circled round
Wiih beaming faces, at that b ard,
While cups, with l-.urel foliage crown'd,
Are to Ihe coming waniors pourM —
Coming, a^ l:e, their her. Id, told.
With blades from vic'ory scarce yet cold,
Wi^h hetrts untouch'd by Moslem s'eel,
And wounds that home's sweet breath will heal.
•' Ere morn." said he,— and, while he spoke,
Tu'n'd to Ihe east, where, clear, and pale,
The star of dawn alre^dv broke —
'* We 'll greet, on yonder wave, their sail I"
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
225
Then, wherefore part? all, all agree
'i'o wait them here, beneath this bower;
Aral thus, while even iiiiidst iheir glee,
t. irh eye is turn'd lo watch the sea,
With sODg liicy cheer the anxious hour.
SONG.
"Tis (he Vine! 'tis the Vine I" said the cup-loving
boy.
As he saw it spring bright from the earth,
And caird ihe young Genii of Wit, Love, and Joy,
To wiuiess and hallow ii5 binh.
The fruit w.is full grown, like a ruby it flamed
Ti'.l the sun-beam that kiss'd it louk'd pale :
**'Tia the Vine! 'tis Ihe Vine!" ev'iy Spirit ex-
claiiii'd,
" Hill, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail I '
First, (leet as a bird, to Ihe summons VVit flew,
Wiiile a light nil the vine-leaves there broke,
In flashes so quick and so brilliant, all knew
'T n'as the light froui his lips as he spoke.
"Bright Iree ! let Ihy nectar but cheer me," he cneJ,
"And the fount of Wit never can f .il :"
"Tis the Vine! 'tis the Vine !" hills aud valleyt
reply,
"Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail !"
Next, Love, as he leanM o'er the plan 'to admire
Each tendril and clusler it wore.
From his rosy mouth sent such a breath of desire,
Ab made the Iree tienible all '.'ir.
Oh, never did flower of ihe earth, sea, or sky,
Such a soul-giving odoui inhale:
"'T is ihe Vine ! 'tis the Vine !" all re-echo the crv,
" Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail !"
Last, Joy, without whom even Love and Wit die.
Came to crown the bright hour with his ray ;
And scarce had that mirth-waking Iree met his eye,
When a laugh spoke wliaf Joy could not say ; —
A liugh of the heart, which was echoed around
Till, like music, it swell'd on Ihe gale;
'"Tis the Vine! 'lis the Vine!" laughing myriads
resound,
"Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail!"
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
TO THE MISS FEILDINGS,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,
BY THEIR FAITHFUL FRIEND AND BERVANT,
THOMAS MOORE.
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
THE VOICE.
It c:ime o'er Jicr sleep, like a vcice of those days,
When love, only love, was Ihe li^l't of her ways;
And, intt as in momeiils of bliss lon^ ago,
It wliisper'd her name from the garden below,
"Alas," sigh'd the maiden, '*ho\v fancy can cheat !
"The world once had lips that could whisper thus
sweet ;
** Rut cold M'nv they slumber in yon fatal deep,
"Where, nh, that beside them this heart (co could
sleep !"
She sunk on lier pillow— but no, H was in vain
To chase Ihe illusinn, that Voice came a^ain I
She flew lo the casement— but, hushM a^ the g:ravc,
In moonlight lay slumbering woodland and wave.
"Gh, sleep, come and shield me," in anguish she
said,
»' From that c;ill nf the buried, that cry of Ihe Dead !"
And sleep came around her— bu', starling, she woke,
For Biill from Ihe garden that s[)irit Voice spoke I
•*I come," she exclaimed, "be thy home where it
may,
" On earth or in heaven, that call I obey ; "
Then f>rlh through Ihe moonlight, with heart beat*
in^ fist
And loud as a dealh-watch, the pale maiden past.
SjII round her the scene all in Inneline'S'f shone;
And still, in the di-^lance, that Voice led her on ;
But whither ^he wander'd, hy wave or by shore,
None evf:r cculd tell, for she came back no more.
No, ne'er came she back,— but the watchman who
stood,
That nighi, in the tower which overshadows *be flood,
Saw dimly, 't is said, o'er the moon-.'ighicd spray,
A youth on a steed bear the maiden away.
CUPID AND PSYCHE.
They told her thai he, to whose vows she had listenM
Through night's fleeting hours, was a Spirit un-
blest; —
Unholy Ihe e\es that beside her had glisten'd,
And evil the lips she In darkne^^ had prest.
*' When next in thy chamber Ihe bridegroom reclineth,
" Ri ing near him thy lamp, when in slumber he lies;
'* And thei e, as Ihe tight o'er his dark features shine'h,
•*Thou'lt see what a demon hath won all Ihy sighs!'*
Too fond to believe them, yet doubling, ye' fearinp^.
When calm lay the slee[ier she Mole wiifc her light;
And saw — snclj a vision ! — no image, apj earing
To bards iu their day-dreams, was ever sc bright,
A youth, but just passing from childhood^s rwM
morning.
While round him still linger'd its innocen' ray;
Though gleams, from beneath his shut eyelids gaT*
warning-
Of suDimer-noon lightnings that under them lay.
His hrow had a grace more than mortal around h,
While, gli'ssv as gold from ■ fairy-land mine.
His sunny hair hung, and the flowers ihai crown'd it
Seeiit'fJ fresh from the breeze of some garden divine.
226
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
''atraDCeJ stood the bride, on that miracle gazing,
What late was Lut love is idolatry nowj
But, ah — in her tremor the fatal lamp raising —
A sparkle flew from it and dropp'd on his brow.
All*a lost— with a start from his rosy sleep waking.
The Spirit liash'd o'er her his gaiices uf ftie;
Then, slow from the clasp of her snowy arms bre-iking,
Thus said, in a voice more of sorrow than ire:
•* Farewell— what a dream thy suspicion hath broken !
*' Thus ever Ail'eclion'a fi>nd vision is crost j
"Dissolved are her spells when a doubt is but spoken,
' * Aud love, ouce distrusted, for ever is lost ! "
HERO AND LEANDER.
•'The night-wind is moaning with mournful sigh,
"There gleameih no moon in the misty sky,
" No star over Helle's sea j
"Tet, yet, there is shining one holy light,
** One love-kmdled star through the deep of night,
" To lead me, sweet Hero, to thee I '*
Thus saying, he plunged in the foamy streami
Stifl fixing his gaze on that distant beam
No eye but a lover's could see ;
And still, as the surge swept over his head,
"To-mght," he said tenderly. " living or dead,
** Sweet Hero, I '11 rest with thee ! "
But fiercer amund him the wild waves speed;
Oh, Love ! in that hour of thy votary's need,
Where, where could thy Spirit be?
He struggles— be siuke- while ihe hurricane^s breath
Bears rudely away his last farewell in death —
"Sweet Hero, I die for thee I "
THE LEAF AND THE FOUNTAIN.
'Tell me, kind Seer, I pray tbee,
■'So may the stars obey thee,
' So may (
iiry
* Moon-elf and fairy
"Nightly Iheir homage pay thee!
" Say, by what spell, above, below,
"In stars that wink or flowers that blow
** I may discover,
" Ere night is over,
" Whether my love loves me, or no,
" Whether my love loves me."
" Maiden, the dark tree nigh thee
"Hath charms no gold could buy thee;
" Its stem enchanted,
"By moon-elves planted,
"Will all thou seek'st supply thee.
"Climb to yon boughs that highest grow,
"Bring thence their fairest leaf below ;
"And thou'lt di>cover,
" Ere night is over.
" Whether thy love loves thee or no,
" Whether thy love loves thee,"
" See. up the dark tree going,
'* With blossnms round me blowing,
"From thence, oh Father,
•- This leaf I gather,
" Fairest that there is growing.
"Say, by what sign I now shill knovT
"If in this leaf lie bliss or woe,
" Ami thus discover
"Ere night is over,
" Whether niy love Inves me or no,
" Whether my loTe loves me."
"Fly to yon fount that's welling
"Where iDOont>eam ne'er had dwelling,
" Dip in its water
*• That leaf, oh Daughter,
" And mark the tale 'I is telling ; i
" Watch thou if j.ale or bri.^ht it grow,
'• List thou, Ihe while, that founlaio's flow
" And Ih' u 'II discnver
** Whether thy lover,
" Loved as he is, loves thee or no,
" Loved as he is, loves thee."
Forth (lew the nymph, delighted,
To seek ihat fount benigbled;
Bu', scarce a minute
The leaf lay in it,
When, lo, its bloom was blighted !
And as she ask'd, with voice of woe -
Listening, the while, that fountain's flow —
"Shall i recover
" My truant lover?"
The fountain seem'd to answer, "No;"
The fountain answered, "No."
CEFHALUS AND PROCRIS.
A hunter once in that grove recline:!,
To shun the nnon's bright eye.
And ofi he wooed the wandering wind.
To cool his brow with its sigh.
While mute lay even the wild bee's hum,
Nor breath could stir the aspen's h^ir.
His song was still "Sweet air, oh come!"
While Echo answered, "Come, sweet Air!"
But, hark, what sounds from the thi'cktt rise!
VVhat meaneih that rustling spray ?
"'Tis Ihe white-hoin'd doe," the He iter cries,
"I have sought since break of day."
Quick o'er the sunny glade he springs,
The arrow flies from his sounding bow,
"Hilliho — hiliihol" he gaily sings.
While Echo sighs forth "Hillibc '■'
Alas, t was not the white-horn'd doe
He saw in the rustling grove,
But the bridal veil, as pure as snow,
Of his own young wedded love.
And, ah, too sure that arrow sped.
For pale at his feet he sees her lie;—
"Icie, idie," was all she said.
While Echo murmur'd, "1 die, I die!"
YOUTH AND AGE. a
"Tell me, what's Love?" said Youth, one day
To drooping Age, who crnst his way. —
" It is a sunny hour of play,
*'Fur which repentance dear doth pay;
"Repentance! Repentance!
"And this is Love, as wise men say."
"Tell me, what 's Love?" said Youth once moi
Fearful, yet fond, of Age's lore. —
"Soft as a p^-ssing summer's wind,
" Would'st know the blight it leaves behind ?
"Repentance! Repentance!
"And this is Love— when love is o'er."
1 The ancients had a mode of divination somewhat
similar to this; and we find tlie Emperor Adri
uhen he went (o consult the FtiLUtain of Castalia,
plucking a bay-leaf and dipping it into Ihe sacred
water.
3 The air, to which I have adapted these words,
was composed by Mrs Arkwright to some old verses,
" Tell me what 's love, kind sheplaTd, pray ?" and it
has been my object lo retain as much of the structure
and phraseology of Ihe original words u possible |
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
227
" Tell me. what H Love ?" said Youth, agaiD
Trusting tne bliss, but not the pain.
•'Sweel as a M.>y tree's scented air —
*' Mark ye what bitler fniii H will bear,
*' Repentance ! Repentance!
"This, this is Love — sweel Youih, beware."
Just then, young Love himself came by,
And ;a5t ou Youih a smiling eye ;
Who could resisi that glance's ray?
In vain did At^e his warning say,
'*Repen'anceI Re[)entance !"
Youth laughing went with Love away.
THE DYING WARRIOR
A wounded chiefiain, lying
By the Danube's le:ify side,
Thui faintly said, in dying,
** Oh ! bear, thou foaming tide,
** This gift to my lady-bi ide."
'T was then, in life's last quiver
He (lung the scarf he wore
into the foaming river,
Which, ah loo qmckly, bore
That pledge of one nu more 1
With fond impatience burning.
The C:hieftain'siady stood,
To watch her love returning
In trium[)h dou d the flnod,
Front that day's field of blood.
Ihif, field, alas, ill-fated!
The lady saw, instead
Of the bark whose sjieed she waited,
Her hero's scarf, ,^ 11 red
With the drops his heart had shed.
Une shriek — and all was over —
Her life-pulse ceased to beat ;
The gloomy waves now cover
That bridal-fiower so sweet.
And the scarf is her winding-sheet!
THE MAGIC MIRROR.
'* Come, if thy magic Glass have power
"Tncall upforms wesieht. see;
"Show me, my love, in that rosy bower,
•* Where last she pledged her tiuth to me."
The Wizard show'd him his Lady bright.
Where lone and pale in her Ijo'w'r she lay ;
"True-hearted maid," said the happy Knight,
"She's thinking of one, who is far away."
But, In ! a page, with looks of joy,
Brinffs tidings to the Lady's ear;
•» 'T is." said the Kr.ight, *' ihe same bright boy,
" Who used to guide me to my dear."
The Lady now, from her fav'rite tree,
Hath, smiling, pluck'd a rosy flower;
"Such." he exclaim'd, *• was the gift (hat she
*' Each motning sent me from that bower !"
S e gives her page the blooming rose.
With Itnks that sav. " Like lightning, fly'"
" Thus," thought tl.e Kn'ght, " she soothes her woes,
*' By fincying, still, her true-love nigh.'*
But the page returns, and— oh, what a sight,
For trusting lover's eyes to s^e I —
Leads to Ihathnwer another Knight,
As young and, ata'^, as loved a^ he !
' (luoin tne Youm, " is Woman's love!"
Then, darting forth, with furious bound,
Dash'd at Ihe Mirror his iron glove,
And atrew'd it all in fragmeuts round.
MORAL.
Such ills would never have come to pass,
Had he ne'er s uglit that latal view ;
The Wizard would siill have kept his Glass,
And (he Knight still thought his Lady true.
THE PILGRIM.
Still thus, when twilight gleamM,
Far off his Castle seem'd.
Traced on the sky;
And still, as fancy bore him
To those dim towers before him,
He gazed, with wishful eye,
And thought his home was nigh.
•* Hall of my Sires!"' he said,
*' How long, with weary tread,
"Must I toil on?
** Each eve, as thus I wander,
*' Thy lowers seem rising yonder,
"But, scarce hath daylight slione,
" VVhen, like a dream, thou 'rt gone !"
So went the Pilgrim still,
Down dale and over hill.
Day after day ;
That glimpse of home, so cheering,
At twilight still appearing.
But still, with niorniiigN ray.
Melting, like mist, away 1
Where rests the Pilgrim now ?
Here, by this cvpress bough.
Closed his career;
That dream, of fancy's weaving,
Nn more his s'eps deceiving,
Alike past hope and fear.
The Pilgrim's home is here.
THE HIGH-BORN LADYE.
In vain all the Knights of the Underwald wooed her,
Tho' brigli'esl of maidens, the proudest was she;
Brave chieftains they sought, and young minstrels
they sued her,
But worthy were none of the high-born Ladye.
** Whomsoever I wed," said this maid, so excelling,
"That Knight must the conqu'ror of conquerors be ;
<*He must place me in halls fit for mouarchs lo dwell
in; —
"Nonielse shall be Lord of the high-born Ladye!"
Thus spoke the proud damsel, with scorn lOoking
round her
On Knights a-r! on Nobles of highest degree;
Who humbly an., -opelessly left as Ihev found her.
And worshipp'd at distance the high-oorn Ladye.
At length came a Knight, frnm a far land to woo hei,
With plumes on his helm like the foam of the sea ;
His vizf.r was down — but, with voice that thrill'd
through her.
He whisper'd his vows to the high-born Ladye.
•* Proud maiden! I come with high spousals to grace
thee,
" In me the great conqu'ror of conquerors see ;
'*Enthroi;ed in a hall fit for monarch'* I Ml place thoe,
"And minelhou 'rt for ever, thou high born Ladye!"
228
LEGENDARY BALLADS.
The maiden she smiled, and in jewels array'd her,
Of thrones and tiaras already dreamt she ;
And proud was the siep, as her bridtgroom convey'd
her
Id pomp to his home, of Ihat liigh-borD Ladye,
"But whither," she, slarling, exclaims, "have you
ted ]
nought but a tnmb and 3 dark cypress tree;
** U this the bright palace in which thou wouldst wed
me?"
With scorn in herglance said the high-born Ladye.
«<»Tis the home," he replied, '* of earth's loftiest
creatures" —
Then lifted his helm for the f.iir one to see ;
But she sank oa the ground — 'twas a skeleton's fea-
And Death was the Lord of the high-born Ladye 1
THE INDIAN BOAT.
'T was midnight dark,
Theseiman's bark,
Swift o'er the waters bore him,
When, through the night,
He spied a light
Shoot o'er the wa\e before him.
»' A sail! a sail !" he cries^
"She conies from the Indian j-hore,
** And to-night shall be our prize,
" With her freight of golden ore f
"Sail on! sail on ! »»
When morning shone
He saw the gold still clearer;
Rnl. thi>ughso fast
The «ave% he pass'd,
That boat seem'd never the nearer
Bright daylight came.
And still ihe same
Rich bark before him floated ;
While on the prize
His wishful eyes
Like any ynung lover's doated :
''More s.Til ! nmre sail !" he cries,
While the waves o'ertop the mast
And hisbou.idint^gnlley flies.
Like an armw before Ihe blast.
Thus on, and on.
Til! day wa^ gone,
And Ihe moon through heaven did hie he
He swept the main.
But all in vain,
That boat seem'd never the nigher.
And many a day
To night gave way,
And many a morn succeeded t
While Mill his flight.
Through day and night,
That restless manner speeded.
Who Knows — who knowi what seaa
He is nmv careering o'er?
Behind, the eternal breeze,
And Ihat mocking b.irk, before!
for. oh, till sky
And earih shall die,
And their death lea?.' none to rue it,
Thai boat mus; flee
0*er Ihe boundless Fea,
And that ship in vaio pursue it.
THE STRANGER.
Come list, while I tell of the hearl-wounded Stranger
Who sleeps her last slumber in this liaunted ground}
Where ofien, at midnight, ihe lonely wood-ianger
Hears sotc fairy music re-echo around.
None e'er knew the name of that henrt-stricken lady,
Her language, though sweet, none could e'er UD
dersiand ;
But her features so sunn'd, and her eyelash so shady,
Bespoke her a child of some far Kaslero land.
'T was one summer night, when the village lay sleep
ing,
A soft strain of melody came o'er our ears;
So sweet, but so niournful, half song and half weep-
in?,
Like music that Sorrow bad steep'd iu her tears.
We thought 't was an anthem some angel had sung
But, soon as Ihe day -beams had gush'd from on high,
With wonder we saw this bright s'ranger among us,
All lovely and lone, as if stray d from the sky.
Nor long did her life for this sphere seem intended,
For pale was her cheek, with that spirit-like hue,
Which conies when the day of this world is nigh
ended.
And light from anotlier already shines through.
Then her eyes, when she sung — oh, but once to have
Left thoughts in (he soul that can never depart ;
While her looks and her voice made a language be-
tween them,
That spoke more than holiest words to the heart.
But she pass'd like a day-dream, no skill could restore
Whate'er was her sorrow, its ruin came fast ;
She died with the same spell of mystery o>r her.
That song of past days on her lips to the last.
Nor ev'n in the grave is her sad heart reposing —
Still hovers the spirit of grief round her tomb ;
For oft, when the shadows of midnight are closing,
The same strain of music is heard through t!i.j
gloom.
MELOLOGUE UPON NATIONAL MUSIC. 2-29
A MELOLOGUE UPON NATIONAL MUSIC.
ADVERTISEMENT. i
Ttwe verses were writlen for a Benefit at the Dub-
lin Theit-e, .md were spoken by Miss Smilh. with a
,l„„ree of succe-s, wliich itiey owed solely lo her ad-
raliie manner of recilin? llieni. I wro'e Ihem in
sle; iin'l it very 'arely happens Iha^ ptetry, «liich
s ci'Sl but little labour in the writer, is prodiiclive
of any great pleisure lo the reader. Under ihis ini-
pressiun, I cerlain'y should not have publiNhed Ihem
if they had not found iher n■^y int i some of the news-
papers, "ilh such an addiiion of errors to their own
original ■■nek. thai I thought it but fair to limit Iheir
rI;sponsibilily to those faults alone which really belong
to them.
Willi re-pect to the title which I have invenled for
this Poem. I feel even more ihan ihe scruples of the
Enipeior Tiberius, when he humbly asked pardon of
Ihe Koman Senate for usin? "Ihe outlandish term,
monopoly." But ihe trulh is, having writ'en Ihe
Poem with the sole view of serving a Benefit, I
thought Ihat an uninlelligible word of this kind w.iuld
no' be wiihoul its altraclion for Ihe inullitiide, W'ilh
whom, " If 'I i' not sense, at least '1 is Greek." To
some of mv readfrs, howevf r, it may no be superflu-
ous to say, that by " Melologue," I mean that mix'ure
of recilation and music, which i. frequenlly adopted in
the perf rniance of Collins's Ode on ihe Passions, and
of which the most sinking example I can remember
is the prophetic speech of Joad in the Atbalie of Ra-
cine. T. M.
MELOLOGUE.
A. SHORT STRAIN OF MUSIC FROM THE
ORCHESTRA.
There breathes a languase. known and felt
Far as the pure air spreads ils living zone ;
Wherever raeo can rouse, or pitv melt.
That language of the soul is felt r.nd known.
From those m-ridian plains.
Where ofi, of old, on some high tower.
The sofi Peruvian pnut'd his niidiiighl strains.
And c.ll'd his distant love wilh such sweet power,
Ilia', "ben she he.rd Ihe lonely lay,
Not woiMs ciiild keep her from Ins arms away,«
To the bleak cliims of p.ilar night.
Where blillie, beneath a sunless sky,
The Lipland lover bids his rein-'ieer fly.
And siiii:8 along the lengthening waste of snow,
Giilv as if ihebcssed light
Of vernal Phrcbus hiirn'J upon his brow J
Oh Music ! thy celestial claim
Is sill resistless, still the same;
And. faithful as the mighty sra
To Ihe pale star thai o'ei ils realm presides.
The spell-bouud tides
Of human passion rise and fall for thee!
GREEK AIR.
recian maid that sings,
lissus' silvery springs.
She draws the cool lymph in her graceful urn.
And by her side, in Music's charm dissolving,
Some patriot youth, the glorious past revolving,
Dreams of bright days that never can return;
When Athens nurved her olive bough,
With hands by tyrant power unchainM ;
And braided for Ihe muse's brow
A wreath by tyrant touch unstain'd.
When heroes trod each classic field
Where coward fee^ now fainlly falter;
When every arm was Freedoni's shield.
And every heart was Freedom's altar 1
FLOURISH OK TRUMPETS.
Hark, *t is Ihe sound Ihat charms
The war-steed's wakening ears I —
Oh ! many a mother folds her arms
Round her boy-soldier when that call she hears;
And, thnugli her fond heart sink wilh fears,
Is proud lo feel his young pulse bound
With valour's fever at the sound.
See, from his n.tive hills af.ir
The rude Helvetian Hies to war;
Careless for whit, for whom he fights.
For slave or despot, wrongs or rights
A conquemrnft— a hero never —
Yet lavish of his life-blood s'ill.
As if 'I were like his mountain riU,
And gush'd lor ever!
Yes, Music, here, even here,
Amid this thouglitless. vague career.
Thy soul-felt charm a-serls ils wondrous power —
1 here's a wild air which oft, among Ihe locks
Of his own loved land, at evening hour,
Is heard, when shepherds honieward pipe their
flocks,
Wh-'se eierv no'e hath power to ihrill his mind
Wilh lenderest thoughts ; to bring around his knees
The rosy child.en whom he left beliind,
And fill each litile angel eye
Wi h spe king tears, tha' a-k him why
He wandei'd frcni his hut lor scenes tike these.
Vain, vain is tlien ihe irumpei's brazen roar;
leel notes of home, of love, a^e all he hears ;
And the stern eyes, that look'd for blond before.
Now melting, mournful, lose themselves in tean.
SWISS AIR. — " RANZ DES VACHE8."
But. wake the trumpet's blast again.
And rouse ihe ranks of warrior-men !
Oh W.ir, when Trulh Ihy arm employs,
Ar d Freedom's spirit guides ihe I.iboiiring storm,
'Tis then thy vengeance lakes a hallow'd form.
And. like Heaven's ligh'tnin^. sacredly destroys.
Nor, Music, through thy breathing sphere.
Lives there a sound more gra'eful to the ear
Of Him who made all h'rnionv.
Than ihe hless"d sound of felleis breaking.
And the first hymn ihat man, aiiaking
From Slavery's slumber, brealhes to Liberty.
SPANISH CHORUS.
A certain Spaiiard. one night laie, met an Indian Hark I from Spain, indignant Spain,
iinan in Ihe streets of Cozco, and would have taken Biirsis Ihe bold, en'husiast strain,
to his home, but she cried out, ' For find's sake. Like mon ing's music on the air;
Sir, let me go ; fir that pipe ivhicli von hear in yondi-r And seems, in every nnle, lo swear
tower, calls me wilh great pission, and 1 cannot refuse By Saragossa's ruiii'd streets,
the summons ; for love constrains me I" g'u that I may By brave Gernna's dea'hful story,
be his wife, and le my husband.' "— GiirciiaMO dc la Thai, while mie Spaniard's life-blood beats,
I'ega, in Sir Fas Rycaut's translation. ' That blood shall stain the conqueror's glory.
20
230
SET OF GLEES.
SPANISH AIR. -
' YA DESPERTO."
But ah ! if vain the patriot's zeal,
If neither valour's force nor wibJoni's light
Can breali or iiiell ihat blood-cemented seal,
Which shuts so close the book of Europe's right —
What song shall then in sadness tell
Of broken pride, of prospects shaded,
Of buried hopes, rememher'd well.
Of ardour queiich'd, and honour faded ?
What muse shall njourn the breathless brave,
In sweetest dirge at Memory's shiine?
What li:irp shall sigh o'er Freedom's grave ?
I OhEnn, Thtne!
SET OF GLEES: MUSIC BY MOORE.
THE MEETING OF THE SHIPS.
When o'er the silent seas ainne,
For days and nights we 've cheerless gone,
Oh they whn've felt it know how sweet,
Some suDiiy morn a sail to meet.
Sparkling at once is evVy eye,
" Ship ahoy ! ship ahny !" (lur joyful cry ;
While answerini; back the sounds we hear,
" Ship ahoy I ship ahoy I" what cheer ! what cheer ?
Then sails are back'd, we nearer cnme,
Kind words are s:iid of fiiends and home;
And 8onn, too soon, we part with pain,
To sail o'er silent se;is ag.iin.
HIP, HIP, HURRAH!
Come, fill round a bumper, fill up to Ihe brim,
He who shrinks from a b> mper 1 pledge n<it lo him ;
Here's the girl that each loves, be her eye of what
hue,
Or lustre, it may, so her heart is but true.
Charge! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra!
Come charge high, again, boy, nor let Ihe full wine
Leave a space in the brimmer, where daylight may
shii
Here T
the friends of our youth — tho' of some
we 're bereft,
May Ihe liuks ihat are lost but endear what are left !'*
Charge ! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, liurra !
Once more fill a bumper — ne'er talk of the hour;
On hearts thus nniled old Time has no powY.
May our lives, tho'. alas ! like the wine of tn-night.
They must soon have an end, to the last fluw as
bright.
Charge! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra!
Quick, quick, now, I'll give you, since Time's glass
will run
Ev'n faster than ours doth, three bumpers in one;
Here 's the poet who sings — here 's the warrior who
fights —
Here's the statesman who speaks, in the cause of
men's righis !
Chai ge ! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra !
Come, once mnre, a bumper! — then drink as you
Tho-, '10(10 could SU naif-way to toast such as these?
Here's our next juyous meeting — and oh when we
meet.
May our wine be as bright and our union as sweet !
Charge 1 (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra!
HUSH, HUSH!
*• Hush, hush !" — how well
That sweet word s lunds,
When Love, ihe liltle sentinel,
Walks his night-rounds ;
Then, if a foot but dare
One rose-leaf crush.
Myriads of voices in the air
Whisper, -'Hush, hush:"
"Hark, hark. Mis he !»
The night elves cry,
And hu=h their fairy harmony,
While he steilsby;
But if his silv'ry feet
One devv-drnp brush,
Voices are heard in chorus sweet,
Whispering, *'Hush, hush!'*
THE PARTING BEFORE THE BATTLE.
H E.
On lo the tield, our dnom is seal'J,
To conquer or be slaves :
This sun >hall see our nation free,
Or set upon our graves,
SHE.
Farewell, oh, farewell, my love.
May Heaven Ihy guardian be,
And send bright angels from above
To bring Ihee back lo me.
H E.
On to the field, the battle-field.
Where frtedoiji's standard waves,
This sun shall see our tyrant yield,
Or shine upon our graves.
THE WATCHMAN
A T K I 0.
WATCHMAN.
Past twelve o'clock — past twelve.
Good night, good nieht, my dearest -
How fast the mnnients fly !
'T is time (o part, thou hearest
That hateful watchman's cry.
WATCHMAN.
Past one o'clock — past one.
Yet slay a moment longer —
WA TC H M AN.
Past two o'clock — past two.
Now wrap thy cloak about thee —
The hours must sure go wrong.
For when they're past without thee^
They 're, oh, ten times as long,
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
231
WATCHMAN.
Past three o'clock — past three.
Again that dreadful warning I
Had ever lime such flight?
And see the sky, 't is morninfj-
iso now, indcedj good night,
WATCHMAN.
Fast three o'clock — past three.
Good night, good night.
SAY, WHAT SHALL WE DANCE?
Say, what shall we dance?
Shall we bound along the monniight plaiU|
To music of Haly, Greece, or Sp^in?
Say, what shall we dance?
Shalt we, like those who rove
Through bright Grenada's grove,
To the lighl'Roleiu's measures move?
Or choose the Guar.icia's languishing lay,
And thus to its sound die away ?
Sirike the gay chords,
Let us hear each sirnin from ev'ry shore
That music haunts, or young feet wander o'er.
Hark ! 't is the light march, to whose measured time,
The Polish ladj, by her lover led.
Delights through gay saloons with step untired to
tread,
Or sweeter slill, through moonlight walks
Who^e shadows serve to hide
The blush thnt's raised by him who talks
Of love the while by her side,
'J heu comes the smooth waliz, to whose floating sound
Like dreams we go niiding around.
Say, which shall we' dance? which shall we dance?
THE EVENING GUN.
Rcmeniher'st thou that setting sun,
The last 1 saw wilh thee.
When loud we heard the evening gun
Peal o'er the twilight sea?
Boom ! — the sounds appear'd to sweep
Far o'er the verge ot d'^y.
Tilt, into realms beyond the deep,
They seem'd to die away.
Oft, when the toils of day are done,
In pensive dreams of thee,
I sit to hear that evening gun,
Peal o'er the stormy sea.
Boom ! — and while, o'er billows curl'd,
The distant sounds decay,
I weep and wish, from this rough world
Like them to die away.
BALLADS, SONGS, MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC.
TO-DAY, DEAREST ! IS OURS.
To-f^ay, dearest I is ours;
Why should Love carelessly lose it?
This life shines or loa'is
Just as we, weak mortals, use it.
»T i' time enough, when its llow'rs decay,
To think of the Ihoms of Sonow j
And Joy, if left on the stem to-day,
May wither before to-morrow.
Then why, dearest ! so long
Let the sweet moments fly over
Thnu£;h now, blooming and young,
Tliou hast me devouUy thy lover,
Yet Time from both, in his silent lapse.
Some ti tasure may steal or borrow ;
Thy charms u)»y be les-. in bloom, perhaps,
Or I less in love (o-morrow.
WHEN ON THE LIP THE SIGH DELAYS.
When on the Up the sigh delays.
As if 't would linger there for ever ;
When eyts would give the worU to gaze,
Yet still look down, and venturs Kever ;
When, though with fairest nymphs we rove,
There 's one we dieani of more than any —
If all this is not real love,
Tis something wond'rous like it, Fanny!
To think and ponder, when apart,
On all we've got to say at meeting;
And yet when ntar, wilh heari to heait,
Sit mule, and listen to their beating :
To see but one blight oLjecI move.
The only moon, where s:ars are maiiy-
U all this 18 not downright love,
I prithee say what w, my Fanny !
When Hope foretells the brightest, best,
Though Reason on the darkest reckons ;
When Passion drives us to the west,
Though Prudence to the eastward beckons;
When all turns round, below, above,
And our own heads 'he most of any —
If this is not stark, staring love.
Then jou and I are sages, Fanny.
HERE, TAKE MY HEART.
Here, lake my heart— 't will be safe in thy keeping.
While I go wand'ring o'er land and o'er sea ;
Smiling or sorrowing, waking or sleeping,
What need I care, &o my heart is with thee ?
If, in the race we are destined to nin, love,
They who have light hearts the happiest be,
Then, happier siill must be thev who have none, love,
And that will be my case w hen mine is with thee.
It matters not w here I may now be a rover,
1 care not how many bright eyes 1 may see;
Should Venus herself come and ask me to love her,
I 'd tell her I couldn't — my heart is with thee.
And there let it lie, growing fonder and fonder —
For, even should Fortune turn truant to me,
Why, let her po— 1 've a treasure beyond her.
As long as my heart's out at int'rest wilh thee I
OH, CALL IT BY SOME BETTER NAME.
Oh, call it by some better name,
For Friendship sounds too cold.
While Love is now a worldly lame,
Whose shrine must be of gold ;
232
ALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
And PassioOj like the sun at noon,
That burns o'er all he sees,
Awhile as warm, will set as soon —
TUea, call il none u I" these.
Imagine something purer far,
More free fmni ^taln of clay
Tlian Friendship, Love, ur FassioD are,
Yel human &till as they :
And if thy lip, for love like this,
Is'o mortal word can frame,
Go, ask of angels whar it is,
And call it bv that name.
POOR WOUNDED HEART
Poor wounded heart, farewell !
'Ihy hour of rest is come;
Thou soon will reach ihy home.
Poor wijuuded heut, laiewell !
TLe pain thou 'It feel in breaking
Lests bitter far will be^
Than that Inn?, de.nlly aching,
I'his life has been lo thee.
Thete — broken he^trt, farewell!
The pans. s o'er -
The parting pang is o'er;
Ttiou now wilt bleed no more,
Poor bruken heart, farewell !
No rest for thee but dyirg —
Like waves, whose strife is past,
On death's co d shore ihus lying,
Thnu sleep'at in peace at last —
Poor broken heart, farewell I
THE EAST INDIAN.
Come, May, with all Ihy fiowers,
Thy sweetly-scenTed thorn,
Thy cooling ev'uing showers,
Thy fragrant breath at morn :
When May-rties haunt the willow,
When May buds tempt the bee,
Then o'er the shining billow
My love will come to me.
From Eastern Mes she's winging
Thioiigh wat'ry wilds her way,
And on her cheek is bringing
The bright sun's orient ray;
Oh, come and court her hither,
Ve breezes mild and warm
One winter's gale would wilher
So soft, so pure a form.
The fields where she was strayin*
Are blest witli endless light,
With zephyrs always playing
Through gardens always bright.
Then now, sweet May '. be sweeter
Than e'er thou 's' been before j
Let srghs from roses meet her
When she comes neir our shore.
POOR BROKEN FLOWER.
what nrt c^n now recover thee?
1 that fed tliy rosy breath —
hath forsaken her,-
d lost as thou j
.rek
To warm thai faded cheek ;
The dews of heav'n, that once like balm fell over
thee.
Now are but tears, to weep thy early death.
So droops the maid whoi
Thrown from his arms, as lone
In vain the smiles of all
Like suij-beams round her fall ;
The only soiile that could fnm death awaken ber,
That smile, alas! is gone lo others now.
THE PRETTY ROSE-TREE.
Being weary of love,
I flew lo the grove.
And chose me a tree of ihe fairest;
Saying, ''Pre!ty Rnse-trce,
"Thou my mistress shalt be,
•'And I'll worship each l>ud thou bearest.
"For the hearii of this world aie hollow,
*'And fickle the smiles we follow j
'*Aiid 'lis sweet, when all
The
■ilch'r
.pail.
*' To have a pure love to fly to :
**So, my pretty Ruse-tree,
"Thou my mistress shalt be,
*'ADd the only one now 1 shall sigh to."
When the beauliful hue
Of thy cheek through the dew
Of morning is b.ishfully peej-ing,
*• Siveet tears," 1 shall Say
(As I brush them away),
"At least there's no art in this weeping."
Allhouffli thou shouldst die to-morrow,
'T Will not be from pain or sorrow ;
Aad Ihe boms of thy steni
Are not like Iheni
With which men wound each other:
So my pretty Rose-tree,
Thou my mistress shall be,
And I'll ne'er again sigh to another.
SHINE OUT, STARS!
Shine out, Stars! let Heav'n assemble
Round us every festal rav,
Ligh's (hat move n''t, lights thit tremble,
All to grace thi^ Eve of May.
Let the fiow'r-beds ^11 lie waking,
And Ihe odiurs shut up there.
From their downy pr guns brraking,
Fij' abroad through aei and air.
And would Love, too, biing his sweetness,
Wjlh our other joys to ivcave.
Oh whai glory, what com|)leteness,
Then would cmwn this bright iMay Eve!
Shine out. Stars ! let night assemble
Rnui'd US every fe-tal ray,
Lights th»t move' not, lights that tremble,
To adoru Ihia Eve of May.
THE YOUNG MULETEERS OF GRENADA
Oh, the ioyi of our ev'ning pnsada.
Where, resting ai clnse of day,
We. ynnnc Muleteers of Grenada,
Sit and sing the surshii.e .^way;
So merry, that even Ihe slumbers,
Thit round us hung, seem gone;
Till the lute's sof: drowsy numbers
Again beguile thcni oc.
Oh, the joja, &c.
Then as each to his kv'd sultana
In sleep siill breathe^ the sigJi,
The name of some black-eved Tirana
Escapes our lipa as we lie.
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC,
233
Till, with morning-'s rosy twinkle,
Afjain we're lip and gone —
While the iiiulc-tieirs drowsy tinkle
Rf«uiles tite rouah way on.
Oh liii^ j.iyi of our merry p^jsadu,
Wliere, resting al cl.^e of d.y.
We, yiiui.^ Mulrteers of Grenada,
Thus iii'ig the gay moments away
TELL HER, OH, TELL HER
Tell hnr, oh, tell her, the lute she left lying
lieiiea.h Ihe ^lecn arbour is still lying there;
And brcei£s, l^ke liiveis. around it nre siglitng,
But not a sof. ivhisper replies to tlieir pray'r
Tell her, oh, tell her, the tree that, in going,
Beside Ihe gifen arl)niir she playfully set,
As lovely as ever is blushing and blowing,
And not a bright teatlet has fall'n from it yet.
So while away from tint arbnur forsaken,
The maiden is wandering, still let her be
As true as ftie Iiile, ihit no sighing can waken,
And bloaniiiig fur ever, unchanged as the tieel
NIGHTS OF MUSIC.
Nights of music, nights of loving,
I^osl ti*o sor>n, reineinber'd long,
When we went by nmonlight roving,
Hearts all love and lips all song.
When this faithful luie recorded
All my spirit lelt lo Ihce;
And that smile the song rewarded —
Worth whole years of fame to ine 1
Nijliis of son;^, and nighls of splendour,
Fill'd wi:h j"ys too sweet lo last —
Joys •hat. like the siar-Iight, lender,
While tliey shone, no shadow cast.
Though all other happy hours
From my fading niem'ry fly.
Of thai star-light, of those bowers,
Not a beam, a leaf shall die 1
OUR FIRST YOUNG LOVE.
Our first young love ^e^emblea
That short but brilliant ray.
Which smiles, and wetps, and trembles
Through Aprils earliest day.
And not all life before us,
Howe'cr its lighis may play,
Can shed a lustre o'er us
Like that tir^t April ray.
Our summer sun may squander
A blaz.e >erener, grander;
Our antuniii lieam
May. like a dn-am
Of heav'n, die calm away:
But, no— let life before us
Bring all Ihe li>;lit it mav,
'Twill ne'er shed luEire o'er us
Like that hrst youlliful ray.
ELACK A,\D BLUE EYES,
The brilliant black eye
Way in triumph let liy
20 *~"
All ils dar's without cnrinp who feels 'em >
Rut the soft eye of blue,
Though it settler wounds too.
Is much htttter pleased when it heals 'em —
near Fanny !
Is much better plt:a:ied when it heals *ein.
The black eye may say,
*■ Come and worsliip my ray —
*' By adorin?, perhaps you may move me !'*
Rut tliehiue eye, half hid,
Says, from under its lid,
** I love, and am yours, if you love me 1'*
Yes. Fanny I
'Ihe blue eye, half hid.
Says, troin under its lid,
*'I love, and am yours, if you love me I"
Come tell me, then, why,
In that lovely blue eye.
Not a charm of its tint I discover;
Oh why should you wear
'1 he only blue pair
That ever said "'No" to a lover?
Dear Fanny !
Oh, wliy should ynu wear
The only blue pair
That ever said "J^o'^ to a lover?
DEAR FANNY.
"She has beauty, but still you must keep your heart
cool ;
"She has wit, but you mustn't be caught so;"
Thus Ruason advises, but Re icon's a fool,
And 'I is not Ihe tirst time I hive thought so,
Dear Fanny.
*Tis not the first lime I have thought so.
"She is lovely ; then love her, nor let the bliss fly ;
"'T is the charni of youth's vani.shiiig season :"
Thus Love has advised me, and \vh'» ivill deny
That I.nve reasons much better than Reason,
Doar Fanny ?
Love reasons much heller than Reason.
FROM LIFE WITHOUT FREEDOM.
From life without freedom, srf^, who would not fly?
For one day of freednni, oh ! who wou'd nr>t die ?
Hark !— hark I 't ih the trumpet! the call of ihe brave,
Thedeaih-bon^of lyranis. the dirge i,i ihe slave.
Our country lies bleeding — haste, haste to her aid j
One arm ttiat defends is worth hosts that invade.
In death's kindly bosom our last hope remains —
'J"he dead fear no tyrants, the grave has nn chains.
On, nn to the cnml.at ! the hemes that bleed
For virtue and ntarikind are hemes indeed.
And oh, ev'n if Freednni from tfiit «orld be driTen^
Despair not — at least we shall tii.d her in hea.eu.
HERE'S
THE BOWER.
Here 's the bower she loved so nm
Anil Ihe tree she pj.mted ;
Here 's the harp she used to Inuch —
Oh, how that touch enchanled !
Roses now unhee.led sigh;
Where 's ihe hand lo wreathe them ?
Songs around neglected he;
Where 's the lip to breathe thpm ?
Here 'a the bower, &c.
234
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC,
Sprins; may bloom, bul she we loved
Ne'er shall feel its sweetness ;
Time, thai once sn lieelly iiiOved,
Now halh lost its fleetness.
Years were days, when here she stray'd,
Days were.iiiomenls near her ;
Heaven ne'er'Toini'd a brighter maid,
Nor i'ily wept a dearer !
Here 's tlie bower, &c.
I SAW THE MOON RISE CLEAR.
A FINLAND LOVE SONG.
I saw the ninnn rise clear
OVr hiU. and vales ol snow,
Nor told my lleet rein-deer
The track 1 wish'd to go.
Yet quick he bounded forth;
For well my rein-dter knew
I've but one path on earth —
The palh which leads to you.
The gloom that winter cast
HowsnoM the heait forgets,
When Summer biiligs, at last,
Her sun that never sets!
Sodawn'd my love for you ;
So, lix'd ilirough joy and [lain,
Than summer sun more true,
'T will never set again.
LOVE AND THE SQN-DIAL.
Young Love found a Dial once, in a dark shade.
Where man ne'er had w.uider'd norsuirbeam play'd j
" Wliy thus in darkness he!" whisper'd ynuiig Love,
"Thou, whose Kay hours in sunshine should move."'
•' I ne'er," said the Djai, " liave .-een the warm sun,
"So nooiid.iy and midnight to me. Love, are one."
Then Love took the dial awav from the shade.
And placed her where Heav'ii's beam warmly play'd.
There she reclined, beneath Loves gazing eye.
While, mark'd all with sunshine, her hours liew by.
"Oh, how," said the Dial, "can any fair maid,
"That *s born to be shone upon, re>t in the shade?"
But night now comes on, and the sunbeam 's o'er,
And Love stops to gaze on the Dial no more.
Alone and neglected, while bleak rain and winds
Are storming around her, » ilh sorrow she finds
That Love had but nuniher'd a few sunny hours, —
Then left the remainder to darkness and showers !
LOVE AND TIME
'T « said — but whether true or not
Let bards declare who 've seen 'em
That Love and Time have only got
One pair of wings between 'em.
In courtship's first delicious hour.
The boy full oft can spare 'em ;
So loitering in his lady's bower.
He lets the grey-be.ird wear 'em.
Then is I ime's hour of play ;
Oh, how he tlies. Hies away !
But short the moments, short as bright,
When he Ihe wings can borrow ;
If Time to-day has had his liight,
Love takes his turn to-morrow.
Ah ! Time and Love, your change ii then
'Ihe saddest and most trying.
When one begins to limp again.
And t'other takes to (lying.
'1 hen is Love's hour to stray ;
Oh, how he flies, flies away !
Bul there's a nymph, whose chains I fee.,
And bless the silken fetter.
Who knows, the dear one, how to deal
With Love and Time much better.
So well she checks their wanderings,
So peacefully she pairs 'em.
That Love with her ne'er thinks of wings,
And Time for ever wears 'em.
This is Time's holyday ;
Oil, how he flies, flies away !
LOVE'S LIGHT SUMMER-CLOUD.
Fain and sorrow shall vanish before us —
Youth rnav wither, but feeling will last;
All the shad'ow that e'er shall tali o'er us
Love's light summer-cloud only shall cast.
Oh, if to love thee moie
Each hour I number o'er —
If this a pasMou be
Worthy of thee,
Then be happy, for thus I adore thee,
Charnis may wither, but tee] ing shall last:
All the shadow that e'er shall fall o'er thee.
Love's light summer-cloud sweetly shall cast.
Rest, dear bosom, no sorrows shall pain thee.
Sighs of pleasure alone shall thou steal ;
Beam, bright eyelid, no \\eeping shall stain thee,
Tears of laplure alone shall thou feel,
(ih, if iheie be a charm
111 love, to baui-h harm —
H' pie. sure s truest spell
l;e 10 love well.
Then be happy, for thus I adore thee.
Chai ms m,.y wiiher, but feeling shall last :
All the shadow that e'er shall fall o'er thee.
Love's light sumnier-doud sweetly shall cast.
v£, WAND'RING THROUGH THE GOLDEN
MAZE.
Love, wand'ring (lirough the golden maze
Of my beloved's hair,
Traced every lock with fond delays,
And, doting, linger'd there.
And soon he found 't were vain to fly;
"' 1 heart was close confined,
For,
glet '
A chain by beauty twined.
MERRILY EVERY BOSOM BOUNDETH,
THE TYROLESE SDNG OF LIBERTY.
Merrily every bosom boundeth.
Merrily, oh!
Where the song of ^eedom soundeth,
Slimc more tender;
Every joy ttie land surroundeth,
Merrily, oh ! merrily, oh !
Wearily every bosom pi neth,
Wearilv, oh !
Where the bond' of slaverv twiDoth
Wearily, oh . "
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
^35
There the warrior's dart
Halh no fleetness ;
There the miidt-n's heart
Hafh nn sweetness —
Every rinwer of hfe decUneth,
Wearily, oh 1 wearilv, ohl
Cheerily Ihen from hill and vallej;
' Cheerily, oh!
Like your native fuun'aina sally,
Chetrily, oh !
If a glorious death,
VVnn by bravery
Sweeter be than biealh
Sigh'd in .-lavery,
Round the Hag of Freedom rally,
Clieerily, oh: cheerily, oh I
REMEMBER THE TIME.
THE CASTIUAN MAID.
Remember the time, in La Mancha's shades,
When our moments so blissfully (lew ;
When you call'd me the flower of Castilian maids,
And I blush'd to be call'd so by you ;
When I taught you to warble the g-y seguadille,
And to datice to ihe light castariet ;
Oh, never, dear ynutli, let you roam where you will,
The delight of thoie moments forget.
They tell me, you lovers from Erin's green isle,
Every hour a new p:i-sion can feel ;
And that soon, in the light of some lovelier smile,
You'll forget Ihu poor maid of Caslje.
But they know n<'t how brwe in the battle you are.
Or they never cnuld think you would rove ;
For H is always (he spirit mosi gallai^t in war
That is fondest and truest in love.
OH, SOON RETURN.
Our white salt causrht the evening ray.
The wave beneaih us seem'd to burn,
When all ihe weeping m. 'id could say
Was, " Oh, soon return !"
Thn-iiirti nnnyaclime our ship was driven,
u'rr KMi y a billow rudely Ihrown;
Nt-i'V ctnllM benenth a nmlhern heaven,
N'vv sunn'd in sununer'a zone:
And still, where'er we bent our way.
When evening I'id the west wave uurn,
1 fancied still I heard her say,
"Oh, soon return 1"
If ever yet my bosom found
Its thoughts one moment turn'd from thee,
*T was when the combat ra^ed around.
And lirave men look'd to me.
But though the war-tield's wild alarm
For gentle Love was all unmeet,
He lent to Glory's brow the chirm,
Which made even d^uger sweet.
And still, when vict' rj-s calm came o*«r
The hearts where ra^e had ceased lo burn,
Those parting \7ords 1 hvi.d once more,
"Oh, soon return! — ' ii, soon return'.**
LOVE THEE.
Love thee? — so well, so tenderly
Thou 'rt hived, adored by me,
Fame, forune, wealth, and liberty,
Were wrrlhless without Ihee,
Though brimm'd wilh blessings, pure and rare,
Life's cup before me lay,
Unle-^s thy iove were mingled there,
1 'd spurn Ihe draught away.
Love thee ! — so well, so tenderly
Thou 'rt loved, adored by nie,
Fame, fortune, wealth, and liberty.
Are worthless without thee.
Without thy smile, the monarch's lot
To me were dark and lone,
While, lott/t it, ev'n the humblest cot
Were l)righter than his thione.
Those worlds for which (lie conqueror sighs,
For me would have no charms;
My only world ihy gemle eyes —
My throne thy circling arms !
Oh, yes, so well, so tenderly
Thou 'rt loved, adored by me,
Whole realms of light and'liberty
Were woithless wilhout thee.
ONE DEAR SMILE
Could-t Ihou look as dear as when
First I stgh'd for Ihee;
Couhht thou make me feel a^in
Every wish I breath'd Ihee then,
Oh. how blishful life would be!
Hopes, that now beguiling leave me,
Joys, that lie in slumber cold —
All would wike, couldsl thou but give me
One dear smile like those of old.
No— there's nothing left us now,
Bui to mourn the past ;
Vain was every ardent vow —
Never yet did Heaven allow
Love so w.irm, so wild, lo last.
Not even hope could now deceive me —
Life itself looks d.irk and cold :
Oh, Ihou never more canst give me
One dear smile like those of old.
YES, YES, "WHEN THE BLOOM.
Yes, yes, when the bloom of Love's boyhood is o^er,
He '11 turn into friendship tli.it feels no decay ;
And, though Timemsy take from hiro the tvings he
once wore,
The chirms that remain will be bright as before,
And he'll lose but his young trick of Hying away.
Then let it console thee, if Love should not stay.
That Friendship our last happy moments will
Like the shadows of morning, Love lessens away,
While Friendship, like thnse at the closing of dny,
Will linger and lengthen as life's sun goes down.
THE DAY OF LOVE.
The beam of morning Irenibling
Stole o'er the m-uniain brook,
With timid ray resend)ling
Aiiectioii^s early i- k.
Thus love be-ins — swtet mnrn of love !
The noon-tide rav ascended,
And o*er the valley'-* sreara
Dift'used a glow as splendid
As passion's riper dream.
Thus love expands-- warm neon ot lote.
20
236
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
But evening came, o'ershading
The glories of the bky.
Like laiili and louduess lading
LUSITANIAN WAR- SONG.
The song of war shall echo through our mountains,
'J'ilt not one hateiiil link remains
Of slavery's lingering chamsj
Till niu one l}r.tnl tread our plains,
Nor traitor lip pollute our founlams.
iS'o ! never till that glurious day
fchall Lusiiaiiia's sons be gay,
Or hear, oh I'eace, thy welcome lay
ResouuUnig through her suiiuy mountains.
The song of war shall echo through our mountainsi
Till Victory's self shall, smilin?, say,
'' your cloud of foes hath pa>s'd auay,
" And i'reedoni coiiies, with uew-boru ray,
" To gild your vines and light your fouutaius.**
Oh, never till that glorious day
Shall Lusitania's sons be gty,
Or hear, sweet Peace, thy welcome lay
Retiouudiiig through her sunny mouulaius.
THE YOUNG ROSE.
The young rose I give thee, so dewy and bright,
Was the Itow'ret most dear to ihe sweet bird of night,
Who oft, by the nioon, o'er her bhishes liath hung,
And thnll'd every leaf wiUi the wjid lay ."^e sung.
Oh, take thou this young rose, and let her life be
Prolong'd by Ihe breath she ivjU burrow from thee;
For, while o'er her bosom thy s ft notes shall thrill,
bhe *U thmk the sweet night-bird is courting her still,
WHEN 'MIDST THE GAV I MEET.
When 'midst the gay I meet
'Ihatgenllesniiieof thine,
Though still on me it lurus most sweet,
1 scarce can call it mine:
But when to me alone
Vour secret lears you sliow.
Oh, then 1 feel those tears my own,
And claim them while they flow.
Then still wiih bright h.oks bless
The gay, the cold, Ihe free;
Give smiles to those who love you less
Jiut keep your tears for me.
The snow on Jura's steep
Can smile in many a beam.
Yet still in chains ol coldness sleep,
How bright !
ep-felt
appears,
But, when son
VVhose touch i
Oh, then Ihe smile is warmd away,
And, melting, turns in tears.
Then still wiih bright looks bless
The gay, Ihe cold, the free ;
Give smiles lo those who love you less.
But keep your tears for me.
WHEN TWILIGHT DEWS
When twilight dews are falling soft
Upon the rosy sea, love,
I waich the s'ar, whose beam so oft
Ua« lighted me to thee, love.
And thou loo, on that orb so dear,
Dost often gaze a I even.
And ihiiiU, though lost for ever here.
Thou 'It yet be mine in heaven.
There's not a garden walk 1 tread,
'Jhp
} not a tlovt
, love
But brings to mind some hope that's fled.
Some joy that 's gone with thee, love.
And still 1 wish that hour was ntar,
VVhen, friends and foes forgiven,
The piins, Ihe ills we've wept through here,
May turn to smiles in heaven.
YOUNG JESSICA.
Young Jessica sat atl the day.
With heart o'er idle love-ihoughls piniug:
Her needle bright beside her Uy,
So aciive ouce ! — now idly sinning.
Ah, Jessy, 't is in idle hearts
That love and mischief are most nimble;
The safest shield against ihe darts
Of Cupid, IS Minerva's thimble.
The child, who with a magnet plays.
Well knowing all its aris, so wily,
The lenipter near a needle lays,
And l.tughiiig says, *' We'll steal it slily."
The needle, having nought to do,
is ple.ised lo let iJie magnet wheedle;
Till closer, closer come Ihe Iwo,
And — oli', at leng.h, elopes the needle.
Now, had Ihis needle turn'd its eye
To some g.iy reticule's construction.
It ne'er had >iiay'd fiom duiys tie.
Nor felt the magnet's sly seduction.
'J hus, girls, would you keep quiet hearts,
Voui snowy tir.f:er8 must be nimble;
Tht' safest shield against the darts
Ot Cupid, IS Miuei va's thimble.
KOW HAPPY, ONCE,
Kow happy, once tho' wing'd with sighs,
My moments flew alnng,
Wh;!e looking on those smiling eyej,
And list'ning to thy ntagic song!
But vanish'd now, lijte sunaner dreams.
Those monients smile no more;
For me ihat eye no longer beams,
That song for me is o'er.
Mine the cold brow,
That speaks thy aller'd vow.
While others feel thy sunshine now.
Oh, could I change my love like thee,
One hope miglil yet be mine —
Some other eyes as bright to see,
And hear a voice as sweet as thioe ;
But never, never can Ihi-, heart
Be waked to life ag.iin ;
With thee it lost its vital part,
And wi her'd then!
Cold iis pulse l;es,
And mute are e'en itssiphB,
All other grief it now defies.
I LOVE BUT THEE,
If, after all. you still will doubt and fear me,
And think this heart to other loves will s'r;
If I mua suear, then, lovely doubter, hear n:
By ev'ry dream I have iv hen thou 'rt auay.
By ev'ry throb 1 feel when thou 'it near me,
I love but thee— I love but thee I
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC
237
By those Jark eyes, where light is ever playine:.
Where l^ve.'in de|itli of stminw, holds his throne,
And by th'>se lips, which give w hale er thou 'rt sayiug,
By that fsir brow, where Innocence reposes,
As pure a^ moiinlie;ht hieepii.i; upon snuw,
And bv that check, wlio e fleeing blush discloses
A h'le too brij^lit lo bless this world below,
And only fit 10 dwell ou Kden's roses,
i love but thee — 1 love but Ihee I
LET JOy ALONE BE REMEMBERED NOW.
Let thy jovs alone be remember'd now,
Let tliy"sorrt)wsgo sleep a^vhile ;
Or if ihonsht's dark cloud come o'er thy brow,
Let Love light it up witli his smile.
For thus to i.ieet. aud thus hi find.
That Time, whose touch can chill
Each (lower of form, each grace of mind,
liath left thee blonmins still, —
Oh, joy alnne should be Ihouj^lit of now,
Let oui sorrows go sletp awhile ;
Or should thouj^hl's dark cloud come o'er thy brow;
Let Love li^ht it up with his smile.
When the (!owers of life*s sweet garden fade,
If but mie bright le.f remain.
Of the many that once its glory made,
It is not for us lo comp ain.
But thus to meet and tlius to wake
In all Love''s early bliss;
Oh, Time all other gil;s may take,
So he hut leaves i,s this 1
Then let joy alone be rememherM now,
Let riui sorroWh go sleep awhile;
Or if tliought's d<»rk cloud come o'er the brow,
Lei Love liglit it up wiih his smile !
LOVE THEE, DEAREST? LOVE THEE?
Lo\e thee, dearest? love thee?
Yes, by yonder star 1 swear,
Wh'ch tliio' tears ..hove thee
Shines so sadly lairj
Thnuih uffendim,
W,th te.rs, like lum.
Like hini my truth will shine,
And — love Ihte, dearest? love thee?
Yes, till death I'm thme.
Leave Ihee, dearest ? leave thee ?
No, that s'ar is not more true;
When my vows deceive thee,
lit will wander loo.
A cloud of night
May veil his hght,
And iealh sh^ll darken mine —
Kul — leave Ihee, dearest? leave thee?
No. tiU death I'm thine.
MY HEART AND LUTE.
1 give thee all — I can no more —
Iho' poor Ilie ott''ring be ;
M> heart and lute are all the store
Thai \ can biiiig to lhe«.
A lute wh"se gentle sone reveals
ities^iul of love full well;
A -0, better far, a heart that feels
Much mire than lute could tell.
Tho' \ove and song may fail, alas !
To Keep life's clouds away^
At least 't will make them lighter fas*
Or gild them if they slay.
And ev'n if Care, at moments, flingi
A discord o'er life's ha|»py slmin,
Let Love but gently touch the strings,
'X will all be sweet again 1
PEACE, PEACE TO IILM THAT'S GONEl
When I am dead,
Then lay my ht-ad
J some lone, distant dell,
Where voices .-e'er
Shall !-tir the air.
Or break its silent spell.
If any sound
Be heard around.
Let the sweet bird alone,
That weejis in song,
Sitig all night long,
"Peace, jieace to him tliat*s gone!"
Ye', oh. were mine
One sigh of thine,
One pitying word from thee,
Like gleams of heaven,
TosiiMieis given,
Would be that word to me.
Howe'er unblebt,
My shade would rest
While lisl'iiing to (hat tone ; —
Enough '( would be
To hear from tlite,
*' Peace, peace to him that's gone!"
ROSE OF THE DESERT.
Rose of the Desert! tl
Lnnelv and lovely, fleet
In vestal silence lefi lo live and d
Rose of the De>eit! thus -should woman
Sluuing uuconrted, lone and sate, like th
; blushing ray,
Loneh and lovely, fleets un-een a\*ay ;
No hand lo cull ihee, none to woo thy sigh, —
Rose of the Garden, how unlike thy doom !
Destined for others, not thyself, to bloom :
Culi'd e'er thy beauty lives tlirough half its diy ;
A nionient cherish'd. and then cast nway ;
Rose of the Garden ! such is wonian's lot, —
Worshipp'd, while Llooming — when she fades, forgot.
'TIS ALL FOR THEE.
If life for me haih joy or light,
.11 frc
I the
My thouglits by day, my dreams by night
Are but of thee, of only thee.
Whate'er of hope or peace I know
Mv zest in joy, my balm in woe,
To those dear eyes of thine I owe,
'T is all from thee.
My heart, ev'n ere I saw those eyes,
Seeni'd doom'd to Ihee ;
Kept pure till then from o'her ties,
'T was all for thee, for only Ihee.
Like plants thai sleep, lill sunny May
Calls foith their life, my spirit lay,
Till, h'uch'd by L-ve's awak'nim; rav,
It lived for thee, it liied for thee'.
^233
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
When Fame would call me to her heights,
She speaks by thee ;
And dim would shine her proudest lights,
Unshared by thee, unshared by thee.
Whene'er I ^efk the Mule's sh.it.e,
Where Bards have huii? their wrearha divii
And wish lliost; wreathe of ?!orv mine,
'T is all fur thee, tor only thee.
THE SONG OF THE OLDEN TliME.»
There's a son^ of the olden time,
Falling s.id o'er (he ear,
Like the dteam of some village chime.
Which in youth we loved to hear.
And ev'n amidst the grand and g.iy,
When Music tries her gentlest art,
1 never hear so sweet a lay,
Or one that han^s so round my heart,
As that song of the olden time,
Falliiii! sad o'er the ear,
Like the'dream nf snme village chime,
Which ill youth we loved to hear.
And when all of this life is gone, —
Ev'n the hope, ling'ring now,
Like the last ui' the leaves left on
Autumn's sere and faded bough, —
'T will seem as still those friends were near
Wlio loved me in yau'h'a early day,
If in tha! paiiing h-ur 1 hear
The Mine s«eet noles, and die away,—
To that V < of ihe olden time,
Brealh''i, like H"pe's farewell strain,
To say, i-i »onie brighter clime,
Life and )outh will shine agiin !
WAKE THEE, MV DEAR,
Wake thee, my dear — thy dreaming
Till da ker hours will keep;
While such a moon is beaming,
'Tis wrong tow'rds Heav'u lo ileep.
^iber.
Moments there are we i
Moments of pain and
Which to oblivi' us slumber,
Gladly the wretch would spire.
Bur now, — whoM think of dreaming
When Love his watch should keep?
While such a m )on is beaming,
'T is wrong tow'rds Heaven to sleep.
If e'er the fates should sever
My life and hopes from thee, love,
The sleep ihat lasts fi>r ever
Would then be sweet to me, love*
But ni'W,— away wi h dreaming!
Till darker hours *l will keep ;
While such a moon is beaming,
'T is wrong tow'rds Heaven to sleep.
THE BOY OF THE ALPS.»
IJghtly, Alpine rover,
Tread 'he nioun'ains overj
Rude is the path thou'sr yet to go;
S.iow cliffs banging o'er thee,
Fields of ice before thee,
While the hid tonent moios belovr.
i In this sons, which is one of the many set to
music by myself, the ocdsional lawlessness of ihe
metre arises, ! need hardly say, from the peculiar
structure of the air.
Hark, the deep thunder,
Through the vales yonder!
'T is the huge av'lanche downward cait;
From ruck to rock
Rebounds Ihe shock.
But courage, boy the danger 's past.
Onuard; youthful lOVer,
Tre.id Ihe glacier over,
Safe sh^lt thou reach thy home at last.
Oil. ere light forsake thee,
Sonn will du^k o'ertake thee :
O'er ynn ice-bridfte lies Ihy way!
Now, for Ihe risk prepare theej
Safe il yel m,iy bear thee,
Though 't will melt in morning's ray.
Hark, that dread howling I
'Jis the wolf prowling,—
fccent of fhy irack ihe foe lia!h got;
And clift" and shore
Resound his lOar.
But courage, bny, — the danger's past !
Watching eyes have found thee,
Loving arms are round Ihee,
Safe hast thou reach'd ihy father's col.
FOR THEE ALONE.
For Ihee alone I brave the boundless deep,
Those eyes my light through ev'ry distant sea;
My waking thoughis, ihe dream thai gilds my sleep,
The noontide revVie, all are given to tbee,
To thee alone, to thee alone.
Though future scenes present to Fancy's eye
Fair forms of light that crowd Ihe distant air,
When neaier view'd, (he fiiry phniitom^ fly,
The ciowds dissolve, and thou alone art there,
Thou, thou alone.
To win thy smile, I speed from shore to shore,
While Hope's sweet voice is heard in every blast.
Still whisp'nng on, tliat when some \ear.s are o'er,
One bright reward shall crown my toil at last,
Thy smile alone, ihy smile alone.
Oh, place beside ihe transport of that hour
All eailh can boast of fair, of rich, and bright,
Wealth's radiant mines, the loftv thrones of power, —
Then ask where first thy lover's choice would light?
Ou thee alone, ou thee alone.
HER LAST WORDS, AT PARTING.
Her last words, ai parting, how can 1 forget ?
Deep treasured llirough lile, in my heart they shall
stay ;
Like music, whose charm in the soul lingers vet,
When lis sounds fiom the ear have long'melted
auay.
Let Fortune assail me, her threal'nmgs are vain ;
Those still-hreathing words shall my talisman be,—
"Remember, in absence, in sorrow, and pain,
*' There 's one heart, unclunging, that beats but for
Ihee."
From the deserts sweet well tho' the pilgrim roust
hie.
Never more of that fresh-sprirgiog fountain (o taste,
He haih sull of its bright drops a treasured supply,
Whose sweeiness lends lile to his lips ihroLgh the
waste.
2 This and Ihe Song? that follow fas far as page 245^,
have been published, with music, by Messrs. Addison
ind Ee^le, Regent Street.
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
239
SOt dark as my fate is Btill riooniM lo remain,
Thtse worilssliall my wtli lu (lie wilderness be,—
" iibiiieiiiber, in absence, in sorrow, and pain,
" Jijeie 's one lieart, unchanging, that beats but for
tliCC."
LET S T^KE THIS WORLD AS SOME WIDE
SCEME.
Let 's talte tliis world as some wide scene,
Tliruugti which, m trail, but buoyant boat,
Willi sliies now dark and now serene,
Together tilou and 1 must lluat j
Beholding oft, ou either shore,
Jjrighl spots where we should love to stay;
But Time plies swift his flying oar,
And away we speed, away, away
Should chilling winds and rains cotne on.
We'll raise our awning 'gainst Iheshow'r;
Sit closer till the storm is gone.
And, sinilmg, wait a sunnier hour.
And it that sunnier liour should shine.
We'll know its brightness cannot slay.
But bajipy, while >l is thine and mine,
Complain not when it fades away.
So shall we reach at last that Fall
Down which hies currents all must go,
The d.uli, the Liilhanl, destined all
1 o !
Nor
. the
id be
hari
v'u Ih.it hour shall w
If, side by side, stilt tond we keep.
And calmly, in each other's arms
Together link d, go down the slLcr
LOVE'S VICTOR y.
Sing to Love — for, oh, 't was he
Who won the glorious day
Strew the wreaths of vicloiy
Along the couqu'ror's way.
Yoke the Muses to his car,
Let them ^ing each trophy won ;
While his mother's joyous star
Shall light the triumph ou.
Hail to Love, to mighty Love,
Let spirits sing around ;
While ihe hill, the dale, and grove,
With "mighty Love" resound ;
Or, should a sigh of sorrow steal
Amid the sounds thus echo'd o'er,
>T will but leacli the god to feel
His victories the more.
See his wings, like amethyst
Of sunny Ind their hue;
Bright as when, by Psyche kist,
'1 hey trembled through and through.
Flowers spiing benealh his feet;
Angel forms beside him run ;
While unnuniher'd lips repeat
** Love's victory is won ! "
Hail to Love, to mighty Love, &c.
SONG OF HERCULES TO HIS DAUGHTER.!
** I 've been, oh, sweet daughter,
** To founlain and sea,
"To seek in their water
" Some bright gem for thee.
« Founded on Ihe fable reported by Arrian (ii
Indicii) of Hercules having searched Ihe Indiai
Ocean, to find the pearl with which he adorned hi
daughter I'audaea.
•' Where diamonds were sleeping,
" Their sparkle I souitht,
' Where crystal was weeping,
** Its tears I have caught.
" The sea-nymph I've courted
" In rich cr.ial halls;
" With iNaiads have sported
" ll\ brisht waleilalls.
" Kul sijoilive or tender,
_" S ill sought 1 aiound
" Tiial gem, wilh whose splendour
"Thuu yet shall be crown'd.
" And see, while I'm speaking,
"Yon solt light afar; —
" The pearl I 've been seeking
"There floats like a star!
** In the deep Indian Ocean
"And quick as light's motion
"Its wealth shall be thine."
Then eastward, like lightning.
The hero-god flew.
His sunny looks bright'ning
The air he went through.
And sweet was the duly.
And hallow'd the hour,
Which saw thus young Beauljr
£lubcllish'd by Power,
THE DREAM OF HOME.
Who has not fell how sadly sweet
The dream of home, the dream of home.
Steals o'er the hear', loo soon to fleet.
When far o'er sea or land we roam ?
Sunlight more soft may o'er us fall.
To greener shores our bark may come ;
But far more brii;ht, moie dear than all,
'I'hat dream of home, that dream of home.
Ask of Ihe sailor youth when far
His light bark bounds o'er ocean's foam.
What charms him niost, when ev'ning's star
Smiles o'er the wave? to dream of iionie.
Fond thoughts of absent friends and loves
At that sweet hour around him come;
His heart's best joy where'er he roves.
That dream of home, that dream of home.
THEY TELL ME THOU 'RT THE FAVOUR'D
GUEST,*
They tell me thou 'rt Ihe favour'd guest
Of every fair and brilliant throng ;
No wit like thine lo wake the jest.
No voice lillc thine to breathe the song ;
And none could guess, so gay thou art,
7'liat thou and I are far apart,
Alas! alas! how different flows
With lliec and me the time away !
Not thai I wi^h thee sad — heav'n knows —
Slill if thou can'st, be light and gay
I only know, that without thee
The sun himself is dark to me.
' Part of a translation of some Latin verses, sup-
posed to have been addressed by Hippolvia Taiirella
lo her husband, during his -ibsence at the' gay court of
Leo the Tenth. The verses may be found i> the Ap-
pendix to Roscoe's Work,
240
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC,
Do I thus hnsle to lull and bower,
Am;)iig llie prouii and gay lo shine?
Or deck i.iy liair wUli guoi and tlower,
To tlafler luhtTojcs lh..n lliji^e?
'lljou liad'jt llic i;i»t, Ihou liaj'sl llie last.
Trili YOUNG INDIAN MAID.
Tlitre caoie a nymph dauciug
Graceludv,g]..ce|i,ll.,
Hereyeal,shigl..ucius
J-ike the Ijlucsea;
And while all lhl> gladucss
Around her steps bnne,
Such sweet notes i>( saduess
Her genlle lips sung,
rhif ne'er while 1 live Ironi my inem*ry shall fade
The song, or the look, of that young Indian juaid.
Her zone of bells ringing
Chcenlv, cheerily,"
Chimed h. Iiersi„giiig
Li-hl echos of giie;
But in vail, did she torrow
Of mi: 111 the gay tout,
Her voice spoke of sorrow.
And soriow ah.ne.
Nor e'er while 1 live from my mem'ry sliall fade
The song, or Ihe look, of that young indiau maid.
THE HOMEWARD MARCH.
Be still my heart : 1 hear them come :
Those sound? announce my lover near:
Tlie march ihal brings our vvarriors bouie
Troclaiuis he'll soon be here.
Hark, the distant tread.
O'er the mountain's head.
While hills and dales repeat the sound j
And the lnresl deer
Stand s ill lo hear,
As those echoing steps ring round.
Be still my heart, I hear them come,
Thuse sounds that s[)eak iiiy soldier near;
Those joyous steps seem wing'd for home, —
Rest, rest, he'll soon be here.
But liaik, more faint the footsteps grow,
And now they wind to dis am glades;
Not here their home, — alas, they go
'lo gladden happier maids I
Like sounds in a dream,
The footsleps seem,
As down Ihe hills they die away ;
And the niarch, whose song
So peal'd along.
Now fades like a funeral lay.
'T is past, 'f is o'er, — hush, heart, thy pain!
And though not here, alas, they come,
Rejoice for those, to whom that strata
Brings sons and lovers home.
WAKE UP, SWEET MELODY.
Wake up, sweet melody !
Now is the hour
When young and loving hearts
Feel niosi thy power.
One note of music, by moonlight's snft ray —
Oh, 'I is worth thousands heard coldly by day
Then wake up, sweet melody I
Now is the hour
Wiien young and loving hearU
Feel most thy power.
Ask the foi.d nightingale.
When his sweet llouer
Loves most lo hear his soug,
in her green bower?
Oh, he will tell thee, through sumnier-nighla OBB,
fondest she lends her whofc soul to his song.
Then wake up, -vveet melody 1
Now is the hour
When young and loving harts
Feel most thy power.
CALM BE THY SLEEP.
Calm be tliy sleep as infants' slumbers ?^
Pure as angel thoughts thy dreams!
May every joy tliis bright woild numbers
Shed o'er Ihee their minglej beams!
Or if, where Pleasure's wii.g hath gilded.
There ever musi S'lue pang remain.
Still be Ihv lot wall me divided,—
Thine all the bliss, and mine the pain
Day and night my thoughts shall hover
Round Illy sieps where'er they stray;
As. ev n when clouds his idol cover,
Fondly the Per?ian tracks ils ray.
Ifthis be wionir, if Heav'ii olended
Bv worship lo its cieaiure oe.
Then lei my vows to both be blended.
Half hrealtied to Heav'n and half lo thee.
THE EXILE.
Night waneth fast, the morning s!ar
Saddens wiih light ihe glimnr'ring sea.
Whose waves shall soon lo realms af.ir
Waft me fiom hope, fiom love, and thee.
Cold'v the beam from yonder sky
Looks o'er the waves lliat onward stray;
But colder s ill the stranger's eye
To him whose home is far away.
Oh, not at hour so chill and bleak.
Let thoughts of me come o'er Ihy breast;
But of Ihe lost one thiok and speak,
When summer sun? sink calm lo lest
So, as I wander. Faucv's dieam
Shall bring me o'er the sunset seas,
Thv look, in every melliog beam,
thy whisper, iu each dyhig brce.e.
THE FANCY FAIR.
Come, maids and youths, for heie we sell
All wondious things of earth and air;
Whatever wild romancers tell.
Or poets sing, or lovei-s swear.
You 'II find at this our Fancy Fair.
Heie eyes are made like stars to shine,
And kept, for yeais, in such repair.
That ev'n when lurn'd of thinv-nine,
Thev 'II hardly look the worse for wear.
If bought at this our Fancy Fair.
We've lots of tears for baids to shower,
And hearts that such ill usasefiear.
That, though they 're broken ev'rv hour.
They'll still in rhyme fresh breaking blar,
If purchased at our Fancy Fair.
BALL-ADS, SONGS, ETC.
241
As fasbinns change in ev'ry Ihing,
Wo 've goods lo suit e.ich seasnn's
F.lenral frieiidshilis for the spring,
Ai.d euJIe-s loves for sujiiiiier vvea
AM sold at this our Fancy fair.
We've reputations while as snow,
Tlial Ion- will la>t, if used wi^h c
Nay, safe Ihrougli all life's journey g
If lack'd and iiiark'd as " brillle i
Just puVcliased at the Fancy Fair.
IF THOU VVOULD'ST HAVE ME SING
AND FLAY.
If thou would'st hive me sing and play,
As once 1 play'd and sung.
First take ihis time-worn lute away,
And bring one freshly strung.
Call back the lime when pleasure's sigh
First breathed among the sirii.ga ;
And Time himself, in Hilling by,
Made uiusic with tiis wings.
But how is this ? though new the lute,
And stiiuing fresh the cliords,
Beneath this hand ihey slumber mule,
Ur speak but dreamy ivord^.
In vain I seek the soul Ihat dwelt
Within that once sweet shell,
Which told so warmly what it ftit.
And felt what nought could tell.
Oh, ask not then for passion's lay,
From lyre so coldly sprung;
With this I ne'erjJan sii g or play,
As once 1 play'd and sung.
No, bring that lo.ig-loved lute again, —
Ih ugh cinird by years il be.
If llwii wilt call the slumb'ring strain,
n' will wake again fur ihee.
Tho' time have froz'n the tuneful stream
l)f Ihoughls thit gush'd abng.
One look from ihee, like summer's beam.
Will thaw thein inlosong.
Then give, oh, give, that wakening ray,
And once more blithe and young.
Thy bard again will sing and play,
As once he play'd and sung.
STILL WHEN DAYLIGHT.
Still when diyliirht o'er the wave
Bridii and soft its farewell gave,
I used to hear, while light was falling,
O'er the wave a sweet voice calling,
Mournfully at distance calling.
Ah ! once how blest that maid would cotne,
To meet her sea-boy hast'ning home ;
And ihrongh Ihe night those sounds repeating,
Hail his birk with joyous greeting,
Joyousl) his light baik greeting.
But, one sad night, when winds were high.
Nor earth, nor heaven, could hear her cry.
She saw bis boat come tossing over
Midnight s wave,— hut not her loverl
No, never more her lover.
And .still Ihat s.ad dream loth to leave.
She comes with waml'ring mind at eve.
And oft we hear, when night is falling,
Faint her voice thnugh twilight calling.
Mournfully at twilight calling.
THE SUMMER WEBS.
The summer webs that float and sbioe,
The summer dews that fall,
Tho' light they be, this heart of mine
Is ligliter still than all.
It tells me every cloud is past
Which lately seem'd to lour;
That Hope hath wed young Joy at last,
And now 's their nuptial hour!
With light thus round, within, above,
With nought 10 wake one sigh.
Except Ihe wish, that all we love
Were at this nM,menl nigh,—
It seems as if life's hrillianl sun
Had stopp'd in full career.
To make this hour its biightest one.
And rest m radiance heie.
MIND NOT THOUGH D.\YLIGHT.
Mind not though daylight around us is breaking, —
Who 'd think now c.f sleeping when morn 's but jut
waking?
Sound the merry viol, and daylight or nn^.
Be alt fur one hour in the gay dance Ibtgot.
See young Aurora, up heav'n's hill advancing
Iho' fresh from her pillow, ev'n she loo is dancing.
While thus all creation, eanh, heaven, and sea.
Are dancing around us, oh, why should not we?
Who 'U say that moments we use thus are was'ed ?
Such sweet drops of time only (iow to be tas e.1 ;
Wtiile hearls are biiih beaiing,aiid harps full in tuoe.
The fault is all morning's for coming so soon.
THEY MET BUT ONCE.
They met but once, in youth's sweet hot
And never since Ihat day
Hath absence, time, or grief had pow'r
To chase thai dream awaj'.
They 've seen the suns of other skies.
On olher shores have sought delight;
But never more, to bless their eyes,
Can come a dream so bright !
They met but once,— a day was all
Of Love's young hopes they knew ;
And still their hearts thai day recall.
As fresh as then it Hew.
Sweet dream of youth ! oh, ne'er again
Let either meet the brow
■ lift so smooth and smiling then,
Or >
vhat
, Vonth Ihe spell was only thi
Fiom thee alone tli' enchainment Hoi
Thai make, the woild around thee shil
Wiih l;glit thjfelf bestows.
They me but oi ce, — oh, ne'er again
Let either meet the brow
They left so smooth and smiling then.
Or see what it is now.
WITH MOONLIGHT EEAMIXG
With moonlight beaming
Th'is o'. r the deep.
Who'd linger dieaminff
In idle sleep ?
Leave joyless souls 10 live by day.
Our life begins with yonder'rav ;
21
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC,
And while thus brighlly
I'lie nioilieuls (lee,
Our barks skini lighlly
'J'he &biuiiig Sda.
To jails of splendour
Let gre^t ones hie ;
Through light more lender
Our (lalhways lie.
Wtule round, Iroin banks of brook or lake,
Our company blithe echoes make;
And. as we lend 'eiu
Sweet word or strain,
blill back they send 'eui.
More sweei, again.
CHILD'S SONG. FROM A MASQUE.
1 have a g:»rden of my own,
Sliinmg With tlowers of every hue;
1 loved It dearly wtiile alone,
But 1 shall love it moie wiih you:
And ttiere the golden hers sliall come,
in i»uutinei-time at break of nioro,
And wake us with their busy hum
Around the Siha's fragrant thoru.
1 have a fawn from Adeti's land,
On le.ly buds and lie.nes nurst ;
And you shall teed tiiui Ironi your hand,
'J hough he m ly slait wilh tear at hrst.
And 1 will lead you wliere lie lies
i'or sheller in Uie Uiion-tlde hiat ;
And you may to cli his sleeping eyea,
And leel his little silv'ry lect.
THE HALCYON HANGS O'ER OCEAN.
The halcyon hangs o'er ocean,
The sea-lark skiins Ihe bri..e;
This bright world's all in inolioo,
No heart seems sad but mine.
To walkthrough sun-bright places,
Wilh heart all cold the while;
To look in smiling faces,
When we uo more can smile;
To feel, while earth and heaven
Around thee shine with bliss,
To thee no liglit l> given,—
Oh, what a doom is this!
THE WORLD WAS HUSH'D.
The world was hush'd, the moon above
Saii'd through elher si wjy,
When, near the casement of my love.
Thus I wl.ispei'd hiwly,—
"Awake, awake, hiiw canst thou sleep?
"'I'he field i seek 10-niuriow
*'Is one u here man liath fame to reap,
*' And woir.an gleans but sorrow."
" Let battle's field be what it may,"
■Jhus spoke a voice replying,
"Think not thy love, while thou'rt away,
"Will here sit idly sighing.
"No — woman's Siiul, if not for fame,
" for loie can brave all danger 1'
Then forth from out the casement came
A plumed and armed &■ ranger.
A stranger? No ; 't was she, the majd,
Heisell beh>re ine beaming.
With casque ariay'd, and falchion blaiie
beneath her giidle gleaming !
Close side by side, m treedom's light,
'Ibat blessed muining lound us i
In Vid'ry s light «e stood ere night.
And Love, the morrow, crowu'd us!
THE TWO LOVES.
There are two Loves, the poet sings
Both born of Beauty at a birth :
The one, akin to heaven, hath wings,
'Ihe otiier, earthly, walks on earth.
Willi (his through bowers below we play.
With that through clouds above ne soar;
With both, perchance, may lose our way ; -*
Then, tell me which,
Tell Die which shall we adore ?
The one, when tempted down fcom air,
At ^leisure's fount to lave his lip,
Nor lingers long, nor oft will dare
His wing within the wave to dip.
While, plunging deep and long beneath,
The other bathes him o'er and o'er
In that sweet curieiit, ev'n to death ; —
■Ihen, tell me winch.
Tell me « hich shall we adore ?
The boy of heav'n, even while he lies
In Beauty's lap, recalls his liijiiie;
And when most happy, inly sighs
For somethiDg happier still to come.
While he of earth, too fully blest
Wilh this bright woild to dream of more,
Sees all his heav'n on Be.iuly's breast: —
'Ihen, tell me which,
Tell me which shall we adore?
The maid who heard the poet sing
These twin-desires of ear.h and sky.
And saw, while one inspired his string,
'1 he other glislen'd m his eye,—
To name Ihe earlhlier boy ashamed,
To choose the other f, ndly loalh.
At length, all blushing, she eiclaiin'd,—
"Ask not nhich,
" Oh, ask not which — we '11 worship both.
"Th' extremes of each thus taught to shun,
" Wilh hearts and souls between them giv(D
" When weary of this earth wilh one,
" We'll with the o,lier wing to heaven."
Thus pledged the maid her vow of bliss ;
And while one Love wrote down the oath.
The other stai'd il with a kiss;
And Heav'n look'd on,
Heav'n look'd on, and hailow'd both.
THE LEGEND OF FUCK THE FAIRY.
Would'sl know what tricks, by the pale nioonliiht.
Are play'd by me, Ihe meiry little Sprite,
Who wing ihrough air from the camp to the court.
From king 10 clown, and of all make port ;
Singing, 1 am the Sprile
Of Ihe merry midnight,
Who laugh at weak mortals, and love the moonlight
To a miser's bed, where he snoring slept
And dieanit of his cash, I slilv ciept ;
Chink, chink o'er his pillow like nionev rang,
And he waked to catch — but away 1 sprang.
Singing, I am the Sprite, &c.
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
243
I «aw Ihrough Ihe leaves, in a damsers bower,
She was waiting her love at that s atli^hl hour:
" Hisl — hist !" quo h I, xvith an amorous sigh,
Aiid she hew to the door, hut away dt-w I,
i}iiiging, lam the Sprite, ^c.
While a bard sat indiiin? an ode 'o his love,
Like a pair ot blue iiieleors 1 stared fnij- -'
Aud he
iiM — tor he thought 'twas the ghost
Of Is lady's eyes,
Smgiijg
1 the Sprite, &.C.
BEAUTY AND SONG.
Down in yon summer vale,
Wheie the rill flows.
Thus said a Nightingale
To his loved Rose: —
"Though rich the pleasures
" t)f song's sweitt measures,
"Vnin weieiis melody,
"Rose, without thee."
Then from the green recess
Of her tiight-bowV,
Beaming «ith bashfulne^s,
^Ipnke the bright flowV; —
'* Though morn should lend her
'■ Ilh sunniest splendour,
"What uould ihe Rose be,
"Un!>ung by thee?"
Thus still let Song attend
Woman's bright way;
Thus still let woman lend
Light 10 the lay.
Like stars, ilirou^h heaven's sea^
Floating in harmony,
Beauiy should glide along.
Circled by Song,
WHEN THOU ART NIGH.
When thou art nigh, it seems
A new creation round ;
The sun hath fairer beams,
The lute a sofier sound,
Th"u.gh thee alone I see.
And hear alone thy sigh,
'T is light, *t is song to me,
'T isall — when thou ai I nigh.
When thou art nigh, no thought
Ot grief comes o'er my heart ;
I only think —cduld aught
Rut joy be where thou art ?
Life seems a wa.ie of bre.ith,
When far from ihee I siijh ;
And death — ay, even death
Were .-weet, if thou wert nigh.
SONG OF A HYPERBOREAN.
I come from a land in the sun-bright deep,
Where golden gardens grow ;
Where ihe winds of Ihe north, becalro'd in sleep,
Their conch-shells never biow.i
Haste to that hnly Isle with me,
Haste — haste !
1 On the Tower of the Winds, at Athens, There
a conch-shell placed in the hmds of Boreas. — See
StuarVs ^ntiquitits. '*Tbe north wind, ''says Hero
dotus, in speaking of Ihe Hyperboreans, ** never blow
with theni.'^
So near the track of the stars are wb,^
That olt, on night's pale beams,
The distai.t sounds of their harmony
Come 10 our ear, like dreams.
Then, haste to that holy Isle with me, &c. &c.
The Moon, too, brings her world so nigh,
That when Ihe night-seer looks
To that shadnwless orb, in a vernal sky,
He can number itti hills and brooks.
Then, baste, £^c. &.C.
To the Sun-god all our hearts and lyres *
By day, by niglit, belong;
And the breath we draw from his living fires,
We give him back in song.
'I'heu, haste, &c. &.c.
From us descends the maid who brings
To Delns gifts divine;
And our wild beus lend their rainbow wings
To glitter on Delphi's shrine.*
Then, haste to that holy Isle with me,
Haste — haste 1
THOU BIDST ME SING,
Thou bidst me sing the lay I sung to thee
In other days, ere joy had left this biow ;
But ihink, (hough still unchanged the notes may be,
How diti'rent feels the heart that breathes them
now !
The rose thnu wear'st to-night is still the same
VVe saw this morning on its slt-m so gay ;
But, ah ! Ihat dew of dawn, that breath which came
Like life o'er all its leaves, halh pass'd away.
Since first that music touch'd thy heart and mine,
How many a ji-y and pain o'er bo h have past, —
The joy, a light t-o piecious long to shine.
The pain, a cloud whose shndowa alwa>s last.
And though that lay would like the voice of home
Breathe o'er our ear, 'twould waken now * sigh —
Ah ! not, as then, for fancied woes to come,
But, sadder far, for real bliss gone by.
CUPID AHMED,
Place the helm on thy brow.
In thy hand tike the spear;—
Thnu art arm d, Cupid, now.
And thy battle-fmur is near.
March on ! march on ! ihy sh ft and bow
Were weak against such charnis ;
March on ! march on ! so pioud a foe
Scorns alt but martial ainis.
See the darts in her eyes,
Tipt with scorn, how they shine !
Ev'ry shaft, as i! flies,
Mocking proudly at thine.
March on '. march un ! thy feather'd darts
Soft bosoms soon might move;
But ruder aims to mdcr hearis
Must teach what 'i U to love.
^"Sub ipso siderum cardine jacent," — Pompon,
Mda.
3 " They can show the niooD very near." — Diodar.
Sicul.
4 Hecatieus tells us, Ihat this Hyperborean Is.and
was dedic:4led to Apollo; and most of the inhabitauta
were either priesti or songsters,
t Pausan.
1244
BALLADS, SONGS, ETC.
Place the helm on thy brow ;
Ir, Ihy hand take the spear,—
Thou art aiiii'd, Cupid, now,
Aud thy Liattle-liour is uear.
BOUND THE WORLD GOES.
Round the world goes, by day and night,
While wi-h It also round go i>e;
And in the flijht of one day's iigllt
An image of all life's course we see.
Round, round, while thus we go round,
The best thing a man can do,
Is :o make it, al least, a merry-go-rouud,
By — sending the wine round loo.
Our first gay stage of life is when
Youth. I., iis dawn, salutes the eye-
Season of bliss ! Oh, who wouldn't then
Wish to try, " Sir.p !" to earth and sky ?
But, round, r.'und, both b >y and girl
Are whisk'd through ihat sky of blue j
And much would their hearts enjoy the whiil,
If — their heads didn't whirl louud too.
Next, we enjoy our glorious noon,
■Ihinkingall life a life of lighl ;
But shadows come on, 'I is evening soon.
And, ere we can s.ay, " How short I''— 'lis nighl.
Bound, round, slill all goes round,
Ev'n while I 'm thus singing to you ;
And the best way to make il a meiiT/-so-rouiid,
Js to — chorus my song round loo.
OH, DO NOT LOOK SO BRIGHT AND BLEST.
Oh, do not look so bright and blest,
For "lill there comes a fear,
When brow like ihiiie looks happiest.
That grief is then most near.
There lurks a dread in all delight,
A shadow near each ray.
That warns us then lo fear their fl.gnf,
When most we wish their siay.
Then look not tlmu so brisht and blest,
For ah '. there comes a fear,
Wlien brow hke thine look* happie«t,
Thai grief is then most near.
Why is it thus that fairest things
The soonest fleet and die ? —
That when most light is on their wings,
They 're then bul spread to fly !
And, sadder still, the pain will stay —
The bliss no moie ai.pears;
As rainbows lake their light away,
And leave us but the (ears !
Then look not thou so bright and blesi,
For ah ! there comes a fear,
When brow like thine looks happiest,
That grief is then most near.
THE MUSICAL BOX.
" Ah, Rose," I cried, " the poet's lay
" Must ne'er ev'n Beauty s slave become;
"Through earth and air his song may stray,
" If all the while his heart's al home.
" And Ih.mgh in fieeduui s air he dwell,
♦•Nor bond nor chain his spirit knows,
"Touch bul the spring ihou knon'st 1,0 well,
" And — hark, how sweet Ihe love song flows !»
yl syinfjhuny.)
Thus pleaded I for freedom's right ;
But VI hen young Beauty takes the field,
And wise men seek delence in (light,
The doom of poels is 10 yield.
No mure my heart Ih' enchantress braves,
1 'm noiv m Beauty s prison hid ;
Tlie Sprite and I are fellow-sla\es,
Aud 1, too, sing whene'er I'm bid.
WHEN TO SAD MUSIC SILENT YOU LISTEN.
When to sad MuMC silent you listen,
And tears on lliose eyelids tremble like dew,
Oh, Ihen there dwells in those e>es as they glisten
A siveel Indy cliaim that mirth never knew.
But when some lively strain resounding
Lights up the sunshine of Joy on that brow.
Then the young rein-deer o'er the liills bounding
Was ne'er in its mirlh so graceful as thou.
When on Ihe skies at midnight thou gazest,
A lus re so pure thy features then wear.
That, when lo some s'ar thai bright eye thou raises!.
We feel '1 is lliy home thou 'rl looking lor there.
But, when the word for the gay dance is given,
So buoyant ihy spirii, so hearlfell ihy mirlh.
Oh then we exclaim, " Ne'er leave earih lor heaven,
" But linger still here, to make heaven of earth."
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.
Fly swift, my lighl gayelle.
To her vvlin now lies waking,
To lie.ir thy silver bell
Ihe niiduighl silence breaking.
And, when thou com's', wilh gladsome feet,
Beneath her lallice springing.
Ah, well she'll know how sweet
Tlie words of love thou 'rt bi inging.
Yet, no— not words, for they
But half can tell love's feeling;
Sweet flowers alone can say
What passion fears revealing.
A once bright rose's wilhei'd leaf,
A tow'nng lily broken,—
Oh these mav paint a grief
No words could e'er have spoken.
Not such, my gay gazelle,
The wreath thou speedest over
Yon moonlight dale, lo lell
My lady how I love her.
And, what to tier will sweeter be
Than gems the richest, rarest,—
Jilhl
n'd Ml
ighiDg eyet,
hid.
" Look here," said Rose, '
"Within this box, by n
" A tuneful Sprite imprist
" Who sings to me whe
"Though roving once his . „.
" He'll now lie slill the whole day long;
"Till thus I touch the magic spring —
"Then hark, how sweet and blithe his song!"
(,A syviphony.)
8 bid.
i and wing.
From Truth
orlal I
One fadeless leaf thou bearest.
THE DAWN IS BREAKING O'ER US.
The dawn is breaking o'er us
See, heaven hath caughl ils hue!
We've day's long light before us,
What sport shall we pursue?
1 Tb« tree called in the East Amrili, or Ihe Im-
mortal.
SONGS FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY. 245
The hunl o'er hill and lea?
Hie snilo'er summer .vea ?
Oh lei n t lioir so sweet
liinvii.ij'd by pleasure fleet.
The davvji i> breaking f*er us,
See, lioven ha'h caughl iis hucl
We've d.iy'» lo:i» liglit before us,
What &j)url shall we pursue?
But see, while we're deciding,
VVlial inorniii' sport lo play,
The dial's h:iHd is RlidiMg,
And innrn lialh pas.'d away !
Ah, who 'd have thought th*t noon
Would o'er us steal so soon, —
That ni'irn's sweet hour of prime
Would last so short a time ?
But come, we've day before us.
Still heaven looks bright and blue;
What sport shall we pursue?
Alas! why thus delaying?
We 're now at evening's hourj
Its farewell beam is playing
O'er hill and wave and bower.
Thai light tve tlinueht would last.
Behold, ev'ii now, 't is past ;
And all .
Ha
ish'd with
But com _. _
Sad lesions fl
For ni.in will h
Just what he
Is beams!
lin to borrow
lis lay.
i been to-day.
SONGS FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY.
HERE, AT THY TOMB.l
BY MELEAOER.
Here, at thy tomb, these tears I shed.
Tears, which though vainly now they roll.
Are all love h ilh lo give the dead.
And wept o'er thee with all love's sou! ; —
Wept in remembrance of that light,
Which nnuslil on earth, without Ihee, gives,
Hope of my heart ! now quench'd in nighl.
But dearer, dead, than aught that lives.
Where is she? where the blooming bough
That once niy life's sole lustre made ?
Torn oil' by death, 'I is wiih'rini; now,
And all its flowers in dust are laid.
Oh, earth! that lo thy matron breast
Ha^t taken all those angel charn a.
Gently, I pray thee, let her rest,—
Geiilly, as iu a molher's arms.
SALE OF CUPID. »
BY MELEAGER.
Who'll buy a little boy? Look, yonder is he.
Fast asleep, sly rogue, on his mother's knee;
So bold a young in,p 't isn't safe to keep.
So I'll part with him now, while he's sound asleep.
See his arch liltle no^e, how sharp 't is curled,
His wings, too, even in sleep unfurl'd;
And those fingers, which slill ever ready are found
For mirth or for mischief, to tickle, or wound.
He'll try with his tears your heart to beguile,
But never you mi. id — he's liughingall "the while;
For little he care*, so he has his own whim,
And weeping or laughing are all one lo him.
His eye is as keen as ihe lighming'.s fla<h.
His tongue like the red bfdt quick and rash ;
And so savage is he, ihai his own dear mother
Is scarce more safe iu his hands than another.
In short, to sum up this darling's praise,
lie's a downright pest in all sorts of ways;
A p. BntTick.
- Xlm\tLaOwt Kat, jiaipo^ it^ tv koAttoktc Kadcv-
tuiv.
Ap. Bnwck, Analcd. xcv.
21^
And if any one wan's such an imp to employ.
He Shalt have a dead bargain of this lillle buy.
Bui see, the boy wakes— his bright tears flow —
His eyes seem lo ask could 1 sell him ? oh, no.
Sweet child no, no — iliough so naughty you be.
You shall live evermore with niy Lesbia and me.
TO WEAVE A GARLAND FOR THE ROSE.'
BY PAUL, THE SILENTIAKY.
To weave a garland for Ihe rose.
And ihink thus crown'd 'l would lovelier be,
Were far less vain than to suppose
That silks and gems add grace to thee.
Where is the pearl whose orient lustre
Would not, tieside ihee, look less bright?
What gold ciiuld match the glossy cluster
Of those young ringlets full of light ?
Bring from the land, where freh it gleams.
The bright blue gem of India's mine.
And see how soon, though bright its beams,
'T will pale bef'.re one glance of thine :
Those lips, too, when ttieir sounds have blest us
Wi h some divine, mcllilluous air.
Who would not sav that Beauty's cestus
Had let loose all its witch'ries there?*
Here, to this conq'ring host of charms
I now give up my spell bound heart.
Nor blush to yield ev'n Reason's arms,
When thou her bright-ey'd conq'ror art.
Thus to the wind all fears are given;
Henceforth those eies ahne I see.
Where Hope, as in her own blue heaven.
Sits beck uing me to bliss and thee !
WHY DOES SHE SO LONG DELAY?*
BY PAUL, THE SILENTIARY.
Why does she so long delay ?
Nighl is waning fast away.
3 OtiT£ ^o^uiv CTtrpavwv zntdi*'i<ratf ovrt a
Ap. Biitnck. xvii.
* icat 55 f-t^Lfjivpros EKUV7}
H'Seos dfj/i'.t'ti;, KZfTTOs t^pv Hafpit)^,
• AijOvvti. KKioipaVTis.
Ap. Bninck. xiviii.
246
SONGS FROM THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY.
Thrice have I my lamp renewU,
Waching here in SMiilude.
Where can she so Inng delay?
Where, so long delay ?
Vainly now have two lamps shone j
See Ihe ihird is nearly gone : i
Oh, Ihat Love would, liKe (he ray
Of that we^ry lamp, decay!
But u<>, alas, il hums still on,
Slill, sliil, burns 00.
Gods, how oft (he traitress dear
Swore, by Venus, she 'd be here I
Rui to one so filse as she
What is man or deily ?
Neither d ith this proud one fear,
No, neither dolh she feat.
TWIN'ST THOU WITH LOFTY WREATH THY
BROW? 2
BY PAUL, THE SILENTIARY.
Twin'st thou with lofty wreaih thy brow?
Such glory then Ihy beautv sheds,
I aliciosi think, while awed 'l bow,
'T IS Rhea's self befo.e me treads.
Be what thou wilt,— this heart
Adores whate'er thou art !
Dost thou Ihy loosen'd rinslefs leave,
Like sunny "aves to wander free?
Then, 91, ch a chain of charms they weave.
As draws m^■ inmost soul from me.
Do what thou wilt,— I must
Becharm'd by all thou dusl!
Ev'n when, enwrapped in silvery veils,3
Those sunny locks elude the si£;h',—
Oh, not ev'n then their glory fails
To haunt me with its unseen light.
Change as thy beauty may.
It charms in every way.
For, thee the Graces still attend,
Presiding o'er each new attire.
And lending every dart they send
Some new, peculiar touch of fire.
Be whal thou wilf,_ihis heart
Adores whate'er thou art !
WHEN THE SAD WORD.*
BY PAUL, THE SILENTIARY.
When Ihe sad word, "Aiieu," from my lip ii nigh
falling,
And with it, Hope parses away.
Ere Ihe tongue hath half breathed il, my fond heart
recallinj
That fatal farewell, bids me slay.
For oh ! 'I is a penance so weary
One hour from thy presence to be.
That death to this soul were le'S dreary.
Less dark than long absence from thee.
> 6 6c rpiTOS apxtrai ijijs
Avxvo; vnoKXa^uv.
5 KtKpv^aAot (T-^iyyovo-t Tttiv rmxa ;
Ap. Brunch, xxxiv.
3 ApyrvvaTs o9ovT](n Kartjo^a {Sotrrpvxa Kiv-
dfi;.
* £ui^EO (Tot /ieXAuiV tVtITtiV.
Ap. Brunck. xxxiT.
Thy beauty, like Day, o'er the dull world breaking,
Brings life to the heart it shines o'er.
And, in mine, a new feeling of happiness waking,
Made light what was darkness before.
But mute is the Day's sunny Elory,
While thine halh a voice,' on whose breath.
More sweet than the Syren's sweel story, >>
My hopes hang, through life and through death I
MY MOPSA IS LITTLE.'
BY PllILODEMUS.
My Mopsa is litlle, my Mnpsa is brnwn,
But her cheek is .is smooth as the peach's soft down,
And, for blushing, no rose can come near herj
In short, she has woven such nets round my heart,
y dear litlle Mopsa can part, —
me that's dearer.
Her voice hath a music Ihat dwells on Ihe ear,
And her eye froni its orb gives a daylight so clear,
Thjt I 'm diraled whenever I meet her ;
Her ringlets, so curly, are Cupid's own net.
And her lips, nli iheir swee ness I ne'er shall forget—
Till 1 light upon lips that are sweeter.
But 't is not her beauty Ihat charms me alone,
'T is her niind. 't is that t.inguage whose eloquent tone
From the depths of Ihe grave could revive one :
In short, here I sivear, that if death were her doom,
1 would inslanlly jnin my dead love in the tomb —
Unless I could meet with a live one.
STILL, LIKE DEW IN SILENCE FALLING.'
BY MELEAGER.
Stilt, like dew in silence falling.
Drops f 'r thee the nightly tear ;
Still Ihat voire the past reciUing,
Dwells, lik : echo, on my ear,
Still, still!
hy form fir
So 'tis graven on this heart.
Deep, deep !
Love, oh Love, whose bitter sweetness.
Dooms me to this lasting pain.
Thou who cain'sl with so much tleetness.
Why so slow to go again ? s
Why? why?
» Hftari yop ato ^tyyoj it^oaov. aWa to /itv
nov
A^floyyow.
6 JIv (J'r/iot Kai TO \a\rjfia ffitptis
KeIVO, to EflpT^VUJV yXvKvspoiTspov,
' MiKut) Kai ficXavtVffa ^iXtvviov,
Ap. Brunei, x.
8 Atrt not Svvtt fitv tv ovatriv tjxos EpeoTOS.
Ap Brunch, llii,
s fl TTTOvot, fLi) KatTTor^ n^iJt T acrO at /i£i',Epa>T«5^
Oti5aT', ajroJTTjjvai 5' ovd dtrov ttrj^^VETf.
UNPUBLISHED SONGS, ETC.
247
UP, SAILOR BOY, 'TIS DAY.
Up, sailor boy, '1 is day 1
The west wiud biovvin?,
The sptinj lide (lowing,
Sunniion thee hence away.
Didst Ihou not hear yon soaring swnllow sing?
Chirp, chirp,— in every note he seem'd 10 say
'T is Spring, 'I is Spring.
Up, boy, away,—
Who M stay on land (o-day?
The verv flowers
Would from Iheir bOwer«
Delight to wing away!
Leave lariffnid youths to pine
0ns
But he ihe billows
Of the «reat deep Ihine.
Hark, to the ^ail 'lie breeze sings, " Let us fly j"
While sofi Ihe ^ail, replying to the breeze
Says, witji a yielding si^h,
"Yes, whe e yon please."
Up, boy : Ihe wind, the rav,
The blue sky o'er thee,
The deep before lliee,
All cry aloud, "Away !"
IN MYRTLE WREATHS.
BY ALC*;C!S.
In myrtle wreaths my votive sword I'll cover,
Like them of old whose one inmiorlal blow
Struck ofl" the galling fetters that hung over
Their own bright land, and laid her tyrant low.
Yes, lov'd Harniodius, Ibou 'it undying;
Still miJst Ihe brave and free,
Xn isles, o'er ocean lying,
Thy borne shall ever be.
Id myrile leaves my sword shall hide ill light*
ning,
Like his, the youlh, whose ever-Elorious blade
Leap'd forlh like llame, the niiduiglil banquet
hrighl'ning,
And in the dust a despot victim laid.
Blest youths, how bright in Freedom's story
Your wedded names shall be;
A tyrant's death your glory.
Your meed, a uatlua free!
UNPUBLISHED SONGS, ETC,
ASK NOT IF STILL I LOVE.
Ask nol if still 1 love,
'loo plain hese eyes have told thee;
Too uell Iheir lear^ imisl prove
How near and dear 1 hold Ihee.
If, where Ihe brightest shine,
To see no form but thire.
To feel thcl eaih can show
No bliss above thee,—
If this be love, ihen know
That thus, thai thus, 1 love Ihee,
'T is not in pleasure's idle hour
Tlial llnni can'si kii'iw alleclion's pow'r
No, Irv its slreu^lh in grief or pain ;
Atlempt, as noiv, its bonds lo sever,
Thou 'II hiid true love 's a cliain
That binds for ever!
DEAR? YES.
Dear ? yes, IJio' mine no more,
Ev'n this but makes thee dearer;
And love, since hope is o'er,
But draws thee neater.
Change as thou will to me.
The >ame thy charm must be j
New loves may come lo weave
Their wi'cheiy o'er Ihee.
Yet still, Ihough false, believe
That 1 adore Ihee. yt-s, s'ill adore thee.
Think'sl ihou that aught but death could end
A tie rail falsehood's self can rend?
No, when alone, far off 1 die,
No nioie to see, no more caress thee,,
Ev'n then, my life's last sigh
.Shall be to bless Ihee, yes, still lo bless Iheo.
UNBIND THEE, LOVE.
Unbind thee, love, unbind thee, love.
From those dark lies ui.bind thee;
Though faiiest hand Ihe chain hath wove.
Too long Its links have twined thee.
Aw ay from earlh ! — thy w iugs were made
In yon mid-sky to hover.
With earth beneath their dove-like shade,
And heav'n all radiant over.
Awake Ihee, boy, awake thee, boy,
T on long thy soul is sleeping ;
And thou may's! from this minute's joy
W.ke lo eternal weeping
Oh, think, this woild is nol for Ihee ;
Th'Ujh haid lis links to sever;
Though sweet and bright and dear they be,
Break, or thou 'rl losi forever.
there's something strange.
(a buffo song.)
There's something strange, I know not what.
Some phantom 1 've for ever got
Before me.
I look on high, and in the sky
'Tis shining;
On earih, its light with all things bright
Seeiits twining.
Id vain 1 try this goblin's spells
And Ihen what tricks by day and night
It plays me <
In ev'ry shape the wicked sprite
Waylays me.
^248
UNPUBLISHED SONGS, ETC.
Soniettmes like two bright eyes of blue
'Ti. gla..cin?j
Sometimes like feet, in slippers neat,
Crimes dancing.
By whispers round of every sort
1*111 taiiD'ed.
Never was nior at man, in short,
So h.iuijled.
NOT FROM THEE.
Not frnm Ihee rhe wound should come,
No, nol Iroui thee.
I care ii!>t wh-i or whence my doom,
So not frnm thee !
Cold triumph ! lirsi to make
'1 his heart Ihy own ;
And then ihe mirror break
Where tix'd ihou sliin'st alone.
Nol from thee the wound should come,
Oh,
ot fr(
I tilt
Yet no — my lips that wish recall;
From Iliee, from thee —
If ruin o'er ih.s head must fall,
'Twill welcome be.
Here to the bl.de I bare
'ibis faithful heart;
Wound deep — thou 'It find that there.
In every pLl^ethou art.
Yes from thee 1 '11 btai" it all :
If ruin be
The doom that oV this heart must fall,
'Twcre sweet fiom thee.
GUESS, GUESS.
Hot
maid, a mystic maid,
Whose form no eyes but mine can see j
She comes in li^ht, she comes in shade,
And beautiful in both is she.
Her shape in dreams I oft behold,
And oil she ivhispera in my ear
Such words as when to others tnid.
Awake the sigh, or wring the lear;—
Then gness, guess, who she,
The l.idy of my love, may be,
I find Ihe lustre of her brnw,
And feel as if her voice, ev'n now,
VVere echoing far off my hys.
There is no scene of joy or woe
But she doth gild with influence bright;
And shed o'er all so rich a glow
As makes ev'n tears seem full of light:
Then guess, sness. who she,
The lady of my love, may be.
WHEN LOVE, WHO RULED
When Love, who ruled as Admiral o'er
His rosy moiher's i^L-s of light,
Was cruising off the Paphian >.hore,
A s,iil at sunset hove in sight.
*'A chase, a ch:ise! mv Cupids all,'*
Said Love, the litile Admiral.
Aloft the winged sailors sprung.
And, swarming uj) the mast like bees,
The snow-white sails expanding flung,
Like broad magnolias to the t-?#.^«,
**Yn ho, yo ho. my Cupids all '.^
Said Love, the little Admiral.
The chase was o*er — the bark was caught.
The winged crew her freight explored ;
And found ^1 was just as Love had thought.
For all was contiaband aboard,
"A prize, a prize, my Cupids all I"
Said Love, the litHe Admiral.
Safe stow'd in many a package there.
And Ubeird slyly o'er, as "Glass,"
Weie lots of all ih' illegal ware.
Love's Custom-House foibids to pass.
"U'erhaul, o'erhaul, my Cupids all,'*
Said Love, the little Admiral.
False curls they found, of every hue,
Wiih rosy blushes rea,iy made j
And teeth of ivory, good as new,
For veterans in the smiling trade.
*' Ho ho, ho ho, my Cupids all,'*
Said Love, the little Admiral.
Mock sighs, too. — kept in bags for use,
Like breezes Louifhl of Lapland aeera,—
Lay re^dy here to be let loose.
When wanted, in young spinsters* ears.
*'Ha ha, ha hi, my Cupids all,"
Said Love, the little Admiral.
False papers next on board were found,
Sham invoices of flames and darts.
Professedly for Paphos bound,
Bui meant fnr Hymen's golden marts,
« For sh.iDie, for shame, my Cupids all 1"
Said Love, the little Admiral,
Nay, still to every fraud awake,
Those pirates all Love's s-gn.ils knew,
And hoisted oft his flag, to make
Rich wards and heiresses bring-to.^
•* A foe, a fue, my Cupids all!"
Said Love, the liille Admiral.
" This must not be," the boy exclaims,
*' In vain I rule the Paphian seas,
"If Love's and Beauiy's sovereign names
*'Are lent to cover frauds like these.
*' Prepare, prepare, my Cupids all I"
Said Love, the little Admiral.
Each Cupid stood with lighted match —
A broadside struck the smuggling foe,
And swept the whole unhallo^vM batch
Of Falsehood to the depths below.
** Hi.zza, huzza ! my Cupids all !»
Said Love, the liitle Admiral.
STILL THOU FLIEST.
Still thou fliest, and still I woo thee,
Lovely phantom,- all in vain;
Restless ever, my thoughts pursue thee,
Fleeting ever, thou mock'st their pain.
Such doom, of old, thai yoirh beided,
Who wo led. he thought, some aneePs cbarmt^
But found a cloud that from him glided, —
As thou d'st from these oul-s'relched arms.
Scarce I've said, "How fair thou shinest,'*
Ere thy light hath vanisli'd by;
Ai'd 't is when tliou Inok'st divinest
Thou ait still most sure to fly.
Ev'n as the lightning, tha', dividing
The clouds of night, faith " Look on me,"
Then flits again, its splendour hiding, —
Ev'n such ihe glimpse I catch of thee.
« " To Bring-tOf to check the course of a ship.'
Fhlconer.
UNPUBLISHED SONGS, ETC
249
THEN FIRST FROM LOVE.
Then first from Love, in Nature's bow'rs,
DiJ Paiiiliii? learn her hiiy skill.
And cull the hues of lovelies fl.iw'ls,
To picture woman h'velirr siill.
For vain was ev'ry radiant hue,
Till I'assion lent a soul lo art,
And taught the painter, ere he drew,
To fix the model in his heart.
Thus smooth his toil awhile went on,
Till, lo, one louch his aTt defies;
The brow, the lip, the lilu^he^ shone,
nut who coulJ d,irc lo paint those eyes?
IT was all in vain the pai..ier strove;
So lu-riini; to that hoy divine,
"Here lake." he Slid, "the pencil. Love,
" N< hand should paint such eyes, but thine.'
IIUSH SWEET LUTE.
Hush, sweet Lute, thy s'lnes remind me
Of pa^t jnys, now turn'd lo pain ;
Of ties tha' loni; have ceased lo bind me,
But whose buinini; marks remain.
In each lone, some echo falleih
On my ear of .{oys gone by ;
Ev'ry note some dieairi recalleth
Of" bright hopes bul born to die.
Vet, sweet Lute, thoujh pain it bring me,
Once more let fhy numbers thrill ;
Thoueh death were in the strain they sing mo,
1 must woo its aueuish still.
Since no time can e'er recover
Love's sweet liffht when once 'tis set, —
Better to w-eep such pleasures over,
Than smile o'er any lefl us yet.
BRIGHT MOON.
Brijlit moon, that high in heav'n art shininj.
All smiles, as if wiihin Ihv bower to-night
Thy own Endymiou lav recliuin^.
And thou wouid'st wake him with akissoflight!-
By all the bliss tliv beam discovers.
By all those visions far ton bright for d.ay.
Which dreaming bards and wakii.g lovers
Behold, this night, beneath thy ling'ring ray,—
I pray thee, queen of that bright heaven,
Quench not to night thy love-lamp in the sea.
Till Anthe, in this bovver, hath given
Benea'h thy beani, her long-vovv'd kiss to me.
Guide hither, guide her steps benighted.
Ere thou, sweet ni'ion, thy bishfu! crescent hide;
I.et Love but in this bow'r be llghled,
Then shroud in darkness all the world beside.
LONG YEARS HAVE PASS'O.
Long years have pass'd, old friend, since Te
First met in life's yuiig day ;
And friends long loved by I bee and me.
Since then have dropp'd away ; —
But enough remain lo cheer us on.
And sweeten, when thus we're met,
The shass we fill to the many gone,
And the few who 're left us yet.
Our locks, old friend, now thinly grow,
And some hang while and chill ;
While some, like tiow'rs 'mid Autumn's snov
Retain youth's colour still.
And so, in our hearts, though one by one,
Youth's sunny hopes have set.
Thank heav'n, not all iheir light is gone,-
We've some to cheer us yel.
Then here's to thee, old friend, and long
May Ihr u and 1 thus meet,
To brighlen still with wine and song
This short life, ere it fleet.
And still as deaih conies stealing on.
Let 's never, old friend, forget,
Ev'n while we sigh o'er blessings gone,
How uiaiiy are left Us yet.
DREAMING FOR EVER.
Dreaming fur ever, vainly dreaming.
Life to the last pursues is flight ;
Dav ha'h its visions fairly beaming,
But false as Itii se of night.
The one illusion, the other real.
But both the same brief dreams at last;
And when we grasp the bliss ideal,
Soon as it shines, 'lis past.
Here, then, by this dim lake reposing.
Calmly I 'II waich. while light and gloon
Flit o'er i s face till nieht is closing —
F.mblem of life's short doom!
But thoueh. bv turns, thus daik and shining
'T is s'ill unlike nun's changeful day,
Whose light leturns not, once declining.
Who e cloud, once come, will stay.
THOUGH LIGHTLY SOUNDS THE SONG I
SING.
A SONG OF THE ALPS.
Though lightly sounds the song I sing lo thee,
Thoujh like the lark's its soaring music be.
Thou 'II find ev'n htre some mournful note that tells
How near such April joy lo weeping dwells.
'T is 'mOMg the gayest scenes that ofl'nest steal
Those saddening thoughts we tear, yet love to feel;
And niu-ic never half so sweer appears.
As when her mirth forgets itself in tears.
Then say not thou this Alpine song is gay —
It conies fiom hearts that, like their mountain-lav.
Mix joy with pain, and oft when pleasure's breaih
Most warms the surface, feel most sad beneath.
The very beam in which the snow-wreaih wears
Its gayest smile is that which wins its tears, —
And passion's pow'r can never lend the glow
Which waliens bliss, w ithout some touch of wee.
THE RUSSIAN LOVER.
Fleetly o'er the moonlight snows
Sjieed we to my lady's bow'r ;
Swift our sledge as lightning goes.
Nor shall stop till morning's hour.
Bright, my steed, the nortliero star
Lights us from von jeweli'd skies;
But. to gleet us. brighier far,
Morn shall bring my l.idy's eyes.
Lovers, luU'd in sunny bow'rs.
Sleeping out their dream of time.
Know not half the bliss that's ours.
In this snowy, icy clime.
Like von s'ar ihat livelier gleams
From the frosty heavens around.
Love himself the keener beams
When with snows of coyness crownM.
I 250
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH VOLUME.
Fleet then on, my merry s^eed,
Bound, my ?Iedge, o^er hill and dale; -
What can match a lover's speed ?
See, 't is daylight, breaking pale I
Brightly hath the northern star
Lii Ub f^roin yon radiant skies;
But, behold, how brighter tar
Yonder Bhine my lady's eyea!
END OF VOL. V.
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH VOLUME.
The Poem, or Romance, of LalU Rookh, having
now reached, I undeisiand, iis twentieth edition, a
short accouni of the oiiaiu and progress of a work
which has been hitherto so very fortunate in i's
course, may not be deemed, perhaps, superfluous or
misplaced.
It was about the year 1812, that, far more through
the encouraging suggestions of friei.ds than horn any
confident promptings of my own ambition, 1 conceiv-
ed the design ot writiug a Poem iipcn some Oriental
subject, and of llmse tjuarto dimensions which Scott's
successful publicalions in thai furin h d then rendered
the regular poetical standard. A negotiation on the
subject was opened with ttie Messrs. Lorii;man, in the
same year; but, (roni some causes whicii 1 cannot
now recolleci, led lo no deci^ive rei-ult ; nor was il
till a year or two after, that any furiher sti-ps »ere
taken in the matter,— their house being the oiilv one,
it is right (0 add. with which, from hrst to last, J held
any conimunicatimi u[)on the sulyjtct.
On this last occasinti, Mr. Perry kindly offered him-
self as my reprr^entative in the treaty; ana, what
with (he friendly zeal nf iny negotiator on the one
side, and the prompt and liberal spirit with which he
was met on the other, there has seldom, I think,
occurred any transaction in which Trade and Poesy
have shone out so advan'ageously in eacli other's eyes.
The short discussion that then look place, betuetn
the two [larfies, may be comprised in a very few sen-
tences. *■ I am of opii.i.in." said Mr Perry,— en-
fi rcing his view of the case by argun)ents %^hich it is
not for me to ci'e, — "that IVIr. Moore ought to re-
ceive for his Pot-m the largest price that has been
given, in our day. for such a work." " 'i'hat ua>^,''
answered the Messrs. Lnngman, *■ three thousand
guineas." *• Exactly so," replied Mr. Perry, "and
no less a sum ought he lo receive."
It was then objec ed, and \ery reasonably, on the
part of the firm, that ihey bad never yet >een a single
line of the Poem; and rhat a peru-al of ihe work
ought to be allowed to them, before Ihey enrbarked so
large a sum in the purchase. But, no,— the ronianlic
view which my fnend, Perry, tonk of the matter,
waa, that this price should Le given as a iribu'e to
reputa'ion already acquired, without any condition
for a previous perus;d (f the new work. This high
lone, 1 must coiife>s. not a little startled and alarmed
me: but, to the honour and glory of Romance, — as
well on the puhlisheis' side as the jioet's,— this very
generous view of (he tran-adjon \^as, without any
difficulty, acceded to, and the firm agreed, before we
separated, that I was lo receive three thousand guineas
for my Poem.
At the time of this agreement, but little of the
work, as il stands at pres.ent, had yet been written.
But the ready contidence in my success shown by
others, made up for the deficieiicy of that requisite
feeling, within myself; while a strong desire not
whoHv to disajjpomt this "anguiiug httpe." became
aim' st a substitute for inspiration. In the vear 1816,
therefiie, having made some progress in mv task, I
wrote to report ihe state of the work to the Messrs.
Longman, adding, that I was now most willing and
ready, should they desire it. to submit Ihe manu-cript
for their consideiation. Their answer to this offer
was as follows: — "We are ceriainly impatient for
the perusal of the Poem ; but solely for our gratifica-
tion. Your sentiments are always honourable." *
1 contiimed to pursue my task for another year,
being likewise occasionally occupied with the Irish
Melodies, two or three numbers of which made their
appearance, during the peiiod employed in writing
Lalla Rookh. At length, in the year 1816, I found
my work suff.ciently advanced to be placed in the
hands of the publishers. But the s;ate of distress to
which England was reduced, in that dismal year, by
the exhausting effects of the series of wars she h^id
just iheii concluded, and the general embarrassment of
all classes both agriculiu'al and commercial, rendered
it a juncture the least favourable that could well be
cnoL-eived for the first launch into print of so light
and cosily a venture as Lalla Rookh. Feeling con-
scious, therefore, that, under such circumstances, I
should act but honotly in putrine it m the power of
the Me-srs Longman lo recon>i'ier the terms of their
engagement witli me, — leavins them free to postpone,
modify, or even, should such be their wish, relmquish
it altogether, I wrote them a letter to that effect, and
received the following answer : — *■ We shall be most
happy in the pleasure cf seeing you in February.
We agree with >ou, indeed, thai the times are most
inauspicious tor ' j)0etry and thousands ; ' but we
believe iha' your poetry would do more than that of
any other living [xiel at the pre-ent nntmenl."^
The length of time I employed in writing the few
stories s'rung logelher in Lalla Rookh will appear, to
some persons, nmch more than was necessiry for the
production of such tasy and *• light o' love" fictions.
But, besides thai I have been, at all tinies, a far more
slow and painstaking workman ihan would ever be
guessed, I fear, fiom Ihe result, 1 felt that, in this in-
stance, I had taken upon myself a more than ordinary
responsibility, from Ihe immense stake ri:^ked by
others on my chance of s^uccess. For a long time,
therefore, af.er the agieemeni had been concluded,
though generally at work with a view lo this task, 1
made but veiy little real progress in it ; and I have
still by me the beginnings of several stories, continu-
ed, soine of themr to Ihe length of three or four hun-
dred lines, which, after in vain endeavouring to mould
them into shape, I threw aside, like (he tale of Cam-
buscan, 'Mett half-told." Oneof theses'ories,eiititled
The Peri's Daughter, was meant to relate the loves of
a nymph of tt.is aerial exlractinn with a youth of
mortal race, the rightful Prince of Ormuz, who had
been, from his infaocv, brought up, in seclusion, on
tlie banks of the river Amou, by an aged guardian
named M"hasjan. 1 he s'ory opens wilh the first
meeting of these destined lovers, then in Iheir child-
hood; the Peri having wafied her daughter to this
holy retreat, in a bright, enchanted boat, whose tirst
appearance is thus described: —
» April 10, 1S15.
^ >'ovember 9, 1816.
PREFACE, TO THE SIXTH VOLUME.
251
" II comfi>, tt cornea," young Orian
And paiiliii}! to MnhaBBiiii Hiei.
Th»-n, down upon the llowery graiia
Rfclint'B to see the virion puKti ;
With iiarlly joy and partly Teur.
To find iiN wondrouM liglit «o uear.
And hiding ofl his datilvd eyes
Amocg Ihu flowera on wbicti be lie
Within the hont a bnby slept.
Like H young pearl within ila shell;
While one, wlin neem'd or riper yearn.
But not of earth, or earth-like apherea.
Her watch bemd.; the fllumberer kepi;
Orawfully wnvioK. in h'^r hand,
The feathers of anme hnly bird,
With which, frum time to lime, ahe atir
The fragrant air, and coolly fann'd
The baby'a hrnw, oi- bruhh'd away
The butlerniea that, bright and blue
As on The niountaina of Malay,
Around the sleeping infant Aew.
And
now the fairy boat halh Btopp'd
Je the bank, — the nymph has droppM
gulden anchor in (he atream ;
A sont? is sun^ by the Peri in approaching, of which
the following fnrnis a part: —
My child she in but half divine.
Her father sleepo in the "Jaapian water ,
,Sea-weedH twine
His funeral Bhrlne,
Rut he livea again in the Peri'a daughter.
Fain would I fly from mortal sight
To my own ewpei bowerw of Pertslan;
But, there, (he tlowera are all too bright
For the eyes of a baby boro of man.
Oil flowers of earth her feet must tread ;
So hither my light-wing'd bark hath brought her;
Slrnnger, spread
Thy lenfiest b.-d.
To rest the wandering Peri*s daughter.
In another of these inchoate fragmeiitg, a proud fe*
lale !-aiiit, named Bannu, plays a principal print ; and
her progress thiouzh the streetti of Cufa, on the night
of a great illuminated festival,! find thus described :—
It was a scene of mirth that drew
A Minile from ev'n the Saint Hnnon,
Ar. through the huah'd, admiring throngt
She went with stately stepa along,
And counted o'er, that all mighi aee,
The rubies of her rosar/.
But none might see the worldly smile
That lurkM beneath her veil, the while*.—
Alia forbid! for, who would wait
Her blewaing at the temple's gate,—
What holy man would ever ma
To kiiJH the ground she knelt upon,
If once, by luckless chance, he knew
She lookM and smil'd as others do.
Her hands were join'd, and from each wrist
By threads of pearl and golden twist
Hung relics of the saints of yore,
And scraps of talismanic lore, —
Charms for the old, the sick, the frail,
Some made for use, and all for sale.
On either side, the crowd withdrew.
To let the Saint pass proudly through;
While turban'd heads, of every hue,
Oreen, while, and crimson, bow'd around.
And gay tiaras Inuch'd the ground.—
As tulip-bells, when o'er their beds
The mu»k-wfnd passes, bend their hands.
Nay, snrne there were, among the crowd
Of Moslem heads that round her bow'd,
So fill'd with zeal, by many a draught
"' "*■' '" ' profanely (|unff'd.
tiuking low in i
aever rose till i
f then.
I agaii
"hf TP are yel two more of these nnfinished sketches,
of which extends In a much greater length than
j [ was aware of; and, as f.»r as I can judge" from a
hasty renewal of my acquaintance w:th it, Is not in-
capable of being yet turned to acctunt.
■ only one of these unfinished sketches, the tale of
The Peri's Daughter, had 1 yet ventured to invclu
that most home-felt of all my inspirations, which h\>>
lent to the story of The Fire-worshippers its main
attraction and iiiteiest. That it was my intention, in
the concealed Prince of Ormuz, n shadow out seme
personalifMi of this feeling, 1 take for gr;inted from
the prophetic words supposed to be a.idressed to bim
by his aged guardian : —
Bright child of destiny ! even now
I read the promise on that bmw,
That tyrants shall no more delilo
The glorieH of the GreenSea Isle,
But Ornuiz shall again be free.
And hail her native Lord in thee I
I none of the other fragments do I find any trace
of this sort of feelinc, either in the subject or the per-
igesof the intended s'orv ; and tins wa-the reason,
„,_btless, though hardly kiiown, al the time, to my-
self, that, finding my subjects so slow in kindling my
own sympathies. I began to despair of their ever
touching the hearts of others; and felt oftea inclined
to say,
•'Oh no, I have no voice or hand
Fur such a song, in such a land."
Had this series of disheartening experiments been
carried on much further, I must hive thrown aside
the work in despair. But, at last, fortunately, as it
proved, the thought occurred to me of founding a slory
on the fierce struggle so long maintained between the
Ghebers,* or ancient Fire-worshippers of Persia, and
their haughty Moslem masters. From thai moment,
a new and deep interest in my whole task took pos-
session of me. The cause of tolerance was again my
inspiring theme; and the spirit Ihat had spoken in
the melodies of Irclatid soon found it&elf at home in
the Kast.
Having thus laid open the secrets of the workshop
to account for the tinie expended in wnting this work,
I must also, in justice to my own industry, notice the
pains 1 took in Ion? and laboriously reading for it.
To form a storehouse, as it were, of illustration purely
Oriental, and so familiarise myself with its various
treasures, that, as quick as Fancy required the aid of
fact, in her spirilings, the menmiy vvas ready, like
another Ariel, at her " strong biclding," to furnish
materials for the ^pell-work, — such was. for a long
while, the sole object of my ^llJdles ; and whatever
time and trouble this preparatory process may have
cost me, the etfecls resulting fioin il, as f.ir as the
humble merit of tiulhfulness is concerned, have been
such as to repay nie m-re than sufficien ly for my
pains. I have not forgotten how greai was my plea-
sure, when told by the late Sir James Mackintosh,
Ihat he was once asked by Colonel W s, the
historian of British India, " whether it was true that
Moore had never been in the East?'' "Never," an-
swered Mackintosh. *' Well, that shows me," replied
Colonel W s, *■ that readmg over D'Heibelot
is as good as ridiiiff on the back of a tamel."
1 need hardly sul'join lo this lively speech, that al-
though D'Heibelot's valuable work was, of course,
one of my manuals, I took the whole range of all such
Orien'al reading as \\as accessible lo me; and became,
for the time, indeed, far more conversant with all
relating to that distant region, than I have ever been
with the f^cenerv, pioduclions, or nudes of life of any
of those countries lying most within my reach. We
know that IVAnvilie, though never in his lite out of
P;»ris, was able to correct a number of errors in a plan
I of the Troad taken by De Choiseul, on the spot ; and,
1 Vol'aire, in his tragedy of " Les Guebres," writ-
ten with a similar under-current of meaning, was
I accused of having transformed his Fire-worshippers
into Jansenisis : — '• tiuelques figuristes," he says,
I *'pretendent que les Guebres sont les Jansenlates."
252
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH VOLUME.
nferic
for my own very different, as well
purposes, the knowledge I h>id thus acquired of distant
localitieB. seen only hy me in my day-dreams, wa3 no
less rejidy and useful.
An aniple rewaid for all this painstaking has been
found in such welcome tributes as I have just now
ciied ; nor can I deny myself ihe gratificatiun of citing
a few more of the came description. From anothtr
distinguished auihority on Eastern subjecis. the late
Sir John Milcolnij I had myself the pleasure of hear-
ing a similar opinion publicly expressed ;— that emi*
ne'nt person, in a speech spoken by him at a Lilerary
Fund Dinner, having remarked, that togelher with
ihnse quali'ies of the poel which he much tco par-
tially assigned to me was combined also "the truth
of theh.stniian."
Sir Wiiliarn Ouseley, another high authority, in
giving his leslimony lo the smie etiect, thus nolicesan
exception to ihe general accuracy lor which he gives
me credil : — " Dazzled by the beauties < f th»s com-
position,i few readers can perceive, and none surely
can regret, that )he poet, in his magnificent caias-
trojihe, has fnrgotien, or boldly and must happily vin-
laled, the piecept of Zoroasler, above notictd. which
held it impious to consume any portion of a huuian
body by fire, especially by that which glowed upon
their allifs." Having long lost, I fear, must of my
Eastern learning, I can only cue, in defence of my
ca'aslrophe, an old Oriental tradi ion, which relates,
that Nimnid, when Abraham refused, at his command,
to worship the fire, ordered him to be thrown into
the midst of the tlames.2 a precedent tro ancient for
this sort of use of the worshipped element, would
appear, for all purposes at leait if pcjetry, fully suffi-
cient.
In addilinn to these agreeable testimonies, I have
also heard, and, need hardly ;idd, with some pride and
pleasure, that pans of this work have been rendered
into Pe.sian, and have found their way lo Ispahan.
To this f.ic, as I am willing lo think ir, allusion is
made in snme lively verges, written many years since,
by ray friend, Mr. Luitrell : —
"I'm told.dpar Moore, your lays are sung,
{Can it be true, you lucky man 7)
By moonlight, in the Fersan tongue.
Along the streets o( iKpalian.**
Thit some knowledge of the woik may have really
reached 'hat region, appears not improbable from a
passage in ihe Travels of Mr. Fiazer, who says, that
"being delayed for s^'me time at a town on the shores
of Ihe Caspian, he was lucky enough to be able to
amuse himself with a copy of Lalla Rookb, which ;
Persian had lent him/'
Of the descripiioji of Balbec, in *' Paradise and thi
Peri.»' Mr. Carne, in his Letters from ihe E^st, ihu
speak? : " The desc ip'ion in Lalla Rookh nf the plan
and its ruins is exqui^ilely faithful. The minaret i
on the declivity near at hand, and there wanted only
the muezzin's cry to break the silence,"
I shall now tax my reader's patience with but one
more of these generous vouchers. Whatever of vanity
there niay be in citing such tributes, ihey show, at
least, of what gteat value, even in poetry, is that pro-
saic quality, industry ; since, as Ihe reader of the fore-
going pages is now fully apprized, it was in a slow
and laborious cnlledion of small facts, that the first
foundations of this fanciful Rouiance wefe laid.
The friendly testimony t hive just referred to, ap-
peared, some years since, in the form in which I now
give it. and, if I recollect right, in the Athenaaum : —
" I embnce this opportunity of beiring my indivi-
dual testimony (if it be nf any value) to the extraor-
dinary accuracy of Mr. Mon-e, in his topographical,
anliqiiarian. and chamcteristic details, whether of
costume, manners, or less-changing monuments, both
n his Lalla Rookh and in the Epicurean. !t haa been
ny fortune to rend his Atlantic, Bermudean, and
American Odes and EpiMles. in the countries and
among the people to which and to whom they related ;
I enjoyed also the exquisite delight of r<ading his
Lalla Rookh, in Persia itself: and I have perused the
Epicurean, while' all my recollections of Egypt and
ts siill existing wonder-i aie as fiesh as when I quit-
ted the banks of the Nile for Arabia: — ! owe it,
therefore as a debt of gratitude (though the payment
Is most inadequa'e), for the great pleasure I have de-
rived from his productions, to bear my humble tes'J-
mony lo llieir local fidelity. J. S. B."
Among the incidents connected with thisVork, I
niusi not omit to notice the >p!endid Divertissement,
founded upon i', which was acted ai the Chateau
Ro\al of Berlin, during Ihe viiit of the Grand Duke
Nicholas to thU capiMl, in Ihe year 1322. The dif-
ferent s ories composing ihe work were represented
in Tableaux Vivang and songs ; and among the crowd
of royal .uid nolle personages engaged in ihe perform-
ances. I shall menijon tho=e only who lepresented the
principal characters, and whom I find thus ennnie-
ra ed In the published account of the Divertissement. 3
"Faaladin.CJrand-Nasir.Comfe Jlaacii.{Marechal daCoUr).
Aliris, Roi dcBucharie, S. A. I. Le Grand Due,
Lailah Roukh, S. A. I. La Grande Duchesse.
Aurungzeb. iC Grand Mogol, S. A. R. Le Prince OuH-
iuume./rere du Roi,
Alxlallah, Pere d'AIiris, S. A. R. Le Vue da Cumberland.
La Rcine, eon epijuae, S. A. R. La Princesse Louiae
Radsivill.'*
Besides these and other leading personages, there
were also brought into action, under the vaiious De-
nominations of Seigneurs et Dames de Bucharie,
Dames de Cachemire, Seigneurs ei Dames dansans a
la Fetedes Rose-, &c. nearly 150 persons.
Of the manner and style in which the Tableaux of
the different siorjes are described in the uork fmm
which I cile. the following accnuni of Ihe perf Tm-
ance of Paradise and the Peri will aflbrd some speci-
men: —
**La decoration represenloit les pnrtes brillantes du
Paradis, entourees de nuages. Dins le premier
tableau on vnyoit la Peri, iriste et desolee, couchee
eur le senil des partes fermees, el PAngede lumiere
qui lui addres^edes consolitiona et des conseils. Le
second repiesente le mnnienf,ou U Peri, dans I'esnoir
que ce don lui ouvrira I'entree du Par^idis recueilte la
derniere goulte de sang que vient de verser le jeuiie
gueniei Indien
" La Pen et I'Ange de lumiere repondorent pleine-
ment a I'lmage et al'iJeeqn'on est tentede se fairede
ces deux indu idus, et I'inipressinn qu*a faite generale-
inent la suite des tableaux de cet episode delicat et
interessani est loin de s'effacer de notre souvenir,**
In Ihis grand Fete, it appears, originaied the trans-
!ati'<n of Lalla Rookh into German verse, by the
Baron de la Motie Fouque; and the circumslancee
which led him in undertake the task, are described by
himself, in a Dedicatory Poem to the Empress of
Russia, which he has prefixed in his translation. As
soon as the ptrformance, he tells us. had ei^ded, Lalla
Rookh (the Empress herself) exclaimed, with asJt;h,
" Is it, tiien, all over ? are we now at the clo^e of all
that hns given us so much delight ? and lives there no
poet who will impart to oihers, and to future limes,
tome notion of Ihe happiness we have enjoyed this
evening?" On hearing this appeal, a Knight of Cash*
mere (who is no other than the poetical Baron him-
self) comes forward and promises to attempt to pre-
sent to the world 'Mhe Poem itself in the measure of
the original :''— wheieupon Lalla Rookh, it is added,
approvingly smiled.
1 The Fire-worshippers. 3 L^illa Roukh, Diveriasement meledf- Chants etde
ft Traduntautem Hebrasi banc fabulam quod Abra- 1 Danses, Berlm, If?22. 1 he work contains a series of
ham in ignem missus sit quia igiiem adorare uoluit. — | coloured engravinis, repre>entirg groups, processions
St. Huron, in quxst. in Gene
I &c., in different Orjenial costu
L A L L A R O O K EI .
TO SAMUEL ROGERS, ESQ.
THIS EASTERN ROMANCE IS INSCRIBED,
BT HIS VERY GRATEFUI, AND AFFECTIONATE FRIEND,
THOMAS MOORE.
May 19, 1S17.
LALLA ROOKH.
In the eleyenlh vear of the reign of Aurungzebe,
Abdalla, King of the Lesser Bucharia, a lineal
descendant from the Great Zingis, having abdicated
tlie throne in favour of his son, set out on a pilgrim-
age to the Shrine of the Prophet ; and, passing into
India through the delightful \alley of Cashmere, rest-
ed for a short time at Delhi on his «ay. He vvas
entertained by Anrunszebe in a style of niagniticent
hospitality, worlliy alike of the vi>iier and the ho>l,
and was afierwards escorted with the same splendour
to Sural, where he enibaiked fxr Arabia. l Uuniig
the stay of the Royal Pilgrim at Uelhi, a niairiage
was agreed upon between the Piince, bis son, and the
youngesi daugbier of the Kmperor, Lalla Ronkh;*
— a Princess described by ihe poets of her time as
more beauliful than Leila, 3 Sbirine,« Dewilde,' or
any of those heroines whose names and loves embel-
lish the songs of Persia and Hindostan. It was iu-
icnded that the nuplials should be celebrated at Cash-
mere; where the young Ku-g, as snon as the cares of
empire would permit, was to meet, for the lirst lime,
his lovely bride, and, afler a few months' repose in
that enchanting valley, conduct her over the snowy
hills into Bucbaria.
The day of Lalla Rookh's departure from Delhi was
as splendid as sunshine and pageaniry could iiialie it.
The bazaars and ba lis were all covered with the
richest t ipeslry ; hundreds of gi.ded barges upon Ihe
Jumna tloited with their banners shining in the
water; while through the streets groups of beautiful
children went strewing Ihe most delici'us flowers
around, as in that Persian fesiival c;illed the Scatter-
ing of the Roses ; » till every part of Ihe city was as
fragrant as if a caravan of musk from Klioten had
passed through it. The Princess, having taken leave
of her kind lather, who at pan iiig hung a cornelian
of Yemen round her neck, on which was inscribed a
verse from Ihe Koran, and having sent a considerable
present to ihe Fakirs, who kept up Ihe Perpetual
Lamp in her sister's tomb, meekly asiended ihe palaii-
keeu prt-pared for her; and, while Aurun^zebe stood
t:
> These particulars of the visit of the King of
Bucharia to Autungzebe .are found in Dow^s JJistury
of IJmdustan, vol. lii. p. 392.
» Tulip cheek.
3 The mistress of Mejnoiin, upon who^e story so
many Homances in all the languages of the £a^t are
founded.
4 For the loves of this celebra'ed beauty with
Khosiou and with Feihad, see D'flcrUlot, Uibbmi,
Oriintat Collections^ &c.
s "The historvof thelovesof Dewildeand Chizer,
the son ol llic F.mperor Alia, is written in au elegant
poem, by Ihe noble Chu^ero," — Ferishta.
Gul Reazee.
to take a last look from his balcony, the processioo
moved slowly on the road to Lahore.
Seldoni had the Kasleru world seen a cavalcade so
superb. From the gardens in the subuibs to the Im-
perial palace, it was one unbroken line of splendour.
Ibe gallant appearance of the Rajahs and Mogul
loids, dislingnished by those insignia of the Kmperoi's
favour, 1 the feathers of the egret of Cashmere in llieir
lurbans, and Ibe small silver-rimm'd keitle-druins at
the bows of their saddles; — the cosily armour of their
cavaliers, who vied, on this occasion, with Ibe guards
of Ihe great Keder Khan,' in the brightness of Iheir
silver batile-axes and the massiness of Iheir maces of
gold ; — the glittering of Ihe gilt pine-apples s on Ibe
tops of the palankeens; — Ihe embroidered trappings
of the elephanls, bearing on their b.acks small turrets,
in the shape of little antique temples, within which
the Ladies of Lalla Rookh lay as it were enshrined ;
— the rose-coloured veils of ihe Princess's own sump-
tuous lilter,»o at the front of which a fair young female
1 " One mark of honour or knighthood bestowed by
the Emperor is Ibe permission to wear a small kettle-
drum at the bows ol their saddles, which at hrst was
invented for Ihe training of hawks, and to call them
lo the lure, and is worn in the field by all spoilsmen
to thai end." — Fryer's Travels.
" Those on whom the King has conferred the pri-
vilege must wear an ornament of jewels on the right
side of Ihe turban, surmounted by a high plume of
the feathers of a kind of egret. This bird is found
only in Ca^hmere, and the leathers are carefully c 1-
lected for the King, who be>lows them on bis nob.es."
—F'lphinstont's Account of Caubul.
8 "Khedar Klian, the Khakan, or King of Tur-
queslan beyond the Gihoii (at Ihe end of Ibe eleveiilh
century), whenever he appe.ired abioad was preceded
b> sev.-n hundred hoisemeii with silvei batllc-axes,
and was followed by an equal number bearing maces
of gold. He W.1S a great patMii of poetry, and it was
he who used to preside at public exeicises ol genius,
with four basins of gold and silver by bim lo dislri-
buleamong the poets who excelled.'' — Kicliardson's
Disserlatioii prefixed to bis Dictionary.
9 " 1 be kubdeli, a Large golden knob, generally in
the shape of a pineapple, on Ihe inp of the carn.py
over Ihe Inter or p ilanquin."— .S'cwi'j Notes ou the
Bahardani.fh.
0 In Ibe Poi
the filloui
maide
of Zohair, in Ibe Moallakat, there
ly description of "a company i
lied on camels."
" I III y a'C mounted in carriages covered with cost-
ly awnings, and with roee-coloured veils, the linings
of which have the hue of crimson Andem-ivood.
" When they ascend from the bosom of the vale,
they sit forivaid on the saddle-cloih, with eveiy mark
of a voluptU'Us gaiety.
"Noiv when Ihey have reached Ihe brink of yon
blue-2iiBbing livnli-l, Ihey fin Ibe poles of their tenia
like Ibe Arab with a settled mansion."
22
254
LALLA ROOKH.
slave sat fannins; her through the curtains, with fea- 1 lime, made her indifferent to every other amusemenf.
Ihers of the Argiis pheasant's wing , i— and the lovely I But L^Ila Rnnkli was young, and the youn^ love va-
troop of Tartariin and Cashmerian n.aids of honour, | rie'y ; nor could iheconversa ion of her Ladies and the
wliom the vi>un? Kinj; had sent to .. cconip.it, y his ; Greal Chamberlain, Fadladeen^ (the only persons, o
bride, a d who n-de on each s de nf the litier, upnn I course, adinitled to her pavilion), sulliciently enliven
small Arabian horses;— all "as. brilliant, tasteful, those many vacant hours, wj.jch were devoted neither
and maijnificeiit, :-nd pirased even ihe critical and
lastidious Fadladeen, Greal Nazir or Chamberlain of
the Haram, who was borne in hia palankeen imme-
diately at'ter the Princess, and considered himself not
the lea?t important personage of the pageant.
F3'll;"-leen was a judge of everything, — from the
pencilling of a Circas-bn's eyelids to the deepest ques-
tions of science and liierature ; from the mixture of a
conserve of rose-leaves to the composition of an epic
poem: and such intUience had his opinion upon ihe
various lastes of the day, that all the conks and poets
of Delhi s'ood in awe of him. His political conduct
and opinions were founded upon that line of Sadi, —
"Should the pnnce at noon-day say, li is night, declare
that you behold the moon and s;ats."— And his zeal for
religion, of which Aurungzsbe was a munificent pro-
tector,^ was ubout as disinterested as that of the gold-
smith who fell in love with Ihe diamond eyes of the
idol of Jaghernaut.3
During the first days of their journey, Lalla Lookh,
who had pas-ed all her life within the shadow of the
Royal Gardens of Delhi,* found enough in the beauty
of the scenery through which ihev passed to inieresi
her mind, and delit^ht her imagination ; ani when at
evenins, or in the heat of 'he d *y, Ihey turned off from
the high road to those retired and romantic places
which had been selected for her encampnient-, — some-
limes on the banks of a small rivulet, as clear as the
wa'ers of the Lake of Pearl ; 5 sometimes under the
sacred shade of a Banyan tree, from which the view
opened upon a glade covered with antelopes; and often
in those hidden, embowered spots, described by one
from the Isles nf (he West, 6 as '* places of melancholy,
delight, and tafe'y, where all the company around was
wild peacocks and lurtle-doves ;" — she felt a charm in
these £cenes, so lovely and so new to her, which, for a
the [ialankeen. There was a little
Persian slave who sung sweetly to the Vina, and who,
now and then, lulled the Princess to sleep with the
ancient dilties of her countr\', about the loves of
Wamak and Ezra,T ihe fair-haired Zal and his mis-
tress Rndahvtr . 8 net fnrgelting ihe combat of Rustam
with Ihe terrible While Deinoii 9 Ai other times she
as amused by those graceful d;mcing-girls of Delhi,
ho had been permitted by the Bramins of Ihe Gre.tt
P-igoda to attend her, much to the horror of the good
n F^idladeen, who could see nothing griceful
or agreeable in idolaters, and to whom the very tink-
ling of their golden ankletsio was an abomination.
But these and m.iny olher diversions were repeated
till ibey lost all iheir charm, and the nights and noon-
days weie beginning to niove heavily, when, at
lengih. it was recollected that, among the attendants
sent by ihe bridegroom, was a young poet of Cash-
mere, much celebiated tliroughout the Valley for hiB
manner of reciting the Stories of the East, on whom
his Royal Master bad conferred the privilege of being
admitted to the pavilion of ihe Princess, that he
might help to beguile Ihe tedionsness of the journey
by home of his most agreeable recitals. At the men-
tion of a poel, Fadladeen elevated his critical eye-
brows, and, having refreshed his faculties with a do&e
of that delicious opium *i which is distilled from the
black poppy of the Thebais, gave orders f'lr the min-
strel lo be forlhwith introduced into the presence.
The Princess, who had once in her life seen a poet
from behind the screens of gauze in herFaiher's hall,
and had conceived from that specimen no very favour-
able ideas of the Caste, expected but little in this new
exhibition to interest her ; ~ she felt inclined, how-
ever, lo alter her opinion on the very first appearance
I See Bemier^s description of the aitendanis on Rau-
Chanara-Begum, in her progress lo Cashmere.
a This hypocritical Emperor would have made a
worthy associate of certain Holy Leagues. — " He held
the cloak of religion (says Dow) between his ac'ions
and the vulgar; and impiously thanked the Divinity
for a success which he owed to his own wickedness.
When he was muideringand persecuting his brothers
and their families, he was building a magnificent
mosque at Delhi, as an offering to God fnr his assist-
ance to him in Ihe civil wars. He acted as high pnest
at the consecration of this temple; and made a prac-
tice of attending divine service there, in Ihe humble
dress of a Fakeer. But when he lifted one hand to
the Divinity, he, with the other, signed warrants foi
the aisissination of his relaiions."— //is(ott/ of Hin-
dostaii, vol. iii. p. 335. See also the curious letter of
Aumngzebe, given in the Orie7ital Colltctions, vol. i.
p. 320.
3 "The idol at Jaghernat has two fine diamonds for
eyes. No goldsmith is suffered to enter the Paaioda,
one having st-ile one of these eyes, being locked up all
night with the idol."— rauemier.
4 See a description of these royal Gardens in "An
Account of the present State of Delhi, by Lieut. W.
Franklin." — Asiat. Research^ vol. iv. p. 417.
5 " In the neighbourhood is Not(e Gill, or the Lake
of Pearl, which receives ihis name from its pellucid
water," — PennanVs Hindostan.
"Nasir Jung encamped in the vicinity of the Lake
of Tonnorj amused himself with sailing on that clear
and beautiful water, and g^ve it Ihe fanciful name of
Motee Talah, »the I^ke nf Pearls,' which it still re-
tains."— Pf'ilks's South of India.
6 Siv Thomas Roe, Ambassador from James L to
Jebanguire.
1 "The romance VVcinakweazra, written in Persian
verse, which cmiains the loves of Wamak and Ezra,
two celebrated lovers who lived before the time of
Mahomet." — Note oii ihe Oriciital Talts.
8 Their amour is recounted in the Shah-Nameh of
Ferdousi ; and iheie is much beauty in the passage
which describes the slaves of Rodahver sitting on the
bank nf the river and throwing flowers info the stream,
in order to draw the attention o( Ihe young Hero who
is encamped on the opposite side. — See CharapioiVa
translation.
9 Rustam is the Hercules of the Persians. For the
particulars of his victory over the Sepeed Deeve, or
White Demon, see Orltntal CoUectio7is, vol. ii. p. 45.
— Near the city i>{ Shirauz is an immense quadrangu-
lar monunient, in commemoration of Ihis combat,
called Ihe Kelaat-i-Deev Sepeed, or cslle of ihe
White Giant, which Father Angelo, in his Gazophi-
lacium Persicum, p. 127, declares lo have been Ihe
most memorable monument of antiquity which he had
Been in Persia, — See Omeley^s Persian Miscellanies.
>0 » The women of the Idol, or dancing girls of Ihe
Pagoda, have liille golden bells, fastened to Iheir feet,
the s'tff harmonious tinkling of which vibrates in uni-
son with the exquisite melody of their voices."— j>/au-
rice's Indian Antiquities.
** The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian wonen,
have little golden bells fastened louiid their less, nech,
and elbows, to Ihe s^^und of which they dance before
the King. The Araliian princesses wear golden rings
on Iheir fingers, to which little bells are suspended,
as well as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that
their superior rank may be known, and they them-
selves receive in passing the homage due to them." —
See CalmeVs Dictionary, art. Bells.
ii "Abou-Tige, ville de la TheUide, ou il croil
beaucoup de pavot noir, dont se fait le meilleui
opium." — /)'flerZ)e/o(.
LALLA ROOKH.
255
of Feraninrz. He wria a youth about Lalla Rookli'a
own age, and graceful as that idol ot women,
CrishtM,t — such as he appears tn their young intagi-
tations, heroic, beauiiful, Urea hiiig niu-ic from his
very eyes, and exalliiig the religion t-f his worship-
pers iuto love. His dress was simple, vet mU »>th-
nd Ihe Ladi
iiiiig ihat Ihe clo'h,
u cap. was of the
f COstljlli
princess were not long in c
winch encircled his high
most delicate kind that ihe shawl-^oata of Tibet
ply.*! Here and there, too, over his vest, which was
coiiiined by a flowered girdle of Kashan, hung strings
of hne pearl, disposed wiih an air of sludied negli-
gence;— nor did the exqui-ile enil)rn:dery of his
sandals escape Ihe oUseivalion of these fair critics ;
who, however they might give ^^ay to Fadladeen
upon the uniinporiant topics of religion and govern-
nieut, had the spirit of martyis in eveiy thing re-
lating to such momentous matters as jewels and em-
broidery.
For Ihe purpose of relieving ihe pauses of recita-
tion by music, Ihe young Cashmenan htld in his hand
a kitar ;— such as. in old times, the Arab maids of Ihe
West used to listen to by mooidight in Ihe gardens of
the Allunibra— and, having premised, with inucti
liumility, that the slory he was .ibout to relate was
founded on the adventures of that Veiled Piophet of
Khorassan,3 who, in the year of ihe Hegira 163,
created such alarm throughout the Kastern Empire,
made aa obeisance to the Princess, and thus began: —
THE VEILED PROPHEr OF KH0RASSAN.4
In that dellehtfu! Province ol 'Jie Sun,
The tirst of Persian lands he lines upon,
Where all the loveliest childri-n of his beam,
Flow'rets and fruiis, blush over every s'ream,*
And, fairest of all streams, the Murga roves
Among Merou's s bright palaces and groves; —
There on Ihat throne, to which the blind belief
Of millions rais'd him, sal Ihe Prophel-Chief,
The Great Mokanna. O'er his features hung
The Veil, the Silver Veil, which he had fluug
In mercy there, (o hide from mort;U sight
His dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.
For, far less luminous, his votaries said,
Were ev'n the gle.inis, miraculously shed
0*er Moussa'g t cheek,^ when down the Mount he
trod,
All glowing from the presence of his God !
1 The Indian Apollo, —" He and Ihe three Ramas
are described as youths of perfect beauty; and Uie
princesses of Hinduvtan were all pa>sionalely in love
with Chrishna, who continues to this hour Ihe darling
God of Ihe Indian women," — S^r W. JoncJ, on ihe
Gods of Greece, Italy, and India.
•2 See Turner's Embassy for a description of this
animal, "ihe most beautiful among the whole tribe of
goats." The material for ihe ^halvls (which is cairi-
ed lo Cashmere) is found next the skin.
•■* For Ihe real history of this Impostor, whose
origiLiI name was Hakem ben H^ischem, and who
was called M-Jcanna fmin (he veil of silver gauze
(or, as others say, golden) which he always wore, see
D'Hei-ldot.
•4 Khori5san signifies, in the old Persian language.
Province or Region of Ihe Sun. — Skt IV. Jones.
6 " The fruiis of Meru s.re finer than tho-e of any
other place; and one cannot see in any olher city
such palaces wiih groves, and streams, and gardens."
^■Ebn WaufcaZ's Geography.
6 One of the royal ciiies of Khorassan.
' Moses.
8''Se3 disciples assuroient qu'il se couvroit le
On either side, with ready hearts ard hands,
His chosen guard of bold Believers stands ;
Voung hre-e)t;d di?puiai Is, who deem their s\vords,
On poinis of fai h, more ehupieiil ihan words ;
And 9uch their y-tat, tnerc's not a you h with brand
Lplifitd there, bui, al the Chitfs cfimmand,
Would make his own devoUd heart iis sluath,
And bless the lips thai doom'd so dear a dc.iih 1
In hatred to Ihe Caliph's hue of night, »
Their vesture, helms and all, is snowy white;
Their weapons various — some equipped, for speed,
VVuh javelins of the light Kathai..u reed j lo
Or bows of bufl'alo horn and shining quive.-s
Find with tlie sterns *» Iha' bloom on Iran's rivers;**
While some, for wai's more terribie aliacks.
Wield Ihe huge mace and ponderous ballle-axe;
And as they wave aloft in morning's beam
milk-while plumage of their helms, they seem
Like a chenar-ree gn-ve i3 when winter throws
O'er all its tufted heads his feaihering snows.
Between the porphyry pillars, that uphold
The rich moresque-work ol ihe loof of gold,
Alolt the Haram's curlain'd galleries ri^e,
Where through Ihe silken net-wo'k, ElanciDS" eyes,
From time to time, Ike budden i^leams that glow
Thri'u|h au'umn clouds, sfnne o'ei the pomp below.—
VVhat impious tongue, >e blusldng saints, would dare
To hint that aughi bul Hcv'n hath plac'd you there?
Or that the loves of this li^ht world cou!d bind,
In their gross chain, your Prophet's soaring n.Ind *
No — wrongful thought 1 — conimission'd f-oin above
To people Eden's bowers wi'h ^hapes of love,
(Creatures so brigh*, thai ihe i-ame lips and eyes
They wear on earth will serve in Paradise,}
There to recline amoi g Heav'n's native maids.
And crown the' Elect wiih bliss thai never fades-
Well haih the Prophel-Chief his bidding done;
And eveiy beau'eous race beneath the sun,
From those who kneel at lUahnja's burning fount,**
To the fre;.h nymphs bounding o^er Yemen's uounts;
From Persia's eves of full and fawn-like ray,
To the small, h'ljf-shnt glances of Kathay ;U
And Georgia's b'oom, and Azab's darker smi.'es,
And the guld ringlets of the Wtsiem Isles ;
All, all aie there;— each Land il> flower hath given.
To form that fair young Nuiseiy for Heaven I
But why this pageant now ? this arm'd array ?
What triumph cro.vds the rich Divan tonJay
visage, pour ne pas eblouir ceux qui I'approchoient
par i'eclat de son visage comme Moy=e."— D'/ZcricioZ.
3 Black was the colour adopted by the Caliphs of
the House of Abbas, in their garmen's, tuibans. and
standards. — '' II faut remarquer ici touchaut les habits
blincs des di-ciples de H;ikem, que la coulcur des
habits, des cneflures el des elci'darls des Khalifes
Abassides etant la noire, ce chef de Rebelles ne pou-
voil pas choisir une qui lui fut plus opposee." —
Ibid.
*o "Ourdark javelins, exquisitely wmught of Kha-
thaian reeds, slender and delicae." — i'ocm of Amm.
** Fichula, used anciently for arrows by Ihe Per-
1^ The Persians call this plant 0^2. The cele-
brated shaft of Istendiar, one < f their ancient hemes,
was mide of il. — 'Nothing cm be more beautiful
than the a[ipearance of this plant In flower during
the rains on the bank-- of riveis, where it is usually
interwoven with a lovely twining asclepiaa." — .Sir
IV. JoiitSf Botanical Observations on ^select Indira
Plants.
13 The oriental plane, *'The chenar is a delight-
ful tree ; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark ;
and its foliage, which grows in a lutt at the summit,
is of a bright green." — Mmiefs Travels.
14 The burning fountains of Brahma near Chi(t>
gong, esteemed as holy. — T^imer.
*fi China.
256
LALLA ROOKH.
With turban'd heaJs, of evcy hje and race,
Bowing before thai veii'd and awful face,
Like (uiip-beds.i of diiferent shtpeand dyes,
Bending benea h ihe' invinble West-wind's sighs I
What iievv-aude myslKry novv, for Failh to sign,
And blood to seal, as genuine and divine,
What dazzling niinuckry uf God's own power
Hath the boldi'rophet plauu'd to grace ihishour?
Not such Ihe pageant now, though not less proud ;
Yon waiiior youlh, advancing fmm the crowd,
With silver bi.w, with belt of broider'd crape,
An J fur-bound bnnnet of Bucharian shape,^
So liercely beautiful in form and eye,
Like war's wild planet in a summer sky ;
Thai youth to-day,— a pi05el\te. worth hordes
Of cooler spirits and less practis'd swords,—
Is come to join, all bravery and belief,
The creed and standard of the heav'n sent-Chief.
Though few his years, the West already knows
Young Azim's fame; — beyond the' Olympian snows
Ere manhood dtrkeii'd o'er his downy cheek,
Uerwhelm'd in fight and captive to the Greek,3
He lioKerM iheie, till peace dissolved his chams;—
Oh, who could, ev'n in bond;ige, tread the plains
Of glorious Greece, nor feel his spirit rise
Kindling wiihin him? who, with heart and eyes,
Could walk where Liberty had been, nor see
The shining fnoiprims of her Ueily,
Nor feel (hose god-like breathings in the air,
Which niulely t.-ld her spirit had been there?
Not he. thai youthful war-ior,— nn, mo well
For hjs soul's quiet work'd the' awakening spell;
And now, re'ufjing to his own dear land.
Full of tliose d. earns of good that, vainly grand,
Haunt the young heart,— proud views of human-kind,
Of men lo Gods exalied and rvfm'd, —
FaUe views, like that horizor.'s fair deceit,
Where eaith and heavn but seem, alas, to meet! —
Soon as he heard an Arm Divine was rais'd
To right the natinns. and beheld, en.blay.M
On the white lias Mnk.inna's host unfuiM'd,
Those words of sumhine, " Freedom to the world,"
At once his faiih, his sword, his soul obey'd
The' inspiring summons; every ciiosen blade
That fo'jght beneaih that banner's ^acred text
Seem'd doubly ed:;'d, for this v^'orld and the next;
And ne'er did Faith with her smoith bandage bind
Eyes more devoutly willing to be blind,
In virtue's cause ; — never was soul insi ir'd
VVith livelier trust in what il most desir'd.
Than his the' enthusiast there, who kneeling, pale
With pious awe, before that Silver Veil,
Believes the lorm, lo which he bend- his knee,
Snme puie, redeeming angel, sent to free
This felter'd world from every band and stain,
And b< ing its primal glories back again ■
Low as young Azim knelt, that motley cro\vd
Of all earth's nations sunk the knee and bow'd.
With shouts of '-Alia !" echoing long and Inud ;
While high in air, above the Prophet's head,
Hundreds of banners, to ihe sunbeam sp'ead,
Wav'd like he wings of the white birds that fan
Theflvin^ thro.e of star taughi Soliman.*
1 "The nime of tulip is said to be of Turkish ex-
traction, and given to the fl ^wer on accnunl of its
/tseiiibling a turban." — Beckma/ui's History of In-
ventions.
^ " The inhabitants of Bucharia wear a round cloth
bonnet, shaped nnich after the Polish fashion, having
a large fur border They tie their kalians about the
middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several
times round the bmly." — Jccniutt of liuUpendent
Tartary, in Pinksrton's Collection.
3 In the war of the Caliph Mihadi asainst the
Empress Irene, for an account of which vide Gibbon,
T(d. X.
* This wonderful Throne was called The Star of
Then thus he 5pake: — *' Stranger, though new the
frame
"Thy soul inhibits now, I've track'd its flame
*' For many an age,* in eve^y chance and change
*• Of that existence, through whose varied range,—
" As through a torch-race, where, from hand to hand
" The Hying youths transmit their shining brand,
" From iraire to frame the unexiinguish'd soul
"Rapidly passes, (itl it reach the goal !
" Nor think 't is only the gross Spirits, warm'd
« With duskier lire and for earth's medium form'd,
" That run this course ;— Beings, the most divine,
" Thus deign through dark mortality to shine.
"Such was Ihe Essence that in Adam dwelt,
"To which all heav'n, except the Proud One, knelt: S
"Such the refind Intelligence that glow'd
" In Moussa's ^ frame, — and, thencedescending, flow'd
" Through many a Prophei's breast ; " — m Issa^ shone,
"And in Mohammed burn'd ; till, hastening on,
" (As a bright river that, fiom fall to fall
" in many a maze descending, bright through all,
" Finds some fair regi'>n wliere, each labyrinth past,
" In one lull lake of light it rests at last)
" That Hnly Spirit, settling calm and free
" From lapse or shadow, centres all in nie V*
Again, throughout the' assembly at these words
Thousands of voices rung: the warriors' swordu
Were pointed up to heaven ; a sudden wind
In the' open banners play'd,and Irom behind
Those Persian hangings, that but ill could screen
The Haram's loveliness, white hands were seen
Waving embroider'd scarves, whose motion gave
A pertume forth — like those the Houns wave
When beck'ning to their bovvers th' immortal Brave.
" But these," pursued the Chief, "are truths sublime,
'^That claim a iiolier mood and calmer time
"Than earth ailows us now ; — this sword must first
" The darkling prison-house of Mankind burst,
" Ere Peace can visit them, or Truth let in
" Her wakening daylight on a world of sin,
" But then,— celes ial warriors, then, wlien all
*' Earth's shrines and thrones before our banner fall ;
(he Genii. For a full description of it, see the Frag-
ment, transla'ed by Captain Franklin, trom a Persian
MS. entitled "The History of Jerusalem," Oriental
Colltctions, vol. i, p. 235.— When Soliman travelled,
the eastern writers say, " He had a carpet of green
silk on which his throne was placed, being of a pro-
digious length and breadth, and sufTicient for all his
forces lo stand upon, the men pi icing themselves on
his right hand, and ihe spirits on his left ; and that
when al! were in order, the wind, at his command,
took up the carpet, and tran--ported it, with all that
were upon it, wtierever he pleased ; ;he army of birds
at the same time Hying over their heads, and forming
a kind of canripy to shade them from the &uu," —
Salt's Koran, vol. ii, p. 214, note.
6 The transmigration of souls was one of his doo
trines.— Vide D'Herhelot.
6 "And when we said unto the angels. Worship
Adam, they all worshipped him except Eblis '^Luci-
fer), who refused,"— The Koran, chap. ii.
1 Moses.
8 This h according to D'Herbelot*s account of the
doctrines of Mukanna:— " Sa doctrine etoit, que Dieu
avoit p'is une forme et figure humaine, depuis qu'il
eut c'lmmande :>ux Anges d'adorer Adam, le premier
des hnmmes. Qu'apres la mort d'Adam, Dieu etoit
apparn s^us la figure de plusieurs Prophetes, et autres
grands honlme^ cji.'il avoit choisis, jusqu'a cequ'il prit
celle d'Abii Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel pro-
fessoit i'erreur de la Tenas'Uklii,Th ou Metempschy-
chose; et qu'apres la nu-rt de ce Prince, la Divanito
etoit passee, et descendue eu sa per^onnc."
9 Jesus.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
257
« When the ghd Slave shall at these feet lav down
* His broken cliain, tlte tyrant L-^rd his crown,
"The Friest his book, the Coo'(ueror his wrealh,
'^ And Iroiii the lips of TrLth one iiu^hly breath
"^hall, like a whirlwind, scalier in 'its breeze
>' I'hat whole dark pile of human mockeries , —
" Then shall the rei^n ot mind commence ou earth,
"And slarling fresh as Irum a second binh,
" Man, in the sunshine of the world's new spring,
"bihall walk transparent, like s >me holy thing!
•*'J"lien, too, your i^rojihet from his angel brow
"Shall cast ihe Veil that hides is splendours now,
"And ^laddeu'd Karih shall, thiou^h her wide ex-
"Bask III the glories of this countenance!
*' For thee, young warrior, welcome I — thou hast yet
"Soaie tasks to learn, some fr:iiUies to forget,
"lire the white war-plunieo'er thy brow can wa\'e; —
"But, once my own, uiiue all till in the gi-ave I'*
The pomp is at an end — the crowds are gone —
Each ear and heart still haunted by the tone
Of that deep voice, which IliriU'd like Alla's own!
I'he Young all dazzled by ihe plumes and lances,
The glillering throne, and Haniiu's ball-caught
glances ;
The Old deep pondering on the promised reign
Ot peace and truth j and all Ihe leniale Irani
Ready 10 risk their eyes, could they hut gaze
A iiionient ou thai brow's uiiraculous blaze 1
But there was one, among Ihe chosen maids.
Who biush'd behind the gallery's silken shades,
One, to whose soul ihe pageant of lo-day
Has been like death : — you saw her pale dismay.
Ye wondering sisterhood, and heard Ihe burst
or exclamation fioin her lips, when hist
She saw thai youth, too well, loo dearly known,
Silently kneeling at the Proptiel's thioue.
Ah Zelica 1 there was a time, when bliss
Shone o'er lliy heart trom every look of his;
When but lo see him, hear him, br.aihe Ihe air
In which he dwell, was Ihy soul's loudest prayer;
VVhen round him hung such a perpetual spell,
Whale'er he did, none ever did so well.
Too happy days ! when, if he touch'd a flower
Or gem ol thine, 't w,is sacred from Ih.il hour;
When thou didsl study him lill every tone
And gesluie and dear look bcc.ime Ihy own,—
Thy voice like his, the changes of his face
In Ihiiie reflected with still lovelier gr.ice.
Like echo, sending; hack sweet music, fraught
With twice Ihe' aerial sweetness il had brought 1
Yet now he comes,— brighter than even he
E'er beaiu'd bet, re,— but, ah ! not briehl for thee ;
No — dread, unlook'd fur, like a visili'ut
From Ihe' other world, he comes as if to haunt
Thy guilty soul with dreams of lost delight,
L'.ng lost 10 all but iiiein.iry's aching sight : —
Sid dreams ! as when Ihe Spirit of our Youth
Ketuius in sleep, sparkling wilh all the truth
And innocence once ours, and leads us back.
In mournful mockery, o'er the shining track
Of our young life, and potn s out every ray
Of hope aud peace we've iust upon Ihe way I
Oncq happy pair ! ^ In proud Bokhara's croi es,
Who had uol heard of iheir hrst voulhful hives i
Born by that ancient tlond,! which from ilB spring
In the dark Mountains swiftly wandeiing,
Enrich'd by every pilgrini brook that shiuea
With relics from Buchana's ruby mines,
' The Amoo, which rises in the Relur Tag, or Dark
Mount liiis, anJ running nearly from ea>t lo west,
splits inio two branches; one of winch falls in'o Ihe
Caspian sea, and Ihe other into Aral Nahr, or the
Lake of Eagles.
^2*
And, lending to the Caspian half its strength,
In the cod Lake of Eagles sinks at length ; —
There, on Ihe banks of thai bright river born.
The lioweis, thai hung above Ms wave at morn,
Bles^'d not Ihe walers, .as thev niurmur'd by,
liier -cenl and luslre than Ihe sigh
And viriiin-glaiice of firs' atleclion cast
Upon their youth's smooih current, as it pass'dl
But war dislurb'd this vision,— lar awiy
From tier fond eyes summon'd to join Ihe' alTsy
Of Persia's wariiors on the hills of I hrace,
The youlh eiich,ing'd his sylvan dwelling-place
For the rude lent and war-lield's dealhtul clash ;
His Zetica's sweet glances for ihe flash
Of Grecian wild-hre, aid Love's gei.tle chains
For bleeding bondage ou Byzauliuni's plains.
Month after month, in widowhood nf soul
Drooping, the maiden saw two summers roll
I'heir suns away — but, ah, how cold and dim
Ev'n summer suns, when not beheld with him I
From tune lo lime ill-nmen'd rumours came.
Like spiril-longiies, mu t'ring the sick man's name,
Just ere li*- dies : — at length those sounds of dread
Fell wiiliering on her soul, ** Aziiii is dead I"
Oil, Grief, beyond all other griefs, when fate
t iist leaves ilie young heart lone and desolate
In Ihe wide world, wilhoul thai only tie
For which it lov'd lo live or fear'd to die; —
Lorn as the hung-up lute, that ne'er hath spoken
Since the sad day its master-chord was broken !
Fond maid, the sorrow of her soul was such,
Ev'n reason sunk — blighted beneath its touch ;
And though, eie long, her sanguine spirit rose
Above Ihe hrst dead piessuie of ils uoes.
Though health and bloom return'd, Ihe delicate chaia
Of thought, once tangled, never cleai d agaiiu
Warm, lively, soil as in joulh's happie-t day,
The mind was siill all iheie, bul turn'd asliay; —
A wandeiing bark, upi n whose pathway shone
All slars of heaven, except the guiding one I
Again she smil'd, nay, u.uch and brightly smil'd,
But 'I was a luslie, strange, unreal, wild ;
And when she snug to her lule'- touching strain,
'T was like the notes, half ecstasy, half pain.
The bulbul 2 utters, eie her soul depart.
When, vanquish'd by some minsliel's powerful art,
She dies upon the lute whose sweetness broke her
heart!
Such was the mood in which that mission found
Young Zelica,— that mission, n hich around
The Eas.ern world, in every region blest
With woman's smile, soueht out ils loveliest,
To grace thai gilany of lips and eyes
Which Ihe Veil'd I'rophei destm'd lor the skies: —
And such quick welcome as a spaik receives
Dropp'd on a bed of Autumn's wither'd le.ves,
Did every tale of thee enthusiasts find
In the wild maiden's soi low-blighted niiiid.
All fire at once the nadd'ning ze>l she caught; —
Elect nf Baradisc! blest, rapluious thought!
Predestin'd bride, in heaven's eternal dome,
Of some brave youlh — lial durst ihey say "of «ojn«f"
Mo— of the one, one only object trac'd
In her heart's core loo deep to be eft'ac'd ;
'I he one whose niemorv, fre-h as life, is twiii'd
With every broken link of her losi mind ;
Whose image lives, Ihough Ueison's self be wreck H,
Safe 'mid the ruins of her intellect !
Alas, poor Zelica! it needed all
The fantasy, which held Ihy mind in Ihrall,
1 o see in that gay Haiam's glow ing maids
A sainted colony for Eden's shades ;
Or dream that he,— of w hose unholy flame
Thou werl too soon ihe victim,— shn ing came
From Paradise, hi people its pure sphere
Wilh .'ouls like thine, which he hath ruiii'd heret
« The nightingale.
258
LALLA ROOKH.
No — had not reaaoo's light totAUj set,
And left thee dark, thou hadst an amulet
Id the jov'd image, graven on thy heart,
Which would hive sav'd thee from the tempter's art,
And kept alive, in all its bloom of breath.
That purity, whose Tiding is love*a death ! —
But lost, intlam'd, — a reiittess zeal took place
Of the mild virgin's siill and feminine grace;
First of the Proj.bt-t's favourites, proudly lirst
In zeal and charms, — too well the* Impostor nurs'd
Her aouTs delirium, in whose active flame,
I'hus lighting up a young, luxurirtnt frame,
He saw more poteni sorceries to bind
To his dark yuke the spirits of mankind,
More subtle chains than hell itself e'er twinM.
No art was sparM, no witchery ; — all the skill
His demons L-iught him was einploy'd to fill
Her mind with gloom and ecstasy by tums —
That gloom, through which Frenzy but fiercer burns;
Thai ecstasy, which from the depth of sadness
dares like the niauiac^s moon, whose light is mad-
oessi
*Twa8 from a brilliant banquet, where the sound
Of poevy and music breathM around,
I'ogelhcr picturing to her mind and ear
The glories of that heav'n, her destin'd sphere,
Where all was pure, where every stain that lay
Upon the spirit's light should pass awny,
And, realizing more than youthful love
E'er wibh'd or dream 'd, she should for ever rove
Through fields of fragrance by her Azim's side,
His own bless'd, purified, e'emal bride ! —
'T was from a scene, a witching trance like this,
He hurried her away, yet brea'hing bliss.
To (he dim charnel-ho'ipse ; — through all its steams
Of damp and death, led only by those gleams
Which foul Corruption lights, as with design
To show the gay and prtjud she loo can shme —
And, passing on through upright ranks of Dead,
Which lo the maiden, doubly craz'd by dre.id,
Seem'd, through the bluish death-light round them
cast.
To move their 1i[)s in mutterings as she pass'd —
There, in that awful pl.<ce, when eich had quaffM
And pledg'd in silence such a fearful draught,
Such — oh I the look and taste of that led bowl
Will haunt her till she dies— he bound her soul
T)y a dark oath, in hell's own language fram'd.
Never, while earth his mystic presence claim'd.
While the blue arch of day hung o'er them both,
Never, by that all-imprecating oath.
In joy or sorrow from hts side to sever —
She swore, and the wide charnel echoed, "Never,
never !"
From that dread hour, entirely, wildly given
To him and — she believ'd, Inst maid I — to heaven ;
Her brain, her heart, her passions all inflini'd,
How proud she stood, when In full Harrrni nam'd
The Priestess of the Faith ! — how flashed her eyes
With light, alas, thai was not of the skies,
When ruund, in trances, only less than hers.
Site siw the Harani kneel, her prostrate worahippers.
Well mieht Mokanna think that form alone
Had spells enough lo make the world his own: —
Light, lovelj limbs, lo which the spirit's play
Gave motion, airy as the dancing spray.
When from i's s'em the small bird wings away;
Lips in whose rosy labyrinth, when sliesniil'd.
The soul was lost ; and blushes, bwiU and wild
As are the tnonientary me'eors sent
Across the' uncalm, but beauteous firmament.
And then her look — oh ! where *s the heart so wise
Could unbewilder*d meet those n atchle*s eyes?
i^uick, restless, strange, but exqui-ite withal,
Like those of angels, just before their fall j
Now shaJow'd wiih the shames of earth— now crest
Py glimpses of rhe Heav'n her lie.rt had lost ;
In every glance there broke, without contiol,
The fl^i^hes of a bright, but troubled soul.
Where sensibility still wildly play'd.
Like lightoiiig, ruund Ihe ruins it had made I
And soch was now young Zelica — so chmg'd
From her who, some years since, delighted rangM
The almoud-gioves that shade Bokhara's tide,
All life and r.liss, with Aziin by her side 1
So alierVl wii she now, this festal day,
Wlieo, 'uiid the proud Divan'a dazzling array,
'I'lic vision of that Youth whom she had lov'd,
Had wept as dead, before her breath'd and niov'd ;^
When — bright, she thought, as if from Eden's track
Hut half-way trodden, he had wander'd back
Ag.»in to earth, glistening with Eden's light —
Her beauteous Aziui shone before her sight,
O Reason ! who shall siy what (ipells renew,
When least we look for it, thy broken clew !
Through wkit small vistas o^er the darktu'd brain
Thy intellectual day-beam buists ag^io j
And how, like foris, to which beleaguerers win
Unhop'd-for entiance through some friend within,
One clear idea, wakened in Ihe breast
By menioiy's magic, les in all ihe rest.
Would it were thus, unhappy girl, with thee!
But though light came, it came but partially ;
Enough to ?how the maze, in which ihy sense
Wander'd about.— but not to guide it theixe j
Enough to glimmer o'er the yawning wave,
But not to pniiii the hai hour w hich inighi stve.
Hours of delight and peace, long left behind,
With Ihat dear form came rushing o'er her mind ;
But, oh I to think how deep her soul had gone
In shame and falsehood since those momeuls shone}
And, then, her oaih— lAtrc madness lay again,
And, shuddering, back she sunk into her chain
Of menial darkness, as if blest to flee
From light, whose everj' ghmpse was agony!
Vet, one relief this glance of former years
Bmughl, mingled with its pain, — tears, floods of team,
Long froyeu at her heart, but now like lills
Let loose in spring-time from the snowy hilU
And gushing warm, after a eteep of fiost.
Through valleys where tlieir flow had long been lost.
Sad and subdued, for Ihe first time her frame
Trembled wiih horror, when the summons came
(A summons proud and rare, which all but she,
And she, till now, had heard with ecstasy,)
To meet Mokanna at his place of prayer,
A garden oratory, cool and fair,
By the stream's side, where slill at close of day
The Prophet of the Veil retir'd to pray ;
Sometimes alone — but, oftener far, with one,
One chosen nymph to share his orison.
Of la'e none found such favour in his sight
As the young Priestess ; and though, since that night
When the death caverns echoed every tone
Of the dire oath that made her all his own,
The' Iniposlor, sure of his infatuate prize,
Had, more than once, thrown off his soul's disguis^
And ntter'd such unheav'niy. monstrous things,
As ev'fl across the despeiate wanderings
Of a weak intellect, whose lamp was out,
Threw startling shadows of dismay and doubt ;—
Vet zeal, ambition, hertremendouu vow.
The thought, still haunting her, of that bright brow,
Whose bhize, as yet from mortal eye conceai'd.
Would soon, proud triunijih ! be to her reveaPd,
To her alone ;— and then the hope, most dear,
Most wild of all, thit her transgression here
Was but a passage through earth's grosser fire,
From which the spirit would at last aspire,
Ev'n purer than before, — as perfumes rise
Through flanie and smoke, moat welcome lo tin
skies —
And thai when Azim^s fond, divine embrace
Should circle her in heav'n, no darkening trace
WuuM on that bosom he once lov*d remiin,
But all he bright, be pure, be his again ! —
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
259
These were (he wilderin^ dreams, whose curst deceit
Had chaiu'J her bouI beuearh the tempter's feet,
And made her thiuk ev'u damning falsehood sweet.
Bill now that Shape, which had a|)iiall'd her view,
Ttial Seinhlarice — oh how terrible, if true !
Which came across her frenzy's full career
With shock of coiisciousnfc;?, cold, deep, severe,
A^ when, in northern seas, at midnight d<rk,
Ati isle of ice encounters some swift bark,
And, starilliig all its wre ches from their bleep,
by one cold impulse hurls Ihem to the deep i—
Su came that shock not frenzy's self could bear.
And waking up each long-luli'd image there.
But c'-ieck'd her headlong soul, to sink it id despair!
Wan and dejected, through the evening dusk
She now went &luwly to ihit &mall kiosk,
Where, pondering alune his impious schemes,
Mokanna wailed her — too wrapt in dreami
Of the fair-npening futuie's rich success,
To heed the sorrow, pale and spiritless,
That sat upon his victtm's downcast brow.
Or mark how slow her step, how altered now
From the quick, ardent Prit-stes^, whose light bound
Came like a spirit's o'er the' unechoiug ground, —
From that wild Zelica, whose every glance
Wts thrilling hre, whose every thought a irancel
* pon his couch the veilM Mokanna lay.
Wl lie lamps around — not such as lend their ray,
Gtiinmering and cold, to those who nii^htly pray
In holy Koom,i or Mecca's dim arcades, —
Hit brilliant, soft, such lights as lovely maids
Lo )k loveliest in. shed iheir luicurinus glow
Upon his mystic Veils white glitteiing (low.
Bt'side him, 'ste-id of beads and books of prayer.
Which the world fondly thought he mused on there.
Stood Vase?, fill'd with Kishmee's ** golde;) wine,
And the red weepings of the Shiraz vine ;
Of which bis curtain'd lips full many a draught
Took zealously, as if each drop Ihey quad'd.
Like Zemzem's Spring of Holiness, a had power
I'o freshen the soul's virtues into tlowerl
And still he drank and ponder'd — nor could see
The' approaching maid, $n deep his reverie ;
At length, with hendi-h laugh, like that which broke
From Eblis a( the Fall of Man, bespoke: —
" Yes, ye vile race, for hell's aniusenieut given,
** Too mean for earth, yet claiming kin with heaven j
•* God's images, forsooth I —such gods as he
*' Whom India serves, the monkey deity ; * —
" Ve creatures ot a breath, pr:iud things of clay,
*' To whom if Lucifer, as grandam* say,
"Kefus'd, though at the forfi-il of heavcii»8 light,
" To bend in worship, Lucifer was right I * —
> The cities of Com (orKonn.) and Cashan are full
of m'lsquc', m.iu^oleunis, and sepulchres of the de-
scendants of All, the Saints of Pt-rsia.— CVwirdm.
» An island in the Persian Gulf, celebrated for its
white wine.
3 The miraculous well at Mecca; so called, aays
Sale, fiom the murmuring of its waters.
* The god Hannaman. — " Apes are in many parts
;f iQda highly venerated, out of reN|,ect lo the God
Haiiuaitan, a deity partikii g of the form of that
race."— PennariCs Hiudoost.m.
See a curious account, in Stefhtii's Persia^ of a
solemn embassy from some part of the Ind.es to Goa,
when the Portuguese were there, nflering vast trea-
sures for the recovery i>i a monkey's ton h. which
they held in grtat ve.iera'ion, and which had bt-en
taken away upon the conquest of (he kingdom of
Jafan:tpatin.
' This resolution of Eblis not to acknowledge the
new creature, man, was, according lo Mahomet m
tr.»dilion, thus adopted :—•' I he earlb (which God
had selected f ^r the materials of his work) was carri-
ed intc Arabia to a place between Mecca and i'a)ef,
"Soon shall I plant this fool upon the neck
'M)f yuurfoul race, and without fear or check,
** Luxuriating in hate, avenge my shame,
"My deep-felt, long-nurst loathing of man's name!—
**S<ion at the head of myiiads, bliiid and herce
•' As hooded falcons, through Itie universe
** i '11 sweep my darkening, desolating way,
" We^k man my iiistiumenl, curst man my prey!
'• Ve wise, ye learn'd, who grope your dull way on
" Hv the dim twinkling gleams ot ages gone,
" Like superHiitious thieves, who think the light
** Fiom dead men's manow guides them best at
iiitihtt' —
*' Ve sh.ill have honours— wealth,— yes, Sages, yes—
" I know, grave fools, your Wl^dom'b noihiugDess;
'* Und^izzt&l it can track yon s'arry sphere,
*' But a gilt stick, a bauble blinds it here.
"How 1 shall l^ugh, when trumpeted along,
" In lying speech, and still more lying song,
"By these learn'd slave:*, the meanest of the throng;
'* Ttieir w iib bought up, their wisdom shrunk so small,
"A sceptre's puny point can wield il all !
** Ye loo, believers of incredible creeds,
"Whose faith enshrines the monsters which it breedi;
" Who, bolder ev'n than Ncmiod, think to rise,
"By nonsense hcap'd on nonsense, to the skies j
"Ve "hall h:tve miracles, ay, sound ones too,
"Seen, heard, attested, every thing — but true.
" Vuur preaching zealots, too inspifd to seek
'•One giace of meaning for the things they speak j
" Vour martyrs, ready to shed out their blood,
" For truths too heavenly to be understood ;
" And your State Priests, sole vendors of the lore,
" That works salvation; — as, on Av;i's shore,
"Where none hid priests are privileg'd lo trade
" In that be^t marble of which Gods ire made ; t
"^hey^hall have my. tenes— ^y, precious slutf
"For knaves to thrive by— mysleries enough;
*'Dark, tangled doctrines, dark as fraud can weave,
" Which simple votaries shall on trust receive,
'* While craftier feign Leiief, till they believe.
" A Heav'n loo ye nlu^t have, ye lords of dust, —
" A splendid Pa'iadi-e, — pt re souls, ye must:
*>Tliat Prophet ill sustains his holy call,
" Who fin.ls not heav'nsto suit the tastes of all;
" Houris for boys, omniscience for sages,
*• Anl wings and glories foratl ranks ;ind ages.
"Vain things! — as lust oi vanity inspiies,
"The heav'u of eu'h is but what each desiret,
"And, soul or sense, whate'er the object be,
** M til would be man to all eternity I
"So let him — Eblis! grant (his crowning curse,
"But keep him what he is, no Hell weie worse."
" Oh, my lost soul 1" excIalmM the shuddering makL
Whose ears had drunk l.ke prison all he taiJ ■ —
Mokanna started — not abash'd, r.fi aid, —
He knew no more of fear than one who dwells
Beneath the tropics knows of iciclesl
where, being first kneaded by the angels, it was aftei^
wards fashioned by God liimself inio a hunnD form,
and leh to dry r»r (he space of foity days, or, as
oiliers say, as many years; the angels, in the mean
time, often visiting it, and Eblis (then one of the
angels ntaiest loG'^d's presence, aftei^vards the devil)
among the re^I ; bu' he, not contented « ith looking at
it, kicked it with his foot (ill it rung; atd knowing
Gnd designed that creature In be his si perior, took a
secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such."
— Sale on the K' ran.
« A kit d of lantern formerly used by robbers, call
ed fhe Hand of Gl ry, the candle for which was made
of the fat ot a dead malefacti r. This, however, was
ra'her a wes'ern than an eastern supersti'ion.
1 The ma'erial of which images of Gaudma (the
Birnian HeMy) .ire made, is held racred. "Birinans
may nut purchnse the marble in mas^, but are ouffcr-
ed, and indeed encouraged, to buy fijrurfg of the De ty
ready njade."--.Sy»ni:j's Ava, vol. ii. p. 376.
260
LALLA ROOKH.
Rut, ID those dismal words that reached his car,
'* Oh, my lost soul !" there was a sound so drear.
So like that voice, aiiiong the sinful dead,
In which the legtnd o'ei Hell's Gate is read,
'Jhat, new as 't was fioni her, whom Docght could dim
Or sink till now, il startled even him.
" Ha, my fair Priestess I" — thus, with ready wile,
The'iiijpus <ir turu'd to greet her— * Ihou, whose smile
*'Haih insi.iiati> u in its rosy team
*• Ikyoud Ihe* Enthusiast's iioue or Prophet's dream ;
**Li-htof the Failh! who luin'st religion's 2ea|
" Su chise with love's, men know not which they feel,
*' Wnr which to sigh for, in their trance of heart,
** The heav'n thou preachest or the heav'n thou art 1
»* What should I be without thee ? without thee
*' How dull were power, how joyless victory !
"Though borne by angels, if that smile of thine
^' Bless'd not my banner, 'l were but half divine.
i» jiut— why so mournful, child ? those eyes, that shone
"All life last night— what!— is their glory gone?
"Come, come — this morn's fatigue hath made them
pale,
** They want rekindling — suns themselves would fail
" Did not their comets bring, as 1 to thee.
" From light's own fount supplies of brilliancy.
" Thou seest this cup — no juice of earth is liere,
**But the pure waters of Ihal upper sphere,
" Whose nils o'er ruby beds and topaz flow,
" Catching the gem's bright colour, as they go.
"Nightly my Geuii come and hU these urns —
** Nay, drink — in eveiy drop life's essence burns;
'"Twill make that sul all tire. tho=eeiesall light —
"Come, come, 1 want thy lovelies! bmilcs to-night :
"There is a youth — why start?— thou Baw'sl him
then ;
" Look'd he not nobly ? such the godl ike men
"'Ihou 'It have to woii ihee in the bowers above; —
"Though he, I fear, haih thoughts too stern for love,
"Too rul'd by th,.t cold ei.eniy of bliss
"The world calls virtue — we must conquer this;
" Nay, shrink not, pretty sage 1 't is not lor thee
" To scan the mazes of Heav'n's mystery :
" The steel must pass through fire, ere it can yield
" Fit instruments tor mighiy hands to wield,
"This very ni-hl 1 mean to tiy the art
"Of powerful beau'y on that warrior's heart.
" All that my Haram boasts of bloom and wit,
"Of skill and charms, most rare and exquisite,
"Shall leinpt the buy; — youug Mirzalt's blue eyes,
" Whose sleepy lid like snow on violets lies;
" Arouya's checks, ivarm as a spring-d ty sun,
"And lips that, like ihe seal of Solomon,
" Have magic in their pressure ; Zeba's lute,
"And Lllla's dancing feet, that gleam and shoot
"Rapid and white as sea-birds o'er Ihe deep —
"Ail shall cnmbme their witching powers to steep
"My convert's spirit in that softening trance,
" From which to heav'n is but the next advance ; —
" That glowing, yielding fusion of the breast,
" On which Religion stamps her image best.
"But hear me, Priestess 1— though each nymph of
" Hath s 'me peculiar, practis'd power (o please,
" Some glance or s'ep which, at the mirror tried,
" First charms herself, then all the world beside;
" There still wa-iis out, to make the victory sure,
"One who in every look joins eveiy lure;
''Through whom all beauij's beams cnncenter'd pass,
" Dazz ing and warm, as through love's burning-giass;
" Whose gentle lip-i persuade without a word,
" Whose words, ev'n when unmeaning, .-re ador'd,
" Like inarticulate breathings fr.im a shrine,
** Which our faith takes for grantel are divine !
" Such U the nymph we want, all warmth and light,
"To crown the rich femptatims of to-night;
1 "Such the refin'J enchantress that must be
I '* J his hero's vanquisher, — and thou ait she 1"
With her hanils clasp'd, her lips npul and pale,
! The maid had stood, gazing upon the Veil
From which these words, like south winds throogb&
fence
Of Kerzrah fJow'rs, came fiU'd with pestilence ;*
bo boldly utter'd too! as if all dread
Of fiowns from her, of virtuous frowns, were fled,
And ihf wretch feltassui'd that, once plung'd in,
Her woman's soul would know no pause in sin \
AX first, tho' mute she listen'd, like a dream
Seeiii'd all he said : nor could her mind, whose beam
As >tt was weak, penetrate half his scheme,
iiui when, at leiiglh, he utiei'd, "'Ihou art she I"
Ail Ibsh'd at once, and shrieking piieously,
"Oh not for worlds 1" she cried — "Great God I to
whom
" 1 once knelt innocent, is this my doom ?
'' Are all my dreams, my hopes of heavenly bliM,
"My purity, my pride, then come to this, —
" To live, the wanton of a fiend ! to be
"The pander of his guilt — oh infamy '.
*' And sunk, myself, as low as hell can steep
" In its hot liood, drag o:hers down as deep !
"Oihers — ha! yes — thai youih who came to-day —
'•"Nut him I lov'd — not him— oh! do but say,
" But swear to me this moment 'tis not he,
"And I will serve, dark heud, will worship even
thee ;"
" Beware, young raving thing ! — in time beware,
"Nor utter what 1 cannot, must not bear,
" Kv'n from thy lips. Go — try thy lute, thy voice,
"The boy must feel their magic ; — J rejoice
" To see those tires, no matter whence they rise,
" Once more illuming my fair Priestess' eyes ;
"And should the youth, whom soon those eyes shall
^'■Indeed resemble th> dead lover's form,
"So much Ihe hapj ier wilt thou find (hy doom,
" As one warm lover, full of life and bloom,
"Kxcels ten thousand cold ones in the tomb.
"Nay, nay, no frowning, eweel! — those eyes were
niade
** For love, not anger — I must be obey'd I"
" Obey'd ! — '1 is well — yea, I deserve it all —
"On me, on me Heaven's vengeance cannot fall
"Too heavily- but Azim, brave and true
"And beautiful- must ht be ruiu'd too?
" Must hv loo, glorious as he is, be driven
"A renegade like me from Love and Heaven?
"Like me?— weak wretch, 1 wrong him — not like
me ;
" No — he 's all truth and strength and purity 1
'* Fill up your madd'ning hell-cup to the brim,
" Its witchery, fiends, will have no ch.irm for him.
"Let loDse your glowing wantons from their bowers,
" He loves, he loves, and can defy their powers!
" Wretch as I am, in his heart still I reign
" Pure as when first we met, without a slain !
" Though ruin'd — lost — my memory, like a charm
*' Left by the dead, still keeps his soul from harm.
" Oh ! never lei him know how deep Ihe brow
* He kiss'd at parting is dishonour'd now ; —
" Ne'er tell him how debas'd, how sunk is she,
" Whom once he Inv'd — once ! —still loves dotingly.
"Thou laugh'st, tormentor,— what ! — thou 'It brand
my name?
" Do, do — in vain — he 'II not believe my shame —
" He thinka me true, thai nought beneath God's sky
" Could tempt or change me, and— so once thought \.
'» But this is past — though worse than dea'h my lot,
** Than hell — 't is nothing while ht knows it not.
*'Far ofTto some benighted land I'll fly,
" Wneie sunbeam ne'er sh^Il enter till I die;
'• Where none will ask the lost one whence slie came,
"Lut I may fade and fall without a name.
1 '• It is commnnlv said in Persia, that if a man
bieathe in the hot south wind, which in June or July
passes over that flower (the Keizereb), it will kill
him." — Thcvtnot.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
261
' And thou — curst man or fiend, whale'er thou art,
" Who found'st this burning plague-spot in my heart,
'•And spread'st it — oh, so quick — through soul and
frame,
" With more than demon's art, till I became
"A loaibsonie Ihint;, all pesiilence, all flame! —
" If, ivheu I 'm gone "
" Hold, fearless maniac, hold,
" Nor tempt my rage — by Heaven, not halfso bold
"'I'he puny bird, that dares with leasing hum
*' Within the crocodile's stretchM jaws to come ! *
" And so thou 'It fly, forsooth ? — wlial ! — give up all
« 1 hy chaste dominion in ihe Haram Hall,
" Where now to Love and now to Alia given,
" Half mistress and half saint, Ihnu hangst as even
" Asdolh Medina's tomb, 'twixt hell and heaven !
"Thou 'II fly?— as easily may reptiles run,
" The gaunt snake once hath fix'd his eyes upon;
" As easily, "hen caught, the prey may be
" Pluck'd from his lomig folds, as thou from me,
•' No, no, 't is fix'd — let good or ill betide,
"Thou'rt mine till death, till death Mokanna's bride!
" Hist thou forgot Ihy oath i" —
At this dread word.
The Maid, whose spirit his rude taunts had stirr'd
Through all its dei tlis, and rous'd an auger there.
That burst and lighlen'd even through her despair —
Shrunk back, as if a blight were in Ihe breath
'1 hat spoke that word, and stagger'd pale as death.
"Yes, my sworn bride, let others seek in bowers
" Their brfdal place — Ihe charnel vault was ours!
" Instead of scents and balms, for thee and me
"Rose the rich steams of sweet mortality ;
"Uay, flickering dealh-lighls shone while we were
wed,
** And, for our guests, a row of goodly Dead,
" (Immortal spirits in their time, im doubt, ^
" From reeking shrouds upon the rile look'd out !
" That oath thou heard'st more I ips than thine repeat—
" That cup — thou shudderest. Lady,— was it sweet ?
" That cup we pledg'd, the charnrl's choicest wine,
" Hath bciund thee — ay — body and soul all mine;
" Bound thee by chains Ihit, whether blest or curst
" No matter now, not hell itself shall burst!
" Hence, woman, to the Haram, and look g:iy,
" Look wild, look — any thing hut sad : yet say-
" Uue moment more — from what this night hath
pass'd,
" I see thou know'st me, know'st me well at last.
" Ha ! ha ! and so, fond thing, thou thought'st all
true.
"And that I love mankind?— I do, I do —
" As Vict ims, love theni ; as the sea-dog doats
"Upon the small, sweet fry that round him floalsj
" Or, as the Nile-bird loves the slime that givfs
"That rank and venomous food on which she
lives?*—
"And, now thou seest, my soul's angelic hue,
'*»T is time Iheie features were uticurlain'd loo; —
"This brow, whose light — oh rare celestial light I
" Hath been reserv'd to bless thy favour d sight ;
*' These dazzling eyes, before whose shrouded might
" Thou'st seen immortal Man kneel down and quake —
•' Would that they were heaven's lightnings for hit
sake!
" But turn and look — then wonder, if thou wilt,
" I hat I should hate, should take revenge, by guilt,
"Upon the hand, whose niischntfor whose mirth
"Sent me hus maini'd and monstrous upon earlhs
"And on that race who, though more vile they be
" Than mowing apes, are denii-gods to me !
"Here— judge if hell, with all its power to damn,
"Can add one curse to Ihe foul thing I am!"
He rais'il his veil - the maid turn'd slowly round,
Look'd at him— shriek'd— and sunk upon the ground !
On theirarrival, next night, at the place of encamp-
ent, they were surprised and delighted to find Ihe
groves all around illuminated ; some arlisis of Yamt-
che"u3 having been sent on previously for the pur-
pose. On each side of the green alley, which led to
the Royal I'avilion, arliticial sceneries of bamboo-
work * were erected, repl■e^enling arches, minarets,
and lowers, from which hung thousands of silken lan-
terns, painled by the most delicate pencils of Canton.
— Nothing could be moie beautiful than the leaves of
the mango-trees and acacias, shining in Ihe light of
the bamboo-scenery, which shed a lustre round as soft
as that of the nights of Peristan.
Lalla Ronkh, however, who was loo much occupied
hy the sad shiry of Zelica and her lover, to give a
thousht to any ihing else, evccpl, perhaps, him who
related it, hurried on through this scene of splendour
to her pavilion,— grea'ly to ihe mortification of the
poor artists of Yamlcheou,— and was followed with
equal rapidity by Ihe Great Chamberlain, cursing, as
he went, that ancient Mandarin, whose parental
anxiely in lishting up Ihe shores of the lake, where his
beloved daughter Ind wandered and been lost,wa9the
oriein of these fani:istic Chinese illuminations.*
Without a moment's delay, youne Feramorz was
introduced, and Fadladeen, who could never make up
his mind as to the merits of a poet, till he knew the
religious sect to which he belonged, was about to ask
him whether he was a Shia or a Sooni, when IaU\
Rookh impatiently clapped her hands for silence, and
Ifie youth, being seated upon the musnud near her,
proceeded : —
Prepare thy soul, young Azim ! — thou hast braved
The bands of Greece, still mighty though enslaved ;
I The humming bird is said to run this risk fir the
purpose or picking the crocodile's teeth. The same
ciicnmstance is relued of Ihe lapwing, as a fact to
which he was wiincss, by Paul Lucas, Voyage fait en
1714.
The ancient sinry concerning the Trochilus, or
humming-bird, entering "ith impunity into the mouth
of the crncoJile, is firmly believed at Java —Barrow'a
Cochin China.
» Circum easdem ripas (Nili, viz ) ales est Ibis. Ea
Berper.tium pnpulatur ova, g atissimamque ex his es-
cam nidis suis referl. — Solinw.
3 " The feast of Lanterns is celebrated at Yamtcheou
with more magnificence than anywhere else : and the
report goes, thai Ihe illuminations there are so splen-
did, thai an emperor once, not daring openly to leave
his court to go thither, commilted himself with the
Queen and several Princesses of his family into the
hands of a magician, who promised to transport them
thither in a trice. He made them in the night to
ascend magnificent thrones lh>t were brrne up by
swans, which in a moment arrived at Yamtcheou.
The Emperor saw at his lei-uie all Ihe solemnity,
being carried upon a cloud ttiat hovered over the city
and descended by degrees ; and came back again with
the ^al>le spetd and equipage, nobody at court perceiv.
ing his absence.— 7"/if fresent Stale of China, p. 136.
I 4 See a descri|ilion of the nuptials of Vizier Alee in
the jisiatic Annual Register of 1804.
* " The vulgar ascribe it to an accident that hap-
pened in the family of a famous mandarin, whose
daughter walking one evening U|ion Ihe shores of a
lake, fell in and was drowned ; this afflicted father,
with his family, ran tliilhrr, and, Ihe belter to find
her, he causid a great company of lanterns to be
lighli-d. All Ihe inhabilants of the place thronged
afo-r him with torches. The year ensuing they niade
fires upon Ihe shores Ihe same day; they continued
Ihe ceremony every year, every one lighted his lan-
tern, and by degri*es it commenced into a custom.'*—.
/•reicnl State of China.
262
LALLA ROOKH.
Hast faced her phalanx, ariii'J with all its fame,
Her Macedonian pikes and globes of Haiue ;
All this bast fronted, wiih firm heart and biow,
But a more perilous tiial waits thee now, —
Woman's bright eyes, a dazzling host of eyes
from every land where wonun bmiles or sigbs.
Of every hue, as Love may chance to r^ise
His black or azure b inner in iheir blize ;
And each sweet mode of warfaie, from the flash
That lightens boldly ihiough the shadowy lash,
To the sly, siealing splendours, almost hid,
Like swords halt-slieath'd, beneath (he downcast
hd; —
Such, Azim, is the lovely, luminous host
JSow led against thee ; and, let conquerors boast
Their helds of fame, he who in vinue arms
A youn^, warm spiut against beauiy's charms,
Who feels her brightness, yet defies her Ihrall,
Is the best, bravest couqueior of them all.
Now, through (he Haram chambers, moving lights
And busy sliafies pioclaim (he loilei's riles;-—
From room to room the ready han<lmaid5 hie,
SomeskillM to wreath the turban tasielully,
Or hang the veil, in negligence of shade,
O'er the warni bluhes of ihe youihful maid,
Who, if between the folds but uue eye &hone,
Like Seba'a Queen could vanquish with that one;* —
While some bring leaves of Henna, to imbue
The tingers' ends with a biigh' n.seate hue,*
So bright, (hat \q the ntirroi's depth they seem
Like tips of coral btanches in the stream
And others mix the Kohol's jetiy dye,
To give Iha' long, dark languish to "the eye,3
Which makes the maids, v. hom kings are proud to cull
From fair Circassia's vales, so beautiful.
All is in motion , rings and pluniej and pearls
Are shining everywhere: — some younger girls
Are gone by mooolight to the garden-beds,
To gather fresh, cool chaplets for their heads ; —
Gay creatures! sweet, Ihough mournful, 'i is to see
How each prefers a garland from that tree
Which brini;5 to mind her childhood's itmncent day,
And Ihe dear helds and friendships far away.
The maid of iuiia. blest .igain to hold
Id her full lap llie Chanipac's leaves of gold,*
Thmks of the time when, by ihe Ganges' Hood,
Her little play*matcs scalieiM many .t bud
Upon her long black h:iir, with glnssy gleana
Just dripping front iJie consecrated stream;
While Itie young Arab, haunted by the small
Uf her own mountain Howcrs, as by a spell,—
The sweet E!caya,6 and that courteous tree
Which bows to all who seek its canopy,6
Sees, caird up round her by these magic scents.
The well, the camels, and her father's ten;s;
»ighs for Ihe home she lelt with little paiu,
And wiihes ev'u its sorrows back again 1
Meanwhile, through vast illuminated halla,
Silent and bright, where nothing but the falls
Of fragrant waters, gushing with coc KiuDd
From many a jasper fount, is heard around,
Vitung Azim roams bewiJder'd, — nor can guew
What means this maze of light and loneliness.
Here, the way leads, o'er tes^elaled floors
Or mats of Cairo, through long corridors,
Where, rang'd in cassolets and silver urns,
Sweet wood of aloe or of sandal burns ;
And spicy rods, such as illume at night
Tlie bowers of Tibe','' send forth odorous light,
Like Pens' w^nds, when pointing out the road
For some pure Spirit to its blest abode : —
And here, at once, Ihe glittering s.iloon
Bursts on his sight, boundless and biiglil as noon;
Where, in the iniJst, reflecting b^ck the rays
In broken rainbows, a fresh founiaio plays
Hie;h as the' enameli'd cupola, which towers
AH rich vMth Arabesques of gold and flowers;
And the mosaic floor beneath shines through
'I'tie sprinkling of (hat fountain's silv'ry dew,
Like the wet, glisiening shells, of every dye
That on the margin of the Ked Sea lie.
Here loo he traces the kind visi^ings
Of woni.m's love in those fair, living things
Of land and «ave, whose fate — in bondage thrown
For ihe.r we.ik loveliness— is like her own !
On one side gleaming with a sudden grace
Through water. Lnlliant as the crystal vase
In which it undulates, small fishes »hine,
Like gulden ingots from a faiiy mine ;—
While, Oil the other, latticed lighily in
Wiih odoriferous woods of Comonn,8
Eacti brilliant bird ihat wings the air is seen ;—
Gay, sparkling loorie.^, such as gleam between
The crimson blossoms of the coral ireeS
In ihe warm isles of India's sunny sea;
Mecca's blue sacred pigeon, lo and the thrush
Of Hindostan,ii whose holy warblmgs gush,
At evening, from the tall pagoda's top ;—
Those golden birds that, in the spice-time, drop
About the gardens, drunk with ihat sweet food i*
Whose scent hath luied (hem o'er the summer flood ;13
* '*Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine
eyes.*' — Sol. Song.
* *' They tinged the ends of her fingers scarlet widi
Henna, so ihit thev re^enibled branclies <if coral." —
Story of PruicL Futtun in Bahardanush.
a *• The women blacken the inside of their eyelids
with a powder named the black Kohol." — Russel.
'*None of ihe?>e Iadies,»* says 5Aaio, *'lake them-
selves (0 be completely dressed, till they have (inged
Ihe hair and edges of their eyelids wild the powder
of lead ore. Now, as this opera'ion is performed by
dipping first into Ihe powder a ^m>ll wooden boilkm
of (he thickness of a quill, and then dra^ving it after-
wards ihrough the eyelids over the ball ol (he eye,
we shill have a lively image of wh.t the Frophet
(Jer. iv. 30) may be supposed to njean by rending
the eyes wUkyaniling. I ins practice is uo doubt of
great an'iquily ; for be-ides the instance already taken
notice of, we find that u here Jezeb'-l >s said {2 Kings,
ix. 30.) to have painted her Jace, the original woids
are, she adjusted her cyts with the powder of lead-
ore."— SAauj's Travels.
4 *' The appeal ance of the blossoms of the gold-
coloured Camp;\c on Ihe black hair of (he Indian
women has supplied IhoSaosciit Foets with many
elegant allusionB." —See Jisiatic Researches^ vol. iv.
6 Of tlie genus mimosa, " which droops i's branches
whenever any person approaches it, seeming as if it
saluted ihose « ho retire under its shade." — Ihid*
■I '* Cloves are a principal ingredient In the com-
position of the perfumed rods, which men of rank
keep constantly burning in their presence." — Turner^
Tibet.
8 *' C'est d'ou vient le boisd'aloes, que les Arabes
appellent Oud Coinari, et celui du sandal, qui s'y
liouve en giande quantile." — D'Jiertelot.
*» *' Thousands of variegated loones visit the coral-
trees." — Barruvo.
10 *' In Mecca there are quan'ities of blue pigeons,
which none will atfright or abuse, much less kill."—
Pitl^i Account of the Mshomeians.
11 " The Pag'^da I brush is esteemed among 'he first
chori'-te s of India. It sits peiched on Ihe hacred pa-
godas, aid from thence delivers its melodious song." —
PennanV^ Hindostan,
1^ Tavemitr adds, that while the Birds of Paradise
lie in this intoxicated slate, the emmets come and eat
oflT their tegs; and that hence it is they are said to
have no feet.
<3 Birdsof Paradise, which, at the nutmeg sessoi^
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
263
ADd those th^it under Araby's soft sun
Build their hie^h nests of budding cinn:iinnn ; >
In ?hort, alt rare and beiuleous thiri(;s, that fly
Through the pure element, here calmly lie
Sleeping in light, like the green birds "^ that dwell
Id Eden's radiant fields of asphodel !
So on, through scenes past all iniaglningf
More like the iuxuiie> o( th:it in.pn.us King,3
Whom Death's dark Angel, wiih his lightning torch,
Siruck down and blasted even in Pleasure's porch,
Than the pure dwelling of a Prophet sent,
ArniM vviih Heav'n's sword, for man's enfranchise-
ment —
Young Azim wander'd, looking slernty round,
His simple garb and war-boots' clanking sound
But ill according wiltt the pomp and grace
And silent lull of that voluptuous place.
** Is this, then," thought the ynufh, " ii this the way
" To free man's spirit from the dt-adening sway
'*0f worldly sloth,— to teach him while he lives,
"To know (10 bliss but (hat wliich virtue gives,
"And when he dies, to leave his lof y name
"A ligh', a landmark on the clitts of fame?
" 11 was not so. Land of the generous thought
" And daring aeed, thy god like sages taught ;
"It was not thus, in bowers of wanton ease,
'**l'hy Freedom imrs'd her sacred energies ;
"Oh! not beneath the' enfeebling. " itherlng glow
" ((f such dull luxury did tho>e myrtles f;row,
" With which she wreith'd her sword, when she
would dare
" Imnmrtal deeds ; but in the bracing air
" Uf toil,— of temperance,— of that high, rare,
" Ethereal virtue, which alone can b-ea-he
" Life, health, and lustre into Fieednm's wreath.
" Who, that surveys this span of earth we ptess, —
"This speck of life in time's great wilderness,
"This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas,
"Tlie pa-t, the future, two eternities ! —
•• Would suWy the bright spot, or leave it bare,
" When he might build him a proud temple there,
•• A name, that long shall hallow all its space,
'• And be each purer soul's hi<h res'ing-place ?
" But no — it cannot be, that one, whom God
" Has sent to break the wizard Fal-ehond's rod,—
"A Prophet of the Truth, whose mission dravss
•' lis righi:^ from Heaven, should thus profane its cause
" Wilh the world's vulgar pomps ;— no, no,— Isee —
'* He thinks me weak — this glare of luxury
" Is but to tempt, to try the eaglet gaze
"Of my young soul — shine on, 'twill stand (be
blaze !"
So thought the youth ;— but, ev'n w hile he defied
This witching scene, he felt its wiichery glide
Through ev'r\ sense. The perfume breathing round.
Like a pervading spirit ;— the still sound
Of tailing waters, lulling .is the song
Of Indian bees at am'^et, when they throng
Around the fragrant Nllici, and deep
In its blue bltssoms hum themselves to slcf-p ; *
And music, too — deir music 1 that can touch
Beyond all else the soul that loves it much —
come in fligh's from the southern isles to Ind
"the strength of the nutmeg." says Taverni
intoxicates them that they fall dead drunk to the
earth."
» "That bird
tid builde
hich livelh in Aral
its nest with c\m\3.\wn\y ~ Brown^^ Vulvar Errors
^ "The spiri's of (he marty-s will be lodged in the
crops of green birds." — Gibbon^ vol. xx. p. 421.
3 Shedad, who made the delicious gardens of Trim,
in iniiiatinn of parulise, and was des'royed by light-
ning, the HA lime he alicnipted to enter them.
4 "My Pandits assu •» me that the plant Wore m
(the NiliC') is their Se).nalica, thus ?iamud because the
beefl are supposed to sleep on its blossoms.'' — Sir IV.
Jones
Now heard far off. so far as but to seem
Like the faint, exquisite music of a dream ;
All was too much for him, too full of bliss,
The heait could nothing feet, that felt not this;
Soften'd he sunk upon a couch, and gave
His soul up to sweet thoughts, like wave on wav6
Succeeding in smooth seas, when storms are laidj
He thought of Zelica, his own dear maid.
And of the time when, full of blissful sighs,
They sat and look'd in'o each othei's ejes.
Silent and happy — as if God had given
Nought else worth looking at ou this siJe heaven,
" Oh, my lov'd mistress, thou, whose spirit sti:l
"Is with me, lound me, wander where 1 will —
'* It ii lor thee, for thee alone I seek
" The paths of glory ; to light up ihy cheek
" With warni approval — in that gentle look,
" To read my praise, as in an angel's book,
" And think all toils rewarded, when from thee
" I gain a smile worth immortality !
" How shall 1 bear the moment, when restored
"To that joung heart where I alone am Lord.
" Though of such bliss unworthy, — since the best
*• Alone deserve to lie the happiest ; —
" When from those lips, unbreathed upon for years,
"1 shall again kips oU" the soul-felt tears,
" And find those tears warm as when last they started,
" Those sacrei kisses pure as when we parted.
"0 my own life 1— why should a single day,
" A moment keep me fr(>nt those arms away ?"
While thus he thinks, still nearer on the breeze
Come those delcious, dream-like harmonies,
Each note of w hich but adds new^ downy links
To the soft chain in which his spirit sinks.
He turns him towVd the sound, and far away
Through a long vista, sparkling with the play
Of countless lamps,— like the rich track which Day
Leaves on the waters, when he sinks from us.
So long the pa'h, irs light so tremuhus; —
He sees a group of female forms advance.
Some chain'd together in Ihe mazy dance
By fetters, forg'd in the green sunny bowers,
As they were captives to the King of Flowers; »
And some disporting round, unlink'd and free,
Who seem'd to mock their sisters' slavery;
And round and round them still, io wheeling flight
Went, like gay mn:hs about a lamp at night:
While others wak'd, as gracefully along
Their feet kept time, Ihe very soul of song
From psaltery, pipe, and lutes of heavenly thrill,
Or their own youthful voices, heavenlier still.
And now they come, now pass before his eye,
Forms such as Nature moulds, when she would vie
With Fincy's pencil, and give birth to things
Lovely beyond its fairest picturing?.
Awhile they dance before him, then divide,
Breaking, like rosy clouds at even-tide
Around the rich pavilion of the sun, —
Till silently dispersing, one by one,
Through many a path, that fiom the chamber leads
To gardens, terract-s. and moonlight meads.
Their distant lauthter comes upon tlie wind,
And but one trembling nymph remains behind,—
Beck'ning fheni back in vain, for they are gone,
And she is left in all that light alone;
No veil to curtain o'er her beau'enus brow,
In its young ba>hfulness more beauteous now;
Rut a li^lit golden chain-work round her hair «
Such as the maids rf Yezd i and Shiras wear.
6 " They deferred it till the King of Flowers should
ascend his throne of enamelled foliage." — The Ba-
hardanttsh.
6 "One of the head-dresses of the Persian women
is compo-exl of a light gr.lden chain-work, set wirh
small pe-.rls, with a thin gold plate pendent, about the
bigne-s of a cmwn-piece, on which is impressed an
Arabian prayer, and which hangs upon Ihe cheek
below theear."- //tiMtoay's Travels.
■i" Certainly (he women of Vezd tre Ihe hand-
264
LALLA ROOKH.
From which, on either side, gracefully huug
A golden amulet, in the' Arab tongue,
Engraven o'er with snme immori.tl line
FroiJi Holv Writ, or bard scarce less divine;
While her ieft hand, as sl.nnkin^lv she stood,
Held a small lute of gold and bandtl-wood,
Which, once or twice, she tnuch'd with hurried strain,
Then took her trembling fingers ofl' again.
But when at length a timid gUnce she stole
At Azim, the sweet gravity of soul
She saw through all his features calmM her fear,
And, like a half-tam'd antelope, more near,
Though shrinkine btill, she came ;— then sat her down
Upon a musnud's * edge, and. bolder grown,
Id the pa'hetic mode of Isfahan^
TouchM a preluding strain, and thus began : —
There's a bower of roses by Bendemeer'9 3 stream,
And the nightingale ^ings round it all thed:iy long;
lo the time of my childhnod H was like asweel dream,
To sit ID the roses and hear the bird's song.
That bower and its music I never forget.
Rut ofl when alone, in the bloom of the year,
I think — is the nightinirale singing there yei ?
Are the roses still bright by the calm Benderoeer?
No, the ro?es snon wither'd that hung o'er the wave,
But some blossoms were gather'd, while freshly
they shone,
And a dew was disf ill'd from their flowers, that gave
All the fragrance of summer, when summer was
gone.
Thus memory draws from delight, ere it dies,
An essence that brca'heg of it many a year ;
Thus bright (o my soul, as 't was then to my eyes,
Is that bower on the banks of the calm Bendemeer !
" Poor maiden l" thought the youth, *' if thou wert
sent,
" VVith thy soft lute and beauty's blandishment,
" To wake unholy wishes in this heart,
'*0r lenipt its truth, ihou little know'st the art.
" For thnugh thy lip should sweetly counsel wroDg,
"Those vestal eyes would disavow its song,
*'Bul Ihnu hast brt-ath'd such purity, thy lay
*' Returns so fondly to youth's virtuous 'lay.
" And leads thy soul — if e'er it w ander'd (hence —
«* So gently back to its first innocence,
«' That 1 would sooner stop the unchained dove,
" When swift returning to its home of love,
*' And round i's snowy wing new fetters tuine,
"Than turn from virtue one pure wish of thine 1"
Scarce had this feeling pass'd, when, sparkling
through
The gently cpenM curtains of light blue
That vei I'd the breezy casenient. countless eyes,
Peeping like stars through the blue evening skies,
Look'd laiighiiig in, as if to mock the pair
That s<it so s!ill and melancliolv there ; —
And now the curtains fly apart, and in
From the cool air, 'mid showers of jessamine
Which those without fling af'er them in play,
Two lightsome maidens spring,— lightsome as they
Who live in the' air on odours,— and around
The bright saloon, scarce conscious of the ground.
soniest women in Persia. The proverb is, that to live
hippy a man nmst have a wife of ye7d, eat the bread
of Yezdecas, and dnuk the wine of Shiraz."— Taver
J Mu'inuds are cushioned seats, usuilly reserved for
persons of distinction.
»The Persians, like the ancient Greeks, call their
musical modes or Fenlas by itie names of dia'tren
countries or cities, as the mode of Isfahan, the modi
of Irak, &c.
» A river wtich flowi near the ruins of Chilminar
Chase one another, in a varying dance
ur mirth and Imguor, coyness and advance.
Too eloquently like love's warm pursuit : —
While she, who sung so gently to the lute
Her dream of home, steals timidly away,
Shrinking as violets do in summei's ray,
Bui lakes with her from Azim's heart that sigh
We sometimes give to forms that pass us by
In the world's crowd, too lovely to remain,
Creatures of light we never see again I
Around the white necks of the nymphs who danc*d
Hung carcanets ol orient gem?, that glaiic'd
More brilliant than the sea-glass giiliering o'er
The hills of crystal on the Caspian shore ; «
White from their long, dark tresses, in a fall
Of curls descending, bells as musical
As ihose that, on the golden-shafted trees
l)f Eden, shake in the eternal brteze.s
Rung round their s'eps, at every bound more sweet,
As 'I were the' extaiic language of their feet.
A' length the chase was o'er, arid they stood wreath'd
Wiihin each oher's arms; while soft there breaih'd
Through ihe cool casenient, mingled with the sighs
Of moonlight flowers, music that seenrd to rise
From some slill lake, so liquidly it rose j
And, as it sweli'd again at each faint close,
The ear could track through all that maze of chords
And young sweet voices, these impassion'd words: —
A Spirit there is, whose fragrant sigh
Is burning now through eaiih and air;
Where cheeks are blushing, the spirit is nigh,
Where lips are meeting, the Spirit is there!
His breath is the soul of flowers like these.
And his floating eyes — oh I they resemble*
Blue water-lilies,"" when the breeze
I< making the stream around them tremble.
Hail to ihee, h^^il to thee, kindling power!
Spirit of Love, Spiril of Bliss !
Thy holiest time is ihe moonlight hour,
And there never was moonlight so sweet as this.
By Ihe fair and brave
Who blushing unite
Like the sun and wave,
When they meet at night;
By the tear that shows
'When passion is nigh,
As the rain-drop flows
From the heat of the sky;
By the first love-beat
Of the youthful heart.
By the bliss to meet,
And Ihe pain to part;
By all that thou hast
To moitOs given,
Which — oh, cuuld it last,
This earih were heaven!
4 " To the north of us (on the coast nf the Caspiin,
near Bidku,) wa^ a ni'ujnfaiii, which sparkled like
diamonds, arising from the sea-glass and crystals wiih
which it abounds." — Jowney of tlie Jiiisnian ,im-
hassador to PcTsiOj 1746.
5 t'To which will be added the sound of the bells,
hanging on the trees, which will he put in motion by
the w ind proceeding friiu the throne of God, as often
as Ihe blessed wish f • r music " — ^ale.
6 ** VVliose wanton e^s resemble blue water-lilies,
agitated by the breeze."— Jai/ac/tva.
1 The blue lotos, which grows in Cashmere and io
Persia.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
265
We call thee hither, enirancin; Power!
Spinlof Love, Spirit of Bliss 1
Thy holiegl time is the nioonli^^hl hour,
And there never was nmonligtit so sweet as this.
Impatient of a scene whose hixuries stole,
Spite of himself, too (Jeep into his soul,
And where, midst all thai the youn^ heart loves most,
Flowers, music, smiles, to yieid uas to be lost,
The youth h:id strirred up, aril luni'd away
Fiom the light nymph-, and iheir luxurious lay,
To muse upon the pictures that hung round,* —
Uri^ht imiges, that spoke v* i(h"ut a som d,
And views, like vistas into fairy ground,
Bui here again new spells came i.'er his sense :-
All thit the pencils mute omnipotence
Could call up into life, of soft and f >ir.
Of fond and passionate, was glowing 'here;
Nor yet too warm, bui touch'd with that fine art
Which paints of pleasure hut the purer i art ;
Which knows ev'n Beauty when half-xeil'd is beat, —
hike her own radiant planet i f the wes',
Whose orb when half-retir'd looks loveliest.*
There hung the history of the Genii-King,
Trac'd lhr()U5h each gay, voluptuous wandering
Wiih her from Saba's bowers, in wh-se bright eyes
He read that to be blest is to be wise; 3_
Here fond Zuleika^ wnos with open arms
The Hebrew bny, who flies from her voung charms,
Yet, living, turns to gaze, and, half undone,
Wishes ihat HeaVn and she could both be won;
And here Mnhanimed, born for love and guile,
Forgets the Koran in his Mary's smile ; —
Then beckons sonie kind an^el from above
Wiih a new text to conseciate their love.*
With rapid step, yet pleasM and lingering eye.
Did the ynuth pass these pic'ui'J stories by,
1 It h^s been generally supposed that the Mahome-
tans prohibit all pictures of animals; bm TudtrUii
shows that, though the practice is fmbi-lden by the
Korin, they are not nioie aver't: to painted figuics
and images than other people. From M'. Mur|ciiy's
work, too, we find that ihe Arabs of Spain had no
objection to the introduction of Hgures into pain'ing,
5 This is not qui'e astronnmically true. •' Dr. Had-
ley (says Keil) has shown that Venus is brightest when
she is about forty degiees removed from the si.n ; and
Ihat then but onlxj a fourthpart of her lucid disk is
to be seen from the earlh."
3 For the loves of King Solomon (who was sup-
posed to preside over ilie whole lace of Genii) with
Balkis, the Queen of Sheba or Saba, see U^Herlelot,
and the Notes on the Koran, chap 2.
" In the palace which Solomon oidered to be built
against the arrival of the Queen of Siha, the floor or
pavement was of transparent gl is^ laid over running
water, in which fish were swimming." 'J'his led the
Queen into a very natural mi^take, which the Koran
has not th lueht bencaili its dignity to commenioraie.
*' It was said unio her, * Enter the palace.' And when
she saw it, she imagined it to be a great wntei ; and
slie discovered her legs, by lifting up her robe to pigs
through it. Whereupon Solomon said to her. *Veiih,
this is the phce evenly floored with glass.* "-Chap. 27.
4 Tlie wife of Potiphar, thu^ i amed by the Orientals.
The passion which this frail bemly of antiquity
conceived for her young Hebrew shve hat given ri-e
lo a much esteemcl poem in Ihe Peisian Imgua^e,
entitled Yusef van Zelihhn, by Nonrcddin Jauu ; the
manuscript copy of uhich, i<. the B •dieian Liir.iry at
Oxford, is supposed m be the finest in ilir whole
world." — Nottupon NotCs Translation of H<ifez.
i> The particul.irs of Mahomet's amour wj h Mar*,
the Coptic girl, in jus itication of which he addel'a
new chapter lo the Koran, may be found iQ Gagnitr^a
Notes upon Abulfeday p. 151.
23
And hasten'd to a casement, where the light
Of the calm monn came in, and freshly bright
The fields wit'wut were seen, sleeping as stiU
As if no life remain'd Jo bretze or nil.
Here paus'd he, while the music, now less near,
Brealh'd with a holier language on his ear
As though the di-iance, and that heavenly ray
Through which the sounds Cime floating, took away
All that h id been too earthly in (he lay.
Oh ! could he listen to such sounds unmov'd.
And by that light —nor dream of her he lov'd ?
Dream on, unconscious boy ! while yet thou may'st;
'T is the last bliss thy soul t-liall ever taste.
Clasp vet awhile her image lo Ihy heirt,
Ere all Ihe light, that made it dear, depart.
Think of her smiles as uhen thou sawM them last,
Clear, beautiful, by nought of earth o'ercast j
Hecall her tears, to thee at parting given,
Pure as they weep, if angels weep, in Heaven.
Think, in her own still bower she waits ihee now,
With Ihe same glow of heart .md bloom of brow,
Yet shrink in solitude — thine all, thine only.
Like Ihe one stai atiove thee, bright and lonely.
Oh ! that a dream so sweet, so long enjoy*d,
Should be so sadly, cruelly destroyed I
The song is hush'd, the laughing nymphs are flown,
And he is left, mu^irgof bli-s, alone 3—
Alone? — no, not alone — ihal heavy sigh,
That sob of grief, whicti t)roke from some one nigh—
Wtiose could it be?— alas! is mi>ery found
Here, even here, on this enchanted gmund ?
He turns, and sees a female foim, close veil'd,
Leaning, as if both heart and strength had failM,
Against a pillar near; — not glittering o'er
With gems and wreaths such as the oihers wore
Rut in ihat deep-blue, melancholy drcss,i
B'khtra's maidens v^ ear in miiidfulnesa
Of friends ffl- kindred, de.d or far away ;—
And siich as Zelic.k l'.ad on 'hai diy
He lifi her— when, ^^ith heart too full to speak.
He took away her last warm tears upon his cheek
A Grange emotion stirs within him, — more
Ihan mere cnnipa^sion e^er wak*d before;
Uncoiiscioualy he opes his arms, while she
Si'rings forward, as wiih life's last energy.
But, «w.>oniMg in that one convulsive bound,
Sinks, ere slie resell Ids arms, upon the ground; —
Her veil falls off— her faint hands clasp his knees—
' r is she herself ! — »i is Zelica he sees !
Rut, ah, so pale, so chang'd — none but a lover
Could in that wreck of beauty's shi ine discover
The once adord divinity — ev'n he
Stood for some moments mute, and douhtingly
Put back the ringlets from her brow, and gaz'd
Upon those lids, where once such lustie blaz'd.
Ere he could think she was indeed his own,
0^^n darling maid, whom he so hmg had known
In joy and sorrow, beautiful in both ;
Who, ev'n when grief was heaviest — when lotb
He left her for the wars — in that worst hour
Sat in her sorrow like the sweet night-flower
When darkness brings i's weeping glories out.
And spreads its sighs like frankincense about.
** I^ook up, ny Zelica — one monient show
"Those eenie eyes to me, that I may know
" Thy life, liiy loveline-s is not all gone,
" Hut I/icre, at least, shines as il ever shone.
" Come, look uion thy Azim — one dear glance,
*■ Like those of (dd, were heav'n I whatever chancp
'^Hath brought thee here, oh, 't wns a blessed one!
"There — my lov'd lips — they move — that kisb
hatb run
fi "Deep blue is their mourning colour." — Haiu
way.
1 The sorrowful nyclanlhes, which begina tu ipread
iti rich ododr alter runset.
266
LALLA ROOKH,
'' Like the first shoot of life through every vein,
'• And now I clasp her, mine all mine a^ain.
"Oh ihe delight — now, in (his very hour,
" When had ihe whole rich world heen in my power,
*' I should have singled out thee, only thee
From the whole world's collecled (ressurv —
" To have thee here ~ lo han? thus fondly o'er
"JMv own, best, purest Zelica Oute more 1''
It was indeed (he touch of rhose fond lips
Upon her eyes that chasd their short eclipse.
And, gradu.l as the snow, at Htaveti's breath,
Melts off and shows the azure flowers beneath
Her lids unclos'd, and (he bright eyes were seen
Gazing on his — iioi, as Ihey late had been,
Quick, restless, wild, but nmurnfully serenej
As if to lie, ev'n for that tr.tnced minute,
So near his heart, had coiisotaiinn in it;
And thus to wake in his belov'd c-iress
Took from her soul one half its wretchedness.
Huf, when she heard him call her good and pure,
Oh, 't was too much — too dreadful to endure i
Shuddering; she broke aw ly from his embrace,
And, hiding with both hands her guiTy face,
Said, in a tone whose anguish would have riven
A heart of very marble, •* Pure ! — oh Heaven !'*
That tone — those looks so chang'd — the wilher-
ingbli^rht.
That sin and snrrow leave where'er they I<ght j
I he dead despondency (.f those sunk eyes,
VVheie once, had he thus met her by surprise.
He would have seen himself, too happy boy,
Reflected in a (housmd lights of joy ;
And then the place,— thai bright, unholy place.
Where vice lay hid beiea'h each winning giace
And charm of luxury, as the viper weaves
lis wily covering of sweet balsam leues.' —
All struck upon lijs heart, sudden and cold
As death itself;— it needs not to be tuld —
No, no— he sees it all, plain as the brand
Of burning shame can mark — whatever the hand.
That could from Heav*u and him ^uch tnghlness
sever,
'T is done — to Heav'n and h im she 's lost for ever I
It was a dreadful moment ; n »t the tears,
The lingering, lasiing misery of years
Could ma'ch that minu'e's anguish —all the worst
Of sorrows elements in that daik burst
Broke o'er his soul, and, with one crrish of fate,
Laid the whole hopes of his life desolate.
" Oh ! curse me not," she cried, as wild he toss'd
His desperate hand towards Heav'n — ** though I am
lost,
"Think not that guilt, (hat falsehood made me fall,
"No, no— M was grief, 't wa-^ m.dne-sdid it all !
"Nay, doubt me not — though all thy love hath
r.eas'd —
'M know it hath — yet, yet believe, at least,
" That every spark nf reason's light mnst be
" (Jnench'd in this br.iin, ere 1 conid stray from thee.
'They told me Kmu wert dead — why, Azim, why
" Did we not, toih of us. that mstani die
"When we were parted? oh I could'st thou but
know
" Wifh what a deep devofedness of woe
"I wept th\ absence — o'er and o'er again
" Thinking ol thee, still thee, (ill thought grew pain,
*'And memory, like adr.tp that, night and diy,
" FalU cold a-id ceaseless, wore my ht-art away.
" Didst thou but know how paie I sat at home,
*' My eyes still turii'd the "ay Ihou wert to come,
«* And, all the long, lonj night of hope and fear,
" Thy voice and step still sounding in my ear —
» "Concerning
frequent among 11
cutar in.juiry ;sev
, Yainbo and Ji-Jda.
Ihe
'ipei
s, which Pliny says were
-trees. I in ide very parii-
brought mo alive both to
" Oh God ! thou would'st not wonder that, at last,
" When every hope was all at once o'ercast,
'* VVhen I hetrd frightful voices round me say
" jJzini is dead .' — (his wretched brain gave way,
'•And 1 became a wreck, at random driven,
" Wi:hou one glimp-e of rruon or of Heaven
«*AI1 wild — and even this quenchless love within
'* 'I urn'd to foul hres to light me into sin I —
"Thnu piticbl uie — I knew thou would'st — (hat sky
•' Hath nought beneath it half so lorn as I.
'* The fiend, who lur'd me hither — hist ! come near,
"Or thou too, thou art lost, if he should hear —
*'Told me such ihings— oh ! with such devilish art,
♦'As would have ruin'd ev'n a holier heart —
**Of thee, and of that ever-radiant sphere,
" Where bless'd at length, if 1 but servM Aim here,
" I should for ever live in thy dear sight,
*' And drink from those pure eyes eternal light.
"Think, think how lost, how madden'd I must be,
•* To hope that guilt could lead to God or thee !
*' Thou weep'sl for me— do weep — oh, that I durst
'* Kifcfl otl (hat tear ! but. no — these lips are curst,
" They mu'-t not touch ihee ; — one divine caress,
"One blessed moment of forgetfulness
" 1 've hid within those arms, and that shall lie,
*' Shrin'd in my soul'i deep memory till 1 die ;
" The lat of joy's last re ics here below,
" The one sweet drop, in all this waste of woe,
"My heart h.is (rea^ur'd from affection's spring,
*' To soothe and cool its deadly withering !
'•But Ihoii — ves. tliou must go — for ever go ;
" This plate is not for thee — fur thee I oh, no,
" Did I but tell thee half, thy torlur'd brain
" Would burn like niine^ and mine go wild again!
'•Enough, that GuiH reigns here — that hearts, once
good,
"Now lained, chilPd, and broken, are his food
" Enough, that we are parted — that there rolls
''A flood if ht»dlong file between our souls,
" Whose darkness severs me as wide fiom thee
*' As hell from heav'n, to all eternity I"
" Zelica, Zelica I" the yny'h e:Kclaim*d,
In all the tonuies of a nnnd inflam'd
Almost to madness — " by that sacred Heav'n,
" Where yet, if pray'rs can move, thnu *lt be forgiven,
"As thou art here — here, in Ihis wri'hing heart,
"All sinful, wild, and ruin'd as thou art!
" By the remembr.mce of our once pure love,
*■ Which, like a church-yard light, still burn above
'•The grave of our lost souls— vthich guilt in thee
•' Cannot extinguish, nor despair in me !
"I do conjure, implore thee to fly hence —
" If thou hast yet one jpark of innocence,
"Fly with me from this place "
"With thee! oh. blissl
**'T is worth whole years of torment to hear (his.
** What : take the lust one with thee?— let her rove
*' Ry thy dear side, as in those days of love,
*■ When we wt-re bnlh so happy, both si pure —
"loo heavenly dream ! if there 'son »*arih a cure
" For Ihe suhk iie.irt. 't is this — day after day
'* In lie thf blest companion of thy way ;
" To h*ar thy angel eloquence — to see
" 1 h 'se virinous eyes for ever lurnM on me ;
''Anil, in their lishi re cliastcn'd silently,
" Like the stain'd web that whitens in the sun,
•'Gr.'w pure bv being purely shoiie upon!
"And Ihou wtlt pray fMr me — I know thou wilt —
" At the dim vesper hour, u hen ihough's of guilt
"(^ome heaviest o'er the heart, thnu 'It lift (lime eyes,
' Full of sweet tears, untn the dark'ning skies,
•'And plead f-T me wiih Heiv'n, till I can daie
" To fi.v my own weak, sinful glances there;
••Till the good angels, when the\ see me cling
" ¥• V ever near thee, pale and sor.owing.
•'Shall fnr ihy s^ke pmnounce my soul forgiven,
" And liid thee take thy weeping slave to Heaven !
" Oh, yes, I 'II fly with ihce "
I Scarce had she said
These breathless words, when a voice deep and dread
I As tliat of Monker, waking up the dead
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
267
From their first sleep — so startling 't was to both —
Rung ttirou^h the casemeut near, '*Thy oath 1 Ihy
oath I"
Oh, Heav'n, the ghastliness of that Maid's look ! —
*' 'T is he," faintly she cried, while terror fchook
Her inmost core, nnr durbt she lift her eyes.
Though (hrougti the ca:>emeiit, now, nought but the
skies
And moonlight fields were seen, calm as before —
"»Tishe, and i am his- all, all is o'er —
**Go — fly this instant, or th-u 'rl ruin'd toe —
" My oalh, my oaih, oh, G<.d I 't is all too true,
" True ss the wot in in this cold heart it is —
•* I am Mokannj^'s bride — his, Azini, his —
"The Dead siood r<»und us, while I spoke that vow,
" Their blue lipsecho'd it — I hear them now !
'* Their eyes glar'd on me, while I phdg'd Ihal bowl,
*' 'T was burning blood — I feel il in my soul I
"And the Veii'd Bridegroom — hist I I've seen to-
□i£;ht
" What angels know not of— so foul a sight,
"So horrible — oh I never may'st thou see
'* What there Iie> hid from all but hell and me I
*'But I must hence — off, off— lam not ihine,
'* Nor Heav'n's, nor Love's, nor aught that is divine—
"Hold me no!— ha! Ihmk'st thou the fiends that sever
"Hearts, cannot sunder hands? — Ihus, then — for
ever 1"
With all that strength, which madness lends the
weak,
She flung nway his arm; and, with a shriek.
Whose sound, though he should linger out uwre years
Than wretch e'er lold. can never leave his ears —
Flew up throunh that long avenue of ligh',
Fleetly as some dark, ominous bird of night,
Across the sun, and soon was out of sight !
Lalla Rootch could think of nothing all day but the
mi>ery of these two young lovers. Her gaiety was
gone, and she lo'iked pensively even upon Fadladeen.
She felt, too, without knowing why, a scrt of uneasv
pleasure in imagining ihat Aziin must have been jrjst
auch a youth as Feramorz; just as worthy to enjoy all
the blessings, witht.ut any of the pangs, of that illu-
sive passion, which too often, like the sunny apples of
Istkahar,* is alt sweetness on one side, and alt bilter-
Dess on the other.
As they passed along a sequestered river after sun-
Bel, they saw a young Hindoo girl upon the bank,%
whose employment seemed to them so strange, that
they stopped their paUnkeens to observe her. She
had lighled a small lamp, tilled with oil of cocoa, and
placing it in an earthen dish, adorned wi'h a wrealb
of flowers, had committed it with a trembling hand
to the stream ; and was now anxiously watching its
progress down the current, heedless of the gay caval-
cade which had drawn up beside her. Laila Rookh
was all curiosity ; — when one of her attendants, who
had lived upon (he banks of the Ganges ("here this
ceremonv i> so frequent, thai of en. In the dusk of ihe
evening the rivt-r i. Been erlittering all over with
lights 'il^e the (Mon-fah or Sea of Star>,3) informed
tLe Crincess that it was the usual w,iy, in which the
fi iends of tho^e who had gone on danger us voyages
oBered up vows for their safe return. If the lamp
sunk immediately, the omen was disie'rous ; but if it
went shining down the stream, and continued to burn
till enlirely out of sight, the return of the beloved
object was considered ascertain.
Lalla Ilookh, as they moved on, more than once
lof.bed back, to observe how Ihe young Hindoo's lanip
proceeded; and, while she saw with pleasure that it
uas ^tlII unextinguish'd, ^he could not help fearing
Ihat all Ihe hopes of this life were no better than that
feeble light upon the river. The remainder of the
jiiurnt-y was passed in silei ce. She now, for Ihe first
time, felt thai shade of melancholy, which comes over
Ihe youthful maiden's heart, as sweei and transient as
her own brea h upon a mirror; nor was it till she
heard the lute of Feramorz, touched lightly at the
door of her pavilion, that she waked from the reverie
in which she Jiad been wandering. Instantly her eyes
were lighted up with pleasure; and, after a few un-
heard remarks from Fadladeen upon Ihe indecorum
of a poet .-eating himself in presence of a Princess,
everything uas arranged as on the preceding evening,
and all listened with eagerness, while the story was
thus continued: —
Wliose are the gilded tents that crowd the way,
Where all was waste and silent yesterday ?
This Ci'y of War which, in a few short hours,
Hath sprur/g up here,* as if the magic powers
Of Him who. in the twinkling of a star
Htiilt the high piliar'd halls of thilminar,
Had cnnjut'd up, far as the eye can see,
Thii world of tents, and domes, and sun-bright ar-
Princfly p.ivilirns, screen'd by many a fold
Of crimson cloth, and lopp'd wi!h balls of gold : —
Steeds, " ith their housings of rich silver spun,
Their chains and poirels glittering in the sun;
And camels, tufted o'er with Yemen's slells.s
Shaking in every breeze their light-ton'd bells 1
But yester-eve
So mule was this
vidu plain, that not a sound
I *'In the territory of Is'kahar there is a kind of
apple, half of which is sweet and half sour." — £/^n
Haukal.
^ For an account of this ceremony, see Gra7idpr&*s
Voyage in the Indian Ocean,
8 "The place where the Whangho, a river of
Tibet, risef, and where theie are more thnn a hun-
dred springy which sparkle like -tars; whence it is
called Hotun-nor, that is, the Sea of Stars." — Z)e-
teription of Tibet in Pi7ikirton.
4 "The Lescar or Imperial Camp is divided, like a
regular town, into squares, alleys, and streets, and
fiom a rising ground furnishes one of the most agree-
able prospects in the world. Starting up in a few
houfs in an uninhabied plain, il raises the idea of a
city built by eiictiantmeiil. Even those who leave
their houses in ci'ies to follow the prince in his pro-
gress are frequently so charmed wi'h the Lescar,
uhen siiuated in a beautiful and convenient place,
that they cannot prevail with themselves to remove.
To prevent this inconvenience to tlie court, the Em-
peror, afiersuflicient time is allowed lo the tradesmen
to r.llow^ orders them to be burnt out of their tents.—
Dow'b Hindostan,
Colonel Wilks gives a lively picture of an eastern
encampment: — His camp, like ih^t of most Indian
armies, exhibited a nioiley collection of covers from
the scorching sun and dews of the night, variegated
according to the la'^te or means of each individual, by
exten-ive inclosures of cloured calico surrounding
superb suites of ten's; ly lageed cloths or blankets
stretched over slicks nr branches, palm leaves has ily
spread over similar supports; handsome ten's and
splendid canopies; hordes, oxen, elefhanls, and cnm-
els;.-ill intermixed without any exterior mark of order
or design, except the flaers of the chiefs, which usually
mark Ihe ceniies of a congeries of these niasses ; the
onl\ regular part of the encampment being the streets
of shops, e:ich of which is constiucted nenrly in the
manner of a l)onth at an English fair." — //ts/cricai
SkctcMes of the South of India.
6 The edifices of Chil minar and Balbec are supposed
to have been built by Ihe Genii, acting under Ihe or-
ders of Jan hen Jan, who governed the world long
before (he time of A<lam.
6 "A superb camel, ornamented with strings aod
tufis of small shells."- .4H Scy.
268
LALLA ROOKH.
But the far torrent, or the locust bird »
Huntioff anioiiE; the thickets, could be heard; —
Yet hark ! uh^t discords now, of every kind.
Show's, laugh-, and fci&inisare revelling in the wind;
The neigh of cavalry ; — the tinkling throngs
Of laden camels and iheir drivers' s -ngs ; ^ —
Ringing of arms, and flsppini; in ihe breeze
Of streamers from ten thouiand canopies ; —
War-music, bursting out fiom tinie to time,
With g mg and tynibalon's ti emend' lus cliimc;^
Or, in the pause, when harsher sounds are mute,
The mellow breathings of s nie hnrn or flute,
'I h^t far off. br.>keM by the eagle note
Of (he' Abyssinian trumpet,3 swell and float.
Who leads this mighty army ? — ask ye " who?"
And mark ye not those bani^ers of dark hue,
The Night and Shadow,* over yonder lent?-
It is the Caliph's glorious ainiament.
Rous'd in his Palace by ihe dread alarms.
That hourly came, of Ihe false Pro|.liet'a arms
And of his h'-st of infidels, who hurIM
nefi.nce tierce at IsUm 5 and the world,—
Though worn with Grecian warfare, and behind
The veils of his bright Palace calm reclm'd,
Yet brook'd he not si.ch blasphemy should staJD,
Thus unreveng'd, the evening of his reign ;
Bui, having sworn upon ihe holy grave 6
To conquer or tn ptrish, once mnie gave
His shadowy banners proudly to the breeze,
And with an army, nurs'd in vc'ories,
Herest.nds lo ctu^h the rebels that o'er-run
His blest and beauteous Province of the Sun.
Ne'er did the march of Mahadi disptaj^
Sncti pomp before; — not ev'n when on his way
To Mecca s lem|tle, when both land and sea
Were spoil'd to feed the Pilgrim s luxury ;1
When round him, mid the burning sands, be saw
Frui's of Ihe North in icy ftealmess ihaw.
And coolM his Ihirs'y lip, beneath the glow
Of Mecca's sun, wiih urns of Pcr^^ian 8n'>w:t— .
Nor e'er did armament more gr^nd than tluit
pour from the kingdoms of the Caliphat.
First, in the van, the People of ihe R"Ck,»
On their light mountain steeds, of rojal stock: ***
Then chieftains of Damascus, proud to see
The flashing of their swords' rich marquetry : «»^
Men, from Ihe legions near the Volga's mouth,
Mix'd with the rude, black archers of the South J
And Indian lancers, in while-turb-in'd ranks.
From the far Sinde, or AUock's sacred banks,
Wiih dusky legions from the Land of Myrrh,*^
And many a mace-arm'd Moor ar.d Mid sea islander.
Nor less in number, though more new and rude
In warfare's school, was the vast multitude
Thai, tit'd by zeal, or by oppression wrong'd.
Round the white standard of the" impostor thronged.
BesiJe his thousand of Believers— blind.
Burning and headlong as the Samiel wind —
Many who felt, and more who fear'd to feel
'I'he bloody Islamite's converting steel,
Flock'd to his banner;— Chiefs"of the' Uzbek race,
Waving their heron ciests wirh niarlial grace; 43
Turkomans, countless as their flocks, led forih
From the' aromalic pastures if the nirlh ;
Wild warrinrs or the turquoise hill-jM — and those
Who dwell beyond ihe everlasting snows
(»f Hindoo Kosli.^s in stormy ffeedom bred.
Their fort the rock, their camp the torieni's bed.
But none, of all who own'd the Chiefs command,
Rush'd to that battle-field with bolder hand,
Or steri^er hate, than Iran's oulaw'd men,
Her Worshippers of Fire »6 _ all panting then
For vengeance on the' accursed Saracen ;
Vengeance at last for their dear country spurn'd.
Her throne usurp'd. and her bright shrint-s o'ertum*d.
From Yezd'^n eiernal Mansionnf the Fire,
Where aged sainis in dreams of Heiv'n expire:
From Badku, and those fountains of blue flame
'I hat burn into the Caspian. *8 fierce they came,
Carele-s for what or whom the blow was >ped.
So vengeance trmmph'd, and Iheir tyrants bled.
Such was the wild and miscellaneous host,
That high in air their motley banners tost
» A na'ive nf Khotassan. and allured southward by
means of Ihe wa-er of a fountain between Shiraz and
Ispahan, railed the Fountain of Birds, of which it is
so fond that it will follow wherever that waier is
carried.
^ " Some of the camels have bells about their necks,
and some about their legs, like those which our car.
riers put about their fnre horses* necks, which together
with the servants (who belong to the camels, and tra-
vel on foot,) singing all night, make a pleasant noiae,
and the journey parses away delightfully." — yiK's
Account of the Mahometans.
"The camel-driver follows the camels singing, and
sometimes playing upon his pipe ; the louder he sings
and pipes, ihe faster the camels go. Nay. Ihey will
stand slill when he gives over his music"— TViucniKr.
3 *' This trumpet is often called, in AbvsMnia, nesser
rano, which signifies the Note of the Kngle." — A'oie
of Brucc^s Editor,
* The two black standards borne before the Caliphs
of tlie House of Abbas were called, allegorically, The
Nighl and the Shaduw. — See Gibbon.
fi The Mahometan religion.
6 "The Persians swear by the Tomb of Shah Be-
sade, who is buried at Casbin ; and when r.ne desires
annther to assevera'e a matter, he will ask him, if he
dare swear by Ihe Holy Grave."— Stiiiy.
^ Mahadi. in a single pilgrimage to Mecca, ex-
pended fix millionsof dinars of gold.
8 Nivem Meccani apportavil, rem ibi aut nunquani
aut raro visam. — Aixdjcda.
» The inhabitants of Hejaz or Arabia Petrjea, called
L=^
10 '*Those hnrses. called by the Arabians Kochlani,
of whom a written genealogy has been kept for 2000
years. They are said to derive their origin from King
Solomon's steeds." — Nielnihr,
i» *■ Many of the figures on the blades of Iheir
swords are wrought in gold or silver, or in marquetry
with small gems.'' — ^siat. Misc. v. i.
> - Azab or Saba.
13 " The chiefs of Ihe Uzbek Tartars wear a plume
of white heron's feathers in their turbans."— «3ccount
of Indejpendent Tartary.
»* In the mountains of Nishapour and Tous (in
Khorassan) they find turquoises. — Ebn Haukal.
>i For a description of these stupendous ranges of
mountains, see Elphinstone*s CaubuL
16 The Ghebers or Guebres, those original natives
of Persia, who adhered to their ancient faith, the
religion of Zoroaster, and who, after Ihe conquest of
their country by Ihe Arabs, were either persecuted at
home, or forced to become wanderers abroad.
It *» Yezd, the chief residence of those ancient na
tives, who worship Ihe Sun and the Fire, which Ut*
ler Ihey have cartfully kept lighted, without being
once exlinguished f'>r a mnmen', about 3000 years, ou
a mountain near Yezd, called Ater Quedah, signifying
the House or Mansion of the Fire. He is reckoned
very unfnrfunale who dies off that Diountain. —Ste-
phen's Persia.
i» *' When th^ weaihrr ishazy. the springs of Naph
Ihi (on an island near- Baku) boil up the hig-her, and
(he Naphtha often lakes fire on the surface of Ihe
earlh, and runs in a flame inio the sea to a distance
almost incredible."- //anway 07* the EverloBting
Fire at Baku.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
2G9 ■
Around the Prophet Chief — all eves slill bent
Upon Ihat glilleiin^ Vci:. where'er il wecil,
Tha( beaccii] Ihniugh the badle's slurniy tiond,
'i''ut raiiibnw of the Held, wliuie biiuwers were
bluud !
Twice hatli the sun upon their conflict set,
Alli risen as^iiti, and i Uiid ttiem gtapplii g yet ;
WJiile streams of cainage in his noontide blaze,
.Sni )ke u[) lo lleav'n — hot as that crimson haze,
liy which llie proslra e Caiavan is aw'd.i
In llie red Desert, when the wind 's abioad.
*' On, buords of God !" the panting Caliph calls, —
*' Thioiies for the living — Heav'u for him wlio
falls!" —
"On, brave avengers, on," Mokanna cries,
*' And Kblis bias' the recreant slave tliat niesl"
Now conies the brunt, ttie crisis ot the day —
'riiey clash — they strive — the Caliph's troops give
way 1
Mokannas self plucks the black Banner down,
And now the (Jrieiit Wudd's Imperial crown
Is just within his gra-p — when, hark, thai shout!
Some hand ImIIi check'd the thing Mo-leni's r„ut;
And now they turn, they rally— at their head
A wairior. (like rhose angel ynii hs who led,
In glorious panoply of [leaven's own mail.
■I'he Chainpimrs of the Kjitli through Bcdei's vale,*)
Bold as It gifted with ten thousand lives,
Turns im the fierce pursuers' blades, and drives
Al once the niulliludiiious torrent back —
While hope and courage kindle in his track ;
And, at each slep, his bloody falchion makes
Terrible vistas ihrough which victoiy breaks!
In vain Mokanna, midst ttie general (light,
Stands, like the red moon, on lome stormy night,
Among the fugitive clouds that, hurrying by,
Leave only her unshaken in the sky —
In vain he yells his desperare curses out.
Deals death pronii-cuonsly to a 1 about.
To foes that charge and coward friends that fly,
And seems ot all ihc Gteat Arch-eiremy.
The panic spreads — " A miracle I" throughout
The Moslem ranks, "a miracle I" they shout.
All gazing on Ihal you h, wlio-e coming seenis
A light, a glorv, such as breaks ill dreams :
And eveiy s.Miid. true as o'er bill. .w, dun
The needle tracks llie lode-star, following him !
Right low'ids M ikanna now he cleaves his path,
Impilient cleaves, a, Ihongli the bolt of wrath
He bears from Heav'n wi hheld its awful bur-t
Kroni weaker heads, and smls but halt-way curst.
To break o'er Hun, the mightiest ard the worst !
But vain his speed — tlinush, in tli.it hr.ur of blood.
Had all tiod's seraphs round Mnkanna stood,
With swords of fire, reidy like fate to fall,
Mokanna's soul would havedelied them all,
Yet now, the rush of fugitives, too strong
For human force, hurries ev'n liim along ;
In vain he .-Irugsles 'mid the weJg'd array
Uf flying thousands — he is bmne away ;
And the sole Joy his battled spirit knows.
In this lorcd tliglit, is — murdering as he goes!
As a griiii tiger, whom the torient's might
Surprises in some parcb'd ravine a; night.
« Sanary 8 rys of the south wind, which blows in
Fgypt from February ro Mav, *-Sonie!iines it appears
only in the shape of an impetuous whirlwind, which
iiasses rapidly, and i^ fa al to the traveller, surprised
in the middle of the deserts. Toi rents of burning sand
mil before it, the flrniiment is enveloped in a thick
veil, and the sun appca s of the c lour of blood.
Sometimes whole ca'avans are buried in it."
•i In the great vicrory gained by Mahomed at Reder,
he was assisted, say the Mu-.suliiMns, by ihree thou-
sand angel.", led by Gabriel, niounled on Iris horse
H az rm. — See The Kuran and ill Commmtatins.
23*
I Turns, ev'n in drowning, on the wretched Hocks,
Swept vt'iih him in Ihal snow-flood from the rocks
And, 10 the last, devouring on his way.
Bloodies the stream he hath not power to shay,
"Alia ilia Alia !"— the glad shout renew —
" All.i AkL.ar!"a — the Caliphs in Merou.
Hang out your gilded tapestry in the streets.
And light yonr shriins and chaunt your ziraleets 4
The Swords of God have triumph'd — on his throne
Your Caliph sits, and the veii'd Chief halli fiowu.
Who does not envy that young wariior now,
lo whom the Lord of Isl ni bend, his brow,
In all the giaceful gratilude of power.
For his ttirone's satety in that perilous hour?
Who dolh n t wonder, when, amidst the' acclaim
Of tlmnsand', heralding to heaven his name —
'Mid all those holier harmonies of fame.
Which sound along rhe p.illi of Virtuous souls,
Like music round a ptaiiei as ii ndls.—
He trims awav — coldly, as if some gloom
Hung o'er hisheart no iriumphs can illLme; —
Some sightless grief, upon whoe blasted gaze
Though glory's light may play, in vain il'plays.
Ves, wretclnd Azini 1 thine is such a grief,
Deyond a 1 hope, all tenor, all relief;
A dark, cnld c Ini, which nolhing now can break,
(ir warm or hrighen,— like that Syrian Lake,'
Upon whose surface morn and suininer shed
■| heir smiles in vaiir, frail beneath is dead ! —
Hearts Iheie have been, o'er w hich this weight of woe
Came by long uve of sutiermg, tame and slow j
But thine, lost youth '. was sudden — over thee
Ir brnke at once, when all seernd ersasv ;
When Hope lookd up, and saw the gloo'my Past
Melt into splendour, and Bliss dawn at last —
'1' was then, ev'n then, o'er joys so freshly blown,
Ihismoilal blight of misery came down;
Ev'n ihen, ihc full, warm giishings of tin heart
Were check'd - like fount-drops, frozen as they start —
And there, like Iheni, cM. ^unless relics hang.
Each fix'd and chiU'd into a lasting pang.
One sole desire, one passion now remains
To keep life s lever slill within his veins,
Vengeance 1— dire ver.gearrce on the wretch who cast
O'er him ar d all he lov'd th.il ruirr.rus blast.
For this, when rumours reach'd him in his flight
Far, f.ir away, afler that fatal iiighr,—
Humour-, ot armies, thronging to the' attack
Of rhe Veii'd Chief,— for this he wing'd him back,
Fleet as ihe vulture speeds ro flags unfuii'd.
And, when all hope seeni'd dep'iate, wildly liurPd
Himself into the scale, and sav'd a world.
For Ibis he still Irvis on, careless of all
The wreaths th it Gloiy on his path lets fall ;
For ihis a. one exists — like liglitning-fire.
To speed one bolt of vengeance, and expire I
But safe as yet that Spirit of Evil lives ;
With a small band of desperale lugilives.
The 1 .St sole slubbnrn fi.agmeiit, letl uiiriven.
Of the prond hr.s' that late slood (routing Heaven,
He gain'd Merou — hieatli'd a short ci.ise of blood
O'er Ills los' throne — then pass'd tlieJilion's flood,*
And ga'hering ail, whose madness of belief
Still ^aw a Saviour in their down-fall'n ( hief,
Rais'd the white banner within NeksI.eb's ga'es,'
And ;here,uutjin'd, lhe'appio.iching conqueror waits.
3TheTecbir orcry of the Arabs. "Alia Acbar!"
sa\s Ockley, means, "God is most mighty."
« The ziraleet is a kind of chorus, vi-bich the
women of the East sing upon joytul occasions. —
lims.l.
8 The Dead Sea, which contains neither animal nor
vegftalile life.
6 The ancient Oxus.
1 A city of Transoxiana.
270
LALLA ROOKH.
Of all his Haram, all that biuy hive,
With nm-^ic and wiih sweels sparkling alive,
He took bill one, the i)ai li er nt" his fliglit,
One— nolfdr |nve— not f-r he- beautyMight —
N", Zflica stond witheriitg midsi the gay,
W III as ihit blns=oin tha' fell \eslenlay
From ihe' Alma tiee and .lies; while overhead
To-d.-iv's vime fl pwer is springiri? in lis stead. i
Oh, iin' tnr Inve — the deepest Dnnu'd must be
I'UichM with Heaven'' glory, ere such fiends 33 he
Can I--.;! one Klunp-anf Lwe'a divinity.
But no. <he is hts victim ; — r/itrc lie all
Her charms (or him ~ charms that cm never pall,
As iDng as htll iviihin his hea.t can stir,
Or trie faint trace of Heaven i-. left in her.
I "o work -iti angel's ruin,— In behold
As whi e a p^^e as Virtue e'er unroll'd
Rlicketi. beneath his touch, into a scroll
Of daniiiiiig sins, seal'd wi h a burning sou! —
This is his irinniph ; ihis tlie joy acLursi,
That ranks biin among demons all but first:
This selves the victim, that beloie him lies
Blighted nnd Inst, a glorv in his eyes,
A light like that wi-h which hell-fire illumps
The ghastly, wrilhiiig wretch whom it consumes !
But other tasks now wait him —tasks thit need
All ihe deep daringiiess "f thought and deed
With which the Dives'* have giffed him — fornnrk,
Over ynn plains, which night had else nnde daik,
'Ihose Unterns, c uiitless as the winged ligh s
That S|.an-1. 1 .da's fields on showery nights,3 —
Far as their to <ni lahle gleams they shed,
Ihe mighty tei t. of the Lieleaguerer spreid,
Glimmering a nug the' horizon's dusky line,
And thence in nearer circles, till (hey shine
Among thtf founts and gr 'ves o'er which the town
In all its arm'd magnificence jnoks down,
Vei, fearless, from his 1 -fry battlements
Mokanna ViCws that mnltiiude of tents;
Nsy, smiles to think Iha', though enloii'd, beset,
Not less than myriads dare o f ■ om him yel ; —
That friendless, throneless, he thus s'and- at b.iy,
Ev'n thus a ma ch for niyriad? sncli as they.
"Oh, f-rasweepof ihat daik Angel's wmg,
" Wh'i brush'd ihe thousuids of the' Assyrian King *
"To darkness in a moment, that I nnghi
"People Hell's cli:imb<r> with yon host to-night !
" Bu'. come what may, let who will grasfi the throne,
" Caliph or Ptophel, man alike shall gnan ;
"Let who will toriure him, Prie't-Cliph— King—
"Alike this loathsome wmid of his shilJ ring
" VVi:h victims' shiieks and ho^lin^s of the shve,—
"Sounds, tliat shall glad me ev'n within my grave!"
Thus, (o himself— but to the scanty train
Still left around him, a fu diffeieii- strain: —
"Glnrious Defenders nf the sacred Ciown
"I bear from Heav'u, whose light nor blood shall
drown
" Nor shadow of earth eclipse ; — before whose gems
" The paly pomp of ihis world's diadem^,
"The crown of Gerashid. thepillarM throne
"Of Parvi7.,s and the her.)ii crest thai sh"ne,6
I "You never can cast your eyes on iJiis tree, but
you meet there either blossnms ^r fruit ; and as the
blossom drops underneath on the cround (whch is
frequently covered with these pmple-C'ldured flow-
ers), others come forth in their stead," &.c. &c.—
Nttuhnjf.
^ The Demons of the Persian mythology.
3 Carreii mentions the tirellies in India during Ihe
rainy s-^aso.i.- See his Travels.
4 Sennacher.b. called by the Orientals King of
Moussal — VHerUiot
* Chosroes. For the de'icriptinn of his Throne or
Pal.ce, set; Gibbon and 1) IhtUlat.
There weie said to he under this Thrnne or PWace
of Khosnu Paiviz ;i hundred vaults filled with " trea-
sures so immense Ihat some Mahometan writers tell
" Magnificent, o'er Alj's beauteous eyes,'
" Fade like the stars when mum is in the sties :
•' Warriors, rejoice — the port lo ^^hich we've pass's
•' O'er Destiny's dark wa^** beams out at last !
" Vicli.ry's our owij — 't .- written in that Book
*Upon \* hose leaves none but ihe angels lonk,
" Ih it Islam's bceplie shall beneath 'he power
"Of tier great foe lall broken in H.al hour,
*' VVhen the moon's mighly orb, before all eyes,
" Frniii Neksheb's Holy Well portentously shall rise!
" Now turn and see I"
Tfiey turn'd, and, as he spoka
A suilden splendour all ar uiid them broke,
And ihty beheld an orb. ample anri bright.
Rise from Ilie H"ly VVell,^ and cist its light
Hound Ihe rich city and the plain for miles," —
Fung n^ such radiance o'er the gilded tiles
Of ma y ad me and fair-roof "d imaret
As aut inn suns ^hed round Ihem when they set.
Instant from ill who saw the' idusive ^ign
A murmur broke — " Miraculous I divine i'*
The Gheher bow'd, thinking his idol star
H.d wak'd and burW impatient ihrough the bar
'be war J
, in that ray.
The glorious Li^ht which, m his freedom's day,
Had rested on the Ark,io and now ngain
Shone out to bless the breaking of liis chain.
" To victo-y !" is a' once Ihe cry of all —
Nor sta.,ds Mokanna loitering at that call ;
Hut ihsl uit the huge gates are fiui.g aside,
And fnitli. like .i diminutive inounain-ude
Into the boundle>s sea, they speed their course
Right on ino ihe McsIliu's iiiigh y force.
The waichmen d i he camp,— w ho, in their rounds,
Had pausd. ani ev'n forgo- ihe punctual sounds
Of the small drum with whxh they count the uight,i»
To gaze upon ihat supernatural light,-
Now sink beneath an unexpecletl arm,
And in a de Mh-groan give their last ahrm.
" On lor 'he lamps, that light )on l»fty screen, »*
" Nor blunt your blades wnh nussacre so mean;
us. their Prophet, to encourage his disciples, carried
them to a rock, which at his c-mm-ind opened, and
gave them a pro'-ped through it of the treasures of
Kho^rou."— C/»iucr*aZ HutoJ-y.
6 *• The crown of Gerashid is cloudy and tarnished
before the htmn tuft of ihy turban."— From one of the
elegies or songs in praise of All, written m characters
of gold round ihe gallery of Abbas^ tomb.— See Char-
din.
1 The beauty of Ali's eyes was so remarkable, that
whenever the Persians would de-cribe anything as
ve y lovely, they say it is Ayn Hali, or the Eyes of
AW.— C/uLrdin.
8 We are not told more of this trick of the Imprsfnr,
thtn that it w^s ' une machine, qi.'il disnit etre la
Lune.'* Accordi'g lo Richardson, the miracle is per-
petuated in Nekscli b.—"Nak>hab, the name of .icily
in Tnnsoxi.inia, where they say there is a well, in
which the appeatance of the moon is lo be seen uight
and day."
9 " II amusa pendant deux mois le peuplede a villc
de Nekhscheb.en faisant soriir toules les nuitsdu fond
d'un puils un CTps lumineux semhlable a Lune, qui
portoii sa lumiere jusqu'a la distance de pinsieurs
milles " — DHerbelot. Hence he was called Sazen*
dehmah, or the Moon-maker.
10 The Shechinah, called Sakinat in Ihe Koran.—
See Sates Nutr^ cha|». ii.
1' The pnrts of Ihe night are made known as well
by inslrnmeids of music, as by the rou. ds if the watch-
men wj'h cries aid smtll drums. — See i'urt/er'ji Ori-
eiital Customs^ vol, i. p. 119.
i*i The Serriipurda, high screens of red cloth, stiff-
ened Willi cane, usud to encio e a considerable spacB
round the royal tents.— ?/o(es o»i llie, BahardanuM.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN,
271
" There rests the Caliph — speed — one lucky lance
" May ii.ivv achieve ii.aT.kitul's Ji liverance."
Despertle he die — ^uch as 'hey nmy cast,
Who veil vL-e f r a wnrld. and st-ikc tlieir last
But I'ae'a J11 longer with him— ba<Je for blade
S[)iiiit?8 up lo meet them thro* the glimmering shade,
And as Hie clash is heard, new Iea:ir)ri-. snoii
Pnur to liie s|/oI, like bees of Kaiizcrcon »
To the shrill linibrel's S'lmmnns — lill, at length,
The mighty camp swainia out infill it, streiiglh,
And b.ick "> Neksliebs na es, coverine: the plain
Wi h lan-iom s'aushter, drives 'he' adventurous train j
Ainon^ the last nf wh in the Silver Veil
Is seen glutenne At limes, like the white sail
Of vMine ln5>M vessel, on a stormy night.
Catching llie leiiipes>'$ momentary light f
And ha'h not thuf brought the pmud spiiit low ?
Nor dasird his biow, nor check'd his daring? No.
Though half the wre'clies, whom at night he led
To throne? and viciory, lie di^grac d and deid,
Yet morning hear^ him with unshrinking cre»',
Still vaunt of thn.ne-', and v dory to ihe rest ; —
And they believe him ! — nh, the lover may
Distrust tha' look which stetis his sout away ; —
The bal>e may cease to ihiuk that it ciin play
With Heaven^ rnnbow;— alcliymi-ila may doubt
I he shilling gold their crucible gives nut ;
But Kaith. fanatic Faith, once wedded fast
To si'me dear falsehood, hugi it (o the last.
And well the' Impostor knew all lures and art»
That Lucifer e'er taught to tangle heaits;
N T, mid ihese Us' bold workings of bis plot
Against men's souls is Zelici furgot.
lli-fa'ed Zeltca ! had reason been
Awake, Ihroujih half the horrors thou hast seen,
Thou never could'st have borne it — Death had come
At once, and taken thy wrung spirit home.
But »t was not so — a torpor, a suspense
Of thought, almost of life, c»me o*er the intense
And pa siomie sruggles of rh.it fearfnl night,
When her last hnpe of peace and hev'n took flight:
And though, at times, a gleam of frenzy broke,—
As through s'ime dull volcano's veil of sni'ke
Ominous flrishings now and then wil start.
Which show the hre 's >t.li b sy al its heart ;
Yet was she mostly wrappd in solemn gloom,—
Not such ns Azini's, brooding o'er i"s doom,
And calm withont. as is the brow of deaih,
\Vhile bu-y worms are gnawing undernea h —
Rul in a blank and pulsele n torpor, fiee
From thought or pain, a sealM-up apathy,
Which leH her oft, with scirce one living thrill,
The cold, pale victim of her torturer's will.
Again, as in Merou, he had her deck'd
Gorgeou-ly out, the Priestess of the sect ;
And led her glittering forth before the eyes
Of his rude tr^in, as to a sacrifice,—
Pallid as slie, the young, devoted Bride
Of the fierce Nile, when, deck'd in all the pride
Of nuptial pomp, she sinks into his tide.*
And while the wretched maid hung down her head.
And stood, as one just risen from the dftad.
Amid that gazing crowd, the fietid would tell
His credulou
1 or spi
Posse-s'd her now, — and from that darkenM trance
Should dawn ere hmg iheir Kai'h 9 dt-hveiance.
Or if. at times, goadtxi by guilty sh.ime,
sonl was rons'd,aiid words of wiidness came,
Jr.s'ani the bold bia-phemer wruld ir.uisiate
Her lavings into oracles of fat* .
Would hail Heav',.'s signals in her Ha-hing eyes,
And call her shrieks the language of the skits!
But vain at length his arts — despair is seen
Gathering around ; and famine cornea lo glean
All that the swi.'id had left unreap'd :— in vain
At morn and eve acro>s the nor'hetn jilaiii
He looks impa'ien! for the [iromis'd speara
Of the wild Hordes and Tartar mountaineers;
They ciinc not — « bile his fierce beh-aguercrs poll
Engines of havoc in, unknown before, 3
And horrible as new ; ■* javelins, tl at fly
Enwieath'd with smoky Hames rhtough the dark sky,
And red-hot globes, that, opening as they mount,
Discharge, as from a kindled Naphtha fount, &
3 Tha' they knew the
among the Mussulmans e 1:
appear:) from Dowh Acc-i,
arrived at Moultan, hni
The ten's of Princes were generally illuminated.
Norden tells us that the tent of the Bey of Girge was
distinguished from the other tents by forty lanterns
being -uspended before it.— See llarmerh Observations
on Job.
* "From the groves nf orange Iree'^ at KanZProon
the bees cull a celebrated honey ^^—Morier\t Travels.
* "A cu,lom s'ill subsls'ing at this day, seems to
me to prove that the Egyptians fornrerly sacrificed a
young virgin to the God of (he Nde; (V>r they now
make a st.tue of eiMh in shspe r.f a girl, to which
they give the name of the Betrothed Rnde, and throw
it into Ibe river." — Sarary.
secret of the Greek fire
■ly in ihe eleventh century,
nt of .Manio.d I. ''When
ling that the coun'ry of th*
Jits was defended by great rivers, he ordered fiftecr
hundred boats to be built, each of which he armed
with six iron spikes projecting from tiieir prows ana
Bides, to prevent the.r being boarded by the enemy,
who were vety ex|ierl in thai kind of war. When ht.
hnd launched ihis fli-et, he ordered twenty aicliers
into e.nch boat, and five others with fire-b,»lls, to burn
the craft of the Jils, and naphtha to set the whole
river on fire."
The atrnec aster, tn^, in Indian poems the Instru
ment of Fire, whose flanie cannot be extinguished, i&
supposed to signify the Greek Fire.— See IVilks'^S- utb
of India, vol. i. p. 471.— And in (hecuiions J.iv-i
poem, the Jirata Yvdha given by .Vir Stamfoi
Jiaffles in his History of Jav., we find, '■ He amu
at ihe heart of Soeta with the sharp-pointed WeapoD
of Fire."
The mention of gunpowder as in use among Ihe
Arabians, long before its sn|ipo^ed discovery in Eu-
rope, is in'rod'icf-d by Ebn Fadhl^ the Egyp iari e
gra|ther,whnli\ed in the thirleei.tli century. *• Bodi(
I he says, '• in the form of scorpions, bound round anc«
filled wi'h nitrous powder, glide along, maki'
gentle noise; then, exploding, they lighten, ai
were, and burn. But there are others which, ca-(
into the air, stre'ch along like a cloud, roaring hon '
biy, as thunder roars, and on all sides vfimitiny 0.
flames, bnr>t. burn, and reduce to cinders whalew
comes in Iheir way." The historian Bot Jlbdalla^ i
speaking of the sieses of Abulualid in Itie yeir of lY,
Hegira 712, savs, "A fiery gb be, by means of conibn
tible matter, vvi'h a mighty n-iise suddenly emitttil,
strikes with the f>rce of lighining and shakes the
citadel." — See the fxlracrs from Cn-viVPs Biblioih.
Ar.ib. Hispan. in the Appendix lo JitriiigtcnVn Lite-
rary History of the Middle Ages.
* The Greek fire, which was occasinnaHv lent hy
the emperors to their allies. "It «as." savs Gibbon
" either launched in red-hot b.ills of stone and iron, o:
darted in arrows and javelins, twisted lound with tiax
and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable
oil,''
5 See Hmnvntfs Account of the Sprinss of Naph-
tha at Baku (which is called by Liciitennnt Potthifur
Joala Mookee, or. the Flaming Mouih,) taking fiie
and running into the se^. JDr. Covkc, in his Journal,
mentions some wells in Circas-'ia, strongly impreg-
nated wi h this inflammable oil, from v^tiich issu<i3
boiling wafer. •* Tho igh the weather.*' he adds,
*' was now very cold, the warmlh nf these wells ■ f 1
hot water produced near them the verdure and fio%vers
of spring."
Major Scott Ifann.g" says, (hat naph'ha is used hy
the Persians, as we are told it was in hett, for laijipt. I
272
LALLA ROOKH,
Showers of con umin^ fiie o'er all below ;
LMoking, as ihroi.gh the' jlIiiminM ni-ht Ihey go,
Like Iho-e wild birds i rbai by ihe Nhgiaiis oft,
At fcBiivals of lire, uere -.ent nloft
liiio !he air, with blazing faints lied
To their hu^e "ingx, ?caiternig combustion wide.
All iii^hl Ihe groans of wretches who expire,
In a^ony, bent-ath these daris of tire,
King rhiongh the ciiy — while, descending o'er
] s shrines Mid domes and streets of sycamore,—
Its lone ba/.iis, with ibeir bnghi cloihb of gold.
Since ihe list [leaceful paiceant lefi unroilVI,—
lis beaiiiei'us marble bilbs, whose idle jes
Now gush with bio d,— and iis tall minarets,
'I hat la'e have stood up in the evening glare
Oi the red >un, unliallow'd by a prayer;—
O'er each, in turn, the dreadful (lame-bolts fall,
And deaih and ct>nflat;ration throughout all
The desolate ciiy bold high festival !
Mokanna sees ihe world is his no more ;—
One sfing at pariin^, and his grasp is o'er.
* What 1 drooping now?" — ibus wiih unblushing
cheek,
He h lis the few, who yet can hear him ?peak,
Of all those famish'd slaves around him lying,
And by ihe liijtil ot blazing temples dying ;
What! — droi.piijg now? — now, when at length
we press
•' Home o'er the very threshold of success ;
*' When Alia f.oni our ranks h -tli thiou'd away
'* Th' se grosser branches, iha' kei-t out hi^ ray
»' Of favour from u^, and we s a. d at length
*' Heirs of his light and childien of his s rength,
"Thechnsen few, « h^> shall survive the fall
"Of King^ and Thrones, triumphant over all !
" Have vou then lost, weak murrnurers as you are,
*'A1! filth in him, who was your Lieht. your Star ?
*MIave you forgor the eve of glory, hid
' Beneath this Veil, the flishing of whose lid
••Could, like a suu-slroke t,( the desert, wither
'■ Millions of such as yonder Chief brings hither?
'* Long have its ligtitnings slept — too long — but now
** All eardi shiU feel Ihe' uDveilmg of this brow I
*' Tn night — yes, sainted men ! this very night,
*' 1 bid you all to a fair festal rite,
" Where — having deep refreshed eich weary limb
'* With vi iods, such as feast Heav'n's cherubim,
*' And kindled up your souls, now sunk and dim,
" Wih that pure wine the I)ark-e\'d Maids above
"Keep, seal'd with p:eciou3 musk, tor those they
love, 2—
"[ will myself uncmlain in your sight
" The wonders of this brows ineffable light ;
'• 'I'lien lead you forth, and with a wink disperse
** Yon myriads, howling through the universe ;"
Eager they listen — while each accent darts
New life into their chill'd and hope.,ick hearts;
Such treacherous life as the coid dr..ught supplies
'lo him np"n the stake, who drinks and dies!
Wildly Ihey point their lances lo tlie iight
Of Ihe fast sinking sun, and shout '* Tu-i.ight I" —
or Htarry lamjis and blaziiiK cri-Bset-s Ted
With naptitlia and as^haltue, yielding light
I "At the greif festival of fire, cilled the ShebSeze,
they used to set fiie to large bunches of dry combus-
tibles, fastened lound wild beasts and birds, which
being 'hen let loose, the air and earth appeared one
great illiimiuation ; and as ibese lerrlied creatures
naturally fled to the woods for shelter, it is ei*y lo
conceivethecoiidagration ihey produced.'*— Richard-
soiis Uisser'alion.
3 *■ The righteous shall be given to drink of pure
wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk." —
K(»'an, chap. Ixxxiii.
To-nigh'," tlieir Chief re-echoes in a voice
Of fieiid-like mockery that bids hell rejoice,
Ueb.ded vic'ims I — never halh this earth
Seen mourning half so nmuintnl as their mirth.
the few, whose iron frames had stood
king wat.le of faniine and of blood,
F'^int, dying wretches clung, iriiin whom the shout
Of triumph like a nianiac's laugh broke out: —
Thtre, others, lighted by the smouldering fire,
Danc'd, like uan ghnsts about a funeral pyre,
Among tlie dead and dying, strew'd around ; —
While some pale wielch look'd on, and from tail
wound
Plucking the fiery dart by which he bled,
In ghastly transport wav'd it o'er his head!
'T was more than midnight now —a fearful pause
Had follow'd the long shouts, the wild a) plause,
That lately frnm tho^e Koval Gardens burst.
Where the Veil'd demon held his feast accurst,
When Zelica — alas, poor ruin'd heart.
In every horror douurd to bear its part ! -
Was bidden to the bani^ue' by a slave,
Who, while his qniveri' g lip the summons gave.
Grew black, as though the shadows of the grave
Compass'd him round, and, ere he could repeat
His messige ihrough, fell lifeless at her feet !
Shuddering she went — a soul-felt pang of fear,
A presage that her own daik doom was near,
Rous'd every feeling, and brought Reason back
Once more, :o w riihe her l.iS' upon Ihe rack.
All round seem'd tranquil — even the foe had ceas*d,
As if aware of that deiitoniac leas'.
His fiery bolts ; and though Ihe heavens look'd red,
'T w^s bu' some distant contla^ration's spread.
But hark — she stops — she listens — dreadful tonel
'T is her Tormen'or's laugh — and now, a groan,
A long death-groan comes with i' : — can this be
1 he pi ce of mirth, (be bower of revelry ?
She enlers — Holy Alia, what a sight
Was there before lier ! By Ihe glimmering light
Of the pale dawn, nilx'd wiltt the fla-e of brandB
That rourid 1 .y buming, dropp'd from lifeless hands,
She saw Ihe boird, in spleidid mockery spread,
Rich censers hreathing — gat lands overhead —
The uns, the cups, from which they late had quaff'd,
All gnld and gem-, but— vihat had been the draught ?
Oh ! who i.eed ask, that saw those livid guests,
With their suoll'n heads sunk blackening on their
breasts.
Or looking pale to Heav'n with glassy glare.
As if they sought but saw no mercy there ;
As if Ihey felt, though poison rack'd them through,
Remorse the deadlier torment of the two I
While some, the br.vest, hnrdiest in the train
Of their false Chief, who on the haille-plain
VVould have met denth with transport by his side,
Here mute and helpless gasp'd ; — but. as they died,
Lo"k'd hnrnble vengeance with their eyes' \-*tl strain,
And clench 'd the slackening hand at him iu vain.
Dreidful it was to see the ghastly stare,
The slr,n> look of horror and despair,
Which sonie of these expiring victims cast
Upon their snuls' tormen'or to the last ; —
Upon tliat mocking Fiei.d, whose Veil, now rais'd,
Show'd them, as in dea h's agony ihey gaz'd,
Not the lone:-prnmisM light, ihe brow, whose ('earning
Was lo come forth, all cocqucring, all reileeming.
But features horribler than Hell e'er trac'd
On its own brood ; — no Demon of the Waste,3
No church-yard Ghole, caught lingering iu the light
Of the blesi sun, e'er blasted human sight
3 •*The Afzhauns believe each of the numerous
solitudes and deseris of their country 'o be iiihabitei
by a lonely demopi wh^m they call the (ibooleo
Beeahau, or Spirit of the Waste. They often illua^
Irate 'he wildneaj of any sequestered tiibe. by saying,
they aie wild as the Demon of the Wa9ie."-!-^jp,Wn-
stojic^s CauhuL
VEILED PROPHET OF KHO HASSAN.
273 ;
With lineaments so foul, so Berce as those
The Impostor now, in grinning m'tckery, shows : —
**'rherf, ye wise Samts,bfhotd your Lighi, youristar—
'■ Ve would be dnjies and victims, and ye arc,
" Is it enough ? or mu>t I, while a thrill
" Lives in your Bapier.t oosowis, cheai you still ?
"Swear ihal the burning deah ye feel wi hin
** Is but the trance wiih «hich Heav^u's joys begin j
"That this foul vi>age, f.ml as e'er disgrac'd
"Evn monstrous man, is — af er God s own taste;
*' And that — but see 1 — ere 1 have lialf-way ;aid
** My greetings through, the' uncmrieous souls are fled.
'* Farewell, sweet spirits ! not in vain ye die,
•' If Eblts loves you half so well as |._
"Ha, my young bride! — 'tis well — take thou thy
seat ;
" Nay, conie— no shuddering— didst thou never meet
" ']'he Dead before r — they grac'd our wedding, sweet ;
" And these, my guesta to-mght, have brimni'd so true
" Their parting cups, that thou shall pledge one too.
"But— how is this? — all empty ? alldiunk up?
*' Hot lipi have been before thee in the cup,
"Young bride --jet a ay— one precious drop remains,
'■ Enough 10 warm a gentle Priestess' veins ; —
"Here, drink — and should thy lover's conquering
B<m
** Speed hither, ere Ihy lip lose all its charm,
*' Ciive him but half this venom m thy kiss,
"And I'll forgive my haughty rivals blitil
*'For, m£— I loo must die— but not like these
*' Vile, rai.kling things, to fester in the breeze ;
" To have this brow in ruffian trium[)h shown,
" With all death's grimneis added to its own,
"And rot to dust berieith 'he tauntiu^ eyes
'*0f slaves, exclaiming, 'There his Godship lies!'
*' No — curbed race — since first my soul drew breath,
"They've been my dupes, and shall be ev'n in death.
"Thou see'sl yon cistern in the shade — 't is fiii'd
" With burning drugs, for this last hour distill'd : l —
"Ihere will I plunge me, in that liquid Hame —
"Fit bath tohve a dying Prophet's frame ! —
"There pensh, -.11 — ere pulse of thine shall fail —
"Nor leave one limb to lell mankind the tale.
"So r.hall my vn'aries, wheres e'er they rave,
*' Hioclaim that Heav'n took back the Saint it gave ; —
"Ttiat I've but vanish'd fmm this earth awhile,
" To come ag'in, with bright, unshrouded bmilel
"So shall they build me altars in Iheir zeal,
" Where knaves shall mini>ler. and fooK shall kneel;
" Where Faith may utter o'er her mysiic spell,
•• Written in blood —and Bigotry may swell
"The sail bespreads for Heav'n with blasts from hell!
" So shall my banner, through long ages, be
"The rallying sign of fraud and anarchy ; —
" Kings yet u .born shall rue Mokanna's name,
" And, though I die. my spirit, still the same,
"Shall ualk abroad in'all the stormy snife,
" And guilt, and blooJ, thai were its bliss in life.
" But, liirk ! their battering engine shakes ihe wall —
" Why let il 8!iake — thus I can brave them all.
* No ince of me sh^ll greei them, when ihev come,
"And I c^n trust thy faith, for— thou Ml be dumb.
"Now maik how readily a wretch tike me,
" In one bold plunge, commences Deity 1"
He sprung and sunk, as the last words were said —
Quick elos'd the burning «aiers o'er his head,
And Zelica was left — within the ring
01 those wide walls the only living Ihir)g;
The only u retched one, still cur^M wiih breath,
In all that frightful wilderness of death !
» " II donna du poison dan-? le vin a lous ses gens,
et he jelta lui-meme ensuite dans une cuve pleine de
diogues brulantes et cnnaumante-, afin q'l'il ne restat
rien de tms les memb-ea de son corps, ei que ceux qui
restoient de sa secte pui^sent cmire quM etoit mone
au ciel, ce qui ne manqua pas d'arriver."— jOV/irie-
tot.
More like some bloodless ghost — such as, they tell.
In the Lone Cities of the Silent ?■ dwell,
And there, unseen of all but Alia, sit
Edch by Its own pale carcass, watching it.
But morn is up, and a fresh warfare stirs
Throughout the camp of the beleajuerers.
Their globes of tire (the dread artillery lent
By Greece tr conquering Mahadi) are spent;
And now the jC'ipion's shaft, the quarry sent
From tiii^h balisia% and ihe shielded throng
Of s 'Idiers swinging tlie huge ram along.
All speak the' impa'ient Islamite's intent
To (ry,at length, if tower and batllement
And Ijaslion'd wall be not less hard to win,
Less lous:h to break down than the hearts within.
First in impatience and in toil is he,
The burning Aziin — oh ! could he but see
The' Impostor once alive within his gra^p,
Noi the gaunt lion's hug, nor boa's clasp,
Could ma'ch that gripe of vengeance, or keep pace
With Ihe fell heartiness of Haie'i embrace 1
Loud rings the ponderous ram against the walls;
Now shake the rampait-, now a buttress falls,
But still no breach — "Once more, one mighy swing
"Of all your beams, together thundering!"
There — (he v^all shakes — the shouting troops eiull,
"Quick, quick discharge your weightiest catapult
" Kit;ht nil Ih.it spot, and Neksheb is our own :»'
H" is done — the h.iitlemenis C'-me crashing down,
And the huge wall, by that stroke riv'n in two,
Yawnirg. like s me old ciaier, leni anew,
Sliows Ihe dim, de^ola(e city smoking through.
But strange! no signs of life— nought living seen
Above, below — wh-it cm this stiUuess mean?
A minute's pause su>-pends all hear s and ej es —
" In through the bieach," impetuous Azim criea ;
But the cool Caliph, fearful of some wile
In this blank stilless. checks the troops awhile.—
Just then, a ligure, with slow sep, advanc'd
Forth fmni the ruin'd walls, and, as there glancM
A sunbeam over it, alt eves C' uld see
'Ihe wdl-known Silver Veil ! — " 'Tin He, 'th He,
" Mokanna, and alone !" Ihey shout aiound ;
Young A7.\n\ from his steed >pringi in ihe ground —
"Mine, Holv Cabph! mine," he cries, *■ the task
" T" crush von d.iring wretch — 't i^ uU 1 ask."
Eager he da'i Is l> meet the demon foe.
Who still across wide heaps of ruin slow
And fillet ingly comes, till they are near ;
Then, with a bound, rushes on Azim's spear,
And casting otl' the Veil in falling, shows —
Oh! — 'lishisZelica'a life-blood that flows!
" I meant not, Azim," soothingly she said,
As on his trembling arm she lean d her head,
And, lonking in his face, saw anguish there
Beyond all wounds i|ie quivering flesh can bear —
" I meant not thou shouldst have Ihe pain of iliis : —
"'llirugh death, with ihee thus (astetf. is a bliss
"Thou wouldst not rob me of, didNl thou but know,
"How oft I've pray'd to God I migtildie so!
" But Ihe Fiend's venom was loo hcant and slow ; —
" In hngeron were maddening— and I thought
" If once that Veil — nay, look not on it — cught
"The eyes of vour fierce soldiery. | should be
"Struck by a tfiousaiid death-d;irt^ iiisa Hy.
" But this is sv^eeler — oh ! believe me, yis —
** I would ii'^t change Ihis sad, bul dear carets
" This death withir. thy arms 1 w nuld not give
"Fur the most smiting lite Hie happiest live!
" All, that stood dark and diear belbre ihe eye
"Of my stiay'd soul, is pa^sing swifily by ;
* "They have all a great reve erice for burial-
grounds, which thev sometimes call bv il;e poetical
name of Cities of ihe Silen', and which thev people
with the ghosts of the deparied. who si' each at the
head of his own grave, invisible lo mortal eyes." —
Elphi?istoue.
J
274
LALLA ROOKH.
"A light cornea o'er me from ihose looks of love,
"Like the tirst dawn nf njercy from abi've;
•*Aiid if fliy hps but tetl ine I 'in fnigiveii,
'•AngeU will tc\io Ihe blest woids in Heaven!
" Hiit live, my Azim ; — oh ! to cill thte iniiie
*'Thus once again I my Azim — dream divine!
" Live, if Ihnu ever lov'dsl me. if to meet
"Thy Zt-lica hereafter would be sweet,
"Oh, live 10 pray (or her — ldT)i:iid the knee
" Morning and night before that Dei'y,
"To whom pure lips and hearts without a slain,
"As thine are, Azim, never breath'd in vain, —
<-ADd piay ihai He may pi.-don her,— may lake
"Compassion on her soul for thy deir sake,
" And, nought remembering but her love lo thee,
" Make her all thine, all His, eternally !
"Go to those happy fields where fir^l we twln'd
'*Uur youltiful hearts together — every wind
" That meets tbee there, fresh from the well-known
flowers,
" Will bring Ihe sweetness of those innocent hours
"Back to thy soul, and Ihou mav'st feel ajaia
" For ihy p-nr Zelica as ih'>u diilsl then.
"So shiU thy orisons, like dew Ihal flies
"To Heav'n upon Ihe morning^s sunshine, rise
" With all love's earliest ardour to the skies!
" And should they — bu', alas, n.y senses fail —
"Oh fur one minute ! — shnuld thy p aye s prevail —
" If pardon'd souls may, from that VVor d of Bliss,
"Reveal their joy to those they love in this —
" 1 Ml come to thee — in some sweet dream— and tell —
" Oh Heav'u— I die— de.tr love ! farewell, fjrewell i"
Time fleeted — years on years hid pas^-M away,
And few of those who. on that mournlul day,
Had stood, with pity in liieir eyes. !o see
The maidens deaih. and the you'h's agony,
Were living still — when. Ly a rustic grave,
Beside the swift Amio^s transparent wave,
An aged man, who had giown aged there
By that lone grave, morning and night in prayer,
For the last time knelt down — and^ (h u^h the shade
Of death hung darkening over him. there play'd
A gleani of np ure on his eye and cheek.
That brighten'd even Death — like the last streak
Of inten>e glory on the horizon's brim.
When night o'er all Hie re^t h:ings cliill and dim.
His ^OLJ had seen a Vision, while he slept;
She, for whose spirit he had pray'd and wept
So many years, had come to bim, all dresi
In angel smiles, and lold him she was blest!
For this the old man breath'd his thanks and died.—
And there, upon the banks of that lov'd iide.
He and his Zelica sleep ^ide by side.
The story of Ihe Veiled Prophet of Khorassan being
ended, they were now doomed to hear Fadlideen's
criticisms upon it. A series of disappoinrmeots .ind
acc'denisi h'd occurred to this learned Chamberlain
during ihc journey. In the fi^^t place, 'hose couriers
sati'ined. :»s in ihe reign of Shah jehan, between
Delhi and the Western coast of India, to secure a con-
stant supply of mangoes for the Royal Table, had, by
some cruel irregularity, f.u'ed in their duly; and to
eat any ma1goe^ but those of Maza^nug » as, of course,
impossible. 1 In the next place, the elephant, laden
ivilh his fine antique porcelii.,*^ had, in an unusual
may .
* ** The celebrity of Mazagong is owing to its man-
goes, which are ct-rtainly the t'cst fiuil I ever Insted.
The parent-tree, from which all those of this species
have been giafted, is honoured during the fruit reason
by X guard of sepoys ; and, in the reign of Shah Jehan,
couriers were stiiioned between Delhi ar-d Ihe Mah-
ratta coast, lo secure an abundant and fresh supply of
maNgoes for the rt)yal table." — Mrs. Graham'^ Jour-
nal of a Residence in India.
« This old porcelain is found in digging, and " if it
is esteemed, it is not because it h^s acquired any new
fit of liveline:%s, shattered the whole set to pieces : —
an irreparable loss, as many of llie vessels were so ei-
lely old, as to have been nsfd under the Empe-
Yan and CImn, who reigned many years before
the dynasiy of Tang. His Koian. too, supposed to be
the identical copy between the haves of which Ma-
h' met's favourite pigeon used to nestle, had been mis-
laid by his Koran hearer three whole days ; not with-
ou' much spnitual alarm lo Fadladeen, who, though
professing to hold with ether lo\al ai d orthodox Wus-
sulniaiis, that silva ion could only be fnund in the
Koran, was stronjly >uspt-cled of believing in his
heart, that il could only be foui.d in h'S own particular
copy of it. When to all these grievances is added the
objiihacy of the cooks, in putting the pepper of Canara
lishes instead of the cini.amon of Serendib, wc
ily supp se that he came to the task uf criti-
th, a leas', a sufTicienl degree of in liability
for the purpose.
"In order," said he, impnrtanlly swinging about
his chaplet of pearls, "to convey with clearness my
opinion of Ihe story this young man has related, it is
necessary to take a review of all the stories Ihat have
evei *' — " My good Fadladeen!" exclaimed the
Princess, interrupting him, "we really do not de-
serve that you should give yourself so much trouble.
Your opinion of ihe poem we have jusl heard, will, I
have no doubt, be abundantly edifying, without any
further waste of your valuable erudition."— " If that
be al ," replied the crUtc.— eudently m.-riified at not
being allowed to show how much he knew .Tbout
every thing, but the subject inmiedia ely hefoie him —
"if that be all that is required, ihe matter is easily
despa'ched." He then proceeded to analyse the poem,
in Ihat strain (so well known lo the uufoiluna'e bards
of Delhi), whose censures were an inlliction from
which few recovered and whote very piaises were
like the honey extracted from ihe bitter flowers of
the aloe. The chief personage-; of the story were, if
he rightly understood them, an ill-favoured gentleman,
wi'h a veil over his f^cej- a young hidy, who&e
reason went and came, accordiig as ii suited the poet's
cnvenience lo be sensible or otherwise j — and a youlh
in one of those hideous Bucharian bonne's, who look
Ihe aforesaid gentleman in a veil for a divinity.
"From such materials," said he, '» what can be
expec'ed?— after rivalling each otiier in longsneeches
and absurdities, through some thousands of lines as
indigestible as the filberts of Berdaa, our friend in the
veil jumps into a tub of aquafortis; the young lady
dies in a set speech, wliose only recomniendalion is
thai it is her last; and Ihe lover lives on to a good
old age, for the laudable purpose of seeing her ghost,
which he at last happilv accomplishes, and expires.
This, vnu will all .w, IS i fair summary of the siory ;
and if" Nasser, (he Arabian merchmt, told no better,
our Holy Prophet (to whom be all honour and gloiy !)
had no need to be jealous of his abilities for story-
telling _"»
Willi respect to the style, it was worthy of Ihe mat-
ter;-it had not even Iho-e politic coi.trivances of
structure, which make up for the commonness of the
decree of beauty in the earth, but because it has re-
tained its ancient beau'y ; and this alone i^ of great
importance in China, where they give large sums for
the smallest vessels which were used under the Em-
perors Yan and Chun, who reigned many ages tiefore
Ihe dynas'v of Ta"e, at which time porcelain btgm
to be u.ed by the Emperor>" (about ihe ve,'r 442). —
/>unn"s Collection of Curi'ius Ol servati'ns &c ; — a
bad translation of some parts of the Leitres Edifianles
et Curieuses of the Missionary Jesuits.
3 " La lecture de ces Fables plaisoit si fcrt auit
Arabes que, quand Mahomet ies entretenoit de I'His-
toire de I'Ancien Tes ament, ils Ies meprisolent, lui
disant que celles que Nasser leur racontoieiit etoient
beaucoup pins belles. Cet e preference attira a Nas-
ter It malediction de Alahomel et de tous ses disci-
ples." — Z)/ferie/o<.
VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.
275
lhoua;hts by the peculiarity of the manner, nor thai
stalely poetical phiaseology by which sentiments
nii-an in tlienibelves, like the blacksmith's! apron
converted into a bariner, are so easily gilt and ein-
broidentd in;o consequence. '1 hen, as to the versifi-
caiinu, it was, to sav no worse of it, execrable: il
had neither the copious (low of Feido-i, the ^weel-
ne^s of llufez, nor the sententious niaich of Sadi ; but
a|'i)eaied to hint, in Ihe uneasy heavines-i of its move-
ineiits lo have been modelled upon llie t^ait of a vety
tiled dioinedary. 'I'he iicei.sts, too, in which it in-
dulged, weie UMpaidi'nah'e ;— (or inslance this line,
and the poem abounded wiiti such; —
Like the faintf extjuitiile music- of a ilream.
" What critic 'hat can count,*' said Fadladeen, " and
has his full coiu|)lenienl of fingers lo count withal,
would toleia'e fur an instant such syllabic superflui-
ties?"— He heie looked lound, and discovered that
most of his audience were asleep; while the glmi-
niering lamps seemed iiiclined to foUou their exam-
pie. It bec.ime nectssaiy, therefore, however psmful
to biniseli; lo put an end lo Ins valuable nnimadver-
810113 for the present, and he accordingly concluded,
with an air of dignitied candour, thus: — *' Notwi h-
slanding the observations whii-h I have ihrnigh' it my
duly lo make, it is by no nie.ins my wish to discouratce
the young man: — so far from it, indeed, that if he
will but totally alter his style of writine: and think-
ing, I have very tittle duubt that 1 shall be vastly
pleased with hini."
Some days elapsed, after this harangue of the Great
Chamberlain, befnreL;*lI.iRo(.kh could venture lo a-k
for another stoiy. 'Jbe you h was still a uelcme
guest in the privilion— to one heart, perhaps, loo dan-
gerously weiconie; — but all mention of poetry was,
as if by comnion con ent, avoided. Though none of
the party had much respect for Fadhtdeen, yet his
cen-ures, thus magislerially deliveied, evidently made
an impression on them all. The Poet, himself, to
whom criticism was quite a new oper4tiMn, (being
wholly unknown in tlul Paradise of ihe Iridies, Cash-
mere,) fell the shock as it is generally fell at hrst, till
u>e has mide iI more tolenble to the | atienl ; — the
Ladies begin lo suspect that they ought not lo be
pleased, and seemed to conclude 'hat theie mu-t have
been much good sense in what Fadladeen said, fiom
its having set them all so soundly toslfep; — while
the self-complacent Chamberl.iin was left to triumph
in the idea of havin?, for ihe hundred and hftidh
time in his life, extinguished a P> et. I.alla Rookii
alone — and Love knew why — [lersisted in being
delighted with all she had heard, and in resolving to
hearmore as speedily as possible. Her manner, how-
ever, of first returning to the subject was unlucky.
It aas while they rested during the heat of noon near
a fnunt;(in, on which some hand had rudely traced
those well-known words from the Garden of Sadi,—
" Miny, like me, h^ve viewed this fountain, but they
are gone, and their eyes are cl' sed for ever !■» — that
she took occasion, from the meiancholy beauty of this
pas-age, to dwell up in ihe charms of poetry in gen-
er.tl. '* It is true," she said, " few poets cnn imitate
that sublime bird, which flics always in the air, and
never touches the eanh : »— it is only once in many
« The blacksmith Gao, who successfully resisted
the tyrant Zohak, and whose apron tiec.mie the Koval
Standard of Persia.
^ "The Hunia, a bird pecuUir (o the E.ist, It is
supposed to fly constanilv in the air, and never touch
Ihe ground; it is looked upon as a bird of happy
omen ; and that every head it overshides will iu time
wear a crown," — liichardscni.
In Ihe terms of alliance mide by Fuzzel Oola Khm
with Hyder in I7G0, one of the stipulations was,
*'that he should have the distinction of two honorary
attendants standing behind him, holding fans com-
posed of the feathers of the humma, according to the
ages a Genius appears, whose words, like those on the
Written Moun ain, last for ever:3 — but still there
are some, a^ delightful, perhaps, tliongh not so wuu-
detful, who, if noi stars over our head, are at \jast
lloweis aloi g our path, and whose sweetne-s of the
moment we ought gratefully to inhale, without call-
iig upon them tor a hnghiness »nd a dur biti'y beyond
their naUire. In shur , continued she, blushing, as if
conscious of being caught in an or;ilion, " it is quite
cruel thai a poet cannot wander through his regiiuis
of enchantment, without having a ciitic for ever,
like Ihe old Man of the Sea. upon liis back I'M —
Fadladeen, il was niain, took this last luckless allu-
sion lo himself, :ina would treasure il up in hia mind
as a wheistntie for his next criticisn.. A sudden
silence ensued ; and the Princess, glancing a look at
Feramorz, saw plunly she must wait At a more
courageous moment.
But Ihe glories of Nature, and her wild, fragrant
airs, playing freshly over the current of youthful spi-
rits, will so. n heal even deeper wounds than the dull
F.idladeens of this world on in/iict. In an evening
or two after, they came lo Ihe small Valley of Gardens,
which had bteii planted by order of Ihe Kinper' r, for
his favouriie sister Rochiiura, during their progress lo
Cashmere, some years before ; and never was tlieie a
more spa-kling assemblage of i-weels, since the Gu!-
zar-e-Iiem, or Rose-bower of Irem. Every precious
flower was Iliere m be f .und, that poetry, or love, or
reheion, liaa ever consecnled ; from the dark hya-
cinth, lo which Hafez coiiijiares his mistress's h.<ir,& to
the Camalala, by whose ro-y blossoms the heaven of
Indra is scented. 6 As they sa' in Ihe cool fragrance of
this delicousbpol, and LiMa Ronkh remarked ihUshe
could fvicyil the abode of that Flower-loving Nvmph
«hnn. they worship in the temples of Kathay,' or of
one of those Peris, those beautiful cie.itures of the air,
who live upon perfumes, and to whom a place like
this might make some amends for the Paradise Ihey
practice of his family."— fims's South of India. He
adds in a note ; — ''Ihe Humma is a fabulous bird.
The bead over which i's shadow once passes will
assuredly be circled with a crown. The splendid
little bird suspended over the Ihrone of Tippoo Sul-
taun, foutid at Sering;»|atam in 1799, was intended to
represent this poelical fancy."
3 *'To the pilgrims to Mount Sinai we must altri-
bu'e the inscrrptions. figures, &c. on those rocks,
which ha\e from thence acquired the name of the
Written Mountain."— Fu/7(ey. M. GebeMn and
o'hers have been at much pains to a'tach some mys-
teririue and impoilant meaning to these inscriptions;
but Niebuhr, as well as Volney, thinks that they must
have been executed at idle hours by the travellers to
Mount Sinai, "who were satisfied with cutting the
unpolished rock with any pointed inslrumen' ; adiling
to their names and the date of their journey^ some
rude hgiires, m hich bespeak Ihe hand of a people but
little skdied iu the arts." — A*ittu;tr.
4 TheStory of Sinbad.
» See A'otrs Hafez, Ode v.
6 "The Camalata (called by Linnaeus, Ipomaea) is
the most beautiful of iU order, both in the colour and
form of its leaves and flowers; its elegant blossoms
are *celesliil rosy red. Love's proper hue,' and have
justly procured il the name of Camalata, or Love^
Cree[)er." — Sir IV. Juries.
"Camalata may also mean a mythological plant, by
which all desires are granted to such as inhabit the
heaven of Indra; and if ever flower wis worthy of
paradise, it is our charming Ipomaea."— /A.
1 "According to Faiher Premare, in his tract on
Chinese Mythology, the mo her of Fo-hi was the
dangliter of heaven, surnamed Flower-loving; and as
the nymph wag walking alone on the bank r/f a river,
she found herself encircled by a rainbow, after which
she became pregn.ial, and, ai the end of twelve years,
wasdelive-edof a son ladiaut as herself."— ^siaf. Ma,
276
LALLA ROOKH.
have lost, --the young Poet, in whose eyes she ap-
peared, while she spoke, tn be one of the briglit spi-
ritual cre.-itures she was describins;. said liesit.ttingly
Ihal he renietribertd a Story of a Peri, which, if the
Prince^3 had no .bjectini., he would veiilure to relate.
" It IS," said he, wi h an appealing look to Fadladeen,
'*in a Iiiihttr and humbler s'ram than the other ;"
then, s'nking a fe^v caiele^s but luelaiicholy chorda
ou his kitar, he thus begau : —
PARADISE AND THE PERI,
One morn a Peri at the gate
Of Eden st .nd, disconsolate ;
And as she listen'd to the Springs
Of Lite within, like music tioiving,
And caught the light upon her wings
Throuijh the half-open por al glowing,
She wept lo think her recreant race
Should e'er have lost (hat gloiious place 1
'* How happy," exclaim'd this child of air,
*' Are the holy Spirits who wander there,
*' Mid tlowers that never shall fade or fall ;
"Though mine are the gardens of earth and sea,
** And the stars themselves have tlowers for me,
*'• One blossom of Heaven oui-blooois them all t
"Though sunny the Lake of cool Cashmere,
"'With its piane-lree Isle reflected clear/
"And swee-ly the founts of thit Valley fall ;
"Though blight are the waters of Sing-sn-hay,
" And the golden Hoods thai ijiitherward slray,^
"Yet— oh, 't IS only the Blest can say
"How the waters of Heiveu outshine them all!
" Go, wing thy flight frnm s'ar to star,
" From world to luminc.us world, as far
" As the universe spreads its flaming wall:
"Take all ihe pleasures of all the spheres,
" And muliiply e»ch through endless years,
"One minute of Heaven ia wurih them all I"
The glorious Angel, who was keeping
The gates of Light, beheld her weeping;
And, as he nearer drew and listened
To her sad song, a tear-drop glislen'd
Within his eyelids, like the spray
From EdenN founi^in, when it lies
On Ihe blue tlow'r, which — Bramms say
Blcoins nowhere bul in Paradi^e.^
" Nymph of a fair but erring line !"
Gently he said — " One hope is thine.
"'Tis written in the Book of Fate,
" T/ie Pen yet may be forgiven
" IV/io brings to this Eternal gate
" The Gijt that is most dtar to Heaven !
Rapidly as comets run
To the' embraces of the Sun ;— •
Fleeter than ihe starr\ brands
Flung at night from angel hands*
At ihnsedark and daiing spriies
Who would climb he' empyreal heights,
Down the blue vault Ihe Pen flies.
And, hghted eailhward by a glance
Th:»t just then broke fiom morning's eyes,
Hung hovering o'er our world's expanse.
• The
alth,'
"of (
vhich unnuniberM
" Beneath the pillars of Chilminar ;' 6
" 1 know wheie the hies of Perfume are6
"Many a fathom down in he sea,
" To the souih of sun-bright Araby ; i
"I know, (00, where the Genii hid
"The jeweli'd cup of their King Jamshid,9
" With Life's elixir sparkling high —
" Bul gifts like these are not for il.e sky.
" Where was there ever a gem ihat shone
"Like the steps of Alla's v^onderfuI Throne?
"And the Drops of Life— oh ! what would they be
"In the boundless Deep of Eternity?'*
While thus she mus'd, her pinions fann'd
The air of thai sweet Ind.an land,
Whose air is balm ; whose ocein spreads
O'er coral rocks, and amber beds ; »
Whose mountains, pregnant by the beam
Of the warm sun, wiiti dianionds teeni j
Whose rivulets are like rich brjde-^,
Lovely, with gold beneath their tides;
Whcise sandal groves and bowers of spice
Might be a Peri's f aradi-e I
But crimson now her rivers ran
With human blood — ttie sii.ell of death
Came reeking from those spicy bowers,
And man, the sacrifice of man,
Mingled his tunt with every breath
Upwafted from the innocent flowers.
» "Numerous small islands emerge from the Lake
of Cshmere. One is c.illed Char Chenaur, from the
plane trees upon it." — Foster.
^ " The Al'an Kol or Golden River of Tibe', which
runs into the Lakes of Sing-sn-hay, has abun, lance of
gold in ill sands, which employs Ihe mhabiiants all the
summer in gathering \i:' — Description of Tibet in
Pinkerton,
3 "The Brahmins of this province insist that the
blue campac flowers only in Paradise."— Sir W. Joius.
It appears, hov^ever, from a curious lefer of the Sul-
l.in of Mmangeabow, given by Maisden, that one
place on earth m:iy lay cl lim to the possession of il.
*'This istheSiilt.n, who keeps the flouet ch ^mpaka
that is blue, ar.d to be foui d in no other country but
Uii, being yeJlow elsewhere." — Marsden^s Sumatra.
* "The Mahometans suppose that falling stars are
the firebrands wherewjth the good angels drive away
the bad, when (hey approach too near the empyrean
or verge of Ihe heavens."- i'ryer.
6 The Forty Pillars; so the Persians call the ruins
of Persepolis. It is imagined by them that this piiace
and Ihe edifice? at Ralbec were built by Genii, for
thepuiposeof hiding in their subteiraneous caverns
immense treasures, which stiU remain there.
D'Htrlelnt, ^olney.
6 Diodoriis mentions the Isle of Panrhaia, to the
south of Arabia Felix, where theie was a temple of
Jupiter. This isla- d or laiher cluster of i_sles, has
disappeared, "sunk (says Grandprt) in the abyss
made by the lire beneath Ibeir foundations."— Koyag-*
to the Indian Ocean.
1 The Isles of Panchaia.
fl "The cup of J nishid, discovered, theysaVj \*-hen
disjgiiig for Ihe foundations of Persepolis."— iiic/iard*
soil.
s " It is not like ihe Sea of India, whose bottom is
rich with pearls and an-ber^ris, whose mountains of
the coast are stoied wiih g<ild and precious stones,
whose gulfs breed creaturts thai yield ivory, and
among the plants of whose chores aie etiouy, red
wood, and the wood of H wrzan, aloes, caniphor,
clove*, sandal-wood, and all other spices and aro-
matics ; where parrots and peacocks are birds of the
forest, and musk and civet are collected upon the
lands."— rraueto of two Mohammedajis.
r
PARADISE AND THE PERI,
277
Land of the Sun ! wliat fno» invades
Thy P.ignd, and thy pillarM shades* —
Thy cnvern shrtnes, and Idol stones,
Thy Monarch*; ;»nd their thnu>3nd Ihrones?*
»T IS He of Gazna a — fierce in wratli
He cniiie>, ai'd India's diadems
Lie scatler'd in his ruinous path —
His blonJhounds he adorns with gemi,
Torn Crom the violated necks
Of many a y(Min? and InvM Sultana ; «
Maidens, wiihin their pure Zenana,
i*i'i(sts in the very fane he slaughttrs,
And chnaks np with the glittering wrecki
Of golden shrines the sacred waters!
Downward the Peri turns her ear.e.
And, through the war-field's bloody baze
Beholds a youthful warrior stand,
Alone beside his native river, —
The red blade broken in his hajid,
And the last arrow in his quiver.
** Live," said the Conqueror, " live to sharo
•»The 'mphies and the crowns I bear!'
Silent that ynu'hful warrior stood —
Silent he pointed to the flood
All crimson with his country's binod,
Then sent his last remaining dart,
For answer, to the' Invader's he:irt.
False flew the shaft, though pointed well ;
The Tyrant liv'd, the Hero /ell ! —
Yet markd the Peri where he lay.
And, when the rush of war was past,
Swiftly descending on a ray
Of morning light, she caught the last —
Last glorious drop his heart hid shed,
Before its free-born spirit fled !
' Be this," she cried, as she wing'd her flight,
' My welcome gift at the Gales of Light.
* Though foul are the drops that oft dis'il
"On the held of waifare, blood like this,
** For Liberty shed, so holy is.*
' It would not stain the purest nil,
*' That sparkles among Ihe Bowers of Bliss !
1 in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillar''d shade^
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between.
Milton.
For a particular description and plate of the
Banyan-tree, see CorrfiHer's Ceylon.
5 '* With this immense treasure Mimnod returned
•o Ghizni, and in ttie year 400 prepared a magnificent
festival, where he displayed to ihe people his wealth
in g <tden thrones and in other orn.iments. in a great
plain without the city of Ghizni."— /Vn>A(a,
3 *' Mahmood of Gazna, or Ghizni, who conquered
India in the beginning of the llth century."— See bis
History in Daw and Sir /. Malcolm,
* " It is reported that the hunting equipage of the
Sultan Mahmood was so magnificent, that he kept JOO
greyhouids and bloodhounds, each of which wore a
collar set with jewels^ and a covering edged with
gold and pearls."— t/^Hiuersal llistoryy vol. iii.
6 Objections mav be mnde to my use of the word
Liberty in this, and more especially in the story that
follows it, as totally inapplicable to any state of things
that has ever existed in the Ea^t; but though I can-
not, of course, mean to employ ji in that enlarged
and noble sense which is so well understnod at the
present day, and, 1 grieve lo say, so little acted upon,
yet it is no disparagement to the word to apply it to
that national independence, thit freedom from the
in erference and dictation of f'rei/;ners, without
which, indeed, no liberty of any kind cm exist ; and
for vhich both Hindons and Persians fought against
their Mussulman invaders with, in many cases, a
bravery that deserved much better
24
" Oh, if there be, on this earthly sphere,
*' A boon, an offering Heaven holds dear,
•''T is the la^t liba'ion Liberty draws
**From the heart that bleeds and breaks iober cause!"
** Sweet," said the Angel, as she gave
The gift into his radiant hand,
"Sweet is our welcome of ttie Brave
" Who die thus for their native Land.—
** But see — alas ! — the crys al Lar
*' Of Eden moves not — holier far
*'Than ev'n this drop the tjoon must be,
" That opes the Gates of Heav'n for thee 1"
Her first fond hope of Eden blighted,
Now among Afr.c's lunar Mountains,*
Far to the S-iiih, the Peri lighted ;
And sl.-ek'd iier plumage at the fountain*
Of ihtt Kg\|it..Tri tide— whose birth
Is hidden from the sons of earth
Deep in those solitary woods,
Where oft the Genii of the Floods
Dance round the cradle of their Nile,
And hail the new-born Giant's smile. i
Thence over Eeypt's palmy groves,
Her gro's. and sepulchies of King5,8
The exii'd Spirit sighing ro\es ;
And now hangs listening to the doves
In warm Rosetta's vnleS— now loves
To watch the m onlight on the wings
Of the while pelicans that bre^k
The azure calm of Mceris* Lake.iO
'T was a fair ^cene — a Land more bright
Never did nmrial eye beht>ld !
Who could ha^e thought, that saw this night
Tho,e valle\s and their fruits of gold
Basking in Heav'ii's serenes! light;—
Those gnujps of lovely da'e trees bending
Languidly their leaf-crown'd heads.
Like vouthfut maids, when sleep descending
Warns them to their silken beds; »i —
Those virgin lilies, all the night
Bathing tlieir beauties in the lake,
That they may rise more fresh and bright,
When 'heir beloved Sun 's awake ;—
Those ruin'd shrines and towers that seem
The relics of a splendid dream;
Amid whose fairy loneliness
Nought but the lapwing's cry is heird,
Nought seen but {when the shadows, flitting
Fast from the mocn, nn>^heath its gleam,)
Some piirple-wing'd Sultana i^ sitting
Upon a column, motionless
6 "The Moun'ains of the Moon, or the Monte«
Lunce of antiquitv, at the foot of which the Nile is
supposed to arise.*' — Bt-uce.
"Sometimes called,'' hays JacftsoTi, **Jibhel Kum-
rie. or the white or lunar-coloured mountains; so a
white horse is called by the Arabians a moon*coloured
horse."
1 " The Nile,,which the Abyssinians know by the
names of At)ey and Alawy, or the Giant." — ^sini,
Researc/i.j vol. i. p. 387.
8 See Perry's View of the Levant for an account of
(he sepulchres in Upper Thebes, and the numberlevs
grnts. covered all over wi'b hieroglyphics io the
mountains of Upper Egypt.
9 "The orchards of Ro6e:ta are filled with turtle-
doves." — So7ini7ii.
JO Saviry mentions the pelicans upon Lake Mceris.
*» "The superb date*tree, whose head languidly
reclines, like that of a haridsnme wonian overcome
with sleep."— Z>/i/arrfei Hadad.
la " That beautiful bird, with plumage of the finest
shining blue, with purple beak and legs, the na'ural
and living ornament of the temples nnd palaces of the
Greeks and Romans, which, fr im the stateliness of its
port, as well as the brillimcy of its colours, has ob>
tained the title of Sultana." — Sonninu
278
LALLA ROOKH.
And glittering like an Idol bird ! —
Who could liave though!, th.il there, ev*n ther^
Aini'I those scenes so atill and fair,
The Demon of the PI .gue hnth cast
From his hot uni? a deadlier blast,
More niorial fat than ever came
From the red Desert's sands of flame!
So quick., that every jivinff ihing
Of hunitn shape, 'Ouch d by h b win^,
Like pianis, where (he Simnoni hath past,
At once tails black and withering!
The siin went down on many a brow,
Wliich, full ofbitK.ni and freshness then,
Is raitkhiig in the pes-house now.
And ite'er will feel that sun again.
And, oh I to see ttie' uubuiied heaps
On which the lonely moonlight sleefis —
The very vultures turn away,
And sicken at so foul a prev !
Only (he fierce hyaena sialks »
Thrnughf>utthe cit\N desolate walks^
At midnight, and his carnnge plies; —
Woe to the half-dead wretch, who meets
The glaring of those large blue eyes 3
Amid the darkness of (he streets \
**Ponr race of men!" said the pitying Spirit,
" Dearly ye pav for vour pnmai Fall —
"Some (JoWretsof Eden yes'rll inherit
" Hut the Irarl of (he Serpent is n\er them all !
She wept — the air grew pure and clear
Arourid he-, as the briglil drnps rau
For there's a magic in each tear,
Such kindly Spirits ueep for m.m !
Just then betieaih some or-nge trees,
Wtiose fruit and blossoms in ihe breeze
Were wantoning logelher, free,
Like age at play with infancy —
Beneath that fresh and springing bower,
Close bv the Lake, she heard liie moan
Of one who, ai thi^ silent hour.
Had Ihither stol'n to die alone.
One who in life where'er he mov'd.
Drew ifer him the hearo of many;
Yet now, as though he ne'er were lov'd,
Dies here unseen, unwept by any I
Knne to walch i.ear him — none to slako
'I he tire ttiat in his bosom lies.
With ev'n a sprinkle from that lake.
Which shines so cool before his eyes.
No voice, well known through many a day
To spenk the last, the par ing word,
Which, when all o.her sounds decay,
Is still like distant music heard ;—
That tender firewell on the shore
Of this rude world, when all is o'er,
Which clieers the spirit, ere its bark
Tuts oil' into the unknown Dark.
Deserted youth ! one thought ainne
Shed joy around his soul in deatU —
That she, whom he fr>r year- had known,
And lov'd, and might have call'd his own,
Was safe from this fnul midnight's brealh,—
Safe in her father's princely halls,
Where the cool airs from f 'un^ain falls,
Jackson, speaking of the plague that occurred in
West Barhary, when he was there, says, "The birds
of the air lied aw;iy from 'he abode's of men. The
hyaenas, on the contrary, visited the cemeteries." &c.
"Gondar was full of hyiena* from Ihe time it
turned dark, till the dawn of diy, seeking the diCTer-
ent pieces of slauehlered carcasses, which this cruel
and unclem people expose in the streets wiltmut
burial, and who firmly believe that these animals are
Falashla from the nei^hbnuring mountains, trans-
formed by magic, and come down to eat human flesh
n the dark in safety." — Bruce.
9 Bruce,
Freshly perfum'd by mariy a brand
Of the sweet wood from India's land,
Were pure as she whose brow they fann'd.
But see — who yonder comes bv •tcaltb,*
This melancholy bower lo seek.
Like a young envoy, sent by Health,
With rosy "gifts upon her cheek ?
*Tis she — faroli, through moonlight dim
He knew his own be rothed bride,
She, who would rather die with him,
Than live to gain the world beside! —
Her arms are round her lover now.
His livid cheek to hers she presses,
And dips, to bind his burning brow.
In the cool lake her lonsen'd tresses.
Ah I once, how little did he think
An hour would come, when he should shrink
With horror from that dear embrace,
Those gentle arms, that were to him
Holy as is the cradling place
Of Eden's inf;intchtrubim!
And now he yields — now turns away
Shuddering ns If the venom lay
All in those proti'er'd lips alone—
Those lips tlia', then so fearless grown.
Never until that instant came
Near his unasked or without shame.
*' Oh ! let me only breathe the air,
** The blessed air, that 's brealh'd by thee,
"And, u he her on its »in^ it bear
** Healing or death. '1 is sweet to me !
"Ihere — drmk my tears, while yel they fall-
" Would that my boom's bh'od were balm,
*' And, well thou know'st, I 'd shed it all^
" To give thy brow one minute's calm.
" Nav, turn not from n.e thai dear face —
•'Am I not thine— thy own lov'd bride —
"The one, the chrisen one. whose place
"In life or death is by thy side?
"Think'sl thou that she, whose only light,
" In this dim world, from (bee hath shone,
"Could bear the long, the cheerless night,
"That must be hers when thou ait gone?
"Thit I c^n live, and let thee go,
" Who art my life itself? — No, no —
•■When the stem dres, the leaf that grew
" Out of its heart niu;t perish too !
"Then turn to me, my own love, turn,
"Before, like thee, I fade and burn ;
*' Chili; to these yet cool lips, and share
" The last jmre life that lingers there I"
She fails — she sinks — as dies the lamp
In chaniel airs, or cavern-damp,
So quickly do his baleful sighs
Quench all the sweet light of her eyes.
One strueg'e — and his pain is past —
Her lover is no lon2:er living !
One kiss Ihe maiden ^ives one last,
Longkisa, which she expiies in giving!
"Sleep," said Ihe Peri, as softly she stole
The farewell sigh of that vanishing sonl.
As true as e'er warm'd a v\ Oman's breast —
" Sleep on, in visions of odour rest,
" In balmier airs than ever yet stirr'd
'* Ihe' enchanted pile of that lonely bird,
" Who sings at the last his own dea1h-lay,»
"And in mii>ic and perfume dies away !"
4 This circumstance has been olten iutroducfd into
poetry J— by Vincentlu-* Fabricius, by Darwin, and
lately, with very poweiful eSecf, by Mr. Wilson.
* '* In the East, they <^uppose ihe Phccnix lo have
fifty orifices in his bill, which are continued lo his tail ;
and that, after living (.ne thousand years, he builds
himself a funeral pile, sings a melodious air of difler-
ent harmonies through his fifty organ pipes, flaps his
wings with a velocity which sets fire to the wood, and
consumes h'ia\stlS.'^-- Richardson,
PARADISE AND THE PERI,
279
Thus Mving, from her lips she spread
Unearthly brealliintrs llirnugh Ihe pl.^ce,
And shook her sparkling wreath, and shed
Such lustre o'er each paly face,
That like Iwo lovely sainis, they scem'd,
Upon the eve of doomsday taken
From their dim Riaves, in odour >leepiDg;
While that benevolent Peri bearn'd
Like their Kmid aipgei, calmly keeping
Watch o'er them till their souls would waken.
But morn is blushing in the sky;
Again the Peii soar^ above,
Bearing to Heav'n ihat precious sigh
t)f pure, self-sacrificing love.
High thrc*b'd her heart, with hope elate,
•Ihe El\siaii palm she soon shall win.
For the tifight Spirit at the gile
Smil'd as she gave that odenng in ;
And she alrfarly hears the trees
or Eden, with their crystal bells
Ringing in that ambrosial breeze
That from the throne of Alia swells;
And she can see the starry howls
That lie around thai lucid like.
Upon whose banks admitted Souls
Their lirst sweet draught of glory take 1 1
But, ah ! even Peris' hopes are vain —
Again Ihe Faies forbade, again
'1 he' immortal barrier clos'd — " Not yet,"
The Angel said, as. with regret,
He shut from her that glinipe of glory —
"Triie was the maiden, and her story,
" Wrillen in light o'er Alla's he.ad,
*'Bv je-aph eyes shall long be read.
"But, Pcii. >ee — Ihe crystal bar
•' Of Edeii moves not — hnl ler far
•* 'I'han e 'n this sigh Ihe boon must be
"That opes the Gates of Heav'n for thee."
Now, upon Syria's land of roses 1
Sof.ly the lighl of Eve rt-pises,
And, like a glory, the bro id sun
Hangs over sainted Lebanon;
Whose head in wintry grandeur towers,
And "hi'ens with eternal sleet,
While summer, in a vale of flowers,
Is sleeping rosy at bis feet
To Or e, who look'd from upper air
O'er all Ihe' ench 'nied regions there.
How brau eous must have been the glow,
The life, Ihe sparkling from below 1
Fair girdens, shining sreanis, with ranks
Of golden melons on their banks,
Moregilden where the snn-light falls; —
Gay lizirds, glittering on the walls3
Of ruin'd shrii.e«, busy and bright
As they were all alive with light ;
And, yet mure splendid, numerous flocks
Of pigems, Set ling on the nicks.
With Iheir rich restless wings, that gleam
Variously in ihe crinisoii beam
» ' On the shotes of a quadrangular lake stand
thousand joblets, made of stars, out of which soi
pndestined lo eiijcy felicity drink the crystal „
— From Chateaubriand's Description of the Mahome-
tan I'aradne, in his BeautUs of ChriUianity.
» Sk.'-ardsnn thinks that Syria had its nnme from
Sun, a beautiful and delicate species of rose, fnr which
Iha' countiy has b.-en alwajs famous ; — hence, Suris-
tan, Ihe Land of Roses.
3 "The number of lizards I saw one day in Ihe
I great enuil orihe Temple if the Sun at Balbec, amount-
ed to many Ihoosaiids; the ground, the « alls, and stones
H the ruined buildings, were covered with them."—
1 1 Bruce.
I*--
Of the warm West,— as if inlaid
With brilliants from ihe mine, or made
Of tearless rainbows, such as span
The' unclouded skies of Peristan.
And then the mingling sounds that comC|
Of shepherd's ancient reed,* with hum
Of the wild bees of Palestine,*
Banqueting through the flowery vales;
And, Jotdan, those sweet banks of thine.
And woods, so full of nightingales.^
But nought can charm the luckless Peri ;
Her S'lul is sad — her wings are weary —
Joyless .she sees Ihe Suu look down
On that great Temple, once his own,i
Whose lonely columns stand sublime.
Flinging their shadows from on high,
Like dials, which the wizard, lime.
Had rais'd to count his ages by I
Yet haply there may lie conceai'd
Bent-a:h those Chanibers of the Sun,
Some amulet of gems, anneal'd
In upper fires, some tablet seai'd
With the great name of Solomon,
Which, speird by her illumin'd eyes.
May teach her where, beneath the moon,
In earth or ocean, lies Ihe boon.
The charm, Ihat can restore so soon
An erring Spirit to the skies.
Cheer'd by this hope she bends her thither;
Siill laughs Ihe radiant eye of Heaven,
Nor have the golden boivers of Even
In the rich West begun In wither ; —
When, o'er the vale of Balbcc winging
Slowly, she sees a child at play,
Among the rosy wild flowers singing,
As rosy and as wild as ihey ;
Chasing, \vith eager hands and eyes,
The beautiful blue damsel-flies.s
That flutter'd round ihc ,jasn,ine stems,
Like winged flowers or flving gems: —
And, near the buy who lir'd with play
Now nestling 'uini Ihe roses lay.
She saw a v\earied man disnidunt
From his hot s'eed, and on the brink
Of a small imaret's rustic fount 9
Impatient liing him down to drink.
Then swift his haggard brow he lurn'd
To Ihe fair child, who feailess sat.
Though never yet hath day-beam hurn'd
Upon a brow more tierce than that,—
Sullenly fierce — a mix'ure dire,
Like thunder-clouds, of gloom and fire;
111 which the Pen's eye could read
Dark tales of many a ru'hiess deed ;
Ihe ruin'd maid — the shiine profan'd —
Oaihs broken — and the threshold slain'd
*"The Syrinx or Pan's pipe is still a pastoral
instrument in Syria."— Aia«i.
'"Wild bees, frequent in Palestine, in hollow
trunks or branches of tiees, and ihe clefts of rocks.
Thus it is said (Psalm Ixxxi.l, ' honey out of the
stony rockJ' " — Burdtr's Oriental Customs.
« " The river Jordan is on both sides beset with
little, thick, and pleasant woods, among which thou-
smds of nightingales warble all loge:her." — r/iei*-
7IOt.
1 The Temple of the Sun at Balbec.
8 " You behold there a considerable number of a
reinarkalile species of beautiful insects, the elegance
of whose appearance and their aiiiie procured for
them tlie name of Damsels.'' — Somitni.
9 Imarel, " hospice on on Inge el nourril, gratis, les
peleriiis pindaiil Irns .jours."— 7'odcj-rjii, (ro7u/a«crf
by Ihc Abbe de Com <ia/id. — See also CattcUan'i
Mccu s des 01homan«, torn. v. p. 145.
280
LALLA ROOKH.
With blood of quests ! — there written, all,
Black as the danining drr.ps that fall
From the denouncing Angel's pen,
£re Mercy weeps them out again.
Yet tranquil now that man of crime
(As if the l)almy evening lime
Soflen'd his spiiit) Jook'd and lay,
Wa ching ihe rosy infantas play : —
Though still, whene'er his eye by chance
Fell nil the boy's, its lurid glance
Met that unclouded, joyous gaze,
As torches, fhat h.ive burnt all night
Through some impure and godless rite,
Kucounler morning's glorious rays.
But, hark ! Ihe vesper call to prayer,
As slow the orb of daylight ^ete,
Is rising sweetly on the air.
From Syria's thousand minarets'.
The boy has started from Ihe bed
Of Anwers, where he had laid his head.
And down U|iom the fragrant >od
Kneels. » with his foieheaJ to the south,
Lisping the' eternal name of God
From Purity's own cherub mouth,
And looking, while his hands and eyes
Are lifted to the glowing skies,
Like a stray babe of Faiadi^e,
Just lighted on that tlowery plain,
And seeking for i's home agiin.
Oh ! 't was a sight — that Heav'n — that child —
A scene, which might have well beguil'd
Ev'n haughty Eblis of a sigh
For glories lost and peace gone by I
And how felt /le, the wretched Man
Reclining there — while memory ran
O'er many a year of guilt and strife.
Flew o'er the dark flood of his life,
Nor found one sunny resting-place,
Nor brought tiim back one branch of grace.
"There was a time," he said, in mild,
Heart-huinbled tones — " ihi.u blessed child I
** When, young and haply pure aa Ihou,
" 1 look'd and pray'd like thee — but now — »
He hung his head — each nol)ler aim,
And hope, and feeling, which had slept
From boyhood's hour, that instant erne
Fresh o'er him, and he wept — he wept !
Blest tears of soul-felt penitence !
In whose benign, redeeming flow
Is felt the drsty Ihe only sense
Of gnillless joy that guilt can know,
"There's a drop,'* said the Feri, *Mhat down fron
(he moon
*' Falls through Ihe withering airs of June
"Upon Egypt's laiid,^of so healing a power,
" So balmy a virtue, that ev'n in (he hour
1 " Such Turks as at the common hours of prayer
re on the mad, or so employed as not to find con-
enience lo attend the mn-ques, are slill obliged to
xecute th't duly; nor are they ever known to f.iil,
whatever business they are then about, but pray im-
mediately when Ihe hour alarms them, whatever
they are about, in tliat very place they chance to stand
1 ; insomuch that when a janissary, uhnm you have
lo guard ynu up and down the city, htars Ihe notice
which is given him from the steeples, he will turn
about, stand still, and beckon uiih his h^md, lo tell
his charge he must have i a'ience for awhile; when,
taking out his handkerchief, he spreads it on the
ground, sits cross-leKged thereupon, and says his
prayers, though in the open market, which, having
ended, he leaps briskly up, falutes the peisnn whom
he undertook u, convey, and renews his journey with
the miM expression of Ghtlt go/mnum ^hell, or
Come, dear, fallow me."— ^oro»i Hiirs Travels.
*i The Nucta, or Miuculous Drop, which falls
'That drop descends, contagion dies,
'And heallh remimaies earth and skiea! —
'Oh, is it not thus, Ihou man of sin,
" The precious tears of repentance fall ?
'Though foul thy fiery plagues wiihin,
** One heavenly drop hath dispelled them alll"
And now — behold him kneeling there
By the child's side, in humble prayer,
While the same sunbeam shines upon
The guilty and the guiltless one.
And hymns of jny proclaim through Heaven
The Iriuniph of a Soul Forgiven I
'T was when the golden orb had set.
While on their knees ihey linger'd yet.
There fell a light moie lovely far
Thiin ever came from sun or star,
Upon the tear lliat, warm and meek,
l)ew'd that repentant sinner's cheek.
To moital eye this light might seem
A notthern lia^h or me eor beam —
But well th' enraptured Peri knew
'T was a bright smile the Angel threw
From Heaven's gate, to hail Ihat tear
Her harbinger of glory near !
" J^Vi jf^y foi" ever ! my task is done —
*' The Gales are ija.^s'd, and Heaven is won I
** Oh ! am I not happy ? 1 am, I am —
" 'J'o thee, sweet Eden ! how d^rk and sad
" Are the diamond turrets of Shadukiam,3
"And the fragrant bowers of Aniberabadl
'* Farewell, ye odours of Farth, Ihat die
*' My feast is now of the Tonba tree,*
*• Whose scent is the breath of Eternity !
•' Farewell, ye vanishing flowers, Ihat shone
" In my ftiry wreath, so bright and brief ;-
" Oh ! what are the bnghtfst that e'er have blown,
"To the loie-lree, springing by Alla's ihroue,*
** Whose flowers have a soul in every leaf,
"Joy, joy for ever! — my ta.^k is done —
** The Gales are pass'd, and heav'n is won I**
"And tills.'' said the Great Chamberlain, "is
poetry ! this tllmsy manufacture of Ihe brain, which,
m comparison vvith the lofty and durable monuments
of genius, is as the gold filigreewnrk of Zamara be-
side the eternal architecture of Egypt!" After this
gorgeous sentence, which, with a few more of ihe
same kind, Fadladeen kept by him for 'are and iin-
I orfanl occasions, he proceeded to the anatomy of the
short poem ju->t recited. The lax and easy 'kind of
metre in which it was written ought to be denounced,
he said, as one of the le.iding causes of the ilarming
growth of poe'ry m our time?, if some check were
not given lo this lawless facility, we should soon be
over-run by a nee of baids as numerous and as shal-
Egypt precisely on St. John's day, in June, and is
supposed to have the effect of slopping the plague.
STbeCountryof Delight — the name of a province
in the kingdom of Jinnisinn, or Faity Laid, the
capital of uhich is called the City rf Jewels. Am-
berabad is anuther of the cities of Jinnis'an.
* The tree Tooba, Ihat stands in Paradise, in Ihe
palace of Mahomet. See SnWs Prelim. Disc — Tooba,
says V^HcrLcloty signifies beatitude, or eternal bappi-
* Mahomet is described, in the 53d chapter of the
Koran, as having seen the .mgel Gabriel *• by the lotp-
tree, beyoi d which 'here is n" passing: ntar it is Ihe
Garden of Eteiial Abode." This tree, >ays Ihe com-
mentators, st.inds in the seventh Heaven, on the right
i hand of the Throne of God.
LALLA ROOKH.
231
low as the hundred and twenty thousand Streams of
Basra.' They who succeeded in this style deserved
chasiisenierit for their very sncceNS ; — as ^varriora
have been (mnislu-d, even after t(ainine; a victory,
becati*e thev liaJ taken 'he liberty of piniing it in an
irregular or jneslalilishcd manner. VVha', then, w.ns
to be said to those vvlio failed ? to those wh.i presumed,
as in the nreseiil lanien able ins'ai.ce, lo iiiiilate Ihc
license and ea-e of the b-dder sons of son;, without
any of that ^race or vigour which gave a dignity even
to negligence J — who, like ihein. flung the jereed 3
carelessly, but not. like them, lo the iiiwk ; — ^' aud
who," said he, raising his voice to exci e a proper
degree of wakefulness in his hearers, "contrive lo
appear heavy and constrained in the midst of all the
lailtuile they ;.|low themselves, l.ke one of those
vonng pagans that dance before the Princess, who is
ingenious enough to move as if tier limbs were fet-
tered, in a pair of the lightest and loosest drawers of
Masulipa'ain !"
it was but little sui;able, he conlinued, to the grave
march of criticism >•> follow this faniastical Peri, of
M tiom they had just heard, through all her lllghts and
adventures between e ir b and heaven; but he could
not help adverting to the puerile conceiiednpjs of the
Three Gdts which she is supposed to carry to the
^kies,— a diop of blond, forsooth, a sigh, and a tear!
How the first of these arlicirs was delivered inlo the
Angel's *' radiant hand * he professed himself at a
loss to disc'ver ; and as to llie safe carriage of the
si^fh and llie 'ear, such Peris and such poets were
beings by far too incomprehensible for him even lo
guess bow they managed .^uch matters. "But, in
short 7* said he, " it is a waste of time and pa'ience to
dwell longer upon a thing so incurably frivolous, —
puny even among its own puny race, and such as only
the Banyan Hospital 3 for Sick Insects should under-
take."
In vain did Lalla Rookh try to soften this inexorable
critic ; in vain did she resort to her most eloquent com-
mon-places,—reminding hiiii ttiat poe's weie atiniid
and sensitive rice, whose sweetness was not to be
drawn fonh. like that of the fragiant grass near the
Ganges, by crushing and tr.inipling upon them;* —
that seveiry often extinguished every chmce of the
perfection which it demanded ; and tti.at, after all,
perfection was like tlie Moon'ain of the I alisman.—
no one hid ever >et reached its sumnii'.* Neither
Ihe^e gentle axioms, nor the s^ill gentler looks with
Vfhich they were mculcatid, c mM Inwer fr one in-
« 'It is said that the rivers or streams of Basra
were reckoned in the time of Petal bin Abi Bordeh,
and amounted lo the number of one bundled and
twenty thousand streams." — Ebn Hauhal.
•> The name of tlie javelin wi'h which the Easterns
exercise. See Castellan. Maun dcs Otlwmans, torn,
iii. p. 161.
5 " This account excited a desire of visiting the
lianyan Hospital, as 1 had heard much of their benevo-
lence to all kinds of animals that were eiiher sick,
lame, or infiim, through age or accident. On my
arrivd, there were presented to mv view many horses,
cows, ind oxen, in one apa.tnieni ; in another, dogs,
sheep, goals, and monkeys. wi:h clean straw for them
to repose on. Above s'airs were depositories for
seeds of many sorts, and Hat. broad dishes for water,
for the use of birds and insects." — Parsmi's Travels.
It is said that all animals know the Banyans, that
the most timid approach them, and that birds will fly
nearer to them than to otiier people. —See Grandpre.
* "A very fragrant gra.s from the banks of the
Ganges, near Heridwar, which In some places covers
whole acres, a^d dilTuses, when crushed, a strong
odour," — Sir tV. Jones on the Spikenard of the An-
cients. '
' " Near this is a curious hilt, called Koh Talism.
the Mountain of the T.ilisman, becau'e, according lo
. I '-he traditions of the country, no person ever succeeded
I, in g»iniDg its summit."— iTiniior.
stant the elevation of Fadladeen's eyebrows, or charms
him into anything like encour-gement, or even tolera-
tion, of her poet. Toleiation, indeed, was not among
the aveaknesses of Fadladeen :— he carried ihe same
spirit into mattera of poetry and of religion, and,
though little versed in the beauties or sublimities of
either, was a perfect master of the art of pei^ecution
in both. His zeal was the s. me, too, in either pur-
suit ; whetl er the game before him was pagans or po-
ttasteis,— VAorshippeis of cows, or wriieis of ejiics.
Thev had now arrived at the .splendid city of 1a-
hore, whose mausoleums and .shiiiies, magnihcent and
numberless, where Death appeared to share equal ho-
nours with Heaven, would have powerfully aliecied the
heart and imagination of f-alla Kookh, if leelings more
of this earth had not taken entire possession of her al-
ready. She was here met by messengers, despatched
from Cashmere, who informed her lliat the King had
arrived in tJie Valley, and was himself superintending
the sunijiluous prepaiaiions that were ihen making in
the Saloons of tlie .Slialimar for her leception. Tlie
chill she fell on receiving this intetligence,— which to
a biide whose tieart was free and light would have
brnught oiilv images of artection and pleasure, — con-
vinced her ihal her peace was gone for ever, ar"i that
slie was in love, irretiievably in love, wiih young
FiramorT:. The veil had fallen olf in which this pas-
sion ai first disguises itself, and to know that she loved
was now as painfnt as to love i/jit/iout knowing it had
been delicious. Feramnrz, too, — what misery would
be his, if the sweet hours ol^ intercourse so iintirudently
allowed them should hive sioleu into his heart t.he
same tatal fa ciuation as into hers; — if, notvviihstand-
ing her rank, and ihe rnndesi homage he alwavs pa d
to it, even he should have yielded to the influence of
those long and happy in'erv lews, w here music, poetry,
the delightful scenes of nature,— all had tended to bring
their hearts close togettier, and to waken by every
means that loo ready passion, which often, like Ihe
y ung of Ihe de-ert-biid, is warmed into lite !.y the
-' -'" ^^- "^ ■ le way to preseive hei-
II as unhappy, and this,
iolved to adopt. Fera-
Te he admitted to her presence. To
have strayed so far into the dangerous l.ibyrinth was
wrong, but to linger in it. while Ihe clue was yet in
her hand, would be criminal. Though the heart she
had to offer to the King of Bucharia might be cold and
broken, it should at leist be pure ; aiidshe nmsi only
endeavour to forget the short dreim of hai piiiess she
had enjoyed,— like that Arabian shepherd, who, in
wandering into the wilderness, caught a gl.mpse of
the Gardens of Irim, and then lost ihem aguin for
I The arrival of Ihe young Bride at Lahore was cele-
brated in the most eulhu-iastic manner. The R.ijas
and (Jmr.i5 in her train, who had kept at a certain dis-
tance during Ihe journey, and never encamied nearer
to Ihe Princess 'han was slnc'ly necessarj for her safe-
guard, here rode in splendid cavalcade thiough tlie
city, and distributed the most costly presents to the
crowd. Engines were erected In all tlie squares,
which cast forth showers of confectionary among the
people; while ihe artisans, in cliaiiots 8 adorned with
tinsel and flying stieamers. exhibited the bidgcs of
their respective tiades through the streets. Such bril-
liant displays of life and pageantry among Ihe palaces,
and domes, and gilded minarets of Lahore, made Ihe
city altogether like a plare of enchantment ;— particu-
larly on the day w hen Lalla Rookh set nut again upon
her journey, when she was accompanird lo Ihc gate
by all the fairest and richest of the nobility, and rode
along between ranks of beauiiful bo)s and girls, w ho
kept waving over their heads plates of gold and silver
self from being culp.ible
however painful, ;
6 "The Arabians believe that Ihe ostriches hatch
their yoiihg by only bolting at Ihem."— y. h'ansleht,
Relat. d-£giji.le.
t See Sale's Koran, note, »ol. ii, p. 4S4,
8 Oriental Tales.
24*
282
LALLA ROOKH
fiowers/ and then threw them around to be gathered
by the populace.
For ni.iny iliys after their departure frnm Lahnre, a
considerable decree of glnoni hune over (he whole
party. Lalh Ror-kh, who had intetided lo make ill-
ness her exctise for not adniiltine; Ihe young ininsirel,
as usual, to the pavilion, soon found thit to feign in-
disposition was unnecessary i — Fadladeen felt the loss
ot the good road ihey had hittierto (ravelled, and was
veiy nearcursin? Jeh:in-Guire (of blessed meniorv !)
for not having coniinucri his delectable alley of Iree^,*!
at least as far as the nuiuntains of Cashmere ; — while
(he Ladies, who had nothing i^ow to do all day but to
be fanned by peacicks' feithtrs and lis en to Fadla-
deen, seenied hear ily weary of the Hie they led, and,
in spite of all the Great Chamberlatn's cri Jcisnis, were
so tasteless as to wish fTthe poet ag^in One even-
ing, as Ihey were pr cecding to their place of rest for
Ihe night, the Princess who, for the fiecr enjoyinent
of the air, hid mounted her favourite Aribian pilfre/.
in passing by a small grove heard the notes of a hite
from within its le ve", and a voice, which she but too
well knew, singing the following words: —
Trll I
If IhoBf loiiks that I
WouDtl like some llmt tj
Who, that ffele what Lnve
All its fulaehood— all its
Wnuld. for ev'n Klysmm'*
Riak the fatal dn
Stn
lidHt a desert's heat
'atcrs fade away,
ather die than meet
LjainasrabeaDtht-y?
The lone of mel.incholy defiance in which these
vvoids were uttered, went to l,;tlla Rookh's heart ; —
and, as she reluctantly rode on, she conld not help
feeling it to be a sad but siil) sweet certainty, that
Feramorz was to the full as euamuured and miserable
as herself.
The phce where Ihey encamped that evening was
the first delightful spot they had come to since Ihey
left Lahore. On oi.e side of Ilium was a grove full
of sm ill Hindoo temples, and planted with the most
graceful trees of the Kast ; where the tamarind, the
c.issii, and Ihe eilken plnnl-uns of Ceylon were
miiieied in rich contrast wiih the high f.in-like foliage
of the Palmyra,— that favourite tree of Ihe luxnrmus
bird that lights up the chambers of iis nest with fire-
flies.3 In the middle of Ihe lawn where Ihe pavilion
stood there was a tank surrounded by small niangoe-
trees, on the clear cold waters of which floated mul-
titudes of the beautiful red lotusj* while at a dis-
> Ferishta. "Or rather ''says Scott, upon the pas-
sme of Fenshta, from which this is t..ken, "small
coins, slumped with Ihe fiiuie of a floiver. They are
s'ilj used in India to distribute in ch.irily, and, on nc-
cision, thrown by the purse-bearer^ of the great among
(lie pnpulace."
- The fine road made by the Emperor Jehan-Guire
from Agr.i to Lahore, planted with tiees on each side.
This load 19 250 leagues in length It has 'Millie pyr-
amids or lurreis." s-ys Bemier, "erected every half
le.igue, 10 mark the ways, and frequent wells to aflord
drink to passengers, and to water the young trees."
3 The Baya, or Indian Gross-beak.— Sir IV. Jones.
* "Here is a large pagoda by a tank, on the water
of which llnai multitudes of the beauiful red lotus:
the flower is larger than that of llm white water-lily,
and is the m^-st hwely of the nympliaeas I have heen.'>
— Mrs. Qrahani's Jour lal of a Residence in India.
tance stood the ruins of a strange and awful-looking
tower, which seemed old enough to have been the
temple of some religion no longer known, and which
spoke Ihe voice of desolation in the midst of all that
blonni and loveliness. 'Ihis singular ruin excited (he
wonder and conjectures of all. Lalla Rookh guessed
in v.iin, and the all-pretending Fadladeen, who had
never till this journey been beyond Ihe precincts of
Delhi, was proceeding most leirnedlv lo show tlwt he
knew nothing whatever about the matter, when one
of the Lidies suggested that perhaps Feramorz could
saii>fy their curiosity. They were now approaching
his na'ive mountain-, and iliis tower mi^ht perhaps
be a relic of some of those dark superstitions, which
had prevailed in that country before the light of
Islam dawned upon it. The Chamberlain, who
usually preferred his own ignorance to the best
knowledge tha' any one else could give him, was by
no means pleased with Ihis ofiicious reference; and
the Princess, ton, was about to interpose a faint word
of objection, but, before either of thent could speak,
a slave was despatched (or Feramorz, who, in a very
few uiinuies, made his appearance before them —
looking so jiale and unhappy in Lalla Rookh's eyes,
that she repented already of her cruelly in having so
long excluded him.
That venerable tower, he told them, was the re-
mains of an ancient Fire-Temple, built by those
Ghebers or Persians nf the old religion, who, many
hundred years since, had fled hitlier from their Arab
con(juerors,5 preferring liberty and their altan in a
foreign land to Ihe alternative of apo^la^y or persecu-
tion in tlieir own. It was impossible, he added, not
to feel interested In the many glorious but unsuccess-
ful struggles, which liad been made by these original
na'ives of Persia to cast oH" the yoke of their bigoted
conquerors. Like their own Fire in tlie B'lrning
Field at Bakou,6 w hen suppressed in one plate, they
had but broken out with fresh flame in another; and,
as a na'ive of Cashmere, of I.hat fair and Holy Val-
ley, which had in the same manner became the prey
of strangL-rs,"' and seen her ancient shrines and native
princes sweut away belore the march of her intoler-
ant invaders", he felt a sympathy, he owned, with the
suli'erings of the persecuted Ghebers, wliich every
monument like Ihis before them but tended more
powertully to awaken.
It Wis the first time that Feramorz had ever ven-
tured upon so much j^rose before Fadladeen, and it
may easily be conceived what efleci such prose as
this must have produced upon that most orthodox and
most pagan-hat ing personage. He sat for some
minutes aghast, ejaculating only at intervals, " Bigot-
ed conquerors I — sympathy willi Fire-worshippers 1*8
— while Feramorz, happy to lake advantage of this
almost speechless horror ot the Chamberbiin, pro-
ceeded lo say that he knew a melancholy story, con-
nected with the events of one of those struggles of
the brave Fire-worshippers against their Arab mas-
6 "On les voit persecutes par les Khalifes se retirer
dans les monlagnes du Kerman: plusieurs choisirent
pour retraite la Taitarie el la Chine; d'autres
h'arreterent sur les bords du Gange, a Pest d»Uelhi."
~M. Anquclily Meinoires de I'Acadeu'ie, torn, xxx'u
p. 346.
1 " Cashmere (says its historians) had its own prin-
ces 4000 years before its conquest by Akbar in 1585.
Akbar would have fuund s'-me dilhculty to reduce
Ihis paradise of the Indie^^, situiled as it is viithin
such a fortress of mountains, but its monarch, Ynsef-
Khan, was basely betnyed by his Omiahs." — i'en
najit.
fl Voltaire tells us that in his TraRcdv, " Les Gue
bre-.," he was generally supposed to have alluded lo
the Jansenists. i should not besurpij-ed if this story
of the Fire-worshippers were found capable U a
similar doubleness of application.
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.
283
ters^ which, if the evening was not too far advanced,
he should have much ijleasure in being allowed lo
relate to the I'rincess. It was ini[jossiIjIe for Lalla
Kotikh to refuse ; — he had never before looked half so
aniiiiated ; and when he spoke of the Holy Valley, his
eves had sparkled, &he thoughl, like the talismanic
cnaraclers on the scimitar of Solomon. Her consent
was Iherefore most readily granted ; and while Fad-
ladecn sat in unspeakable dismay, expecting treason
and abomination in every line, the poet thus began
hii itory of the Fire-worshippers: —
THE FIRE- WORSHIPPERS.
»T is moonlight over Oman's Sea j i
Her banks of pe^rl and palmy isles
Bask in the night-beam beauteously,
And her blue waters sleep in smiles,
'Tis moonlight in Harmozia's « walls,
And through her Emir's por[ihyry halls,
Where, some hours since, was heard Hie swell
Of trumpet and the clash of zel,3
Bidding rhe bright-eyed sun farewell ;—
The peaceful sun. whnm better suits
The music of the bulbul s nesf,
Or the light touch of lo\er!,' lutes,
To sing him to his golden rest.
All hush'd — there 's not a breeze in motion;
The shore is silent as the ocean.
If zephyrs come, so light they come,
Nor leaf is slirrM nor wave is driven;—
The wind-tower oii the Emir's dome *
Can hardly win a breath from heaven,
Ev'n he, that tyrant Arab, sleeps
Calm, while a mijon round him weeps;
While curses h)ad the air he breathes,
And falchions from unnumberM sheaihs
Are smarting tn avenge the shmie
His race haih broueht on Iran'^s * name.
Hard, heartless Chief, unmovM alike
Mid eyes that vveep, and swords that strike ;—
One of that saintly, murderous brood,
To carnage and the Koran given.
Who think through unbelievers' blood
Lies their directest pii'h to heaven ;
One, who will pause and kneel unshod
In the warm blnod his hand hath pour'd,
To mutter o'er some 'ext of God
Engraven on his reeking sword ; 6 —
Nay, who can cooHy note the line,
The letter of ih"se words divine,
To which his blade, with searching art,
Had sunk into its viciiiirs heart 1
Just Alia ! what must be thy look,
When such a wretch before thee stands
Unblushing, with thy Sacred Hook, —
Turning the leaves with blood stainM hands,
And wresting from its page sublime
His creed of lust, and hate, and orime;—
Ev'n as thoae bees of Trebizond,
Which, from the sunniest flowers that glad
With their pure smile (he gardens round,
Draw venom forth that drives men mad.'
t The Persian Gulf, -nnietimes sn called, which
leparales the shores of Persia and Ar.ibia.
* The present Gombaroon, a town on the Persian
lideoftheG.ilf.
3 A Moorish instrument of music.
4 " At Gombaroon and other placei in Persia, they
have towers for the purpose "f catching the wind, and
cooling the houses " — Le Bruyn.
8 " Iran is ttie true general name for the empire of
Persia."— .^vtttf. Res. Disc. 5.
6 "On Ilia hladesof iheir scimitars some verse from
the Koran is usually inscribed." — RwiscJ,
Never did fierce Arabia send
A satrap forth more direly great:
Ne\er was Iran doom'd to bend
Beneath a yoke of deadlier weight.
Her throne had fall'n — her pride was cruah'd -
Her suns were willing slaves, uor blush'd,
In their own land,— no more their own, —
To crouch beneath a stranger's throne.
Her lowei-s, where Milhra once had buru'd.
To Moslem shrines — uh shame ! — were turned,
Where slaves, converted by the sword,
Their njean, apostate worship pour'd.
And curs'd the faith their sires ador'd.
Vet has she hearts, mid all this ill.
O'er all this wreck high buoyant still
With hope and vengeance;— hearts that yet
Like gems, in darkness, issuing rays
They 've treasur'd from the sun that »s set,—
Beam all the light of long lost days!
And swords she halh, nor weak nor slow
To second all such hearts can date;
As he shall ku-.w, well, de.rly know.
Who sleep" in moonlight luxury there,
Tranquil as if his spirit lay
Pecalm'd in Heav'n's approving ray.
Sleep on — for purer eyes than thine
Those waves are hush'd, those planets shine ;
Sleep on, and be thy rest unmov'd
By tlie white moonbeam's dazzling power;-
None but the loving and the lov'd
±>hould be awake at this sweet hour.
And see — where, high above those rocks
That o'er the deep (heir shadows Bin^,
Yon turret stands;— where ebon locks.
As flossy as a heron's wing
Upon the turban of a king,8
Hang from the lattice, long and wild,—
'T is she, that Emir's blooming child,
All truth and tenderness and grace,
Though born of such ungentle race ; —
An image of You'h's radiant Fountaia
Springing in a desolate mountain ! f
Oh what a pure and sacred tiling
Is Beauty, curlamM from the sight
Of (he gross world, illumining
One only mansion with her light!
Unseen bv man's disturbing eye, —
The flower that blooms beneath the sea,
Too deep for sunbeams, doth not lie
Hid in more chaste ob>curity.
So, Hiuda, have thy face and mind.
Like holy mysteries, fein enshrin'd.
And oh, what transport for a lover
To lift (he veil that shades them oer! —
Like those who, all at once, discover
In the lone deep soiue fairy shore,
Where mortal never trod before.
And sleep and wake in scented airs
No lip had ever breath'd but theirs.
Beautiful are the maids that glide.
On Bummer-eves, through Vemen's**" dales,
And bright the glancit g looks they hide
Behind their litters' roseate veils; —
And brides, as delicate and fair
As the while j.ismine flowers they wear,
1 "There is a kind of Rhododendros about Trebi-
zond, whose flowers the bee feeds upnn. and the honey
thence drives people mad "— Tonrncfort.
8 " Their kinss wear plume<i of black herons* fea-
thers upon the right side, as a badge of sovereignty." —
Haiiway.
s *' The Fountain of Youth, by a Mahometan tra-
dition, is silua'ed in some dark region of the East.*' —
Richardson,
10 Arabia Felix.
2S4
LALLA ROOKH.
Hath Yemen in her blissful clime,
Who, lulIM in coni kiosk cr bo\ver,»
Before their mirrors C"uitt the tirne,^
Auil grow B'lll lovelier every hour.
But never yet hath bride or maid
In Araby's gav Haram smil d.
Whose bnas'e^l brightnc'^s would not fade
Bifore Al HiissaiVs bloominsj child.
Li2ht as the angel shapes that bless
An infani's dream, yet not the less
Ri h In al! woman's loveliness; —
With eyes so pure, that from their ray
Dark Vice would turn abash'd away,
Blin-Jpd like serpems, when they gaze
Upon the emerald's virgin blaze : 3 —
Yet fill'd with alt youth's sweet clesires,
Mingling the meek and vestal fires
Of o'her worlds wiih all the tiliss,
The fond, weak tenderness of this:
**A soul, too, more than half divine,
Where, through some stiades of earthly feeling,
Religion's snf.en d glories shine.
Like light through -umnicr foliage stealing,
Shedding a glow of such mild hue.
So warm, and yet so shadowy too,
As makes the very darkness there
Morebeiuttful ih.n light elsewhere.
Such is the maid who, at this hour,
Hati! risen from her restless sleep,
And sits alone in that hieli lower,
Watching the still and shining deep.
Ah ! *t was not thus, — wi'h tearful eyes
And bea'ing heart, — she us'd to gaze
On the magnificent earth ami skies,
In her own land, in happier days.
Why lonks she now so anxious down
Among those rfcks, who^e rugged frown
BLtckeiis the mirror of the deep ?
Whom wai's she all this lonely night
Too rough I he rocks, too bold the steep,
F'.r man to scale that turret's height 1 —
And had it deck'd with costliest skill,
And fondly thought it safe as fair: —
So deem'd at least her Ihnughtful sire,
When hi?h, to ca'ch the cool night-air.
After the day-be.im'b withering fi e.<
He built her bower of freshness there,
1 " In the miHst of 'he earden is the chiosk, that is,
a large mom, conimonly beautified with a fine fountain
in the midjt of if. It is raided nine or ten steps, and
inclosed with gilded lafices, round which vines, jei-
s^imines, and honeysuckles, make a sort of green wall ;
large trees are pi nted round this place, which is the
scene of their greatest pleasures."— Z-arfy M. IV. Mon-
tagu*
^ The women of the East are never without their
looking-glasses. '-In Barbery," snys SAaio, "they are
so lond of iheir looking-^la-ses, which they hang upon
their breasts, that (hey will not lay them aside, even
when atter the drudgery of the day they are obliged to
go two or three miles with a pitcher or a goat's tkin
to fetch water." — Travels.
In other parts of Asia they wear litHe lookjng-glas'^es
on their thumbs. "Hence (and from the lotus being
considered the emblem of beauty) is the meaning of
the following mute intercourse of two lovers before
their p^^rents: —
"• He witli salute of riefercnce due,
A lutiis ti» hi« fi)rchead prest ;
She raiKM her mirror to his view,
Tlien lurn'U it iuwnrO to her breast."*
Asiatic Miscellany, vol. 11.
> '*They say that if a snake or serpent fix his eyes
on the lustre of those s'ones (emeralds), he immedi-
ately becomes blind." — Ahmed btn Aldalaziz, Trea-
• " At Gombaroon and the Isle r.f Ormus it is some-
times 80 hot, that the people are obliged to lie all day
in the water. ^—A/arco Pvlo* ^
Think, reverend dreamer! think so still.
Nor wake to learn what love can duvj^
Love, all-defying Love, who sees
No charm in trophies won with ease; —
Whose rtrest, dearest fruil> of bliss
Are pluck'd on Danger's precipice!
Bolder than they, who dare not dive
For pearls, but when the sea's at rest,
Love, in the tempest most alive,
Haih ever held that pearl the best
He finds benea'h the stormiest water.
Yes — Araby's unrivall'd daughter,
Though high that tov\er, that rock-way rude,
'I here 's one who, but to kiss thy cheek,
Would climb the' untrodden solitude
Of Ararat's tremendous peak,*
And think its steeps, though dark and dread,
Heav'n's pathways, if lo thee they led !
Ev'n now thou seest the flashing spray,
That lights his oar's impatient way ;
Ev'n now thou liear'st the sudden shock
Of his swift bark against the rock.
And strelcbest down thy arms of snow,
As if 10 lift him from l>elovv !
Like her to whom, at dead of ntght,
The bridegroom, with his locks of light,«
Came, in the flush of love and pride,
And scal'd the terrace of his bride ; —
When, as she saw him rashly spring.
And midway up in danger cling.
She flung him down her long black hair.
Exclaiming, breathless, * There, love, there I»
And scarce did manlier nerve uphtdd
The hero Zal in that fond hour,
Than wiugs the youtli who, fleet and bold,
Now climbs the recks to Hinda's bower.
See — light as up their granite steeps
The rock-goats of Arabia clamber,'
Fe.irless from crag to crag he le^tps.
And now is in the maiden's chaniber.
She loves — but knows not whom she loves,
Nor what his race, nor whence he came;
Like one who meets, in Indian groves,
Some beauteous bird witlmul a name,
Brought by the last ambrosial breeze,
From isles in the' undiscovei'd seas,
To show his plumage for a day
To wondering eyes, and wing away !
Will A« thus fly — her nameless lover?
Alia forbid ! 't was by a moon
As fair as this, while singing over
Some dilly to her soft Kanoon,8
* This mountain is generally supposed to be Snac-
ces4ble._ Siruy says, "I can well assure the reader
that their opinion is not true, who suppose this mount
to be inaccessible." He adds, that " the lower part of
the mountain is cloudy, misty, and dark, the middle-
most part very cold, and like clouds of snow, but the
upper reeions perfectly c^lm." — It was on this moun-
tain ihat the Ark v\as supposed to have rested after the
Deluge, and part of if, they say, exists there still,
which Struy thus gravely accnunts for: — '* Whereas
none can remember that the air on the top of (he hill
did ever change or was subject either lo wind or rain,
which is presumed lo be the reason that the Ark has
endured so long without being rotten."— See CnrrerVi
Travels, where the Doctor laughs at this whole ac-
count of Mount Ararat.
6 In one of the books of the Shah Nameh, tvhen Zal
(a celebrated hero of Persia, remarkable for bis white
hair.) comes to the ternce of his mistress Rodahver at
night, she lets down her long tresses to assist him in
his ascent; — he, however, manages it in a less ro-
maniic way by fixine hi^ crnok in a projecting beam."
— See ChampW7i^s Ferdosi,
' "On the lofty hills cf Arabia Pelrxa are rock-
goats.*' — Niebtthr.
• " Canum, espece de p'^alterion. avec des cordes de
boyaux; les dames en louchent dans ie serrail, avec
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.
285
Alniie, al this same wilchin? hour,
She first beheld his radiant eyes
Gleam llip>ugh the lattice of ihe bower,
Where liigli ly now ihey mix 'heir sighs;
And thoiishi SI me spirit of the air
(Kiir wh't could waft a mnrtal there?)
Was pauMUg on his moonlight way
To listen to tier lonely lav !
This fancy ne'er hath left her mind :
And — ihough, when terror's swoon had pas!,
She saw a \outh, of monal kind,
Before her in obeiHance ca^t, —
Yet often since, when he haih spoke
Strange, awful words,— and gleams have brokea
From his dark eyes, too bright to bear.
Oh ! she ha h fear'd her soul was given
To some unhallow'd child of air,
Some erring Spirit cast from heaven,
Like those angelic ynu hs of old,
Who burn'd for maids of mortal mouM,
Bewilder'J left the glorious skies.
And lost their heaven for woman's eyes.
Fond girl 1 nor hend nor angel he
Who woos thy young simpliciiy ; ,
Hut one of earth's impassiou'd sons.
As warm in love, as tieice in ire
As 'he best heart whose curreni runs
Full of the Day-God'., living fire.
But quench 'd to-night that ardour seem".
And pale his cheek, and sunk his Ijrow ;
Never before, but in her dreams,
Had she beheld him pale as now:
And those were dreams of troubled sleep.
From which 't was joy to wake and weep ;
Visions, th.l will not be forgot.
But sadden every waking scene.
Like warning ghosts, that Tcave tlie spot
All wiitier'd where they once have been,
" How sweetly," said the trembling maid.
Of lier own gentle voice afraid.
So long had thev in silence stood.
Looking upon that tianquil flood —
*' How sweetly does the moon-beam smile
'* To-night upon yon le.ify isle I
**Oft, in my fancy's wanderings,
•' I 've wish'd thai little isle had wings,
"And we, within its fairy bowers,
" Were wafted ott to seas unknown,
** Where not a pulse should beat but ours,
" And we might live, love, die alone !
"Farfr.)m the ciuel and Ihe cold, —
" Where the bright eyes of angels only
*' Should come around us, to behold
'*A paradise so pure and lonely.
" Would this be world enough for thee?"
Playful she lurn'd, th<t he might see
The passing smile her cheek put on ;
But when she mark d how mnurnfully
His e^es met hers, that smile was gone;
And, bursting into heart-felt lears,
" Ves, yes," she crii-d. * my hourly fears,
*' My dreams have boded all too right —
" We part — for ever part — lo-nighl I
*' 1 knew, I knew it could not last —
" 'T was bright, '1 was heavenly, but 't is past 1
"Oh ! ever thus, from childhood's hour,
•* 1 've seen my fondest hnpes dtcay ;
" 1 never lov'd a tree or flower,
" But 't w .8 Ihe first to fade away.
" I never nurs'd a dear gazelle,
"To glad me with its snfi black eye,
•' But when ii came to know me well,
" And love me, ii was sure to die !
"Now Ion — the joy most like divine
"Cf all I everdieiml or knew,
des decailles arinees de pointes de cococ."— Torfcnnt
tranalaitd ly De Couniand.
" To see thee, hear Ihee, call thee mine,—
" Oh misery ! must I lose that too ?
"Yel go— on peril's brink we meet; —
"Those frightful rocks — that treacherous sea
** No, never come again — though sweet,
" Though heaven, it may be death to thee.
" Farewell — and blessings on thv way,
" Where'er thou go st, beloved straiigerl
" Better to sit and wa:ch that ray,
"And think thee safe, though f,ir away,
" Thau have thee near me, and in danger !"
•' Danger ! — oh, tenipt me not to boast — "
The youih exclaim'd — "thou little knoWst
" What he can brave, who. born and uurst
" In Danger's jiaths, has dar'd her worst ;
"Upon whose ear the signal-word
"Of strife and death is hourly breaking;
•' Who sleeps with head upon the swnrd
" His fever'd hand must grasp in waking.
** Danger I — "
" Say on — thou fear'si not then
** And we may meet — oft meet again r"'
•' Oh ! look not so — beneath the skies
" 1 now fear nothing but tin se eyes.
" If aught on earth could charm or force
" My spirit from ils de-tin'd curse, —
"If aught could make this soul foiget
**The bond to which its seal is set,
" 'T would be those eyes ;— Ihey, only they,
" Could melt that sacied seal away !
" But no — 'I is fix'd — my awful doom
" Is fii'd — on this side of the tomb
" We meet no more; — why, why did Heaven
'• Mingle two souls that earth has riven,
" Has rent asunder wide as ours ?
"Oh, Arab maid, as soon the Bowers
"Of Light and Daikness may combine,
" As 1 be iink'd with thee or Ihme !
"Thy FaUier "
"Holy Alia save
" His grey head from that ligtitning glance !
"Thou kiiow'st him not — ne loves the brave;
*' Nor lives there under heaven's expanse
"One who would prize, would worship thee
" Aiid thy bold spirit, more than he.
"Oft when, in childhood, I have play'd
" With Ihe bright f.lchion by his side,
•'I 've heard him siiear his lisping maid
"In time should be a warrior's bride,
"And siill. whene'er at Haram hours,
"I take him col sherbets and tlowers,
" He 'ells nie, when in plavful niood,
"A oeio shall my brideg com be,
" Since maids are besi in ijal'le woo'd,
•'Aid won wiih sliohis of victory I
**Nay, turn not from me — thou alone
" Art forni'd to make both hearts thy own.
uGo — join his sacred ranks — thou know'st
" The' u: holy strife these Persians wage: —
"Good lleav'n, that frown !— even now tliouglow'st
" Willi more than mortal warrior's rage.
"Haste 10 the camp hy morning's light,
" And, when that swoid 's rais'd in fight,
*'0h still remember, Love and I
'■ Beneath its shadow trembling lie !
"One victory o'er those Slaves of Fire,
" '1 hose impious Ghebers, whom my sire
"Abhors "
" Hold, hold — thv words are death—"
The s'ranger cried, as wild he flung
His mantle back, and show'd hcnea'h
The Gheber belt hat round him clung.'—
t "They (the Ghebers) lay so much stress on their
cushee or girdle, as not to dare to be an instant with-
out It." — CJrosf's Voyage. — "l.e jeune homnie nia
d'abord la chose; mats, ayant eie ilepouille de sa
r>^e, et la large ceinture qu'il poitoit conin.e Ghebr,"
286
LALLA RO.OKH.
" Here, maiden, look — weep - blush to see
" All lliat thy sire aUiors in me !
II Yes — / am of thit impious race,
"Those Slaves of Fne »ho, morn and even,
" Hail Ihejr Cresloi's d>vcllin?-i.lace
" Among Ihe livin? I.ghis ol heaven : »
li yes — 7 am of thai oulcasl lew,
" 'lo Iran and lo vengeance true,
. Who curse Ihe hour your Arabs came
"T" Hisola e oui shrines of Uame,
'• Ai.il s«ear, before Ood's Luruiug eye,
"To break our country's chains, or die.
"Thy bieot sire,— nay, lieinble noi,—
" He who gave binh lo ihose dear eyes,
"Willi' me is sacred as the spot .
"From which our lires of wor'h'P ■'•se !
'• But know - 't was he 1 sought that night,
" When, from my watch-boat on [lie sea,
" I caught this turret's glimmering light,
"And up Ihe lude rocks despeialely
" Ru^h'd to my piey — thou know'st the rest —
"1 ciimb'd the gory vullure's net,
" Aud found a trembling dove wilhin ; —
"'fhiue, thine Ihe victory — thine the sin —
" If Love ha'h made one thought his own,
" That Vengeance claims first — last — alone 1
'• Oh : had we never, never met,
" Or could this heailev'n now iorget
" How link'd, how bles='d we might have be«n,
"Had fate not frown'd sodaik between I
"Hadst thou been horn a Persian maid,
" In neighbouring valleys had we dwell,
" Through the same fields in childhood play'd,
" At the same kindling aliar knell,—
" Then, then, while all those nameless ties,
"In which the charm of Counlry lies,
" Had round our hearts been hourly spun,
"Till Iran's cause ani thine were one;
" While in thy lule's awakening Mgh
" I heard the voice of days gone by,
" And saw, in every smile ot thine,
" Returning hours of glory shine ;
"While Ihe wrong-d Spirit of our Land
"Liv'd, look'd, and spoke her wrongs through
" God ! who could then this sword withstand ?
" l,s very flash were victory !
" Bui now — estrang'd, divorc'd for ever,
" Far as the grasp of f ale can sever ;
&c kc.-D'Herbdot, art. Agduani. "Pour se dis-
linguer des Idolaires de I'Inde, lesGuebres se ceignenl
lous d'un cordon de laine, ou Je poll de chauieau." —
EnCMCloftdie Francoise. „ , ,
U'Herbelul says ihis belt was generally of lea-
ther.
I "They suppose the Throne of ilie Almighiy is
seated in Ihe sun, and hence their worship nf Ihal
luminary " — //0'i«"i!/- ■*' '° "'^' '"' Ohebers
place Ihe spring-head of it in that globe of fire, the
Sun by Iheni called Mythras, or Mihir, to which
Ihey pay Ibe highest reverence, in g.aulude for the
manifold benefits flowing from its minisleriil omni-
science. But they are so far from confounding ihe
siib.irdination of Ihe Servant with the majesty of its
Creator, that they not only attribute no sort of seme
or reasoning lo the sun or lii;e, in any of its opera-
tions, but consider it as a purely pasMve blind instru-
meni, directed aud governed bv Ihe imniediale im-
pre-s'on on it of ihe will ot God; but they do not
even give that luminary, all-glonous as it is, m"re
than Ihe second rank amongst his works, reserving
Ihe first (or that stupendous producli.n of divine
,«wer Ihe mind of man."-tt>o«. 1 he false charges
brought against the religion of these people by their
Mussulman tyrants is but one prof among many of
the trnlh of this writer's remark, that "calumny is
often added lo oppression, if but for the sake of jusli-
fyi"« '>•" .^_^_
"Our only ties what love lias wove,--
"In tai'h, friends, country, sunder'd widej
"And then, then only, true 10 love,
" W hen false lo all thai 's dear beside!
"Thy lather Iran's deadliest foe —
" Thyself, perhaps, ev'ii n.-w — but no —
" Haie never look'd so lovely yel 1
..i\o — sacred lo Ihy soul will be
" The land of him who could forget
"All but that bleeding land lor lliee.
"When other eyes shall see, unmov'd,
" Her widows mourn, her warriors tall,
" Thou 'It think how well one Gheber lov'J,
" And (or Ms sake thou 'It weep lor all 1
" But look " , , , ,^ . , ,
With sudden start he lurn'a
And nointed to the distant wave,
Where'lights, like charnel meteors, bum'd
Bluely, as o'er some seaman's grave ;
And tiery darts, at intervals,'^
Flew up all sparkling from the main,
As if each star thai nightly falls.
Were shooting back to heaven again.
"My signal lights! — 1 must away —
" Bolh, both are ruin'd, if I stay.
" Farewell — sweet life ! thou cling'st in vam-
"Now, Vengeance, I am thine again !"
Fiercely he broke away, nor slopp'd.
Nor look'd— bul from ihe lattice dropp'd
Down mid Ihe pointed crags beneath.
As if he fled from love to death.
While pale and mute young H iiida stood,
Nor mov'd, till in Ihe silent flood
A mi nientary plunge below
Startled her from her trance of woe ; —
Shrieking she to the lattice flew,
•' 1 come — 1 come — if in that tide
"Thou sleep'sl to-night, 1 'II sleep there too,
"In death's cold wedlock, by Ihy side.
"Oh ! 1 would ask no happier bed
" Than the chill wave my love lies under j
" Sweeter lo rest together dead,
" Far sweeter, than lo live asunder!*
But no — their hour is not yel come —
Again she sees his pinnace fly.
Wafting him fleetiv to his home.
Where'er that ili-siarr'd home may lie;
And calm and smooth it seeni'd to win
Its moonlight way before the wind,
As if il bore all peace wilhin,
Nor left one breaking heart behind 1
The Princess, whose heart was sad enough already,
could have wished that Feramorz had chosen a less
melancholy siory ; as it is only to Ihe happy that tears
»re a luxury. Her Ladies, however, were by no
means si.rry that love was once more the Poet s
theme: for, whenever he spoke of love, they said, his
voice was as sweet as if he had chewed the leaves of
that enchanted tree, which grows over the tomb of
the musician, TanSein.3
Their rad all Ihe morning had lain through a very
dreary counlry ;-through valleys, covered wilh a low
f fiery
3 resembled
the
5 "The Mameluks that
when il ivas dark used to shoot up a
anows into the air which in some nieasi
lightning or falling 8tais.'' — iiaurng-arteu.
3 "Within Ihe enclosure which surrounds this mo-
nument (al Gualior) is a small tomb lo the memory of
Taii-Sein, a musician of incomparable skill, who
flourished at the court of Akbar. The tomb is over,
shadowed by a tree, concerning which a superstitious
notion prevails, that Ihe chewing of lis leaves will
give an extraordinary melody lo the voice."- -AfniTO-
hve of a Journey from Jigra to Ouzein, by W. Hun-
ter, £>q. _
THE FIRE-WORSHIP PERS.
2a7
bushy junffle, where in more than one place, the
awful >ii;nal of the bamboo htatf,* wilh the white fla^
at lis top, remindfd the traveller that, in that very
spot, the tiger ha<] made honie human creature his
7ictim. It was, Ihetetore, with much pleasure that
Iheynrrivetl at sunset in a safe and luvely t;len, and
jncimped under one of thnse holy tree», whot.e sinrmih
coluiiii.s and spreading roofs seem to destiiiC Ihrm (or
ii:»hT;il ttMiipUs of religion. Beneith this spacious
bh.idc-, ^^)M1L■ |)i us h;inJsh'd erected a row of pillars
(irnaiiifiMfd u ilh the moit heau'iful porcelain,^ which
nrtvv su)t;.hed ih* use of mirrors to ihe ymn^ maidens,
as they aljus ed Iheir hair in descendirif; from the
palankeens. Here, while, as usual, the Frinciss saf
listeninnC anxiously, with Fadladeen in one of Lis
loftiest moods of criticism by her side, the yotng
Poet, leaning against a branch of the tree, thus con-
tinued hi» story : — •
The morn hath risen clear and calm,
And n'er the Green Sea 3 palely shines,
Revealing Rahiein's* groves of palm,
And lighting Kishina's * amber vines.
Fresh smell the shores of Araby,
While breezes from the Indian sea
Blow round Selwn.i's!^ sainted cape.
And curl the sliinin? t1*iod benea'h, —
Whose waves are rich with many a grape,
And cocoa-nut and flowery wreath,
Which pious seamen, as tfiev [ ass'd,
Had tow'rd that holy hea^lland Cast-
Oblations to Ihe Genii there
F'>r gentle skies and breezes fair !
The nightingale now bends her flight «
From the high trees, where all the nisht
She sung so sweet, with none to listen;
And hides her fruin the morning star
Where thickets of pomegranate glisten
In the clear dawn, — bespangled o'er
With dew, whose night-drcps wuuld not stain
The best and bri^lites' scimi ar t
That ever youlliful Sultan wore
On the first morning of his reign.
» " It is usual topl.ice a small white triangular flap,
fixed to a bamboo stalF of (en or twelve feet loiig. at
the place where a tiger has destroyed a man. It is
common for the passens^ers also to throw each a s'one
or brick near the spot, so that in the course of a little
time a pile equil to a good wagon-load is collected.
The sight of these (lags and piles of s'ones imparts a
certain melancholy, not peihans altogether void of
apprehension. "' — 'JncH/a/ Fidd Sj.'orts, vol. ii.
a "The Ficus Indica is railed the P god Tree and
Tree of Councils : the (i<st, from the td'ds placed
under its shade; the second, because meetings wete
held under its cool hrancht-s. In some places it is
believed to be the haunt of spectres, as Ihe ancient
spreading oaks of Wales have been of furits; in
others are erected beneath Ihe shade pillars of stone,
or posts, elegantly carved, and ornamented uith the
most beautiful porcelain to supply the Ube ttf mirrors.'*
— Pennant.
a The Persian Gulf. — "To dive for pearls in the
Green Sea. or Persian Gulf."— Sit W. Jones,
■» hiandsin ihe Gulf.
fi Or Sflemeh, the genuine name of 'he headland at
Ihe enrance of the Gulf, commonly called Cape Mus-
seldoni. *' The Indims, when Ihi-y pa-s 'he pronion-
tor", throw cocoa-nuts fruits, or flowers intu the sea,
to secure a propiiinus voyage,"— Morier.
« "The nightingale sings frnnn the pomegranate-
groves in the day-time, and from the loftiest trees at
night."— RvssePs Aleppo.
1 Id 81 eaking of the climate of Shiraz, Francklin
myt, " Tlie dew is of such a pure nature, that if the
And sec — the Sun himself ! — on wings
Of glory up the East he springs.
Angel of Light ! who from the time
Those heavens began their imrch sublime^
Hath tirst of all ihe starry cho r
Trod in his Maker's steps of (ire!
Wlit-re are the da\s, thou wondrous sphere,
When Iran, like a ?un-Hower, turn'd
To iiieei ih,*t eye wheie'er it Imrn'd ?^
Whtn, fiom Ihe bu.ks of Pendemeer
To ttie nul-grt-ve of Samarcand,
Thy temples Can.'d o'er ^M the land?
Wheie are they? ask the shades of Ihem
Who, on Ciidesia'sB bloody plains,
Saw lietce invaders pluck Ihe gem
From Iian's brokt-n diadem,
And bind her ai cient faith in chains: —
A^-k the po/>r exite, cast alone
On f reign shores, unlov'd, unknown,
Beyond Ihe Caspian's Iron Gates,**
Or on the stio vy Mossiaii mountains,
Far from his beauieous land of dates,
Her jasmine bowers and sunny fouutainsi
Yet happier so than if he trod
His own belov'd, but blighted, sod,
Beneath a despot stranger's nod ! —
Oh. he would rather houseless roam
Where Freedom and his God may lead,
Than be the sleekest slave at home
That crouches to the conqueror's creed !
Is Irin's pride then gone for ever,
Quencli'd wjih ihe flame in Mithra's caves? —
No — she has sons, that never— never —
Will stoup to be the Moslem's slaves.
While heaven has light or earth has graves —
Spirits of (ire, that brood not long,
But flash resentment back for wrong j
And hearts where, slow but deep, the seeds
Of vengeance ripen into deeds.
Till, in some treacherous hour of calm,
They burs', like Zeilan's giant palm,*©
Whose buds fly open with a sound
That shakes the pigmy forests round !
Yes, Emir I he, who scal'd ihat lower.
And, had he reach'd thy slumbering breast.
Had taught thee, in a Ghehei's power
How safe evn tyrant heads may rest-
Is one of many, brave as he,
Who loathe ihy haughty race and thee;
Who, though 'hey know the strife is vain,
Who, though they know the riven chain
Snaps but to enter in the heart
Of hint who rends its links apart,
Yel dare the issue.— blest to be
Fv'n for one bleeding moment free
And die in pangs of liberty !
Thou know'st ihem well — *t is some moons since
Thy luiban'd troops and blood-red flags,
Thnii satrap of a bigot Prince,
Have swarm'd among these Green Sea crags;
Yet here, ev'n here, a sacred baud
Ay, in the portal of that land
brightest scimitar should be exposed to it all night, il
would not receive ihe least rust."
" The place where ihe Persians were fiiiaiy de-
feated by the Arabs, and their ancient monarchy de-
stroyed,
9 Derbend. — '* Les Turcs appellent ceMe ville De-
mir Capi, por'e de Fer ; ce LOnt les Casjiiae Portse des
anciens."— fl/ftrKZot.
»0The Talpot or Talipot tree. "This benitiful
palm-tree, which grows in the heart >f the foiests,
may be classed aniong the loftiest trees, and becomes
still higher when on the point of bnrsting forth from
its leafy ?umniif. The sheath which then envelopes
the flow'tr is very large, and, whfn it bursts, makes
an explosion like the report of a cannon," — Thu7i'
berg.
288
LALLA ROOKH.
Thou, Arab, dar^st to call tliy own,
Their spears across ihy path have thrown
Here — ere the winds half-win^'d ihee o'er—
Rebelliyit bravM thee ivom the shore.
Kehellinn ! foul, di^honouniig word,
VVhnse wrnugful blighi so uf- has stain'd
The holiest cause ihat tongue or sword
Ul mortal evei- lost or gaiti*d.
How many a spiiir, born to bless,
Halh sunk bKueath Ihat withering name,
Whnm but a day^e, an hour's success
Had walled to eternal tame !
As exhalations, when they burst
Froni Ihe warm earlh, if chiil'd at first,
If check'd in soannt; from the [.lain,
Darken lo fogs and si[ik a2;ain ; —
But, if they once triumphant spread
Their wings above Ihe mountain-head,
Becme euthron'd in upper air,
And turn to suu-bright glories there !
And who is he, that wields the micht
Ut Freedom on the Green Sea brink,
Befoie uhtise sabre's dazzling light*
The eyes of Yemen's warriors wink ?
Who conies, embower'J in ihe spears
Of Kermau's hardy mountaineers? —
Those mountaineers that trues', last.
Cling to heir country's ancient rites,
As if that God, whose eyelids cast
Their closing gleam on Iran's heights,
Aniong her snowy mountains threw
The last light of his worship too!
'T is Hafed — name of fear, whose sound
Chills like the mutternig of a charm I
Shout but Ihat awful name around,
And palsy shakes the manliest arm.
'T is Hafed, most accurs d and dire
(So rank'd by Moslem hate ar.d ire)
Of all Ihe rebel Sous of Fire;
Of wtiose malign, tremendous power
The Arabs, at their niid-walch hour,
Such tales of fearful wonder tell,
That each atirighled sentinel
Pulls down his cou! upon his eye«,
Lest Hafed in the midst should rise!
A mrin, they say, of monstrous birth,
A mingled race of flame and ear h,
Sprung from those old. encliauied kiugs,^
Who i'l their fairy helm*, nf yore
A fealher from the mystic wings
Of the Simr-or^h resistless wore;
And gified by the Fiends nf fire.
Who groan'd to see their shrines expire,
With ctiarms that, all in vain withstood.
Would drown the Koran's light in blood
Such were (he tales, Ihat won belief,
And such the colouring Fincy gave
To a young, warm, and dauntless Chief,
One who, no more than m Ttal brave,
Fonaht fnr the land his soul ador'd,
For happy hmnes and altars free, —
His only talisman, ihe sword.
His only spell-word, Liberty!
One of that ancient hero line,
AIntiif whose gh.rious current shine
Names, that have smcified their blood ;
As Lebanon's shiaLl mountain-flood
I *• When Ihe bright elmitars make Ihe eyes of our
heroes wink."— T/ie Muallahat^ Poem of Amru.
^Tahmuras, and other ancient Kings of Persia;
vhose adventures in Fairy-lmd among Ihe Peris ,ind
)ives m^y be found in Rich-.rdson's curious Diseerta-
ion. The grKJin Simoorgh, they siy, took seme fea-
ht-rs frnrn her bre;i8l f)r Talimur..s. with winch he
uiorned his helmet, and tranKmitted them af erwards
I tc his descendants.
Is rendered holy by the ranks
Of sainted cedars on its banks.3
'T was not for him to crouch the knee
Tamely to Moslem tyranny ;
'T was not for him, whose souI was cast
In the bright mould of ages past,
Whose melancholy spirit, fed
With all the gl-ries of the dead.
Though fram'd for Iran's happiest years,
Waa born among her chains and tears I —
'T w.is not for him to swell the crowd
Of slavish lieads, that shrinking bow'd
Before the Moslem, as he pass'd,
Like shrubs beneath the poison-blast —
No — far he fled— indignant fled
I he page.int of his cuunlry's shame;
While every (ear her children shed
Fell on his soul like drops of flame;
And, as a Inver hails the dawn
Of a first smite, so welcnm'd he
The sparkle of the first sword drawn
For vengeance aud for liberty 1
But vain was valour — vain the flower
Of Herman, in ihat dealhful hour,
Against Al Hassan's whelming power.—
In vain they met him, helm to helm,
Upon the threshold of that realm
He C'me in bigot pomp to sway,
And wiih their corpres block'd his way —
In vain — for every lance they rais'd.
Thousands around the conqueror blaz'd ;
For every arm that lin'd their shore,
Myriads (.f staves were wafted o'er, —
A bloody, bold, and countless crowd,
Before who^e swarm as fast they bow'd
As dates beneath the locust clou^.
There s'ood — butone short league away
From old Harmozia's sultry bay —
A rocky mountain, o'er the Sea
Of Oman beetling awfully j4
Alastandsolitaiy link
Of those stupendous chains that reach
Friim the broad Caspian's reedy brink
Down winding to the Green Sea beach.
Around its ba-e the bare r-'cks stood,
Like naked giants, in the flood.
As if to guard (he Gulf across ;
While, on its peak, that br.iv'd the sky,
A riiin'd Temple tower'd, so high
Thai oft the sleeping albatross*
Struck the wild ruins with her wing.
And from her cloud-rock'd slumbering
3Thi^
li, is called the Holy
among which it ri^es.
t, says Dandii
River from the "cedar-saints''
In the Z^ttres Edijiaiites, ihere is ;i different cause
assigned for its name of Holy. " In these are deep
caverns, which formerly served as so many cells for a
great number of recluses, who had chosen these re-
treats as the only witnesses upon earth of the severity
of their penance. The tears of these pious penitents
gave the river of which we have just treated the
name of the Holy River."' — See Chateaubriand's
Beauties of Christianity.
< This mnuntain is my own creation, as the '* stu-
pendous cliain " of which I suppose it a link, does not
extend qiji'e so far as the shores of the Persian Gulf.
•' I his long and Icfly range of mnuntains formerly di-
vided Meilia from Assyria, and nov^ forms Ihe boun-
dary of Ihe Persian and Tuikish empires. It ruLi
parallel with the river Tigris ind Persian Gulf, and
almost disafipearing in the vicini'y of Gomberoon
(Harmnzia) st-ems once nmre to rise in the southern
disliicis of Kerman. and following an easterly i
thiou^h the centre of Meckraum and Balouchistan, is
eniirtly lost in the deseils of Hinde."— Kimiierh Per*
sianEn.pire.
* Theve birds sleep in the air. They are most com
mon about the Cape of Good Hope,
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.
289
started — to find man's dwelling there
III her own silent tiflds of air !
ilfiieatli. tirritic ctveri s srave
Daik welcome lo each sioriiij- wave
'Ihal ilaslid, like mid.ighl revellers, iii; -
And such Ihe slraii.!;e, iiuslerious din
At times ihroti^hnut ihnstv caverns roll'd,—
And >uch Ihe tearful wonders told
(If res'less 5|irilcs iniprisoii'J there,
'J hal tinlij vvL-re Mdslein, who would dare,
Al luihslit hour, to sicer his skill'
llciieaili tlie Ghcber's lonely clili'.'
On the land side, those lowers sublime,
That seenl'd above the gras[) of Time,
Were sever'd from the haunts of men
Hj- a widcj deep, and wizard glen,
So fathomless, so full of gloom,
No eye could pierce the void between:
It seem d a place where Clholes niigh' come
Willi their foul banquets fiom the tomb,
And in its caverns feed unseen.
Like distant thunder, from below.
The sound of many torrents came,
Too deep for eye or ear to know
If 't were the sea's imprison'd flow,
Or floods of ever restless tlanie.
For, each ravine, each rocky spire
Of tlial vast mountain stood on hre ;
And, though for ever past Ihe days
When God was worshipp'd in the blaze
That from its lofty allar shone,—
Thiuiih lied Ihe priests, the votaries gone,
.Still did the mighty flame burn on,3
Through chance and change, through good and ill,
Like lis own God's eternal will,
Deep, constant, bright, unquenchable 1
Thither Ihe vanquish'd Hafed led
His little armv's last remains; —
'• Welcome, ternfic glen !" he said,
"Thy gloom, that Kblis'self might dread,
" Is Hrav'u lo Him who Hies from chains 1"
O'er a dark, narrow bridge-way, known
To him ai.d lo his Chiefs alone.
They cross'd the chasm and gain'd Ihe towers, —
*' This home," he cried, " at least is ours ; —
'* Here we may bleed, unmock'd by hymns
" Of Moslem triumph o'er our head ;
"Here we may fall, nor leave our limbs
*' To quiver lo Ihe M' slem's iread.
" Slrelch'd 00 this rock, while vultures' beaks
'* Are wheltcd on our yet warm cheeks,
*' Here — happy that no tyrant's eye
"Gloals on our torments — we may die!" —
'T was night when to those towers they came.
And glnomily the fitful flame,
' "There is an ex'raordinary hill in this neighbour-
hood, called Kobe Gubr, or Ihe Guebre's mriunlaiii.
It rises in Ihe form of a lofty cupola, and on ihe suin-
aiit of it, lliey say, are Ihe remains of an Alush Kudu
or Fire Temple It is siiperstilinusly held lo be the
residence of Ueeves or Sprites, and many marvellous
Holies are reciunted of the injurv and w'ilchcrafl suf-
fered by those who essayed in former diys lo ascend
or explore it."—yottingtr's BeloochiMan.
» The Ghebers generally built their temples over
subterraneous fires.
» " Al Ihe city of Yezd, in Persia, which is di^lin-
gu-hed by Ihe appellation of ihe Darub Abadut, or
Sell of Religion, the Guelires are pcrmilted lo have an
Alush Kudu r.-r Fiie lemple (which, they asserl, has
had Ihe sacred fire in it since Ihe days I'f Zoroaster) in
their own corop.arlment of the citv j but for this indul-
gence Ihey are indebted to the avarice, not the toler-
ance of the Persian governmenl, w Inch taxes them al
Uvenly-five rupees each amu" — Pottinser'i Beloo-
ch Stan.
That from the ruin'd allar broke.
Glared on his fealures, as he spoke: —
*"T is o'er — what men could do, we've done-
" If Iran will look lamely on,
" And see her priests, her warriors driven
"Before a sensual bigot's nod,
"A wretch who stirines his lusts in Iieaven,
"And maki-s a pander of his God ;
" If her proud sois, her h:gl;-born s..uls,
•■ .Men, in who-e veins -oh lasl disgrace!
" 'Ihe hlood of Zal and Ruslain ' rolls,-
" If they will court this npF art race,
"And turn froni Miihras ancieni ray,
" To kneel at shrines of yesterday j
" If thev wiU crouch to Iran's foes,
" Why, lei Iheni— till Ihe land's despair
" Cries out (n Heav'n, and bondage grows
" Too vile for ev'n ihe vile to bear !
" Till shame at last, long hidden, burns
" Their inmost core, and conscience turns
" Kaeh coward tear Ihe slave lets fall
" Back on his heart in drops of gall.
"But here, al least, are arms unchain'd,
" And souls that thraldom never slain'u ; —
" 'I his spot, al least, no foot of slave
*' Or satrap ever yet profaned ;
"And Ihougli but few — though fast the wave
" Of life is ebbing from our veins,
" Eiioush for vengeance slill remains.
"As panthers, after set of sun,
" Rush from Ihe rnois of Lebanon
" Across Ihe daik-sea robber's way,B
" We'll bound upon our startled prey ;
"And when some heails that proudest swell
" Have fell our falchion's lasl farewell ;
" When Hope's expiring lhr..b is o'er,
" And ev'n Despair can prompt no more,
" I'his spot shall be the sacieil grave
"Of the lasl few who, vainly brave.
" Die for Ihe land Ihey cannot save !"
His Chiefs stood round — each shining blade
Upon the broken allar laid —
And though so wild and desnla'e
Those ciiur s, where once ihe Mighty sa'e:
Nor longer on lho,e mouldeiii g towers
Was seen the feast of fruits and flowers.
With which of old the Magi fed
The wandering Spirits of their Dead ; "
Though neilher priest nor rites were there,
Nor charmed leaf of pure pnmegianate ; ^
Nor hymn, nor censer's fragrant air,
Nor symbol of their worsliipji'd planet j 8
"i'ct Ihe same God that heard their sires
Heard lliem, while on that altar's fires
* Ancieni heroes of Persia. " Among Ihe Guebres
there are some, who boast their descent from Rus-
tani." — atep/icn^s Persia.
s See Russel's account of (he panther's attacking
travellers in the night on Ihe sea-shore about the roots
of Leb.inon.
6 " Among olher ceremonies the M.igi used to place
upon Ihe tops of hisli towers various kinds of rich
viands, u[ion which it was supposed Ihe Peiis and the
spiri:s of their departed heroes regaled themselves." —
Kichardion.
■I In the ceremonies of Ihe Ghebers round their
File, as described bv Lord, "the Daroo " he s»\8.
"givetli them water to drink, and a poniegraiiale leaf
to chew in the moulli, to cleanse them from inward
uiicleanness,"
8 "Early in the morning, thev (Ihe Parsees or
Ghebers al Oulani) go in crowds io pav their devo-
tions to Ihe Sun. lo whom upon all the alias Iheieare
spheres coiisecra'ed, made by niagic, lesemhliMg Ihe
circles of Ihe sun, and when ihe sun ri es, these orbs
seem to be ilifl.imed, and lo turn round with a great
noise. They have every one a ci-nsir in llieir tiands,
and offer incense lo the su.i."— Itabii llciijanun.
25
290
LALLA ROOKH.
They sworei the latest, ho'ieat deed
Of the few hearts, siilt lef to bleed,
Should be, in Ir.in's iiijur'd name,
To die upon dial Moun; of Flame
The list of all l;tr ( atnol Ime,
Before her last untrampled Shrine !
Brave, suiVering souls ! they Utile knew
How i)iai;y a icar (heir iujuries drew
From one n.etk maid, ont gentle foe.
Whom love hii>t touch'd with others' woe
Whose hfc, as free Iron, llKuight a^ siu
Slept like a lake, till Love threw ia
His laliMiian, and w ke the tide,
And spre.id its treiiihling circles wide.
Once, Kmir ! thy unheeding child,
Mid all this havoc, bloomd and smiPd,
Tranquil a^ on some battle plain
The Persian lily shines and towers,*
Before the combat's reddening stain
Hath fall'n upon her golden flowers.
Light-hearted niaid, unaw'd, unmovM,
While Heav'n but spar'd the sire she lov'd,
Once at thy evening tales of blood
Unlistening and aloiif she siond —
And oft, when thou hast pac'd along
Thy Haram halls with furious heat,
Hast thou not cnrs'd her cheerful song,
That came across thee, calm and sweet,
Like lutes of angels, touch'd so neai
HelTs confines, that the damu'd cau beari
Far other feelings Love hath brought —
Her soul all flame, her biow all sadness,
She now has but the one dear thought,
And thinks (hat o'er, almost to madness !
Oft doth her sinking heart recall
His woids — " for my salie weep for all ;"
And bitterly, as day on day
Of rebel carnage fast succeeds,
She weeps a lover snatch'd away
In every Ghebcr wretch that bleeds.
There 's not a sabre meets her eye,
But with hi> life-blood seems lo swim ;
There's not an arrow wines the sky,
But fancy turns its point to him.
No more she brings with foots ep light
Ai Hassan's falchion for the figh' ;
And — had he look'd with clearer sight,
Had not the mists, ihat ever rise
From a foul spirit, dimm'd hU eyes —
He would have mark'd her shuddering frame.
When from the field of blood he came,
The faltering speech— the look estrang'd —
Voice, step, and life, and lieauly chang'd —
He would have markM all this, and known
Such change is wrought by Love alone!
Ah ! not the Lnve, that should have bless'd
So young, so innocent a breast ;
Not the pute, open, prosperous Love,
That, pleJii'd on earh and sealM above.
Grows in the world's approving eyes,
In friendship's smile and home's caress,
Collecting all the heari'> sweet ties
Into one knot of happiness!
No, Hinda, no.— thy fatal flame
Is nun.'d in silence, sorrow, sliame;—
A passion, without hope or pleasure,
In rhy soul's darkness buried deep,
It lies, like sonie ill-ffntten treasure,—
Some idol, without shrine or name,
O'er which its pale-ey'd votaries keep
Unholy watch, while others &leep.
« "Nul d'entreeur nseroit se parjurer, quand il a
jris a temnin cet element terrible ct vengeur."— £n.
cyclopedie Francoise
4 **A vivid verdure succeeds the autuninal rains,
and the ploughed fields are covered with the Persian
lilv, of a resplendent yellow co\our,~- Kiissel's Aleppo.
Seven oights have darken'd Oman's sea,
Since last, beneath the moonlight ray,
She saw his light oar rapidly
Huriy her Oheber s bark away,—
And slill bhe goes, a! midnight hour,
'Jo weep alone in that hi^h buwer,
And wach, and look along the deep
For hint whose smiles (irsi made her weep j^
But ualching, weeping, all was vain,
She never saw his baik again.
'J'he owlet's solitary cry,
The night-hawk. Hilling darkly by,
And ott the hateful carrion bud,
Heavily Happing his clogg'd wing,
Which reek d with that dajS banqueting
Was all she saw, was all she heard.
'T is the eighth morn — Al Ha,san's brow
Is brighlen'd with unusual joy —
What mighty mischief glads him now,
Who never smiles but to destroy ?
The sparkle upon Herkend's Sea,
When toss'd at midnight furiously ,3
Tells not of wreck and ruin nigh,
More surely than that smiling eye !
" Up, daughter, up — the KernaN * breath
»* Has blown a blast would waken death,
*' And yet Ihou sleep st — up, child, and see
" This blessed day for Heaven and me,
'*A day more rich in Pagan blood
*'Than ever BashM o'er Oman's flood.
** Before anotlier dawn ?hall shine,
" His head — heart — limbs— will all be mioo*
**This very night his blood shall steep
*' I'hese hands all over ere J sleep 1" —
" His blood I" she faintly scieam'd — her mind
Still singling 07ie from all mankind —
*' Yes — spite of his ravines and lowers,
" Hafed, my child, this night is ours.
"Thanks lo all-conquering treachery,
" Without wht'se aid the links accurst,
"That bind Ihe^e impious slue?, would be
"Too strong for Alla's self lo burst !
" That rebel fiend, whose blade has i^pread
" My path with piles of Moslem dead,
** Whose baffling spells had almost driven
"Bick from their course the Swords of Heaven,
" This niKht, with all his band shall know
" How deep an Arab's s;eel can go,
** When God and Vengeance speed the blow.
" And — Prophet ! by that holy wreath
"'ihou wor'st on tJhod's field of death,*
" I swear, for every sob that parts
" In anguish from these heathen heaits,
"A gem from Persia's plunder'd mines
•' Shall glitter on thy Shrine of Shrines.
" But, ha ! - she sinks — that hxk so wild —
"lliose livid lips— my child, my child,
"This life of bl lod befits not Ihee,
"And Ilmu must back lo Araby.
'• Ne'er had I risk'd ihy timid sex
*' In scenes that man hiniself might dread,
*' H id I not hop'd our every tread
" Would be on prostraie Persian necks —
"Curst race, they cfler swords instead !
" But cheer thee, maid,— the w ind that now
" Is blowing o'er thy feverish brow,
3 "It is observed, with respect to the Sea of
Herkend, that when it is los-ed by lempestuoiw
winds it sparkles like fire." — Trauefj of Two Mo-
hajnmedans*
4 A kind of trumpet; — it "was that used by
Tamerlane, the s..und of which is described as un-
commonly dreadful, and so loud as to be heard at the
distance of several miles." — Richardson.
i" Mohammed had two helmet-, an interior and
exterior one; the latter of which, called Al Ma-
washah, the fillet, wreath, or wreathed garland, he
wore at (he battle of Ohnd."— Univeisal History.
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS,
291
•* To-day shall waft thee from the shore ;
** And, e'er a drop of this night's eore
" Have (line to chill in yonder tinrers*
" Thou 'It see thy own sVeet Arab bowen !**
His bloody boast was all too Irue ;
There lurk'd one wieich among the few
Whom Hafed"s eai;le e\e could c.'unt
Around him on that Fieiy Mnnnt, —
One niiscreani, who for gold betray'd
The pathway through the valley's shade
To those high towers, where Fretdoni stood
In her last hold of flame and blood.
Left on the field rhal drtradful nighf.
When, sallying from their Sacred height,
The Ghehers fought hope's farewell tight,
He lay — but died not wiih tlie brave ;
That sun, which should have gilt his grave,
Saw him a traiif>r and a slave j —
And. while the few, who thence return'd
To Iheir high rocky fortress, mnurn'd
For hint among the matchltss dead
'I hey left behind on glury's bed,
He liv'd, and, in the face of morn,
LaughM them and Faith and Heaven to scorn
Oh, for a tongue to curse the slave.
Whose treason, like a deadly blight,
Conies o'er ihe counciK of Ihe brave,
And blasts them in iheir hour of mightl
May Life's unbles-^ed cup for him
Re druggM with treacheries to the brim, —
With hopes, that but allure to fi*,
With joys, that vanish while he sips,
Like Dead-Sea fruits, that 'empl the eye.
But (urn to ashes on the lips! i
His cnuntryN curse, his children's shame,
Outcast of virtue, peace, and fame,
May he, at last, with lips of tl.*me
On the [>arch'd desert Ihirsiing die, —
While lakes, (hat thone in mockery nigh,^
Are fading oil', untoucli'd, untasted.
Like the once gh-rious hupes he blas'ed !
And, when from earih h>s spirit flies,
Just Prnphet, let the d imn'd-one dwell
Full in 'he sight of Par;»dise,
Beholding heaven, and feeling hell !
» "They say thnt (here are apple-trees upon the
sides of this sea. which bear very lovely fruit, but
within are all full of ashes." — T/ievtiwt. l he same
is as>eited of the oranges there j v. IVitman'B Tra-
vels in Asiatic Turkev.
*-Tlie A-phalt Lake, known by (he name of the
Dead Sea, is very renurkal.ie on account of the con-
siderable proporttiin of sail which it contains. In
this re?pecl it surpasses every oilier known water on
the surface of the earth. This geat proportion of
bitter tasted salts is the rea-on uhy neither animal
nor plant can live in this water.'— A'/ay;ror/t's Chemi-
cal Analysis of the W..ter of tlie Dtad Se:s Annals of
FhiloM)phy, Januarv. I8l3. /Jasselqmxt , however,
doubts (he trulh of this last asseidon, as there are
■hell fi<h to be found in the lake.
Lord Ryron lias a siniil.ir allusion to the fruits of
Ihe Dead Sea, in that wonderful display of genius, his
third tanto of Childe Han'ld.— magtiiticent beyond
any thing, perli.ips, ihat even he has ever wriden.
l»"TheSuhrabor Water of the Dtsert issiid to be
caused by the rarefaction of the atmosphere from ex-
treme heat ; and, which auffinen's the delusion, it is
m-'st frequent in holl
peeled tu lodje. I have si-en bushe
I^lla Rrokh had, the night before, been visited by
a dream wliich, in vpite of the impendine; fate of poor
Hrifed, made her heart more llian usually cheerful
during the morning, and gave her cheeks all the fresh-
ened animation of a fhiwer that the Rid-musk has just
passed (iver 3 She fancied that she was sailing on l^at
Kastein Octan, where the sea-gipsies. who live for
ever on the water,* enjoy a perpetual summer in
wand^^ing from isle to i^le, when she saw a small
gildtd l.aik approiching her. It was like one of those
boats which the Mnldivian islanders send adrift, at the
mercy of winds and waves, loaded wiih perfumes,
fli)wers. and odoriferous wowl, as an oifering to the
Spirit whom they call King of the Sea. At first, this
little bark appeared to be empty, but, on coming
nearer
She had proceeded thus far in relating the dresm to
her Ladies, when Feramorz appeared at the door of
Ihe pavilion. In his presence, of course, everything
else was forgotten, and the continuance of the story
was instintly requested by all. Fresh wood of aloes
was bet lo burn in the cassolets:— the violet sherbets &
were hastily branded round, and after a (.hort prelude
on his lute, in the pathetic measure of Nav:f,« which
is always u^ed to express the lamentations of absent
lovers, the Poet thus coutiaued : —
The day is lowering — stilly black
Sleeps the grim wave, while heaven's rack,
Dispers'd and wild, Mwixt eirth and sky
Hangs like a sh^iter'd canopy.
There's not a cl-ud in that blue plain
But tells of storm to come or past ; —
Here, flying loosely as the mane
Of a yonng war-horse in the blast ; —
There, roli'd in masses dark and swelling,
As proud to be the thunder's dwelling!
While some, already burst and riven,
Seem melting down the verge of heaven;
As thoui;h the infant storm had rent
The mighty womb that gave him birth,
iuht be ex-
ees refl.cl-
t had been
. . J, with as much accu „ ^..
the face <>( a clear .uid still lake."— Po/f
"As to the untielievers, (heir works aTe like a
vapour in a pl.tin, which the t|iir>fy traveller thinketh
to be waier, until when he cnmeth thereto he findeh
it to be nothing." — Koran, chap. 24.
3 "A wind which prevails in February, called Bid-
musk, from a small and odoriferous flower of that
name."— "The wind which blows these flowers com-
monly las's till the end of the month." — Le Bruyn.
* *' The Biajus are of two races : the one is settled
on Borneo, and are a rude but warlike and industrious
nation, who reckon themselves the original posssessors
of the island < f Borneo. The other is a species of sea-
gipsies or itinerant fishermen, who live in small cov-
ered boats, and enjoy a perpetual summer on the east-
ern ocean, shiftint; to leeward front island to inland,
with Ihe variations of the monso'>n. In some of their
customs this singular race resenible the na'ives I'f (he
Maldivia islands The Mald.vians annually launch a
small baik, loaded "ilh perfume-, Eunis, flowers, and
odoriferous wood, and turn it adiift at the mercy of
winds and waves, as an olFerin^ to (lie S-pirit of the
IVinds ; and sometimes similar nflVrings are m,ide to
(he spirit whom they (erm the Kine; of the Sea. In
like manner the Biajus perform tluir offeiing to the
god of evil, launching a small bark, loaded with all
the sins and misfor'unes of the nation, which are im-
agined to f'll on the unhappy crew that may be so
unlucky IS first (o meet vviifi it '* — Dr. Ltydcn on the
Latigu.igesand Lileiature of the Indu-Chintse Nnlions.
fi "The sweet-scented violet is one of Ihe plants
most es'eemed, | atticuhrly for its great u^e in Sorbet,
which ihey make uf vi'det sugar."— //a-wdrjim/.
" The shetbt-l Ihey most esteem, aid wh.cli » drank
by the Grind Sisnior himself, is made of violets and
sugar.'" — Tavtrnxer,
6 " Last of all she took a guitar, and sung a pathetic
air in the mea-ure called Nava. which is always u^ed
tn express the lanien'aiions of absent lovers." — Persian
TaUs,
•292
LALLA ROOKH.
On erirtli 't was yet all calm around,
A pulseless siieiice. dread, profound,
Mnre awlul tluui the tempests sound.
The diver steer'd f r Uriims' iiowers,
Ai.d munr'd liis i-kitf till ciln.L-r hi ura ;
The SHfl-tiird", with porteiiinus bcreech,
yiew fast U< la'.d ; — .poii the be ch
The piln( olt had paus'd, with gl.nce
Turii'd upward lo that wild expanse j —
And all w.is boding, drear, and dark
M her own m.uI, when Hmda's bark
Went slowly (run the Persian sliore.
No music tmi'd her parting oar,*
Nor fiiends upon the lesseniniC strand
Linger'd, to wave the unseen h-md,
Or speak the farewell, heard no more ; —
But lone, unheeded, from the bay
The vessel lakes its mournful way,
Like some Jll-des'in'd bark ttia' steers
In silence thmugh the Gale of Tears.^
And where was stern Al Hassm then
Could noi that saintly scouige of men
From bloodshed and devotion spare
One minute for a farewell there?
No — clo.e within, in changeful fits
Of cursing and of prayer, he si's
In savage loneliness to brood
Upon the coining night of blood, —
With that keen, second-cent of death,
By which ihe vulture snufls his food
In the still warm and living breath ! 3
While o'er the \vave his weeping daui^hter
Is wafted from these scenes of slaughter, —
As a youn? bird of Babylon,*
Let loose to lell of victory won,
Flies home, with wing, ah ! not unstain'd
By the red hands that held hei chain'd.
And does the long-left home she seeks
Light up no gladness on her cheeks ?
Ttie flowers she nursM — the well-known groves,
Where oft in dreams her spirit roves —
Once more to see her dear gazelles
Come bounding with their silver bells;
Her birds' new plumige to behold,
And the gay, glemiing fishes cour-t,
She lefi,all hlleted with gold.
Shooting around their jasper fount ; *
Her little garden mosque to see.
And once again, at evening hour,
To tell her ruby rosuy e
In lier own sweet acacia bower. —
^ " The Gate of Tears, the strails or passage into the
Red Sea, commonly called Babelmandel. It received
this name from the old Arabians, on account of Ihe
danger of the navigition, and Ihe number of ship-
wrecks by which it was distinguished ; which induced
them to consider as dead, and to wear mourning for
all who had the bildness to hazard the passage through
it into Ihe Elhiopic oct:in.-^~ liickardsofi.
3 *■! have Leen told that whensoeveran animal falls
down dead, one or more vulture?, unseen before, iu-
stanlly appear." — Pennant.
* "They fas.en some writing to the wings of a Rag-
d.tt, or Habylonian pigeon." — Travels of certain Eitg-
lufimtn.
6 " The V.xr. press nf Jehnn-Ouire used tn divert her-
self with feeding tame fish in her canals, some of
which were many yeais :ifterw,>rds known by fiUels
of gold, which she caused lo be put round them.*^ —
Harris.
6 *• l.e Tespih, qui est nn cbapelet, compose de 99
ftetites boules d'agaihe, de jaspe, d'amhre, de corail, ou
Can these delights, that wait her now,
Call up no sunshine on her brow ?
No,— silent, from her train apart, —
As if even now she felt at heart
The chill of her approaching doom, —
She sirs, all lovely in her gloom
Asn p.ile Angel ot the Grave;
Al il oVr the wide, tempestuous wave,
Looks, v\ i ! h a shudder, (o those towers,
Where, in a few slioit awful hour-,
Blood, blood, in streaming tides shall run,
Foul incense for tu-morrow's sun!
' Wheie art thou, glorious stranger! thou,
* So lov'd, so lost, where art Ihou now?
*' Foe — Gheber— infidel — whate'er
"The' unhallow'd name thcu 'rt doomM lo bear
"Siill glo^iou^ — stilt to this fond heart
*' Dear as iis blood, whate'er thou art!
"Yes — Alia, dreadful Alia! yes —
" If there be wrong, be crime in this,
" Let the black waves that round us roll,
*' Whelm me this instant, ere my soul,
" Forgetting faith — home — father — all —
"Before its earthly idol fall,
" Nor worship ev'ii Thvsetf above him —
" For, oh, so wildly do 1 love him,
" Thy Pa-adise itself were dim
" And joyless, if not shar'd with him !"
Her hands were clasp'd — her eyes upturned
Dropping their tears like moonlight rain;
And, though her lip, fond raver ! burn'd
With words of passion, bold, piofane,
Yet was there light around her biow,
A holiness in those daik e>es.
Which show'd, — though wandering earthwaii
Her spirit's home was in the skies.
Yes — for a spirit pure as hers
Is aiw;iys pure, ev'n while it errs;
As sunshine, bioken iu the rill.
Though turn'd astray, is sunshine still !
So wholly hid her mind forgot
All thoughts but one, she heeded not
The rising storm — Ihe wave that tast
A moment's midnight, as it pa^s'd —
Nor heard the frequent shnui, il,e Iread
of gathering tumuli o'er her head —
Clash'd sword', and tongues that seem'd to vie
With the rude not of Ihe sky. —
But, hark ! — that war-wlioop on the deck —
That crash, as if each engine there,
Mast, sails, and all, were gone (o wreck,
Mid yells and stampiners of despair !
Merciful Heaven ! what can it be ?
*T is not the storm, though fearfully
The ship has shudder'd as she rode
O'er mountain-waves — '' Forgive me, God !
" Forgive me" — shriek'd the maid, and knelt,
Trembling all over — for she felt
As if her judgment-hour was near;
While crouctiing round, half dead wi;h fear,
Her handiiiaids clung, nor breath'd, nor stirr'd —
When, hjrk I —a second ciash — a ihird —
And now, as if a bolt of thunder
Had riv'n the labouring planks asunder,
'Ihe deck falls in — what horrors then !
Blood, waves, and tackle, swords and men
Come mixM together through the chasm, —
Some wretches in Iheir dying spasm
Still fighting on — and some that call
" For God and Iran !" as they fall I
Whose was the hand that turn'd awny
The perils of the' infuriate fray.
d'auire maiiere prei
Seigneur Jerpos ; i.
parfaites et egales,
Toderini.
J'en ai vu un superbe ati
le belles et grosses perle
Irente miUe piastres." —
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.
293
And snatch'd her breatliless from beneath
This wildetment of wreck and death?
She knew nnt— ffir a fai.itness came
Chill o'er her, and lier sinking fr.tme
Aniid tite ruins i>f that h.>nr
Lay like a pale and scnrched flower,
Beneath the red vnlcann's shower.
But, oh ! the sights and sounds of dread
That shock'd her ere her senses fled 1
The yawning deck — the crntvd that strove
Upon the totlennt; planks above —
The sail, whose friia:nients, shivering o'er
The strug^Iers' heads, all dash'd with gora
Fiulter'd like bloody Hags — the clash
Of sabres, and the lightning's flash
Upon their bindes, high Ios^'d about
Like meteor brands 1 —as if thnrnghout
The elements one furv lan,
One general rage, that left a doubt
Which was the fiercer, Heav'n or Man !
Once loo — but no — it could not be —
*T was fancy all — yet once the thought,
While vet ht-r fading eyes could see,
High'on ihe luin'd deck she caught
A glimpse of that unearihly form,
That glory of her soul,- even 'hen,
Amid Ihe whirl of wiecb and storm,
Shining above his fell"w-men,
As, on some black and troublous night.
The Star of Kgyp',*! who^e proud light
Never hath beam'd on those who rest
In Ihe While Islands of Ihe West.3
Burns through the storm with looks of flame
That put Ileav'n's cloudier eyes to shame.
But no — 't was bul the minutes dream —
A fantasy— and ere Ihe scream
Had half-«ay passM her pallid Jij s,
A death-like s^oon, a chill eclipse
Of soul and tense its darkness spread
Around her, aud she sunk, as dead.
How calm, hnw beautiful comes on
The stilly hour, wh^-n storms aregonej
When w.trring winds have died aw;iy,
And clouds, beneath the glancing ray,
Mell otf, and leave Ihe land and sea
Sleeping in bright tranquillity,—
Fresh as if Day a^am weie born.
Again upon the lap of Morn ! —
When rhe lighl blossnnis, rudely lorn
And scatter'd at the wliirhvind's will,
Hang floating in the pure air still,
Filling is all with precious balm,
In gratitude for this sweet calm ; —
And every drop the thunder-showers
Have left upon Ihe grass and flowers
Sp;irkles, as 't were that lightning-gem 4
Whose liquid flame is born of them I
When, 'stead of one unclunging bieeze,
The^e blow a thousand gentle air-^,
And each a dilVerent perfume bears,'
As if the loveliest plants and trees
Had vassal breezes of tlieii own
To watch and wail on then alone,
And waft no other brealh thin Mieirs:
When the blue waters rise and fall,
In sleepy sunshine mantling all ;
< The meteors Ihat Pliny calls " faces."
■^''Ihe brilliant Canopus, unseen in European
climates." — Brown,
* A precious stone of the Indies, called by Ihe
ancients, Cerauniuin, bt-c^use it was supposed to be
found in places where thunder had fallen. Tertullian
siys it has a glittering appearance, as if there had
been fire in it ; and the author of the Dissertation in
Harris's Voyages, supposes it to be the opal.
And ev'n that swell the tempest leavei
Is like the full and silent heaves
Of lovers' liearts, when uewly blest.
Too newly to be quile at rest.
Such was the golden hour that broke
Upon the world, when Hmda woke
From her long trance, and heard around
No motion but tlie water's sound
Rippling against the vessel's side,
As slow it mounted o'er Ihe tide. —
But vvhere is she? — her eyes are dark,
Are wilder^ still — is this the bark,
The same, that from Harninzia's bay
Bore her at mom — whose bloody way
Ihe sea-dog track'd ? — no — strange and new
Is all that meets her wondering view.
Upon a galliot's deck she lies,
Beneaih no rich pavilion's shade,—
No plumes to fan her sleeping eyes,
Nor j.ismine on her pillow laid.
But the rude litter, roughly spread
Wilh war-cloaks, is her homely bed,
And sh.iwl and sash, on javelins hung,
For awning o'er her head are flung.
Shuddering she look'd around— there lay
A group of warriors in the sun,
Resing their limbs, a-- for that day
Their ministry of death were done.
Some gazing on the (irowsy sea,
Lost in unconscious reverie;
And some, whu seem'd but ill to brook
Thai sluggish calm, with many a look
To the slack s>il impa'ient cast.
As loose it flagg'd around Ihe mast.
Blest Alia ! who shall save her now?
There's not in all that warrior band
One Arab sword, one turban'd brow
From her own Failliful Moslem land.
Their g.irb— Ihe leathern belt s that wraps
Each yellow veslG — ihit rebel hue —
The T.irtar fleece upon their c^ps i —
Yes — yes — her fears are all too true,
And Heav'n hath, in this dreadful hour,
Abandoij'd her to Hafed's power ; —
Hafed, the Gheber!— at Ihe ih' ught
Her very heart's blood chills within ;
He. whom her soul was hourlv tiught
To loathe, as some foul henil of sin,
Some minis er, whom Hell had seiii
To spread its blast, where'er he went.
And fling, a^ o'er our earth he irod,
His shadow betwixt man and God !
And ^he is now his captive,— thrown
In his fierce hands, alive, alone;
His the infuriate band she sees,
Alt infldets — all eneniies !
What was the daring hope that then
Cross'd her like lightening, as again,
With boldness that despair had lent,
She darted through tint armed crowd
A look so searching, so in'ent^
That ev*ri the sternest warrior bow*d
Abash 'd, when he her glances caught.
As if he guessM whose foim they sought.
But no — she sees him not — 't is gone,
The vision that before her shone
Thro.jgh all the maze of blood and stoim,
Is fled— 'twas but a phantom form —
One of those passing, rainlinw dieams,
Half light, h ilf shade, which Fancy's beams
s D^Herbdot^ art. Agduani.
G ''The Guebres are known by a dark yellow
colour, which the men afllect in their clothes.* —
Tf^venot.
1 " 'Ihe Kolah, or cap, worn by the Persians, b
made of the skin of the sheep of Tarlary."—
IVarbig,
25*
294
LALLA ROOKH.
But now the hark, with livelier bound,
Scaler Ihe blue wave — the ciew's in motion,
The oars are ou', and with li^ht sound
Kreak the briKht mirror of the ocean,
Scatteiin? jIs brilliant frapnients round.
And now she sees — with horror sees,
Their course is low'rd that mountain-hold,—
Tho^e (owers, that make her life-biood freeze,
Where Mecca's godless enemies
Lie, like bele-guet'd scorpions^ roll'd
Jn their lasi deadly, venomous told 1
Amid Ihe' iliumi^'d land and flood,
Sunless that mighty mount.iiii stood ;
Save where, above iis awful head,
There shone a flaming cloud, blood-red,
As 't were the flag of destiny
Hung out to mark wheie death ivould be 1
Had her bewilder'd mind the power
Of thought in this terrific hour,
She %vel! might njarvel where or how
Man's foot could scale that moun-aiu's brow,
Since ne'er had Arab heard or known
Of path but through the glen atone.—
But every thought was lost in fear,
When, as. their bounding b:irk drew near
The craggy base, she felt the waves
Hurry them tow'rd those dismal caves,
That from the Deep in windings pass
Beneaih (hat Mount's volcanic mass ; —
And t'tud a voice on deck commands
To lower (he mast and light ihe brands! —
Instantly o'er Ihe dashing iide
Wilhin a cavern's mouth they glide,
Gloomy as that eternal Porch
Through which departed spirits go : —
Not ev'n the Aire of brand ai.d torch
Its flickering light could further throw
Than the thick Hood Itiat boil'd below.
Silent thev floated — as if each
Sal breathle!.s, and ino aw'd for speech
In thai dark cha^^m, where even sound
Seem 'd dark,— so ^ull«nly around
The goblin echoes of the cave
Mu'tei'd it o'er the long bhck wave,
As 'I were some secret of the grave !
But soft — they pause — the current turna
Beneaih 'he'in from i's onward track ; —
Some mighty, unseen barrier spurns
The vexed tide, all foaming, back,
And scarce the oars* redoubled foice
Can stem the eddy*s whirhng force;
When, hark ! — some despera'e foot has sprung
Among the rocks— the chain is flung —
The oars are up — the grapple clings,
And the tos5'd bark in mooiiii*,* swirigs.
Just then, aday.beam through Ihe shade
Broke tremulous — bul, ere Ihe miid
Can see from whence 'he brightness steals.
Upon her brow she shuddering feels
A viewless hand, that promptly lies
A bandage round her burning eves ;
While Ihe rude litter where she lies.
Uplifted by the wnrrior throng.
O'er the sleep rocks is borne along.
Blest power of sunshiTie ! — genial Day,
What balm, wh^t life is in thy ray !
To feel thee is such real bliss,
That had the world no joy bi.t this,
To sil in suushin*; calm and sweet,—
It were a world loo exqui-ite
For man to leave it for Ihe gloom.
The deep, cold shadow of Ihe tomb.
Ev*n Hindi, though she saw not where
Or whither wound Ihe perilous road,
Tet knew by tlial awakening air,
WUicb suddenly around her glow'd.
That 'hey had risen from darkness then,
And breathM the sunny world again 1
But soon this bahny freshness fled —
for now the sleepy labyrinth led
Through damp and gloom — 'mid crash of boufhsi
And fall of loosen'd crags that rouse
Tlie leopard from his hungry sleep,
Who, star ing, thinks each crag a prey,
And long is heard, from s'eep to steep,
Chasing them down their ihuodenng way 1
The jackal's ciy — the distant moan
Of the hya;na, tierce and lone —
And thai eternal saddening sound
Of torrents in Ihe glen beneath.
As 'twere the ever-dark Profound
That rolls beneath the Bridge of Dealht
All. all is fearful — ev'n to see,
To g'Ze on those lerrihc things
She now but blindly hears, would be
Relief to her imaginings;
Sii'ce never yel was shape so dread,
But Fancy, thus in darkness thrown,
And by such sounds of horror fed.
Could frame more dreadful of her owd.
But does she dream ? has Fear again
Perplex'd Ihe workings of her bram,
Or did a voice, all music, then
Come froni ihe gloom, low whispering near^
"Tremble not, love, thv Gheber's here?"
.She doe^ not dream — ail ?etise, all ear,
She drinks the words, '* Thy Gheber 's here*
'T was his own vice — she could not err —
Throughout ihe breathing world's extent
There was but otie such voice for her.
So kind, so soft, so eloquent I
Oh, sooner shall the rose of May
Mistake her own sweet nightingale,
And to some meaner minstrel's lay
Open her bo-om's glowing veil,i
Than Love shall ever doubt a tone,
A breath of tiie beloved one 1
Though blest, »mid all her ills, to think
She' has that one beloved near.
Whose smile, though met on ruin's brink,
Hath power to make ev'n ruin dear,-
Vet iOon ihi' gleam of rapture, crost
By fears for him, is chill'd and lost.
How shall the ruthless Hafed brook
That one of Gheber blood should look,
With aughr but curses in his eye,
On her— a maid of Arabv —
A Moslem mud— the child of him,
Who-'e bloody banner's dire success
Hath lefi their altars cold and dim,
And their fair land a wilderness!
And, worse than all, that night of blood
Which comes so fast — Oh ! who shall stay
The sword, that once hath tasted food
Of Persian hearts, or turn its way ?
What arm shall then the victim cover,
Or from her father shield her lover ?
"Save him, my God !" she inly cries —
"S.vehim this mght — and if thme eye*
*' Have ever welcom'd with delight
**lhe sinner's tears, ihe sacrihce
" Of sinners' hearts — guard him this right,
"And here, before thv throne, I swear
"From my heart's inmost cire to tear
" Love, hope, remen-brance, thoufjh they be
" LinkM with each quivering life-string there,
"And give it bleeding all to Thee!
"Let him but live,— the burning tear,
"The sighs, so sinful, yet so dear,
1 A frequent image among the orien'al poets. "The
nightingales warbled their enchanting notes, and rent
the thin veils of the rrse-bud and the rose.'*- JamL
THE FIRE. WORSHIPPERS.
295
• 'Vhich have been all too much his ovpti,
" Shall from this hour be HeaveiiS alone.
"Youth |)a>sM i;i peni ence, and age
*' In long and painful pilgriniage,
** Shall leave iio traces ot the tlauie
*' Thai wastes ine now — nor shsll hi» name
'* Ere bless my lips, but when I pray
" For his dear spirit, that away
*' Casting from ils angelic ray
'* The' ecliii.e of earrh, he, loo, may shine
«' RedeemM, all glorious and all Thine I
"Thii.k — think what victory to wm
•* One radiant soul like his from sin,—
" One wanderiiit: star of virtue back
"To its own native, heaven-ward track I
"* Let him but live, and both are Thine,
" Together thine — for, blest or crost,
* Living or dead, his donm is mine,
*' And, if he pe^i^h, both are lost I'
The next evening Lalla Ronkh was entre.ited by her
Ladies to continue the relation of her wonderful
dream; but ilie fearful interest that hung round the
fale of Hinda and her lover had completely removed
every trace of it from her mind ; — much to ihe disip-
puiritnieut of a f.iir seer or two in her train, who
prided themselves on theirskill In interpreting visions,
and who had already remarked, as an unlucky omen,
that the Triicess, on the very mnrning after the
dream, had worn a silk dyed wuh ihe blossoms of the
sorrowful tree, Nilica.i
Fadladeen, whose indignation had mnre than once
broken out during the recital of some parts of this
he'eiodox poem, seemed at length to have made up
his mind to the intliciion ; and took his seat this even-
ing with all the patience of a martyr, while the Fuel
resumed bis prot^aue and seditious story as follows : —
To tenrless eyes and hearts at ease,
The lealy shons a^id sun-btight seas,
That lay beneath that mountain's height,
Had been a fair enchanting sigh*.
'T was one of those anibrnsial eves
A day of sorm so often leaves
At its calm setting — when the West
Opens tier goldeu bowers of rest.
And a moist radiance from the skies
Shoots trembling doun, as from the eye*
Of some metk peni'ent. whose last,
Brit^ht hours alone fordatk ones past,
And wh^'se sweet tears, o'er wrong forgiven,
Shine, as they fall, with light from heaven 1
»T was stillness all — the winds that late
Had rushM through Kerman's almond groves,
And shaken from her bowers nf date
That cooling feast the traveller loves,^
Now, lulPd to languor, scarcely curl
The Green Sea wave, whose v^aters gleam
Linipid, as if her mines of penri
Were niePed all to form the s ream :
And her fair islets, email and bright,
Wi'h their green sh 'res reflected there,
Look like tlu.se Fen isles of li^ht.
That hang by spell-work in the air.
i ** HloRsoms of the sorrowful N\c:an'hes give a
durnble colour to ^i\k.^^— lie marks on the Husbandry
of Bcnt^al p. 200. Ni'ica is one of the Indian names
of thisflower.— Sir iV,Jon&s. The Persians call it
Gul. — 6'acrcn.
1 " In parts of Kerman, whatever dates are shaken
from ihe trees by the wind they do not touch, but
leave llient for those who have not any, or for tra-
vellers."—£t;i HaukaU
But vainly did those glories burst
On Hind.is dazzled eyes, when first
The bandage from her brow was taken.
And, pale and aw'd as those who waken
In their dark tombs — when scowling near.
The Searchers of the Grave 3 appear, —
She shuddering turn'd to read her fate
In the fierce eyes that flash'd around ;
And saw those towers all desolate,
That o*er her head terrific frownM,
As if defying ev'n the smile
Of that soft heaven to gild (heir pile.
In vain with mingled hope and fear,
She looks for him whose voice so dear
Had come, like music, to her ear —
Strange, mocking dream ! again 't is fled.
And oh, the shoote^ the pangs of dread
That through her inmost boboni run.
When voices from without proclaim
"Hafed the Chief!" — and. one by one,
The warriors shout that fearful name!
He comes — the rock resounds h is tread —
How shall she dare to lift her head,
Or meet those eyes wiiose scorching glare
Not Yemen's boldest sons can bear?
In whose red beam, the Moslem tells,
Such rank and deadly lustre dwells,
As in those hellish fires th't light
The niandr ike's charnel leaves at nighL«
How shall she bear that voice's tone,
At whose loud billle-cry alone
Whole squadrons oft in panic ran,
Sea ter'd like some vast caiavan,
When, siretch'd at evening round the well,
They hear the thirsting tiger^s yell ?
Breathless she stands, with eyes cast down.
Shrinking beneath the fiery froun.
Which, fancy tells her. from that brow
Is flashing o'er her fiercely now :
And shuddering as she hears the tread
Of his retiring warrior band. —
Never was pau-e so full of dread ;
Till Hafed with a trembling hand
Took hers, and. leaning o»er her, said,
** Hinda ;'^ — that word was all he spfke,
And 'twas enough — the shriek that broke
From her full bosom, told the rest. —
Panting with terror, joy, surprise,
The maid but lifts her wrndermg eyes,
To hide them on her Gheber's breast!
'T is he, n is he— the man of blood.
The fellcst of the Fire-fiend's brood,
Hafed, the demon of the fight,
Who&e voice unnerves, wtiose glances blight,—
Is her own loved Gheber. mild
And glorious as when first he smil'd
In her lone tower, and lef: such beams
Of his pure eye to light her dreams,
That she believ'd her bower had given
Rest to some wanderer from hc£vea !
Moments there are, and thi-s \vtE one,
Snatched like a minute's gleam of eun
Amid the black Simoom's eclii>se —
Or, like those verdant ^^pots that bloom
Around Ihe crater's burning lips.
Sweetening the very edee of doom !
The pa^t— the future- all \\v*\ Fate
Can bring of dark or desperate
Around such hnnrs, but makes them cast
Intenser ladi mce while they last !
3 The two terrible angels, Monkir and Nakir. who
are called "the Searchers ot Ihe Grave" in Ihe "Creed
of Ihe (irlhodox Mahometans" given by Ockley,
vol. ii.
* "The Arabians call Ihe mandrake 'the Devil's
candle,' on .iccomt of its si iuing appearance in the
uight.'* — Richardson.
296
LALLA ROOKH.
Ev*n he, this youth — though dimniM aod gone
Each star of Hnpe that cheer'd him on —
Hia gloiies lost— his cause betra>M —
Iran, l.-s dear-lov'd country, made
A land f carcasses and slaves,
One dreary wa^^le of chains and graves! —
Himself but lingering, dead al heart,
'I'd see the last, lung slruEgliug breath
Of Liberty's t;reat snul depart.
Then lay him down and share her death
Ev'n he, SI) -unk in wrelcheiiuess.
Wiib doom still darker gathering o'er him,
Yet, in this moment's pure caress,
In the mild eyes thai shone befnre hinif
Peaniing that blest assurance, worth
All other irmsports known on earlh,
That he was h)vM — well, warmly h.v'd —
Uh 1 in this precious hour he ]>rov'd
How deep, how thorough-felt the glow
Of rapture, kindling out of woe;
Hf'W exquisi e one single drop
Of bliss, thus sparkling to the top
(If misery's cup — how keenly (luriff'd,
Though death must fuUovv on the draught 1
She, too, while gazing on those eyes
That si ik into her soul so deep,
Forgeis all fears, all miseries,
(ir feels them like the wretch in sleep,
Whom fancy cheata into a smile,
Who dreams of jny and !^obs the whilel
The mighty Ruins where thry stood,
Upon ihe ninunl's high, rocky verge,
Lav open Inu »tds file ocean flood,
Where liglnlv o»er the illumm'd surge
Many a fur batk tlia',all the day.
Had lurk'd in shelieriiig creek or tay,
Now bounded on, and gave their sails,
Yet diippitig, to the evening gales ;
Like eai^les, when Ihe siorm is done,
Spreading their uet uings in the sun.
T he beauteous clouds, though daylight's Star
Had sunk behind the hitis of Lar,
Were still with lingering glories bright, —
As if, to grace the gorgeous West,
I he Spirit of dep trting Lisht
That eve had left his bunny vest
Behind him, ete he wing'd hi. flight.
Never was jcene so formM for love !
Beneath ilieni waves of crystal move
In silent swell - Heav'n gh-ws above,
And iheir pure hearts, to transport given,
Swell like the wave, and glow like Heav'n,
But ah ! too soon that dream is past —
Again, ag^iiii lier fear returns; —
Niehi, dreadful night, is galheijug fas!,
More faintly the horizon burns,
And e\ery rosy tiot that lay
On the smooth sea hath died away,
H:)siily to the daikening skies
A glance she casts — then \* ildly cries
^'At night, he said - and, look, »t is near —
" Fly, fly — if yet thou lov'sl me. fiy —
"Soon will his murderous band be here,
**And I shall see Ihce bleed and die. —
*' Hush 1 heard'tt thou mt the tramp of men
"Sounding from yonder ferirful glen? —
*' Pet haps ev'n now they climb the wood —
"FIv, fly— though still the West is bright,
'*He'li come — oh', yes— he wants thy blood -
'' I know him — he 'II not wait for night 1"
In terrors ev'n to agony
She clings around the wondering Chief; —
** Alas, poor wihier'd maid ! to me
"I hou ow'st this raving trance of grief.
" Lost as I am, nought ever grew
" Beneath my shade bu' [lerish'd 'no —
"My doom is like the Dead bca rur,
"And u 'thing lives that enters there!
" VVhy were our barks together driven
" Beneaih this niorning's furious heaven ?
»* VVhy, when I saw the prize that chance
*' Had ihiown into niy desperate arms,--
*' When, casting but a single glance
*' Upon thy pale and prostrate charms,
"I vow'd (I hough watching viewless o'er
"Thy safety throigh that hour's alarms)
" To nteel the' unmanning sight no more —
" VVhy have 1 broke that heart-wrung vow
" Why weakly, madly met Ihee now ? —
** Start not — ih it noise is but Ihe shock
" Of torrents through yen valley hurl'd —
"Dread nothing here — upon ihis r ck
** VVe stand above the jarring world,
"Alike beyond its hope — iis dread —
" III gh.oniy safetv, like the Dead !
"Or, could ev'n earth and hell unite
•' In league (o storm this Sacred Height,
" Fear nothing thou — myself, to-nighf,
"And eich overlooking star that divells
" Near God will be thy sentinels ; —
" And, ere to-morrow's dawn shall glow,
" Back to thy sire '*
" To-morrow ! — no
The maiden scream'd — " thou 'It never see
" Ti.-morrow's sun— death, death will be
*''Jhe night-cry through each reeking tower,
" Unless we liy, ay, fly this hour !
" 'I hou art beiray'd — some wretch who knew
"Thai dreadful glen's my.sterious clew —
"Nav, doubt not— by yon stirs, 't is true —
" Hath sold thee to niy vengeful sire;
"This morning, with that smile so dire
" He wears in joy, he told me alt,
"And s amp'd in triumph through our hall,
*' As though thy heart already beat
"Its last lile-throb beneaih his feet !
"Good Heav'n, how little dream'd I then
" His victim was my own lov'd youth 1 —
«t Fly _ send — let some one « atch Ihe glen —
"By all uiy hopes of heaven, 'tis tiu hi"
Oh ! colder than Ihe wind that freezes
FouU'S, that but now in sunshine play'd,
Is that congealing pang which seizes
The trus'ing bosom, when betray'd.
He felt il — deeply felt — and stood,
As if the tale had froz'n his blood,
So niaz'd and motionless was he ; —
Like one whom sudden spells enchant,
Or Fome mule, marble habitant
Of Ihe still Halls of hhmonie ! i
But soon the painful chill was o'er,
And his great soul, herself once more,
Look'd from his biow in all the lays
Of her best, happiesi, grandest days.
Never, in moment mo^t elate,
Did that high spirit lof'ier rise ; —
While brighf, serene, determinate.
His looks are lifted to the skies,
As if the signal lights of Fate
Were shining in those awful eyes!
'Tis come — his hour of mattjrdom
In Iran's sacred cau?e is come;
And, though his life hath pass'd away
Like lightning on a slortny day,
Yet shall his death-hour leave a track
Of glory, permanent and bright.
To which the brave of afier-times,
The siiflVring brave, shall long look back
With proud regret.— and by its light
W;itch Ihrovigh the hours r.f s-lavery's night
For vengeance on the' oppressor's crimes.
4 For an account of Ishmonie, Ihe petrified city in
Upper Egypt, whi-re it is said there are many siaiues
of men. women, &c. to be seen to this day, see Pcrry'B
View of tfie Levant.
THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS.
ao:
This rock, his mnnument alofl,
.Shall $pe»k tlie laie lo iiiany an age ;
lid heinei
I1-. and tell
: Haftd fell J
And hithe
Shall cunie in se
And brius llieir w:
'i'Ue Wdnderitig bo
And swear them on triu e lot.e remains
Of Iheir lust country's ancient fanes,
iSever— while breath nf life shall live
Wi hin them — ncvei to forgive
The' accursed rice, whose ruthless chain
Halh lelt on Iran's neck a slain
Blood, blood atone can cleanse again !
h'uch are the swelling Ihough's that now
Enthrone themselves on Hafed's brow;
And ne'er did Saint of Iss.i ' gaze
On the red ivreath, for marljrs tvvin'd,
More proudly thin the youih surveys
That pile, which through the gloom behind,
Half lighlcd by the altar's lire.
Glimmers— his deslin'd funeral pyre!
Ileaii'd by his own, his comrades' hands,
Of every wood of odorous breath,
There, by the Fire-God's shrine it stands,
Reidy 10 fold in radiant death
The few slill left of those who swore
To perish there, when hope was o'er —
The few, to whom that couch of flame.
Which rescues them from bonds and shame,
Is sweet and welcome as the bed
For their own infant Pmphet spread,
When piiyin? Heav'n lo roses inrn'd
Tbedeah-llamcs thai beneath him burn'd ! »
With watchfulness the nraid altends
His rapid glance, where'er it beiid^ —
Why shoot his eyes such awful beams?
What plans he tmw ? wbii thinks or dreams ?
Alas ! why stands he nrusing here.
When every irionrent teems wiih fear ?
*' Hafed, my ou^n beloved Lord,"
She kneeling cries — " first, last adorM
"If in th.tsoul thou'st ever felt
" Half what thy lips impassinrr'd swore,
" Hce, on my knees ihil never knelt
" To any bul Iheir God before,
" I pray thee, as thou lnv'st me, lly —
'' Now, now — ere yet their blades are nigh.
" Oh haste— Ihe bark that bnre nre liithtr
" Can, waft us o'er yon dirkeriin;; sea
''East— west — alas, 1 care riot whither,
'■So thou art safe, and I with thee !
" Go where we will, this hand in thine,
''Those eyes before me snrilirig thus,
*' Through good and ill, through s:oinr and shine,
" 'I'he woi Id 's a world of love for us !
*'0n some calm, blessed shore we'll dwell,
" Where 't is no crime lo love too well j —
" Where thus to worship tenderly
" An erring child of Irshl Irke Ihee
" Will not he sin— "r if it be,
'' Where we may weep our faults away,
"Together kneeling, night and day,
" Thou, for my ~ake, at Alias sin ine,
"And 1 — at any God's, for thine 1"
' Jesus.
^TbeGhebeis
Piophel, was Ihr
the tl.me turned
IhechilJ sweetly
Of their other
told in Dion Prusx^is, Or'at. 36, that' the lo'
dom aird virtue leading him lo a sniilary life upon a
mountain, he found il one day all in a liame, shining
with cele-lial lire, out of which lie came without any
harm, anil instiluled certain sacrifices lo Gnd, who,
he dtc'.iied, rhen appeared to him. — v. Patrick on
Eiodus, iir. 2.
say that when Abraham, iheir great
)wn inlo !he tire by orderof Ninirod,
instantly in!" "a bed of roses, where
rep'ised." — Tavtrnier,
I'rnphel, Znrrras'er-, there is a story
Wililly ttiese passionate words she spoke —
'I'heo hung her head, arrd uept for shame ,
Sobbing, as if a hrarl-siring broke
Witii every deep-heav'd sob ihat cime.
While be, young, warm — oh 1 wonder not
It, for a moment, pride and fame,
Hrs oath— bis cause — thai shrine of flame.
And Iran's self are all forgot
For her w horn at his leet he seea
Knetrlina in speechless agonies.
No, blame hni not, if Hope awhile
Uawnd III his soul, and threw her smile
O'er hours lo come— o'er days and nights,
Wing'd vvilh those precious, pure delighls
\Vhich she, v\ ho berrds all beauteous ihere.
Was born lo kindle and to share.
A tear or two, which, as he how'd
To raise Ihe sui pli.n', trembling stole,
arn'd burr of this dangerous cloud
oflri
' his Soul.
S'aitm,.;, be brusb'd the drops away,
Uiiwortliy o'er that cheek to stray ; —
hike one v*ho, on the nrorn of fight,
Shikfs from his sword the dews of nighi.
Thai had but dimm'd, not starn'd its listit.
Yet, though subdued the' unnerving W ,
lis warmth, rts weakness linger'd stiL
So touching in each look and lone.
Thai the fond, fearing, hoping niaid
Half counted on the llighl she pray'd,
Half ihought ihe hero's soul was grown
As soft, as yielding as her own,
Arrd smii'd and bless'd him, while he said -
" Ves— if Ihere be some happier sphere,
" VVhere fadeless trtith like ours is dear,
" If there be any lar,d of rest
" For those who love and ne'er forjel,
"Oh ! coiriforl Ihee— for safe and hltst
'* We '11 meet in that calm region y et I"
Scarce had she time to ask her heart
If ttood or ill these words impart.
When the rous'd youlh impatient flew
To the tower-wall, where, high irr view,
A ponderous sea-horn 3 hung, and blew
A signal, deeji and dread as tho>e
Tlie storm-fiend at tiis rising blows. —
Full well bis Chieftains, sworn and true
Through life and deaih, that signal knew;
For 't was the' appointed w irning-blast,
Tlie' alarm, to lell when hope was past,
And the iremendous death-die cast !
And there, upon the mouldering tower,
H.ilh hung this sea-horn many an Jiour,
Keady to sound o'er land and sea
Thai dirge-note of the brave and free.
They came— his Chreft.iins at the call
Came slowly round, and with them all —
Alas, how few ! — the worn reniartis
Of those who late o'er Kerman's plainj
Weirt gaily prancing lo ihe clash
Of Moorish zel and lymbalon.
Catching new hope from every flash
Of their long lances in Ihe sun,
Ai d, as Iheir coursers cirarg'd the whirl.
And the white ox-lails st.earrr'd behind 4
Lookim;, as if the steeds they rode
Were wirrg'd, and every Chief a God !
How f.li'ri, how aller'd irow ! how wan
Kach scarr'd and laded visage shone.
3 " The shell called Siiankos, common In Ind a, Af.
rrca, and the Mediterranean, arrd slill used in mar-
pans as a trumpet for blowing alarms or srivirrg sig.
nals: it sends loith a deep and hollow sound."- y«i.
nant. i
4 "The finest ornament for the horses is nade of'
fr.r£ large Hying tassels of long whrte hair, takei out of,
the tails of wild oxen, that are to be found in some
places of the indie.."- r/icue)ii;(. I
298
LALLA ROOKH,
As round the burning shrine they came j —
How deadly was the glare it cast,
As mu'e thty pnus'd before the flame
To li^lii ilieir torches as they pass'd '.
T was silence all — the youth liad plauu'd
The duties of his soldier-band ;
And each deierminM brow declares
His faithful Chieftains well kuuw theirs.
But minutes speed — night gems the skies —
And oil, hmv soon, ye Ltesstd eyes,
That look from heaven, ye may behold
Sights that will turn your slar-hres cold !
Breathless wilh awe, inipalieoce, hope,
1 he maiden sees the veteran group
Her litter sileiily prepare,
And lay il at her trembling feet ; —
And nokv the youth, with gentle care,
Hath placM her in the sheltered seat,
And piess'd her hir.d— that linsjering press
(H hands, th.t for the last time sever j
Of hearis, whose pulse of happinese,
When that hold breaks, is dead for ever.
And yel to her this sad caress
G-ves hnpe — so f'ludly hope can err 1
'T was joy, she 'hought, jny's mute excess —
Their happy flight^s dear haibinger j
'T was warmth — absurance — tt^nderness —
'T was any thing but leaving her.
" Haste, haste 1*' she cried, "the clouds grow dark,
** But still, ere night, we 'U reach the bark ;
"And by lo-morrow's dawn — oh, bliss!
*' With thee upon the i-un-bright deep,
*' Far ott", 1 Ml but remember this,
** As >onie dai k vanistiM dream of sleep ;
"And thou " but ah ! — he answers not —
Good Hea v'n '. — and does she go alone ?
She now has leach'd that dismal spot.
Where, some hours since, bis voice's tone
Had come to soothe her fears and ills,
Sweet as the angel Israhl"s,»
When e\eiy leal on Kdeu's tree
Is irembling to his mius'relsy —
Yel now — oh. now, he is not nigh.—
"Hafed! my H.fed' — il il be
"Thy will, thy d' om this iiighi lo die,
*• Le' me but >tay to die with Ihee,
"And I will ble-s thy loved name,
**TiIl the last life-breaih leave this frame.
" Oh ! let our lips, our cheeks be l.Tid
"But near each other while they fade;
"Let us but nnx our parting brea hs,
"And 1 candle ten thousand deaths!
" You too, who hurry me away
** So cruelly, one moment stay —
"Oh ! slay —one moment is not much —
•' He yet may come — for him I pray —
" Hafed I dear Hafed 1 — " all the way
In Wild lameiitings that would touch
A heart of stone, she shriek'd his nanie
To the d.irk woods — no Hafed came : —
No — hapless piir — you 've look'd your last : —
Your hearts shou'd both have broken ihen:
The dre-vni is o'er — ynur doom is cast —
Vou *11 never meet on earth again !
Alas, for him, who hears her cries !
b ill half-w.iy down the steep he stands,
Watching with fix'd and teverish eyes
'J'he glimmer of those burning bnnds,
That d.un the rocks, with n-nurnful lay,
Light all hf- loves nn earih awav !
Hopeless as Ihey who, far at sea.
By the cold moon have just consigned
The coise nf one, lovd te. dcrly,
To the bleak Hood they leave behind ;
And on the deck slill lingering stay,
And long loi>k tiack, with sad delay,
To warch the moonlight on the wave,
Tliat ripples o'er that cheerless grave.
Bui see — he starts — what heard he then ?
That dreadful shout ! — across the gleii
Fr(im the land-side it comes, and loud
hings throuffh the ch isni ; as if the crowd
Of fearful ihings, that haunt that dell.
Its Gholes and Dives and shapes of hell,
Had all in one dread howl broke out,
So loud, so terrible that shoLl!
"They come — the Moslems come I" — he cries,
Hi^ proud suul mounting to his eyes,—
"Now, Spirlis of the Brave, who roam
"Enfranchis'd through yon starry dome,
"Rejoice— for souls of kindred fire
" Are on the wing to join your choir !"
He said — and, light as bridegrooms bound
To their young loves, reclimb'd the steep
And gain'd the Shrine — his Chiefs stood round —
'I'heir swords, as with instinctive leap,
Together, ai that cry accurst,
H^d from their sheaths, like sunbeams, burst.
And hark ! — again — ag.iin it rings ;
Near and more near its echoings
Teal through the chasm — oh ! who that then
Had seen those listening warrior-men,
Wilh their swords grasp'd, their e\es of flame
Turn'd on their Chief— could diiubt the shame,
The' indignant shame wi h which ihey thrill
To hear those shouts and yet stand still ?
He read their thoughts — they were his own —
" What ! while our arnis can wield these bladei,
" Shall we die tamely ? die alone ?
*' Without one vicrim lo imr shades,
" One Moslem heart, where, buried deep,
" The sabre from i's toil may sleep ?
" No — God of Iran's burning skies !
" Thou scorn'st the' inglot ious sacrifice.
" No — though of all eat lh'» hope bereft,
" Life, swords, and vengeance s'ill are left.
" We 'il make yon villey's reeking caves
" Live in the awe-struck minds of men,
"Till lyrants shudder, when their slaves
"Tell of the Ghebcr's bloody glen.
" Follow, brave hearts! — this pile remains
"Our reluge still from life and chains;
" But his the best, the holiest bed,
" Who sinks entomb'd in Moslem dead !"
Down the precipitous rocks Ihey sprung,
While vigour, more than human, strung
Each arm and heart. — The' exulting foe
Still through the dark defiles below,
Track'd by his torches' lurid hre,
Wound slow, as through Golc-nda's vale*
The mighty serpent, in his ire,
Glides on with glittering, deadly IraiL
No torch tbeGhebers need — so well
They know each mystery of the dell,
So oft have, in their wanderings,
Cross'd the wild race that round ihem dwell.
The very tigers from their delves
Lonk out, and let them pa-^s, as things
UntamM and fearless like 'hemselves!
There v^as a deep ravine, that lay
Yef darkling in (he Moslem's way ;
Fit spill t'l make inwiders rue
The many f.ll'n before the few.
The torreriis fmni thai morning's sky
Had hi I'd the narr -w chasm brea-t-high,
And, nil each side, aloft and vviid,
Huie dirt- and toppling crags were pil'd,—
The guards with winch young Freedom lia<s
The pathways to her mouiitaiu-shrines.
2 See Hoole upon thf Story of Sinbad.
THE FIRE- WORSHIPPERS.
299
Here, at this pass, the scanty band
Of Iran's last aveng^ers 'land ;
Here w.tit. in silence like the dexd,
Ai'd lisrcii for the Moslem's iread
So »nxi u-ly, (fie carnon-bird
Above *Ueni ^.^psliis wing unbeard!
'Ihry come — that plunge into the water
GiMS sig[i<l fur the vvo:k <if slaughter.
N<'w, tihebers, now— if e'er your hiadea
Had p 'iiit IT pruwess, prove them now —
Woe tu the file Ihat forentost wades !
They come — a f.ilchion greets each brow,
And, a"s Ihey tunible, tiunk on trunk,
Beneath the goiy waters sunk,
Still i-\{ their drowning bodies press
New v-ctinis quick and numberless;
T J^. oU.rce an arm m Hafed-s band,
So tierce their toil, hath power to stir,
Bit listless from each crimson hand
The sword hangs, cloggM with massacre.
Never \vas horde of tyrants met
With bloodier welcome — never yet
To patriot vengeance h^th the sword
Mo.e terrible libations pour'd !
Alt u[» the dreiry^ long ravine,
Ry the red, murky glimnipr seeu
Of half queuch'd br.inds, that o'er the flood
Lie scatter'd round and burn in blond,
What ruin glares ! what carnige swims!
Heads, blazing turbai*s. quivering limbs,
Lost swords tliat. droppM from m^ny a hand.
In that thick pool of blaugh er stand ; —
Wretches who vxadiog, half on fire
From the tossd brands thai round them fly,
n' wixl flood and ffan.e in shrieks expire;—
And some who. grasp'd by those that die,
Sink woundles^ with them, smnther'd o'er
la Iheir dead brethren's gushing gore I
But vainly hundreds, thousands bleed,
Still hundreds, thousands more succeed ;
Coun'less as tow^ds some flime at rtight
I'he Norths dark insects wing their Ilight,
And quench nr perish in its light.
To this terrific ^p^' they pnur —
Till, biidg'd with Moslem bcdies o'er,
It bears aloft 'heir slippery tread,
And oVr the dying and the dead,
Tremendous causeway ! on they pass.
Then, haple s Ghebers, then, ala^
What ho|»e was left for you ? fnr you,
WhoFC >et warm pile of sacrifice
Is smoking in their veLgeful eyes ;—
Whose swords how keen, how fierce they knev
And burn with shame to find how few.
Cnish'd down by that vast multitude,
Some found their graves where first they stood j
While some \vith hardier struggle died,
And >till fought on by Hafed^s side,
W!in, fronting tn the foe, trod bick
Tow'rds the high towers bis gory (rack;
And, as a lion swfpi a^vay
Ry sudden swell of Jordan's pride
From the wild covert where he lay,*
Long hattlfs with the' o'erwhelming tide,
So tonghl he bick with fierce delay,
And kept both foes and fate at bdy.
But whither now ? their 'rack is lost.
Their prev escTpM —guide, torches gone —
By l.>tTfiit.be(l- and labynn'hs crsf,
The vcaiiei'd crnud rush blindly on —
« *' In this thicket upon the ha-.ks of the Jordan
•ev?ral sorts of w.id hpasts are wont m ha'bnur them-
selves, whose being washed out of the covert by the
overflowings of the rive . cave occisinn to Ihn allu-
sion of Jeremiah, he shall CL>me up like a lion from
the noclUng of JoTdan.^^ ~ MaundrtlVs Aleppo,
" Curse on those tardy lights Ihat wind,"
They paniing cry, "so far behind ;
'*0h for a bloodhound's precious scent,
** To (r^ick the w ay the Gheber went I"
Vain wish — confusedly along
They rush, more desperate as more wrong t
Till, wilder'd by the far ofl" lights.
Yet gliitering up those gloomy heights,
1 heir footing, maz'd and lost, they miss,
And down the darkling precipice
Are dashed into ihe deep abyss;
Or midway hang, impal'd on rucks,
A banquet, vet alive, for flrrcks
Of ravening vultures,— while the dell
Re-echues with each horrible yell.
Those sounds — Ihe last, to vengeance dear,
That e'er sh;ill ring in Hafed's ear,—
Now reach'd him, ^> ah-ft, alone,
Upon the steep way breathless thrown.
He lay Reside his reeking blade,
Resign'd, as if life's task were o'er,
1(8 last bJnod-oflerint; amply paid,
And Iran's self could claim no more.
One only Ihoughi, one lingering beam
Now broke across his dizzy dream
Of piin and weariness — 'twas she,
His heart's pure planet, shining yet
Above Ihe waste of memory,
When all life's other lights were set
And never to his mind before
Her image such enchantment wore.
It seeni'd as if eich thought that stain'd,
Each fear ih;it chilPd their loves was past.
And not one cloud of earth remain'd
Between him and her ntdiance cast; —
As if to charnis, before so bright.
New grace from other worlds was given.
And his sonl saw her by the light
Now breaking o'er itself from heaven !
A voice spoke near him — 't was the lone
Of a lov'd friend, ihe only one
Of all his warriors, left ui'h life
From ihal shod night's tremendous strife.
*■ And must we then, my chief, die here?
** Foes round us, and Ihe Shrine so near!**
These words hive rous'd the last reniaiiis
Ot life within him- "what I not yet
"Beyond the reach of Moslem chains !'»
The thought could make ev'n Death forget
His icy bondage — with a bound
He springs, all bleeding, from ihe ground.
And grasps his comrade's arm, now grown
Ev'n feebler, heivier than his own.
And up the painful pathway leads,
Death gaining on each step he treads.
Speed them, thou God who heard'st their vow!
1 hey monnt — they bleed — oh. save them now
The crags are red they 've clamber'd o'tr.
The rock-weed's dripping with their gore; —
Thy blade too, Hafed, filseat lenglii.
Now breaks beneath thy totteringstrength 1
Hasle, haste — the voices of Ihe Foe
Come ne:»r and nearer from below —
Oneeifort more — think Heav'n ! 'tis past,
They'vegain'd the topmost stet-p nt list.
And nov\ they touch Ihe 'eniples walls,
Now Hnfed sees the Fire divine-
When, III ! — hi^ weak, worn comrade falls
De.d ON the ihreslmld of Ihe sliiine.
"Alas, brave soul, I.ioquicklv fled!
"And must I leave (bee withei ing here,
•*The 5p'-rl of every ruffian's tread,
** The mark for every coward's spear?
'*No, by yon altar's sacred beams!"
He cries, and, with a strength that seemi
Not of this world, uplifts the frame
Of the fall'n Chief, and tow'rdB the flame
!30i;
LALLA ROOKH.
Bears him along ; — wilh dealh-damp band
The corpse upon Ihe pyre he lays,
Then lights Ihe consecraied brand,
And hrcs the pile, whose sudden blaze
Like lightning bursts e'er Oman's Sea.—
** ISow, Freeduni's God ! 1 come lo Thee,"
The youth excl linis, and with a smile
Of triumph vaulting en the pile,
In that last ettbrt, eie the tires
Have lurm'd one glorious limb, expires !
What shriek was that on Oman's tide ?
It came from yonder drifting bark,
That just hath caught upon her side
■Jhe death-light — and again is dark.
It is the bual — ah, why delay'd? —
That bears the wretched Wu->lem maid;
Couhded to the walcliful care
Of a small veteran band, with whom
Their generous Chieftain would not share
The secret of his final doom,
Bui hop'd when Uinda, safe and free,
Was reiider'd to her father's eyes.
Their pardon, full and prompt, would be
The ransom of so dear a prize.—
Unconscious, thus, of Haled's late,
And proud to guard Iheir beauteous freight
Scaice had they clear'd Ihe surly waves
Thai foam around those Irighllul caves.
When the cuisl war-whoops, known so well,
Came echoing from the distaul dell —
Sudden each o ir, upheld and still,
Hung diipping o'er the vessel's side,
And, diivingat the current's will.
They rock'd along the whispering tide ;
While every eye, in muledisn.ay.
Was tow rd that fatal mountaiu turn'd,
Where Ihe dim altar's quivering ray
As yet all lone and tranquil burn'd
Oh ! 't is not, Hinda, in the power
Of Fancy's mo. I terrilic touch
To paint thy pangs in that dread hour —
Thy silent agony — X was such
As tliiise who leel could paint loo well,
iiut none e'er felt and lii'd to lelll
''l" was not alone the dreary state
Of a lorn s|iirit, cru-h'd by fite,
When, thoush no more leinains lo dread,
The panic'chill " ill not dep .ri ; —
When, though the inmate Hupe be dead,
Her ghos. siill haunts Ihe mouldering heart;
No — pleasures, hopes, ali'ections gone,
The wretch may bear, and yet live on,
Like things, within the cold rock found
Alive, when all 's congeal'd around.
But there's a blank repcise in this,
A calm stagnation, that weie bliss
To the keen, burning, harrowing pain,
Now felt through all thy breast and brain; —
That spasm of terror, mute, intense,
That breathles-., agonis'd suspense.
From whose hot Ihnib, whnsede.^dly aching,
The heart hath no relief but breaking 1
Calm ;s Ihe wave — heav'n's brilliant lights
RelUcted dance beneath the prow ; —
Time was when, on such lovely nights,
She who i
nlate
Coi.ld sit all cheerlul, though aloi.e.
And ask no hajipier joy than seeing
That star-lighl o'er the waters thrown —
No joy but that, to make her blest.
And the fresh, buoyant sense nf Being,
Which bounds in youth's yet careless breast,-
llself a star, not bnrrowiiis: light,
But in its own gl.ad essence brijht.
How different now !— but, hark, again
The yell of havoc rings — brave men I
In vain, with beating beans, ye stand
On the bark's edge — in vain each hand
Half draws the falchion from its sh?ath;
All 's o'er — in rust your blades may lie : ^
He, at whose word they 've scatter'd death,
Ev'n DOW, this night, himself must die 1
Well may ye look to yon dim tower,
And ask, and wondering guess what means
The balile-cry at lliis dead hour —
Ah 1 she could tell you — she, who leans
Unheeded ihere, pale, sunk, aghast,
With blow assainst the dew-cold mast ; —
'l\io well she knows— her more than life,
Her soul's first idul and its la-l,
Lies bleeding in that murderous strife.
But see — what moves upon Ihe height ?
Some signal 1 — 't is a torch's light.
What bodes ils solitary glare ?
In gasping silence low'id the Shrine
All eyes are turn'd— thine, Hinda, Ihine
Fii; their last fading lile beams there.
'T was but a moment — fierce and high
The dtalh-pile blaz'd into the sky,
And far away, o'er rock and hood
Its luelancholv radiance sent ;
While Haled, like a vision stood
ReveaI'd before the burning pyre.
Tall, shadowy, like a Spirit of Fire
Shriu'd in its own grand element !
"'I'is he I"— the shuddering maid exclaims,-
Bul, while she speaks, he's seen no more;
High burst in air Ihe funeral flames,
And Iran's hopes and hers are o'er!
One wild, heart-broken shriek she gave;
Then sprung, as if to leach that blaze,
Where stilfshe hx'd her dying gaze,
And, gazing, sunk into the wave, —
Deep, dee(), — where never care or pain
Shall reach her innocent heart again 1
Farewell- farewell lo thee, Araby's daiighler!
(Thus warbled a Peri beneath the dark sea,)
No pearl ever lay, under Oman's green water.
More pure in its shell than thy Spirit in Ihee,
Oh 1 (: as the sea flower close lo Ihee growing.
How light was ihy heart till Love'a witchery carre.
Like Ihe wind of the south ' o'er a summer lute
blowing,
And hush'd all ils music, and wither'd its frame!
But long, upon Araby's green sunny highlands.
Shall maids and their lovers remember the doom
Of her, who lies sleeping among the Pearl Mands,
With nought but the sea-star » to light up her tomb.
And still, when the merry date-season is burning,^
And calls to Ihe palm-groves the young and the old,
The happiest there, from their pastime returning
At sunset, will weep when thy story is told.
The young village-maid, when with flowers she
dresses
Her dark llowing hair for some festival day.
Will think of thy fate till, neglecting her tresses,
She mournfully turns from the mirror a\vay.
i "This wind (Ihe Samoor) so sufleiis the s'rings oi
lutes, ihat they can never be tuned while il lasts." —
SteplwrCs Persia,
s •* One of the grealest curiosities found in the Per-
sian Gulf is a fish which tlie Kn^lish call Star-fish.
It IS circular, and at night very luminous, resembling
the full moon surrounded by rays." — A/irza ALu
Taleb.
I* For a description of Ihe merriment of ihe date-
tinie, of their work, their dances, and their return
home fiom the palm-gmves at the end nf autuBiD
wi'h the fruits, see Ktjnpjer^ Mmanitat. Exot.
PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
301
Nor shall Iran, beloved of her Hero ! forget Ihee —
'^llOU^h tyraiils vvalch over her tears as they start,
Close, cinse by li.e side of Iha' Hero she 'II set ihee,
Eiiiluliii'd ill ihe iunerjiio>t shrine ol her heart.
Faieivell — be it ours to eiobe'lih thy pillow
j VVittieveiy thiiiil beauteous ihat grous in thedeepj
I Each (lower ot ihe rock iiiJ eacli gem of the billow
Shall sweelen thy bed and illuinine thy sleep.
Around Ihee shall Klislen the loveliest amber
I That ever the snrrowins sea-bird lias we|.t ; •
With litany a shell, in whose huttow-wreattrd cham-
ber
We, Peris of Ocean, by moonlight have slept.
1 Some naturalists have imagined that amber is a
roiicieti'in of the tears of birds. — See Trcaoux^
Chambers.
We 'II dive where the girdens of coral lie d^rkliig,
And plant all Ihe rosiest stems ai thy head ;
We'll sick wheie the sands of the Caspian 2 are
sparkliriic.
And gather their gold to strew over thy bed.
Farewell — farewell— until I'ilj's sweet fountain
Is lost 111 the hearts of the fair and ihe brave.
They'll v> ecp (or the Chieflain who died on that
They 'II weep for Ihe Maiden who sleeps in tbla
* ''The biy Kieselarke, which is otherwise called
the Golden Bay, the sand whereof shines as (ire." —
Stray.
END OF VOL. VI.
PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
The stalion assigned to "The Fudge Family," in
the Cullou in^ pages, iiiimedialely after Lalla Rookh,
agrees but too closely wiih rlie ac ual order in which
these two works were originally urilteii and publish-
ed. 1 he >ucccss, far exceeding my hopes and de^erls,
with which Lalla Rookh was'iminediately crou ned.
lelieved me at once fiom (he anxious feeling ot re-
sponsibility under which, as my readers have seen,
that ente prise had been coinnifiiced, and uhich con-
tinued for Mi|i>e time to haunt me amidst all the
enchantments of my lask. 1 uas 'hertfore m Ihe true
holyday mood, when a dear friend, with "h se lunte
is as>ociated some of the bngh est aid pleasaniest
hours of niy past l;fe,3 kmdly otiered me a seat in his
carri ge Tt a sho:t vi it to I'aris. This proposal I,
of course, niost gl'diy accepied ; and. in ihe aulunin
of the year 1817, found myselt, for the first time, in
ihat gay capital.
As the lestoiation of the Bourbon dynas'y was s:ill
of loo recent a dale for any amalgamation to have )el
taken place between Ihe new and ancient order of
things, all ilie m' st prominent features of both re^rnes
w«re just then brought, in their fullest reiiel, into
juxtaposilioii ; and, accordingly, the result was buch
as to (■uggejt lo an unconcerned spectator quite as
abundant matter f t ridicule ns for grave poliiical
consiileation. It «ojld be difficult, indeed, to con-
vt y to ihobc u ho had not themselves seen ttie Paris of
)|iat period, any clear notion of the anomalous aspect,
boih social and pnliicil, which It then presented. It
was as if, in the days succeeding the Deluge, a ^mall
coterie of aniediluvians hid been suddenly evoked
from out "f the deep lo take the command of a new
and fiesliiy slartins world.
To me, ihe abunjnnt amusement and interest which
■ jch a scene could no! but aftbrd was a good deal
heigh ened by niy having, in my youlhful days, been
made acquainted w ith some of ihose jjersonages who
, were now most interested in Ihe future succe-s of the
; Legitrmale ciuse. The Cornte D'Artois, or Monsi
; 1 had met in Ihc year 1S02-3, at Doninglon Park, the
ieal of the Earl of Moira, under whose princely roof
] I used ofien and lontr, in those days, lo find a mns'
; hospilable home. A' small parly of distinguished
' French cmig-ants were already itavingon a vis.t in
J the hou-e when Mons eur and his Mjite arrived ; ai d
I among those ^ee the (resenl Kine; or ft:! nee and his
j tivo brf>lhe s. the Due de M-mtpensier, and the Com'e
de Bt-aujolais.
26
Some doubt and uneasiness had, I remember, heen
fell by the two latter brothers, as to the reccpHcn
they were likely to encouni
I ho;
opped and unpowde ed
as a symbol (.f Jacobin-
who, like many other
} fa^hlon, ihought it,
irder to
head was regirded generally
ism, Ihe Comte lietujolais,
young men, wore his tiair in
on the present occasion, most prudent,
a\oid all risk of oH'eiice, not only to put |iow'der in
his hair, bui aho to provide himself with an anificial
queue. This nieasure of precaution, however, led lo
a sligl t incidenr af er dinner, which, though not very
rojal 01 dignified, was at le^st creditable to tt,e social
g -od-humour -.f the future Cliarles X. On the depar-
ture of the ladies from Ihedining-ro m, «e had hard-
ly seated ouiselves in the old fashioned style, round
the Jiip, when Monsieur, who h:id happened to place
himself nixt (n Heiujolais. caught a glimpse of the
ascni ions tail,— which, having been r:ither carelessly
pul on, had a eood deal straggled out of ils plice.
With a sort of st-ieao) orjocnUr pleasure, as if de-
li^hied at thr
appendage, an<
the great anoi
it inio poor gn
On one of tl
zed ilie stray
il into full view, to
>le company, popped
mouih.
i short vistf of Mon-
sieur, I remember Curran arriving U' expectedly, on
his way to London; and, having come loo late for
dinner, he j ined our parly in the evening- As the
foreign jiortjon tif the coniprny was then iiui'e new lo
him, 1 v\as able to be uselul, by informing him of Itie
names, r.mk. and other particulars of the party he
found assembled, from Monsieur himself down tn the
old Z)uc de I.orge and ihe Haron de Rolle. When I
had gone through the w hole list, " Ah, poor fellows !'
he exclaniied, with a mixti.re of fun arid |iilhos in
his lodk, truly Irish, "Poor fellows, all dismounted |
cavalry 1" _ :
On ihe last evening of Monsieur's stay, I waj made j
to sing for him, among other songs, "Farewell, I
Bess.v I'' one of my earliest attenip's at musical coin- !
posrion. As soon as r had finishtd. he paid me ihe'
complinient of reading aloud the uoids as uiil'en I
under the music; and mosi roy.tl havr.c dnl he make,
as to this day 1 remcrnlier, of w hatever litlle sense or
metre they could boast. |
Among my earlier poe'ic writinen, more than one
graiefu! memorial niay be found of the hnppy days I '
passed in this hospifable n>ausioi;,4~
I Seeanie^ p. 112,
3{)-2
PREFACE TO THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
But neither veise nor prnse cmld do any jusMce t" ihe
80r: of iiii|ire sum i siill retain of ihose lunj^-vanKlied
days. I lie hb ary ;U Onuingon was" extensile and
valuable; and tin ush Ihe prnrt-^e kindly ii-anted to
uie oi reiinn^ thitlu-r f.n sli.dy, even when the taniily
were absent, i iftqueiiily [);*>sed wijciie weeks al.-ne
ill thai tine libraiy. ii dulling in all ihe li st airy
castlc-bu.ldiii^ (»f authorNhiji. The various pmjec's,
Indeed, (if future vvorka that used thei to pass in fruit-
less succession thiough my mind, can be compared
only to the waves as described by the poet, —
'And OI
f fullow
r touch'J the thore, and died*
With tliat library is also connec'ed annther of my
earlier poems,— the verse-, addressed to (he Duke of
Montpensier on his portrait of the Lady Adelaide
Forbes ;•* for it was there that this truly noble lady,
then in Ihe first dawn of her beauty, u^ed to sit for
that picture ; while, in anoiher part of the library,
the Duke of Orleans,— engaged gei.er.Uy at that time
with a volume of Cl>rendon.— v^aa by auch studies
unconsciously pieparin^ hiniself fnr ibe hi^h and
arduous des'iny, which not only the Good tienius of
France, bul his own sagacious and intrepid spirit, had
nurked out for him.
I need hardly say how totally diiferent were all the
circumstances under which Monsit-ur hiniself and
year lbl7 ; ~ the same ac'ors, ii deed, but with an
entirely new change of scenery and decniaiinns.
Among tlie v ruty of aspeds presented by (his
change, Ihe lihculus certainly predoniinated j nor
could a saiirsl who, like Philocletes, was smitten
with a fancy for shooting at geese, 3 ask any better
supply of such K;ime thtn ihe higli places, in France,
at that period, bolh lay and ecclesiastical, afforded.
As 1 was not versed, hov\ever, sutTicitnly in French
politics to venture to meddle uttli them, even in
sport, 1 found a more ready conductor of laughter —
for which 1 was then much in the mood — in those
groups of ridiculous F.nglish who were at ihat lime
swarming in all direc'ions throughout Paris, and of
all whose various foims of cnckneyism and nonsense
I endeavoured, in Ihe personages o(' the Fudge Family,
to collect the concenirated essence. 1 he resnit. as
usual, fell very far short of whai I had myself pre-
conceived and intended. Bnt, making i's appearance
at such a crisis, the w( rk brougtit with it Ihat best
seasoning of all such jciix-d'e.yprit, the a-projios of
the moment ; and, accordingly, in the race of succes-
sive editions, Lalla Rnokh was, for some lime, kept
pace with by Mi3> Biddv Fudi;e.
1 he set les of trifles contained in th'S volume, enti-
tled ''Rhymes on Ihe R^ad." were written partly as
their title implies, and partly at a sub^equent peiiod
from nieninrandunis made on the sj)0t. This will
acc^iunt for so many of those pieces bfing little better.
I fetr, than ''pmse fringed with rh\me." The jour-
ney to a pait of which tliose Rhymes owed their
existence was coninienced in company with Lord
John Russell in the autumn of the yeai 1S19. Altera
week or two passed at Paris, to enable Lord John to
refer lo Barilloii's Letters fur a new edilion of liis Life
of Lord Kussell then preparing, we set out together
for the Sirnplon, At Milan, the agreeable society of
the laie Lord Kinnaiid detained us for a few dtys;
and tlien my cnmpanion tr>nk Ihe r.'ule lo Genoa,
while 1 proceeded on a visit to Lord Byron, at Vei ice.
> In employing the past tense here, I do the present
lord injustice, who"-e hlial wish I know It is u< keep
all at Uoniiiglon exactly as his noble father left it.
1 See ante^ p. S6.
3 " Pirinigero, nnn armigero in corpore tela exer-
ceanlur ;'' — the words put by Accius m the mouth of
j Philoctetes.
It was during the journey thus briefly described, I
addressed the well-known Reinonsirance to my noble
friend,* winch Mas of l.iie been frequen'ly coupled
wiih m\ prnphe'ic versescn ihe Duke ot VVtllmgion,*
from the piescjent spirii With which l> so confidemiy
looked forward lo all ihat L>ird John has since become
iu he eyes of Ihe uorld.
Of my visit lo Lord Rymn, — an event, to me so
memnr:*ble,— I have already detailed all the most
interesting paiticuhirs m inv i)i.bliihed Life of the
poet; and shall here only cite, from that work, one
passage, as having snnie reterei.ce to a j)icture men-
Itoncd in the toHowing pases. ''As we were con-
vetsing after diin.er about ilie various col lee ions of
paititings 1 had '■een thai morning, on niy saying that,
fearful as 1 was of ever praising any picture, lest I
should draw on myself the connoisseur's sneer, for my
pain«, i would yet, to him, ven'ure to own that I had
seen a picture at Milan, which '"ihe Hagari's
he exclaimed, cage ly interiupiing me ; and it was, in
fact, that very picture 1 was about to mention lo him
as having awakened in me. by tlie tiu'h of Its expres-
sion, moie real emotion than any 1 had yet seenamoug
the chtjs-d'a.uvre. of Venice "
In the society I cnlefly fived with, while at Rome,
Icorsideied myself singularly fortunate ; though but
a blind worshipper of those powers of Art of which
my companions were all Ingli-priests. Caiiova him-
self Chanlrey, Lawrence, J.ickson, Turner, Ea^ilake,
— such weiellie men of w ho^e presence and guidance
I enjoyed the advantage in visiting all that unrivalled
Rome can boast of beau iful and grand. That I de-
rived from Ills course rf Imiiatiou any thing more
ihau a very humbling consciousness of my own igno-
rance and wan' of taste, In mailers of art, I will not
be so dishonest as to pietend. But, to Ihe stranger in
Rome every s'ep forms an epoch ; and, in addition to
all Its countless apieal- lo memory and imagination,
the agreeable au--pices under which 1 fits visited all
its memor.ible places could not but render eveiy im-
pression I rectived more vivid and permanent, 'jhus,
with my recnjleclion of the Sepulchre of S'. Peter,
and its ever burning iani[is, for which splendid spot
Canova was then meditating a sia'ue,'' there is always
connected in my uiind the exclamation which I heard
breik from Chnnlrey af'c gazing, for a few moments,
in silence, upon that gloiiuus bite, — " What a place
rk for
In one of the poems contained in this volunie 8 allu-
sion is made to an evening not easily forgotten, when
Chanlrey and my>elf were taken ly Canova lo Ihe
Bnrghese Palace, for the purpo e < f showing us. by
Ihe light of a taper — his favourite m de of exhibi -
ing Ihat work -his btauhful stitue of the Princess
Borghe^e, called the Venere Vmcitrice. In C'hantrey's
eagerness to point out some grace or effect that pecu-
liarly struck him, he sna'ched the light out of Cano-
va's hand ; and to this circums ance the following pas-
sage of the poem leferred to was meant to allude : —
■When he, thy peer In art and fi.me.
Hung o'er the marble with <le]ight;9
Aiiil, wtiile hifl liij^f'iing tiund would steal
O'er every grace the Iaper*B iay»,
Gave thee, wilti all ttie gen'routi zeal
SiK-h roa.sler spirits only Teel,
That best of fume — a rival's praise.
One of the days that still lireer most pleasantly in
y memory, and which, I irusT. neither LidyCalcott
ir Mr. Easilake hive quite forgotten, was ihat of our
nor
* See j30st, p. 356.
8 See a/ife, p. 161.
6 Abraham dismi-sing Hagar, by Guercino.
T A statue, I believe, of Pius VL
8 Seepo^r, p. 353.
9 A slight alterafion here bis rendered these verses
more Irue to the actual fact than they were in their
original form.
PREFACE TO TH£- SEVENTH VOLUME.
303
viiif trgether \o the Pala'ine Mount, when, as
Bauntt-red about that picturesque spot, cfijdving
variird Tiews of Home which it cn.m ruis. hey in
nie, for the ti^jt lime. acqun n ni « rll. GuiJiS spiri
Ode Oil the AiC'di iijs, in "uhicli there ii^ poetry eiiou^^h
lo make aiiicnJs for all 'lie uonsei.se ut hi> Vhyiuiug
biethren. 'I'ru'y and grandly does he exclaim,—
Indomitn e oupcrha anr^jr e Roma
nei.i'tie 81 vi-ggirt rol giaii biislo a ttrra ,
Son pien* di eplemlor le suo ruine,
E il eiaii ceut>re euo si mostra cltriio."
With Canova, while sitting to J.icks^n for a por-
trait ordered bj Chantrey, I had more ttian once some
interesting cnnversaiion, — or rather, lis'ened while
he spoke,— respec ing the poliiical s'ale of Europe at
thar period, .uui ihose " bricconi,'' as he styled them,
the sovereigns of tlie Holy AHiar ce ; and, before I left
Rome, he kindly presented lo me a set of engravings
fiom sonie of his finest statues, t"5ether wjih a copy
of the beautifully printed collection of Poems, which
a Rom^n poet named Missirini bad written in praise
of his different "Marmi."'
When Lnrd John Russell and myself parted, at
Milan, il was ai^reed between us, lint afler a short
visit to Rome, and (if pri<cticable within the allowed
time) to >aple3, I wa-* to rejuin him at Genoa, at d
from thence accompany him lo England. But the
early period for which Parliament wns summoned,
that year, owing lo the violent proceedings at Man-
chester, rendered it necessary for Lord John to hasten
his return to England. 1 was, therefote, most fortu-
nate, under SI ch circu:;.sianct;s, in being permiited by
uiy friends Chantrey and Jackson to join in their
journey homewa'd; through which lucky arrange-
ment, ihe same j-^ecious privilege I had enjnyed, at
Rome, of hearing 1h^ opinions of such piaclised
judges, on all the great works of .irt 1 saw in their
c unpany, was afterwards cntinued to me thiougli the
various collections we visited together, at Florence,
Bologna, Modt-na, P.irma, Milan, and Turin.
To some of those pictures and statues that moat
took niy fancy, during mv lou'", allusions will be found
in a few of the poems contained in this volume. But
the great pleasure 1 derived from these and mitiy
other such works amse fir in Te from the poetical
na'ure of their si.bjecis than from any judgment I had
learned to form of their real merit :<» works of art,—
a line of lore in which, notwithstanding my course of
schooling, I lemained, I fear, unenlightened to the
last. For all that was los' upon me, howevc*-, in the
halls of Art, 1 was more than consoled in the cheap
picture-g'Ilery of Na'ure; and a glorious sunset i
witnessed in ascending the Simpton is slill remem-
bered by me with a depth and fieshness of feeling
which no work of art 1 saw in the galleries of Italy
has left behind.
I have now a few words to devote to a somewhat
kindled subjec! with which a p em or two contained
in the following pages are closely connected.! In my
iTeface to the First Volume of tliis collection. I briefly
nrtticed the laste for Private The.trical Perfoimances
which prevailed {lnrin>r the latler h ilt of the hsi cen-
tury among the higher" nnks in Ireland. This laste
continued fiT nearly twenty vear? to survive the epoch
of the Union, and in the performances of the Private
Theatre of Kilkenny gave forh its last, as well a«,
perhajis. brightest flashes The life and s 'ul of this
institution was our manager, the late Mr. Rtcliard
Pnwer, a gentleman who c uld bnast a larger circle
of attached friends, and ihrough a life more free from
shadow or alloy, than an\ individual it has ever been
my lot to know. No livelier proof, indeed, could be
required of the sort of feeling en'ertained towards him
than was once vhown in the reception given to the
two following homely lines which occurred in a Pro-
logue I wTOti to be spoken bv Mr. Corry in the cha-
racter of Vapid.
a,\/,e,ro
B friends. 2
iTh
< Seep;igea354. 355,
56 few vimple words I wrote with the assured
iciioH that they wi>uld proil. ce mo e eilVct fr -in
he homefelt trui-m lliey cont.nned than culd be
tiecied by the mo^i laboured burst ot eU.ip.e ce , and
he result i^as just what I had antiiip.ied, (nr th-
io .^e rung, for a coneiderable lime, witli the heartiest
p'audils.
The chief comic, or ralher fafi-'ical, force of the
company lay in my friend Mr. Coiry, and *' longo
iDiervallo," my.-elfj and hough, as usu d, with low
cnmeiiians, we were much lo^-ked down upon by the
lofty loids of the huskm, matiy was the sly joke we
used 10 indulge together, at the exi)ense of our heioic
bieihren. Some waggtsh critic, indeed, is said to
have declared that of all (he personages of our theatre
he most adniired the prompter, — *• because he was
least seen and best heard." Bui this joke was, cf
course, a meie good-humoured rlander. 1 here were
two, at least, of our dramatic corps. Sir Wrixon
Becherand Mr. Rothe, whose powers, asiiagic actors,
lew amateurs have ever equalled ; and Mr. Corry-
peihips alone of all our com|iariy — would have been
sure of winning laurels on tin: public s age.
As to my own share in these lepresentations, the
following list of my most succes fiil char.ders will
sliow how remote from Ihe line of the Heroic was the
small orbit through whicfi I ranged ; my chief parts
having been Sam, in -Raising the Wind,'' Robin
Riiughhead, Mungo, Sadi, in the ''Mountaineers,'*
Spad'i, and Peeping Tom. In the part of Spado there
occur seveial allusions to that gay rogue's shorlness of
stature which never failed to be welronitd by my
auditors with laugh er and cheers; and the words
" Even Sanguino alL.wa I an. a clever little fellow"
w.is alvvay> a signal for this sort of friendly explosion.
One of the >ong3. indeed, writlen by O'Kecfe for the
characler of Spado so much aboi-nds with point, thus
personally applicable, that many supposed, with no
great compliment either to my poetry or my modesty,
ihal the song had been wrilten, expressly for the occa-
sion, by myself. The following is the verse to which
I allude, and for the poelry of which 1 was thus made
responsible : —
•Though boi
Yel BO M
Aud. vvheil
to be little •« my fate,
s Ihe great Alexaiidir;
I've no need tn jttitnp like a gander,
I'm no lanky, long hoilily-dodily,
Whose pajer-kite Bails iu tlie sky ;
Though wanling two feet, in my body.
In soul, 1 am thirty feet high."
Some further account of the Kilkenny Theatre, as
ell as of the history of Private Theatricals in gen-
a), will be found In an arncle I wrote on the sub-
ject for the Edinburgh Review, vol. xlvi. No. 92, p.
368.
LALLA ROOKPI.
(CONTINUED.)
The singular placidity with which Fadladecn had
lisened, during the laittr part of thisobnoxinu- afoiy,
surprised the Princess and Feiamorz exceedin-h ;
aid even inclined towards him the heaits of these un-
suspicious young persons, who lilllc knew thes'Uiice
of a complacency so marvellous. The truth was ''^
had been organizing, for the last few da^s, a ni'»st
notable plm of persecution again?! the poet, in con-
sequence of some passages that had fallen from him
on the second evening of recital, — which appeared to
'■» See page 354,
301
LALLA ROOKH.
: F..J
wnrtliy ChiTi.ber\a
;,l.les,r(.r«hich n(
:i,iii..f IhcClial'Uk
(,f th.
a 10 contain language
hin^ -h'.n of ihe sum
nor.ldLeadvifal.le. ll"as| The w
n,ni«lialely on tneir an ival . mood du
ive infuiiiialion to ihe King of , (ul soliii
Kiy din'eroLs senumcnts o( his
. .G u u.,l iluna-ely, Ihai luounch did not
il^hle'viKoiir on Ihe occasi.-l", (Ihal is, if he
;.''heCl..h„kt.Feraii,oiz,ai.dai.laceto
1 iliere w.iiiid be all e- d he feared, ol all
1 ,, lie V.vei niiie.il in Bncharia. He coi.ld nol
' ,, I'.ciweter au'unns het er both for himself and
,1 ';,,ve ol iH.tenal.s in general; and il was the
L a u e aniii'ig fn.ni ihese if.ingled !,..■ ici,.al,oi.s ihal
d llosed such uiiusual satisfadion ih.ougli his features,
ind'mkde his eyes shii.e out. like poj.pies of Mr
ilescrl, over the wide and liieless »ildeu.s
•^"h ivii^s''decided upon the Poei's chaslisemeni in
tl,U miiiier he thought it but liuniaui y to spare hini
the minor loruies of critici-rii. Accoidingly, wh
^[l::";f:^"pe:^^^^""ur;:;;?;o■rE^:^^
,---'i^.:f™:iitrf;;:^^"^?^?T^
r,,,e",n de-erved to he Iri.d al a much higher in-
i hu lal : nud llien ,udJuily lasted rlV .i,lo a pa"<=?yric
, , , , all Mussulman soveieigus, more paiticuiarly Ins
^ 'IllTand Impe'ml ma ler, Auruugzebe,- the u ,se,t
ott:'r 'iii^ii^'^h^^na "^:^Z'z:^:^'^
' h n. F»dl ideen, the very prolilable pos s ol
Be,el.carrier,'a,.d Tas e, of .berheu U. the Lm,^^^^^^
Chief Holder of 'h^,,^''''' °? ^,f,;'/l,; " '
A r'.-»nri May r or Chamberlain tu nie H.irain.
•l-^ey " ere now no, ilu from that Foi bidden R.ver,^
beyond which 1.0 pure Hind. oca ■• "
unfading cheerl'ulne
that rises nightly ov
vallev of H
Ab'da!.'i,'w'hi'cir had'^lway^ been a f»f""^i"' '■';
SdrJi^l-^'Xn'ir^heU^lt^f^V
---«^=^;\^'hr'\v^uirs'
Knokh have been happy lo lema.n I"'' " "• ?') ";«
'■pni;rh:;e;n^:^';w;:.:ti^-'^v;X^^i^
"eveT whose every look belonged to another ;
,„d '1-- -- -;^!^f;;^^ isr dllT.'n^"'- ■'
wmlllrio life During the Utter pa.t of the journey
ind.ed, she had -"JL;"^'^'^:;!';'::^;^ mi r l^ll^d
rJ r'her '"li 'those lam'^in' t"o,^hs, which only
ri^htup when the ai. is admitted it "-s only a his
?;;:;•;?-:; r,!;:dr>:s"^:^";'n;f'^;"^^
an Vge o'f plea-ure; she saw him a May
!l;^S;i:'th^,^^.n;"^^-Ho"iur,hu,e.he
they ei'joy to one genial slat
iheir heads 6
„,; „ ..ideed, seemed in their liveliMt
,,- the lew days they passed in this debght-
e'' The young aMend.n.ts of the Princeso,
here adowed a much freer r.iiige than they
r,iuTd"safelv he indulged with in a less sequestered
pa e ran wild amo'ng the gadeus a,id bounded
Through the meado>-s I'S^tly a. young loes oyer the
aromatic plains of Tibet. While Fadladeen, in ad-
;ili,ni, lo ihi- spiiiiual comfor derived by him from a.
p primage to'he toiiih of Ihe Saint from whom the
vallev IS iiimed, had also ■ l.por uniliesof indulging,
, a^small way, his taste/ u victims by pu»lug to
d"ath some hundreds of tho-e ">'?■'■■'>•'«« ' '^^
lizards 6 wliich all pi"us Mussulnnns make it a point
o|-lhat|lo kdli-Mkiug fT granled [!'=;' 'heimnner.n
mimicry If thrafiiude in which the Faithful say
"'Al,''ut''tro miles from Hussun Abd.iul were those
Royal Gardens,-" wh.ch had grown beautiful undf
care of so many lively eye-, and were beautiful si 1 ,
,K,,„o-i, ihnsp eves c.iuld tee lieni no longer. 1 his
'p*^ e' wiMi'tsZwers and tts holy si e.ice, interrupted
onlv iiv lie dipi ing of Ihe wingsof birds iii its niarb <
b" ns h Id vJi'.h the pure water of those hills, was t<
lalla Kookh all ih t her lieart could fmcy of fa
grance, coolness, and almost ''eaven y Ir.nquill.ty
i, ihe Proiiliel said of Damascus, "it was loo deli
;?;',' ."«_and here, in listening to the sweet voice
of Fei'auiotz,orre.adiug in hiseje.s what yet he nev..
dared lo tell her, the most exqnisi e moments of her
who e life were', ass«l. One evenmg, when hey had
been talking of the Sidtaua Nouim:ihal, the Light of
the Haran.s who had so of en wander.d among thes
lowers and fed with her own ha. d„ in Ih. se marbl
a-ln- lliesn.all shining fishes of which she was s
fond 10 - Uie y.iuth, m cider to delay the moment of
never atHic'ed with sadnes- or n.elancholy; on th
subject the Sheikh Mual-Kheir-Miari has the fof
'""V'^t '^'tl^nian wilhout care or sorrow, (tell)
It,,' 1 may rub my h'lid to hiio.'
" '(nehulJ) the Zing.ans wiihout care or sorrow
'""'^'S'ph,lo:;ph!/;s";::rd;sco;e;;d ma, .he cause
of this cheerfulness pr, ceeds from .he influence
e star Soheil or Canopus, which rl^es over IM
erv iiiehl." - Extract from a Gcoj^raflncalJ .
"^ ,',5' '■„..■„, r,.n,H HM Akiim. or the Scv
. - The applic.tion of whips or rods.'--i3«loiJ
■JKemi.fer mentions such an officer among t
a I ,„ nf ihf. Kiiiir of Persia, and calls a-
allend.ints of the lying oi /"^ " *'. ■ .,
forma: corporis estin.aloi." Ilis ™>; "f?. '
slated periods, to measu.c the ladies of lie Ha
rl of regulation-girdle, whose limils it w
^i.l graceful lo exceed. If any of them outgrew
„„Jf,andard of shape, they were reduced by absti-
nence till tl.ey came within proper bounds.
' IkC.f on'his way ordered a fort to be built upon
the Nllab, which he died Attock which means in
he Indian language Forbidden; for, by the super-
ol the Hiiid"Os, il was held unlawful to cross
that river." -Z)oi«'sHiud)slan.
The inhabitants of I his couiUryJZ^nge) are
.,»«^WamMcr,>7'cV.^M■■He/( Aklivi or the Seven
Climates, translated by IV. Ousclc,j, Esq.
5 The star Soheil, or Canopus.
6 '■ The lizard Stellio. The Arabs call it Ilardun.
The Turks k II it, lor Ihey imagi.ie that by declining
n;^ head .1 mimics then, » hen they say their pray-
ers." — WnMdrymst. ..j . i
1 Forlhese parlicu'ars respecting Hussun ADclaull
am indebted to Ihe very interesting lu,roduc,ion of
Mr. Elphii.stone's work upon Caubul.
enter a, Iha, B.azar, wi.houl Ihe gates of
T, ., ■ ,v,„ see the G.ceii Mosque, so called be-
^::!^'^:^,^rs^le^dwi,hgrenglazed^r.d<.
'■ ^ ES'^m: s,ri^r:;v:;u£tt'e„ e .,. .-.., -y;.^^;
wastoodelicious.'-TAcuoiot.. 1 lis reminds one ot
the following Pf=">',,t'''**''"%'" 'I'^l"!: a,d looked
" When I sat las. on tins primr >"= "-J ■ ch.rlB,
rE:^:?o;;d^7;^^^;:;T;i'^o^;:^M^-i?
werrloo pleasant ,o be looked on, but only on holy-
'''TNourmahal signifies Light of '^f H'""]- ^he
was afterwards called Nou'jehan, or the Light of the
World.
10 See note, oiifc, p- 292
THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM.
305
separation, proposed to recite a short story, or ra'Iter
rhapsf^tly of which this adored t^ultana was the hcro-
iue. II lelaied, he said, to the reconcilement of a sort
of lovers' qua lel which look place between her and
the tiiipernr d'.ling a Feast of Roses al Castiinere;
ana would remind ihe Princess of lliat dillereiice be-
tween Haioui.-aUKa chid ar.d his fair mistress Wari-
da,t which was ^o happily made up by the soft strains
of the musician, Mous-ali. As the s;ory was chielty
to be told m soii^, and Feramorz had unluckilv for-
gotten his own lute in the vallei, he borrowed the
Vina of Lalla Rogkb's little FeisiaD slave, and thus
began : —
THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM.
Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,
With its roses the brigliiest that earth ever gave,^
Its temples and e^roftoes, and fountains as cle^ir
As the love-lighted eyes that hangover their %vave ?
Oh ! to see it at sunset,— when warm o'er the Lake
Its splendour at paiting a summer eve throws
Like a bride, full of blushes, when lin^'ring to lake
A last look of her mirror at night eie she goes I —
When Ihe shrines through the foliage are gleaming
half shown.
And each hallows the hour by some riles of his oivn.
Here the music of pra>'r from a minaret swells.
Here the Magiaii his urn, full of perfume is swing-
ing.
And here, at Ihe altar, a zone of sweet bells
liouud Ihe waist of some fair Indian dancer is ring-
ing. 3
Cr to see it by moonligh',— when mellowly shines
'Ihe light o'er its palaces, gardens, and shrines ;
When the wa'er falls gleam, like a quick fall of stars,
And the nightingale's hvmn from thelsleof Chenars
Is broken by laughs and light echoes of feet
From the cool, shining walks where the young people
nieet, —
Or at morn, when the magic of daylight awakes
A new wonder each minute, as slowly it breaks,
Hills, cup.il.s, founlains. cali'd f.irh every one
Out of darkness as if hut just born of the Sun.
When the Spirit of Fragrance is up wi'h he day,
From his Haram of nijh'-ll iwer,, stealing away :
And the wind, full of wanlooneis. woos like a lover
The young aspen-tiees,'' till Ihey tremble all over.
When Ihe East is as warm as the light of first hones,
And Day, with his banner of radiance utifiirl'd,
Shines in through the moon ainons jioiial ' that opes,
Sublime, from that Valley of blits tii the world 1
' " Haroun Al Raschid, cinquieme Khilifedes Abas-
sides, s'ptaiil un jour b-ouille avec une de ses mai-
tresses nommee Maridali, qu'il ainioil ccpendaiil
jusqu'a I'exces. el cetle mesinlel igeiice ayant deja
duree quelque tems commeoca a s'ennuyer. Giafar
Parmaki, son favori, qui sen appcrcut, commanda a
Abbas ben Ahnaf, excelleni poete de ce tems la, de
composer quelques vers sur le sujet de celle brouille-
ne. Ce poete ejtecuta I'ordre de Gi ifar, qui fit chan'er
ces vers par Mnussali en presence du Khalife. et ce
prince fut tenement louche de la lendrei>e des vers
du poete et de la doiiciMir de la voi.\ du musicien qu'il
al a aus«i-tot trouver Maridah, el tit sa paixaiecelle."
— D'Heibdot.
•> "The rose of Kashmire fir its brilliancy and
delicacy if odour has long been iiroverbial iu the
hisx." — Fonter.
1 "Tied round her waist the zone of bell-, that
sounded with ravishing melody."— Sotij- of Jayadcva.
* "The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are
sit wilh arbours and ,arge-leaved aspen-liees, slender
and tall." — £iniici-. i , uc
' "The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by Ihe
Bum
lode
er vet, by night or day,
Of-spii
ray,
Hid ihe S"eet \ alley :
As now il shines — all love and light,
Visidiis by day and feasts by night!
A happier smile illumes each brow,
Willi (]iiieker spread each heart uncloses.
And all is ecsta y. — for now
The Valley holds its Feast of Roses ; 6
The joyous rime, when pleasures pour
Prnfuse'ly lound ani, in ihi'ir shower.
Hearts open, like ihe .Reason's Rose, —
The Flow'relof a hundred leaves,!
Expanding while the dew-fall (lows.
And every leaf its balm receives.
'T was when Ihe ho
of eve
Upon the Lake, serene and cord.
When Day had hid h s sullry (lame
Rehiiid the palms of Raramoule,^
When maids besan to lift their heads,
Refresh'd from their embroider'd be:^e,
Where they had slept the sun away.
And wak'd to moonlight and to play.
All were abroad — the busiest hive
On Bela's" hills is less alive.
When saflV.iii-beds are fnll in flower,
Than lookd the Valley in that hour.
A Ihou-and restless torches p ay'd
'I'hrough every grove and island shade;
A thousand sparklir g lamps were set
On every dome and minaret ;
And fields and pathways, far and near,
Were lighed by a blaze so clear.
That you could see, in wandering round,
The smallest rose-leaf on the ground.
Yet did Ihe maids and matrons leave
Their veils at home, that brilliant eve ;
And Ihere «ere glancing eyes about.
And cheeks, tiiat would not dare shine ou!
In open day, bui thought they miglit
Look lovely then, because 't was night.
And all Here free, and uandering,
And all exclaimd lo all they met,
That never did the summer bring
S.i gay a Feast of Roses yet ; —
The moon had never shed a iijht
So clear as lliat which bless'd them Ihei
The roses ne'er shone half so bright,
^'or they themselves look'd half so fair
And what a wilderness of (lowers !
It seem'd as Ih lugh from all the bowers
And fairesi fields of all Ihe year.
The mingled spoil were scaltei'd here.
The Lake, too, like a giiden breathes,
Wi h the rich buds thai o'er it lie,—
As if a shower of fairy wreaths
Had fall'ii upon it from llie sky!
And then the sounds of joy,— the heat
Of tabors and of dancing lect ; —
1 he minaret-crier's chauni of glee
Sung frill lis lighted gallerv,io
i hill, forms one side of a g:»nd
- Forster.
Mahommetans o:
portal lo the Lak
6 "The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of
their rem lining in bloom." — See Pitlro de la yaUt.
1 "Gul sad berk, the Rose of a hundred leaves. I
believe a particular species. — Oiueley.
8 Bernier.
1 A place mentioned in t!-« Toozek Jehangeerv, or
Memoirs of Jehanguire, where there is an account of
Ihe beds of sitfroii-noweisabaut Casniiieic.
•0 " It is Ihe custom among Ihe women lo employ
the Maazeen to channi from Ihe gallerv vf the ni arest
minaret, which on that occasion is iriuminaled, r. id
Ihe women a-srmhled at the house lo re pond at in-
tervals wilh a ziraleet or joyous chorus." — Ri.mll, i
26*
u
30G
LALLA ROOKH,
And answer'd by a zirateet
From Deighbourint; Hiiram, wild and sweet ; —
1'he merry laugh'er, echoing;
From gardens, where ilie siikeu swing '
Walts some deli£;liied s,it\ above
Th5 tJpleavtsoI ihe orai.ge-grove ;
Or, (rum tho-e infant groups at play
Aino-ig tlie teiiis i that line Ilie way,
Flingriig, uiiaw'd by slave or inotlier,
Handfuis of roses at each other. —
Then, tne sounds troiii the Lake,— the low whisper-
ing in boats,
As they shoot through the njoonligbt j— the dipping
oi uars,
And the wild, airy warbling tliat everywhere floats,
'i'hrough the groves, round the islands, as if all the
shores.
Like those of Kathay, ulter'd music, and gave
An answer in sonp lo the kiss of e.ich wave. 3
But the genilest of all are ihose sounds, tuU of feeling,
That soft from the lute of some lover are siealiug,—
Some lover, who knows all the heart-touching power
Of a lute and a sigh in this magical hour.
Oh : best of deligh'9 as it everywhere is
To be near the lov'd One,— what a rapture is hU
Who m uiofjniight and music thussweerly may glide
O'er the Lake of Cashmere, with that Ovie by his
side!
If woman can make the worst wilderness dear,
Think, think what a Heav'u she must make of Cash-
mere I
So fell the magnificent Son of Acbar,*
When from pov\er and ponip and the trophies of war
He Hew 10 that Valley, furgetting them all
With the Li^ht of ihe Harain, his young Nourmahal.
When free and uncrown'd as Ibe O'lnqueror rov'd
By the banks of that Lake, with his only belovM,
He saw, in the wreaths .^he would playfully snatch
From llie hedges, a glory his ciowu could not match,
And pieferrd'in his heart ihe leas: ringlet that curt'd
Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world.
There 's a beauty, fnr ever unchangingly bright,
Like the long, sunny lapse of a sunaner-day's light,
yhining on, stiining on, by no shadow made tender,
Till Love falls asleep Ju its s.imeness of splendour.
This was not the beauiy — oh, ncjthing like ihis,
That to young Nourmahal gave such ma^ic of bliss !
But that loveliness, ever m motion, which plays
Like the light upon ausuiiu'^ Sf>lt shadowy days.
Now here and nuw there, giving w:irint!i as it tlies
From Ihe lip to the chet-k, fn^ni the clietk (o the eyes;
Now melting m mist and nuw brt.ikiiig in gleams,
Like the glmipses a saint halh ot Ueav'n in his
1 "The swing is a favourite pastime in the East,
as pr«imoling a circulation of air, extieniely lefresb'
ing in tho^e sultry climates." — Ilichardson.
"The swings are adorned wilh festoons. This pas-
time is accompanied wi h music of voices and of
instruments, hired by the uiasleis of the swings." —
Thcvenot.
^ " At the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld
an infiuiie number > f lens piicheJ, \\\ h such acrowt"
of men, women, boys, and girl^, with music, dances,'
&c. &c. — Herbert.
3 " An old commentator of the Chou-King says, Ihe
ancienis having remarked ihal a curient of wr,t.
made some of the s ones near its banks send forth
sound, they detached some of them, and being charm-
ed with 'he delightful sound they emitted, coiistnicled
King or musical instruments of them." — Grosicr.
This niirnculous cjualiiy has been a'tribu'ed ai^o to
the shore of Atiica. "Hujus littns, ait Capella, con-
centum musicum illisis terrx undis reddere, quod
propter tantam eruditioins vim puto dic'um." —
Ludov. Vives in Jiuguslin dc Civitat. D&i^ lib.
xviii. c. 8.
4 Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.
When pensive, it seem'd as if that very grace,
That charm of all others, was born with her face!
And when angiy,— for ev'n in the tranquille»t climes
Light breezea will rullle Ihe blossoms sometimes —
'l"he short, passing anger but seem'd to au aken
New beauiy, like lUnvers llial ajo sweetest wbeo
sliaken.
If tenderness touch'd her, the dark of her eye
At once took a darker, a heavenlier dye,
From Ihe depth of w hose shadow, like holy revealings
From innermost shrines,CHme the light of her fetling*.
Then her mirth — oh 1 'c was sporti\e as ever took wing
From the heart with a burst, like the wild-bird in
spring;
lilumM by a wit that wnuld fascinate sages.
Vet pla>ful as I'eris just loos d fmrn iheir c'ges.*
While her laugh, full of life, without any control
But the sweet one of gracefulness, rung from her
And where it most sparkled no glance could discover,
In lip, cheek, or eyes, lor she brighlen'd all over,—
Like any fair Uke that the breeze is upon,
When It bleaks into dimples and laughs in Ihe sun.
Such, such were the peerless encbaminents, that gave
Nourmalial the proi.d Lord of the Last forhersla\e:
And lliough bright was his Haram — a living pariene
Of the tiow'rsti of this planet — though ireasuies were
there,
For which Soliman*i self might have giv'n all the
That the navy from Opliir e'er wing'd to his shore,
"es of them ail,
young Nourmahal !
But where is she now, this night of joy,
When bliss is every heart's employ? —
When all around ber is so bright,
So like the visions of a trance,
That one might think, who came by chance
Into the vale Ihis happy night,
He saw that Cit> of Uelighl i
In Faiiy lai.d, whose streets and lowers
Aie made of gems and li^ht and liuvvers!
Where is the lov'd Suliana ? where,
When mirth brings out the young and fair,
Does !-lie, the faires', hide her brow,
In melancholy stillness now?
Alas I — how light a cause rnay move
Dissension between heaits that love !
Hearts that the world in vain bad tried,
A'd sorrow but more closely tied ;
That stood the storm, when waves were rough.
Vet in a sunny hour fall ofT.
Like ships that have gone down at sea,
When he:iveii was all tranquillity J
A S'lmething, light as air — a look,
A word unkind or urongly taken —
Oh ! love, that tempests iicver shook,
A breath, a touch like this hath shaken.
And ruder wnrds will soon rush in
lo spread 'he breach that woids begin;
And eyes forget the gentle ray
They wore in courtship's smiling day;
And \ Dices lose the Inne that shed
A Itji derness round all they said;
'J'ill fast declining, one by one,
The sweetnesses of love are gone,
And hearts, so lately mingled, seem
Like broken ckuds,— or like the stream,
5 In the wars of the Dives with the Peris, whenever
the former took the latter prisoners, "they shut Ihem
up in Iron cages, and hung them on the highest trees.
Here they were visited by their companions, who
brought them the choicest odours."— /iic/iardjon.
6 In the Malay language the same word signifies
wonien and flowers.
T The capiLU of Shadukiam. See note, antt^ p. 2S0.
THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM.
3a /
Breaks into tioods, il.al pari fur ever.
Oh, you, Mial have ilie chirge of Love,
Keep him iii ro-y hmid.tg'i bounJ,
A^ ill the Fields ot Itljbs above
He ftils, with How'rets fetter'd round j I
Loose not a lie that round him clings,
rlei hiMi
'tngs;
For ev'n an hour, a nnnu(r"s nii^ht
Will rob Ihe pluii.es of half iheir light.
Like that celestial biid,— whose nest
Is found beneath far Kaslern skies,—
Whose wini;s, though radiant when at rest,
Lose all tbeir glory when he fliea ! ^
Some difference, of Ihis dangerous kind, —
By which, though light, the links that bind
'Ihe fondest hearts may soon be riven;
Soiiie shadow in Love's suniiuer heaven,
Which, ttiough a Ileecy speck at first,
May yet in awful ttiunder buist ; —
Such cloud it is, that now hangs over
The heart of ihe Imperial Lover,
And far tia^h biuiishM from his sight
His Nounnahal. his Haram's Light 1
Hence is it, on this happy tiight.
When pleasure through 'he fields and rrovei
Has let loose all her world of loves,
And every heart has found its owu,
He wanders, j-'vless and alone,
And weary as that bird of Thrace,
Whose pinion knows no resting-place.'
In vain the lovelies) cheeks and eyei
This Eden of the Karth supplies
Come crowding round — the cheeks are pale,
The eyes are dun : — thi>U£;h rich Ihe iput
Witti eve-y fiow'r this earlh has got.
What is it to the nightingale,
If there his dailitig rose is not ?<
In vain the Valley's smliing thmng
Worship liim, as he moves along ;
He heeds Iheni not — one smile uf ben
Is worth a "orld of worshippers.
Thev but the S'ar's adoiers are.
She is the Heav'n that lights the Starl
Hence is it, too, that Nourmahal,
Amid Ihe luxuries of this hour,
Far from ihe joyous festival,
Sits in her own sequester'd bower,
With no one near, to soothe or aid,
But that inspir'd and wond'ruus maid,
Namnuna. Ihe Enchantre-s ; — one.
O'er whom his race the golden sua
For unrememberM years has run,
Yet never saw her blnomitig brow
Younger or fairer than 't is now.
Nay, rathtr.— as the west wind's sigh
Freshens Ihe flower it passes by, —
1 See the represenfalion of the Eastern Cupid
pinioned closely round with wreaths of flowers, in
Picart's Ceremonies Religieuses,
^ "Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of
goldfinch, w hich sings so melodiously thai it is called
Ihe Celestial Bird. Its wines, when it is perched,
appear variegated with beautiful colours, but when it
flies Ihey lose all their splendour "— Grosier.
• "As these birds on the Bosphorua are never
known to rest, they are called by the French *ies
ames damnees.* " — Dalloway.
< " You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant
herbs and flowers before ihe nightuigale. yet hew"^ishe9
not, in his constant heart, for more than Ihe sweet
breath of his beloved rose." — Jami.
Time's wing but seemM, in stealing o*er
To Irave her lovelier than before.
Yet on her smiles a sadne3> hung.
And when, as oft, she spoke or sung
Of other worlds, here canie a lighi
From herdaik eyes so strangely bright,
That all believ'd nor man nor earth
Weie conscious of Namouna s birih I
All spells and talismans she knew,
Frum the great Manlra,^ which around
The Air's sublimer Spirils drew,
To the gold gems'* of Afric, bound
Upon the wandering Arab's arm.
To keep him from the SiHimST harm.
And she had pledg'd her powerful an, —
Pledg'd it with all the zeal and heart
Of one who knew, though U'l^h her sphere,
What 'twas lo lose a love so dear,—
To find snme spelt that should recall
Her behni's » smile to Nourmahal !
»Twa9 midnight— through Ihe lattice, wreath'd
Willi woodbine, inaiiy a perlunie brealh'd
From plants that wake when others sleep,
From timid jasmine buds, that keep
Their odour to themselves all day.
But, when Ihe sun-light dies away,
Let the delicious secrel out
To every breeze that loaius about ; —
W hen thus Namouna : — " 'T is the hour
*' I'hat scalleis spells on herb and flower,
** And garlands miglit be galher'd noiv,
'* Tha', twiii'd around Ihe sleeper's brow,
*• Would make him dream of such delights,
"Such miracles and dazzling sights,
'* As Genii of Ihe Sun behold,
"At evening, fiom Iheir tents of gold
" Upon the' horizon — where they play
" Till twilight comes, and, ray by ray,
**Ttieir sunny mansions melt away.
*' Now, too, a chaplet might be wreath'd
"Of buds o'er which the moon has brealh'd,
" Which worn by her, whose love has strayM,
" Might bring >onie Feri froni Ihe skies,
" Some sprite, wh'*"'* very soul is made
*'0f fiow'rets* bie^ths and lovers' sighs,
"And who might tell ''
" For me, for nje,"
Cried Nourmahal impatiently,—
••Oh! twine that wreath for me to-night."
Then, rapidly, with foot as light
As the young musk-roe's, out she flew,
To cull each shining leaf that grew
Beneath the moonlight's hallowing beams.
For this enchanted Wreath of Dreams.
Anemones and Seas of Gold,-*)
And new-blown lilies of the river,
And those sweet flow'rels that unfold
Their buds on Camadeva's quiver j iO_
The tube-rose, with her silvery light,
That in Ihe Gardens of Malay
» "He is said lo have found Ihe great Mantra^
spell or talisman, through whicli he ruled over ihe
elements and spirits of all denominations"— /rii/orrf.
6 "The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by
the Arabs El Herrez, from Ihe supposed charm they
contain." — Jackson.
1 *' A demon, supposed to haunt woods, &.C. in a
human sh^pe."— Richardsoit.
8 The name of Jehangi.ire berore his accession to
tlie throne.
9 '* Hemasi^ara, or the Sea of Gold, wilh flowert
of tlie brightest gold colour." — .Sir IV, Jones,
JO *' 'Ihis tree (the Nagacesara) is one of the roost
delightful on earlh, and the delicious odour of its
blossoms justly gives them a place in the quiver of
Camadeva, or Ihe God of Love."— Hid.
308
LALLA ROOKH.
Is call'd the Mistress of the Night,«
So like .1 b< ide, scented anJ bright,
Sheci-nies oui when ihe suns a«ayj —
Aniaraiilhs, such i-s crown ihe inaids
That vxaiider through Zainara's shadesja —
Aud the while iiit'uii-tiuwer, as it shows,
On Seiendib's high crags, to those
Who near Ihe i-le at evetiin? ;ail,
bceiiliiig her clove-tret s in thegaiej
In >hori, all ihiw'rels ar.d all pl-uits,
Kroni the divine Anirita liee,3
Tliat blesses lieaven's inliabitaiils
With fruits of immortality,
Down to the b,isil lufl,* that \^ave•
Its flagrant blossom over graves,
Aud to the humble roseuiary,
Whcse sweeis so thanklessly are shed
To s lent the desert ^ aud the dead : —
AIKq thai maiden bloom, and all
Are ga'her'd by young Nourniahal,
Who helps her baskels with the (Inwers
And leaves, till ihey can hold no more J
Then to Namouna flies, and showers
Upon her lap the shining store.
With what delitihl ihe' Eixh:»n'ress views
So many buds bath'd with the dews
And beams of that bless'd hour ! — her glance
Spoke something, past all mortal pleasuies,
As, in a kind of holy trance,
i>he hung above ijiose fragrant treasures,
Bei.ding to drmk their balmy airs.
As if she mix'd her soul with iht-irs.
And 't was, indeed, the perfume shed
From flow'rs and scenled flame, that fed
Her charmed life — f<>r none Ind e'er
Beheld lier lasie of moria! fare.
Nor ever in aught earthly dip,
But the morn's dew, her roseate lip.
Fill'd with the cool, inspiring smell,
The' Enchantress now begins her 'pell,
Thus singing as she winds and ueives
In mystic form the glittering leaves : —
I know where the winged visions dwell
That around the night-bed play;
I know each herb and fluw'ret's bell.
Where ihey hide their wings by day.
Then hasten we, maid,
To twine our braid,
To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.
« "The Malayans style the tube-rose {Polianlhes
luberosa) Sandal Malam, or the Mistress of the
Night.'* — Pennaiit.
^ The pe'-ple of the Batfa country in Sumatra (of
which Zamara is one of the ancient names), " when
not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive life, pasi^ing
the day in playing on a kind of (lute, crowned with
garlands of flowers, among which the globe-amaran-
Ihus, a native of the country, mostly prevails." —
Marsdcn,
3 "The argest and richest sort (of (he Jambu or
rose-apple; is called Amrita, or immortal, and Ihe
mythologis,3 of Tibet apply the same word to a
celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit." — Sir W.
Jcnts.
* Sweet basil, called Rayhan in Persia, and gen-
erally found in churchyards.
** The women in Egypt go, at least two days in Ihe
week, to pr.iy and weep at the sepulchres of the
dead; and the custom then is to throw upon the
tombs a sort of herb, which the Arabs call rihan^
and which is our sweet basil. — MaiLlet, Leit. 10.
8 " In the Great Desert are found many stalks of
lavender and rosemary." — .tfiiat. lies.
The image of love, thai nightly flies
To visit the ba^-hlul maid,
Steals from ttte j<smine flower, that sight
Its soul, like hef. in the bhade.
The dream, nf a future, li.ippier hour,
That alights on misery's brow.
Springs out of the silvery almoud-flc wer,
Th.it blooms on a leafless bough. «
'J'hen hasten «e, maid,
To twine our braid,
To-morrow the dieams and flowers will fade.
The visions, that oft to worldly eyes
'J he glitter td mines unfold.
Inhabit Ihe moon'ain-htib,i that dyes
The tooth of the (awn like gold.
The phantom shapes — oh, touch not them —
That appal tlie murderer's sight.
Lurk in Ihe fleshly mandrake's stem,
That shrieks, when pluck'd at night !
Then hasten we, maid,
To twine our braid.
To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade
The dream of the injur'd, patient mind,
That smiles at the wrongs ot men,
Is found in the bruis'd and wounded riod
Of Ihe cinnamon, sweetest then.
Then hasten we, maid,
To twine our braid,
To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade
No sooner was the flowery crown
Placed on her head, than sleep came down,
Gently as nights of summer fail.
Upon the lids of Nourniahal ; —
And, suddenly, a tuneful breeze,
As lull of vniall, rich harmonies
As ever wind, that o'er the tents
Uf AzabS blew, was full of scents,
Steals on her ear, and floats and swells,
Like the first air of morning creeping
Into those wieathy, Red-Sea shells.
Where Love bimsdf, of old, lay sleeping; »
And now a Spirit form'd, 'i would seem.
Of music and of light, — so fair,
So brilliantly his features beam,
And such a sound is in the air
Of!
Hovers aiouud her, and Ihu
6 '^ The almond-tree, with while flowers, blossoms
on the bare brancfies." — Hasselquist.
1 An herb nn Mount Libar;us, which is said fo com-
municate a yellc ^ golden hue to the teeth of Ihe
goi s and other animals (hat graze upon it.
Nttbuhr thinks ihis may l)e the herb which the
Eastern alchymists look to as a means of making
gold. " Mo-t of iho.se alchymical enlhusi;ists think
themselves sure of success, if ihey could but find out
the herb, which gilds the teeth and gives a yellow
colour to the flesh of the slieep that eat it. Even Ihi
oil of this plant must be of a golden colour. It ii
called Haschischat ed dab."
Father Jerom Danduii, however, asserts that tlie
leeth of the goals at Mount Libanus art- of a silver
colour; and adds, *'this confiims me ihnt which i
observed in Candia: to wit, that the animals Ihat ii'
Oil Mount Ida eat a certain heib, «hich rei.ders ihe
teelh of a golden colour; which, accord ng to my
judgment, cannot otherwise i-roceed than from the
mines v%hich are under ground." — Dandini^ Voyage
to Mount Libanus.
8 The myrrh country.
9 "This idea (of deilies l.ving in shells) was
unknown to the Greeks who fepre^ellt the yo
Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in shells on the
shores of the Ked Sea." — JK,7/p?rf.
THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM.
3U9
From Chindara*si warbling fount I come,
CaliM by til. I moonlight e.irland»s spell j
Frnni thiodara's fminl, myT-iry home,
Wheie 111 music, niorn and niglit, I dwell.
Where luies in itie air ;ire heard abi'ul,
And vuices are singing the whole day long,
And evers sigh the htart trtathes out
it turriM, 35 It leaves the lip3, to songl
HUher 1 come
Kroin my fairy home,
And if there's a uiagic in Music's tttraini
I sw&ir by the breath
Of that mooTiligbt wreath,
Thy Lover bhall sigh At thy feet again.
For mine is the lay that lightly floats.
And mine aie Ihe murmuring:, dying notes,
That fall as soft as sm.w on the sea,
And melt in ihe bean as instsnlly : —
And tlie p-issjonate sir.in that, deeply Eoinp.
Refines the bnsnm it trembles through.
As Ihe musk-wind, over Ihe water blowu*^
KuOles the wave, but sweetens it too.
Mine is the charm, whose mystic sway
The Spirits of past Delishl obey ; —
Let but the tuneful talisman sound,
And they come, like Genii, hovering round.
And mine is the gentle song that beirs
From soul to soul, the wishes of Inve,
As a bird, that wafts through genial airs
The cinnamon-seed from grove lo grove. ^
'T is I that mingle in one sweet measure
The past, the present, and future of pleasure; 3
When Memory links the tone that is gone
With the blissful tone that 's sull iu the ear ;
And Hope from a heavenly note flies on
To a note more heavenly still that is near.
The warrior's heart, when touchM by me,
Can a? downv s'lft and as yielding be
As his own white plume, that high amid death
Thnmgh the field has shone— yet moves with abreath I
And, oh, how the eyes of Beauty glisten.
When Music has reach'd her inward soul
Like the silent s'ars, that wink and tistea
While Heiven's eternal melodies rolL
So, hither 1 come
From my fairy home,
> ** A fabulous fountain, where ins'ruments are said
to be constantly playing."— Richardson,
^ " The Pompadour pigeon is Ihe species, which,
by carrying the fruit of the cinnamon to diflereni
places, is a great disseminator of this valuable tree."
— See Jirown's Illustr. Tab. 19.
3 «• Whenever our pleasure arises from a succession
of sounds, it is a perception of a compliciled nature^
made up of a se7uatio7i of the present sound or no'e,
and an idea or remembrance of the foregoing, while
their mixture and concurrence produce such a myste-
rious delight, as neither could have produced alone.
And it is often heightened by an anticipation of the
succeeding notes. 'I'hus Sense. Memory, and Imagi-
nation, are conjunctively employed. '— Getrard on
Tas'e.
This is exactly the Epicurean IheDry of Pleasure, as
explained by Cicero: — '*Quocirca corpus gaudere
taindiu,dum prsesitntem sentiret voliiptatem : animum
et praesenfem pertipere pariter cum corpore et pro-
spicere venienlem, nee prseteritam prjelerfluere si-
Madame de S'ael accounts upon the same principle
for Ihe gratification we derive from rhyme.: — "Elle
est riiiiage de Temperance et du souvenir. Un son
nous fait desirer celui qui doit lui repondre, et quand
le second rctentit il u^us rappelle celui qui vient de
nous echapper.''
And if (here's a magic in Music's BtruD«
I swear by the breith
Of that moonlight wreath.
Thy Lover shall sigh at thy feel again.
'T is dawn — at least that earlier dawn,
Whose glimpses are agiin withdrawn,*
As if Ihe morn had wakM, and then
Shut close her lids of light again.
And Nnurn.alial i6 up, and trying
The vxondeis of her lute, whose strings —
Oh, bliss ! — now murmur like the sighing
From that ambr. sial Spii it's wings.
And then her voice — 't is more than human -
Never, till now, bad il been given
Tolipsof any mortal woman
To utter noies so fie'h Irom heaven;
Sweet as (he bieath of angel Mglis,
When angel sighs aie most divine.—
*'()h 1 lei it last till night," she cr.e?,
*' And lie IS more than ever mine."
And hourly she renews the lay,
So fearful lest its hea\enly sweetness
Should, ere the evening, fade away,—
For things so heavenU have such fleet n ess I
But, f«r fpni fading, it but grows
Richer, diviner as it flows ;
Till rapt she dwells on every string,
And pouts again each sound along,
Like ech... losi and languishing,
In love with her own wondious song.
That evening, (trusting that his sou!
Might be fmrn hnunling love released
By ninth, by music, and Ihe bowl,)
The^ Imperial Selim held a feast
In his magnificent Shalimar: 6 —
Iu who^e Saloons, when the first star
* "The Persians have two mornings, the Soobhi
Kazim and the Soobhi S:idig, the fal.-e and the real
day-break. They account for this phenomenon in a
most whimsical manner. They say that as the sun
rises from behind (he Kohi Qaf (Mount Caucasus), it
passes a hole perfora(ed through that mountain, and
that darling its rays ihrough it, it is the cause of the
Soobhi Kazim, or this temporary appearance of day-
break. As it ascends, Ihe earth is again veiled in
darkness, until the sun rises above the mountain, and
brings with it the Soobhi Sadig. or real morning."' —
Scolt IVaring. lie thinks MiltOD may allude to this,
when he sa)8, —
"Ere the blahbing Eastern scout,
'J'li« nire niorit nn Ihe Indian Eteep
From htr cabin'd luop-hole peep."
• '* In the centre of the plain, as it approaches the
Lake, one of Ihe Delhi Emperors, I beheve Shah Je-
ban, constructed a spacious garden cUled the Shali-
mar. which is abundantly stured with fruit-trees and
flowering sbrulw. S<ime of the rivulets which inter-
sect Ihe plain are led into a canal at the back of the
ta'den, and flowing through its centre, or nccisionally
thrown into a variety nf water-works, compose the
chief beauty of the Shaiim-»r. To dt-corate this spot
the Mogul princes of India have displayed an equal
magnificence and taste; es|)ecially Jeban Gheer, who,
wiih the enchanting Noor Mahl, made Kashniire his
usual residence during the summer mouths. On
arches thrown over (he canal are erected, at equal
distances, four or five sinles of apartments, cch con-
sisting of a saloon, wilh four rooms at Ihe angles,
where the followers of the court aCend, and the ser-
van's prepare sherbets, cotTee. aod the ho<ikah. The
frame of the doors of Ihe principal saloon is composed
of pieces of a stone of a black colour, streaked witt
yellow lines, and of a closer giain and higher poU&c
310
LALLA ROOKH,
Of evening o'er Ihe watcts'trembled,
The Valley's loveliesl all assembled;
All the bn^ht creauies that, like dreams,
Glide tliinugh its foliage, and drink beamt
Of beauty from its fouu's and streams; l
And all th ise wandering nuDstrel-maids,
Who leave— how can they leive?— the shadei
Of ih^I dear Valley, and .>re found
Singing in gardens of the Sr^U'li 'i
Those song>, hat ne'er so sweetly so«rrr4
As fioin a young Cashmeriati's moui^.
There, (oo, the Haram's inmates smile;—
Maids from the West wuh sun-brjght hair
And from the GaiJeii n(^ the Nile,
Uelicale as the mses iheie,3_
Daugliteis of Liive from Cyiiru:.' rocks,
With Paphian Diamonds m their Iticksi* —
Light Peri forms, such as there are
On the gold meads of Caod,ihar ; 6
And they, before whose sleepy eyes,
In Iheirovvri bright Kathaian hcwera,
Sparkle such rainbow butlerflies,
■| hai they mii<ht lancy ihe rich flowers,
That round them in the sun lay sighing
Had been by magic all set flying.^
Every thing young, every thing fair
From E.ist and West is btushmg there,
Except — except — oli, Nourmahal 1
Thou lovelies', dearest of them all,
The one, whose >mile shone out alone,
Aniid>t a world the only one;
Whose light, among so many lights,
Was like thai star on starry ninhls.
The seaman singles from the sky.
To steer bU bark for ever by !
Thou wert not there — so Se'iin thought,
And every thing seem'd drear without thee;
But, ah : thou wert, thou "ert,— and brought
Thy charm of song all frtsh ibout thee.
Mingling unnotic'd u ith a band
'Jf lutanis's from many a land,
And veil'd by such a mask a^ shades
The features of young Arab maids, t —
than porphyry. They were taken, it is said, from a
Hindoo temple, by one of the Mogul princes, and are
esteemed of great value." — Forster.
> ** The waters of Cachemir are the more renowned
from its being supposed that the Cachemirians are in-
debted for their beau'y to them." — Jili Vezdi.
^ "From him I received the following little Gaz-
zel, or Love Son», the noies of which he committed to
paper from the voice of ni.e of (hose singing girls of
Cashmere, who wander from thai delij^hiful valley
over the various parts of India." — Persian Miscella-
nies.
3 "The roses of the Jinan Nile, or Garden of the
'**le (attached to Ihe Emperor of MaroccoS palace),
are unequalled, and matrasses are made of their leaves
for the men of rank to recline upon.'' — Jachson.
4 " On Ihe side of a mountain near Paphos there
a cavern which produces the mos' beautiful rock-cys-
lal. On account of its brilliancy it has been called the
Paphiaii diamond." — Manli,
* "There is a part of Candahar, called Peria, or
Fairy Land."— r/n:ue?io(. In some of those coun-
tries to the north of India vegetable gold is supposed
lo be produced.
« " These are the butterflies which are called in the
Chinese language Flying Leaves. Some of them have
such shining cdours, and are so variega'ed, that they
may be called flying flowers; and indeed they art
always produced in the finest flower-gardens." —
Dunn*
1 " The Arabian women wear black masks witt
little clasps preiily >rtlered." — Carreri. Niebuhi
mentions their showing but one eye in conversation.
A mask that leaves but one eye free.
To do its best in vvi chery,—
She rov'd, with beating heart, around.
And wailed, trembling, fr the minute,
When she might try if still the sound
Of her lov'd lute had magic in it.
The board was spread with fruits and wine ;
With grapes of gold, like those thai shine
On Ca^bm's hills; 8- p(.megranates full
Of melting sv\ eetness, and the pears,
And sunniest apples 9 that Caubul
In all its thou-atid gardens »o bears j—
Plantains, the golden and the green,
Malaya's necl-ir'd mangusteen ; i*
Prunes of Bokara, and eweei nuts
From the far groves of Samarcand,
And Basra date>, and apricots,
Seed of Ihe Suu,i'i from Iran's land ; —
With rich conserve of Visna cherries,!^*
Of orange flower.-., :ind of those berries
That, Wild and fresh, the young gazelles
Feed on in Erac"s locky dells.i4
All these in richest vases smile,
111 baskets of pure san'al-wood.
And urns of porcelain fiom that islei&
Sunk undernea'h the Indian flood,
Whence oft ihe lucky diver brings
Vases to grace the halls of kings.
Wints, ton, of every clinie and hue,
Around their liquid lustre threw ;
Ambei Rosnlli. it* — the bright dew
From vinejards of Ihe Green-Sea gushing ; ' '
And Sliiriz wine, that richly ran
As if that jewel, large and rare,
The ruby for which Kiiblai-Khan
Otter'd a city's wealth. »8 was blushing
Melted within the goblets there 1
And amply Selim quaffs of each,
And seems resolv'd the flood shall reach
His inward heart, — shedding around
A genial deluge, as they run,
That soon shall leave no suo undrowu'd,
For Love to rest his wings upon.
8 *' The golden grapes of Casbin.'' — Desa'iption of
Persia.
9 "'Ihe fruits exporied from Caubul arc apples,
pears, pomegranates," &c. — Eij-hinslcnte,
10 •» We sat down under a iree, I.stened to Ihe
birds, and talked wiih the son of our Mehmaundar
about our coun'ry and Caubul, of which he gave an
enchanting account : that city j.ad its IOO,(XX) gardens,'*
&c. — Id.
i» '*The mangus'een, the most delicate fruit in the
world ; the pride of the Malay islands."— Marsdcn,
»i '* A delicious kind of apricot, called by Ihe Per-
sians tokm-ek-shems, signifying sun's seed." — De-
scription of Ptrsia.
13 "Sweetmeats, in a crystal cup, consisting of rose-
leaves in conserve, with lemon of Visua cherry,
orange flowers," &c. — RusieU,
14 " Antelopes cropping the fresh berries of Erac.*'
—The Moallahat, P( em of Tarafa.
1* '* Mauri-ga-Sima, an i-land near Formosa, sup-
posed to have been sunk in Ihe sea for the crimes of
its inhabitants. The vessels which the fishermen
and divers bring up from it are sold at an immense
price in China and Japan. See Kcmj-fer,
16 Persian Tales.
n The white wine of Kishma.
18 "The King of Zeilan is said to have the very
finest ruby that was ever seen. Kublai-Khan sent
and oflered the value of a city for ii, but the King
answered he would not give it for the treasitre of the
world." — Marco Polo.
THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM.
311
He little knew how well the boy
Cau tloat upon a goblet's streaois,
Lighting them with his saiile of joy ; —
As bards have seen him in then dreams,
Down the blue Ganges laughing glide
Upon a rosy loius wreath,^
Calchiiig new luslre from Ihe lide
That with his image shone beneath.
Hut what are cups, without th9 aid
Of song Ic speed them as Ihey How?
And see — a love!)' lieorgian maid,
VViih all the blumu je Ireshen'd glow
Of her own country maidens' looks,
When warm lliey rise from Teflis' brooks; »
And wj.b an eye, wiiose restless ray.
Full, doating d.irk — oh, tie, who knows
Hi heart is weak, of ileav'n should pray
To guard him tr>>m such eyes as tho:>e 1 —
With a toiuptuous wlldnes^ tlings
Her sncwy liand acrnss tlie strings
Of a 6yrinda,3 and thus sings: —
That all stood hush'd and wondering,
And turo'd and look'd into Ihe air,
As if Ihey thought to see the wing
Of Israhl 8 the Angel, there j —
So powerfully on every soul
That new, enchanted me sure stole.
While now a voice, sweet as the note
Of Ihe charuiM lute, was heard to tioat
Along i's chords, and so entwine
lis sounds with theirs, that none knewnketber
The voice or lute was most divine,
So wondrously they went together: —
There's a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has loiu.
When two, that are link'd in one I.eavenly lie.
With heart never changing, and brow never cold.
Come hither, come hither — by night and by da»,
We linger in pleasures that never are gone j
Like the waves of the summer, as one dies away,
Another as sweet and as shining c<>mes on.
And the love ihat is o'er, in expiring, gives birth
To a new one as warm, as unequ.ili'd in bliss;
And, oh! if there be in Elysium on earth,
It is this, it is this.4
Here maidens are sighing, and flagrant their sigh
As the (lower of ilie Amra jU't op'd by a bee; 6
And precious their tears as Ihat rain from the sky,S
Which turns into pearls as it lalh in the sea.
Oh ! think what the ki^s and Ihe smile must be worth
When the sigh and tlie tear ate so perfect iu bliss,
And own if there be an Eljsiiim on earth,
It IS tins, it is this.
Here sparkles the nectar, that, hallow'd by love.
Could draw down those angels of old from their
sphere.
Who for wine of this earth ^ lefi the fountains above,
And forgot heaven't s'ars for the eyes we have her*.
And, bles d wi'ji the odour our goblet gives forth.
What Spirii Ihe sweets of hisE'len would miss?
for, oh ! if there be an Elv.ium on earth.
It is this, it is Ibis.
The Georgian's song was scarcely mute.
When the same measute, sound for sound.
Was caught up liy another lute.
And so divinely breathed around,
' The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen float-
ins down the Ganges on the Nymphsi Nelunibo. —
See Ptrinatit.
« Teflis is celebrated for its natural warm baths.—
See EOh Haukal.
3 "The Indian Syrinda, or guitar." — S'ymei.
♦"Around the exterior of the Dewaii Khafs (a
building of Shah Allunr.^) in the cornice are Ihe fol-
lowing lines ill letter* of gold upon a ground of whi e
ni Title — ' // Ihert be a paradise ufon earth, il is
this, it is this ' " — Franklin.
» " Delighiful are the flowers of Ihe Amra trees on
Ihe mouiiiain-tops, while ihe murmuring bees pursue
their volupiuous tii\.'— Soiig of Jayadcva.
6 "The Ni~an or drops of spring rain, whicli they
believe lo pioduce pearls if Ihey fall into shells." —
Richardmm.
I .,.' f?,'' V '"""f* of the share which wine had in
the fall .>f the angels, see Martti.
love on Ihrough all ills, and
One hour of a passion so sacred
Whole a^es of heartless and ^
And, oh ! if there U an Elvsiun
II IS this, it is'this.
neon till Ihey diet
s worth
andering bliss
on earth.
'T was not the air, 't was not the words,
But that deep magic in the chords
And iu the lips, that gave such power
As Music knew not till th a hour.
At once a hundred voicea said,
'* It is the nia-k'd Aiabian maid '."
While Selim, who had felt the stiaia
Deepest of any, and had lain
Some minutes rapt, as in a trance.
After the fairy sounds were o'er.
Too inly louch'd for utterance,
Now motiou'd with his hand for more
[^
Fly to the desert, fly with me,
Gur Arab tents are rude for Ihee;
Bui, oh ! the choice what heart can doubt.
Of teDts iviih love, or thrones without ?
Our rocks are rough, but smiling there
The' acacia uaves her yellow hair,
hoiiely and sweet, nor lovM the less
For flowering iu a wilderness.
Our sands are hare, but down their slope
The silver\-fooied antelnpe
As gracefully and gaily sjuings
As o'er (be marble courts of kings.
Then come — thy Arab maid will be
The lov'd and lone acaciatree.
The anrelope, whose feet bhall bless
With their light sound thy luneliness.
Oh ! there are looks and tones that dar
An instant -sunshine Ihrouth Ihe heart,—
As if the soul tliat minute caught
Some tieabure it through life had sought ;
As if Ihe very lips and eyes,
Prede^Iin'd to have all our sighs,
And never be forget again,
Sparkled and spoke before us then t
So came thy every glance and tone,
When fiisi on me they brealird and sTione:
New, as if bronght from other .spheres,
Yet vxelcome as if lov'd for years.
8 The Angel of Mumc. See nc(e, aiite, p. 298.
3U
LALLA ROOKH.
Then fly with n e,— if tliou hast known
No olher flame, nor falsely thrown
A gem away, tl.at thou hadst sworn
Should ever in Ihy heart be worn.
Come, if the love Ihou h ist for me
Is iiure aud freblt as mine f»r thee,—
Fresh as tlie fountain under ground,
When fifbl H is by (he lapwiug found.*
Put if for me Ihou dost forsake
tioiitt ottier maid, and rudely break
Her worshippM imat;e from its base,
To give to me tlie ruiii'd place j —
Then, fare thee well — I 'd rather make
My bovver upon some icy lake
When thawing suns begin to shine.
Than tiust to luve so false as (hiuel
There was a pathos in this by,
That, ev'n witliout enchantment's art,
Would instantly have fnutid its way
Deep into Selim's burning heart :
But, breathing, as it did, a tone
To earthly luies and lips unknown ;
With eveiy chord fre=h from the touch
Of Music's Spirit, — 't was too much I
Starting, he dash'd away the cup, —
Whicti, all he lime of this sweet air,
His liand had held, unt;isted, up,
As if M were fixd by magic there,—
And naming her, so long unnam'd,
So long unseen, wildly exciaim'd,
"Oh, iNourmahal! oh, Nourmah^l !
** Hadst iliou but suug this witching strain,
**1 could forget — forgive thee all,
*^ And never leave ihose eyes again."
f — the charm is wrought^
heari has c:tught.
The mask is
And Selini to h
In blu-hes, more than ever bright.,
Hts Nourmahal, his H.- ram's Ltglit !
Arid well do v iiii=h*d frowns enhance
'J'he charm of every brigliten'd gl.ince;
And dearer ieems each dawning -mile
lor having los! iis light awhile:
And, ha|.pier now for all her sighs,
As on Ins arm her head repose-;,
She whispers him, with laughing eyes,
"Remember, love, the feast of Koses I"
Fadladeen, at the conclusion of this light rhapsody,
took occasion to sum up his opinion of the young
Cashmerian's poetry,— of " hich he trusted, ihe'y had
that evening heard the last. Having recapitulated
the epithets, " Irivolour,"— '-inhnrnionious"— **non*
sensical," he prnceeiled to say that, viewing it in the
most favourable light, it resembled one of those Mai-
divianboats. to which the Prmce-s had alluded in the
relation of her dream,*! — a slight, gilded thing, sent
adrift without rudder or ballast, and wi-h nothing but
vapid sweets and faded flnwers on board. 'Ihe pro-
fusi -n, indeed, nf flowers and birds, which this poet
had ready on all occasinns.— not to mention dews,
gems, &c.— was a moat oppiessive kind of opulence
to his hearers ; and had the unlucky etiecl of giving
to his style all the ghtler of the iku^er-garden with-
Oct its method ai.d all the fluiier of Ihe aviary with-
out its song. In addiiiun to this, he chose his subjects
fcadly, and was ahvays most inspired by the worst
parts of them. '1 he charms of pag.mism, the merits
of rebellion,— these were llie themes honoured with
> The Hudhud, or Lapwing, is supposed to have
Ihe power of discovering v\aler under ground.
^SeeanU, p. 291.
his particular enthusiasm; and, in the poem just re-
cited, one of hi? most palatable passages was in praise
of ihal bevei-age of the Unfaithful, wine ;—*' being,
perhaps,*' faid he, relaxing into a smile, as ci<nsciou-i
of his own character in the Haiam on thin point,
*'one of those-baidn, whose fancy owes all its illumi*
nation to the grape, like that painted porcelain, 3 so
curious and so rare, whose images are only visible
when liquor is poi;red into ii." Upon the whole, it
was his opinion, from the specimens which they had
heard, and which, he begged to s.iy, were the n
tiresome part of the jouiney, that — ulialeverot
merits this well-dressed young gentleman might pos-
sess — poetry was by no mems his projjer avocation :
"and indeed," concluded the criiic, "from his fimd-
ness for Iloweis and for birds, 1 would ventme to sug-
gest that a florist or a bird-catcher is a much inore
sui able calling for him than a poet."
They liad n(»vv bet<un to ascend those barren moun-
tains, which sejjarate Cashme e from the rest of
India; and, as the heals were inti-lerable, and the
time of thfir encampments limited to the few hours
necessary for refreslunent and repose, Ih^re was
end to ail their delightfol evenings, and Lalla Konkh
saw no more of Ferainorz. She now felt that he
short drenm of haipiness was over, and that she had
nothing but the recollection of its few blissful hoi
like the one dr-iu^ht of sweet water thai serves the
c-Tinel across the uilderness, to be her heart's refresh-
ment dining the dieary waste of life that was before
her. The blight Ihal had fallen upon her spiiils 80i)n
lound its way to her cheek, and her hidies saw with
regret — though noi without some suspicion of tlie
cause — that the beauty of their misties;^, of which
tliey v\ere almost iis proud as of their own, was f^st
vanishing away at the veiy moment of all when she
Iiad most need of it. What must the King of
Buchiria feel, when, instead of Ihe lively and beauli
ful Laila Rookh, uhom ihe poels of Delhi had de
scribed as more perfect than the divinesi images ii
the house of Azor.* he should receive a pale am
inanimate victim, upon whose cheek neither health
nor pleasure bloomed, and from « hose eyes Love had
fled.— to hide him>elf m her heart ?
If any thing could have charmed away the melan-
choly of !ier spirits, it uould have been the fresh ; '
and enchanting scenery of thU Valley, which the
I'eisians so justly called the Unequalled. 5 But nei-
ther the coolness of its atmosphere, so luxurious afte
toilingup ih^se bare and burning niounlain ,— nei'he
the splend<tur of the minarets and pagoda^, that shone
out fpom the depth of its wools, nor the grotos,
hermiages, and miraculous fountains,^ which make
3 " Ttie Chinese had formerly the art of painting
on Ihe ^ides of porcelain vessel^, fish and other ;
mals, which were only perceptible when the vessel
was full of some liquor. They call this species
Kia-tsin, tlial is, azure is put in press^ on accoun
(he manner in vs hich the azure is laid rn" — *' They
are every now and then trjiug to recover the art of
this magical painting, but to no purpose.*'— Z^unn.
4 An eminent carver of idols, said in the Koran U
he f.ither to Abraham. ** I have such a lovely idol
as is nut to be met with In the house of Azor," —
Ilafiz.
6 Kachmire be Nazeer.— /"orj/er.
6 " 'ihe paidonnble superstition of the sequesteied
inhabiinnts h:^s multiplied the places <t worship of
Mahadeo, of Beschan, and of lirama. All Cashmere
is holy land, and niiracuhuis fountains abound.'*—
>/ajor RejinePs Memoirs of a M^p of Hind >btan.
Jehanguire meniions "a fountain in Cashmere
cilled Tirnagh, which signifies a snake; pirbably
because some 1 iraie snake had formerly been seen
there" — •• During Ihe lifetime of m\ f.»ther, I w
twice lo this fuuniain, which is about twenty cess
from the city of Ca>hmete. The vestiges of placet
of worship and snnctity are to be traced without num-
ber amongst the rums and llie caves, which are inter-
LALLA ROOKH.
313
every spot of that region hnlv ground, — neither the
cnutittess waterfalls, that rush'inlo the Valley from
all thiise hi,^h arid romantic niountaiiis that encircle
it, r.or the fair city on tlie Lake, whose houses, roofed
with tlo%ver3,» appeared at a dist.ince like one vast
and vane^^ted parierre;— not all tlip^e wnndeis and
glories cifthe most lovely ciiuntry ut^L-r the sun could
steal her heari for a ininutf from thnse s.id thnn^his,
which tjut darkened, and grew bitterer every step she
advanced.
The gay pomps and procpssinrs that met her upon
her tntrance into the Valley, and the nngnificence
with which the roads all alon^ were decorated, did
hooonr tn the taste and gallaniry of ihe young King:
It was nigtit when they app'oached the ci'y, and, for
the last two miles, thry had passed under arches,
thrown troni liedge to hedge, festooned »itli only
those rarest roses from which ihe Aifar Gul, mure
precious tli^n gold, is distilled, and illumma'cd in rich
and fanciful forms with lanternsof the Iriitle-colouted
toitoise-shell nf Pe^u.Q Sf)melimes. from a d.irk
wo->d by Ihe side of the road, a d,splay of fue-wi^rks
would break "ul, so sudden and so brilliant, that a
Br.thnnn might funcv he beheld that gr tve, in whose
purple shaie the God of R.trtles was born, bursting
into a tlanie at the niomeut of his birth ;— while, at
other times, a quick and i.Liylui inadialinii continued
to brigh'en all the fields and gardens by which they
passed, forming a luie uf dancing lights along the
hoiiz in ; like the meteors of the north as they are seen
by ihose hunter5,3 whn pursue the white and blue
f.ixes on the confines of the Icy Se ».
'J'hese arches and fire-works delighted the Ladiei of
the Princess exceedingly ; and. with iheir usual good
logic, Ihey deduced from his taste for illumiiniions,
thai Ihe King of Bucharia would make the m'st
exemi)l.nry husband imaginable. Nor, indeed, could
Lalla Hookh herself help feeling the kindness and
splendour \vi'h which the ynung bridegroom wel-
cnnied her;— hut she :\hn felt how painful is Ihe
gratitude, which kindness from those we cannot love
excites; and ihat tlieir best blandishments come over
the heart with all that chilling and deadly sweetness,
which we ran fancy in the cold, odorifem-js wind*
thai is lo blow over ihis earth in the last days.
The mainage was fixed Pt the morning afier her
arrival, when she was, for Ihe first tlnie, to be pre-
senti'd to Ihe monarch in thai Iniperial Falace beyond
(he lake, called ihe Shalimar. Though never before
spersed in its neighbourhood." — Tooztk Jchangcery.
— V. Jisiat. Misc. vol. ii.
1 heie is another account nf Cashmere by Abul*
F.izil, the author of the Ayin-Achaiee. "who, says
Majur Reimel, "appears to have caught some of the
enlhu^iasm of the valley, by his description of the
holy places in it."
1 '*()n a standing roof of wood is laid a covering
of fine earth, which sheHers the building from the
ere;(t quantity of snow ihat falls in Ihe winter season.
This fence communicates an eipial warmth in winter,
as a refreshing coolness in Ihe summer sea-^on, when
the tops (if the houses, which are planted with a
varie y of tlnwers, exhibit at a distance ihe spacious
view of a beautifully checqnered parterre ^^—Forster.
*i- "Two hundred slaves there are, who have no
other ofTice than to hunt the woods and marshes f^r
triple-coloured tortoises for the Kings Vivarv. Of
the sheIN "f these also lanterns ai%m..de."— Vincent
UDlancH Travels.
3 F'T a description of Ihe Aurora Borealis aa it
appears to these hunters, v. Encyclopaedia.
* Thi> wind, which is to biriw from Syria Damas-
cc'-a, is. according to the Mahometans, one of the
signs nf the Last Day's nppr -ach.
Another of ihe signs is, " Gieat distress in the world,
60 that a man when he passes by another's grave shall
say. Would to God I were in his place '" — Sn/e^s
Preliminary Discourse.
_ _
h:id a niglit or more u-akpful and anxious thought
Ijeen passed in the Happy Valley, yet, wht-n she lose
Jti the morning, and her Ladies caine around her, to
assisi in the adjustment of Ihe briiial oin:tnient5, Ihey
tliDiighl Ihev had never seen her Icoli half so beauli-
lul Whit she had lost of llie hlonm and radiancy
if her cliarrns was nioie than made u|i by lliat iiilel-
lediial I'xiiression, tliat soul beaming for li from the
eyes, which is woith all Ihe les' of loveliness. When
thty Ind linged her lingers »ilh Ihe Henna leaf, anil
placed upon her brow a small coronet nf jewels, of
Ihe shape worn by the ancient Queens nf liucharia,
they lluiii; over her bead the rose-coloured biidal veil,
and she proceeded lo the haige llni waslo convey her
across the lake;— lirst kissing, with a mournful look,
Ihe little amulet of c.irnclian, which her father at
parting h.ad hung about her neck.
The morning was a? fresh and fair a-s tlie maid on
whose nuptials il rose, and Ihe shining lake, all
covered with boats, Ihe minstrels playing upon the
shires of the islands, and the crowded summer-hou-es
on Ihe green hills around, wiih shawls aid banners
waving from their roofs, jiresented such a piclnie of
aninnled rejoicing, as only she, who was llie object
of II all, did no! feel with transpoit. To Lalla Konkb
alone it was a melancholy pageant; nor could she
have even borne to look upon the scene, were il not
for a hope that, among ihe crowds around, she might
once inure perhaps caich a glimpse of Feramorz. So
nil ch was her imagination haunted by Ihis thought,
that there was scaicely an islet or boat she passed on
Ihe way, at vibich her heart did not flutler with the
niointn'ary fancy that he was there. Happv. in her
eye., the humbltsi slave upon whom the li^ht of his
deir looks fell !— In the barge iaimeilia'ely after the
Princess sat FadlaJeen, wilh bis silken curtains
thrown widely apart, Ihat all might have the beneht
of his august presence, and wilh his head full of the
speech he was lo deliver to the King, "concerning
Keraniorz, and li.erature, and Ihe Cliabuk, as con-
nected therewith."
They now bad entered Ihe canal \vhich leads from
the Lake to the splendid dorots and saloons of ilie
Shalimar, and went aliiling on through the gardens
that ascended from each b.ank,full of tlowei ing shii Ls
that made Ihe air all perfume; while from the mid-
dle of Ihe canal rose jets of water, sninolh ami un-
broken, lo such a dazzling height, thai Ihey stood like
tall pillars ofdiamoiid in the sni.sliine. After sailing
under Ihe arches of various sahons, they at lenelh
arrived at the last and most ni.agi.iliceiil, where Ihe
monarch awaited Ihe coming ol his bride ; and such
was Ihe agitation of her heart and frame, thai il was
with dilliuliy she could walk up ihe marble steps,
which were covered wvh cloth of gold fur her asceni
from Ihe barge. At the end of the ball stood two
thrones, as precious as the Cerulean Tliione of Cool-
biirga,s on one of which sat Aliris, Ihe youlhful King
of Kuchari and on ihe other was, in a few niinuies,
to be placed the most beautiful Princess in the woild.
5 '■ On Mahommed Shaw's return to Koolbiirga (Ihe
capital of Dekkan), be made a great festival, and
nmunled this ihnnie wilh much pomp and magnifi-
cence, calling it Firozeh or Cerulean. I have heari
some old persons, who saw the throne Firoieh in the
reign of .Sultan Manioid Bhamenee, describe il.
They say Ihat it was in length nine feel, and three in
breadth : made of ebony, covered w ilh plates of pure
gold, and ^et with jirecions stones of immense value.
Kverv prince of the house of Bhamenee, who pos-
sessed Ihis throne, made a point of adding to it some
rich stones ; so that when in the reign of Sultan
Maniond it was taken to pieces, to remove some of the
jewels to he set in vases and cups, the jewelleis valued
It at one cororeof cons (nearly four millions s'erling).
1 learned also that i! was called Firozeh fiom being
partly enamelled of a sky-blue colour, which was in
time loially concealed by the number of jewels." —
F^iishta.
314
POLITICAL AND SATIRICAL POEMS.
Immediately upon the entrance of Lalla Rookh into
the saloon, the moimch descended from his throne to
meet her; but scarcely had lie lime to lake her hmd
in his, when slie screamed with surprise, and fainted
at his feet. It was Feraniorz himself that stood be-
fore her ! — Ferainorz was, himself, tlie Sovereign of
Bucharia, who in this disguise h?d accompanied his
young bride from Delhi, and, having won lier love as
an humble minstrel, now amply deserv«d to enjoy it
as a King.
The consternation of Fadladeen at this discovery
was, for the moment, aimost piiiable. Rut change ot
opiniou is a resource too convenient in cimrts for (his
experienced courtier not to have learned to avail him-
self of it. His criticisms were all, of course, recanted
instantly ; he was seized w ilh an admiration of the
King's verses, as unbounded as, he beg^^ed bim to !
believe, it was disinterested ; and the following week |
saw him in possession of an additional place, swear-
ing by all the Saints of Islam that never had there
existed so great- a poet as the Monarch Aliris, and,
moreover, ready to prescribe hib lavourite reginmn of
the Chabuk for every man, woman, and child that
dared lo think otherwise.
Of the happiness of the King and Queen of Biicha-
ria, after such a beginning, there can be but liitle
doubt ; and, among Ihe lesser symptoms, it is recorded
of L^lla Kookli, that, to (he day of her death, in me-
mory of their delightful journey, she never called the
King by any other name [han Ferauiorz.
POLITICAL AND SATIRICAL POEMS.
LINES ON THE DEATH OF MR. P— RC— V— L.i So congenial their tastos, that, when Fum 6rst did
light on
The fiour of that grand China-warehouse at Brighton,
The lanterns, and dragons, and things rouud the
dome
Were so like what he left, *' Gad," says Fum, " I»m
at home.'' —
vheii, turning, he saw Bishop h ge, *'Zooks,
In the dirge we sung o'er him no censure was he:\rd,
L'nenibitler'd and free did the teai-drop descend ;
We forgot, in that hour, how the malebnun had err'd.
And wept for the husband, the father, and friend.
Oh. proud was the meed his integrity won,
And gen'rous indeed were the tears tliat we shed.
When, in grief, we forgot all ihe ill he had done,
And, though wrougM by hini, living, bewaild him,
when dead.
Even now, if one harsher emotion intrude,
'lis to wi^h he had chosen some lowlier state,
Had known what he was — and, content to be goody
Had ne'er, for our ruin, aspir'd to be ^ratt.
So, left through their own little orbit to move,
His years might have roll'd inotfensive away ;
His children might still h.ive been bles^'d with his
love,
And England would ne'er have been curs'd wilh
his sway.
To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle.
Sir, — In order to explain the following Fragment,
it IS ncce5S.iry lo refer your readers to a late ttorid
description of the Pavilion at Brighton, in the apart-
ments of which, we are told. " Fum, The Chinese
Bird of Royalty," is a principal ornament,
1 am. Sir, yours, &c.
MUM.
FUM AND HUM,THETWOBIRDSOF
ROYALTY.
One day the Chinese Bird of Royally. Fum,
Thus accosted our own Bird of Royalty. Hum,
In that Palace or China-shop (Brighton, winch is It ?)
Where Funi had just come to'pay Hum a short
visit.—
Near akin are these Birds, though they differ in
(The breed of Ihe Hums is as old as creation) ;
notd full-craw'd I.egilima'es — both, birds of prey,
li()th, c-TCklingaiid lavenous creaiures. half way
»Twixt the goose and the vulture, like Lwrd C— s-
tl gh.
While Fum deals in Mandarins, Bonzes, B.-'hea,
peers, Bishops, and Punch, Hum, .ire sacred lo thee!
And
Quoth the Bird, *' Yes — I know bim — a BoDze, by
hisphyz —
** And thai jolly old idol he kneels to so low
'' Can be none but our round-about godhead, fat Fo !"
It chanced at this moment, th' Episcopal Prig
Was imploring the P e to dispense wilh his wig.>
Which the Hird, overhearing, flew high o'er his head,
And some I obit-like mai ks of his patronage shed,
Which sn dimni'd Ihe poor Dandy s idolatrous eye,
That, while Fum cried "Oh Fu I" all the cmrt cried
" Oh tie 1"
But, a truce to digression ; — these Biids of a feather
'I'hus laik'd, t'other nisrht, on Slate matters t-^'gether:
(The P e just in Led, or about to dep.irt for 't,
His legs full of gnut. and his aims full of H— rtf— d.)
"1 sav, Hum," says Fum — Fum, of couise, spoke
Chinese,
But, bless you. tha' 's nothing — at Brighton one sees
Foieign lingoes and Bishops trmislatcd with ease —
*• 1 say, Hum, how fares it with R.-yaJty now ?
" Is It lip ? is it prin\e F is it spooticy — or how ?"
(The Bird had just taken a flash-n.an's degree)
Under B— rr— ra— re, Y th, and young Master
e)
'As for us in Pekin" he
from the bed-chamber camt
dev'l of a din
jere that long Man-
C— stl gh (whom Fum calls the Confusiiu of
Prose),
Was rehearsing a speech upon Europe's repose
To (he deep, double bass of the fat laoPs nobC.
{Nota bene — liis Lordship and L— v— rp~I come.
In collaieial lines, from the old Mother Hum,
C— stl gh a Hum-bug — L—v—rp — 1 a Hum-
drum.) »
The Speech l)eing finish'd, out rush'd C— ?tl— gh.
Saddled Hum in a hurry, and, whip, spur, away.
Through (he regions of air. like a Snip on his hobby,
Ne'er paused, tilt he lighted in Si. Stephen's lobby.
» In consequence of an old promise, that he should
be allowed to wear his own hair, whenever he might
be elevated to a Bishopric by his R 1 H ss.
POLITICAL AND SATIRICAL POEMS.
315
UNES ON THE DEATH OF SH-R-D— N.
PriDcipibuaque placuiBse ymal — Horat,
Yei, prief will have way — bul the fa^t falling (ear
Shall be ininfjled wiih dt-ep execrations on ihuse,
Who could l>a»k iii thai SpiiitN nieudiaii career,
Aud yet leave it thus lonely and dark al its close :-^
Whose vanity (lew round him, only while fed
Hy the odour his fame in ils summer-tinie gave ;—
Whose vanity now, wi!h quick scent for the dead,
Like the Ghole of the Kast, comes to feed at bis
grave.
Oh ! it sickens the heart to see bosoms so hollow,
And spirits so mean in the great and high-bornj
lo think what a long line of rules may follow
The relics of him who died— friendless and lorn!
How proud (hey can press to the fun'ral array
Uf one, whom they sliunu'd in hia sickness and sor-
row: —
How baililfs nny seize his last blanket, to-day,
Whose pall shall be held up by nobles to-morrow!
And Thou, too, whose life, a sick epicure^s dreano,
Incoherent and gross, even grosser had passed.
Were it not for that cordiil and soul-giving beam.
Which his friendship and wit o'er thy uolhingness
cast ; —
No, not for the wealth of the land, that supplies thee
With millions to heaji upon Fopper;i's slirine j—
No, not for the riches of alt tvho despise thee,
Tho' this would make Europe's whole opulence
Would I suffer what — ev'n in the heart that thou
hast —
All niean as it is — must have consciously burn'd,
When the pitt.ince, %vhich shame had wrung from
thee at last,
And which found all his wants at an end, was
returiiM 1 1
" Was this then the fate," — future ages will gay,
When sotue names shall live but iDhislor>*s curse ;
When Truth will be heard, and these Lords of 3, day
Be forgotten as fools, or remeniber'd as worse j—
** Was this then the fa(e of (hat high-gif(ed man,
*'The pride of the palace, (he bnwerand the hall,
"The orator,— dramatist,— minstrel,— who ran
** Through each mode of the lyre, and was master
of ail J—
'* Whose mind was an essence, compounded with art
" From the finest and best of all other men's
powers ; —
" Who ruled, like a wizard, the world of the heart,
" And could call up its sunshine, or bring down its
showers j—
** Whose humour, as gay as the fire-fly*s li?h(,
**Pla>'d round every subject, and shoue as it
play'd ;-
** Who^e wit, in the combat, as gentle as bright,
*' We'er carried a heart-slain away on its blade ; —
" Whose eloquence — brielit'ning uhatever it fried,
*' Whether reason or fancy, the g;iv or (he grave,—
** Was as rapid, as deep, and as brilliant a tide,
*' As ever bore Freedom aloft on its wave I"
Yes — such was the man, and so wretched his fate;—
And thus, sooner or laier, sh;»ll all have to grieve,
Who waste their morn's dew in the beams of (he Great,
And expect 't will return to refresh Ihem at eve.
» The sum was two hundred pounds — o^frcd
when Sh— r— d— n cnuld no longer take any suste-
nance, and declined, for him, by his friends.
In the woods of the North (here are insects that prejr
On the biain of the elk till his very last sigh^^
Oh, Genius 1 thy patrons, more cruel than they,
First feed on thy brains, and then leave thee to die !
EPISTLE FROM TOM CRIB TO BIG BEN 8
CONCERNING SOME FOUL PLAY IN A LATE
TRANSACTION.*
-A hi.
I Belli" -~ Metastasi
What ! Ben, my old hero, is this your renown ?
Is this the new go .?- kick a man when he '3 down !
When the foe has knock'd under, to tread on him
then —
By the list of my father, I blush for thee, Ben !
•* Foul ! foul !" all the lads of the fancy exclaim —
Charlry Shock is electrilied — Belcher spits tl:ime —
And MolyneiiX — ay, even Blacky*^ cues "shame!"
Time was, when John Bull little diiTerence spied
'Tvvixt the foe at bis feet, and the fiiend at his side:
When he found (such his humour in fighting and
eating)
His foe, like bis b-i-ef-steak, the sweeter for beating.
But this conies, Master Ben, of your curst foreign
nniiuns,
Your trinkets, wigs, thingumbobs, gold lace and lo-
Your Noyaus, Curacoas, and the Devil knows what —
(One swin of Jilut liuiii ^ is worth the whole lot !
Your great and small crwves— (my eyes, what a brood!
A cro^i-bu'tock from mc would do souie of Ihem
good !)
Which have spoilt you, till hardly a drop, my old
porpoise,
Of pure English claret i? left in yourcor;?i«;
And (as Jim says) the only one trick, good or bad,
Of the Fancy you 're up to, \t filling, my lad.
Hence it comes, — Boxiana, di>grace 10 thy page ! —
Having floor'd, by good luck, the tirst ^loeiiuf the age.
Having conquered the yriine, onCy that milVd us all
round,
You kick'd him, old Ben, as he gasp'd on the ground !
Ay— just at the lime to show spunk, if you'd got
Kick'd him, and jawM him, and lag'^d s him to Botany !
Ob, shade of the C/iecsemonger ! s you, who, alas,
DouUed upy by the dozen, those Mounseers in brass,
On that great day of mi7ii7jg-, when blood hy in lakes,
When Kings held the bottle, and Europe ihe stakes,
Look down upon Ben — see h\m, dttngkitl all o'er.
Insult the fall'n foe, that can harm him no more !
Out, cowardly spowtey ! — again and aeain.
By the fist of my father, I bluRh for thee, Ben.
To $how the white feather is many men's doom,
But, whnt o( Qtie feather?— Ben shows a whole
plume.
^ Naturalists have observed that, upon dissecting
an elk, there was found in its head some large flies,
with its brain almost eaten away by them. — History
of Poland.
3 A nickname given, at this time, to the Pr — ce
R-g-t.
* Written soon after Bonaparte's transportion to St.
Helena.
6 Tom, I suppose, was *' assisted" to (his Motto by
Mr. Jackson, who, it is well known, keeps the most
learned company going.
6 Names and nicknames of celebrated pugilists at
that lime.
1 Gin.
« Transported.
9 A Life Guardsman, one of ffte Fancy, who distin-
guished himself, and was killed in the meiuorablo
set-to ^\ Waleiloo.
316
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS
PREFACE.
In what manner the following Epistles came into
my hands, it i> ni^t nece-sary for the public to know.
It will be seen by Mr. Fudge's Second Letter, that he
is one of ihose genllemen whose Sccrtt Services in
Ireland, under the mild ministry of my Lord C gh,
have been so amply ^nd g'^tefully remunerated. Like
his friend and asaucia'e, Thomas Reynolds, Esq., he
hid retited upon the leward of his hnnest indu-^try;
bul has la!ely been induced to appear again in active
life and superintend the Irainii.g of Ihai Delalorian
CohoU, which Lord S— dm— Ih, ia his wisdom and
beiievideiice, has nrganized.
Whether Mr. Fudge, himself, has yet made any
discoveries, does not appeai Trom the following paaes.
But much may be expec'ed from a person of his zeal
and sagacity, and, indeed, to him, Lord fci— dm— th,
and IheGrreiiland-bound ^hip=, the e)e3 of all loveis
oi discoveries are now ninat anxinusly directed.
I resiet much Ihit I have been obliged to omit Mr,
B'>b Fudge's 'I hird Letter, concluding the adventures
of his U.y with the Dinner, tlpera. &.c i^c. ; — but,
in consequence of some remaiksupon Maiinctie's Ihiii
diapery, which, it was thought, might give ollence to
certain well-nieaniug persons, the manuscript was sent
back to Ktris for his revision, and had nut returned
when the la->t sheet was put to press.
it will not, I hope, be thought presumptuous, if 1
take thisop|iortumiy (f complaining of a very serious
injustice I have iut!>red fiom the public. Dr. King
wrote a treatise to piove that Bentley " was not the
author of his own bock," and a similar absurdity has
bt-en asserted of me, in almost all the best-informed
literary circles. Wi h the name of the real author
staring them in ihe fice, they have yet persisted in
attributing my works to other petiple ; and Ihe fame
of the Twopenny Pnst-B»g — such as it is — having
hovered doubtfully over various persons, has at Ust
settled upon tt;e head cf a certain little gentleman,
who wears it, I understand, as complacently as if it
actually behmged In him; ^vllhout even the honesty
of avowing, wiih his own favimrite author, the will
excuse the pun)
Eyu) 6' 'O MSIPOZ apas
Bdrj<raii7)v fitTuiTtm,
I can only add, that If any lady or gentleman, curi-
ous in such mat ers, will take the trouble of calling
at my lodgings, 245. Piccadilly, I shall have Ihe ho-
nour of as-uring them, iii propria pCTSOnaj that 1 am
— his, or her,
Very obedient
And very humble Servant,
THOMAS BROWN, THE YOUNGER.
^pril 17, 1S18.
LETTER I.
FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DORO-
THY , OF CLONKILTY, IN IRELAND.
Amiens.
Dear Doll, while Ihe tails of nur hordes are plaiting,
The tiurk^ lying on, and Pa|a, at the door,
Int'"* very bad French is. as usual, tntnslaiinff
His English resolve not to give a sou nmre,
I sit dnvrn to write you a line — only think ! —
A letter from France, with French pens and French
How delightful! though, would you believe it, my
dear?
I have seen nothing yet very wonderful here;
No adventure, no sentiment, far as we 've come,
But Ihe corn-helds and trees qui'e as dull as at home;
And till for the post-boy, his boots and his queue,
I might jv3t as well be at Clonkil'y wjth you !
In vain, at Desseiu's, did I take from my trunk
That divine fellow, Sterne, and fall reading "The
Monk ;"
In vain did I think of his charming Dead Ass,
And remember tlie crust and the wallet — alas !
No monks can be had now for love or for money,
(All owing, Pa says, to that infidel Boney ;)
And, though one little Neddy we saw in our drive
Out of classical Namponl, the beast was alive !
By the by, though, at Calais, Papa had a. touch
Of romance on the pier, which aflected me much.
At Ihe sight of that spot, whtre our darling Diihuit
Set the first of his own dear legitimate feel.»
(ModellM out so exactly, and — God bless the mark !
T is a foot, Dolly, worthy so Gravida Monarijue,)
He exclaim'd, *' Oh, mou Roi I" and, with tear-drop-
ping eye,
Stood to gaze on the spot — while some Jacobin, nigh,
Multer'd out with a shrug (w hat an insolent thing !)
»»Ma foi, he be right — '( is de Englishman's King;
And dat ^us pied de cochon — bepar, me vil say
Dat de foot look mobh better, if turn'd toder wav."
There's the pillar, loo— Lord ! I had neaily forgot—
What a charniiiig idea ! — rais'd close tt) Ihe spot ;
The mode being now, (as you 've heard, 1 suppose,)
To build tombs over legs,* anJ raise pillars to toes.
This is all that 's occuri'd sentimental as yet ;
Exce[)t, indeed, some little flow 'r-nymphs we've met,
Who distuib one's romance « iih pecuniary views,
Flinging flnw'rs in your pa'h, and then— bawling for
sous 1
And some picturesque beggars, whose multitudes seem
To recall the good days of tjie ancieii rcgitne^
All as ragged and brisk, you 'II be happy to learn,
Aud as thin as they were in the time of dear Steroe.
Our party consists (in a neat Calais job)
Of Papa and n.^y-elf, Mr. Connor and Bob.
You reujember how sheepish Bob look'd at Kilraody,
But, Lord ! he 'g quite alter'd — they've made him a
Dandy ;
A thing you know, whisker'd, great-coated, ap'*
laced,
Like an hnur-glass, exceedingly small in Ihe wa'st:
Quite a new sort of creatures, unknown yet to
scholats,
With heads, so immovably stuck in shirt-collars.
That seals, like our music-stools, soon must be found
them,
To twirl, wheu the creatures may wish to look round
them.
I To cnmmemorale the landing of Louis le Desire
from England, the impression of his foot is marked
out on the pier at Calais, and a pillar with an inscrip-
tion raised opposite to the spot.
« Ci-git la jamhe de, &c. &c
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
317
? a romuice?
but his Travels in
In shnrt, dear, »'a Dmdy" describes what I mean,
AikJ Bob' 3 far the best of the trains I 've seen :
An im|iroviiig young man, fond of learniDg, anibili-
And goes now to P;iris to study French dishes,
Whose names— think, how qu.ck 1 he already knows
pat,
A la braise, petits pates, and — what d 'ye cnll that
They indict on [jor.iti.es ? — oh ! niaitrc dVioId^
I assure you, dear Dolly, he knows Ihein as well
As if noihiTi^ else all his lite he had e;it,
Though a bit of ihem Bobby has never touchM yet ;
Kutjusi knows ihe names of Fieiich dishes and cooks,
As dear Pa knows the titles of authors and Looks.
As to Pa, what d'ye think ?— mind, \th a.\\ entrenouSy
B M you know, love, I never keep secrets fr ""
Why, he 's writing a book— what :
No, ye Gods, would it were I —
France ;
At the special desire (he let out t'o'her diy)
Of his great Iriend and patron, my Lord C-sil-r-gh,
Who saiJ, " My dear Fudge" I foiget th' exact
word-,
And, it 's straiiffe, no one ever remembers my Lo'd's ;
But 't was sonietliing to say that, as all must allow
A good orthodox wnrk is much wanting jU't now,
'lo expound to the world the new — thingununie —
science,
Found out by ihe — what 's-its-name — Holy Alliance,
And prove to mankind ihat Iheir rights are but folly,
Their fieidon. a joke (which it is, you know, Dolly),
*' There's none," said his Lordship, "if / may be
ji'dge,
Hall BO fit for this great undertaking as Fudge I"
Tlie matter's soon settled — Pa flies to the Row
O be first stage your touiists now usually go),
Settles all for his quarto —adxertisements, praises-
Starts post from Ihe door, with hia tablet
phrases-
*' ScoU's Visit," of course — in short, ev'ry thing he has
An author can w mt, except words and ideas; —
And, lo ! the first thing, in Ihe spi ing of ihe year,
Is Phil. Fudge at the front of a Quaito, my dear I
But, bless me, my paper 's near out, so I 'd better
Draw fast to a close : — this exceeding long letter
You owe to a dejeuner a la foitrchette^
Which Bobby would have, and is hard at it yet.—
Wl.a» "n r.ex' ? oh, the luior, the last of the party,
Vo.Mii- toinjir:--they say he's so like Bonaparte,
His 'n-Bt usi his chin— which Papa rather dreads,
As lii(j Ijturo,)n^,you know, aie suppressing all heads
That rebtrnible old Nap's, and who knows but their
honours
Maylhifik, in their friglit, of suppressing poor Con-
nor's?
Au reste (!»8 we say), the young lad 's well enough,
Only talks much of Athens. Rome, viriue, and siuif;
A third cnusin of ours, by the « ay — poor as Job
(Though of roy.il descent by the side of ^iamma),
And tor charilv made private tutor t- Bob ;—
Enlre nuu*," too, a Papist— how lib'ral ( f Pal
This ii all, dear,— forgive me for breaking off* thus,
But Bob's dejtunerH done, and Fapa':i in a fuss.
B. F.
P. S.
How provokins: of pa ! he will not let me stop
Just to run ill and rnnmrge some milliner's .shop:
And my dchui m Paris. Iblush in Ihink on it,
Must now, Doll, be made in a hideous low bonnet.
But I'ans, dear P.iris! - oh. there will be joy,
And romance, and high bonnets, aiid M.aJame Le
Roi! I
LETTER II.
FROM PHIL. FUDGE, ESQ. TO THE LORD
VISCOUNT C— ST — R — GH.
Paris.
At length, my Lord. I have the blisa
To date to \ou a line from this
'* Demoializ'd" metropolis;
Where, by plebeians low and scurvy
The throne was turu'd qiiiie (opsy turvy,
Aiid Kingship, tumbled from it^ seat,
'* Stood prostrate'' at the people's feet;
Where (still to use your Lordship's tropes)
The level of obediei.ce slopes
Upward and downward, as the stream
Of hydra faction kicks the Leatn!'^
Where (he poor Palace changes masters
Quicker than a snake i's skin
And Louis is roli'd out on castors,
While Boiiey 's borne on slioulders in : —
But where, in every change, no doubt,
One special good your Lordship traces,—
That 't is the Kiiigs alone turn out,
The Ministers still keep their places.
How oft, dear Viscount C gh,
I 've thought of thee upon the way,
As iu my jub (what place could be
More apt to wake a thought of Ihee?)-
Or, oftener far, when gravely sitting
Upon my dicky, (as is titling
For him who « rj.es a Tour, that he
May niore of men and manners see.)
I 've thought of thee and of ihy glories.
Thou guest of Kings, and King of Tories!
Reflecting how thv fame has fjrnwn
And spread, bev'ond nian\ usual share,
At home, abroad,' till thou art known,
Like Major Semple. everywhere !
And marv'lling with what pow'rs of breath
Your Lord^hip, havin? speecli'd to dealh
Some hundreds of your fellow-men.
Next speech'd to Sovereigns' cars,— and when
All Sovereigns else wern doz'd, at Inst
Speech'd down the Sovereigns of Belfast.
Oh ! mid Ihe praises and Ihe trophies
Thou gain's! from Moros'^phs and Sophis;
Mid ail Ihe tributes to Ihy fame.
There's 07ie thou should's be chiefly pleas'd at —
That Ireland give, her snuft' 'hy name,
^nd C gh'sthe thing now sneez'd at!
But hold, my pen ! — a truce to praising —
Though ev'n your Lordship will allow
The theme's temptations are amazing ;
But time and ink run short, and now,
(As thou wouldst say, my guide and teacher
In these gty meiaphonc fringes,
I must embark into tUe feature
On which this letter cniefly Am^e*; * —
1 A celebrated mantua-maker in Pari^
27*
• ^ This excellent iniitalion nf the ncible Lnr I's slyl
shows how Jeeply Mr. fudge niust ha\e studied hi
great orijiiial. Irish nr.itory, iudied. abounds wit;
such s'anling peculiarities. Thus the eloquent Coui,
selliir B , in dc'Crihinj some livpncri ical pre-
tender to chaiily, said, "He put liis hands in his
breeclies-poclcet. like a ciocudile, and," &c. &c.
s The title nf llie chief magistrate of Belfisl, before
whom his Lordship (witli the "sludiuni iinniane lo-
quei.di" allribuled by Ovid to Ihat challerin; and ra-
pacious class of birds, the pies) delivertd sundry long
and self-gratulatory orations, on his return from the
Coiitinen'. It was at one of these Irish dinners Ihil
his E^illant brother. Lord S , proposed Ihe ticalth of
•* The best cavalry officer in Europe — the Regent !"
« Verbatim from one of the noble Viscount's
Speeches — "And now. Sir, 1 must embark into Iho
feature on which this question chiefly hinges.''
318
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
My Bonk, the Rook Ihat is to prove —
And will, ISO help ye Sprres ..bove.
Thai si' on clouds, .is srave ab jud^e^,
VVact.ii.s lie abni.rs (if Hic Kudicesl)
IVitl pinvt; lli:it II ilie world, at present,
h i a Mii^ rxtirii.flv ptt-.i.anr;
Thai Knropr — ihuik-i to n.y.il awoids
Aid b,i>'ne's, .iuA ihe Duke commanding
Enjnvs a peace v^ hich, like the Lord's,
Pas-e li all hiintan uiider^taiidtrg :
Thai fi mce prrfers her ko-cuI King
To sjcti a coward scamp as Roney ;
Tbouib round, with each a le. ding-string,
'Ihere s andeth many a R^yat crony,
For fear the chubby, loitering thing
Should fall, it left there loiity-poney ; ^
Tliat Enel.ii.d, too, the more her debts.
The mnre bbe spends, the richer gets;
And that the Iri?h, grateful nation!
Remember when by thee reign'd over.
And bk'-'S thee lor their fl.igellaiion,
As Helois.i did her lover ! » —
That Poland, left lor Russia's lunch
Upon the Side-board, snug reposes;
Wh le Saxony 's as pleased as Punch,
And Norway '-on a bt-d of loses !*■
That, a< for -ome few million souls,
Transferr'd by contract, bless Ihe clods!
If half were stran^ied — Spaniards Poles,
And Frenchmen — 't vvnuldn't make much odds.
So Europe's goodly Roy:il ones
Sit easy on their sacred thrones;
So Ferdinand embroiders gail>,^
And Louis ea's his sabni,^ daily;
So time is left to Emperor Sandy
To be half C;e-ar and half Dandy ;
And G KC the R— g— t (whoM forget
That d.iughliest chieftain of the >et ?)
Hath wfierewithal for trinkets new,
For dragons, after Chinese models.
And chambers where Duke Ho and Sot>
Might come and nine times knock iheir noddles'.—
All (his my Quarto 'II prove— much more
Than Quarto ever proved before : —
In reas'ning with the Pmt I 'II vie,
My facts ihe Courier shall supply,
My j'kes V— ns— f, P— le my sense,-
And thou, sweet Lord, my eloquence 1
Mv Journal, penn'd by fits and starts,
On Biddy's back or Bobby's shoulder,
(My son, my Lord, a youih of parts.
Who longs to be a small place-holder,)
Is— tlu)ugh /say »l, tfiat shouldn't say-
Extremely good ; and, by Ihe way,
07ie extract from it — only one —
To show its spirit, and I 've done.
"/uZ. thirty-first.— Went, after snack,
*' To (he Cathfdral of St. Denny ;
" Sigh'd o'er the Kings of ages back,
*' And— gave the old Concieree a penny,
" A/em.— Mu-t see Rheims, much fani'd, M is said,
"For m,iking Kings and gingeibrfad.)
'■ Was shown the tomb "heie lay, so stately, '
" A Utile Bourbon, buried lately,
" Thrice high and puissant, we we-^e told,
"Though only iweuly-four hours old ! *
1 See her Letters.
2 It would be an edifying fhing to write a history
of the private alllu^emems of s tvereigns, tracing them
down from the r!y-s'icking of D .mitian. the mole-
catching of Ariabanu^. the hog mimicking of Parmeni-
des, tiie horse cn-rying of Arelas, to the petticoat-
embroidering oi Ferdinand, and ihe palience-pla} ing
of the P e R— 1 !
3 Oi/za TE, ola ti^ovst diOTptfPtts paii\7}c^,
Homtr, Odyss. 3.
< So described on the coffin: "tres-haute et puis-
MUte Prince>Be. agee d'un jour."
'*Hear this, thought I, yc Jacobins :
*' Ye Hurdelts, uenible in yourbkinal
•'If Knv'll), but aged a day,
" tan lio.ist such high and puissant sway,
*' What impjuus hand its pow'r would fix,
•* Full fiedgd and wigg'd ^ at filly-six T*
The argument's quite new, you see.
And proves exactly Q. E. D.
So now, wilb duty to the R— g— t,
1 am, de^r Lord,
Your most obedient,
ffotel Sreteuil, Rue Rivoli.
Neat lodgings — rather dear for me ;
But Biddy said she thought 'I would look
Genteeler thus to date my Booh ;
And Biddy's right — besides, it curries
Some favour wiih our friends at Murray's,
Who scorn what any nian can sav,
That dales from Hue St. Honore < 6
LETTER III.
FROM MR. BOB FUDGE TO RICHARD
, ESQ,
Oh Dick ! you may talk of your writing and reading,
Your Logic and Greek, but there's nothing like
feeding ;
And this is the place for it, Dicky, you dog.
Of all places on eirlh — Ihe head quarters of Prog!
Talk of England — her famed Magna Cbarta, I
swear, is
A humbug, a flam, to the Carte i at old Very's ;
And as for your Juries — who would not set o'er 'em
A Juiy of I asters, a with woodcocks before *em ?
Give Cart wright his Parliaments, fresh every year ;
But those friends of short Commons would never do
here;
And, let Romilly speak as he will on the question.
No Digest of Law's like Ihe laws of digestion !
By the by, Dick, / fatten — but n'importe for that,
*T is the nmde — your Legitimates always get fat.
There »s the R— g— t, there's Louis — and Boney
tried too.
But, tho' somewhat imperial in paunch, *t wouldn't
do: —
He improv'd, indeed, much in this point, when be
wed.
But ne'er grew right royally fat in ihe head,
Dick, Dick, what a place is this Ptis '.—but stay —
As my r.iptures may bore you, I 'II just sketch a Day,
As we pass it, myself and some comrades I 've got,
All Iborough-bred Gnostics^ who know what is what.
After dreaming some hours of the land of Cncaigne,*
That Elysium of all that is/ria^idand nice,
Where for'hail they hAve bon-bons, and claret for rain,
And the skaters in winter show ntf on Cfeamictj
» There is a fulness and breadth in this portrait o;
Royalty, which reminds us of what Pliny says, in
speaking of Tmjan's great qualities : — * Doniie longe
lateque Principem ostenlani ?"
6 See the Quarterly Review for May, 1816, where
Mr. Hobhouse is accused nf having written his book
*' in a back stieet of the French c.ipilal."
1 The Bill of Fare. —Very, a well-known Restau-
rateur.
8 Mr. Bob alludes pirticularly, I presume, to the
famous Jury Degustateur, which used to assemble at
the Hotel of .M. Griinod de la Reyniere, and of wl.Jch
this modern Archesfratus ha^ given an account in hit
Almanach des Gourmands, cinquieme annee, p. 78.
» The fairy-land of cookery and gourmandiui
THE FUDGE FAMIIV IN PARIS.
Di9
Where bo ready all nature its conkery yields,
Macaroni aii parrncsait throws in ihc helds;
Liiik biid^ Hv al-out vv>i|i the true pheasaiii taint,
And ltit'g<-'e>e .irc all li mu uitli a liver cnnipUinl ! I
jtr — |.ui . n neck-clnUi — stirt. ii^ht, a tan br —
,. l.id who ^ots into Uie wmtd, Uick, like me,
I 6tiuii\d tiavc li.b neck Utd u|i, you kiiuw — theie's no
douU ot It —
AIiiiosI as lia;h' a^ sume lads who ^o out of it.
1 VViih \vhi>kers well nilM, and Wilh boots ihal " hold up
*' The mirnn ro iinture" — so bright you could sup
I Oil tlie k-aiher like clinia ; wilh cnal, loo. that draws
On the tailor, who sutlers, a martyr's applause 1 —
Wilh head bridled up, like a lour-in-haiid leader,
Ami slays— devil 's m them — too li^hl for a feeder,
1 strut U. Die eld Cafe Hardy, which yet
Beats the field at a dejtitner a }a Jou'rchctte.
'J here, Dick, what a bieaklast ! — oh, not like your
; gbosl
Of a breakfast in England, your curst tea and toast ; 2
Bui a side-board, you dog, wheie one's eye roves
about,
Like a Tuik^s in the Haram, and thence singles out
line's j-aie of larks, just lo tune up the Uirca',
One's small limbs ol chickens, d(.ne en ■papiUule^
One's erudiie cutlets, drest all v%ays bui pLio,
I Or one's kidneys— imagint-, Dick — done wiih cham-
pagne ! '
Then, some trlassesofiJeauJie, to dilute— or, mayhap,
C/tambtrtin'-i which >ou know 's the pet tipple of
Nap,
"Pais, ou le cifl olTie les viaudes outes cuites, et ou.
comme on parle, les alouet'ea tonibem toutes roties.
Du Latin, coquere." — Duchat.
1 The process by which the liver of the unfortunate
goose is enlarged, in order lo produce tlut richest of
ail dainties, ■-he fuie fcras, of which >uch renowned
•pates are made at Strasbourg and Toulouse, is thus
desciibed in the Cmni- Gumrouomiqut : — "On de-
plume I'esiomac des oies ; on aiiuctie tnsui:e ces am-
maux aux chenets d une cheminee, ei on les nourrit
devaiit le IVu. Li cap:iviie ei la chaleur donnenl a
ces volatiles, una maladie hepalique, 4U1 fait gouiler
leur foie," &c. p. 206.
a Is Mr. Bob aware that his contempt for tea
renders him liable to a chaige of atheism f Such, at
least, is (he opinion ciled in Chrxstxan. Falster.
.^timnitat. PkUolvg. — " Atheum inlerpreiabaiur
hominem ad herbalhe aveisum." lie would not, I
think, have been so irreveient to this beverage of
schnlars, if he had read Ptter PctiVs roem in praise
of Tea, addiessed to the learned Hutt — or the tpi-
graphe wltich Pcchlinxis wrute for an altar he meant
to dedicate lo this herb — or the AnacreontiCD of
Pdcr franciits, in v\hich he calls Tea
0Eav, -&E7/1/, -^tai-vav.
The following passage from one of these Ana-
creontics will, 1 have no dt^ubt, be gratifying to all
true Theisls.
OfiOtS, -&£UJV T£ JTOTpi,
AltJoi TO VEKTap 'llCl),
Le /tot dLaiCUVOlVTO
liKVipOL^ tV /tDppiVDlUt,
'Wo KaKKiL -n^tn'ovaai
KaAaij ;t^P^°'°"' <oupai.
Which may be thus translated : —
Ves. let Hebe, ever ym
High in heaVii her 1
AQd to Juve'a immoria
Pour the tiiie in rupa of gold —
J'll not envy tieaveii's Prjiicen.
wy hanld, for m
And which Dad, by the by, that legitimate stickler.
Much scruples to taste, but /'m not so parlic*i«r.—
Vour colVee comes uesi, bv piescripiifii: and then,
D ck. 's
'I he c tUc's i,e'tr-lailing and i:i.)riMUs a]>fit-hda,
(If books h d but ^ucn, my .Itl (..rrcian. ^lepcnd on't,
I'd bu.ii tivv ev'u W — Ik— ns', lor sake of li.e end
A neat glass of farfait-artiour^ which one sips
Just as if bottled velvet * lipp'd ovt-r out's lips.
Ins repa»t being ended, and jaid _/yr — (how oild I
Till a man S us'd to p>ying, there 's sninelhiug so
que
!)-
r holJ,
Kate the chii
■cup I
And pours out her best Buhea !
iTfae favourite wine of Napoleon.
t, »nd the girls all abroai,
And the vvoild enough air'd for us, Nul>9, to appear
I n't.
We lounge up the Boulevards, where— oh, Dick, the
phyzzes,
The turn-i uis, we meet — what a nation of quizzes !
Here loddle. along some old hi^ure of fun,
With a c< al you might dale Ann" Domini 1. ;
A lac'd hat, worsted suickiut;-, and — noble old soul !
A hi.e ribbon ond ctoss in hi> best biulou-hole j
Just such as our Fr ce, who nor reason nor fun
dreads.
Inflicts, Without cv*n a couit-marlial. on hundreds.*
Here irips a gnsdte, with a fond, n'gnish eje,
(Rather eatable things these piicltis by ll:e b>) j
And theie an old dcniuiscUc^ almost ns fend,
In a silk that has stood since the time c^f the Fronde.
There goes a French Dandy— ah, Dick! unlike some
We've seen about Whi'e's — the Mouoseers are but
Such hats ! — fit for monkeys — Pd back Mrs. Draper
'lo cut ueiter weathei-bi^ards out of brown paper:
Ai.d coats— how I wish, if it wouldn't distress 'em,
They'd club for old Bi— mm— 1, from Calais, to
dresi 'em!
The collar s'icks ou' from th
That ynu 'd swear 't was
lopping naiion,
To leave ihete behind them a snug little place
For the head to drop into, on dtcapitaiion.
In short, what with mounteb^tnks, counts, and friseurs,
Some munmiL-is by tr.ide, and the rest amateurs —
What uiih captaii.s in new jocUey-buots and ttitk
breeche?,
Old dustmen with swinging grent opera hats,
And shoebl.icks reclining by statues in niches.
There never was seen such a lace of Jack Sprats!
From the Boulevards— but hearken ! — yes— as 1 'ni a
The clock is just stt iking the half-hnnr to dinner:
So no more at present ~ slunl tjnie for ;idoTning —
My Day musi be Imish'd some other fine morning.
Now, hey for old Beiuvillier>' 6 1 .rdei, my boy !
And, once Ihere^ if the G"ddes> oPBeauiy and Joy
We
•Con
not budge —
Not a step, Dick, as
nd kii
:, dear Bob i" 1 'd
R, FUDGE,
LETTER IV.
FROM PHELIM CONNOR TO .
*' Return!" — no, never, while the withering hand
Of Ingot power is on thai hapless land ;
While, for the faith my fathcr> held to God,
Ev'n in Ihe fields where free those fathers trod.
4 Fel&iirs en boutetUe.
* It was said by Wicquefort, more than a hundred
years ago, " Le Ri>i d'Ancle'erre fait seul jdus de
chevaliers que tons les autrts Rois de ^la Chretiente
ensemble."— What would he say now ?
6 A relthrated restaurateur.
320
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
I am proscribe, and — like the spot left bare
III Israel's lull-, ro te!l the proud and fair
Amid'-t thtrir inirth, rhal Slavery had been there — *
On ;iU 1 l<i\t'. hnijie. parents, friends, I trace
'llie ntnuritlul ni irk uf bondage and disgrace !
No ! — lei ihiin stay, "ho in ilieir country's pangs
See iiuuy;tif b'tt fnod for factious and harangues ;
Who yearly kneel befTe their mailers' doois,
And hawk their wrongs, as beg§ais do their sores :
IS ill let v.-ur * * ' * * «
Still hope and suffer, all who can ! — but I,
\Vlii>dursl not hope, and cannot bear, must fly.
But whither ? — everywhere Ihe »coure;e pursues —
'I urn whee he will, the wretched wriuderer views,
In the bright, bmkeii hopes of all his Mce,
Countless reflections of th' Oppressor's face.
Kverywhere ^.illant hearts. an<l spirits true,
Are ^erv'd up victims lo the vile and few ;
While [■:— 5t-d, everywhere — the geueral foe
(If Tinlh and f icedom. wheresoe'er they glow —
Is first, when tyrants strike, lu aid the blow.
Oh, E— gl— d ! could such poor revenge atone
For wtong5, flia' well iniglii claini the deadliest one j
Were it a vengeance, sueet enough to sate
The wretch uho dies from thy iulolerant ha'e,
To hear his curses on such barbarous sway
Echoed, where'er he bends his cheerless wayj —
Could ihis content him, every lip he meeis
'J'eems for hi'- vensieance vvilh Such poisonous sweets ;
Weie this his luxury, never is ihy name
frnuounc'd, bui he doth banquet on II. y shame;
He^rs nialediciions ring froni every side
Upo» that gr.isping power, that selfish pnde,
Which vaums its oau, and scorns all neht-, beside j
That low and desperate envy, which to blast
A neighbouj's blessings, risks the few thou haat j—
That monster. Self, too gross to be conceal'd,
Which ever lurks behmd Ihv prolier'd shield;—
That fai.hless craft, u hich, in thy hour of need,
Can court the slave, can swear he shall be freed,
Yet ba^ely spurns him, when thy point is gain'd.
Back to his masters, ready gat:gM and chain'd 1
Worlhy associate of that band of Kings,
Tliat royal, lav'ning flock, whose vampire wings
O'er slee|.ing Europe treacherously brood
And fan her'into dreams of promis'd good,
Of hope, of freedom — but to drain her blood I
If thus lo ht-ar thee branded be a blisi
That Vengeance loves, theie*s yet more sweet thin
this,
That 'I wa5 an Irish he.'d, an Irish heart,
Made thee the falPu and tarnishM thing thou art;
'i hat, as the centaur^ gave th' infected vest
In which he died, to rack his conqueror's bieisf,
We sent Ihee C gh : — as heaps of dead
Have slain their slayers by the pest they spread,
So hath our land breathM out, thy fame to dim,
'ihy strength to waste, and rot thee, soul and limb,
Her worst infec'ions all condens'd in him !
When will the world shake off such yokes? oh, when
Will that redeeming day shine out on men,
> '* They used to leave a yard square of the wall of
he house unplas'ered, on which they write, in large
letters, either the fore-mentioned veiseof the Psalmist
(•If 1 forget iliee, O Jerusalem,' &c.) or the words —
* '1 he memory of tl:c dtsolation.*" — Leo of Modcna,
1 I have th 'ujht it prudent to omit some parts of
Mr. Fhelim Coni.oi's letier He is evidently an in-
temperate youni nia-i, anil has associated wilh his
cousins, the i'udses. i') very litlle purpose.
» Menil'ra el Herculeos toros
Uritlues Nes.ei
lUe, ille victor vincitur.
S&uc. Ti&rcvl. (Et.
That shall behold them rise, e-ect and free
As Ileav'n and Nature meant mankind should be 1
When Reas n shall no longer blindly bow
To Ihe vile pngod thincs, that o'er her brow,
Like iiim of Jaghernaut, drive trampling nc»w;
Nor CoiKpiest daie to desolate God's earth ;
Noi drunken Victory, with a Nero's mirth.
Strike her le«d harp amidst a people's groans ;-—
But, built on love, the world's exalted thrones
Shall to the virtuous and the wise be given —
Those bright, those sole Legitimates of Heaven !
H-^cn will this be? — or, oh ! is it, in truth,
But one of those sweet, d,iy-break dreams of youth,
In which the Soul, as round her mnrnine: spring ,
'Twixt s'eep and waking, sees such dazzling things!
And must llie ho[.e, as vain as it is bright,
Be all resigned? — and are they only right,
Wh.. say ih.s world of thinking souls was m^de
To be by Kings partitinn'd, truck'd, and weigh'd
In scales that, ever since the world begun,
Have counted millions but as dust to one ?
Are they the only wise, who laugh to scorn
The rights, the ireedom to which man was born?
Who *****
Who, proud to kiss each separate rod of power,
Bless, while he reigns, Ihe minion of the hour;
Woiship each would-be God, tli.it o'er them movi
And take the thundering of his brass for Jove's!
If this be wisdom, then faiewell, my bo- ks,
Farewell, ye thrines of old, ye classic brook*.
Which fed my soul with cuirents. pure and fair,
Of living Truth, that now must stagnate there! —
Ins'ead of themes that touch the lyre with light,
Instead of Greece, and her ininiortal fight
For Liberty, which once awak'd my strings,
Welcome the Grand Conspiracy of Kings,
The High Legitimates, the Holy Band,
Who, bolder ev'n than He of Sparta's land,
Against whole millions, panting to be fiee,
Would guard the pass of right-line tyranny.
Instead of him, lh' Athenian bard, who^e blade
Had stood the onset which his pen pourtray'd,
Welcome *****
And, Ve,ad of Aiistides— woe the day
Such names should mingle '.— welcome C— - gh !
Here break we ofT. at this unhallow'd name.*
Like priests of old, when words ill-omen'd came
Mv next shall tell thee, bitterly shall tell,
Thoughts that * * * *
Thoughts that — could patience hMd — t were wiier
fir
To leave still hid and burning where they are.
4 The late Lord C of Ireland had a curious theory
about names;— he held that every man with three
n 'nies was a jacobin. His instances in Ireland were
numerniis: — viz Archibald Hamilton Rowan. Theo-
bald W.dfe Tone. James Napper Tandy, John Phil-
pnt Curian. &c. &.c. and. in England, he produced as
example^ Charles James Fox. Richard Hrinsley She-
ridan, John Borne Tooke, Francis Burdett Jones, &c.
&c.
The Romans called a thief '* homo trinm lileraruoi."
Mb vitiipeias? Fur.*
Fiautus, Aulular. Act ii. Scene 4.
% Dissaldeuv supposes this word to he a glosaemat
— that is, he thinks '* Fur" has made hh escape from
the margin into the text.
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
321
LETTER V.
FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DOBO'
THY .
What a time since I wrote! — Pm a sad, naughty
girl —
For, though, like a tee-totum, I 'm all in a twirl j —
Vet ev'n (as ynu wittily say) a tee-totum
BetHtien ail its twirls gives a letter to note *em.
But, Lord, sucli a place ! and llieii, Dolly, my dresses,
My gowns, so divine '. — there 's no Jangu.ige expresses,
Except just the two words '* superhe," " niaguifique,"
The trininiiiigs nf that which 1 had home last week !
It is raird— I forget— a las -melhing which sounded
Like aiicampanc — hut, in truth, I 'ni confounded
And botherM, my dear, 'twixt that troublesome boy^s
(Bob's) cookery language, and Madame le Hoi's:
VVhai with hllets of roses, and hllels of veal.
Things ganii with lace, and things garni with eel,
One's hair and one's cutlets both en papillott.
And a thousand more things I shall ne'er have by rote,
I can scarce fell Ihe dill'rence, at least as to phrase,
Between beef a la Piyc/ie and curls a la braise.—
But, in short, dear, I 'm Irick'd out quite a la Fiancahe,
With my bonnet— so beautiful ! — high up and poking,
Like things that are put to keep chimney:) from
flmokiug.
Where shall I begin wilh the endless delights
Of this Eden of milliners, m 'nkeys. and sights —
This dear busy place, where there's noihiug trans-
acting
But dressing and dmnering, dancing and acting?
Imprimis, Ihe Opera — mercy, niy ears!
Brother Bobby's remark, t'other night, was a true
one ; —
"This must be the music." said he, **of the speara,
*'For I'm curst if each note of it doesn t run
thr<
r was the Jacobins brought every mischief abi'ut)
That this pa-sinii for roaiing has come in of late.
Since the lalhle all tried for a voice in the S;ate. —
What a frightful idea, one's mind to o'erwhelm!
What a chorus, dear Dolly, would soon be let loose
of it.
If, when of age, every man in the realm
Had a voice tike old Lai:5,i and chose to make use
of il!
No — never was known in this riotous sphere
Such a breach of the peace as their singing, my dear.
So bad too, you 'd swt-ar that the God of both arts,
Of Music and Physic, had taken a frolic
For jetting a Inud fii of asthma in parts.
Arid composing a fine rumbling base to a cholic!
But, the dancing — aft parlcz-mot", Dolly, de ca —
There, indted, is a treat that charms all but Papa.
Such beauty— »uch grace— oh ye sylphs of romance!
Fly fly to Tiiania. and ask her i( she has
One light-footed nvmph in her irain, that can dance
Like divine B'gotiim and sweet Fanny Bias !
Fanny Bias in Flora— dear creiiure !— yovi 'd swear.
When her deMca'e feet in the dance twinkle round,
Thai her steps are of light, thai her home is the air.
And she only par co»ip/oisajice touches Ihe grounJ.
And when Bigoitini in Psyche dishevels
Her blick llowing hair, and by daemons Is driven.
Oh ! who does not envy those rude little devils,
That hold her and hug her, and keep her from
heaven ?
Then, the music — so sofily its cadences die,
So divinely — oh, Dolly ! between you and I,
It >i M well for my peace that there 's nobody nigh
To Bake love to me then —you're a soul, and can
judge
What a crisis 'I would be for your friend Biddy Fudge !
The next place (which Bobby has near lost bis
heart in)
They call it the Play house— I think— of St. Martin ;i
Quite charming — and very religious — what folly
To say that the French are not pious, dear Dolly,
When here one beholds, so correctly and rightly.
The Testament turiiM into melo-drames nigtilly i 3
And, doubiless, so fond they 're of scri|)tural facts,
They will soon get the Pentateuch up in five acts.
Here Daniel, in paniominie,'! bids bold defiance
To Nebuchadnezzar and all his stutfd lions.
While pretty young Israelites dance round the Prophet,
In verv thin clothing, and but little of it ; —
Here Hegrand,'^ who shii.es in this scriptural path,
As the lovely Susanria, without ev'n a relic
Of drapery round her, comes out of the bath
In a manner that. Bob s lys, is quite Eoi-angelic I
But in short, dear, M would take me a month to recite
All Ihe exquisite places we Ve a', day and night ;
And, besides, ere I finish, 1 think V(>u '11 be glad
Just (0 hear one delightful adventure I've had.
Last nigh', at the Beaujnn,6 a place where — I doubt
If its charms I caD paint— there are Car?, that set out
From a lighted pavilion, high up in the air,
And rattle you down, Doll— you hardly know where.
These vehicles, mind me, in which you go through
This delightfully dangerous journey, hold two.
Some cavalier asks, with humility, whether
Vou»ll venture duwu with him — you smile — Uii
a match ;
Id an instant you *re seated, and down both together
Go thund'ring. as if you went pust tn old scratch ! t
Well, it was but last night, as I stood and remaik'd
On the looks and odd ways of the girls who em<
bark'd,
The impatience of some for 'he perilous flight,
The forc'd gi^le of others, 'twixt pleasure and
fright,-
That there came up — imagine, dear Doll, if you
A fine sallow, sublime, sort of \Ver(er-fac*d man,
With mustachios that gave (what we read of so oft)
The dear Corsair expression, half savage, half soft,
t The oldest, mn^t celebrated, and most noisy of the
ringers at the French Opera,
^ The Theatre de la Porte St. Martin, which was
built when the Opera House in the Palais Roval was
burned down, in I7SI.— A few days after this dreadful
fire, which lasted more ihsn a wtek, and in which
several persons perished, the Parisian elegantes dis-
played flan I e-co Inured dresses, "couleur de feu d'Ope-
ra \*'—DulaurCy Curiosites de Parts.
3 •' The Old Testament,'' -ays I'le Ihea'rical Critic
in the Gazette de France, " is h mine of gold for the
managers of our small play-houses. A multitude
crowd rnu'id the Theatre de la f laiete every evening
to see the Passage of the Red Sea.''
In the play-bill nf one of these sacred melo-drames
at Vienna, we find "The Voce of G— d, by M.
Sch^varlz."
* A piece very popul-T last year, called "Daniel,
ou La Fosse aux Linns." The following scene will
give an idea of ihe daring subliiiii'y of 'hese sciiptural
pan'omimes. ".Sce7ic 20. — La f.urnaise devient un
berceau de nuages azures, ati fond duquel e:^t un
grouppe de nuaees plus lumineux, et au milieu ' Jeho-
■ ■" u centre d'un
nonce la presence di
* Madame Begrand, a finely formed woman, who
acts in " Susanna and the Elders," — " L'Amour et la
FoIie,"&c. &c.
6 The Promenades ^riennes, or French Moun-
tains.—^^ee a description of this singular and faniasiic
plicenf amusement in a pimphlel, Irulv uorihy of it,
by " F. F. Cotterel, Medecin, Djcteur'de la Faculic
de Paris," &c. &c.
1 According lo Dr. ('otterel the cars go at the rate
of forty-eight miles an hour.
322
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
As Hysenas in love may be fancied to look, or
A sonietliing between Abelacd and old Biucherl
Up he came, Dull, to me, aud. uncovering his head,
(Rather bald, but so warlike!) in bad Kiiglish said,
"Ah! iiiy dear — if Ma'insclle vil be so very good —
Just for von Intel course" — though 1 soaice under-
Whal he wish'd me lo do, I said, thank him, I would.
J we set — and, though faith, dear, I hardly knew
whether
My head or my heels were the uppermost then,
for 't was like beav'u and earth, Dolly, coming toge-
ther,-
Yet, spile of the danger, we dar'd it agr.in.
And ch ! as I gaz'd on the features and air
Of the man, who fur me all this peiil defied,
1 could fancy almost he and 1 were a pair
Uf unhappy young lovers, who thus, side by side,
Weie taking, instead of rnpe. pistol, or dagger, a
Desperate dash down the falla of ISiagara 1
This achiev'd, through the gardens' we launler'd
about.
Saw the fire-works, exclaim'd " magnifique" al each
cracker.
And, when 't was all o'er, the dear man saw us out
With the air, 1 wi/f say, of a hriuce, to ouryiacre*
Now, hear me — this Stranger — il may be mere
folly —
But who do ynu think we all think it is, Dolly ?
Why, bless you, no less than the great King of
Prussia,
Who's here now incog.* — he, who made such a
fuss, you
Remember, in London, wi'h Blucher and Phloff,
When Sal was near ki-sing old Blurher's cravat off!
Pa says he 's come here to look alter his money,
(Not'takins things now as he us'd under Boney),
Which suits wifh our friend, lor Bob saw him, he
Looking sliarp to the silver receiv'd at the door.
Besides, too, ihey sty that his grief for his Queen
(Which was plain in this sweet fellow's face to be
ilhi
Requires such a stimulant dnse
Us'd three times a day "i'h young ladies in Paris.
Some Doctor, indeed, hasdeclnr'd that such grief
Should — unless 't would to utter despairing its folly
push-
Fly lo the Beaujon, and there seek relief
By rattling, as Bob says, " like shot through a holly-
bush."
I must now bid adieu .— only think, Dolly, think
If this should be the King — J have scarce slept a
With imagining how :t w
And how all tb" Misse
When they read 'hat Co
II sound in the papers,
my good luck w-iti grudge,
nt Ruppin, to drive away
LETTER VJ.
FROM PHIL. FnDGE, ESQ. TO HIS BROTHEK
TIM FUDGE, ESQ. BARRISTER AT LAW.
Yours of Ihe 12th receiv'd just now —
Thanks for the hint, my trusty brother 1
'T is truly pleasing to see how
We, Fudges, s'and by one another.
But never fe-r — 1 know my chap.
And he knows jne too — vcrbttni sap.
My Loid and 1 are kindred spirits.
Like in our ways as two young ferrets ;
Bolh fashion'd, as that supple race is,
To twist into all sorts of places ; —
Creatures lengthy, lean, and hungering,
fond of blood and tuiroui-mongeriDg.
As to my Book in 91.
Caird " Down with Kings, or. Who'd have thought
it?"
Bless you, the Book 's long dead and gone, —
Not ev'n th' Attorney-General bought it.
And, though some few seditious tricks
I play'd in 95 and 6,
As you remind me in your letter,
His Lordship likes me all Ihe better;-
We proselytes, that come with news full,
Are, as he says, so vastly useful !
Reynolds and I — (you know Tom Reynolds —
Drinks his claret, keeps his chaise —
Lucky the dog that first unkennels
Traitors and Luddites nnw-a-days;
Or who can help to bag a few.
When S— d th wants a death or two ;)
Reynolds and I, and some few more,
All men, like us, ot Di/oriimttOTi,
Friends, whom his Lordship keeps in store.
As wiirfer-saviours of Ihe nation — a
Have form'd a Club ihis season, where
His Lordship sometimes takes the chair.
And gives us many a bright oration
In praise of our sublime vocation ;
Tracing it up to great King Midas,
Who, though in fable typified as
A royal Ass, by grace divine
And right of ears, most asinine.
Was yet no more, in fact historical.
Than an eiceediiig well-bred tyrant;
And these, his ears, bnl allegorical.
Meaning Informers, kept at high rent * —
Geni'nien, who touch'd the Treasury glisteners,
Like us, for being trusty listeners;
And picking up each tale and fragment,
Frir royal Midas's Green Bag meant.
" And wherefore," said this best of Peers,
" Should not the R— g— t too have ears,'
Has gone down the Beaujon with Miss Biddy Fudge,
Xota Bene. — Papa 's almost certain 't is he —
for he knows the Legitimate cut, and could see.
In the way he went poising and manag'd to tower
So erect in the car, the true Balance of Power.
« In the Cafe attached lo these gardens there ai
be (as Doctor Cot'erel informs us) "douze negres,
tres-alertes, qui contrasteroiit par I'ebenedeleur peau
avec le teiiit de lis el de roses de nos belles. Les
glaces et les sorbets, servis par une main bien noire,
fera davantage ressortir I'albatie des bras arrondis de
celles-ci."-P. 22.
5 His Majesty, who %vas at Paris under the travel-
ling name of Count Ruppin, is known lo have gone
down the Beaujon very frequently.
3 Lord C.'s tribute to Ihe character of his frieniJ.
Mr. Reynolds, will long be remembered with equal
credit to both.
4 This interpretation of the fable of Midas's ears
seems Ihe most probable of any, and is thus staled in
Hoffmann:- •• Hac allegoria sisnifiraium, Midam,
ulpole tyrannum, subauscultatores dimittere soliium^
per quos. quaecunque per oinnem reeionem vel
fierent, vel dicereniur, cognosceret, niinirum illis
i Brossette, in a note on Ihis line of Soileau,
«* Midas, le Roi Midas, a des oreilles d'Ane,"
tells us, that " M. Perraiilt le Medecin voulut faire *
noire auleur un crime d'e'at de ce vers, comme d'une
maligne allusion au Roi.'' 1 trust, however, that no
one will suspect the line in the text of any such .ii-
decorous allusion.
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
323
'To reach as far,
ilODK
"Those of his model, good King Midas ?»
T'ns speech was thought exlremely good,
And (rare (or him) was, undeislood —
Instant we drank "The R-?— I's Ears,"
With three tiniea three illustrious cheers,
Which made the room resound like thunder —
•• The K— g— I's Kars, and n.ay he ne'er
*' From foolish shame, like Midas, wear
'• Old I altry luiga to kceiJ them under I'M
This louih at our old Iriends, Ibe Whigs,
Made us ;t8 merry all as gri^s.
In short (I 'l| ihank jou not to mention
The,e things again), we get on gaily ;
And, thanks t'l pension and Suspension,
Our liille Club increases daily.
Casllcs, and Oliver, and such,
Who don't as yet full salary (ouch,
^or keep iheii chaise and pair, nor buy
Houses and lands, like Tom and I,
Of course don't rank with us, saioatorj,*
liul merely serve the Club as waiters,
i-ike Kinghls, loo, we 've our collar days,
(Fur uj, 1 own, an aw kward plirase,)
When, in our new coslume adoro'd,—
The K— E— fs buti-and-blue coals turned
We have the honour to give dinners
■Jo the chief Rats in upper stations ; 3
Your W ys, V ns — hall fledg'd sinner^
Who shame us by their imitations;
Who turn, '1 13 true -but what of that?
Give me the useful peaching Kat ;
A'ut Ihiiigs as mute as Punch, when bought,
Whose wooden heads are all they 've brought:
Who, false enough lo shirk their friends,
Bui loo faint-hearttd lo betray.
Are, after all Iheir twists and bends.
But souls in Limbo, damu'd half way.
No, no, we nobler vermin are
A p;euus useful as we 're rare ;
'Midst all the things miraculous
Of which your natural historic
The rarest must be Rats Ike us,
Who Ut Itie cat out of the bag.
Yet still these Tyros in the cause
Deserve, I own, no small applause j
And Ihcy 're by us receiv'd and treated
Wilh all due honours — only seated
In th' inverse sc.ie of (heir reward,
The merely promis'd ne«l my Jjird ;
Small pensions then, and so on, down,
Rat .after rat, ihey graduate
Through job, icd ribbon, and silk gown,
'I'o Chanc'llorship and .Marquisale.
This serves to nurse the r;.tl!Dg spirit ;
The less the bribe the more the merit.
Our music's good, you may be sure ;
My Lord, you know, 's an amateur 4 —
1 brag,
» II was not under wigs, but tiaras, that King Midas
endeavoured lo conceal these appendages;
lempora purpureis tentat velare tlarla.
Ovid.
The Noble Giver of the toas', however, had evidenl-
iv, f'lth his usual clearness, confounded King Midas,
Mr. Lision, and the V e R--g— t together.
» Mr. Fudge and his friends ought lo go by this
nan e — as the man who, some years since, saved the
late Right Hon. George Rose from drowning, was
ever after called Salvalar Rosa.
3 This intimacy between the Rati and Informers is
just as II should be — " vere dulce jodalilium."
« His Lordship, during one of the busiest periods
of his Ministerial career, Itxik lessons Ihree limes a
week from a celebrated music-n.aster, in glee-sing.
Takes every part with perfect ease,
'1 hciiiilh 10 the Base by nature suited ;
And, fnrni'd for all, as best ni.iy please.
For whips and bolts, or chords and keys,
Turns from his victims lo his glees,
And has itieni both well executed*
H 1 d, who, Iho' no Rat himself,
Uehghts 111 all such liberal arts,
Drinks l.irgely lo the House ot Guelph,
And superintends Ihc Comt parts.
Willie C— iin-g,<i who'd be /ml by choice.
Consents to take an under voice ;
And Gr — v— s.t who well that signal know*,
Watches the l^oUi Subiloa.'
In short, as I 've already hinted.
We lake, of late, prodigiously;
But as our Club is somewhat slinted
For Genllcmcii, like Tom and me.
We'll lake it kind if you'll provide
A few SquirtC7is s from 'lother side ; —
Some of those loyal, cunning elves
(Weofien tell Ihe tale with laughter),
Who us'd to hide the pikes Iheii.sclves,
Then hang the fools who found tliem after.
I doubt not you could hnd us, Ion,
Some Orange Farsmis thai might do ;
Among the rest, \*'e 've heard of one.
The Reverend — something — Hamilton,
Who stuli d a Hgure of liimself
(Delicious Ihoucht !) and had it shot at.
To bring some I'apisis lo the shelf.
That couldn't olherw ise be got at —
If/u'll but join tiie Association,
We '11 vote hmi in by acclaniation.
And now, my brother guide, and friend.
This somewhat tedious scrawl must end,
1 've gone into this long detail.
Because I saw vour nerves were shaken
Wilh annious fears lest I shoul j fail
In this new, loyalj course I *ve laken.
But, bless your heart ! >ou need not doubt —
We, Fudges, knovv what we 're about.
Look round, and say if you can see
A much more thriving family.
There 's Jack, the Doctor — night and day
Hundreds of patients so besiege him,
You 'd swear that all Ihe rich and gay
Fell sick on purpose (o oblige hint.
And while they Ihink, the piecious ninnies.
He's counting o'er their pulse so steady.
The rogue but counts how many guineas
He's fobb'd, for that day's work, already.
I'll ne'er forget Ihe old maid's alarm.
When, feeling thus Miss Sukev Flirt, ho
Said, as he dropp'd her shrivell'd arm,
*' Damu'd bad this morning — only thirty !"
* How amply these two propensities of Ihe Noble
Lord would tiave been gratified nmong that ancient
people of Etruria, who, as Aristotle tells us, used lo
whip Iheir slaves once a year to Ihe sound of flutes I
6 This Right Hon. Gentleman ought to give u|. hi>
present alliance wilh Lord C, if upon no other prin
ciple than that w hich is inculcated in the lollowiug
arrangement betw een two Ladies of Fashion ; —
Says Clarinda, "though tears it may coat,
It ts time we nhoutil pari, my dear Sue;
For ycur rharacter 'b toally lost,
And / have not eumcient fcr two!"
1 The rapidity of this Noble Lord's transformation,
at the same instant, into a Lord of the Bed-chamber
and an opponent of the Catholic Claims, was truly
miraculous.
B Turn instantly — a frequent direction in music-
hooks,
^ The Irish diminutive of Squire.
334
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
Yl ir down^jers, loo, every one,
S" ceii'rous are, when they call him id,
Tl.at he might now reirre upon
The rheumatbnis of ihree old woiiiea.
Then, whaiM.e'er your aiimens are,
He Cir( so learoedly explain ye 'em —
Your cold, of course, is a catarrfu,
Your headach is a htnii-cranium ; —
His -kill, loo, in yomig ladies' lungs,
I'he grace wilh which, most niild of men,
He bfgs Iheni to put out their tongues,
Then bids Iheni — put them in a^ain :
In short, there ^s nothing now like Jack 1 —
Take all your docKirs great and small,
Of p esfnt limes arid ages back.
Dear Doctor Fudge is worth them all.
So much for physic — then, in law too.
Counsellor I iin, to thee we bow;
Not one of us gives more eclat to
Th' immortal name (if Fudge than thou.
Not to expaiiate on Ihe art
With which you play'd Ihe p^^triofs part,
Till sometliing good and snug should otter; —
Like one, w'ht), by the x^ay he acts
1 h' eiilighVuing part of candie-snufler,
The manager's keen eye aiiracis,
And is promoted thence by him
To s;rul in robes, tike thee, my Tim ! -
ti'ho shall descrilje thy powVs of face,
Thy "ell-fee'd zeal in every case,
Or wrong or right — but ten limes warmer
(As suit^ thy callin?) in ihe former —
Thy glorious, la\*yer-Iike dtlight
In puzzling all that 's clear and right,
Which, though conspicuous in thy youth,
Improves so with a wig and band on,
That all Ihy pn je 's to waylay '1 ruth,
And leave her not a leg to stand od.
Thy uatent, prime, niorality,—
Thy cases, ted from the Bible —
Thy caiid'iur, when it falls lo ihee
To help in trotuicing for a libel ; —
"God knows, I. from my stul, profew
**To hate all btgols and benighters I
"God knows, I love, to ev'n excels,
•'The sacred Freedr.m of the Fress,
*■ My only aini 's In — crush the writers.'*
These are the virti.es, Tim, that draw
The briefs into thy bag so fast ;
And these, oh 1 ini — if Uaw be Law —
Will raise thee to the Bench at last.
I blush to see this tetter's length —
Hui 'i was my wish to prove to Ihee
H'HV full of hope, and wealth, and strength,
Are all our prt-cious family.
And, should aff.iipj go on as pleasant
As, ihank the Fates, they do at present —
Should we bui stiM enjoy the away
Of S— dm— h and of C gh,
I hope, ere lone, t'l see the day
When England's wisest stalesnien, judges,
Lawyers, peers, will all be — Fudgts !
Good-bye — my paper 's out so nearly,
i ve only room for Yours sincerely.
LETTER VII.
FROM PHELIM CONNOR TO .
Before we sketch the Present —let us cast
A few, short, rapid glances to the Past.
When he, who had defied all Europe's streng'h,
Beneath his own weak rashness sunk at length; —
When, lons'd, as if by magic, froni a chain,
That seem'd like Fate's, the world was free again,
And Europe saw, rejoicing in the sight,
The cause of Kings, /or once, the cause of Right ;-
Then was, indeed, an hour of joy to those
VVho sigh'd for justice — liberly— repose,
And hop'd the fall of one great vulture's nest
Would ring its wa' ning round, and scare the rest.
All then was bright with promise; — Kings began
To own a symp.ilhy with Buttering Man,
And Man was grateful ; Patriots oT the South
Caught wisdom from a Cossack Emperor's mouth.
And heard, tike accents thaw'd in Northern air.
Unwonted words of freedom burst furth there I
Who did not hope, in that triumphant time.
When moiiarchs, after years of spoil and crime,
Met round the shnne of Peace, and Heav'n iook*d
on —
IVho did not hope the lust of spoil was gone;
That that rap-cinus spirit, which had play'd
The game of Pilnilz o'er so oft, was laid ;
Ai-d Europe's Rulers, conscious of the past,
Would blush, and deviate into right at l^st ?
fiut no — the hearts (hat nurs'd a hope so fair,
Had yet to learn wtiat men on thrones can dare;
Had yet to know, of all earth's ravening things,
The only quite untameable are Kings I
Scarce had ihey met when, to its nature true,
1 be instinct or their race broke out anew ;
Promises, treaties, charters, all were vain.
And *Raprne! rapine!'* was the cry again.
How quick they carv'd their viclims, aitd how well,
Let Saxony, let injur'd Genoa tell : —
Lei ail the human stock that, day by day,
Was, at thai Royal slave-mart, truck'd away,-
The million souls that, in the face of heaven.
Were split lo fractions,* barter'd, sold, or given
To swell some despot Power, too huge before,
And weigh down Europe with one Mammolh more.
How safe the faiih ©f Kings let France decide; —
Her charter broken, ere its ink had dried ;—
Her Press enihrall'd — her Reason mock'd again
With all the monkery it had spurti'd in vain ;
Her crown disgrac'd by one, who dar'd to own
He thank'd not France but England for his throne;
Her triumphs cast into the shade by those.
Who had grown old among her bitterest foe-s,
And now relurn'd, beneath her conquerors' shields.
Unblushing slaves I to claim her heroes' fields;
To tread doun evtry trophy of hei fame.
And curse that glory which lo them was shame ! —
Let these — let all the damning deeds, that then
Were dar'd through Europe, cry aloud lo men,
Wilh voice like that of crashing ice that rings
Round Alpine huts, Ihe perhdy of Kings ;
And tell Ihe world, when hau ks sliatl harmless bear
The shrinking dove, when wolves shall learn to spare
The helpless victim for whose blond they lusted,
Then, and then only, monatchs niay be trusted.
It could not last — these horrors coitXd not last —
France would herself have ris'n, in might, to cast
Th' msulters oti" — and oh ! that then, as now,
Chain'd to some distant islet's rocky brow,
Napoleon ne'er hid come to force, to blight.
Ere half matur'd, a cau e so proudly bright;—
To palsy pairiot arts with doubt and shame,
And wr'iie on Freedom's fla? a despot's name;—
To rush into the lists, unaskd, alone,
And make the slake of all ihe game of one !
Then would the world have ^een again what pfwcr
A people can put forth in Freedom's hour;
I "Whilst the Cnngre'is was re-constructing Eu-
rope— not according to rijhis, natural affiances, lan-
guage, habits, or laivj.; but by tables of finance, which
divided and subdivided her pojjulalion into toiils^
demisouls. and even fractions, according to a cale
of the direct duties or taxes, « hich cou'd he levied by
the acquiring stale," &c.— ,S'fef/cA of the Military and
Political Power of Russia. The words on tlie proto-
col are ames, demi-ames. &c.
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
325
Theu would the fire of France once more have
bisz'd ;—
For ever) s ugle »vvord, reluctant rai^'d
111 (lie stale c-iu^e of an oppresaive throne,
Millions wouUi then have leapM forih la her own;
And never, never ImU ih' unhuly slain
Ui iiuuiLun Icet di^grac'd her shoiesi again.
But fate decreed not so — th* Imperial Bird,
Thai, III his i.eif;hb(iuring caj;e, unlear'd, unslirr'd,
Had seea.'d lo sleep with hei»d bt neath his wing,
Vet watch'd the inunient fnr a danng spring ;—
Well mi^ht he watch, when deeds were dune, thai
His own transgressions whiten in their shade ;
Well might he hope a world, thus tranipled o'er
Hy clumsy tyrants, would he his once more : ~
iorlh from hi9 cage the eagle hurst to light,
From siceple on to steeple i wing'd his (light,
With calm and easy grandeur, Id that thnme
From which a Koyal craven just had flown ;
And resting there, as in his ^rie, fuil'd
Those wings, whose very rustling shook the world !
What was your fury then, ye crown'd array,
Whose least ot spoil, wliuse p.undeiing holiday
Was thus broke up, in all i s greedy mirlh,
21y one hold chieftain's stamp un Gallic earth 1
Fierce was the cry, and lulmmtnt the ban, —
*• Assassinate, who will— each .in, whc can,
"The vile, the faithless, ouHaw'd, low-born man!"
** Faithless ;" — and this frum yuu — lioin you, fur-
sooth,
Ve pious Kings, pure paragons of truth,
Whose honesty all knew, for all had tried j
Whose true Swiss ze.il had serv'd on eveiy side ;
Whose fame for breaking faiili so long w.is kuowD|
Well might ye claim the cr.ftas all your owu,
And lasli your lordly tails, and funie to see
Such low-born apes of Koyal perlidy !
Yes — yes— 10 you alone did it belong
To sin for ever, and yet ne'er do wrong. —
The frauds, the lies of Lords legitimate
Are but tine pn|icy, deep strokes of state;
Hut lei some upstart dire lo soar so high
In Kingly cialt, and •' outlaw" is the cry !
What, though long years of mutual treachery
Had peopled full y<'Ur diplomatic shelves
With ghosts of treaties, niurder'd 'niong yourselves ;
Though each bv turns was knave and dupe — what
then?
A Holy League would set all straight again ;
Like Juno's virtue, which a dip or two
In some btessM fountain made as good as new l^
Most faithful Russia — fairhlul lo whoe'er
Could plunder best, and Rive him amplest share;
Who, ev'n when vatiquish'd, suie to gain his ends,
For want o( fues to rob, made free w.tli/rte7i(ij,3
And, deepening slill by amiable gradations,
When fnes were strip! of all, (hen tleee'd relations! <
Must mild and sainily Truss-a — steep'd to ih* ears
In persecuted Folands blond and tears,
And now, wiih all her harpy wings outspread
U'er sever'd Saxony's devoied head !
Fure Austria too — whose hist'ry nought repeats
But briken lengues and subsidizd defe,its;
Whose faith, as Prince, extinjuish'd Venice shows.
Whose faiih, as man, a widow'd daughter knows !
< *'L'ai*Ie volera de clocher en clocher, jusqu'aux
lours de Notre-Ilanie." — Napoleon's Proclamation
on landing fmm KIba.
3 Singulis aiinis in quodam Atlicae fonte lola virgi-
nitaleni recuperasse fingitur.
3 At the Peace of Tilsit, where he abandoned his
ally, Prussia, to Fiance, and received a portion of her
territory.
4 The seizure of Finland from his relative of
Sweden.
28 '
And thou, oh England — who, though once as shy
As cloister'd maids, of shame or perlidy,
Art now brukc i/j, and, thanks to C gh,
In all that 's worst and faUesl Icad'sl the way 1
Such was the pure divan, whose pens and wits
Th» escape trom Elba frighlei.'d iniohl^j—
Such were the saints, who doom'd Napoleon's life.
In virtuous frenzy, to ih' assassin's knife.
Disgusting crew 1 —who would not gladly fly
lo open, downright, bold-fac'd tyranny,
To honest gui.t, hai dares do all but lie.
From the lalse, juggling craft of men like these,
Their canting cnnies and varnish d villaniesj —
These Holy Leagueis, who tlien loudest boast
Of fai.h and honour, when the) He stain'd them most
From who^e atl't-clion men should shrink as loath
As from their hale, for they Mi be fleec'd by both;
Who, ev^i wliile plundrmg, foige Religion's nama
To frtnk their spoil, and, withoui fear or shame,
Call down the Holy Trinity i> to bless
Partition leagues, and deeds of devilishness!
But hold — enough — soon would this swell of rage
U'erflow the boundaries of my scanty page ;—
So, here I pause — farewell — anoiher day.
Return we to those L"rds of pray'rand prey.
Whose loaihsome cant, whose fiauds by right divine
Deserve a la:>h— oh ! weightier far than mine !
LETTER VIII.
FROM MR. BOB FUDGE TO RICHARD
, ESQ.
Dear Dick, while old Donaldson's 6 mending my
stays, —
Which I knew would go smash with me one of these
days,
And, at yesterday's dinner, when, full to the throttle,
We lads had begun our desseris with a bottle
Of neat old Conslanlia, on 7ny leaning back
Just to order another, bv Jove I went crack I —
Or, as honest Toin said,' in his nautical phrase,
'*D— n my eyes. Bob, in doubling the Cape you've
miss'd itays-"'i
So, of course, as no gentleman's seen out without
them.
They're low at the Schneider's 8 — and, while he*8
about them.
Here goes for a letter, post-haste, neck and crop.
Let us see— in my last I was— where did I stop?
Oh, I know —at the Boulevards, as moiley a road as
Man ever would wish a day's lounging upon j
With its cafes and gardens, hotels and pagoda*,
Its founts, and old Counts sipping beer in the sun;
With its houses of all archiecures you please.
From the Grecian and Gothic, Did;, down by degrees
To the puie Hotlenlot, or the Briihtnn Chinese ;
Wtiere in temples antique you may breakfast or din-
ner it,
Lunch at a nio;que, and see Punch from a mit^aret.
6 The usual preamble of the'^e flagitious compacts.
In the sime spirit, Catheiine. after tlie dreadful mas-
sacre of Warsau , ordered a solemn *' thanksgiving to
Gml in all the churches, for the blesMiigs conferred
upon the Poles;" and commanded that each of Ihem
should *'swear fidelity and lo\alIy to her, and to shed
in her defence the last drop of iheir blood, as they
should answer for it 'o G^d. and his terrible judg-
ment, kissing the holy woid and cross of their Sa-
viour !"
6 An English tailor at Paris.
f A ship is said to misS stiys, when she does not
obey the helm in lacking.
» The dandy term for a tailor.
326
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
Then. Dick, the mixture of bonnets and bowers,
Of foliase and frippery, fiacres and flowers,
Green-g;rocers, green gardens — one hardly knows
whether
'Tis country or town, they're so nncss'd up together I
And there, if one loves the roniaii'ic. one sees
Jew clotheh-men, like shepherds, reclin'd under trees;
Or Quidnuncs, on Sunday, just fre&h from the barber's,
Enjoying Iheir news and gi-oseitlt * In those aibours;
White g.iily Iheir wigs, like the tendrils, are cutting,
Aod fdunts of red currant-juice ^ round them are
purling.
Here, Dick, arm in arm as we chattering stray,
And receive a few civil " God denis" by the way,—
For, 'tia odd, these mounseers, — though we've wast-
ed our wealth
And oui sireiigih, till we've thrown ourselves into a
phlhiMC,
To cram d'nvn their tbroatB an old King for their
health.
As we whip Utile children to make them take
physic ;—
Yet, spite of our good-natur'd money and slaughter,
They hale us, as Beelzebub hates holy-waler!
But who the deuce cares, Dick, as long as ihey nou-
rish us
Neatly as now, and good cookery flourishes —
Long as, by bay'uets piotected, we, i^atiies,
May have our full fimg at their salmis and pates?
And, truly, I always declar'd 'twould be pity
To burn to tlie ground such a choice-feeding cl'y.
Had Dad but his way, he'd have long ago blown
The whole bitch to old Nick— and the people, town,
If for no other cause than iheir curst monkey louks.
Well deeerve a blow-up — but then, damn it, their
Cooks !
As to Marshals, and Statesmen, and all their whole
lineAge,
For au?ht that /care, you may knock them to spin-
age;
Rut think, nick, their Cooks— what a lo&s to man-
kind !
What a void in the world would their art leave be-
hind !
Their chroni)meter spits— their intense salamanders—
Their ovens— their pots, that can >often old ganders,
All vanish'd for ever — their niiracles o'er,
And Ihe Marmite Perpetuelle 3 bubbling no more !
Forbid it, forbid it, ye Holy Allies!
Take whatever ye fancy — take statues, take mo-
ney—
But leave them, oh leave them, their Pertgueux pies,
Their glorious goose livers, and high pickled
tunny !4
Though many, I own, are the evils they 've brought
Though Royalty 's here on her very last legs,
Yet, who can hel[i loving the land thit has taught us
Six hundred and eighty-tive ways to dress eggs?^
* '* Lemonade and eau de-grostiUe are measured
Out at every corner of every street, from fantastic
vessels, jingling with bells, to ihnsty tradesmen or
weaned nies--engers."— See Laiy Morgan's lively de-
Bcription of Ihe streets of Paris, ju her very amuaing
work upon France, book vi,
* These gay, portable f'>untqin?, from which the
grnseille water is administered, are anion? the most
characteristic ornaments of the stree's of Paris.
3 "Cette inerveilleuse Marmite Perpetuelle, sur le
feu depuis pres d'un siecle; qui a dnniie le jour a plus
deSOOOOOchapons"— vi/maji. de Gourmands, Qua-
trieme Aimee, p. 152.
* Le thon inaii'e, one of the most favourite and
indigestible hors-d'ceuvres. This tish ts taken chiefly
in the Golfe de Lynn. "La tete et le des^ous du
ventre sont le^ parlies les plus recherchees des gour-
meU.^—Couri Gastronomiqite, p 252.
You see, Dick, in spite of their cries of *' Gnd-dain,*
" Coquin Anglais,'* et caei'ra — how generous I am!
And now (to return, once again, to my *• Day,*'
Which will lake us all night to gel through in tbit
way,)
From the Iloulevards we saunter through many a
street,
Crack jokes on the natives — mine, all very neat-
Leave the Signs of the Times to pohUcal tops.
And hnd twice as much fun in the Signs of the
Shops; —
Hete, a Louis Dix-huit — (Acre, a Martinmas goose,
(Much in vogue since your eagles are gone out of
Henri Qualres in shoals, and of Gods a great many.
But Sain's are Ihe most on hard duty of any : —
St. Tony, who used all temptations to spurn,
Htre hangs o'er a beer-shop, and tempts in his turn ;
While there St. Venecia** sits hemming and frilling
her
Holy mouchoir o'er Ihe door of some milliner j —
St. Austin '> the *• oui ward and visible sign
"Of an inwaid" cheap dinner, and pint of small
While SI. Henys hangs out o'er some hatter of ton
And possessing, good bishop, no head of his own.i
Takes an int'rcbt in Dandies, who've got— next to
none !
Then we stare into shops— read the evening's af-
ficlies —
Or, if fonie, who 're Lotharios in feeding, should wish
Just to flirt with a luncheon, (a devilish bad trick,
As it takes off ihe bloom of one's appeiile, Dick,)
To (he Passage des — what d'ye call't— de* Pano-
We quicken our pace, and there heartily cram as
Seducing young pates, as ever culd cozen
One out of one's appetite, down by the dozen.
We v::ry, of course — petitspates do 07ie day.
The next we've our lunch wiih the Gauffrier Hol-
lAndais,9
That popular artist, who brings nut, like So— tt,
His delightful productions so quick, hot and hot ;
Not tt>e worse for the exquisite comment that fol-
Divine maresquinOj which — Lord, how one ewal-
Once more, then, we siunter forth after our snack, or
Subscribe a few francs for the price of a fiacre.
And drive far away to the old Montagues Russes,
Where we find a few twirls in the car of much use
To regen'ra'e the hunger and thirst of us sinners.
Who've laps'd into snacks — the perdi'ion of dinners.
And here, Dick — in answer to one of your queries,
About which we, Gourmands, have had much dis*
cussion —
I've tried all these mountains, Swiss, French, and
Rugeieri's,
And think, for digestion,^^ there 's none like the
Russian :
» The exact number mentioned by M. de la Rev-
ere-"On connoit en France 6S5 manieres differ-
rtes d'.iccommoder les ccuf-. ; sans compter cellet
le nos savans imagineni chaque jour."
6 Veronica the Saint of the Holy Handkerchief if
so, uirder Ihe name of Venisse or Venecia, the tute-
saint of milliners.
' St. Denvt walked three miles after his head was
cut off. 'I he mot of a woman (^\' wit upon this legend
is well known : — " Je le crois bien ; en pareil cas, il
n'y a que le premier pas qui coute."
8 Off the Boulevards Ttaliens.
» In the Palais R-^yal ; successor, 1 believe, to the
Flamand, so long celebrated for Ihe moelUux of bis
GaufrtB.
*o Doctor Cotterel recommends, for this purpose,
the BeaujoD or French Mountains, anc' calls them
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
327
So equal Ihe motion — so gentle, though fleet —
It, in short, Bucb a light and Balubrious bcaniper 19,
That take whimi ynu please— lake old L— s I)— xh— t,
And stull' him — ay, up to the ueck — with litew'd
laniprejs.i
So \vhole!>i)nie these Mounts, such a sdvait I Ve found
them,
That, lei me but rattle the Monarch well down tbem,
The heud. Indigestion, would Hy far away,
And ihe regicide lampreys 2 be toiled of their prey 1
Such, IJick, ate the clasbicat spurts that content us,
'I'ill five o'clock brings on that hour so nionieiilous,3
That epoch but woa I Biy lad —here comes the
Schue'der,
And, curse him, has niade the stays three inches
wider —
Too wide by an inch and a half — what a Guy !
Bui, no matter — 't will all be set ri«ht bj-and-by.
As we 've Massino^'s * eloquent carte to eat still up,
An inch and a half's but a tntlc to liU up.
Sn — not to lose time, Dick — here goes for the task ;
^u revoir^ my old boy —of the Gods 1 but ask,
That my life, like *' the Leap of the German," 6
may be,
" Du lit a la table, d'la table au lit !»
R.F.
LETTER IX.
FROM PHIL. FUDGE, ESQ. TO THE LORD
VISCOUNT C — ST-
-GII.
My Lord, th' Instructions, brought to-day,
"I shall in all my best obey."
Your Lordship talks and writes so sensibly !
And — whatsoe'er some wags may say —
Uh ! not at all incomprehensibly.
* uiie medccine aerienne, c»iuleur de rose ;" but 1 own
I prefer the autlmnly ot Mr. Bob, who seems, from
the following note found in his own hand-wriiing, to
have studied all Ihese mountains very carefully: —
Memoranda — Thfr Swiss little noricf destrvt-g,
Wliilr Ilic r^ll at Ruti);ieri'« 1^ dealli to wt^ak nerves;
Aiia(wtiiitt;'fr D'xtor Cutt'rel may write ou the question)
The luriial the Beaujoii •*; loo ttliarp for digesttoD.
I doubt whetlier Mr Bob is qulie correct in accenting
the second syllable of Kuggieri.
1 A dish so indigestible, that a late novelist, at the
end of his book, could mmgjije no more suoimary
mode of getting rid of all hts heroes and heroiues than
by a hearty supper of stewed lampreys.
» They killed Henry I. of Kngiand: — "a food
(says Hume, gravely,) which always agreed belter
with his palate (haii his constitution."
Lampreys, indeed, seem alwa\s to have been a fa-
vounie dj-h with kings — whether from some conge-
niality between them »nd tliat fish, I know not; but
Dio Cassias te.^j •}» thai PuHio Tiltened his lampreys
Witt) human blood. St. Louis of France was pariicu-
larly fond of (hem. — See the anecdote of Thomas
Aquinas eating up his majesty's iamprey, in a note
upon Rabelais^ liv. Jii. chap. 2.
3 Had Mr. Bob's Dinntr Epislle been inserted, I
wns prepared wiih an abundance of learned mailer to
illustrate it, for which, as, indeed, for all my " scien-
lia popiiiae," • I am indebted to a friend in the Dubhn
Universiiy.— whose reading forrnerly lay in the magic
line ; but, in consequence of ihe Provost's enlightened
alarm at such studies, he has taken to the authors,
*'rfe re i.iiirto" instead; and has left Bodin. hemi-
gius^Jis^i-pfa and bis little dog FiUohis, for Ayiciu^
Nonius, and that most learned and savoury Jesuit,
BtUengtrus.
< A famous Restaura'eur — now Dupont.
* An old French saying ; — *' Faire le saut de I'Al-
lemand, du lit a la table ei de la table au lit.''
* Seneca.
I feel th' inquiries in your letter
About my health and French niosi flattering
Thank ye, my French, tliough somewhat belter,
Is, oil the whole, but weak and fcmattering : —
Nothing, of course, that can compaie
W'iih Ins who luade the Congress stare
(A certain J^(jrd we need nol namej,
Who ev'n in Frenct), would have his trope,
And talk of '> balir un s}steme
" Sur I'tquilibtx de I'Europe i"
Sweet metaphor ! — and then th' Epistle,
Which bid ihe Saxon King go whistle,—
That tender letter lo " Mon Prince,'* «
Which show'd alike thy French and sense;—
Uh no, my Lord — there 's none can do
Or say un-EuglisIt things like you;
And, if the schemes that fill thy breast
Cnuld but a vent congenial seek.
And use the tongue thai suits them best,
What charming Turkish would'st thou speak »
But as for me, a Freiichless grub.
At Congress never boi n to slanimer.
Nor learn like thee, niy l-ord, to snub
Fall'n Monarchs, out of Chambaud's grammar —
Bless you, you do not, cannot know
How far a little French will go;
For all one's stock, one need but draw
On some tialf-dozen words like tlie>e —
Comme ca — j.ar-ta — la-bus ~ ah ha!
They '11 take you all through France with ease.
Your Lordship's praises of the scraps
I sent you from my Journal lately,
(Enveloping a few Inc'd caps
For Lady C), delight me greatly.
Her fiaflering speech — " What pretty things
"One finds in Mr. Fudge's i):iges I"
Is praise which (.as some poet sings)
Would pay une for the (oils of ageii.
Thus tialter'd, I presume to send
A few mo'c exiracis by a friend j
And I should (mpe thev 'H be no less
Approv'd of than my last MS. —
The former ones, I feat, were creas'd.
As Biddy round the C'ps would pin them ;
But these will come lo hand, at least
Unrunipled, fur there 's— nothing in tbem.
Extracts from Mr. Fudge's Journal^ addrested U
Lord C,
Auj?. 10.
Went to the Mad-house — saw the man,'
Who thinks, poor wretch, that, while Ihe Fiend
Of Di.cord here full riot ran.
He, like the rest, was guiHotin'd ;—
But that when, under Boney'a reign,
(A more discreet, thauEh quite as strong one)
The heads were all restor'd again,
He. in the ficrani()le. got a luroiig one,
Accmiiniily, be still cries out
T his strange he;»d fits him most unpleasantly;
And iilways runs, poor dev'l, aboui.
Inquiring for his ou u incessantly !
fi The celebrated letter to Prince Hardenburgh
(written, however. 1 believe, originally in English,)
in which bis L'T.lship. profes>ing o see "no nioial
or pnlitical objeciion"' (o ihe d snifmbenneiit of Sax-
ot^y, denouiced the unfortun;ile K'lig as "not only
the moat devoied, bu' the must fav Dured of Bonaiarle*B
T This extraordinary madman U, I believe, in the
Bicetre. He imagines, exactly as Mr. Fudi;e states
it, iliat. when the heads of those who h:id been guil-
lotined were restored, he by mistake got some other
person's instead of his own. ^'
328
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
While to his cise a lenr I dropt,
And sauiiter'd home, thought I — ye Gods !
How many heads migiil ihus be swnpp'd,
And, after all, nnl make much odds !
For instance, there's V— s— tt— t's head
(*'Tam caiiim^'^ it may vvt-Il be saidj
Jf by some curious chance it cime
Toselileon Bill Soames's'^ shoulderfi,
Th' eflect would turn out much ihe sauie
On all respectable cash-holders :
Except rhat while, in iis jieiy socket,
'i he head was planning schemes to win
A zi^-zag way into one's pocket,
The hands would plunge directly in.
Good Viscount S— dm— h, too, instead
Of his own grave, respected head,
Might wear ('or aught I see thai bars)
Old Lady VVilhetmina Frump's —
So while Ihe hand signM Circulars,
The head might lisp out " What is trumps?*
The R— g--t's brains could we transfer
To some robust n:an-riiillirier,
The shop, the shears, the lace, and ribbon
Would go, 1 doubt not, quite as glib on j
And, vice versot take the pains
To give the P— ce the shopman's brains,
One only change from thence would tiow,
Ribbons would not be wasted so.
'T was thus I ponder'd nn, my Lord ;
And, ev'n at night, when laid in bed,
I found myself, before I snnrM,
Thus cnopping, swopping head for head
At length I thought, funlastic elf!
How such a change would suit myxelf,
*TwiJtt sleep and waking, one by one,
With various pericraniums saddled
At last I tried your Lordship's nn,
And then I grew completely addled —
Forgot all other he ids, od rot 'em !
And slept, and dreamt that 1 was — Bottom,
Walk'd out with dauehler Bid — was shown
The House of Comnions and the Throne,
Whose velvet cushion's just ihe same 3
Napoleon sal on — what a shame !
Oh. can we wonder, best of speechers,
When Louis sealed thus we see,
That Fniice's *■ fundamental feaiures"
Are much the same they us'd to be ?
However,-God preserve Ihe Throne,
And cushion loo — and keep them free
From accidents, which have been known
To happen ev'n to Royalty ! *
Aug. 28.
Read, at a stall (for oft one pops
On somelhliig af these st:UIsand hhops,
'Ihat does lo quote, atid Kives one's Book
AfUssic.l atid knov%Jng look.—
Indeed I 've found, in Lalin, lately,
A course of slalls imp oves me greatly) —
was thus I read, that, in the East,
A monarch's fnt^s a serious matter;
And once in every year, at least,
e 's weieh'd —to see if he gets faltei' . *
Then, if a pound f.r two he be^
Increas'd, Ihei'e's quite a jubilee I 6
Suppose, my Lord — and far from me
To treat such things with levity —
Rut just suppose Ihe R— g_i's weight
Were made thus an ;iffair of state ;
A'ld, ev'ry sessions, at Ihe close, —
'Stead of a speech, which, alt can see, is
Heavy and dull enough, God knows —
We were lo try how heavy he is.
Much would it giad all hearts lo hear
'1 hat, while the Nation's Revenue
Loses so many pounds a year,
The P e, God biess him ! gains a few.
With bales of muslin, chintzes, spices,
1 see the F.asterns weigh their Kings;—
But, for the H-g— t, my advice is.
We should throw iu much heavier lhing«:
For instance 's quarto volumes.
Which, though not spices, serve lo urap them;
Dominie St-dd— I's Daily columns,
** Prodigious !"— in, of course, we'd clap theni-
Letiers, Ibat C— rtw fa " pen indites,
In which, with logical confusion,
The Major like a Minor writes.
And never comes lo a Conclusion: —
Lord S— m — rs' pamphlet — or his head —
(Ah, that were worth its weight in lead I)
Along with which we in may whip, sly,
The Speeches of Sir John C — x H — pp— sly ;
That Baronet of nianv words,
Who loves so, in the Hou-jc of Lords,
'Id whisper Bishop, — and so nigh
Unto their wigs id whisp'ring goesi
That you may always know him by
A pa'ch of powder on his nose ! —
If this won't do, we in must ctani
The '■ Reasons'* of Lord B— ck— gh— ni ;
(A Book his Lordship means lo w'lile.
Entillfd " Reasons f.r my Ratting :")
Or, should these prove loo smill and !igbt,
H is r p's a host — we '11 bundle that io 1
And. still should all these niasses fail
To stir the R — g — t'a ponderous scale.
Why then, my Lord, in heaven's name.
Pitch in, without reserve or stint,
The whole of R— gl — y's beauteous Dame—
If that wu'a't laise him, devil 's iu it I
J Tam cari capitis. — Horat.
1 A celebrated pickpocket.
3 The only change, if I recollect right, is the sub-
stitution of lilies for bees. This war upon the bees
19, of course, universal ; ** exitium misere apibus,"
like the angry nymphs in Virgil : — but may not ijew
9warms arise oul of Ihe victims of Legitimacy yet ?
4 I am afraid that Mr. Fudge allude? here lo a very
awkward accident, which is well known to have
happened lo poor L— s le D— s— e, some years since,
al one of the R— g-t's Feles. He was sitting neit
our gracious Queen at the lime.
Consulted Murphy's Tacitus
About tho^e famous f:pies at Rome, 8
Aug. 31.
» "The third day of the Feast the King causeth
himself lo be weighed with great cart-." — F, Bet*
nitr's ypyage to Sural, &c.
6 *' 1 remember," says Bernier, "that all the Om-
rahs expressed greit joy that ihe King weighed luo
pounds more imw than Ihe >ear preceding.'' — Ano-
ther author lells us thai '• Fatnes-, as wt-ll as a very
Urze head. Is c-.nsidered, thrnughout India, as one
of the most jirecious gilts (if heaven. An ennrnMius
skull is abs'»lutely revered, and the happy owner is
looked up to as a superior being. To a Prince a jouU
ler head is iiiv?.\uMe." — Oi'icntal Field imports.
If M^jorCariwright.
8 The name of the fust worthy who set np the
trade of informer at Rome (to whom our Olivers and
Castleses ouzht to eiect a s'atue) was Rnmanus Hispo;
— " qui formani vilae Iniil, quam postea celebreni
miseriae lempoium et audacise linmlnuni fecerunt.^'^
'lacit. ^Inital. i. 14.
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
329
Wlioin certain Whigs — to innke a fuss —
DesCDhe as much reseniblins us, »
liifornnni; E;eiitlei>it;n, ai home.
Bu't bless ihe fools, they cmiH be serious^
To say Lord S— dm— th'8 like Tiberius!
What ! tiCj the Peer, thai injures no man,
Like ihat severe, blood-tliiisl> Romat.!—
' I is true, the Tvrant lent an ear to
All sorts of spies — so dulh 'he Peer, too.
*T'fi (rue my Lord's Elect tell fibs
And dtral in per^rv — dittu I ib's.
' lis inie, the Tvrant screeiid and hid
m-i rogues from" just ice ^ — ditto Sid.
'Tis true the Peer is grave and glib
At mnralsiieeches— diWoTib. 3
'Tis true, the feats Ihe Tyiant did
Were in his doiage— ifuro Sid.
So far, I own, the parallel
»Tvvixt Tib and bid g.-es vistly well ;
Hui there are points in Tib that strike
My humble mind as much more like
Vourielf, my de.ire>t L<.rJ. or him.
Of ih' li.dia Board — thai snul of whim 1
Like him. Tiberius lov'd his joke,*
On mailers, too, where few can bear one;
E. g. a man, cut up, or bioke
Upnn the wheel — a devilish fair one !
Your common fraciuns, wouiuls, and fits,
Are nothmg In such wholesomt- witsj
But. let the sutiVer gasp for life.
'Ihe joke is then worth any money;
And, if he writhe beneath a knifc» —
Oh dear, that 's something quite too funny.
In this respect, my Lord, you see
The Roman wag and ours agree:
Now as to ymif resemblance — mum —
This parallel we need not follow ; 5
Though 'I is in Ireland, said by some
Your Lordship beats Tiberius hollo^v
Whips, chains— but these are things too serioM
F(tr me to meniiou or discuss ;
Whene'er your Lordship acts Tiberius,
Phil. Fudge's part is Tacitus!
Sept. 2.
Was thinking, had Lord S— dm— th got
And good decent sort of Plot
Again-»t the winter-time — if not,
Alas, alas, our ruin 's fated ;
All done up, and spi/licnted !
Ministers and all their vassals,
Down from C— tl gh to Castles,
Unless we can kick up a riot,
Ne'er can hope fur peace or quiet !
1 They certainly possessed the same art of insti-
gating their victitiis, which the Reporl of the Secret
Committee altribu'es lo L"rd Sidmouth's agents: —
**«ocii/s (says 'I'acitus of orie of ihem) libidinum et
necessitatum, quopUtnljus indiciis inligaret.^
^ *' Neque tanieu id Sereno nnxa» fuit, queni odium
publicum lutiatem faciehat. Nmi ut quis distric ior
^cc\i%^\or vclut sacrosanclus erat ^'' — Annal. lib. iv.
36. — Or, as it is tran-laled by Mr. Fudge's fiiend,
Murphy: — *''Ihis daring nccu-er had ihe c\irses of
the yjcop/e, and the protection oi the Emperor. In-
formers, in prop..rtion as they rose in guilt, h&cari}£
M2Cred charactersJ*^
3 Murphy even confers upon one of his speeches
the epithet **constitutional." Mr. Fudge might have
added to his parallel, that Tiberius was a good pri-
vate character: — "egrcgium vita fimaque quoad
privatiLS.'^
* " Ludihria seriis permiscere snlitus '*
6 There is one point of resemblance between Tibe-
rius and Lord C. which Mr Fudge might have men-
tioned — " $usptnsa s&mp&r et obscura v'.rba."
28»
What's to be done ? — Spa-Fields was clever;
But even that brought gibes and mockinga
Upon our lieads — sn, mem. — mu^t never
Keep .imniunition iu old stockings ;
Fnr fenr some wag should in bis curst head
Take it to say out force was worsted.
Mtm. too — when SiJ an army riist-s,
It must not be '' incog." like Jlnyes^sz
Nor must (he Gei.eia. be a hobbling
Professor of the art of cobbling j
Lest men, who perpetra'e such puns.
Should say, with Jacobinic grin,
He felt ftoin soking li'LUi7igivns,^
A ivellingtvns great soul within !
Nor must an old Apoihec^uy
Go take the Tower, for |;ick of pence.
With (\vh;it these wags would call, so merry,)
Physical force and phial-cnce !
No — no — our Plot, my Lord, must be
Next time contrivM more skilfully.
John Bull, I grieve to say, is growing
So troublesomely sharp and knowing,
So wise — in short, so Jacobin —
'T is monstrous iiaid (o take him in*
seft. e.
Heard of the fate of our Ambassador
In China, and was surely nettled :
But think, mv Lord, we should not pass it o'er
Till all this matter 's lairly settled ;
And here *s the niode occurs to me : —
As none of our Nobility,
Though for their own most gracious King
(They would ki?s hands, or — any thing),
Can be persuaded to go through
This farce-like (rick of the Ko-tou;
And as these Mandarins wjoVt bend,
Without some mummiiij; exhibition,
Suppose, my Lord, you were tu send
Grimaldi to them on a mi^si(ln ;
As Ijegatc^ Joe could play bis part,
And if. in diplonialic art.
The " volto sciolln"'i's meritorious,
Let Joe but grin, he has it, glorious !
A title for him 's easily made j
And, by the by, one Christmas time,
U I remember right, he play'd
Lord Morley in some pantomime j 8 —
As Earl of M — rl— y tlien gazeile lum,
If V other Earl of M— rl-y'll let l.im.
(And why should not the «orld be ble'.t
Wiih tvoo such stars, for East and West?)
Then when before the Yellow ticreen
He's brought — and, suie, the veiy essence
Of etiquet e would be thai scene
Of Jue in the Celestial Piesence! —
He thus should say : — " Duke Ho and Soo,
*■ I 'II plav what tricks you please for you,
•• If you '11, in turn, but do fur me
•' A few small tricks you now shall see,
**lf 1 consult yowr Emperor's liking,
" At least you 'II do the same for my King."
He then should give them nine snen grins,
As would astound ev'n Mandarins;
And throw such somerse's before
The picture of King George (God bless hira i)
As, should Duke Ho but try ihem o'er,
Would, by Confucius, much distress him !
6 Short boots, so called.
T The open counteuancCj recommended by Lord
Chesterfield.
8 Mr. Fudge is a little mistaken here. It was not
Grimaldi. but some very inferior purfnrmer, who
played this part of " Lord Mojley" in ihe pantomime,
— so much to the horror of the distinguished Earl of
that name. The expostulatoiy lefers of the Noble
Earl to Mr. H— rr-s, upon 'his vulgar pnifana'inn of
his spick-and-span new title, will, 1 trust, »ome time
or other, be given to the wnrld.
330
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
I »tart this merely as a hint,
But Ihintt you Ml hud sume wisJom in H ;
And, should you follow up the job.
My son, niy Lord (yuu know poor Bob),
Would in ihe suite be fjlad lo go
And help his Kxcellency, Joe ; —
At least, like noble Amli— rst's son,
'I'be Ud will io to practi:ie on.*-
LETTER X,
FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS
DOROTHY .
Weli, it is n't the King, after all, my dear creature !
But don'( you go laugh, now — there's nothing to
qutz in'i —
For graii'ieur of air and forgrimness of feature.
He might be a King, Doll, (hough, hang him, he
At first, I fell hurt, for I wish'd it. I own.
If for no oiher cause but in vex Miss Malone, —
(The great heiress, you know, of Shandangau, who 's
here.
Showing off with such airs, and a real Cashmere^
While mine's but a paltry, old rabbit-nkin. dear!)
Put Pa says, on deeply colisid'nnc Ihe Ihing,
*' i am just as well pleas'd it should not be ihe King;
'* As I ihink for niy Hiddy, so gentille and jo/i>,
" VVhf>se charms may their price in an honest way
fetch,
" That a Rrandenburgh" — (what is a Brandenburgh,
Dolly?) —
** Would be, after all, no such very greit catch,
"If the R— g— t indeed — "added he. lookinie: sly —
(Ynu remember that coniical squint of his eye)
But 1 stopp'd him uiih " La, Pa, how can you say so,
*» When Ihe R— g— t loves nune but old women, you
know 1"
Which is fact, mv dear Dolly — we, girls of eighteen.
And so slim — Lord, he 'd think us n<>t fit tn be seen ;
And wouM like us much heller as old — ay, as old
As ihal Countess of Desmond, of whom I've been
told
That she Iiv*d tn much more Ihm a hundred and ten,
And WIS killM by a fall f.nm a cherry-iree then !
Wha' a fri-ky old girl ! but— to come to mv lover,
What thnui^h not a King, is a hero I 'II swear,—
You shall hear all that's happen'd, just briefly run
Let me see — 't was on Saturday — yes, Dollv, yes —
From ihat evening I daie the first d;iwnof rny bliss;
When we both rattled oft" in that tfear little cariiage,
Whose journey. Bob says, is so like Love and Mai-
riage,
"Beginning gay, desperate, dashing, down-hilly,
"And ending as dull .is a six-inpide Dtllv!"3
Well, scarcely a wink did I sleep the night through ;
And, next d*y, having sctibbled my letter to you.
With a heart full of hope this --weet fellow to meet,
I set oui u fh rap.1, to see Lnuia Dix-huit
Make his how in some half-dozen women and bnys.
Who gel U() a small concert of shrill yivtle Rots —
And how vasily genteeler, my dear, even this is,
Than vulgar Pall-Mall's oraiotio of hisses :
The gardens seemM full —so, of course, we walkM
o'er 'em, i ■,
'Mong ornnge-trees, clipp'd into town-bred deccrum, I
And daphnes, and vases, and many a statue
re staling, with not ev'n a stitch on them, at yon!
The ponds, loo, we view'd — stood awhile on the
brink
To contemplate the play of those pretty gold
fi'hes —
** Live bvUion^"" says merciless Bob, " which, I think,
" Would, if coin'd, with a little mint bauce, be
delicious !" ■•
Rut vjhat^ Dolly, what, Is the giy orange ?rov«,
Or gold lishes, to her that 's in search of her love?
In vain did 1 wildly explore every chair
Where a thing Like, a man was— no lover sale there!
In vain my fond eyes did I eagerly cast
At the whiskers, mustachios, and wigs ihat went past,
To obtain, if I could, but a glance at that curl. —
A glimpse of those whiskers, as sacred, my girl.
As the lock that, Pa says,i is to Mussulmen giv'n,
for the angel to hold by that *• Itigs Iheni to heaven !"
Alas, there went by me full many a quiz,
And mustachios in plenty, but nothing like his !
Disappointed, I found myself sighing out " well-a-
day,"—
Thought of the words of T— m M— re's Irish Melody,
Something about the "green spot of delight"**
(Which, you know. Captain Mackintosh sung to us
one day):
Ah Dolly, my "spot" was that Saturday night,
And ils verdure, how fleeting, had withered by
Sunday !
We din'd at a tavern — La, what do I say ?
If Bob was to know ! — a hestaurateui^s., dear;
« See Mr. EllisN account of ihe Embassy.
2 See Latlv Morg.ufs "France" for the anecdo'e,
told her by Madame de Genlis, nf (he ynum; gentle-
man whi^e h>ve was cuied bv finding that his Mis-
tress wore a shawl " peau de lapiii."
• The cars, on the return, are dragged up slowly
by a chain.
■• Mr. Bub need not be ashamed of his cookery
jokes, when he is kept in countenance by such men
as C'Jcero, SY. j:?ug-nsri«, and that jovial bishop, Fe-
nantius Fmtunatics. 'Ihe pun of the great orator
up"n the *• jus Verrinum," which he calls bad ho^-
broth, from a play u[)0n both the wotd-', is well
known ; and the Saint's puns upnn the conversion of
Lot's wife into salt are equally ingenious :—'* In
salem conversa honiinibus fidelibus quoddani pnestitit
co?idimentuTn. quo saj)ia7it aliquid,tinde illud caves-
lur exemplum.''--/)e Civitat. Dei, lih. xvi. cap. 30.
— Thejnkesof the pious favour ile of Queen Radagun-
da. the convivid Bisiiop ycnantius, may be found
among his poems, in some lines against a cook who
had robbed him. '1 he following la similar to Cicero^
pun: —
VXaa juseella Coci quam mea j'ura valeot.
See his poems, Ccti'pics Podnr. Latin, lorn. ii. p.
1732. — Of the same kind was Montinaur\ joke,
when a di--h was =pilt over him — summum jus, sum-
ma injuria;'* and the same celebrated parasite, in
ordering a sole to be placed before him, said,—
Kligi cut dicas, tu mihi sola places.
The reader may likewise see, among a good deal of
kitcltcn erudition, the learned Lipsius s jokes on cut-
ting up a capon in his Saturnal. Sermon, lib. ii.
cap. 2.
* For this scrap of knowledge *' Pa*' wa^^ I suspect,
indebted lo a note upon VoIne\'s Ruins; a book which
usually forms part "f a Jacobin's library, and wiih
which Mr. Fudge must have been well acquainted at
the lime when he wrote hrs "Down with Kings," &c.
The note in Volney is as follows:— "li is Lv this tuft
of hair (nn the crown of the head), worn by the nn-
jority of Mussulmans, tha' the Angel of the Tomb is
to tuke the elect and carry ttiem to Paradise."
6 The yrung lady, whose memory is not very cct-
rect, must allude, 1 think, to the following lines: —
Oh that (airy form is ne'er forgot,
Whicb First Lnvetracfd;
Still rt ling'ring tiaimts the greeDczt spot
On Memory's waste !
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
331
Where yoar vroperest ladies po dine every day,
And drink Rurt^umt nut of large tumblers, like beer.
Fine Rob ifor he 's really gro\»n sujjcr-fme)
Condescended, for once, to make one of the party;
Of course, though but ihree, we had dinner for nine,
And In spite nf my grief, love, I own 1 e:it hearty.
Indeed, Doll, I know ntit how 't is, but, in grief,
1 have always found eating a wondrous relief;
And Hob, who's in hue, said be fell the sAme, quite—
" My sighs," said he, *' ceas'd with the first glass I
drank you ;
**The latnb made me (ranquil, the puff's made me
light,
"And — now that alPs o'er — why, I*m — pretty
well, thank you !"
To my great annoyance, we sat rather late ;
For Bnbhy and Fa h,td a furious debale
About singing and cookery — Bobby, of course.
Standing up for the latter Fine Art in full force ;>
And Pa siying, ** God only knows which is worst,
•' The French Singers or Cooks, but 1 wish us well
over it —
«Wtiat with old Uisand Very, I'm curst
" If my head or niy stomach will ever recover it !"
*Twas dirk, when we got to the Boulevards to stroll,
And in viin did I look 'inong the eireet Macaronis,
When, sudden it struck me — last hope of my soul —
That Bome angel might take the dear man to Tor-
toni^s !^
We cnter'd — and, scarcely had Boh, wilh an air,
For a ^appe a la jardiniere cill'd to ihe waiiers,
When, oh Doll I { saw him — my hero was there
(For I knew his white sinall-clolhes and brown lea-
ther gaiters),
A group ot tair statues from Greece smiling o'erhim,3
And lois of red currant-juice spnrkling befure him I
Oh Dolly, these heroes — wliar creatures they are ;
lu the boudoir the same as in fields full <>f slaughter!
As cool io the Reaujon's prec.pitous car.
As when safe at Tortom's, o'er ic'd currant water!
He join'd us — imaijiue, dear creature, my ecstasy —
Joiu'd by the mau I'd have broken ten necks to see!
Bob wish'd to treat him with Punch o la glace^
But the sweei fellow swore that my bcauU^ my gract^
Aud my je-ne sais-quoi (ihen his ^vhiskershe IwirI'd)
Were, 'o Aim, »'on de ti^pof all Ponch in de vorld."—
How pretty I — though oft (as, of course, it must be)
Both his French and bis English are Oieek, Doll, to me.
But, in fhort, 1 felt happy as ever fond heart did ;
Aud happier still, when 't was fix'd, ere we pined,
That, if the next day bhould hz pastoral weither.
We all would iet oif, in French buggies, together,
To see MoiUrnurency — ihat place uhich, you know.
Is so famous for cherries and Je^n Jacques Rousseau.
His card then he gave us— the name^ rather creas'd—
But ^ was Calicot— something — a Colonel, at luasi !
After which — sure theie never was hero so civil — he
Saw us safe home to our door \u Rue Riuoli^
Where hhlast words, a;*, at parimg, he threw
A soft look o»er his shoulders, were — *' How do you
do 1» *
1 Cookery hag been dignified by the researches of
a Bacoii ; (see his Natural History, Receipts, &c.)
and lakes its ^talion as one of the Fine Arts in the
following piS'a-eof Mr. Dusald Mtiwarr.-—'* Agree-
ably to thiti view of tlie subjecl, swtct may be said to
tc- m(mwifafZt/ pleasing, and Litlcr to be relatively
pleasing; while both arc, in m my cases, equally
essential to those effr-cts, which, in the art of cookery,
CO'TCpond to that composite hetwtyy whicti it Is 'he
object of the painter and of the poet to create*' —
Philosophical Essays^
'^ A fashionable ca/e glacier oa the Italian Boule*
vards.
3 "Vou eat your ice at Tortoni'e," says Mr. Scott,
** under a Grecian group."
* Nol an unusual mistake with foreigner!.
But, lord— there 's Papa for the Post— I »m so vext—
Moidmoiencij must now, love, be kept for niy next.
That dear Sunday night ! — I was charmingly drest,
And— 5y providential ! — was looking my best ;
Such a sweet muslin gown, with a flounce — aud my
frills,
You've no notion how rich— (though Pa has by the
bills)
And you'd smile had you seen, when we sat rather
Colonel Calicot eyeing the cambric, my dear.
Then the flow'rs in my bonnet— but, la, it's in vain—
So, good-by, my sweet Doll — 1 ehall soon write again.
B. F,
N(Aa bene — our love to all neighbours about —
Your Papa in particular — how is his gout ?
P.S.— I've just opened niy letter to say.
In your next you must tell me, (now do, Dolly, pray,
For I hate to ask Bob, he's so ready to quiz.)
What sort of a thing, dear, a Brandanbursh is.
LKTTER XI.
FROM PHELIM CONNOR TO .
Yes, *i was a cause, as noble and as great
As ever hero died to vindicate —
A Nation's right to speak a Nation's voice.
And own no power but of the Nation's choice !
Such was Ihe grind, the glorious cause that now
Hung trembling on Napoleon's single brow ;
Such the sublime arbitrament, that pour'd,
In patriot eyes, a ligtit around his sword,
A hallowing light, which never, since the day
Of his young victories, had illum'd its way!
Oh *t was not then the time for tame debates,
Ve men of Gaut, when chains were at your gates ;
When he. who late had fled your Chieftain's eye,
As geese from eigles on Mount Taurus fly,*
Denounc'd agaiobt the taiul, thit spum'd his chain,
Myriads of swords to bind it fast again —
Myriads of fierce invading swotds, to (rack
Through your besi blood his path of vengeance back ;
When Europe's King-*, that never yet combin'd
But (like those upper Stars, th;tt, when conjoin'd,
Shed war and pestilence,) to scourge nnnkind,
Gather'd around, wiih hos's from every shoie,
Hating Napoleon much, but Freedoni more,
And, in that coming strife, app.ili'd to see
The world yet left one chance for liberty ! —
No, 't was not then the lime to w eave a net
Of bond.ige round your Chief; to cuib and fret
Your veteran vvar-horse, pawing for the figlit.
When every hope was in his speed and might —
To Waste the hour of ac'ioti in di>pute,
And coolly plan how freedom's boughs should shoot,
When your invadei's axe was at tlie root !
No, sacred Liberty! that God, who throws
Thy light around, like his own sunshine, knows
How well I love Ihee, and how deeply hate
.^// tyrants, upstart and hegi'iniate —
Yet, in that hour were France my native land,
I would have folb.w'd, wilh quick heart and hand,
Napoleon, Nero — ay, no matter whom —
To hualch my couuiry froni ihat damning d"om,
That deadliest curse that on theconquei'd waits —
A Conqueror's satrap, throii'd within her gates !
True, he was filse — despotic — all vna please —
Had trampled down man's holiest libeities —
» See ^lian, lib. v. cap. 29,— who tells us Ihat these
geese, fioni a consciousness of I heir own loquacity,
always cross Mount Taurus with stones in (heir bills.
In prevent any urducky cackle fnmi betraying them (o
the eagles — diarrtrovrat (Titjjiruivrec.
332
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
Had, by a g;enius, formed for nobler things
I'hau lie within the grasp of vulgar Kings,
Hut rais'd the hopes of men — as eaglets Ay
Wiih tortoises alolt into the sky —
'Jo dash them Jnwn as-iin more shatteringly !
AiMhislowu — hut btilM * *
LETTER XIK
FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE TO MISS DORO-
THY .
At la?t, Dolly,— thanks to a potent emetic.
Which Bobby and Pa, with grimace symi^athetic,
Have swallowM tliis morning, tu balance ihe bliss.
Of an eel inatdote and a bisque d'ecrevisses —
I 've a morning at home to myself, and sit down
To describe you our heavenly ttip out of toun.
Hovv agog you must be for this leller, my dear!
Lady J.ine, in the novel, less languisli'd to hear
If that eleg.uit cnrnet she met at Lord Neville's
Was actually dying with love or— blue devils.
But Love, Dully, Luve is Ihe iheme / [lursue;
With Blue Devilc, ihank heav'ii, 1 have noihingtodo—
Except, indeed, dear Colonel Calicot apies
Any imps of that colour in certain blue eyes,
Which tie stures at till /, Doll, at his do Ihe samej
Then he simpers— 1 blush — and would ofien exclaim,
If 1 knew but the French for it, "Lord, Sir, for
ehame 1"
Wei!, the morning was lovely— Ihe trees m full dress
For the happy occasion— the sunshine express-
Had we order'd it, dear, of the best poet going,
II scaice could befurmsh'd more golden and glowing.
Though lale when we started, Ihe sceni of the air
Was like Gattie's rose-water, — and, bnght, here and
there,
On the grass an odd dew-drop was glittering yet,
Like my aunl's diamond pin on her greeu tabbinet !
While the birds seein'd to warble as blest on the
boughs,
As if each a plun.^d Caticot had for her spouse;
And the grapes were all blushing and kissing in
rows,
And — in short, need I tell you, wherever one goes
With the creature one loves, 'I is all couleur de rose;
And, ah, [ shall ne'er, liv'd I ever so long, see
A day such as ihat at divine Ali)ntmorency I
There was but one Drawback— at first when we
started.
The Coliiiiel and I were inhumanly parted ;
How cruel — young hearts of such moments to rob I
He went in I'a's buggy, and I went with Bob;
And, 1 own, I felt 6|)i'efully happy to know
That P.ipa and his comrade agreed but so-so.
For the Colonel, it seems, is a stickler of Honey's —
Served with him of course— nay, l*m sure they were
cronies.
So martial Ins features I de.ir Doll, you can trace
Ulin, Austerlilz, Lodi, as plain in his face
As you do on thai pillar of glory and brass,**
Which the poor Due de B— n must hale so to pass!
It appears, too, he made — as most foieigners do —
About English all'airs an odd blunder ur iwo.
1 Somebody (Fontenelle. I believe,) has said, that if
he had his hand full of truths, he would open but one
finger at a time ; and the same s^Tt of reserve I find
to be nece'-SAry wjih respect to Mr. Connor's very
plain-spoken letters. The remainder of ihis Epistle
IS so full of unsafe nialter-of-fact. that it must, for the
present at least, he withheld from the public.
• The column in the Place Vendonie.
For example — misled by the names, I dare Bay~>
He confounded Jack Castles with Lord C gh ;
And — sure such a blunder no niorlal hit ever on —
Fancied the jjrcscnt Lord C— md — u the clevaroutl
But politics ne'er were the sweet fellow's trade;
' r was for w.'tr and Ihe ladies my Colonel was made.
And, oh, had you tieard, as togeilier we walk'd
'J'hru' that beautiful forest, how sweetly he lalk'd;
And how perfectly well he appear'd, Doll, to know
All the life and adventures of Jean Jacques Rous-
*''Tw.is there," said he — not that his words I cao
sate —
'T was a gibb'rish that Cupid alone could translate; —
But *Mliere," said he, (pointing where, small and
remote.
The dear Hermitage rose,) *' there his Julie be
wrote,—
" Upon paper gill-edg'd,3 without blot or erasure;
**Then sanded it over with silver and azure,
"And — i.h, what will geiiins and fancy not do? —
*'Tied the leaves up loge her \\ tlh iiompareilU blue!"
What a trait of Kousseau ! what a crood of emotions
From sand and blue ribbons are conjur'd up here!
Alas, that a man of such exquisite * notions
Should send his poor bruits to Ihe Fouudliug, my
dearl
*"T was here, too, perhaps," Colonel Calicot said —
As down the innll garden he pensively led —
(Though onoe I could see his sublime forehead wrinkle
Wiih lage not to hud Ihere the lov'd periwinkle)*
" 'T was here he receiv'd from the fair D'Epiuay
" (Who cali'd him so sweetly her Bear,^ every day,)
"That dear flannel petticoat, puti'd oil" to form
** A waistcoat, to keep the enthusiast warm !'* ^
Such, Doll, were the sweet recollections we ponder'd,
As, full of romance, through that valley ue wauder'd.
The flannel (one's train of ideas, how odd it is!)
Led us to talk about oher comnuidilies,
Cambric, and silk, and — I ne'er shall forget.
For the sun was then hast'ning in pomp to its set.
And full on the Colonel's dark wliiskers shone down,
VVhen he ask'd me, with eagerness, — who made my
gown ?
The question confus'd me— for, Doll, you must know.
And 1 ought to have told my best fnend long ago,
That, by Fa's strict command, 1 no longer employ 8
That enchanting couturiere^ Sladame le Hoi ;
» "Employant pour cela le plus beau papier dore,
sechant I'ecnlure avec de la poudre d'azuret d'argent,
et cousant nies cahiers avec de la nompareille bleue."
—Les Confessions^ p^rt li. liv. 9.
4 This word, * exquisite," is evidently a favourite
of Miss Fudge's ; and 1 understand she was not a little
angry when her brother Bob cmmitled a pun on the
last two syllables of it in the following couplet ; —
" I '(J fain praise your Poem — but tell me, how is it
When i cry out " Kxyuisite," Echo i-ri.a •• quis it 7"
* The flower which Rousseau brought into such
fashion among the F'irisians, by exclaiming one day,
"Ah, vnila de l.i peivenchel"
6 " Afon ourj, voila votie asyte — et vous, mon
ours^ ne viendrez vous pas aussi ?'^ — &c. &c.
1 "Un jour, qu'il geloit ires fortj en ouvrant un
paquet qu'elle m'envoyoit, je trouvai un petit jupon
de flinelle d'Angleiefre, quelle me marqunjt avoir
porle, et dont elle vouloit que je me fisse faire un
gilet. Ce sniii, plus qu'anucal, me paiut si lendre,
comma si elle se fut depouillee pour me vetir, que,
dans nion emotion, je baisai vingt fois en pleurant le
billet el le jupon."
8 Miss Biddy's notions of French pronunciation
may be perceived in the rhymes which she always
selects for"ie ^oi."
THE FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS.
333
But \m forcM now to have Victorioe, who — deuce
take her I —
It seems is, at present, the King's mantua-maker —
I nieao of his parly — and, lhoug;h much the smarlest,
Le Roi is condemned ^s a rank Bonapartist.i
Think, Dull, how confounded 1 look'd — so well
knowing
The Colonel's opinione— my cheeks were quite glow-
ing;
I stammerM out Bomething — nay, even half nam'd
The ieg-tdma/c sempstress, when, loud, he exclaim'd,
** Yes, yes, by Uie stitching 't is plain to be seen
" it was made by that liourbonile b h, Victorine!"
What a word for a hero ! — but hemes will err.
And 1 thought, dear, IM tell you things ju«I as they
Resides, though Ihe word on good manners intrench,
1 assure you 'I is not hatf so shocking in French.
But this cloud, ihoueh embarrassing, soon pass'd away,
And the bti» altogether, the dreams uf (hat day.
The thoughts that arise, when such dear fellows v?oo
The nothings that then, love, are everything to us —
Thai quick correspondence of glances and aighs.
And what Bob calls the ** Twopenny-post of the
Kyes"-
Ah, Doll ! though I kiiow you 've a heart, *t is in vain
To a heart st* unpraciisM these things tn explain.
They can only be felt, in their fulness divine,
By her who has waudei'd, at evening's decline,
Through a valley like that, with a Colonel like mine !
Bnt here I must finish — for Bob. my dear Dolly,
Whom physic, I find, always makes melancholy.
Is seiz'd with a fancy for church yard rertectious;
And, full of all yesterday's rich recoltt-ctions,
Is just selling oft' for Montmartre — '* for there, is,"
Said he, looking solemn, ** the tomb of the Verjs 1 a
** Long, long have I wish'd, as a votary true,
" O'er the grave of such tilents to utter my moans ;
" And, to-day — as my stomach is not in good cue
" For tUeJiesh of the Verys — 1 '11 visit their i/onej.'"
He insists upon my going with him — how teasing 1
This letter, however, dear Dolly, shall lie
Unseal'd in my draw'r, that, if any thing pleating
Occurs while Pni out, I may tell you — good-bye.
fi. r.
Four oVlock.
Oh, Dnlly. dear DnJly, I'm ruin'd forever —
1 ne'er shall be happy again, Dolly, never !
1 Le Roi, who was the Coiduriere of the Empress
Maria Lnuisa, is at present, of course, out of faiihinn,
and is succeeded in her station by the Royalist man-
tua-maker, Victorine.
^ It is the brother of the present excellent Restau-
rateur who ties entombed so magnificently in Ihe
Cimetiere Montmarire. 'Ihe inscription on the co-
lumn at the head of the tomb concludes with Ihe fol-
lowing words: — "Toutesa vie fut cousacree aux arts
utiUi*^
To think nf the wretch — what a victim wat 1 1
'Tis loo much to endure— 1 sh<ll die, I shall die —
My brain 's in a fever — my pulses beat quick —
I shall die, or, at least, be exceedingly sick!
Oh, what do you think ? ^fier all my romancing,
My visions ot glory, my sighing, niy glancing,
This Colonel — 1 scarce can commii it to paper —
This Cnlonel's no moie th.n a vile linen-draper!!
H' is true as I live — I had coax'd brother Bob so,
(You '11 hardly make out what I 'm writing, I sob so,)
For snnie little gift on my birth-day— September
The thirtieth, dear, 1 'm eighteen, \ou remember —
That Bi)b to a shop kindlv ordei'd the coach,
(Ah, little 1 thought wh'n Ihe shopman would prove,)
To be^p^fak me a tew of those jnoiichoirs de poche^
Which, in happier hours, I have sigh'd for, my
(The most beautiful things — two Napoleons the
price —
And one 's name in the corner embroidered so nice !>
Well, with heart full of pleasure, I enter'd the shop,
But — ye Gods, wli.il a phantom I — 1 thuught 1 should
drop —
There he stood, my dear Dolly — no room for a
doubt —
There, behind the vile counter, these eyes saw him
stand,
With a piece of French cambric before him rollM out.
And that horrid yard-measure upiais'd in htshand!
Oh — Fapa, all alone, knew the secret, 'tis clear —
*T was o shopman he meant by a '* Brandeuburgh,"
dear I
The man, whom I fondly had fancied a King,
And, when that too delightful illusion was past,
As a hero had worshipp'd— vile, treacherous thing—
To turn out but a low linen-draper at last !
My head suam amund— the wretch smil'd, 1 believe.
But his smiling, alas, could no longer deceive —
I fell back on Bob — my whole heart seemed to
wither —
And, pale as a ghost, I was carried back hither !
I only remember that Bob, as I caugni him,
W'ilh cruel facetiousness said, *' Curse the Kiddy !
"A staunch Revolutionist always I 've Ihought him,
*' But now 1 find out he's a Counter onCy Biddy!"
Only think, my dear creature, if this should be
known
To that saucy, satirical thing, Miss Malone !
What a s'ory 't will be at Shandaigan fnr ever!
What laughs and what quizzing she'll have with
the men !
It will spread through the country — and never, oh
Can Biddy be seen at Kilrandy again !
Farewell — I shall do something desp'rate, I fear —
And, ah I if my fate ever reaches ynur ear.
One (ear of compassion my Doll will not grudge
To her poor — - broken-hearted — young friend,
BIDDY FUDGE,
Nota fccnc — I am sure you will hear, with delight.
That we 're going, all three, to see Brunet to>night.
A laugh will revive me — and kind Mr. Cox
(Do you know him ?) has got us Ihe Governor?a box.
334
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
Tu Regibus alao
ErlpB.
Virgil, Oeorg. lib. It.
——Clip the win^B
or theae hlgh-flyiDti, arbitrbry Kmtjs.
Dryiieo'B TraailatioTU
DEDICATION.
TO LORD BYRON.
Dear Lord Byron,— Though this Volume should
poBstss DO other merit in your eyes, than that of re-
nniidiiig you of the short time we passed together at
Venice, whcD some of the trifles which it contaiiifl
were written, you will. ! am sure, receive the dedi-
cation of it with pleasure, and believe that 1 am,
My dear Lord,
Ever faithfully yours,
T. B.
PREFACE.
Though it was the wish of the Members of the
Poco-cuiante Sticieiy (who have lately done me the
honour of electing me their Secretary) that 1 should
prehx my name to tlie following Miacellany, il is but
fair to them and to Diyself to stale, that, except in the
•'painful pre-eminence" of being employed li tran-
scribe their lucubrations, my claim to such a distinc-
tion in the title-page is not greater than thai of any
other genileman, who ha^ cuniribuled his share to the
conlenis of the volume.
I hid originally intended to take this opportunity of
givitig some accunt of the origin and objects of our
TnsIiIutiOii, the names and cliaraclers of the different
member-, &c. &c.~but, as 1 am ;it present preparing
f(ir the press the First Volume of the "'Iransaclions
of the Focn-curante Society," I shall reservefDrth.it
occasion all further de'ails upon the subject; and
content myself here with referring, for a general
insight into itur tenets, to a Song which will be found
at the end of this work, and which is sung to us nn
the first day of every mon !i, by one of our oldest
members, to the tune of (as far as 1 can recollect,
being no musician,) either *' Nancy Dawson" or '•He
stole away the Bacon."
Jt m .y be as well aho to state, for the information
of th"se cniics, who attack with the hope of being
answered, and of being, thereby, brought into notice,
that it is the rule of this Society to return no other
answer to ^uch assailants, than is contained in the
three words " N<>n curat Hippoclides," (meaning, in
English, " Hippnclides does not care a fig,"j which
were spoken two thousand years ago by the first
founder of Poco-curanlism, and have ever since been
adopted as the leading dicluvi of the s.cct.
THOMAS BROWN.
FABLE I.
THE DISSOLUTION OF THE HOLY ALLI-
ANCE.
A DREAM.
I 'vc had a dream that bodes do good
Unto the Holy Bro herhood.
may be wrong, but I cc nfess-
As far as it is right or lawful
'or one, no conjurer, to guess —
it seems to me extremely
fuK
Melhought, upon the Neva's flood
A beautiful Ice Palace stood,
A dome of frosi-work. on the plan
Of that once built by Empress Anne,»
Which shone by motmlighl — as the talc is —
Like an Aurora Borealis.
In this said Palace, furnish'd all
And lighted as ihe best on land are,
I dreamt there was a splendid Ball,
Giv'n by the Emperor Alexander,
To enteriain with all due zeal,
Those holy gentlemen, who've shown a
Regard so kind for Europe's weal,
At I'roppau, Laybacb, and Verona.
The thought was hippy— and design'd
To hint how thus the human Mind
May, like the stream imprtson'd there,
Be check'd and chill'd, till it can bear
The heaviest Kings, that ode or sonnet
E'er yet be-prais'd, to dance upon it.
And all were pleas'd, and cold, and stately.
Shivering in grand ilhiminalion —
Admii'd the superstiucture greatly,
Nor gave one thought to the foundation.
Much tno the Czar himself exulted,
To nil plebeian fears a str;)nger,
For, Madame Krudeoer, when ciKisnlted,
Had pledg'd her word there was no danger.
iSo, on he caper'd, fearless quite,
Thinking himself extremely clever.
And waMz'd away with all his might,
As if the Frost would last for ever.
Just fancy how a bard like me,
Who reverence monarchs, must have tiembled
To see that goodly company,
At such a ticklish sport assembled.
Nor were the fears, that thus astounded
My loyal soul, at all unfounded —
For, lo! ere long, tho'^e walls so mas<iy
Were seiz'd with an ill-nmen'd dripping,
And o'er the floors, now growing glassy,
Their Holinesses took lo slipping.
The Czar, half through a Polonaise,
Could scarce get on for downright stumfc.^Dg*
And Prussia, though to slippery ways
Well us'd, was cursedly near lumblin^
Yet still 't was, who could stamp the floor most
Russia and Austria 'mom; the foremost—
» " It is well known that the Empress Anne boUt
» palace of ice on (he Neva, in 1740, which w»s
fifty-two feet in length, and when illommated had &
surprising effect."— Pinkerton-
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
335
And now, tn an Italian nir,
This (irecious brace would, liand in hand, go j
Now — while old Louis, from his chair,
Intreated them hia tnes to spare —
CalJ'J loudly out for a Fandango.
And a Fandango, 'faith, they had,
At which they all set to, like mad !
Never were Kings (thou?:h small th' expense is
Of wit amnnp tlieir Excejlenciesj
So out of all their princely 5eii9es.
Bur, ah, that dance — that Spanish dance
Scarce was ihe luckless strain hegun,
When, gl.irmi; red, as 't were a glauce
Shot from an angry Smiihern sun,
A light ihrnugh all the chambeis flam'd,
Asionishing nid Father Frost,
Who, hurst intj into tears, exclaini'd,
" A thaw, by Jove - we 're lo>t, we 're lost I
" Run. France — a st-cnnd lVater]oo
**ls come to drown you — sauve qui pent I^
Why, why will monarchs caper so
In palaces wirhnul funndatiiins? —
Instantly all wan in a How,
Crowns, fiddles, sceptres, decorations —
Tho»e Ro\aI Arms, 'hat loob'd so nice,
Cut out in the resplendent ice —
Those Eagles.Jiandsomt-Iy provided
With d'uble heads for double dealings—-
How fast the globes and sceptres glided
Out of their claws on all the ceilings !
Proud Prussia's double bird of prey
Tame as a spa'ch Cf>ck. slunk away ;
While— ju8l like France herself, when she
Proclaims Imw great her nav.l !kill is —
Poor Louis' drowning deurs-de-Iys
Iniagin'd themselves wafer-lilies.
And not alone rooms, ceilings, shelves,
But — still more fatal execution —
The Great Le^itim:«tes lhem<<elves
Seern'd in a sta'e nf di>Sf'lu'ion.
Th* indignant Czar— when just ab mt
To i>3ue a sublime Ukase,
** Whereas all light must be kept out"—
Dissolv'd to nothing in its blaze.
Next Prussia look his turn (o melt,
And. white his lips illustrious felt
The influence of this southern air,
Some word, like " Constitutioii" — Jonj
CongeaPd in frosty silence there —
Came slowly thawing from his tongue.
While Louis, lapsing by degrees,
And S'ghing out a faint adieu
To trutfies, salmis, toasted cheese
And hmoking fundus, quickly grew.
Himself, into a fondu too ; —
Or like that goodly King they make
Of >ugar for a Twelfth-night cake,
When, in some urchin's mouth, alas,
It melts into a shapeless mass 1
In short, 1 scarce could count a minute,
Kte the bright dome, and all within it,
Kings. Fiddlers, Emperors, all were gone
And notfiing now was seen or heard
But Ihe bright river, rushing on,
Happy as an enfianchi>'d bird.
And prouder of that natural ray,
Shining along its chainlets way —
More proudly happv thus lo gfide
In simple grandeur to Ihe sea,
Than when, in sparkling tetters tied,
»T was deck'd wiih all that kingly pride
Could bring to light its suvery!
I awfulD
- and, I confess.
That Spanish Dance — that southetn beam
But I say nothing — there 's my dream —
And Madame Krudener, the bhe-prnpb«t,
May make just what »he pleases of iU
FABLE II.
THE LnOKING-GLASSES.
PROEM.
Where Kings have been by mob-elections
Hais'd lo Ihe throne, 't is strange to see
Wlut dilVereiit aiitl what odd perfections
Men have requn'd in Koy.lty.
Some, liking monarchs laige and pliimpy,
Have cho»'n their Sovereigiib by the weight;—
Some wish'd them till, snnie ttiought your dumpT*
Dutch-built. Ihe true Legitimate.!
The Easterns in a I'nnce, 'I is said.
Prefer what 's cali'd a jolter-head : ^
Th' Esyptiaiia wer'n't at all partic lar.
So that Iheir Kings had iiot red hair —
Thii fault not ev'n the greatest stickler
For the blnod-royal well could bear.
A thousand more si>ch illustraiioio
Might be :idduc"d from various nations,
Bu', 'mong the many tales ihey tell us,
Touching th' acqiiir'd or natural right
Which some men have lo rule their fellows,
There 'a one which 1 shall here recite j —
FABLE,
There was a land — to name the place
Is neither now my wi?*h nor duty —
Where reign'd a certain Roval race.
By right of their superior beauty.
What was the cut legitimate
t)f these great persons' chins and noses,
By right ot which Ihey rul'd the slate,
No history 1 have seen discloses.
But so it was — a settled case —
Some Acl of Parliament, pass'd snugly,
Had voted them a beauteous race.
And all their faithful suhjects ugly.
As rank, indeed, sfo^^d high nr low,
Some change it made in visual organs;
Your Peers were decern — Knights, so so —
But alt your common people, gorgona !
Of course, if any knave but hinted
That the King's n"se was luin'd awry
Or that the Queen (God bless her !) squinted —
The judges doom'd that knave to die.
But rarely things like this occurr'd.
The penple 'o Iheir King were duteons,
And touk it, on his Rf-yal word.
That they were frights, and He was beauteous.
The cause whereof, among all classes.
Was simply this — these island elves
Had never yel seen looking-glasses,
And, therefore, did not hjiow themsdvea.
« The Goths hr>d a law to choose always a ahnrt, I
thick man for their King. — Mmvjj/ct-, Cvsmog. lib, '
iii. p. 164. I
2 "In a Prince a joltcr-head is infaluable." — Ori*
ental Field SporU.
336
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
Sometimes, indeed, Iheir neighbours' faces
Might iirike Iheni as more lull of rtasou,
Alore fresh ihan ihose in certain placea--
Eu'. Lord, the yery thought was treasoo I
Besides, howe'er we love our neighbour
And take his face's part, 't is known
We neVr so much in earnest labour,
As when the face attacked 's our own.
So, on they went — the crowd believing —
(As crowds well govern'd always do)
Their rulers, too, Iheinselves deceiving —
tio old the joke, they thought 'I was Hue,
But jokes, we know, if they too far go,
Must have an end — and so, one day,
Upon ihat coast there was a cargo
Ot looking-glasses cast away.
*T was said, some Radicals, somewhere,
Had laid their ivicked heads together,
And forc'd Itiat ship to founder there, —
While some beheve ct was the weatiier.
However Ihis might be, the freight
Was landed williout fees or duties ;
And froni (hat hour historians date
The downfall of the Race of Beauties.
The lookin^-gla
And grew so
Without a
sses got about,
common through the land,
nker could walk out,
rror In his hand.
Comparing faces, morning, roon.
And nighi, their constant occupalioa
By dint of looking glasses, soon,
They grew a most retlecting nation.
In vain the Court, aware of errors
In alt the old, esiablish'd mazards,
Prohibited the use of mirrors,
And tried to break them at all hazards: —
In vain — their laws might just as well
Have been wasie paper on the shelves;
That fatal freight had bmke the spell ;
People had look'd — and knew themselves.
If chance a Duke, of bifth sublime,
FresuniM upon his ancient tace,
(Some calf-head, ugly from all time,)
They popp'd a niirror to his Grace : —
Just hinting, by that gentle sign,
How iitiie Nature holds it true,
That what is call'd an ancient line,
Must be the line of Beauty loo.
From Dukes' they pass'd to reeal phizzes,
Compar'd them proudly with their own,
And cried, '* How could such monsirous quizzes
*' In Beauty's name usurp the throne I" —
They then wrote essays, pamphlets, books,
Upon Cosiiietical (Economy,
Which made the King try various looks,
But none improv'd UU physiognomy.
And f^alires at the Court were levell'd,
And small lampoon?, so full of ••lynesses,
That soon, m short, thi-y qurte bf-devil'd
'Iheir Majesties and Royal Highnesses.
At lengih — but here I drop (he veil.
To "Spare some loyal folks* sensations; —
Besides, uhat followM is the tale
Of all such late-enlightenM nations;
Of all to whom old Tine discloses
A truth they should have sooner known ^
That Kings have neither rights nor noses
A whit diviner than their own.
FABLE in.
THE TORCH OF LIBERTY.
I saw it all in Fancy's glass —
IIer>elf, the fair, the wild marician.
Who bid this splendid day-dream pass,
And nam'd each gliding apparition.
*T was like a torch-race— such as they
Of Greece perforni'd, in ages gone,
When the tleet youths, in hmg array,
Pass'd the bright torch triumphant on.
I saw th' expectant nations stand,
To catch the coming flame in turn; —
I saw, from ready hand to hand,
The clear, though slruggliog, glory burs^
And, oh, their jov, as it came near,
»T was, in ilsetf, a joy to see ; —
While Fancy whispcr'd in my ear,
" That torch they pass is Liberty !^
And, each, as she receiv'd the flame.
Lighted her altar wiih its ray ;
Then, smiling, to the next who came,
Speeded it on its sparkling way.
From Albion first, whose ancient shrine
W.1S furnish'd with the fire already,
Columbia caught the boon divine.
And lit a flame, like Albion's, steady.
The splendid gift then Gallia took.
And, like a wild Baccl.anle, raising
The brand aloft, its sparkles shook.
As iUe would set the world a-blazing!
Thus k-ndlinsr wild, so fierce and high
Her altar blaz'd inm the air,
That Albion, to ihat fire loo nigh,
Shrunk back, and shudder'd at its glare !
Next, Spain, so new was light to her,
Leap'd at the torch — but. ere the spark
That fell upon her shrine could stir,
'T was quench'd — and all again was dark.
Yet, no — Tin? quench'd — a treasure, worth
So much to mortals, rirely dies:
Again her living light look'd foith,
And shone, a beacon, in all eyes.
Who next receiv'd the flame ? alas.
Unworthy Naples — shame of shames,
That ever through such hands sliould pass
ihat brightest of all earthly flames 1
Scarce had her fingers touch'd the torch,
When, frighted by the sparks it shed,
Nfr waiting ev'n to feel the scorch.
She dropp'd it to the earth —and fled.
And fall'n it might have long remain'd ;
But Greece, who saw her moment now,
Caught up the prize, though prostrate, staii.y.
And wav'd it round her beauteous brow.
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
337
And Fancy l)ade me mark where, o*er
Her alar, as its fl.*iiie asrended,
Fair, laurellM spiriis seemed to scar,
Who thus in sotig their voices blended : —
•* Shine, shine for ever, glorious Flame,
" Divitiest gift of Gods lo men !
*' FroHi Gieece thy earliest splendour came,
*' 'lo Gieece thy ray returns again.
*' Take, Freedom, take thy radiant round,
•' When dinim'd, revive, when Inst, letum,
"Till not a shrine through eirth be found,
*' On v/bich thy glories shall not burn !"
FABLE IV.
THE FLY AND THE BtTLLOCK.
Of at! that, to the safe's survey,
This woild presen's of ?opsy-lurvy,
Theie'a neught so much disurbs one's patience.
As liirle minds in lotly stili -ns.
n'is like that sort of painful wonder,
Which slender cnlumns, labnuring under
Knonnous arches, give beholders j —
Or those pot)r Car\atides,
Condemii'd lo smile and stand at ease,
With a whole house upon their shoulders.
If, as in some few royal cases,
Small minds are bot'ti into such places
If they are there, by Rnjht Divine,
Or any such S'ifficietit reason.
Why— Ht-av'n fnrbid we >hould repine!
'Jo wish it othtr^^ise were treasuDj
N^y, ev\i to see il in a visifiO,
Would be what lawyers call misprision.
Sir Robert Fitmer sai'h — and he,
Of course, knew all a!)Out ttie matter —
" Bnih men and beas's love Monarchy ;"
Which proves hnw rational — (he tatttr,
Sidney, we know, or wrong or right,
Entirely ditferM from the Knight :
Nay, hiiis a King may lose his head,
Bv slipping awkwardly his bridle: —
But (his A treasonous, ill bred,
And (now-a-d lys, when King, are led
lu paeut snakes, downright idle.
No. no— it i=n'l right-line Kings.
(Those sovereign lords in leading-strings
Who, fn.m iheir birih, are Faith-Defenders.)
That move my wraih — 't is your pretenders
Your mushroom rulers, sons of eanh,
Who— not, like t'others, bores hy birth,
Kstablish'd pratia Dei blockheads,
Born with three kingdnms In (heir pockets —
Vel, with a brass that nothing slops.
Push up info the loftiest stations.
And, though too dull to manage shops,
Presume, the dolts, to manage nations 1
This class it is that moves my gall,
And stiis up bile, and spleen, and all.
While iither senseless things appear
To know the limits of their si.here —
While not a cdvv on earlh romances
So much as to conceit she dances —
While the most jumping frog we know of,
Would scarce at Asiley's hope to show nil —
Tour * * * 8, ynur * ■♦ * s d ire,
Untraiii»d as are iheir minds, to set them
To any burliness, any whce.
At any time (hat fools will let them.
But leave we here these upstart things —
My business is, just now, with Kings;
To whom, and lo their right-line glory,
i dedicaie the following story.
The wise men of Egypt were secret as dummies ;
And, ev'n when they most cundeacended lo (each,
They pack'd up their meaning, as they did their
In 80 many wrappers, 'twas out of one's reach.
They were also, good people, much given to Kings-
Fond of craft and of crocodiles, monkeys and mys-
tery j
But blue-bottle flies were their best belov'd things —
As will partly appear in this very short history.
A Scythian philosojiher (nephew, they say.
To that other great traveller, young Anacharsis,)
Step! into a temple at Memphis one day.
To have a short peep at their mystical farces.
He saw « a brisk blue-lmttle Fly on an altar,
Made much of, and worshipp'd, as sonieiliing divine;
While a large, handsome Bullock, led there ia a
halter.
Before it lay slabb'd at the foot of the shrine.
Surprised at such doings, he whisper'd his teacher —
'* if 'i isn't imi eriinent, may I ask why
"Should a Bullock, that useful and powerful creature,
" Be thus ofl'er'd up to a blue-boltle Fly ?'*
»No
nder'
-said t'other—'' you stare at the sight,
** But we as a Symbol of Monarchy view it —
Tliai Fly on the shrine is Legitimate Right,
*^And that Bullock, the People, that's sacrificed
to it."
FABLE V,
CHURCH AND STATE.
PROEM.
•The moment any religion becomes national, or estab-
lished, its purity must rertainly be lost, bfcnuse it is
then imp<)H!4ib1c lo keep it uni-iinnecled wiih men's in*
ptents; and, if cunneded, it must inevitably l>« per-
verted by Ihem." — S»i
Thus did Sname Jenyns — though a Tory,
A Lord of Trade and the Plantations ;
Feel how Religion's simple glory
Is stainM by S'ate associations.
When Catherine, ere she crushM th« Poles
AppealM to the benign Divinity ;
Then cut Ihem up in protocols.
Made fractions of their very sonls "^ —
All in the name of the bless'd Trinity;
Or when her grandson, Alexander,
That mighty NrTthern salamauder,^
Whose icy touch, felt all about.
Puts every fire of Freedom out —
When he, too. winds up his Ukases
With God and the Panngia*s praises —
29
t According to iElian, it was in the island of Leu-
cadia they pructised this '.'eremony— -^VEiv }iovv ratj
fiviaiS'—Oe A}iimaL lib. li. cap. 8.
* Ames^ detni-ames^ &c.
3 The salamander is supposed to have the pow«r of
eitingui!>hiiig hie by its nituial coldness and moisture.
w
338
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
When he, of royal Saints tlie type,
In holy water dips the spunge,
With which, al one imperial wipe,
He would .^11 hiJiiiaii rights expunge;
When Li.uis (whom as King, and eater.
Some name Liix-huit, and some Des-huitres,)
Calls down ** St. Louis' God,'* lo witiie&s
The right, humanity, and ftlncsa
Of sending eighty iJiuu&and Uulcns,
Sages, with muskels and lac'U coats,
To cram instruc ion, nolens volens,
Down the poor struggling Spaniards' throats —
I can't help <hinking, (though to Kings
I n-ust, of course, like other men, bow,)
That when a Christian monarch brings
Religion's name to gloss these things —
Such blasphemy oul-Genbows benbow!>
Or — uut so far for facts to roam.
Having a few much nearer honie —
V/hen we see Churchmen, who, jf ask'd,
*■*■ Must Ireland's slaves be tilh'd, and task'd,
*■ And driv'n, like Negroes or Croats,
**That you may roll in wealth and bliss?**
Look from beneath their shovel hats
VViih all due pomp, and answer "Yes!"
But then, if quesiion'd, *' Shall the brand
"Intolerance flings throughout that laud,—
*- Shall the herce strife now laught to grow
** Betwixt her palaces and hovels,
" Be ever quench'd ?" — fmiu the same ahoveli
Look grandly forth, and answer " No," —
Alas, alas ! have these a cl.>im
To merciful Religion's name ?
If more you ^eek, go see a bevy
Of bowing paroi.s at a levee —
(Choosing your time, when straw's before
Some apoplectic bishop's door,)
Then, if th<iu canst, wiih life, tscape
That rush of lawn, that press of ciape,
Just watch their rev'reiices and graces,
As on each smirking suitor f.isks.
And say, if thi'se round shining fa':eB
To beav'n or earth most turn their disks?
This, this it is — Religion, made,
'Tvvixl Church and State, a truck, a trade
This most ill-match'd, unholy t'o,^
From whence ihe ills we wimess flow ;
The war of many creeds with one —
Th* extremes of too much fsith, and none— •
Till, betwixt anci< ni trash and new,
*Twixt Cant and Blasphemy — the two
Rank ills with which this age is curst —
We can no more tell which is worst.
Than erst could Egypt, when so rich
In various plague>, determine which
She thought mnsi pestilent and vile,
Her frogs like Benbow and Carlisle,
Cloaking their native mud-notes loud,
Or her fat locusts, like a cloud
Of plnralists, obesely lowering.
At once benighting and devourmg ! -~
This — this it is — and here I pray
Those sa;.ient wits of the Reviews,
Who make us poor, dull authors say,
Not what we mean, but what Ihey choose;
Who to our most abundant t.hare9
Of nonsense add still more of theirs,
And are to poets just such evils
As caterpillars hud those flies,^
Which, not content to sting like devils,
Lay eggs upon their backs likewise —
t A well-known publisher of irreligious books.
4 *' The greatest number of the ichneumon tribe
are seen settling upon the back of the caterpillar,
darting at diH'erent intervals their stings into its body
—at every dart they depose an egg." — Goldsmith.
To guard against such foul deposits
Of other's meaning in my rhymes,
(A thing more needful here, becau>>e it's
A subject, ticklish in these times) —
I, here, to all such wits make known,
nihly and Weekly, Whig and lory
W/nsKeIn
alo
vmg story ; —
FABLE.
When Royalty was young and bold.
Ere, touch'd by 'lime, he had become -
If 'I isn't civil to say o/d,
At least, a ci-devant jcune homme ;
One evening, on some wild pursuit,
Uiivmg along, he chancM to aee
Religion, passing by on foot.
And took him in his vis-a-vis.
This said Religion was a Friar,
The humblest and the best of men,
Who ne'er had notion ordesire
Of riding ju a coach till then.
*' I say*' — quoih Royalty, who rather
Enjoy 'd a ma!>queiading ji^ke —
*' I say, suppose, my gnod old father,
*' You lend me, for a while, your cloak."
The Friar consented —little knew
What tricks the youth had in his head ;
Besides, was rather templed loo
By a lac'd coat he got in stead.
Away ran Royalty, slap-dash,
Scanipering like mad about the town ;
Broke windows, ••hiver'd lamps to smash,
And knock'd whole scores of watchmen dowo.
While nought could they, whose heads were tiotu.
Learn uf the ■•* why'' or of the " wherefore,^
Except that 't was Heligion's cloak
'I'be gentleman, who ciackM them, wore.
Meanwhile, the Friar, whose head was lurn'd
By the lac'd coat, giew frisky too;
Look'd big — his former habits spurn'd —
And slorm'd about, as great nicu do :
Dealt much in pompous oaths and curses —
Said *'d— mn you" often, or as bad —
Laid claim to other people's purses —
In short, grew eiiher knave, or mad.
As work like this was unbefitting,
And flesh and blood no longer bore it.
The Court of Common Sense, then sifting,
Summoned Ihe culprits bo:h before tt.
Where, afier hours in wrangling' spent
(As (Courts must wrangle to decide well),
Religion to St. Luke's v^as sent.
And Royally pack'd oU' to Bridewell.
With this proviso — should they be
Restnr'd, in due time, to their senses,
They both must give security,
In future, against such otil'ences ^
Religion ne'er to lend his cloak^
Seeing what dreadful work it leads to;
And Royalty lo crack his j"ke,—
But not to crack poor people's hcadi too*
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
339
FABLE VI.
THE LITTLE GRAND LAMA.
PROEM.
Novella, a ynun^ B'^logiiese,
The daujliler of a leaj uM Law Doclor,«
Who had wilh all the suhtlclies
Of (lid and modern jiirisis slock'd her,
Was 50 exceeding fair, 't is said,
And over hearts Iield such dominion,
That when her father, sici! in l)ed,
Or busy, sent her, in liis stead.
To Ifclure on the Code Justinian,
She had a curlain dra\vn before her.
Lest, if tier charms were seen, the students
Should let llieir young eyes wander o'er her,
And cjuile foigel tlieir jurisprudence.*
Just so it is with Trulh, when sun.
Too dazzling far,— 't is from behind
A light, thin allegoric screen,
She thus can safest teach iitaiikind.
FABLE.
In Thibet once there reign'd, weVe told,
A little Lama, one year old —
Rais'd to the throne, that realm to bless,
Just when his little Holiness
Had cut — as near as can be reckoned —
Some say hh first tooth, some his stxoJid,
Chronologers and Nurses vary.
Which proves historians shoiild be wary
We only know th' imporianl trulh,
His Majesty had cut a looth."
And much his sul)jects were encllanted, —
As well all Lamas' subjects may be.
And would have giv'n their heads, if wanlad,
'I'o make lee-lotums for the baby.
Thron'd as he was by Right Uivine
(VVh,at lawyers call ^ure fliumo,
Meaning a right to yours, and mine,
And every liody's goods and rhino,)
Of course, his faithful subjects' purses
Were ready wilh their aids and succours I
Nothing was seen but pension'd Nurses,
And the land groan'd with bibs and tuckers.
Oh ! had there been a Hume or Bennel,
Then sitting in the Thibet Senate,
Ye Gods, what room for long debates
Upon the Nursery Estimates !
What cutting down of swaddling-clothes
And pin-a-fores, in oighily batllesl
What calls for papers In expose
The wa te of sugar-plums and rattles!
Bui no— if Thibet liad M. P.'s,
Th»'y were far better bred than these ;
Nor gave the slightest opposition, _
During the Monarch's whole dentition.
> Andreas.
3 Quand il etoit occupe d'aucune essoine, il envoy-
oit Novelle, sa fille, en son lieu lire aux escboles ei
charge, et, a(in que la bi:^ute d'elle n'enipechatja
pensee des oyanis, elle avoit une petite courtine
vani ell?. — Clirist. d& Pise^ die dus Vames, p. II.
cap. 36.
a See Turner's Embassy to Thibet for an account
of his interview with the Lama. — ''Teshoo Lama
(he sa)s) was at this lime eighteen months old.
Though he was unable to speak a word, be mwde the
most expressive signs, and conducted himself with
astonishing dignity and decorum."
But short this calm ;— for, just when h«
Had reacli'd th" alarming age of three,
When Royal natures, and, no doubt,
Those of all noble beasts break out —
The Lama, who till then was quiet,
Show'd symptoms of a taste for riot ;
And, ripe lor mischief, early, late.
Without regard lor Church or Stale,
Made free with wliosiie'er came nigh;
■iweak'd the Lord Chancellor by the nose,
Turn'd all Ihe Judges' wigs awry.
And trod on Ihe old Generals' toes;
Pelted the Bishops with hot buns.
Rode cock horse on the City maces.
And shot from little devilish guns.
Hard peas into his subjects' faces.
In short, such wicked pranks he play'd.
And grew so mischievous, God bless him !
That his Chief Nurse— with ev'n Ibe aid
Of an Archbishop — was afraid.
When ill these moods, to comb or dress him.
Nay, ev'n the persons most inclin'd
Through thick and thin, for Kings to stickle,
Thought him (if they 'd but speak their mind.
Which they did not) an odious pickle.
At length some patriot lords — a breed
Of animals Ihey 've got in Thibet,
Extremely rare, and lit, indeed.
For folks like PidCtick, to exhibit —
Some patriot lords, who saw the length
To which things went, conibin'd their strength.
And penii'd a manly, plain and free
Remonstrance to the Nursery ;
Protesting warmly that they yielded
To none, that ever went before 'em.
In loyally to him who wielded
Th' hereditary pap-spoon o'er *em;
That, as fir treason, 't was a thing
That made them almost sick to think of —
That they and theirs stood by Ihe King,
Throughout his measles and his chin-cough,
When others, thinking him consumptive.
Had railed to the Heir Presumptive ! —
Bui, still — though much admiring Kings
(And chiefly those in leading-strings).
They saw, with shunie and grief of soul,
1'here was no longer now the wise
And constitutional cnn'rol
Of bitch before their ruler's eyes;
But that, of late, such pranks, and tricks,
And freaks iiccurr'd the whole day long.
As all, bul men with hishiipncks,
Allow'd, in ev'n a King, «ere wrong.
Wherefore it uas they humbly pray'd
That Honourable Nursery,
That such reforms be hencet'irth made.
As all good men desir'd to see;-
In other words (lest Ihcy might seem
Too tedious), as the gentlest scheme
For putting all such pranks to rest.
And in its hud the mischief nipping—
They velilur'd humbly to suggest
His Majesty should have a whipping.
When this was read, no Congreve rocket,
Uischarg'd into the Gallic trenches,
E'er equafl'd the tremendous shock it
Produced upon the Nursery benches.
The Bishops, who of course had votes,
Bv right of age and petticnais.
Were tirst and foremost in the fuss —
" What, whip a Lama I sutler birch
••To touch his sacred infamous !
" Deistical ! — assailing thus
" The fundamentals of the Church '. —
" No — no — such patriot plans as these,
" (So help them Heaven- and their Sees'.)
" They held to be rank blasphemies."
340
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
Th' alarm thui given^ by the'=.e and olher
Grave iadies of ilie Nurserv side,
Spnj.id through the hi.d, till, such a pother,
Sucii party squnlbles, f,tr and wide,
Never in history's page had been
Recorded, as were then between
TheWhippers and Non-v^li ppers seen.
Till, things arriving at a s'.aie,
Which gave some fears ct' revolution,
The patri.M lords' advice, though late,
Was put at last in execution.
The Parliament of Thibet n.et —
The little Lama, call'd before it,
Did, then and there* his whipping get,
And (as the Nursery Gazette
Assures usj like a hero bore it.
And though, 'mong Thibet Tories, some
Lament ihat Royal Martyrdom
(Please to observe, the letter I)
In this last word 's pronuuiicM like B),
Yet to th' example of that Prince
So much is Thibet's land a debtor,
That her long line of Lamas, since,
Have all behav'd themselves itLtich better
FABLE VII
THE EXTINGUISHERS.
The natural allies of Courts.
Woe to the Monarch, who dependa
Too mucft on his red coated friends;
For even soldiers sometimes think —
Nay, Colonels have been known to rea«on,-
And reasoners, whether clad in pink.
Or red, or blue, are on the brink
(Nine cases out of ten) of tieasoo.
Not many soldiers, I believe, are
As fond of liberty as Mina ;
Else— woe to Kings, when Freedom's fever
Once turns into a Scarletma!
For then — but hold — 't is best to veil
My meaning in the followiug tale : — >
FABLE.
A Lord of Persia, rich and great.
Just come into a large estate:.
Was shock'd to find he had, for neighbours,
Clo?e to his gate, some rascal Ghebers,
Whose fires, bent-ath his very nose,
In heretic combustion rose.
But Lords of Persia can, no doubt,
Do what ihey will —so, one fine morning,
lie turn'd the rascal Ghebers out,
First giving a few kicks for warning.
Then, thanking heaven most piously.
He knock'd their Temple lo Ihe grnuod,
Blessing himself for joy to see
Such Pagan rums strew'd around.
But much it vex'd my Lord lo find,
That, while all else obey'd his will.
The Fire these Ghebers led behind,
Do what he would, kept burning still.
Fiercely he stonn'd, as I his frown
Cnuld scare the bright insurgent d>wn ;
But. no— such fires are head-troug things.
And care not much for Lords or Kings.
Scarce could his Lordship well contrive
The flashes in one place lo smother,
Before — hey presto! — all alive.
They sprung up freshly id anoiher.
At length when, spite of prayers and damns,
'T was found the sturdy flame defied hini.
His stewards came, with low salayiis,
Utiering, by cuntract^ to provide him
Sonie large Lxtiuguishers, (a plan,
Much us'd, Ihey said, at Isiiahan,
Vienna, Petersburgh — in short,
Wherever Light 's forbid at court,)
Machines no Lord should be without,
Which would, at Once, put promptly out
All kinds of fire^^,— from staring, stark
Volcanos to the tiniest spark ;
Till all things slept as dull and dark,
As, in a great Lord's neighbourhood,
'T was right and fitting all things should
Accordingly, some large supplies
Of these Extinguishers were furnishM
(All of the true Imperial size).
And there, in rows, stood black and buruiih^d,
Reidy, where'er a gleam but shone
Of light or fire, to be clapp'd on.
But, ah, how lordly wisdom errs,
In trusting to extinguishers !
One day, when he had left all sure,
(At least, so thoueht he) dark, secure —
The (lame, at all its exits, entries,
Obstructed to his heart's content,
And black extinguishers, like sentries,
Plac'd over every dangerous vent —
Ye Gods, imagine his amaze,
His wrath, his rage, when, on reluroing,
He found not only the old blaze.
Brisk as before, crackling and burning,-
Not only new, young conflagrations,
Popping up round in various stations —
But, still more awful, strange, and dire,
Th' Extinguishers themselves on fire ! : »
They, Ihey — those trus'y, blind machines
His Lordship bad so long been praising,
As, under Providence, the means
Of keeping down all lawless blazing,
Were now, themsehes — alas, too true
The shameful fact — turn'd blazers too,
And, by a change as odd as cruel.
Instead of dampers, served for fuel!
Thus, of his only hope bereft,
** What," said Ihe great man, " must be done ?"—
All that, in scrapes like this, is left
To great men is — to cut and run.
So run he did ; while to their grounds,
The banish'd Ghebers blest returned ;
And, though their Fire had broke Its bounds.
And all abroad now wildly burn'd,
Tet well could they, who lov'd ihe flame,
Its wand'ring, its excess reclaim;
And soon am-iher, fairer Dome
Ar<ise to be its sacred home.
Where, cherish'd, guarded, not confin'd,
The living glory dwelt enshrin'd,
And. shedding tustre urong, but even.
Though born of earth, grew worthy heav'o.
I The idea of this Fable was caught from one of
those brilliant mots, which nbound in the conversa-
tion of my friend, Iheauthnr of the •' Letters to Julia,"
— a production which contains Some of the happiest
specimens of playful poetry that havo appeared in
(his or any age.
FABLES FOR THE HOLY ALLIANCE.
341
The moral hence my Muse infers
ISf that such Lords are simple elvesi
In trusting (o Kxlingiiiiihers,
That are couibuaiible themselves.
FABLE VIM,
louis fourteenth's wig.
The money rais'd — the army ready —
Drums beating, and the Royal Neddy
Valiantly braying in the van,
To the old .nne " £A, eh, Sire Ant ."' « —
Nought wanting, but some cou-p dramatic,
To make French sentiment explode,
Bring in, at once, the gout fanatic,
And make the war "ia dtmiere mode^
Instantly, at the Pavilion Marsan^
Is held an Ultra consultation —
What 's to be done, to help the farce on?
What stage-etiect, what decoration,
To make this beauteous France forget
In one, grand, glorious pirouette,
All she had sworn to but last week,
And, with a cry of '* MagniJiqucV*
Rush forih to lhi>, or any war.
Without inquiring once — " What for?"
After some plans propos'd by each,
Loid Chateaubriand made a speech,
(Quoting, to show what men's rights are,
Or rather what men's rights should //e,
From Hobbes, l^rd Castlereagh, the Czar,
AiJl other friends lo Liberty,)
Wherein he — having first protested
'Gainst humouring (he mob — suggested
(As the most high-bred plan he saw
For giving the new War ec/af)
A grand, liaptisma! Mtln-drame,
To he got up at Notre Dame,
In which the Duke (who, bless his Highness I
Had by his hilt acquird such fame,
»T was hop'd thai he as little >hyneps
Would show, when to the point he rame).
Should, for his deeds so lion-hearled.
Be christen'd Hero, ere he started ;
With power, by Rnyal Ordnnriance,
To hear that name — at least in Fiance.
Himself— the Viscount Chateaubriand —
(To help Ih' atf^ir with more esprit on)
Ollering, for this baptismal rite,
Some of hi? own f:vm*d Jordan wa'er?— .
(Maiie Louise not having quite
Used all that, for young Nap, he brought her,)
The baptism, in this case, to be
Applied lo that extremity.
Which B 'urbnn heroes most expose;
And which (as well all Europe knows)
H ippens to be. in this Defender
Of the true Faitli, extremely teiider.3
I They celebrated in tho dark a^es, at many
churches particularly at Rouen, what was called the
Feast of the Ass. On this occasion the ass, finely
drest. was brought before the alt.ir, and they sung be-
fore him Ihiselegintamhem. "Eh, eh, eh, SireAne,
eh, eh, eh. Sire Ane." — IV^rton's Essay on Pope.
J Brought from the river Jordm by M. Ctiateau-
ot land, and presented to the French Empress for the
christening of young Napoleon,
» See the Diikc's celebrated letter to madame, writ-
ten during hiK campiign in ISI5, in which he says,
'J^ai le posterieur legerement endommage."
Or if (the Viscount said) this schemft
Too r.ish and premature should seem —
If thus discnunling heroes, on lick —
This glory, by anticipation,
Was too much in the genre romantiqui
For such a highly classic nation.
He begg'd to say, the Abyasiniaus
A practice had in their dominions,
Which, if at Pans got up well,
In full C'U'IU7/ie, was sure to teU.
At all great ep"cbs, good or ill,
J'hey have, says Bruce (and Bruce ne*er budget
From the strict truth,) a Grand Quadrille
In public danc'd by the Twelve Judges*^
And, he assures us, the grimaces.
The ejitre-chats, the airs and graces
Of dancers, so profound and stately
Divert the Abyssmians greatly.
" Now (said the Viscount), there *s but few
** Great Empires, where this plan would do:
** For instance, England ; — let them take
'* What p (ins they would— 't were vain loslrivft—
"The twelve stiti Judges there would make
"The worst Quadtille-set now alive.
** One must have seen them, ere one could
" Imagine properly Judge WooJ,
*' Ferf'orming, in his wig, so gaily,
" A qittue-dc-chat with Justice Bailey !
** French Judges^ though, are, by no means,
"This sort of stili, he-wieg'd machines;
" And we, vvhi'» *ve seen them at SaumuVf
" And Poitiers lately, may be sure
"They *d d^nce quadrilles, or aiiylhing,
" That would be pleasing to the King —
" Nay, stand upon their heads, and more do,
"To please the little Duke de Bordeaux 1"
After these several schemes there c-ime
Some others — needless now to name,
Since that, which Monsieur plann'd, himself,
Soon donni'd all others to the shelf.
And «as receivM par acclaination,
As truly worthy the Grande Nation,
It seems (as Monsieur told the story)
That Louis the Fourteenth,— that glory.
That Coryphee ot all croun'd pates,—
That pink of the Legilin.aies —
Had, when, with many a pious pray'r, he
Bequeath'd unto the Virgin Mary
His marriage deeds, and cordon bleu^
Bequeath'd lo her his Slate Wig loo —
(An otTeriiig which, at Court, 'i is thought,
1 he Virgin values as she ought) —
That Wig, the wonder of all eyes.
The Cynosure of Gallia's skies.
To watch and tend whose curls adored,
Rebuild its towering roof, v\ hen flat,
And round its rumpled base, a Board
Of sixty Barbers daily sat.tJ
29*
4 "On certain ?real occasions, the twelve Jn<i|te«
{who are eenerally beUveen six'y and seventy vein
of a2;e) sing the sung and dance the figure-dance," tic.
— Bofik V.
» " Louis XIV. (it present a la Vierge de son cordon
bleu, que I'on conserve soigiieu^enient, et lui envoya
en~uite, sui Conlral de Mai iage el le Traite des Pyre-
nera. niagiiifiiiueinenl relie."— it/cmoices, Jnecdola
pour sfj-uiV. &c.
6 The learned author of Rechcrchcs Histmiques mr
Us Permques says tliat the Hoard consisted of bu: forty
—the same nurnl)er as the Academy. " Le plus beau
leins des [lerruques fu' celiii nu LoiiisXIV. conimenca
a porter, lui-jneme, perruqiie ; On ignore
I'tpnqiie ou sc fit cetle revolution ; mais on sait qu'elie
eiigagea Louis le Grand a y d(,nner ses soins palernels,
en creant, en I6j6, quaranle clia'ges de perruquiers,
suivani la cour ; et en 1673, il f..rnia un corps de deux
centg perruquiers pour li Ville de Paris." — P. lU.
342 RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
With Subs, or Slale-Days, to assist.
Well pension'd from the Civil List : —
That wondrous Wig, array'd in which,
And foriii'd alike to awe or wilch,
He beat all oilier heirs of crowns,
in taking mistresses and towns,
Hequiring but a shot at one,
A smile at (' other, and 't was doue I —
"Thai Wig (said Monsieur, while his brow
Rose proudly,) ** is existing now ; —
*''l'hat Grand Ferruque, amid the fall
" Uf every othtr Kojal glorv,
" With curls erect sui vives them all,
" And tells in every hair their slnry.
" Think, think, how welcome at this time
"A relic, so belov'd, sublime!
" Whit woithier standard of the Cause
"Of Kingly Righl can France demand?
*' Or who among our ranks can pause
"To guard it, while a curl shall stand?
" Behold, my friends — (while thus he cried,
A curtain which couceal'd this pride
Of Frincely Wigs was drawn aside)
"Behold that Grand Perruque — how big
" With recollections for the world —
" for Fiance - for us - Great Louis' Wig,
" By Hippolyte i new frizz'd and curl'd —
"New Jrizz'dt alas, 'tis but too true.
" Well may you start at that word new —
"But «ucli the sacrilice, my fi lends,
"Th' Impel lal Cosack recommends:
"Thinking such snull concessions sage,
" 'J'o meet the spirit of the age,
'And do what best that spirit tlatlers,
"in Wigs — if not iu weightier matters.
" Wherefore, to please the Czar, and show
** 'i hai we too, niuch-wrung d BourboDs, know
'• What liberalism in Mona'rchs is,
" We have conceded the New Friz!
" Thus arm'd, ye gallant Ultras, say,
"Can men, can Fienchmen, fear the fray?
"With tins proud relic in our van,
" And D'Aiigouleme our worthy leader,
"Let rebel Spain do all she can, '
" Let recreant England arm and feed hel,
" Urg'd by that pupil of Hunt's school,
*' That Radical, Lord Liverpiiol —
"France can have nought lo fear— far from it—
" When tiice astounded Europe sees
**The Wig of Louis, like a Comet,
'■ Streaoiing above the Pyrenees,
" All 's o'er wilh Spain — then on, my sons,
"On, my incompaiable Duke,
"And, shouting tor the Holy Ones,
" Cry yiiie la Guerre — et la Perntqut !"
> A celebrated CoiJJcur uf the present day.
RHYMEtS ON THE ROAD,
EXTRACTED FROM THE JOURNAL OF A TRAVELLING MEMBER OF
THE POCO-CURANTE S 0 C IE T Y, 1819.
The greater part of the following Rhymes were
written or composed in an old caieclte, for the pur-
pose of beguiling the cimui of solitary travelling;
and as verses, made by a gentleman in his sleep, have
been lately called "a psytJtologicat curiosity," it is 10
be hoped that verses, coniposed by a gentleman to
keep himself awake, may be honoured wilh some
appellation equally Greek.
If you consult Montaigne 3 and Pliny oo
The subject, 't is their joint opinion
Thai Thought its richest harvest yields
Abroad, among the woods and fields;
That bards, who deal in small relaii,
At home may, at their counters, stop ;
But that the grove, the hill, the vale,
Are Poesy's true wholesale shop.
And, verily, i think they 're right —
For, many a time, on summer eves,
Just at that closing hour of light,
When, like an Eastern Prince, who leaves
For distant war his Haram bowers,
The Sun bids farewell lo the tloivers.
Whose heads are sunk, whose tears are flowing
Mid all the glory of his going! —
Ev'n / have fell, beneath those beams.
When wandYiiig through the fields alone,
Thnughis, fancies, intellectual gleams,
Which, far too bright to he my own,
Seem'd lent me bv the Sunny Power,
That was abioad at that stiil hour.
If thus i 've felt, how must they feel,
The few, whom genuine Genius warms;
Upon whose souls he stamiia his seal.
Graven with Reality's countless forms; —
The few upon this earth, who seem
Born to give truth lo Plato's dieam,
Since in Iheii thoughts, as in a glass,
Shadows of heavenly things appear,
Relleclions of bright shajies that pass
'i'hrough other worlds, above our sphere !
INTRODUCTORY RHYMES.
Different Attitudes in which Authors compose
£a!/M, Henry Stephetis, Herodotus, SfC.—IVriting
in Bed — in the Fields. — Plato and Sir Richard
Blackmore.— Fiddling with Gloacs and Twigs.—
Madame de Stael. — Rhyming on the Road, in an
old Caleche.
What various altitudes, and ways
And tricks, we authors have in wri'ing!
While some virile sitting, some, like Bayes,
Usually stand, while they 're indiliiig.
Poets there are, who wear the Hoor out,
Measuring a line at every stride ;
While some, like llmry Stephens, pour out
Rhymes by the dozen, while they ride.a
Herodotus wrote most in bed ;
And KicI.erand, a French physician,
Declares the clock-work of the head
Goes best in that recliird position.
3 " Mes pensees dormen', si je les assis."— JIfon
taigne. Animus eorum qui in aperto acre anibu »Dt,
attollitur. — Pimy.
* Pleraque sua carniiiiaequiianscomposuit.— /'ara-
Vicin. Singular.
RPIYMES ON THE ROAD.
343
But this reminds me I distress ; —
For Plato, too, prnduc'd, H is said,
(Am one, indeed, might almost guess,)
His glorious vlsioits all in bed.*
•T was In his carriage the sublime
Sir llichArd Hiackmore used lo rhyme ;
And (if the wits don't do him wrong)
Twixt death •» and epics pass'd his time,
Scribbling and killmg all day long —
Like Fhixbiis in his car, at ease,
Now warbling forth a lofly song,
Now murdering the young Niobea.
There was a Iiero 'mong the Danes,
WliO wrote, we 're told, 'mid all the pains
And horrors of exenteration,
Nine charming odes, which, if you 'II look,
Vnu 'II And pre&erv'd, with a translation,
By Karthotinus in his book 3
In short, '( were endless to recite
'ihe various modes in which men write.
Some wits are only in the mind,
When beiius and belles are round them prating;
Some, when they dress for dinner, tind
1'heir muse and valet both in waiting;
And manage, at the selfsame time,
To' adjust a neckcloth and a rhyme.
Some bards there are who cannot scribblo
Without a glove, lo tenr or nibble;
Or a small twig to whisk about —
As if (he hidden founts «( Fancy,
Like wells of old, were thus found out
liy niysiic tricks of rhabdomancy.
Such was the lillle feathery wand,*
That, held for ever in the hand
Of her,s who wnn and wore (be crown
Of female geniu-* iii this age,
Set^m'd the coi'diiclor, that drew down
Thjse words of lightning to her page.
As for myself — to come, at last.
To the odd way in which / write —
Havmg employ "d these few months past
Chieliy in travelling, day and night,
I 've got into l!ie easy mode,
Of rhyming thus along the road —
Making a u ay-bill of my pages,
Counting my stanzas by my Mages —
'Twixt lays and re-lays no lime lost —
lu sliort, in two words, writing post.
E XTRACT I.
Geneva.
Fiew of the Lake of Geneva from the Jura,* —
Anxioux to reach it before tlic Sun went down. —
t The only aulhorify I know for imputing this
practice to Plato and Herodoius, is a Latin poem by
M. de Valoison his Bed, in which he says: —
^ Sir Richari Rlackmoie was a physician, as well
IS a bad pnet.
3 Eadcn) cura nee minnres in*er crncta'us animam
infehcem agenti fiiit Asbiorno Prudae Danico heroi.
cum Rrusn ipsum, intestina ex'rahens, inimaniler
torquerel, tunc enini nnvem carmina cecinit, &c.—
Bartholin, de Catisis Contcttijt. Mmt.
4 Made of paper, twisted up like a fan or feather,
ft Ma<lame de Sl.^el.
6 Between Vattay and Gei.
Obliged to "proceed on Foot.— Alps. ~Mimt Biant.
— Ejfect of the Scene,
'T \vas late — the sun had almost shone
His last and besJ, when I ran on,
Anxious to reach that splendid view,
Before the day-beanis quite withdrew ;
And feeling as all feel, on first
Approaching scenes, where, they are told,
Such glories on their eyes will burst,
As youthful barJs in dreams behold.
*T was distant yet, and, as I ran,
Full often was my wistful g^ze
Turij'd to the sun, who now began
To cill in all his ou -post rays.
And form a denser march of light,
Suth as beseems a hero's dight.
Oh, how I wish'd for Joshua's power,
To htiy the brightness of that hour 1
But no — the sun still less became,
Diminish'd to a speck, as splendid
And small as were those tongues of flame,
That on th' Apostles' heads descended !
'T was at this instant — while there glow'd
This last, in'eiisest gleam of light —
Suddenly, through the opening road,
The valley burst upon my sight !
That Ejlorious valley, with its Lake,
And Alps on Alps in clusters swelling,
Mitihty, and pure, and fit to make
The rampurts of a Godhead's dwelling.
1 stood entranced — as Rabbins say
This whole assembled, gazing world
Will stand, upon that au-ful d.y,
When the Ark's Light, al"ft unftiri'd,
Among the opening clouds shall shine,
Divinity's own radiiul sign!
Mighty Mont Blanc, thou wert to me,
That minute, with thy brow iu heaven,
As sure a bign of Deity
As e'er to mortal gaze was given.
Nor ever, were I destined yet
To live my life twice o'er again.
Can I the deep-felt awe forget,
The dream, the trance that rapt
e then !
T was all that consciousness of power
And life, beyond this mortal hour; —
Tho^e mountings of the soul within
At thoughts of Heav'n — as birds begin
By in^-tinct in the cage to rise,
When near their lime for change of skies ;
That proud assurance of our claim
To rjnk among the Sons of Liirhl,
Mingled with shame— oh bitter shame !-
At having risk'd that splendid right,
For aughi that eanh through all its range
Of glories, otTers in exchange !
'T was all this, at that instant brought.
Like breaking sunshine, o'er my thought —
»T was all this, kindled to a glow
Of sacred zeal, which, could it shine
Thus purely ever, man might grow,
Ev'n upon earth, a thing divine,
And be, once more, the creature made
To walk unsiain'd th* Kly&ian shide?
No, never ^haII I lose the trace
Of what I 've felt in this bright place.
And, sliould mv spirit's hope grow weak,
Should I, ohGod.e'crdmibi thy power,
This nii^hiy scene again I 'II seek.
At the same calm nnd glowing hour,
And here, at the sublimest shrine
That Nature eier rear'd to Tiiee,
Rekindle alt that hope divine.
And feel my intmurlality !
344
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
JBXTBACT II.
Geneva.
lATK OF GENEVA IN THE YEAK 1782.
A FRAGMENT.
yes — if there yet live some of tijose,
\Vho, wtien this small Kepublic rose,
Quick as a startled hive of btes.
Against her leaguerln; enemies — 1
When, as the Royal Satrap shook
His well-known fetteis at lier gates,
£v^n wives and mothers arnrd, and took
Their stations by their sons and mates ;
And on these walls there stood — ye', no,
Shame to the traitors — %vould have stood
As tirni a band as e'er let flow
At Freedom^ base their sacred blood;
If those yet live, who, on that night.
When all were watching, girt for tight.
Stole, like the creeping of a pest.
From rank to rank, frum breast to breast,
Filling the weak, the old with fears,
'J'uriiing the heroine's 7' al to tears, —
Betraying Honour to that brink.
Where, one step more, and he must sink —
And quenching hopes, wliicii, though the last.
Would yet have led t" death inore bright,
Than life e'er loi.k'd, in all its light !
Till si'on, too sonn, distrust, alarms
Throughout til' embattled thousands rao.
And the high spirit, late in arms,
The zeal that inighi have work'd such charms,
Fell, like a broken talisman —
Their ^ates, that thev had sworn should be
The gales of Deit'h, iliat very dawn.
Gave passage widely, bloodlessly,
'J'othe pritud foe — nor sword was drawn.
Nor ev'n one martyr'd b^'dy cast
To s'aiii iheir foois ep>, as ihey passM ;
But, of the many sworn at night
To do or die, snhie fled ihe sight.
Some siood to Innk, wilh sullen frown.
While some, in im[)0tent despair.
Broke their biigh' armour and lay down.
Weeping, upon the fraginenls there 1 —
If those, I say, who bi ought that shame,
That bla~t upon Geneva's name.
Be living still — though crime so dark
Shall hang up, fix'd and unforgiven,
In History's page, th* e'ernal mark
For Scorn to pierce — so help me. Heaven,
I wish fhe Iraito^.^us slaves no worse,
No deejier. deadlier disaster,
From all earth's ills no f.uler curse
Than lo have »»**»»»*»»* their master !
EXTRACT III.
Geneva.
Fancy and Truth, — Hi-pfomenea and Atalanta, —
Mont Blanc. — Clouds,
Even here, in this region of wonders, I find
'I'hai light-foo'ed Fancy leaves '1 ruth far behind J
Or, at least, like Hippomenes, turns her astray
By the golden illusions he ilings in her way ,3
What a glory it seem'd the first evening I gaz'd!
IVlont Blanc, like a vision, then suddenly rais'd
On Ihe wreck of the sunsit — and all his array
Of hi^h-loweringAlfis, louch'd still wilh a light
Far holier, purer than that of Ihe Day,
As if nearness to Heaven had made them so bright
Then the dying, at last, of these splendours away
From peak after peak, till Ihey IcM but a ray.
One roseate ray, that, too precious to tiy.
O'er Ihe Mighty of Mountains still glowingly hung.
Like the last sunny siep of Aslraea, when high
From the summit of earlh to Elysium she sprung 1
And those infinite Alps, stretching out from the sight
Till they mingled with Heaven, now shorn of iheir
light,
Stood iolty, and lifeless, and pale in the sky,
Like Ihe ghosis of a Giant Creation gone by !
That scene— I have view'd it this evening again.
By the same brilliant light thai hung over it then —
The valley, Ihe lake in their teuderest charms —
Mont Blanc in his awfullest pomp— and the whole
A bright picture of Beauty, redin'd in Ihe arms
Of Sublimity, bridegroom elect of her soul !
But where are Ihe mountains, that round me at first.
One dazzling horizon of miracles, burst?
Those Alps beyond Alps, without end swelling on
Like the waves of eternily — where are they gone ?
Clouds— clouds— they were nothing but clouds, after
all ! 3
That chain of Mont Blancs, which my fancy flew
o'er.
With a wonder that nought on this earth can recall.
Were but clouds of the evening, and now are no
What a picture of Life's young illusions ! Oh, Night,
Drop thy curtain, at once, and liide all from mv
Bight.
EXTRACT IV.
Milan.
The Picture Gallery.— Mbano's Rape of Proaerpini
—Rtflutiont. — Universal Salvation. — Mrahan,
tending away .3gar, by Guercino. — Genius,
Went to the Hrera — saw a Dance of Loves
By smooth Albano ; * him, whose pencil teems
With Cupids, numerous as in summer groves
The leaflets are, or niotes in summer beams.
T is for the theft of Enna's flower » from earth.
These urchins celebrate their dance of mirlh
1 In the year 1782, when the forces of Berne, Sar- I
dinia, ar:d France laid siege ;o Geneva, and when, '
Alter a denionstralioii of heroism and self-devmion,
which promised to rival the feats of ihcir ance-lors in
1602 ."gainst Savoy, the Genevans, eiiher panic-slruck
or betrayed, to ihe surprise of all Enmpe, opened
their gates fo Ihe besiegers, aid subnii:ied without
asirugsle 10 the extinction "f their liberties. —See an
account of this Revolution in Coxe's Switzerland.
tl niiidique cupidine pomi
Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile tollit.
Quid.
s It is often very difScult to distinguish belweei
clouds and Alps; and nn the evening when ] fii»(
saw this magnificent scene, the chiud's were so dm-
posed along 'lie whole horizon, as to deceive ine inio
an idea of ihe stnpendcns extent of ihese mouniains.
wh'ch my subseijuent observ.iticn was very far, of
4 'I his picluie, Ihe Agar of Guercino, and the
Aposiles of Guide (Ihe ti>n l.illernf which are now
the chief ornaments of the BreraJ, were foriiieily in
the Palazzo Zampieri at Bologna.
» that fair field
Of Enna, where Proserpine, gathering floweli,
Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Uis was
gather'd.
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
345
Round the ^reen tree, like fays upon a heath —
Those, that are neares", linkM in order bright,
Cheek :itter cheek, like rcse-buds in a wrealh ;
And those, mure distant, showing from beneath
The others* wings iheir little eyes of light.
While see, among the clouds, their eldest brother,
nut just flown up, tells wilh a .';niile of btisa
This prank < f Fluto to his charmed mother,
Who turns to greet the tidings with a kiss I
Weil might the Loves rejoice — and well did they,
Who wove these fables, picture, in (heir weaving,
That blessed truth, (which, in a darker day,
Ori^en hst his saintship for believing,^) —
That Love, eternal Lnve, whose fadeless ray
Nor iinie, nor death, nor sin can overcast,
Ev'n to the depths of hell will find his way,
And soothe, and heal, and triumph there at last 1
Guercino's Agar — where the bond-maid hears
From Abram's lips that he and she must part;
And looks at bini wi'h eyes all full of le.ns.
'I'liat seem the veiy last drops from her heart.
Exqui>ite picture ! — let me n(>l be told
Of iiunor faults, of colouring lanie and cold -*
If ihus to conjure up a face so faii,^
So full of sorrow ; v%iih the stmy there
Of all Ihit woman suUers, when 'he stay
Her trusting heart hatb kan'd on tails a"ay-
!f (bus to touch the bosom's tenderesl spring,
By calling into life such eyes, as bring
Back to our sad remembriiice snnit; of those
We've smil'd and wept with, in their joys and woes,
Thug filling them with tears, like tears we 've known,
Till all the pictur'd grief becomes our own —
If this be deem'd Ilie victory of Art —
If thus, by pen or pencil, lo lay bare
The deep, fresh, living fountains of the heart
Before all eyes, be Genius — it is there t
EXTRACT V.
Padua.
Fancy mid Reality. — Rain-drops and Lakes.— Plan
of a Story. — Where to flact the Scene of it. — In
tome unknoxvn Region. — Psalnia7iazar*s Impos-
ture with respect to the Island of Formosa,
rid, the more Pve
The more I've view'd thi;
found,
Tha', filld as 't is with scenes and creatures rare,
Fancy commands, wi'liiii her own briglit round,
A world of scenes and creatures far more fair.
Nor is it that her powe^ can cill up there
A single charm, that 's not from nature won,
No more th^n rainbows, in their pride, can wear
A ?ing)e hue unborrow'd from the sun —
But 'I is (he men'al medium i' shmes through,
That lends to Benu^y all its charm and hue;
As the same light, Ihal o'er the level lake
One dull m'-noiony of l.isTe rtings,
WilLen'ering in the rounded laindrop, make
Colnuis as gay as ih^ye nn Peris' wings!
And such, I deem, the diif'jeiice between real,
Existing Beauiy and Hiaf form ideal.
Which she assunie-, wiicn seen by poets* eyes.
Like sunshine in the drop— with all those dyc»|
Which Fancy's variegating prism supplies,
I have a story of two lovers, fiU'd
Wi'h all the pure romance, the blissful sadness.
And the sad, doubtful bli'S, th.it ever thrill'd
Two young and longing hearts in that sweet c^l-
But where to choose the region of niy vision
In this wide, vulgar world — what real spot
Can he found out sufficiemly Klysian
For two such perfect lovers. 1 know not.
Oh for some fair Formosa, such as he,
1 he young Jew, fabled of, in the' Indian Sea,
Bv nothing, but its name of Beauty, known,
And which Queen Fancy might make all her own,
Her fairy kingdom — lake it> people, lands,
And lenemenis into her own bright hands.
And make, at least, one earthly corner fit
For Love to live in, pure and exquisite I
EXTRACT VI.
Ven.ce.
The Fall of l^enice not to be lamented. — Former
Clo)~y. — Expedition against Constantinople. — Gi-
ustinianis.—Republic.^Characteristics of the old
Government. — Golden Book.— Brazen Mouths. —
Spies. — Dungeo7is. — Prtscnt Desolation,
Mourn not for Venice — let her rest
in ruin, 'iiiong those Si-ite'i unblesf,
Beneath whose gilded lioof-^ of pride.
Where'er they trampled. Freedom died.
No — let us keep our tear-, for ihem.
Where'er ibey pine, whose fdl hath been
Not from a bl<ii d-stam'd diadem,
Like that which deck'd this ocean-queen,
But trim high darinj; in ihe c»use
Of huni;iu Ri-jli's ~ Ihe ^nly good
And blessed stiife, in which nian dnws
His mighty swoid on land or flood.
Mourn not for Venice ; though her fall
Be awful, as if Ocean's wave
Swept o'er her. she deserves it all,
And Justice tnuniphs o'er her grave.
Thus perishM ev'ry King and Stite,
That run the guil'y race she ran.
Strong but ill ill, and < nly great
By outrage against God and man!
True, her high spirit is at rest,
Ar.d all those days of glory gone.
When the world's waters, east and west,
Beneath her while-wing'd commerce shone j
When, with her counties-, barks, she went
To meet the Orient Empire's inighi,3
And her Giustiniams sent
Their hundred heroes to that fight.*
Vanished are a'l her pomp", 't is true,
But mourn them not —for vani>h\l, too,
(Thanks to that Power, who. soon or hXfi,
Iluth to the dust Ihegiiil y G-eal,)
Are all ihe outrage, falsehood, fraud,
The chains, the rapme, ai.d the blood,
That fill'd each spot, at hnme, abroad,
Wheie the Republic's M;.nd;ird s ood.
le Love uKimalety ev
a It is probable Ihal ihis fine head is a porlrais, as
we find it epeated in a pic'ure by G lercino, wliich
I is in the pofsessim, of Signor Camucciui, the brodier
M of the celebrated tinier at Rome.
3 Under the Doge Michaeli, in I17I,
* " Li fainille en'it-re des Jusiiniani, Tune des plus
ilhistresde Venise, voului marcher toute en iere dans
cetle expedition ; elle f <uriiii cent cooibaitans : c'etait
renou\eier I'exemple dune illus're I'lm lie de Rome;
le meme malheur les alteudait."— //ij/ojre de ytnis^
par Uaru.
346
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
Desolate Vtnice ! when I track
Thy haughiy course Ihroueh centuries back ;
Th» ruthless jinwer, obey'd but curst —
The stern machinery of thy State,
Which liatred would, like steam, have burst,
Had a slrunjer fe.r nut chilPd ev'n hate; —
Tliy perfidy, still worse than au'hl
Thy own unblushing Sarpi • 'aught; —
Thy friendship, winch, o'er all beneath
It- shadow, r<in'd down dews of death j'S —
Thv Oligarchy's Bo.k of Gold,
tlos'd asainst humble Virtue's name,3
But ojieii'd wide for slaves who sold
Their na'ive land to thee and shame ; * —
Thy all-pervading host of spies,
vValchiiig o'er eveiy glance and breath,
Till n,en lo .k'd in each others' eyes,
'lo read their chance of life or death ; —
Thy laws, that made a mart of bio id.
And legaliz'd the assassin's knife; 4 —
Thy sunless cells benifalh the Hood,
And racks, and Leads,** that liuriit out life ; —
< The celebrated Fia Paolo. The collection of
Maxims which this bold monk drew up at the request
of the Veiielian Gnvernment, fur the guidance of the
Secret Inquisition of State, are so atrocious as to seem
rather an over-charged sa'ire upon despotism, than a
sys em of policy, seriously inculcated, and but too
readily and constantly pursued.
The spirit, in which these maxI.Tis of Fa'her Paul
are conceived, may tie judged from the inslructiors
which he gives for the management of the Venetian
colonies and provinces. Of the former tie says: —
"II faut les trailer c'lnime des animatix feroces. les
rogner les dents, et les gritTes, les humilier s uvent,
surtnut leur oter les occasions de s'aguernr, Du pain
et le baton, voila ce qu'it leur faut; gaidons riiuina-
nite pour une meilleuie occasion."'
For the treatment of the provinces he advises thus :
— '-Tendre adepouiller les villesde leurs privileges,
faire que les habitans s'appauvrissent, et que leurs
biens soient achetes par les Venilieiis, Ceux qui, dans
les eonseils municipaux, se montrernnt ou plus auda-
cieuK on plus devoues aux interets de la pnpulatioii, il
faut les perdre ou les gag' er a quelqiie prix que ce
soil : etifijl. 5'i7 .ve trouve dans Its priwinces quelques
chefs de partly il faut les extermintT senisun pretexte
quelcoiiquey viais en evitant dc reeerurir a la justice
ordinaire. Que le poi<on fosse Poffice de bourreau,
ctla est moins odieux et beaucoup plus profitable.^
2 Conduct of Venice towards her allies and depen-
dencies, particularly lo unfurtunale I'adua. — Fate of
Francesco Carrara, for which see Daru, vol ii. p. 141
3 '* A I'exception des trente ci'adiiis a 'mis au granc
conseil pendant la guerre deChiozzi, il n e-t pasarrivi
une seule fois que les talens ou les services aient pari
a certe noblesse orgueilleu^e des tilres suffisans pour
s'asseoir avec elle." — Daru.
4 Among those admitted to the honour of being in-
scribed in the Libio dorowtre some families of Bres-
cia Trevisn. and other places, >i hose only claim to
that distinction was the zeal with which ihev pros-
trated themselves and their counlry at the feet of the
republic.
5 By the infamous statutes of the State Inquisition,*
not only was assissiriation lecognized as a regular
mode of punishment, hut this secret power over life
was delegated to their minions at a distance, wilh
nearly as much facility as a license is given under Ihe
game laws of England. The only res ricion seems lo
ve been the iieccssily of applying for a new certifi-
cate, after every individual i
of the power.
• M. Haru has given an abstract of these S'atutes,
from a manuscript in the Iliblio'heoue du Roi, and it
I is hardly credible that such a 5\slerri of trrachery and
I cruelly should ever have been established by any go-
j ternnient, or submitted to, for an inslanl, by' any
' people. Among various precautions against the in-
When I review all this, and see
The doom that now hath fall'n on thee;
Thy nobles, towering once so proud,
1'hemselves beneath the yoke now bowM,—
A yoke, by no one grace rcdeern'd.
Such ;is, of old, around ihee beam'd.
But mem and base as e'er yel gall'd
Earth's tyrants, when, them elves enthnird.-
I feel Ihe moral vengeance sweel,
And, smiling o'er the wreck, repeat
"Thus perish every King and Slate,
" That tread Ihe steps which Venice trod,
"Strong but in ill, and only great,
" By outrage against man aod God 1"
EXTRACT VII.
Venice.
Lord Syrmi's Memoirs, written by himself.— ReJUc-
tions, when about to read them.
Let me, a mnment, — ere with fear and hope
Of glooniv, glorious things, these leaves I ope —
As one, in fairy tale, to whom the key
Of some enchanter's secret halls is given,
Doubts, while he enters, slowly, tremblingly.
If he shall meet with shapes from hell or heaven-
Let me, a moment, think what thousands live
O'er the wide earih this instant, who would give,
Glally, whole sleeples nights to bend Ihe brow
Over these precious leaves, as I do now.
trigiies of their own Nobles, we find the following:—
" Pour persuader aux e'rangers qu'il elait diiliciles el
dangereux d'entreleiiir qiielqu' intrigue secrete avec
les nobles Venitiens, on iniagina de faire avertir mys-
terieu-ement le Nonce du Pape (afin que les autres
miiiislres en fussent informes) que I'lnquisiion avail
au'orise les patriciens a poignarder quiconque essaie-
rait de tenter leur hdelile. Mais craignant que les
ambassadeurs ne prela-seiil foi difficiienient a une
deliberation, qui en elTet n'existait pas, I'Inquisilion
voulait prouverqn'elle en elait capable. Elle ordonna
des recherches pnur decouvrir s'll n'v avail pas dans
Venise quelqne exile au-dessus du c'ommun, qui eul
rompu son ban ; ensuile un des patriciens qui etaieni
aux gages du tribunal, recut la mission d'assassiner ce
malheurenx, el I'ordre de s'en vanler, en disant qu'il
s'etait porte a cet acle, parce que ce banni etait I'agent
d'un ministre elranger, et avail cherche a le corioni-
pre "— "Remarquons," adds M. Darn. " que ceci
n'est pas une simple anecdote ; c'est une mission pro-
jelee, deliberee, ecrite d'avance ; une regie de con-
diiite tracee par des honimes graves a leurs succes-
seurs, et consignee dans des staliits."
The cases, in which assassination is ordered by
these S'atutes, are as follow : —
" Un ouvrier de I'arsenal, un chef de ce qu'on ap-
pelle p^rmi les manns le menstrance, pas-ait-il au
service d'une puissance etrangere: il fallait le faire
assassiner, surbiul si c'elait un homme rej.ule brave
et habile dans sa profe-sion." — (.4rl 3 det Statuts.)
"Avait-il coniliiis quelque action qu'on ne jugeait
pas a prnposdepuiiir juridiquement,ondevait le faire
enipoisoniier."— (jjit. M.)
"Un arlisan passail-il a I'elranger en y exportant
quelque procede de 1 Industrie nationale : celait en-
core un crime capital, que la |oi inc^mnue ordonnait
de puiiir parunassassinal." — (.ijri. 26.)
The facility wilh which they got rid of Iheir Duke i
of Bedford", Lord Filzwilliams, &c. was admirable' I
ilivasllins: —
" Le patricien qui se permettait le moindte prnpos
contre le gouvernemenl, elait adnionete deux foiss el I
a la Iroisienie noye comme i7icorrigiblc.^~{Art, 39.) j
6 "Les prisorisdes plombs ; c'esl-a-dire ccs four-'
naises a'dentes qu'on avai* dislribuees en petites eel- |
lule sous les terra-sei qui couvrenl le palais." I
RHYMES ON THE ROAD,
347
How all who know — and where is he unknown ?
To Bhal far rcRion have his songs not flown,
Like Psa^hon'5 birds,' speikin^lheir niasier'sname,
' In ev'ry laiiRUice, syllabled bv Fame ? —
I How all, who've lelt the varinus spells cotnbin'd
I Wiihin the circle iif thai njMSter-niind,—
I.ike spell,, dcriv'J from mauy a star, and met
' 'i'liije'tier ill some woiid'rous amulet —
I Would burn lo know when first the Liglit awoke
In his youns soul,— and if the gleams that broke
From ihat Aurora of his genius, rais'd
Most pain or bliss in Uiose on whom Ihey hlazd ;
Would love to lr.ace th' unfolding of that power,
Which hath grown ampler, grander, eveiy hour;
And feel, in watching o'er his firsi advance.
As did th' Ejyplian traveller,* when he stood
By the young Nile, and fathom'd with his lance
The first small fountains of that mighty flood.
They, loo, who, mid (he scornful thoughts thai dwell
in his rich fancy, tinsing all its streams,—
As if the Slar of Bitterness, which fell
Ou earih of old,3 had touch'd them with its
beams, —
Can track a spirit, which, though driven to hate.
From Nalure's hands came kind, aaeclionate ;
And which, cv'n now, struck as it is wiih blight,
Comes out, at limes, in love's own native li?ht ; —
How gladly all, who'ie watch'd lhe»e struggling rays
Of a bright, ruin'd spirit through his lays,
Would iiere inquire, as from his own frank lips.
What desolating grief, what wrongs had driven
That noble nature into cold eclipse;
Like some fair orb that, once a sun in heaven,
And born, not only to surprise, but cheer
With warmth and lustre all within its sphere,
Is now so quench'd, Ihat of its grandeur lasts
Nought, but the wide, cold shadow which it casts 1
Eventful volume ! whatsoe'er the change
Of scene and clinic— th' adveulures, bold »ad
strange —
The gi iefs — the frailties, but too fiankly told —
The loves, the feuds thy pages may unfold.
If Truth with half so prompt a hand unlocks
His virtues as his failings, we shall find
The record ihereof friend-hips held like rocks,
And enmities, like sun-touchd snow, resigu'J;
Of fealty, cheri,ird without change or chill,
In iho e who serv'd him, young, and serve him still ;
Of generous aid, giv'ii with that noiseless art
Which wakes not |iride, to many a wounded heart;
Of acts — hilt, nn — net from hiinsflf niusi aught
Of the brighl fealures of his life be sought.
While they, who court the world, like Millon'i
cloud, «
" Turn forlh their silver lining" on the crowd,
This gifled Being wraps himself in night ;
And, keeiiing all that softens, and adorns,
And gilds his social naluie hid from -ight.
Turns but its darkness on a world he scorns.
in the Timt of Titian. — Bis Mistras.—Varima
Forms ill xohicli he has ■painted her — Venus.—
Divim aiidjirofane Lave.— La Fragilita dAmare.
— Paul Vtroiiese. — His H'omcyt — Marriage of
Cana. — Character of Italian Beauty. — Raphael
Foniarina. — Modesty.
Thy brave, thy learn'd, have past away :
Thy beautiful ! — ah, where are they ?
The forms, the faces, that once shone,
Models of grace, in Titian's eye.
Where are they now ? while flowers live on
In ruin'd places, why. oh why
Must Beauty thus wilh Glory die?
That maid, whose lips would still have niov'd.
Could art have breath d a spirit through them;
Whose varying charms her artist lov'd
More fondly every lime he drew them,
(So eft beneath his touch Ihey pass'd,
Each semblance fairer than the last;
Wearing each shape Ihat Fancy's range
Ottcts to Love — yet slill the one
Fair idol, seen ihrough every change.
Like facets of some orient stone, —
In each the same brighl image shown.
Sometimes a Venus, unarray'd
But in her beaut) s —sometimes deck'd
In costly raiment, as a maid
Thai kings might for a thione selecl.6
Now high and proud, like one who thought
The world should at her (eet be brought ;
Now, wilh a look reproachful, sad.i-
Unwonted look fiom brow so glad; —
And telling of a pain loo deep
For tongue lo speak or eye> to weep.
Soinetimes, through allegory's veil,
In double semblance seen lo shine,
Telling a strange and mystic tale
Of Love Profane and Love Divine « —
Akin in features, but in heart
As far as eailh and heav'ii apart.
Or else (by quaint device to prove
The frailty of all worldly love)
Holding a globe of glass, as thin
As air-blown bubbles, in her hand,
Wilh a young Love coiifin'd llieiein.
Whose wings seem waiting lo expand —
And telling, by her an.vious eyes,
Thai, if that frail orb breaks, he flies IS
Thou, too, wilh touch magnificent,
Paul of Verona ! — where are they.
The oriental forms,' » thai lent
Thy canvass such a brighl array?
Noble and gorgeous dames, whose dress
Seems pait of their own loveliness;
EXTRACT VIII.
Venice.
Ftmalt Beauty at Vcnit. — No longer what it ioo»
« Psaphnn, in order lo attract the attention of the
world, taught multiiudes of birds lo speak his name,
and then lei them fly away in various directions ;
whence the proverb, *^ Psayltonis aves."
t> Bruce,
* "And the name of the star is called Wnrmwnod,
&nd the third part of the waters became wormwood."
— Keu. vii .
4 " Did a sable cl'ud
Turn forlh her silver lining on the nithi ?"
Cumus.
' In the Tribune at Florence.
e In the Palazzo Pilli.
1 Alludes particularly lo the portrait of her in the
Sciaria collection at Riune, where the look of mourn-
fnl reproach in those lull, shadouy eye-, as if she
had been unjusUy accused of something wrong, is
exquisite.
8 The fine pidure in the Palazzo Borghe-e. called
(it is not easy to sav "h\) ''Sacred and Profane
Love," in which the two figures, sitting on the edge
of the fountain, are evidently porliaits of the same
person.
3 This fanciful allegory is the subject of a pic'ure
by Titian in the possession of the Marquis Cambian
at Turin, whose cllection. though small, conlaiiis
some beautiful specimens of all the great masters.
10 As Paul Veronese gave but little into the ieau
ideal, his women maybe regarded as pretty cloi» |
imitations of the living models which Venice afford.
348
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
Like the sun's drapery, which, at eve,
The floatiiig clfiuds around him we»ve
Of light they from himself receive !
Where is there now the living face
Like those thnl, in ihy nuptial throng,*
By their superb, voluptuous grace,
Make us forget the time, the place.
The holy guesis they Miiile among,—
Till, in that feast of heaven-sent wine,
We see no miracles but thiue.
If e'er, except in Painting's dream.
There binoiird such beauty here, 't is gone,-
Goiie, like the face that in the stream
Of Ocean for an instant shone,
When Venus at that mirror gave
A last look, ere she left the wave.
And though, among the crowded ways,
We oft are startled by the blaze
Of eves that pass, with hlful light.
Like fire-flies on the wing at night,^
*T is nit 'hat nobler beauty, given
1o show how angels lo-'k in heaven.
Ev'ii in its sh'pe most pure and fair,
'Tis Beauty, with but half her zone,—
All that can warm the Sense is there.
Rut the Soul's deeper charm is flown : —
T is Rapliael's Foruanna,— warm,
Luxurianl. arch, but unrefiird ;
A tJowt-r, round which the noontide swarm
Of young Desires may buzz and wind.
But where true Love no treasure meets,
Worih hoarding in his hive of sweets.
Ah no,— for this, and for the hue
Upon the rouniied cheek, which 'ells
How fiesh, within the heart, this dew
Of Love's unrifled sueetne-s dwells,
We must go back to our own hies,
Where iVIcdesiy, which here but gives
A rare and transient grace to smiles,
In the heart's holy cen're lives;
And thence, as from her throne ditfusei
O'er thoughts and I'oks -o bland a reign,
That not a thought or fetling loses
Its freshness iu that gentle chain.
EXTRACT IX.
Venice.
The English to he met with everywhere. — Alfit and
ThreadnecdU Street —The Simplon and the Stocks.
•—Rage for travtUtJig. — Blue Stockings among the
Wahabces— Parasols and Pyramids. — Mrs. Hop-
kins and the Wall of China.
And IS there then no earthly place.
Where we can rest, in die.im Elysian,
Without some curst, round English face,
popping up near, to break 'he vision ?
*Mid northern lakeB. 'mid souihern vines,
Unholy cits we're dooni'd to meet j
Nor highest Alps lor Apennines
Are s.icred from Threadneedle Street !
If up the Simplon's path we wind,
Fancying we leave 'his world behind,
Such pleasant sounds s>lute one's ear
As — " Raddi«h news from "Change, my dear —
*' The Funds — fphew. curse this uglv hill ^ —
« Are lowering fast — (what, higher still ?J —
1 The Marriage of Cana.
5 " Cer'ain if is (as Arthur Young truly and feeling-
ly says) one now and then meets with terrible tyn in
Italy"
** And — (zooks, we 're mounting up lo heaTeDl <
** Will soon be down lo sixty seven.'*
Go where we may — rest where we will,
Eternal London h.iunts us siill.
The irash of Almack's or Fleet Ditch —
And scarce a pin's head dilierence ooAicA —
Mixes, though ev'n to Greece we run.
With every rill from Helicon 1
And, if (his rage for travelling lasts,
If Cockneys, of all see's and caste^,
Old maidens, aldermen, and squires,
Will leave Iheir puddings and coal fires.
To g'pe at things in foreign lands.
No soul among Ihem underslauds;
If Blues desert their coteries,
To show ofl" 'inong the Wahabees;
If neither sex nor age controls.
Nor fear of Mamelukes forbids
Young ladies, with pink parasols,
To glide among the Pyramids 3 —
Why, then, fareivell all hope to find
A spot, (hat 's free from London kind !
Who knows, if to the West we roam,
But we may find -ome Blue, "at home"
Anioiig the Blacks of Carolina —
Or, flying to (he Eastward, see
Some Mrs Hopkins taking tea
And toast upon the Wall of China!
EXTRACT X.
Mantua*
Virsts of Hifpolyta to Her Hxuland,
They tell me thou M the favoured guest 4
Ot^ every fair and brilliant throng;
No vvii, tike thine, to wake the jest,
No voice like thine, to breathe the song.
And none could gue-s, so gay thou art,
That thou and I are far apart.
Alas, alas, how dttferent flows.
With Ihee and me the time awny !
Not that I wish thee sad, heaven knows —
Still, if thou canst, be light and gay ;
I only know that wiihout Ihee
The sun himself is dark for me.
Do I put on the jewels rare
Thou 's( always Inv'd lo see me wear?
Do I perfume the locks that thou
So oft hasi braided u'er my brow,
Thus deck'd, through festive crowds to run,
And all Ih' assembled world to see.
All but the one, the absent one,
Worth more than present worlds lo me!
3 It WIS pink spencers, I believe, that the imagina-
tion of the French traveller conjured up.
4 Utque ferurit Ix'us convivia lasta
Et celebra"* lentis otia mis a jocis;
Aut cithara aes'ivum attenuas c^n uque calorem.
Hei mihi, qnam dispar nunc niea vita tnae !
Nee mihi displiceant quae sun* (ibi gra'a ; sed ipsa est,
Te sine, lux oculis pene mimica meis.
Non auro aut semma caput exornare nitenti
Me juval, aut Arabo spirgire odore comas:
Non celebres ludos fa'^tis spectaie diebus.
* * * ^t *
Sola tuos vnltus referens Riphnelis imago
Picia manu, curas alleva' usque me;is.
Huie ego delica^ f.^cio. arndtcque jocoique,
Ailoquor et tanqnam reddere verba queaU
Assensu nutuque mihi saepe ilia videtur
Dicere velle aliquid et tua veib.i loqui.
Agnoscit balboque pa'rem puer ore salutat*
Hoc solor longas decipioque dies.
RHYMES ON THE ROAD,
349
No^ nothing cheers this widow'd heart —
My only joy, from Ihee afiart,
From thee thyself, is silting hours
And days, hefore Ihy pictur'd form —
Thatdiearn of Ihee, which Raphael's pnwen
Have made with all tml life-breath wanii 1
And as I smile to ir, and sny.
The words I speak lo thee in pUy,
I fancy frnm their silent frame,
'I'h"se ejes and lips give l)ack the same ;
And stitl I gaze, and still Uiey keep
Su.ilih<fhuson me — till I weep!
Our litde b<>y, loo, knows it well,
For there 1 lead him every d;ty,
And leach his lisping lips to fell
The name of one Ihit 's f^r away.
Forgive me, love, but thus alone
My time is cheer'd, while thou art ^ne.
EXTRACT XI.
Florence,
No — 'tis not tlie region where Love 'a to be found- —
They have bosoms that sigh, they have gUnces (ha:
They have language a Sai)pho'3 own lip might
re^oun<t|
When she w:»rbled her best — but they've nothirig
like Love.
Nor is't that pure sentiment only they want.
Which Heav'n for the mild and the tranquil hath
made —
Calm, wedded atfection, that home-rooted plant,
Which sweetens seclusion, and smiles in the sh:ide ;
That feeling, which, after long years have gone by,
Remains, like a portrait we've sat for in youth,
Where, ev'ii though the Hush of the colours may fly,
The fealurcb still live, in their hrsl siuiliDg truth;
That union, where all that in Woman is kind,
With all (hat in Man most enuoblmgly towers.
Grow wreathM into one — like llie colunm, combin'd
Of tt)e strength of the shaft and the capital^s
/lowers *
Of this— bear ye witness, ye wives, everywhere,
By the Arno, the Po, by all Italy's streams —
Of this heart-wedded love, so delicious (o share,
Not a husband hath eveu one glimpse iu his
But it is not this, only;— born full of (he light
Of a -uii, fiom whose fount Hie luxuriant festoons
Of the^e he.iu'ilul valleys drink lu^ire s.. bright,
That, beside him, our suns of the north are but
moons,—
We might fancy, at least, like their climate they
buru'd ;
And that i^ove, though unus'd, in this region of
spring.
To be thus to a tame Household Dei'y turn'd,
Would yet be all soul, when abroad on the wing,
And there may be, there are those explosions of
heart. *
Which burst, when the senses have first caught the
ft.me ; ^
Such fi's of the blood as those cli"n)a'es impart,
Where Love is a sun-slruke, that maddens the
But that Passion, which springs in the depth of the
houl ;
Whf'se beginnings ;
or some small mount
A course, to which Modesty's ftniggle but lends
A more headlong dchceiit, without chance of re-
call ;
But which Modesty ev'n (n the last edge attends.
And, then, throws a halo of tears round its fall I
This exquisite Passion — aj', exquisite, even
Mid (he ruin its madness too olten hath made,
As it kee|)s, even then, a bright trace of the hflavsn,
That heaven of Virtue froiii which it has stray'd —
This entireness of Inve, which can only be found,
Where Woman, like something that sholy, watch'd
And fencM, from her childhood, witli purity round,
Comes, body and soul, fresh as Spring, to a lover 1
Where not an eye answers, where not a hand pressrt,
Till spirit with spirit in sympailiy move;
And the Senses, aslet-p in thtir sacitd recesses,
Can only be reach'd through the temple of Level —
Tliis perfection of Passion — how cmi it be found.
Where the mystery nature hath hniig round the (ie
By which s uls are together attruded and bound,
Is laid open, for ever, to heart, ear, and eye ;—
Where nought of that innocent doubt can exist.
That ignoiauce, even (han knowledge more bright,
Which circles the young, like ihe monies sunny mi-t,
And cur:ains them round in their own naive
light ;-
Where Experience leaves nothing for Love (o reveal.
Or for Fancy, in visions, to gleam o'er the thought ;
Bu' the truths which, alone, we would die to conceal
From the maiden's young heart, are the only ones
taught.
No, no, 't is not here, howsoever we sigh,
VVheiher puiely to Hymen's one planet we pray,
Or adore, like Saba-ans. e..ch light of Love's sky,
Here is not the region, to fix or to btray.
For faithless in wedlock, in gallantry gross,
Without honour to gu^id, or reserve lo restrain,
What have (hey, a husband can mourn as a loss ?
H'/iat have lliej', a lover can prize as a gain ?
EXTRACT XII.
Florence.
Mitsic in Italy.— Disappointed by it.—RecoUectiotu
of other Times and Friends.— Dalton.— Sir John
Stevenson. — His Daughter. — Musical Eveniugi
together.
4: « « ;f: *
If it be true (hat Music reigns,
Su[.reme, in Italy's soft shades,
»T is like that Harmony, so famou-t.
Among the spheres, vvhich. He of Samns
Declai'd, had such transcendent merit,
Ttiat not a soul on earth could hear it ;
For, far as I have come— fn-m Likes,
Whose sleep ihe Traniontana breaks,
Through Milan, and that land, uhich gave
Ihe Her., of Ihe rainbow vt-stl —
By Miricin's hai.ks. and by that wave,^
Which made Veroiia-s baid so blest —
places th.t (like the Aitic shore,
Which rung back music, when the sea
Striick 01. ils niarge) should be, all o'er,
Thtilling alive wiUi melody —
irginly pure as (he sonice
rivulet, destin'd t.. loll
As a torrent, ere long, losing peace in its course —
> Bergamo — the biith-place, it is said, of H&rle*
quin.
2 The Lago di Garda-
30
350
RHYMES ON THE ROAD,
Pve heard no musi
Of such sweet nalii
111 Diy own land, ai
And speak our uau
t a note
as float,
le tliiong,
ul for sonjf.
Nay, e
Peiiori
And n
1 lie t\<
tv'n there, i
1 higher walks, where Art
i 't weie, the gardener's part,
if not sweeter, makes
she from the wild-hed'e lakes —
: hah cha
Not
: ha h 1
■ perlecl pr
I d my «
Like thine, dear friend » — long, tiuly dear —
Thine, and thy lov'd Olivia's lays.
She, always beautiful, and growing
Stiil more so every note she sings —
Like an inspir'd young Sib>l,* glowing
With her own bright imag.nings;
And thou, most worthy to be tied
In music to her, as in love,
Breathing that language by her side,
All oiher language tar above.
Eloquent Song — whose tones and wordi
Id every heart hnd answering chords
How happy once the hours we past,
Singing or lisleninjc all day long,
Till Time itself seem'd chang'd, at last,
To music, and we liv'd in song !
Turning the leaves of Haydn o'er,
As quick, beneath her master hand.
They open'd all their brilliant slor;.
Like chaiiiliers, touch'd by fairy waud ;
Or o'er the |,<ge of Mozart bending.
Now by til,, airy warblings clieer'd.
Now in hi iiii.urnful Utijuicm blending
Voices, through which the heart was heard.
And s'ill, to lead our evening choir.
Was He invok'd, thy lov'd-oue's Sire'
He, who, if aught or grace there be
In the wild notes I wiile or sing.
First sniooth'd their links of harmony.
And lent them charms U.ey did not bring ;
He, of the gentlest, simplest heart,
With whom, employ'd in his sweet art,
(That an, which gives this world of ours
A no ion how they spe ik in heaven,)
I 've pass'd more bright and charmed hours
Than all eirih's « isdi.ni cnuld have given.
Oh, happy dajs, oh, early friends.
How Life, since then, hath lost its fJowers 1
But yet— though Time some foliage rends.
The stem, the Friendship, still is ouis ;
And long may it endure, as green.
And fresh as it h ith always been i
How I have wander'd from my theme I
But where is he, that could return
To such cold subjects from a dreaii'.
Through which these best of feelings burn? —
Not all the works of Science, Art,
Or Genius in this woild are worih
One genuine sigh, that from the heart
Friendship or Love draws freshly forth.
EXTRACT XIII.
Rome.
Rejlectiant an reading Dc Centau's Account of thi
Cmsfiracy of Rienzi, in 1347.* — Thi Mcetittg of
lU Cunsi^iratuis mi the Night of the 19(A of May.
—Thtir Procession in the Morning to tlit Capitol.
— Rienzi' s Speech.
T was a proud moment— ev'n to hear the words
Of Tri.th ai,d t reedcm 'mid these temples breath'i,
And see, once more, the Forum sliiiie with swords,
In the Republic's sicred name Ulisheaih'd —
That glimp.c, that vision of a brighter day
Foi his dear Rome, must to a Koinan be.
Short as it was, worth ages past away
In the dull lapse of hopeless slavery.
'T was on a night of May, beneath that moon.
Which had, through many an age, seen '1 ime untune
The strings of this Great Lmpire, till it fell
From his rude hands, a broken, silent shell —
■J he sound of the church clock,> near Adrian's Tomb,
Summon'd the warrnrs, who had risen for Rome,
To meer miarm'd,— with n"ne to watch them there.
But God's own eye,— and pass the night in prayer.
Holy beginning of a hnly cause.
When heroes, girt for Fieedom's combat, pause
Before high Heav'n, and, humble in their might,
Call down its blessing on that coming tight.
At dawn, in arms, went forth the patriot band ;
And, as the breeze, fiesli from the Tiber, faliu'd
"heir gilded gonf..loiis, all eyes could see
■Ihe palm-tree ttiere, the sword, the keys of
HeavenU —
, peace, and liberty,
s them, when their chains were
On to Ihe Capitol the pngeant mov'd.
While many a Shade of other times, that still
Around that grave of grandeur sighing rov'd,
liung o'er their footsteps up the Sacred Hill,
And lieard its mourntul echoes, as the last
High-minded heiis of the Republic pass'd.
'r was then that thou, ttieir Tribune,' (name whkh
broiight
Dreams of lost glo'y to each patriot's thought,)
Uidst, with a spirit liome in vain shall seek
I'o wake up in her sons again, thus speak : —
"Romans, look round you — on this sacred place
" There once stood shrines, and guds, and godlike
" What see you now ? what solitary trace
" Is left of all, that made Rome's glory then ?
* The "Conjuratio
Rienzi,'' by the Jesuit
from tiie much more
on the sanie subject.
de Nicolas Gabrini, dil de
De Cerceau, is chiefly taken
uthentic work of Forlihocca
Kieuzi was the sou of a laun-
I Edward Tuile Dalt.in, the first husband of Sir
Jolin Stevenson's daughter, the late MarchioueaS of
Headforl.
3 Such as those of Domenichiuo in Ibe Palazzo
Borghese, at the Capitol, &c.
a Sir John Stevenson,
» It is not easy to discover what church is meant by
Du Cerceau here: — "11 fit crier dans les rues de
Rome, a son de trompe, que chacuii eut a se trouver,
sans amies, la nuit du lendemain, dix neuvieme, dans
Teglise du chateiu de Saiiit-Aiige, au sonde la cloche,
ahii de pourvolr au Bon £tat,''
6 "Les gentilshomnies conjures porlaient dev; nl
liii trois eiendaris. Mc.das Guallato, surnonime ((
bon diseur, porlait le premier, qui etait de c n.leui
rouge, et plus grand que les autres. tin y voyait des
caiacleres d'or avec une femme assise sur deux lions,
tenant d'uiie main le glube du monde, et de I'autre
uiie Palme pour reprfsenter la ville de Rome.
C'elait le Gonfalon de la Ubcrte. Lt second, a fnnds
bla c, avec un St. Paul tenant de la droite une Epee
nue et de la gauche It cnuronnedeyus/icc, etait porte
par E'ienne iMagnacuccia, n laire aprsloliqi;e. IJans
le trcnsieiiie, St. I'ierre avail eu main fej cltfs de la
Concorde etde la Paix. Tout cela insinuail le des-
seiii de Rienzi, qui etait de retablir la liberte la jus-
tice et la paiz." — i)u Cerceau, liv. ii.
t Rienzi.
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
351
* The shrines are sunk, the Sacred Mount tereft
** Cv'n of ite name — and noilniig now reoiaius
* Bui the deep meninry of that gloiyf left
*' To whet our paritjs and aggravate our chains !
*Bul shall this be? — our sun and sky the same,—
*' 'IVeadiiig the veiy wjjl our fallieis irnde, —
* What wiiheime; curse hath fdl'n on soul and frame,
** What vi^itaiion liath there come from God,
* To blabt our btren-jth, and rot us into sUves,
^ Utre, on our gieal forclalhers* glorious graves?
' 11 cannot be — rite up, je mighty dead, —
" If we, tlie livii.ic, are loo weah to crush
* These tyrant pne>l)*, th.it o'er your empire tread,
*' Till all but Humans at Rome's lameness blush J
* Happy, Palmyra, in thy desert domes,
*' Where only date-trees sigh and serpents hiss;
>* And thou, whose pillars are but silent hi^mes
" For the stork's brood, superb I'ersepolis !
'Thrice happy both, that vour estinguiah'd race
*Have left no embers— ro haif-living trace —
' No slaves, to crawl around the orice proud spot,
'Till past renown in present bhame 's forgot.
' While Rome, the Queen of all, whose very wrecks,
"If lone and lifeless thr. ugh a desert huri'd,
* Would wear more true matcnilicence ihaii decks
** The* assembled thrones ol all the' existing world-
"Rome, Home alone, is haunted, slain'd and curst,
" Through every spot her jirincely Tiber laves,
"By living human things — the de.idliesl, ^vor^t,
" This earth engenders— tyrants and their slaves !
''And we — oh shame I — v^e, who have pouder'd
o'er
" The patrint^s lesson and the poet's lay j i
'• Have mounted up the streams of ancient lore,
" Tracking our country's gl'Tie-. all tlie way —
'*£v'n we have tamely, basely kiss'd the ground
" Before that Papal Power,— thai Ghost of Her,
"The World's Imperial Mistress- sitlinff, ciowu'd
" And ghaslly, on her mouldering sepulchre ! *
'* But this is past : — ton long have lordly priests
** And priestly lords led us, " iih all our pride
" Withering about us — like devoted beasts,
" Uragg'd to the shrine, with faded garlands tied.
" 'T is o'er — the dawn of our deliverance breaks I
" Up from his sleep of ceiiiuries awakes
" The Genius of the Old Uepub.ic. free
^' As first he stood, in chainlets majesiy,
" And sends his voice through a^es yet to come,
"Proclaiming Rome, Rome, Home, Eternal Rome!"
E XTRACT X IV.
Rome.
Fragment of a Dream. — The great Painters sup-
posed to be Magicians. ~~ T/ie beginnings of the
^rt.— Gildings on the Glories and Draperies.— Im-
yroocmeiits under Giotto, ^c,— The first Dawn of
* The fine Canzone of Petrarch, beginning "Spirto
rentil," is supposed, by Voltaire and others, to have
been addressed to Rienzi ; but theie is much more
evidence of its having been writlen, as Ginpuene
asserts, to the young Stephen Colonna, on his being
created a Senator of Rome. That Petrarch, however,
was filled with high and patriotic hopes by the fir^t
measures of this eriraordinary nian, appears from
one of his letters, quoted by I)u Cerceau, where he
giys, — "pour tout dire, en un mot, j'attes'e, nnn
comnie lecteur, niais conmie tenioin oculaire, qu'il
nous a rmiene le justice. la paix, la bonne foi, la
eecuiile, et lous les au'res ves'iges de Page d'or.*'
^ This image is borrowed from Hobbes, whose
words aie, as near as I can recollect: —" For uhat is
the Papricy, hut the Ghost of Ihe old Roman Empire,
titling crowned on the grave thereof?"
the true Style in Masaccio. — Studied by aU ifu
great jirttsts who followtd him. — Le07iardo tia
yinci, with whom commenced the Gulden ^it of
Painting.— His knowledge of Mathematics and of
Music. — His female Heads all like each other. ~
Trtangitlar Faces.— Portraits of Mona Lisa, SfC
—Picture of yanity and Modesty.— His chef'd^vetf
vrc^ the Last Supyer. — Faded and almost traced.
Fiird with Ihe wonders I had seen.
In Koiiie'.^ stupendous shrines and halls,
1 felt the veil of »leep, serene,
Come o'er ihe memory of each scene,
As twilight o'er ihe landscape falls.
Nor was i( slumber, sound and deep,
But such as suits a poet's rest —
Thai sort of thin, trai,spirent sleep. _
Through which his day-dreams shtne the best.
Meltiought upon a plain I stood.
Where cer;ain wondrous men, 't was said.
With strange, miraculous power endu'd,
Were comin!;, each in turn, to shed
His art^' illusions o'er the sight.
And call up minicles of light.
The sky above his lonely place.
Was of that cold, uncurtain hue,
The canvass weais, ere, warm'd apace.
Its blight creation dawns to view.
But soon a glimmer from the east
ProclaiinM the first enchantments Digh;3
And as the feeble light incteas'd.
Strange figuies mov'd across the sky,
Wiih golden glories deck'd, and streaks
Of gold among thf.ir garments' dyes ; «
And life's resemblance ling'd their cheeks,
But nought of life was in their eyes; —
Like the fiesh painted Dead one meets,
Borne stow along Rome's uiouiuful streets.
But soon these figures pass'd away ;
And forms succeeded to iheir place,
With less of gold, in iheir array,
But shining wuh more naiural grace,
And alt could see the cliamiing »ands
Had pabs'd into more gified hands.*
Among these visions there was one,6
Surpassing fair, on which the sun.
That insttnt risen, a beam lei fall.
Which through the dusky twilight trembled,
And reach'd at length, ihe spot where all
1 hose great magicians stood a'sembled.
And as they lurn'd their heads, to view
The ^hining lu>lre, 1 could trace
The bright varieties il threw
On each uplifted »tud))ng face; "^
* Margaritone of Orezzo, who was a pupil and
imilaUT of the Greeks, is said lo have invented this
art of gilding Ihe ornaments of pictures, a practice
which, though it gave way to a purer taste al the
beginning of the l6ih century, "as siilt occasionally
used by many of the great masiers : as by Ra|ihael in
Ihe nriinmenls of the Fornarina, and by Rubens not
unfrequentiv in glories and llames.
5 Cimabue, Giotto, &c.
G The works of Masaccio. — For the chiracler of
this powerful and original genius, see Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds's tuelflh discnurse. Mis celebrated frescos are
in the church of St. Pittro del Carmine, at Florence,
1 All the great artists studied, and man^ of Iheai
borrowed from Masaccio, Several figures in Ihe Car-
toons of Raphael arc taken, with but litile alteration,
fioiu his fle^cos.
352
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
While many a voice with !oud acclaim,
CalPd forth, " Masaccio" as tlie name
Of him, the' Enchaner, who had rais'd
This niir<ic!e, on which all gaz'd.
'T was daylight now — the sun had risen,
From out ihe duirsrenn of nlH Night,—
Like ihe Apn^lle, from his prison
Led by the Ansel's h tnd of lighr ;
And -- as the fet ers, when thai ray
Of fftory reach'd tliem. dmpp'd away,l
So flfd the cl'iuds at touch of day !
Just then, a bearded sagel came foith.
Who oft in Ihnu^htful dteani would stand.
To tiace upon the du'-by earth
Sraiige learned fiicuies with bis waod ; 3
And oft he toMk ihe'silver lute*
His little pa^e beliind him bore,
And wak'd such mu^ic as, when mute,
Led in the soul a thirst for niore !
Meanwhile, his prtent *pells went on,
And forms and faces, that fmni out
A dep'h ot shad')\v mildly shone,
Were in ihe soft air seen about.
Thouffh thick as midnight stars ihey beam*d,
Yel all Ihe living sisrers f-eem'd.
So close, in every poin', rest-mbling
Each ntiier's beauties — from Ihe eyes
Lucid as if througti crystal trembline,
Yel s 'ft as if suflused with iigh^,
To Ihe Ir.ng. fawn-like mouth, and chin,
Lovelil) tapering, less and less,
Till, by this very chirm's excess,
Like virtue on the verge of sin,
It toucliM the bounds of ugliness.
Here lonk'd as when they liv'd the shades
Of some <'f Arno's dark-ey'd mauls —
Such maids as should alone live on,
In dfenms thus, when their cliarm- are gone:
Some Mona Lisa, on whose eyes
A pan'er for whole years might g-^ze,*
Nor find in all his pallet's dyes.
One thai could even approach their blaze 1
Here float two spirit shapes,^ the one,
With her while fingers to Ihe sua
Outspread, as if to ask his ray
Whefher it ere had chanc'd to play
Od lilies half so f^ir as 'bey !
'J liii self-pleas'd nvmph, was Vanity —
And by her side another smii'd.
In fnrm as beautiful as she,
But with ihat air, subdu'd and mild,
That siill reseive of puniy,
Wh ch is to beauty like the haze
Of evening to eonie sunny view,
Softening such charms as it displays,
> *'And a light shined in ihe prisoi
hnins fell off from his hands." »icts.
1 Leonardo da Vinci.
a His treatise on Mechanics, Optics, &c., preserved
n the Anibro ian libiary at Milan.
* On dit que Leor;ard paiut pnnr la premiere fois a
a cur de Milan, dms un espece de concours ouvert
entreles mei'leurs joueurs de lyre d'Ifalie, II se pre-
lyre de sa facon, construii en argent. —
Histoire dc la Peinture en Italic.
6 He is said In have been four years empln\ed upon
the porlraii of this fair Florentine, with'uf being able,
ifler all, to come up to his idea of her beauty.
6 Vanity and Modesty in the collection of Cardinal
Fe«ch, :it 'Rome.
here is ra'her awkwa
very delish'ful. Tht
in the p'ssession of L
d, 1.
I of Ihe four hand
jt Ihe picliiie, altogether, is
a repetition of ihe subject
1 Bonaparte.
And veiling others in that hue,
Which fancy only can see through !
This phant<ini nymph, who could ake be.
But the bright Spirit, Modesty?
Long did the learn'd enchanter stay
To weave his spells, and afill there pasa'd
As in the lantern's shifting play,
Gr 'Up after group ill close airay,
Kach fairer, grander, than the last.
But (he great Iriuniph of his power
Was yet to come : — gradual and slow,
(As all that is ordain'd to tower
Amnng the works of man must grow,)
The sacred vision stole lo view.
In that half light, half shadow shown,
Which gives to ev'n the gayest hue,
A sober'd, melancholy tone.
It was a vision of that last,'
Snrrnwful night u hich Jesus pa^s'd
With his disciples when he said
Mournfully to ihem — » I shall be
*'Betray'd by one. who here hath fed
" 'I his night at Ihe same board with me."
And Ihitugh the Saviour, in the dream
Spoke noi ihese woids, we siw Ihem beam
Legibly in his eyes (si) well
Tliegie.nt magician work'd his spell).
And read in every ihoushtful line
Imprinted On that br(»w'divine.
The meek, the tender nature, griev'd,
Not anger'd, to be thus deceiv'd —
Celestial love requited ill
For all its care, yet loving still —
Deep, deep regret that Iheie should fall
Fnim man's deceit so fnul a blight
Upiin that parting hour — and all
His spirit must have felt thai night.
Who, soon to die for human.kind,
Thought only, 'mid his mortal pain,
How mnny a soul was left behind
For whom he died that death in vain I
Such was the heavenly scene — alas
1 h-it scene so bright so soon should pass
Put pictured on the humid air,
Its lints, ere long, grew languid there; 8
And storms came on, tha', cold and rough,
Sc,*tter'd its eent'est glories all —
As when the baffling winds blow off
The hues Ihat hang o'er Terni's fall,—
Till, one by one, the vision's beams
Faded away, and soon it fled,
To join those other v inish'd dreams
That now flit palely 'mong the dead, —
The shadi'u-s of those shades, that go,
Arouud Oblivion's lake, below I
EXTRACT XV.
Rome.
Maj-y Magdalen. — Her Story. — N'umerotts Ptcturei
of her. — Corrcggio. — Guido. — Raphael, ^'C. ~~
1 The Lnst Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, which is
in the Refec!or>' uf ihe Convent delle Gr,.zie at Mdan.
See L'Histoire de la Peinture in Ilalie, liv. iti. chap.
45. 'the writer of that iTitce^ting work (to whom I
take this pp|iortunityof offeringmy acknowledgmeiiis,
fur the copy he sent me a yeir since fnm Rome,) will
see I have profited by some of his observations on Ihis
celebrated picture.
« Leonardo appears to have used a mixture of oil
and v iniish for this picture, which alone, without Ihe
viriius other causes of its ruin, would have prevent-
ed any loni: durati'Mi of its beauties. It ii now
almost entirely effaced.
RHYMES ON THE ROAD.
353
Canova's tvn exquistte Statues. — The So>
If'agdalen.—Chantrey's Admiralionof Canova'i
No wonder, Mary, that thy story
Touchea all hearts— f.)r there we see
The soul's cnriuption, and its glory,
Us death and lil'c coinbiird iu thee.
From t!ie first moment, when we find
Thy spirit haunied by a swarm
Of dark desires,— like demons shriu'd
Ui.hi-Iily in thnt fair form,—
Till when, Ly touch of Heav'n set free,
Thou om St, with those bright locks of gold
(Si) oft the gaze of Bethany),
And, covering in their precious fold
Thy Saviour^s ft-ef, dida shed such teira
As p:»id, e.icli drop, the sins of years ! —
Tht-nce nn, through all thy durse of love,
To Him, tly Heavenly M.s'er,— Him.
Whose biiler death cup from above
Had yet this cordial round the brim,
That woman's faiih and love stood fast
And fearless by Him to the last: —
Till, oh, blesl boon for truth like thine!
Thou wert, of all, the chosen one,
Befpie whose e\e> that Face Uivme,
When risen from Ihe d<ad, hrst shone;
That thou niighi'st see hou, like a cloud.
Had pasb'd away its mortal shtoud,
And m ke that bright revealment known
To he-irts, le^s trus ing than thy own.
All is all'fcling, cheering, grand;
The kindliest record ever given,
Ev'n under God's own kindly hand,
Of what Repentance wins from Heaven I
No wonder, Mary, that thy face,
In all its louclung light of lears,
Shi'uld meet us m each holy place,
Wheie Man before his God appears,
Ho|ieless— were he not taught to pee
All hope in Hin-, who p.irdon'd theel
No w<M;der th.it the i-ainter's -skill
Shoud oft have triumphed in the power
Of keeping thte all lovely &till
Evn in thy sorrow's bittere>t hour;
That soft Correggio should diffuse
Mis meliiiig shadows round thy form ;
Thit Guido's pale, unearthly hues
Should, m pourirayjiig thee, giow warm;
Ttiai all — iroin the ideal, grand,
Inimilabte Rohiaii hand,
Down to the small, eoamelling touch
Of smooth Carliiio —should delight
In picturing her, who " lov'd so much,'*
And w.is, iu spite of sin, so bnghtl
But, Mary, 'mong these bold essays
Of Genius and nf Ait to raise
A senib ance of rho e weeping eyes —
A visio,,, worthv of the sphere
Thy fulh bis earn'd thee in il^e skies.
And III Ihe hearts of all men here, —
None e'er hath match'd, in grief or grace,
Ctnova's daydream of thy lace.
In those bright scuIpturM foims, more bright
With true expression's breathing light,
Than ever yet, beneath ihe stroke
Of chisel, into life awoke.
The one,i poiirlriiying what thnu wert
In ihy first gntf, — while yet the flower
Of those young beauties was unhurt
By son'uw'E slow, contuming power;
t This ^tatue is one of the last work? of Canova,
and was not >et in marble when I left Rome. The
Qtber, which seenis lo pro\e, in contradiction to very
30*
And mirigling eirth*s seductive grace
With heav'n's subliming thoughts so well,
We doubt, while gazmg, in luhitii place
Such beauty was most foiiii'd to dwell! —
The otticr, as thou lonk'd=t. when years
Of fa^tltlg, [jenitence, and tears
Had worn Ihy framt' ; — and ne'er did Art
With half sujh speaking power express
The ruin which a breaking lieart
S|)reads, by degrees, o'er loveliness.
Those wa>'ing amis, that keep ttie trace,
Ev*n still, o( all their youthful grace.
That htosen'd liair, of v\hich thy brow
Was once so proud, — neglected now ! —
Those featmes, ev'n in fading worth
The freshest bloom to o'hcrs given.
And those sunk eyes, now lust lo earth.
But, to the la^t, still full of heaven I
Wonderful art s" ! praise, like mine —
I'hough sprtngiiig fiom a soul, that feels
Deep worship of those works divn e.
Where Genius all his light reveals-
How weak 'I is lo the words that came
From him, thy i ecr in art and lame,3
Wb(mi I have known, by day, by night.
Hang oVr thy nurble with delight ;
And, while his Imgering hand would steal
0*er eveiy grace the tapei's rays,3
Give thee. wi:h all the generous zeal
Such master spuits only feel.
That best ot fame, a rival's praise !
EXTRACT XVI.
Les Charmettes.
A Fisit to the House where Rousseau lioed with
Madame de Warnns.— Their Menage.— Its Grosi'
ness. — Claude Anei. ~ Reverence with which the
Spot is now visited. — Absurdity of this blind De-
votion to Fame. — Feelings excited by the Beauty
and Seclusion of the Scene.— Disturbed byits Asso-
ciations with Rousseau's History.— Imyoslures of
Men of Genius. — Their Power of mimicking all
the best Feelings, Love, Indcj^endencty ^c.
Strange power of Genius, that can throw
Round all thai 's vicious, weak, and low,
Such niagic iighls, such rainbow dyes
Ai dazzle ev'n the steadiest eyes.
T is worse than weak — *t is wrong, 't is fhame,
This mean prosTati'-n before Fame ;
This ca-ttng down, beneath the car
Of Idols, whatsoe'er they are,
Life's purest, holiest decencies.
To l)e cnreer'd o'er, as tliey please.
No— give triumidiant Genius all
For which his loftiest wish can call.
If he be worshipp'd, let it be
For attributes, his noblest, first ;
Not with that >>:ise idolatry.
Which sanctifies his last and wor^t.
high authority, that expression, of the intensest k.nd,
is fully within the spheie of sculpuie, was executed
many years ago, and is in the possession of ihe Count
Somariva,at Paris.
» Chantrey.
3 Canova always shows his fine statue, the Vener*
Vincitrice by the light of a small candle.
354
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
I may be cold ;— may want rhat glow
Of hi^h romance, which bards should knowj
That holy homage, which is felt
In treading where the great have dwelt ^
This reverence, whatsoe'er it be,
1 fear, 1 feel, i have it not : —
for here, at this still hour, to me
The charms of this delif^hlful sjiot ;
Its calm ieclusiou from the thruiif;.
From all the heart would f^in forget;
This narrow valley, and the song
Of i's small murmuring rivulet;
The nittmg, to and fio, of birds,
'I'ranquil and tame as they were once
Id Eden, ere the slarlli^ig words
Of Man dislurb'd their orisons;
Tho^e liitle, shadowy paths, ihal wind
Up the hill-side, with fruil-trees lin'd,
And lighted only by the breaks
The gay wind in the fotiige makes,
Or visias, liere and there, thit ope
Through weeping willows, like the snatches
Of far.otl" scenes of light, which Hope
Ev'n through ihe shade of sadness catches! —
AW Itiis, which — could I once but lose
The memory of those vulgar ties,
Whose grossness all the heavenliest hues
Of Genius can no more disguise.
Than Ihe sun's beams can do away
The filth of fens o'er which Ihev play —
This scene, which would have fiilM my heart
With thoughts nf all that happiest is;—
Of Love, where self huh only part,
As echoing back annther's bliss }
Of soiilude, secure and sweet.
Beneath whose sh;ide the Virtues meet ;
Which, while it shelters, never chills
Our sympathies with hunian woe,
Bui keeps Ibem, like scquesterM rills,
Purer and fresher in thtir flow ;
Of happy days, that share their beams
'Iwixt quiet mirth and wise entploy;
Of tranquil nights, that give, in dieams,
The moonlight of the morolDg'ft joy 1 —
AH this my heart could dwell on here^
But for those gross memeDtos near ;
Those sullying truths, that cross the track
Of each sweet thought, and drive them bacK
Full into all Ihe mire, and strife,
And vanities of that man's life.
Who, more than all that e'er have glow'd
VViih Fancy's flame (and it was his.
In fullest warmth and radiance) short'd
What ;ui impostor Genius is;
How, witli lliat slronj?. mimetic art.
Which forms its life and soul, it takes
All shHjies of thought, all hues of heart,
Nor Itels, itselfj one throb it wakes;
How like a gem its light may smile
O'er the dark path, by mortals trod.
Itself as mean a worm, the while.
As crawls at midnight o'er Ihe sod ;
What gentle words and thoughts may fall
From iis false lip, what zeal to bless,
White home, friends, kindred, country, all,
Lie waste beneath its selfishness;
How, wiih the pencil hardly dry
From colouring up such scenes of lov«
And beauty, as makfr young hearts sigh,
And dream, and think Ihrousrh heav'n theyrovt^
They, who can thus describe and move.
The very workers (»f These charms,
Nor seek, nor know a joy, above
Some Maman's or Theresa's arms I
How all, in short, that makes the boast
Of their false tongues, they want the most;
And, while wiih freedom on their lips,
Sounding their timbrels, to set free
This bright world, labouring in Ihe' eclipse
Of priestcraft, and of slaveiy,—
They may, themselves, be slaves as low
As ever Lord or Patron made
To blossom in his smile, or grow,
Like stunted brushwood, in his shade.
Out on the craft ' — 1 'd rather be
One of those hinds, that round me tread,
With just enough of sense (o see
The noonday sun that 's o'er his head,
Than thus, with high-built genius curst,
That hath no heart for its foundation,
Be all, at once, that's brightest, worst,
Sublimes', meanest in creation \
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
OCCASIONAL EPILOGUE,
SPOKEN BY MR. CORRY, IN THE CHARAC-
TER OF VAPID, AFTER THE PLAY OF THE
DRAMATIST, AT THE KILKENNY THEA-
TRE.
{Entering as if to annomice the Piny.)
I^adies and gentlemen, on Monday night.
For the ninth time — oh accents of delight
To the poor auihur's ear, when three times three
With a full bumper crowns his Comedy !
When, long by money, and the muse, forsaken,
He finds at length his jokes and boxes taken,
And Bees his play-bill circul 'te — alas.
The only bill on which his nnnie will pass !
Thus, Vapid, thus shall Thespian scrolls of fam^
Through box and gallery waft your well-known name,
While^Criiic eyes Ihe happy cast shall con.
j And leirned ladies spell your Dram. Person.
'Tis said our wnrthy Manager' Intends
To help my night, and he, you know, has friends.
Friends, did I say ? for fixing friends, or parts,
Engaging actors, or engaging hearts.
There 's nothrng like him ! wits, at his request,
Are turn'd to fuuls, and dull dogs learn to jest ;
Soldiers, for him, good "trembling cowards" make,
And beaus, turn'd clowns, look ugly for his sake;
For him ev'n lawyers talk withf.ut a fee.
For him (oh friends-liip 1) /act tragedy !
In short, like Oipheus, his persuasive tricks
Make boars amusing, and put life in sticks.
t The late Mr. Richard Power.
^ The brief appellation bv which those persons
were distinguished who, at the opening of the new
theatre of Covent Garden, clamoured for the continu-
ance of Ihe old prices of admission.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
355
Let them come on, like snakes, alt hiss and rattle,
Arai'd wilh a thousand fans, we'd give Iheni baltle;
Vou, on our side, R. P.» upon our banners,
Soon should we leach the saucy (>. F.'s manners:
And show that, here— howc'er John Bull may doubt-
Iti all our plays, the Rint-Act 'a cut out ;
And, while we skin) ihe creAni of many a, jest,
Your well-timed thunder never sours its zest.
Oh gently thus, when three short weeks are past,
At Shakspi-art's al ar,'ishall uc breaihe our last;
And, ere itiis lon^ lov*d dome to ruin nods,
Die all, die uubly, die like demigods!
EXTRACT
FROM A PROLOGUE WRITTEN AND SPOKEN
BY THE AUTHOR, AT THE OPENING OF
THE KILKENNY THEATRE, OCTOBER,
1809.
Yet, even here, though Fiction rules the hour,
There shine some ^nuine smiles, beyond her power ;
And there are tears, too — lears thil Memory sheds
Kv'n o*er Ihe feast that mimic fancy spreads.
When her heart niist-es one lamented gue8t,3
Whose eye so Ion? threw light o'er all the rest I
There, there, indeed, the Mu^e forgets her task,
And drooping weep^ behind 'I'halia't ma^k.
Forgive this gloom — fnri^ive this joyless strnin,
Too sad to welcome pleasure's smiling train.
But, meeting thus, our hearts will part the lirhter,
As mis* at dawn but makes Ihe setting brighter;
Gay Epilogue will shine where Prologue fails —
As glow-worms keep their splendour for their tails.
I know not why — but time, methinks, hath pass'd
More heel tlian usual since we parted last.
It seems but like a dream of yesler-night.
Whose charm still hangs, wiih fond, delaying light;
And, ere the memory luf.e one glowmg hue
Of former joy, we come to kindle r.ew.
Thus ever in:ty the i\\ iiig moments haste
Wilh trackless fool along life^ vulgar waste,
But deeply print and lingeringly muve.
When thus they reach the sunny spots we love.
Oh, yes, uhateverbe our gay career,
L.el this be still the soMice of the year,
Where Pleasure's sun shall at its height remaiD,
And slowly sink to level life again.
THE SYLPH'S BALL.
A Jiylph, as bright as ever sported
Her fiiinre through the fields of air,
By an old swarthy Gnome was courted,
And, strange lo say, he won the fair.
The annals of the oldest wiich
A pair so sorted crmid not show ;
But tiow refuse ? — the Gnonte was rich.
The Rothschild of the world below ;
1 then pre-
* The initials of our manager's name.
*This alludes to a scenic represei.lat
paring for the last night of the performs
3 The Inte Mr. John Lyster. one of Ihe oldest mem-
bers and best actors of the Kilkenny 'IliCitrical So-
ciety.
And Sylphs, like other pretty creatures.
Are told, betimes, they must consider
Love as an auctioneer of features,
Who knocks them down to the beat bidder.
Home she was taken to his Mine —
A Pahice, paved wilh diamonds all —
And, proud as L^dy Gnonie to shine,
Sent out her tickets fur a Bail.
The lower world, of course, was there.
And all Ihe be^t ; but of the upper
The sprinkling was but ehy and rare, —
A few old tiyljduds, who lov'd supper.
As none yet knew the wondrous Lamp
Of Davy, that renown'd Aiaddin,
And the Gnome's Halls exhal'd a damp,
Which accidents from tire were bad id;
The chambers were supplied with light
By many strange but safe devices ;
Large tiretlies, such as shine at night
Among the Orient's flowers and spicet;^
Musical flint-mills — swiftly play'd
By eltin hands — that, flashing ruund,
Like certain flre-eyed minsirel maids,
Gave out, at once, both light and sound.
Bologna atones, that drink the sun ;
And water from that Indian sea.
Whose waves at night like wiId-fireruD —
Coik'd up in crystal carefully.
Glow-worms, that round Ihe tiny dishes,
Like little light-houses, were get up;
And pretty phosphorescent fishes.
That by their own gay light were eat up.
*MoDg the few guests from Ether, came
Thst wicked tiylph, whom Love we call -«
My Lady knew him but by name,
My Lord, her husband, not at all.
Some prudent Gnomes, M is said, appriz'd
That he was coming, and, no doubi,
Alarm'd about his torch, advis'd
He should, by all means, be kept out.
But rthers disapprovM this phn.
And, by his flame though somewhat frighted,
Thoustit Love too much n gentleman.
In such a dangerous place to light it.
However, there he was — and dancing
Wilh the fair Sylph, light as a feather;
They lonk'd like twn tresh sunbeams, glancing
At daybreak, down to earth together.
And all had gone off safe and well.
But for thai plaguy torch, whose licht.
Though not yet kindled — who could tell
How soon, how devilishly, il might f
And so it chanced — which, in those dark
And tireless h-ills was quite amazing;
Did we not know how small a >p.irk
Can set the torch of Love a-blazing.
Whether it came (when close entangled
Id the gay waltz) from her bright eyes,
Or from ttie lucciule, that spangled
Her locks of jet — is all surmise ;
But certain *t is ihe' ethereal girl
Did drop a s[)ark, it some (>dd turning,
Whicii, by the w.iltz's windy « hirl
Was f.uin'd up into actual burning.
3S6
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
Ob, for that Lamp's metallic ^auze,
That cuitain of prutecting wire,
Which Davy delicately draws
Around illicil, dangerous fire! —
The wall he sets »lwixt Flame and Air,
(Like ihat, which barrd >..uiijc I hisbe's hiiss,)
Through whose hinall holes i(ii- ilangerous (lair
May SCL each other, bul not ki&s.i
At first the torch look'd rather hlueJy,^
A sign, Ihey say, that no good boded —
Then quick Itie gas became uniuly.
And, crack ! the ball-room all exploded.
Sylphs, gnomes, and fiddlers mJx'd together,
With all their aunts, sons, oublnsj nieces,
Like butterdies in stormy weather,
Were blown— legs, wings, and tails— to pieces!
While, »mid the-e victims of the torch,
The S>lph, aUs, too, bore her part —
Found lying, wi h a livid scorch
As if trum lightning, o'er her heart !
** Well done" a. laughing Goblin said —
Escaping from this gaseous sliife —
"*T is not the first time Love has made
** A Llow'Up in connubial life !"
REMONSTRANCE,
After a Conversation tcith Lord John Russell^
which he had intimated some Idea of giving up
all political Pursuits,
What! thouj with thy genius, thy youth, and thy
Thou, born of a Russe!! — whose instinct to rua
The accustoni'd career of thy sires, is the same
As the eaglet's, to soar wiih his eyes oa the sun 1
Whose nobility comes to thee, stamped with a seal,
Far, far more ennobling than monarch e'er set ;
With the bl0(,d of thy race, otrer'd .ip for the weal
Of a nation, that swears by that martyidom yet I
Shalt thou he faint-hearted and turn from the strife,
Fioni (he mighty arena, where all that is grand,
And devotedj and pure, and adnrning in life,
>ris for higb-ihuugbted spirits like Ihiae to com-
mand i
Oh no, never dream it — while good men despair
Between tyrants and traitors, and timid men bow,
Never think, for an inatant. Ihy country can spare
Such a light from her darkening horizon as thou.
With a spirit, as meek as the gentlest of those
Who in life's sunny valley lie sheltered and warm ;
Yet buld .ind heroic as ever yel rose
To the top cliUs of Fortune, and breasted her
storm ;
With an ardour for liberty, fresh as, In youth,
It fir^t kindles the haid and gives life to his lyre;
Yet niellow'd, ev»n now, by ihit mildne^s of truth,
Which tempers, but clnlls not, the patriot fire ;
With an eloquence — not like those rillt from a
height,
Which >paikle, and foam, and in vapnur are o'er;
" jt a current, iliat works out its way into light
Throut^h (he tillering recesses of thought and of
lore.
Thus gifted, thou never canst sleep in the shade ;
If the stirrings of Genius, the music of fame,
And tiie chirms of Ihy cauBe have not power to
persuatie,
Yet ihiiik how to freedom tfaou'rt pledgM by thy
Name.
Like the boughs of that laurel, by Delphi's decree,
Set apart for the Fane and its service divine,
So the branches, that 6])ring froai the old Russell
tree,
Are by Liberty claimed for the use of her Shrine.
MY BIRTH-DAY.
•* My birth-day" — what a different sound
That uord had in my youthful ears I
And how, each lime the day comes round,
Less and less white its mark appears !
When first our scanty years are told,
II seems like p.istin.e to grow old ;
And, as Youth counts the shining links,
Thai '1 ime around him binds so fast.
Pleased with the task, he little ihinks
How hard that chain will press at last.
Vain was ttie man, and false as vain,
Wliosaidi— '* were he ordain'd to run
"His long career of life again,
"He would do all that he Aarf done."—
Ah, 't is not thus tlie voice, th.it dwells
Id sober birih-days, speaks to me ;
Far ntherw ise — of time it tells,
Lavisb'd unwisely, carelessly ;
Of counsel mock'd ; of talents, made
Haply for high And pure designs,
But oft, like Israel's incense, laid
Upon unholy, earthly shrines;
Of nufbiiig many a wrong desire j
Of wandering after Love too far.
And taking every Dieteor fire,
I hat cro^s'd my pathway, for his star. —
All this il tells, and, could I trace
The' imperfect picture o'er again,
With power to add, retouch, efljce
The lights and shades, the jny and pain,
How little of the past would stay !
How quickly all should melt away —
All — but that Freedom of the Mind,
Which hath been more than wealth to me ;
Those friendships, in my boyhood twinM,
And kept till now unchangingly;
And that dear tiome, that saving aik,
Where Love's true light at last I 've found
Cheering w i:hin, when all grows dark,
And comfortless, and stormy rouud 1
FANCY.
The mnre Pve view'd this world, the more I've
That, tiii'd as 't is with scenes and creatures rare,
Fancy c-mmands, within her own bright round,
A vsnrld of scenes and creatures far more fair.
I . Pariique deden
Oscula quisque suae, non ).erveiiieij
^ Fontenelle — *' Si je recommencais ma carriere,
je ferai tout ce que j'ai fait."
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
357
Nor 18 it that her power can call up there
A single charm, thai 's not from Nature won,—
No more than rainbows, m their pride, can wear
, siiisle IiDt uriborrnwM fmni the sun;
Put *t is rhe mental mednini it shines throug;hf
That lends to Beauty alt its charm and hue;
As the 8.ime light, thai o'er the level lake
One dull niouotony of lustre flings.
Will, entering in the rounded rain-drop, make
Colours as gay as those on angels'' wings 1
FANNY, DEAREST.
Tes, had I leisure to sigh and mourn,
Fanny, dearest, for thee I 'd sigh ;
And every smile on my cheek should turn
To tears when thou art nigh.
But, between love, and wine, and sleep,
Sn busy a life I live,
That even the lime it would take to weep
Is more than my heart can give.
Then wish nie not to despair and pine,
Fanny, dearest of all the dears !
The Love Ihat 's order'd to bathe in wine,
Would be sure to take cold in tears.
Reflected bright in this heart of mine,
Fanny, dearest, thy image lies;
But, ah 1 the mirror would cense lo shine,
If dimni'd too often with sighs.
They lose the half of beauty's light,
Who view it through sorrow's tear
And 't is t)Ul to see ihee truly bright
That ! keep my eye-beams clear.
Then wait no longer till tears shall flow
Fanny, dearest ! the hope is vain ;
If sunshine cnnnot dissolve thy snow,
1 shall never attempt it with rain.
TRANSLATIONS FROM CATULLUS.
Caryn. 70.
Dicebaa quondam, S(c.
TO LESBIA,
Thou told'st me, in our days of love,
That 1 had al! that heart of thine ;
That, ev'n to share the couch of Jove,
Thou wQuld^st not, Lesbia, part from mine.
How purely wert thou worshipped thenl
Not with the vazne and vulgar fires
Which Beauty wakes in soulless men, —
ttut lov'd, as children by their sires.
That flattering dream, alas, io o'er ; —
I know thee now — and though these eyes
Doat on thee wildly as befnre,
Yet, even m doating, I despise.
Ves, soiceress— mnd as it may seem —
With all thy craft, such spells adorn thee,
That passion even outlives esteem.
And I, at once, adore — and scorn thee.
Carm, 11.
^>mrades and friends! with whom, where'er
The fates have will'd thnMigh life I 've rov»d,
Now speed ye home, and with ynu bear
These biiier words to her I "ve lov'd.
Tell her from fool (o fool (o run,
Where'er her vain caprice may call \
Of all her dupes not loving one,
But ruiiiing and maddening alU
Bid her forget — what now is past —
Our once dear love, whose ruin lies
Like a fair flower, the meadow's last.
Which feels the plouglisliare's edge, and dlcil
Carm, 2?.
Sweet Sirmio! thou, .the very eye
Of all peninsulas and isles,
That in our lakes of silver lie.
Or sleep, enwreath'd by Neptune's omilf
How gladly back to thee I fly !
Still doubting, a>king — ca7i it be
That I have let! Hilbynia's sky,
And gaze in safety upon thee?
Oh ! what is happier than to find
Our hearls al ea?e, cur perils past :
When, anxious long, the hghten'd mind
Lays down its toad of care at last:
When, tired with toil o'er land and deep,
Again we tread the welcome (loor
Of our own home, and sink to sleep
On the long wish'd-for bed once niore.^
This, this it is, that pays alone
The ills of all life's former track.—
Shine out, my beautiful, my own
Sweet Sirmio, greet thy master back.
And thou, fair Lake, whose water quaffs
The lighi of heav'n like L\d.a8 ^ea,
Rejoice, rejoice— let all that laughs
Abroad, at home, laugh out for inel
TIBULLUS TO SULPICIA.
Malta taum nobii autxJucet femioa lectam, &e. &e.
Lib. Iv. Carra. 19^
" Never shall woman's smile have power
*' To win me from those gentle charms I" «•
Thus swore I, in that happy hour,
W hen Love first gave thee to my arms.
And still alone thou chnrm'st my sight —
S'ill, ihnugh our city prnudly shine
With forms and faces, fair and bright,
I see none fair or bright bui Ihme.
Would thou wert fair for only me,
And cotildV no heart but mine allure I —
To all men eUe unpleastng be,
So shall I feel my piize secuie.3
Oh, love like mine ne'er wants the 7esl
Of others' envy, others' p-aise;
Bui, in its silence safely blest.
Broods o'er a bljss it ne'er betrays.
1 O quid solutis est beatius curie,
Cum mens onus repmiit, ac peregrino
Lahore fessi venimtis larem ad nostrum,
Desideratnque acvjuiescimus lecto.
^ DIspliceaa ah'is, sic ego tutus ero.
358
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
Charm of mp life I by who-e sweet power
All cares are hush'd. all ills subdued —
My light, in evtn the darkesi hour.
My crowd, ia deepest solitude I ^
No, not though heaven itself sent down
Some maid, oi more rhaii heavenly charms,
With bliss undreamt thy bard to crown,
Would be fur her forsake those arms !
IMITATION.
FROM THE FRENCH.
With women and apples bnth Paris and Adam
Made mischief enough in their day : —
God be prais'd thai the fate of mankind, my dear
Madam,
Depends not on vs^ the same way.
For, weak as I am with teiniitaliou to grapple,
The world would have dnubly to rue thee;
Like Adam. 1 'd gladly take Jrum thee the apple,
Like Faris, at ouce give it lu thee.
INVITATION TO DINNER,
ADDRESSED TO LORD LANSDOWNE.
September, 1818.
Some think we bards have nothing real ;
That poets live among the stars so,
Their very dinners are ideal. —
(And, heaven knows, too oft they are bo,) —
For instance, that we have, instead
Of vulgar chops, and stcus, and bashes,
First course— .1 l^hccnix, at the head.
Done in its own celeslial ashes;
At foot, a cygnet, which kept singing
All the time its neck was wTinging,
Side dishes, thus — Minerva's owl,
Or any such like learned fdvvl :
Doves, such as heav'n's poulterer gets,
When Cupid shoots his mother's pets.
Larks, stew'd in Mornine's roseate breath,
Or roasted by a sunbeam's spleridour;
And nightingales, be-rhymed todeith —
Like young pigs whipp'd to make them tender.
Such fare may suit those bards, who 're able
To banquet al" Duke Humphrey's tnble ;
But as for me, who 've long been taught
To eat and drink like other people ;
And can put up with mutton, bought
Where Bromham * lears its ancient steeple —
If Lan^downe will consent t'. shaie
My humble feast, thou:;.h rude the fare,
Yet, seasnii'd by fhat salt he brings
From Attica's salinesr spring",
» Twill turn to dainties;— while the cup,
Beneath his influence briahteiiing up,
Like thai of Paucis, touch'd by Jove,
Will sparkle iil fi.r gods above I
VERSES TO THE POET CRABBE'fl
INKSTAND. 3
WRITTEN MAY, 1832.
Alt, as he left it ! — even the pen.
So lately al that mind's command.
Carelessly lyin^, as if then
Just fallen from his gifted hand.
Have we then lost him ? scarce an hour,
A litlle hour, seems to have past,
Since Life and Inspiration's power
Around that relic breath'd their last.
Ah, powerless now — like talisman,
Found in some vanish'd wizard's halls.
Whose mighty chtrm wiih him began
Whose charm with him extinguish'd falls.
Yet though, alas I the gifts that shone
Around thai pen's exploring track,
Be now, with its great master, gone,
Nor living hand can call them back;
Who does not feel, while thus his eyes
Rest on the enchanter's broken wand,
Each eaith-boni spell it work'd arise
Before him in succession grand? —
Grand, from the Truth that reigns o'er all ;
The unshrinking Truth, that lela her light
Through Lifes low, dark, interior fall.
Opening the wliole, severely bright;
Yet softening, as she frowns along.
O'er scenes wliicli angels weep to see —
Where "I'ruth herself half veils the Wrong,
In pity of the Misery.
True bard! — and simple, as the race
Of true-born poets ever are.
When, stooping from their starry place.
They 're children, near, though gods, afar.
How freshly doth my mind recall,
'Mong the few days I 've known with thee.
One that, mnst buojantly of all,
Floats in the wake of memory ; '*
When he, the poet, doubly graced,
in life, as in his perfect strain.
With that pure, mellowing power of Taste,
Without which Fancy shines in vain;
Who in his page will leave behind.
Pregnant with genius though it be,
But half the treasures of a mind,
Where Sense o'er all holds mastery : —
Friend of long years ! of friendship tried
Through many a brigh' and dark event ;
In doubts, my judge — in taste, my guide —
In all, my stay and ornament !
1 Tu mihi curamm reijuies. tu nocte vel atra
Lumen, et in sotis tu mihi tnrba locis.
• A picturesque village in sight of my cottage, and
Khq which it is separated but by a small verdant
3 Soon after Mr. Craltbe's death, the sons of that
gentleman did mc the honour of presenting to me the
inkstand, pencil, &c. which their distinguished father
had long been in the habit of us'ng.
« The lines that follow allude to a day passed in
company with Mr. Crabbe, many years since, when
a pary, con-isling only of Mr. Rogers, Mr. Crabbe,
and (he author of the-e verses, had the pleasure of
dining with Mr. Thomas Campbell, at his bouse at
Sydenham.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
359
He, too, was of our feast that day,
And all were guests of one, whose band
Hath shed a new and deathless ray
Around (he lyic of this great laud j
Id whose sea-odea — as in those shells
Where Ocean's voice of majesty
Seems &till lo sound — immortal dwells
Old Albion's fsjurit of the iiea.
Such was our host ; and though, since then,
Slight clouds have ris'n twixt him and uie,
Who would not grasp such hand again,
Stretch'd forth again iu auiity ?
Who can, in this short life, afford
To let such nli^ts a moment stay,
When thus one frank, atoning word,
Like suDbhme, melts tbem all away ?
Bright was our board that day — though one
Unworthy brother there had places
As 'mong the horses of the iJun,
One was, they say, of earthly race.
Vet 7iext to Genius is the power
Of feeling where true Genius lies;
And there was light around rhat hour
Such as, in memory, never dies;
Light which comes o'er me, as I gaze,
•Jhou RcJic of the Dead, on thee.
Like all such dreams of vanished days,
firightly, indeed — but mournfully 1
TO CAROLINE, VISCOUNTESS VALLETOBT.
WRITTEN AT LACOCK ABBE\, JANUARY,
1832.
When I would sing thy beauty's light,
Such various form>«, and all so bright,
I've seen thee, from thy childhood, wear,
I know nol which lo call most fair,
Nor 'mong the counlltbs charms that spring
For ever round thee, which lo sing.
When I would paint thee, as thou art^
Then alt thou wert cornea o'er my heart
The graceful child, in beauty's dawn,
Within the nursery's shade withdrawn.
Or peepmg out — like a young mooa
Upon a world 't will brighten soon.
Then next, in girlhood's blushing hour
As from thy own lov'd Abbey-tower
I 've seen ihee look, all radiant, dnwn,
With smiles that to the hnaiy frowa
Of centuries round thee lenf a ray.
Chasing even Age's gloom aw ay ;
Or, in the world's resplendent throng.
As I havema-k'd thee glide along,
Among the crowds of fair and great
A spirit, pure and separate.
To which even Admiration's eye
Was fearful to approach ion nigh :
A cifaliiie. ciicl.d bv a spell
Within which nothing wrong could dwell ;
And fiesh and cltar as from the source,
Holding through life her limpid course.
Like A-e-hnsa ihrough the sea,
Stealing in fountain puritv.
Now, ton, another change nf jightl
As noble hndc, eiill meekly bright,
Thou hring'st Ihy Loid a dower above
All eaithly price, pure woman's love:
And show*st what lustre Rank receives,
When with his proud Corinthian leaves
Her roee thus high-bred Beauty weaves.
Wonder not if, where all's 80 fair.
To choose were more than bard can dare
Wonder not if, while every scene
I 've watcird thee through so bright hath been.
The' enamour'd Muse should, in her quest
Of beauty, know not wliert (o rest,
But, dazzled, al thy feet thus fall,
Hailing thee beautiful in all 1
A SPECULATION
Of all speculations the market holds forth,
The best that I know for a lover of pelf,
la to buy Marcus up, at the price he is worth.
And then sell him at that which be sets ou himself.
TO MY MOTHER.
WRITTEN IN A POCKET BOOK, 1822.
They tell us of an Indian tree,
Which, howsoe'er the sun and sky
May tempt its boughs to wander fiee,
And shoot, and blossom, wide and high,
Far better loves to bend its arms
Downward again lo that dear earth.
From which the life, that htis and warms
Its grateful being, first had birth.
'T is thus, though wooM by flat'ering friends,
And fed with fame {if fame it be)
This heart, my own dear moUier, bends.
With love's true inslinct, back to thee I
LOVE AND HYMEN.
Love had a fever — ne'er could close
His liitle eyes till day wa-^ breaking:
And wild and strange enough, Heav'n knows,
The things be rav'd about while waking.
To let him pine so were a sin ; —
One, to whom all ihe world's a debtor—
So Doct<T Hymen was call'd in,
And Love that night slept rather better.
Next day the case gave further hope yet,
Though still some ugly fever latent; —
** Dose, as before" — a genile opiate.
For which old Hymen ha^ a patent.
After a monlh of daily call.
So fist the dose went on restoring.
That Love, who first ne'er slept at all,
Nuw touk, the rogue! to downright snoring.
LINES ON THE ENTRY OF THE AUSTRIANS
INTO NAPLES, 1S21.
Carbons no(ii(i.
Ay— Jown to the dust wi'h them, slaves as they are,
'From this hour, let the btouti in (heir dastardly
That shrunk at the first touch of Liberly*8 war.
Be was'ed for tyrants, or stagnate in cnams.
360
PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH VOLUME.
On, on like a cloud, through their beautiful vales, I When around you the shades of your Mighty 'n fame, '
Ye locusts of tyranny, blasting Ihent o'er— Filicajas and I'etrarchsj seemed bursting lo view,
fill, fill up their wide sunny waters, ye sails And their words, and their warmugs, like tongues of
from each elave-oiart of Lurope, and shadow their bright llame
ihore! Over freedom's apostlts, fell kindling on you ! '
Let their fate be a mock-word — lei men of all lands
Laugh out, with a scorn thit shall nn^ to the poles,
When each swoid, that the cowards let fall from
their hands,
Shall be furg'd into fetters to enter their souls.
And deep, and more deep, as the iron is driven,
Base slaves ! let the whet of (heir agony be,
To think - as the Doom'd ofieu think of that heav'n
They had once wilhin reach — that they ntigfU
have been free.
Oh shame 1 when there was not a bosom, whose heat
fiver rose 'bove the zero of C ^h's heart,
That did not, like echo, your war-hymn repeat,
And send all its prayers with your Liberty's
start ;
When the world stood in hope — when a spirit, that
breaUi'd
The fresh air of the olden time, whisper'd about ;
And the swords of all Italy, half-way unshealh'd,
But wailed one coLquermg cry, lo flash out 1
Oh shame ! that, in such a proud moment of life,
Worth the hisfry nf ages, when, liad you but hurl'd
One bolt at your tyrant invader, that strife
lietween Ireeiiien and tyrants had spread through
the world —
That then — oh ! disgrace upon manhood — ev'n then,
You should falter, should cling to your pitiful
breath ;
Cow'r down into beasts, when you might have stood
And prefer the slave's life of prostration to death.
It is strange, it is dreadful : — shout. Tyranny, shout
Through jour dungeons and palaces, " freedom is
If there lingers one spark of her light, tread it out,
And returu to your empire of darkness ouce more.
For, \( stick are the braggarts that claim to be free,
(Jome, Despot of Russia, thy feet let me kiss;
far nobler to live (he brule bondman of thee,
Thau to sully ev'n chains by a struggle like this \
END OF VOL.
VIX.
PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH VOLUME.
On my return from the interesting visit to Rome, of
which some account has been given In the preceding
Preface, I took up my ;«bode in Pari?, and. being
_,oiued there by my fannly, continued (o reside in that
capit'tl, or its environs, till about the close of the yenr
1822. As no life, however sunny, is without its
clouds, I could not escape, of course, my share of
such passing shadowh ; and ihis long e^trangement
frcm our happy English home, towards which my
family yearned even more fmidly th.ui myself, had
been caused by difficulties of a pecuniary nature, and
to a large amount, in which I had been involved by
the conduct of the person who acted as my deputy in
the small office 1 held at Hermuda.
That I should ever have Ci me to be chosen for such
anemployment seem-, one of those freiks or anomalies
of human destiny which batile all ordinary specula-
tion ; and went far, indeed, to realise Beaumarctuis'
notion of the sort of standard by which, too fre-
quently, qualification for place is regula'ed, — ** II
fallut un calculaleur ; ce ful un danseur qui I'obtint."
But however much, in ihis instance. I sidTered from
my want of schoohng in matteis of busitiess. and niore
especially from my having neglected the ordinary
precaution of requiring secuiiiy from my deputy, I
was more than consoled for all such embarrassment
were it even leo times as much, by the eager kindness
With which friends pressed forward to help to relense
me from my difFicuHifS. Could 1 venturs lo name
the per-ons,— nnd they were manv, — who thus volun-
teered tht-ir aid. it would be fouiid they were all of
them men whose charader^ enhanced such a srrvice,
and tha , in ;ill. the name and the net refleced honour
upon eich nther.
I shall so tar lift the veil in which such delica»e
generosity seeks to shroud itr-elf. as lo menii m briefly
the maimer in which one of these kind friends,—
himself possessing but limittd means, — pioposed to
contribute to the object of releasing me from my
embarrassments. Afier adverting, in his letter, to my
misfortunts, ana "the noble way," as he was pleased
to say, "in which I boie them," he adds,— " would
it be very 'mperliuent lo s.y, that i have 500Z. entire-
ly at your disposil, to be paid when you like; and as
much more Ih it I o uld idvance, upon any reasonable
security, payable in seven years ?" The writer con-
cludes by apologising anxiously and delicately for
*'the liberty whi^h he thus lakes," assuring me that
" he would not have made the ofler it he did not feel
thai he would most readily accept the same assistance
fiom me." 1 select this mie ms!ance from among the
many which thai trying event of my life enables me
to adduce, bo'h on account of the deliberate feeling of
manly regard which it manifests, and also frnm other
considerations which it uould be out of place heie lo
mention, but which rendered so genuine a mark of
fiif-ndship from such a quarter peculiaily touching
and welcome to me.
VVhen such were the men who has'ened to my aid
in this emergency, I need hardly say. it was from do
squeamish pride,— foi the pride uould have been in
receiving favours from such hands.— (hat I came to
the resolution of gratefully declining their offers, and
endeavourii g to work oui n.y deliverance by nivoi\n
efforts. With a credit still fresh in the nparket of
liierature, and wiih publishers ready as ever to risk
iheir thousuids on my name. 1 could not but feel tha',
however gratifyiug was the j
friends, 1 should i-est show Ih _
deserved 'heir offers, bv declining, under such cir-
cuins'ances. t.. accepi them.
Meanwhile an ahachmtnt had issued against nie
from the Ci'Urt of Admiralty; and as a neg'-ti^iion
was ab(>ut to be opened with the American claimants,
for a reduction of their large demand upon me, — sup-
posed, at that time, to amount to six thousand pounds,
zeal I
PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH VOLUME.
3G1
—it wasdjemed necessary lliat, pending the Irfaly, I
•liould take up my abode lu trance.
To wriie tor tlie means ot daily subsistence, and
even in most jnslaEices lo "foreslall llie slow harvest
of llie Ijrain," wis fnr me, unlucliily, no novel 'ask.
But 1 iKid MOW, In additinn to liie-e lionie calls upon
llie Muse, a new, painful, and, in ils first aspect,
ovtrwlielniing exiiteiice lo provide for; and, certain-
ly, I'aris, swarmiris thruugliout a* it was, at llial
period, with rich, gay, and dissijialed Kri^lish. was.
to a person of mv sociil habits and inuliiranous ac-
quainiance, the lery wcrst pussible place ihat could
have been tesnrled lo for even ihe semblance vi a
quiet or studious home. The only tianquil, and,
tlierefore, to nie, most precious portions of thai peiiod
were the two summers passed by my family and my-
self wilh our kind .Spanish friends, the V Is,
at Iheir beautiful place. La Buite Coa^lin, on the road
up b. Bellevue. 'Ihere, in a cott.ge b. loiging tn M.
V 1, and but a few ^tcps finm his house,
we contrived to conjure up an apparition of SUiper-
nd 1 •
> able for somt
! to 1
feeling of cinifnt and h ■me. 1 used fiequently t"
pass llie morning in rambling alone Ihrnugh ihe noble
park of Si. Cloud, wiih no appaiatus for the "Ork of
authorship but my memorandum-bnok aid pe
forining sentences to run sinooihand mouUling \
into shape. In the evenings I gener.illy joined
Mad "
It was, indeed, to the secluded life I led during the
the lirlds,
luetls, or, with
pleasure, sate a~ listener, while she sung to
the Spanish guilar those sweet songs of her own coun-
try to winch few voices could do such justice.
Une of the pleasant circumstances connedcd with
our summer visits to La Butte was the near neigh-
bourliood of our friend, Mr. Kenny, the lively dra-
matic writer, who was lodged picturesquely in the
leniains of the Palace of the liing's Ann's, at Belle-
vue. I remember, on my first telling Kenny the par-
ticulars of my Beimuda mishap, his saying, after a
pause of real feeling, "Well,— it's lucky you're a
poet ;— a philosopher never could have bume it."
Washington Irving alio was, for a shirt time, our
visiter; and siill recollects, I trust, his re.iding tn me
some parts "f his then forthcoming work, Bracebridge
Hall, as we taie together on the grass walk that le .ds
to the Rochcr, at La Butte.
Among Ihe writings, then but in embryo, to which
I looked forward for Ihe means of my enfranchise-
ment, one of the most important, as well as most
likely 10 be productive, was my intended Life of
Sheridan. Bui 1 soon found that, at such a di^lance
from all those living authorities from whom alone 1
could gain any interesting information respecting the
private life of one who left behind him so little epis-
tolary correspondence, it would be wholly impossible
to proceed satisfacorily with this task. Accordingly
I wrote to Mr. Murray and Mr. Wilkie, who were at
that time the intended publishers of Ihe work, to
apl'rize them of this temporary obstacle to its pro-
Being thus bafBed in the very first of the few
resources I had looked to, I next tlnugbt of a Ro-
mance in verse, in the form of Letters, or Epi~tlesi
and with this view sketched oul a story, on an Egyp-
tian subject, diireriiig not much from that which,
some years after, formed the gioundwoik of '
Epicurean. After labouring, however, for so
months, at this experiment, amidst inlerriip'ioii. i
sipation, and distraction, which mighl well put
the Nine Muses to flight, I give up the at empt
despair: — fully convinced of Ihe truth of that wa
ing conveyed in some early veres of my own,
dressed to the Invisible Girl: —
that 1
1S13— 1816,
111 Derbyshiie, that I owed the mspiial-'n, whatever
may have been ils value, of some ol the oest and most
popular portions ol Lalla Kookb. It w.as amidst the
snows of two or three Ueibi-hiiewinteis that I found
myself enabled, by that concentration of thought which
rr'liremenl alone gives, lo call up around ine some of
the sunniest of those Eastern scenes which have since
been welcomed iu India itself, as almost native to its
clime.
Abortive, however, as had now been all my efforts
to w,o the shy spirit of Poesy, amidst such unquiet
scenes, the course nf reading 1 found lime to puisue,
on the subieci of Egypt, was of no small service in
storing niy niind with Ihe various knowledge respect-
ing that couiitiy, which some years later I turned o
account, in writing the sory of the Epicurean. The
kind facilities, indeed, towards this objrct, which
some i-f Ihe nios distinguished French scholars and
artis's alli.rJed ine, are still renien.bered by me wiih
thankfiilne-s. Besides my old acquaintance, Uenon,
whose diaw ings of Egypt, then of some value, I Ire-
queiilly consulted, I found Mons. Fourier and Moiis.
LaiigUs no les> prompt in placing books at
sal. With Humboldt, also,
Paris, I hid more than nnce some conversa'ion on Ihe
subject of Egypt, and remember his expiessiiig him-
self in no very laudatnrv terms respecting the labours
of the French savans in that c uiitiv.
I had now been foiled and liusliaied in two of those
li'erary projects on which 1 had counted most ►an-
guinely in ihe calculation of my resource^ ; and,
though I hid found sufficient time lo funish my mu-
sical publisher with the Eighth Number of the Irish
Melodies, and also a Number of the Na'ional Airs,
thee woiks alone, I knew, would yield but an insuf-
ficient supply, compared i> ith the demands so closely
and threatemnaly hanging over me. In thi- difficulty
I called to mind a sul)jecl,— the Eastern a legory of
Ihe Loves of the Angels,— on which I had, some years
before, begun a prose story, but in w hich, as a theme
for poetry, I had now been anticiiaied by Lord Byron,
in one of the most sublime of his many poetical
miracles, " Heaven and Earth."- Knowing how soon
1 should be lost in Ihe shadow into which s-i gigantic
a precur-or would cast me, I had endeavoured, by a
speed of composition which mu>t have as oni^hed my
hibilually slow pen, to get the start of my noble friend
in thetiinenfpublication, and thus give myself the sle
chance I could perhaps expect, under such unequal
rivalry, of atliacting to my work the attention of the
public. In this humble speculation, however, I failed;
for both works, if 1 recollect righ', made their appear-
at the
vhich had been
^nds upr
e, had
"A liltle col, with trees arow,
And, like its master, very low."
31
Popt.
In Ihe meanwhile, the negoliat
entered into with Ihe American
duclion of the amount of their del
continued to "drag ils slow length along," nor was
it till the month of Sepleinher, IS22, ttiat, by a let er
from the Messrs. Longman, I received the welcome
intelligence that the terms offered, as our ultimatum,
to the oi'pnsite parly, had been at last accepted, and
that I might now with safety return to England. I
lost no lime, of course, in availing myself of so wel-
con'ea piivilege; and as all that teniains now to be
told of this trying epi-ode in my i ast life may be com-
prised in a small compass, I sliall Irn^t lo Ihe patience
of my readers for loleialing the recital.
Dnarriving in England I learned, for the first time,
— having been, till then, kept very much in daikness
on the subject,— that, afier a long and freq '
of
oliatii
Ihc
of Ihe
claim's of the American "nierclianls had been reduced
tJ the sum of one thousand guineas, and that towards
> ,i9nle, p. 71.
362
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
the payment of this the uncle of my deputy,— a rich
London merchant,— had been brought, with some
difficulty, to contribute three hundred pounds. I was
likewise informed, that a very dear and distins:uished
friend of mine, to whnin, by his own desire, the state
of the negotiation was, frnni lime lo lime, reported,
had, upon finding that there appeared, at las', some
chance of an arrangement, and lenrninc also the
amount of the advance mide by my deputy's relative,
immediately deposited in the hands of a banker the
remaining poriion (JSOt.) of the recjuired snm, to be
there in leadiness for the final settlenienl of the de-
mand.
'I hough still adhering to my original purpose of
nwin^ to my own exeriions alone the means oi relief
fromthe>edifficulties, I yet felt a pleasure in allowing
this tlioughiful deposit to be applied to the generous
purpose for which it was destined ; and having em-
ployed in this manner tlie 750/,, I ihen transmitted to
niy kind friend, — 1 need hardly say with "hat feel-
ings of thankfulDess,— a cheque on 'my publishers for
the amount.
Though this effort of the poet's purse was but, as
usual, a new launch into Uie Future,— a new anticipa-
tion of yet unborn nieans,— the result showed, 1 am
happy to say, ihat, in this instance at lea-^t, 1 had not
counted on my bank ** in 7iubibui^* too sauguinely ;
for, on receiving my publishers' account, in the month.
of June following, I found lOOOi. placed to my credit
from the sale of the Loves of the Angels, and 600/.
from the Fables of the Holy Alliance.
I must not omit to mention, that, among the re-
sources i<t ihat time placed at my disposal, was one
small and sacred sum, which had been set apart by its
young possessor for some such heneficeni purpose.
This fund, amounting to about 300^, aiose from the
proceeds of the sale of the first edition of a binjraphi-
cal work llien recently published, whicli will long
be memorable, as well from its own merits and sub-
ject, as from the lustre that has been since shed back
upon it from the public career of its noble author.
Tn a gift from such hands might well have been ap-
plied the words of Ovid,
Mu
In this volume, and its immediate successor, will be
found collected almost all those delinquencies of mine,
in the way of sarire, wliich have appeared, from time
fo lime, in the public joiirnal-!, during the last twenty
or thirty years. The comments and notices required
to throw light on these polirical trifles must be re-
served for our next volume.
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
PREFACE.
The Eastern story of the angels Hamt and M.irut,t
and the Rabbinical fictions of the lo.cs of Uzziel and
bhanicha7.ai,'i are the only sources lo which I need
refer, for the nriicin of llie notinn on which ihis Ro-
mance is founded. In .idtlition to the fitness of the
subject for poe'rv, it struck me also as capable of af-
fording an allegorical medium, through which might
be shadowed out (as I have endeavoured to do in ihe
fnliowing s'ories) the fall of the Soul from its original
purity 3 —the loss of light and happiness which it
suflers, in the pursuit of this world^s perishable plea-
sures—and the punishments, both from conscience and
Divine justice, with which impurity, piide, and pre-
sumptuous inquiry into the awful seciets of Heiven
are sure to be visiled. The beautiful story of Cupid
and Psyche owes iischief charm to this sort of '' veiled
meaning," and it has been my wish (however I may
have failed in the attempt) to communicate to the fol-
lowing pages the same moral interest.
Among the doctrines, or notions, derived by Flalo
from the East, one of the most nalural aud sublime is
J See note on page 365,
a Hyde, de Relig. Vet. Per^srum, p. 272.
3 The account whicli Macrobius gives* of the down-
ward journey of the SonI, through thai gate of the zo-
diac which opens into the lower sphere^, is a curious
specimen of the wild fancies that passed for philoso-
phy in ancient times.
In the system of Mane% the luminous or spiritual
principle owes its corruplinn nit to any evil tendpncv
of its own, but fo a violent inroad of the spirits of
darkness, who, finding themselves in the neighbour-
hood of this pure lit;ht, and beconiing passimiately
enamoured of its be.-»uiy, break the boutjduiea between
I them, and lake forcible possession of it.t
» In Somn. Scipionis, cap. 12.
t See a Treatise '* Ue la Religion des Perse?," by the
{ Abbe Foucher, Memoires de I'Acadeniie, torn. xxxi.
Ll"- 456.
that which inculcates (he pre-existence of the soul,
and its gradual descent into this dark material world,
from that region of spirit and light which it is su])-
posed to have once inhabited, and to which, after a
long lapse of purification and trial, it will return.
This behef, under various symbolicil forms, may be
traced through almi>st all the Oriental theologies.
The Ch»ldeans represent the Soul as originally en-
dowed With wings, which fall away when it sinks
from its native element, and must be re-produced be-
fore it can ho[ie to return. Some disciples of Zomas'er
once inquired of him, "How the wmgs of the Soul
might be made to grow .ngain?'' — "By sprinkling
them," he replied, " with the Waters of Life." — '*Rut
where are those waters to be found ?'' they asked.—
" In the Garden of God," replied Zoroas'er.
The mythology of the Persians has allegorized the
same doctrine, in the history of those genii of light
who strayed from their dwellings in the stars, and
obscured Ilieir original nature by mixture with this
material sohere; while the Egyptians, connecting it
with ihe descent and ascent of the sun in the zodiac,
considered Autumn as embleni.itic of the SouPs de-
cline towards darkness, and the re-appearance of
Spring as its return to life and lisht.
Besides the chief spin's of the Mahometan heaven,
such 3S Gabriel, the angel of Revela ions, Israfil, by
whom the la'^t trumpet is to be sounded, and Azrael,
the angel of deaih, there were also a number of
subaltern intelligences, of which tradition has pre-
served Ihe names, appointed to preside over the dif-
ferent stages, or ascents, into which the celestial
world was supposed to be divided-'* Thus Kelail
governs the fifili heaven; while Sadiel, the presiding
spirit of llie third, is also employed in steadying the
motions of the earth, which would be in a constant
stale of agihition. if this angel did not keep his foot
planted upon its oth.*
Among other miraculous interpositions in Tivour of
Mahomet, we find coinmemoraled in the pages of the
« '* We adorned Ihe lower heaven with lights, and
placed therein a guatd of ;ingel3."— iToran, chap, xli,
» See D*Herbelot, passim.
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
363
Konu the appearance of five thousand angels on his
side at the btillle of Bedr.
The ancient Persians supposed that Orniuzd ap-
pointed thirty angels lo preside successively over the
iliysol the month, and twelve greater one^ to assume
the governnieiit of the months Ihemselves ; among
whom Knhniaii (lo whom Urmuzd oinimided the
cusiody of all animals, rxcept ni .u.) was the greatest.
IMihr, Ihe angel of the "th month, was also the spirit
thai watched over Ihe atlairs of friendship and love ;
— Chur had Ihe caie of the disk of the sun ; — Mah
was agent for Ihe concerns of Ihe moon; — Isphan-
darniaz (whom Cazvin calls llie Spirit of Ihe Earth)
was the tutelar genius of good and virtuous women,
&c. &c. &c. For all this Ihe reader may consult Ihe
191h and 20lh chapters of Hyde de Relig. Vet. I'er.
saruni, where the names and altnbutes of these daily
and monthly angels are with much minuteness and
erudition explained. It appears, from the Zend-
aves a, thai the I'ersians had a ceilain ofBce or prayer
for every day of Ihe month (addressed lo Ihe particu-
lar angel who presided over it), which they called Ihe
The Celestial Hierarchy of the Syrians, as de-
scribed by Kircher, appears to be the most regularly
graduated of any of these systems. In the sphere of
the Moon Ihey placed llie angels, in that of Mercury
the archangels, Venus and Ihe Sun contained Ihe
Principalities and the Powers; — and so on to the
summit 01 Ihe planetary system, where, in the sphere
of Saturn, Ihe Thrones had Iheir slaion. Above this
was the habitation of the Cherubim in (he sphere of
the fixed stars ; and slill higher, in the region of ihose
sUrs which are so distant as lo be iniperL-eptible, the
Seraphim, we are told, Ihe most peifect of all celes-
tial crealures, dwell.
The Sabeans also (as D'Heibelot lells us) had their
classes of angels, to \< horn they prayed as mediators,
or intercessors; and the Arabians worshipped /cma^e
angels, whom they called lienab Uasche, or, Daugh-
ters of God,
THE LOVES OF THE
ANGELS.
*T was when the world was in its primes
When the fiesh stars had just be^xm
Their race of glory, and young: 1 ime
Told his first binh-days by ihe sun;
When, in Ihe light of Nature's dawu
RtJDicmic, men and angels met i
On the high hill and sunny lawn,—
Ere sorrow can.e or Sin had drawn
'T\% ixl man ana heaven her curlain yet \
Whea earth lay neirer to Ihe skies
Than in these dai,6 of crime and woe,
And mortals saw, wiihouf surprise,
In Ihe mid-air, angelic eyes
Gazing upon this world below,
AI^s, that Passion should prnfane,
Ev'n then, the morninK of (he earth!
Tha', sadder s'ill. llie (at.i! stain
Should fall on liearls of heavenly birth —
And thai fnm Woman's love should fall
So dark a btain, mo^t sad of all i
One eveniwij, in that primal h'ur.
On a hill's side, " here hung the ray
Of sun>el, brightening riil and bower,
Three noble youths conversing lay ;
1 The Mahometans believe, says D'HerbeM, that
in Ihat early period of the wnrld, " |es hnmmes n'eu-
rent qu'uiie seule ie!igion,el furent souvent visiles des
Anges, qui leur dr.in.oient la m^in."
And, as they look'd, from time to lime,
To the far sky, where Daylight furl'd
His radiant wing, their brows sublime
Bespoke them of that distant world-
Spirits, who once, in brotherhood
Of faith and bliss, near Alia stood,
And o'er whose cheeks full oft had blown
The wind that breathes from Alla's throne.a
Creatures of light, such as still play.
Like notes in sunshine, round Ihe Lord,
And through their intinite array
Transmit each moment, nit^lit and day
The echo of His luminous word !
Of Heaven Ihey spoke, and, still more oft,
Of Ihe bright eyes iliat charni'd them thence j
Till, yielding gradual to the soft
And balmy evening's influence —
The silent breathing of the (lowers —
The nielling light Ihat beam'd above,
As on their hr>t, fond, erring hours,—'
Each told the story of his love,
The his'ory of that hour unblest,
When like a bird, from its high nest
Won down by fascinating eyes,
For Woman*s smile he lost the skies.
The First who spoke was one, with look
The least celestial of the three-
A S|iirit of li^hl nmuld, that took
The prints of earth most yieldingly ;
Who, ev'n in heaven, was not of those
Nearest the Throne, 3 but held a place
Far ort". among those shining rows
That ciicle out through endless space,
And oer whose wings the light froui Him
In Heaven's centre falls most dim.
Still fair and glorious, he but shone
Among those youths Ihe* ur.heavenliest one —
A creature, to whom light remain'd
From Eden slill, but alier'd, stain'd,
And o'er whose brow not Love alone
A blight had, in his transit, cast,
But other, e^irthlier joys had gone,
And left their fool-prints as they pass'd.
Sighing, as back through aE;es tlown.
Like a tomb-searcher. Memory ran,
Lifting each shroud Ihat Time h<id Ibrown
O'er buried hopes, he Ihus began : —
FIRST ANGEL'S STORY.
<**T was in a land, that far away
Into the golden orient lies.
Where Nature knows no' night's delay,
But springs to meet her bridesnioni, D.»y,
Upon Ihe threshold of the skies.
One morn, on earthly mission >erit,«
And mid-way choosing where to liglit,
I saw, from ihe blue element —
a "To which will be joined the sound of the bells
hanging on the trees, which will he put in motion by
the wind proceeding from Ihe 1 hroiie, so often as the
Blessed wish for nmsic." — bee Salens Koran, Prelim,
Dissert.
3 The ancient Persians suppised that this Throne
was placed in the Sun, ainl that through the stan" ueie
distributed the various clashes of Angels ihat encircled
it.
The Basil rdian? supposed that there were three hun-
dred and siicly-five orders of angels, *'d(int ta perfec-
lion alloit en dec oissant, a mesure qu'ils ^'eIoienoient
tie la premiere cla>^e d'espri's places dans le premier
ciel." Sei; Dujmis, Orig. des Cultes^ torn. ii. p. 112.
* It appears that, in most languages, Ihe term em-
ployed fur an angel nieans al^o a messenger. Firiscb*
364
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
Oh beautiful, bul fatal sight ! —
One of earth's fairest womankind,
Half veil'd from view, or ralher shrin'd
In the clear crystal of a brmik ;
Which, while it hid no single glenin
Of her young be.lulies, made Ihem look
More spirii.ltke, as they might seem
Through the dim shadowing of a dream.
Pausing in wonder 1 look'd on,
While, pla\ fully around her breaking
The waters, that like diamonds shone,
She niov'd in light of her own making.
At length, as frriui that airy height
1 geiilly lowei'd my brealhle-s tlight,
The tremble of mv wings all o'er
(For through each plume 1 felt the thrill)
Startled her, as she reach'd the shore
Of that small lake— her mirror still —
Above whose brink she stood, hke snovr
When rosy with a sunset glow.
Never shall I forget thoseejesl —
The shame, the innocent sui prise
Of that bright face, when in ihe air
Uplooking, she beheld me there.
It seem'd as if each thought, and look.
And motion were that minute chatuM
Fast to the spot, such root she took,
And — like a sunflower by a brook,
With face upturu'd — so still reiraioM !
Id pity to the wondering maid.
Though loth from such a vision turning,
Downward 1 bent, beneath the shade
Of my spread wings ttyftnle the burning
Of glances, which— I well could feel —
For me, for her, too warnily shone j
But, ere 1 could again unseal
My restless eyes, or even steal
One sidelong look, the maid was gone —
Hid from me in the forest leaves.
Sudden as when, in all her charms
Of full-blown light, some cloud receive!
The Moon into his dusky arms.
*T is not in words to tell the power,
The despotism that, fiom that hour.
Passion held o'er me. Uay and night
1 sr>ug)it around each neighbouring spot;
And. in the chase of this sweet light.
My t.isk, and heaven, and all forgot ; —
All, but the one, sole, haunting dream
Of her 1 saw in that bright stream.
Nor was it long, ere by her side
1 found myself, whole happy days.
Listening to words, whose music vied
With our own Eden's seraph lays.
When seraph lays are warm'd by love,
Bul, wanting thai, far, far above ! —
And looking into eyes where, blue
And beautiful, like skies seen through
The sleeping wave, lor me there shone
A heaven, more worshipp'd than my own.
Oh what, while I could hear and see
Such words and looks, was tieaven to me?
Though gross the air on earth I drew,
'T was blessed, while she hreath'd it too ;
Though dark the tiowers, though dim Ihe sky.
Love lent them light, while slie was nigh.
Throughout creation I bul knew
Two separa'e worlds — the 07ig. that small,
Belov'd, and const-craled spot
Where Lea was — the other, all
The dull, w ide waste, where she was not !
But vain my suit, my madness vain ;
Though gladly, from her eyes to gain
One earthly look, one stray desire, ^
1 would have lorn Ihe wings, that huug
Furl'd at my back, and o'er the Fire
In Gehim'st pit their fragments flung;
'Twas hopeless all— pure and uumov'd
She stood, as lilies in Ihe light
Of the hot noon but look more white; —
And though she lov'd me, deeply lov'd,
* r was not as man, as mortal — no.
Nothing of earth was in that glow —
She lov'd me but as one, of race
Angelic, from that radiant place
She saw so oft in dreams — that Heaven,
To which her piayers at morn were selil.
And on whose light she gaz'd at even.
Wishing for wings, that she might go
Out of this shadowy world below,
To that free, glorious element 1
Well I remember by her side
Sitting at rosy even-tide,
When, — turning to the star, whose head
Ixiok'd out, as from a br.dal bed.
At that mule, blushing hour, — she said,
"Oh ! that it were my doom to be
"The Spirit of yon beauteous alar,
"Dwelling up there in purily,
" Alone, as all such bright things are; —
** My sole employ to pray and shine,
" To light my cen.-er at the sun,
*' And ca>t its fire towards the shrine
" Of Him in heaven, the Eternal One !»
So innocent the maid, so free
From mortal taint in soul and frame.
Whom t was niy cime — my destiny —
To love, ay, burn for, with a Hame,
To which earth's wildest fires are tame.
Had you hut seen her look, when first
From my mad lips the' avowal burst;
Not anger'd — no — the feeling came
From depths bevond mere anger's flame ^
It was a sorrow, calm as deep,
A mournfulness that could noi weep,
So fill'd her heart was to Ihe brink.
So Sx'd and froz'n with grief, to think
That angel natures — l hat ev'n I,
Whose love she clung to. as the lie
Between her spirit and the sky —
Should fall Ihus headlong from the height
Of all that heaven hath pure and bright !
That very night — my heart had grown
Impatient of ils inward burning ;
The term, too, of my stay was flown.
And the bright Watchers near the throne,
Already, if a meleor shone
Between them and this nelher zone.
Thought 't was their herald's wing returning.
teh, Ihe Persian word for angel, is derived (s
O'Herbelot) from the verb Firischtin, to send. 1
Hebrew term, too, Melak, has the same significatic
I The name given by the Mahometins to Ihe in-
fernal regions, over which, they say, Ihe angel Tab-
hek presides.
By the seven gates of hell, mentioned in the Koran,
the commentators understand seven ditlereni depart-
ments or wards, in which seven dilTerent s Tts of sin-
ners are to be punished. The first, called Gelieiinem,
is for sinful Mussulmans; the second, Ladha, foi
Christian oflTendcrs ; the third, Hnlhania, is appointed
for Jews; and he fourth and fifth, called Sair and
Sacar, are deslined to receive the Sabasans ami the
worshippers of fire: in Ihe sixth, named Gehili., those
pagans and idolaters w lio admit a plurality of gods
are placed ; while into the abyss of the seventh, called
Derk Asfal, or the Deepest, the hypocritical careen
of all religions arc thrown.
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
365
Oft clid the potent spell-word, given
To Envoys hiiher Inmi ilie skies.
To be proiiouiic'd, when h.ick to heaven
It is tlieir time or wish to rise,
Come to luy lips Ihll f.tal day;
And once, too, was so nearly spoken,
Th,»t my spread pliiniai;e in the ray
And breeze ot heaven bee:an to play ; —
U'he.i my heait fail'd-lhe spell was broken-
The word unhnish'd died away,
And my check'd plunie>, leaily to soar
Fell sUck and lileless as helore.
How could I leave a world, which she.
Or lost or won, made all In me ?
No matter where my wanderings were.
So there she look'd, bieath'd, movM about —
Woe, ruin, death, more sweet with her,
Thin Paradise itself, witliuut !
But, to return — that very day
A feast was held, where, full of mirth.
Came — croivdnK thick as flowers that play
In summer winds — the young and gay
And beautiful of this hrieht earth.
And she was iheie, and inid the young
And beautiful stood hrst, alone ;
Though on her gentle hnnv slill hung
The shadoiv 1 that n.orn had thrown -
The tir,t, that ever shame or woe
H^d C.St upon Its venial snow.
My lieirl was madden'd ; — in the flush
lif the wild revel I give way
To all that frantic ninth - that rush
Of despera e Kaieiy, » hich ihev.
Who never fell how'pain's exce,-s
Can bre.k out thus, ihink happiness!
Sad mimicry of mirih and lite.
Wliose flashes come but Ironi the strife
Of inward p^SMons — like the light
Struck out by clashing swords in tight.
Then, too, that juice of earth, the bane
Aud blessing of man's heait and tirain —
That draught of soicen, which brings
Phauloins of fair, forbidden thmss —
Who-e drops, l:ke those nf lainbows, smile
Ujioii the ini-ts that circle nnin,
Brighi'iiiog not oi.ly Earth, ihe while,
But grasping Heaven, loo, in Iheir apan ! —
Then first the fatal wine-cup raind
Its dews of darkness ihrough my lips,*
Casting whale'er of light reu.aiu'd
To iny Inst soul into eclipse ;
And Hllitig it witti such wild dreams.
Such fantasies and wrong desires,
As, in the absence of heaven's beams.
Haunt us for ever — like wild-fires
That walk this earth, "hen day retires.
Now hear the rest ; — our banquet done,
1 sought her in the' accustom d bower,
Wt-.ere late we oft, when day was gone.
And the world husli'd, had met alone.
At the same silent, inoonli^ht hour.
Her eyes, as usual, were uptuiu'd
To her lov'd star, whose lustre huru'd
Purer than ever on tlial night ;
While she, in looking, grew more bright,
As thoush she boriow'd of its light.
1 I have already mentioned that some of the cir-
cumstances nf this story \vere suggesied to me by the
eastern legend of the two angds. Harul and Marut,
?iveii bv Mariti, who sa\s that the authoi of Ihe
ilini founds upon it Ihe Mahnmeian prohibition of
. ..le.* I have since found that Marili's version of
the tale (which ditfeis also trniii thai of l)r Pri.leaux,
in his Life of Mali nie ,) is taken from the French
Sncyclopedie, in which work, under the head •' Arot
et Marot," the reader will find it.
• The Bahardanush tells the fable differenlly.
There was a virtue in that scene,
A spell of holiness around,
Which, had my burning bruin not been
Thus niiddeii'd, wnuid have held me bound,
As though 1 trod celestial ground.
Ev'n as it was, with soul all flame,
And lips that bnufd in their own sighs,
1 stood to gaze, "ih awe and shame —
The memory of Eden canie
full o'er me when I saw those eyes;
And tho' loo nell each glance of mine
To the pale, shrinking maiden prov'd
How far, alas, from aught divine,
Aught worthy of so pure a shrine,
Was Ihe wild love with which I lov'd.
Vet must she, too, have seen — oh, yes,
'T is soothing but to tMiik she saw
The deep, true, soul-felt tenderness.
The homage of an Angel's awe
To her, a mortal, whom pure love
Then plac d above him — far above —
And all lint stiuggle to repress
A siiitul spirit's mad excess.
Which woik'd within meal that hour.
When, with a voice, w here Passion shed
All the deep s:idne>5 of her power.
Her melancholy power— I -aid,
" 'I'hcii be it so ; if back to heaven
"I mu-t unlov'd, uiipilied flv,
" Without one blest inemoriargiven
"•111 soothe me in th-it lonely sky;
"One look, like those the young and fond
"(live when the> 'repariing — which would be,
"Ev'n 111 reiiienil|^ance. far beyond
" All heaven h ilh left of bliss for me !
"Oh, but to see Ihal head recline
" A minuie on this trembling arm,
" And those niilil eyes lonk up to mine,
" Without a dread, a thought of harm !
" To nieei, but once, Ihe thrilling touch
"Of lips too purelv hind to fear me —
"Or, if that boon be'all too much,
" Ev'n thus to bring their fragrance nea- me!
*' Nav, shrink not so — a look — a word — ■
"tiivelhem but kindly, and I fly;
" Already, see, mv plumes have slin'd,
" And tremble inr Iheir hmne on high.
" Thu-, be our parting — cheek to cheek —
" One minu e's l.ipse will be forgivi-n,
"And thou, the iiexf, slnlt hear me. speak
*' i he spell that plumes my wing fur heaven !"
While thus I spoke, the fearful m.iid,
Of me, and nf herself afraid.
Had shi inking stood, like flowers beneath
The scoichiiig of the sonh-wii,d s breath :
But when I naind — alas, loo well,
1 now recall, tlmugh wilder'd then, —
lusiantly, when I nani'd Ihe spell,
Her brow, her eyes upio-e again.
And, with an eagerness, that sjioke
The sudden light that o'er her broke,
" The spell, the spell ! — oh, speak it now,
"And I will bless thee I" she exclaini'd —
Unknowing what I did, inllani'd.
And lost alre.-idy on her brow
1 s'ainp'd one burning kiss, and nanid
The mvslic word, till then ne'er told
To livi'ng creature of earlh's mould I
Scarce wa- it said, when, quick -is thought.
Her lips from mine, like echo, caught
The hilly sound — her hands and eyes
Were instant lif ed to the skies.
And thrice to heaven she spoke it out
With tint triumph int look Faith wears.
When not a cloud of fear or doubt,
A vapour fiom this vale of 'ears,
Betw-eeii her and her Uod appears '.
Tha' very moment Iter whole frame
All blight and gloritied hecaiiie.
-rrJj
31*
3(>6
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS,
And at her back I saw unclose
Two win^s nia^nificenl as those
That sparkle arouiid Alla's Throne,
Whose plumes, as buoyantly she rose
Above me, in Ihe iiionn-beain shone
With a pure light, which — from i s hue,
Unknown upon ihis eaiih - I knew
Was light trom Kden, ghstening through
Mosi hnly vision 1 neer before
Dili aught so radmnl— since the day
When Eblis. in his downfall, bore
The Ihiid of the bright stars away —
Rise, in enth's btauty, to repair
That loss of light and glory there 1
But did I timely view her flight ?
Did not /, too', proclaim out thrice
The powerful words that were, that night,
Ohev'n for heaven too much delight 1 —
Aa:ain to bring us, eyes to eye^,
And soul to soul, m Paradise?
1 did — I >poke it o'er and o'er —
I prayd, I wept, but all in vain ;
For me Ihe spelt had power no more.
There seem'd around me some dark chain
Which fetiil, as I essay'd to soar,
Batfled, ala-^, each wild endeavour:
De;id lay my wings, as they have lain
Since that sad hour, and will rennin —
So wills the'oUeudedGod — foreverl
It was fo yonder star I tracM
Her jouHiry up the' illumin'd waste-
That isle III the blue firmament,
To which so oft her fancy went
In wivhes and in dieanis before,
And which was now— such, Purity,
Thy blest reward — o-dain'd to be
Her home of light for evermore!
Once — or did I hut fancy so^ —
Ev'n in her flight to that fair sphere.
Mid all her spirits new-felt glow,
A piiying h>ok she lurn'd below
On him who stood in darkness here;
Him whom, perhaps, if vain regret
Can dwell in heaven, ^he pities yet ;
And oft, when looking to (Ins dim
AikI distant world, reniembers liim*
But soon Ihat pa-^sing dream was gone ;
Farther and farther off she shone,
Till les^en'd to a point, as small
As are those specks that yonder burn, —
Those vivid drops of light, that fill
The last from Day's exh-u^red urn.
And v\ hen at length she merg'd, afar.
Into hernwn immortal star,
And when at length my straining sight
Had caught her wing's hi\ fading ray,
That minute from my soul the light
Of heaven and love both pass'd away;
And I foigut my home, my birth,
Profan'd my spirit, sunk my brow,
And revelt'd in gross joys of earlh,
Till I becime— what I am now 1"
The Spirit bow'd his head in shame ;
A shame, thai of itself would tell —
Were there not ev'n those breaks of flame,
Celestial, tlirough his clouded frame —
How grand the height from which he fell !
That h 'Iv Shame, which ne'er forgets
The' u'nblench d len-Mvn it ns'd to wear ;
Whnseblu-h remains when Virtue sets.
To show her sunshine h(ts been there.
Once only, while the tale he fold,
Were his eyes lifted to beh"ld
That happy stainless star, where she
Dwell in her bower of purity !
One minute did he look, and then —
As though he fell some deadly pain
Front its sueet light throuifh heart aid braiD*-
Shrunk back, and never look'd again.
Who was the Second Spirit r he
Wilh Ihe proud front and pieroinc: jjlance —
Who seem'd, when viewing heaven's ezpaUM,
As though his tar-scnt eye could see
On, on inio the' Immensi'y
Behind the veils of that blue sky.
Where Alla's grandest secets lie? —
His wings, the while, though day was gone,
Flashing wi'h many a various hue
Of liKhl they from themselves alone,
Instinct vMih tde-'s brighmess, drew.
'T was Riibi — once ami>ng 'he prime
And Jlower of those bright creatures, nam'd
Spinisof Knowledge,! who o'er 'J'ime
And Space and Thought an empire claim'd,
Second alone t(» Him, whose light
Was, ev'n to theirs, as day to night ;
'Twixt whom and them was disiai ce far
And wide, as would the journey be
To leach from any island star
'J he vague shores of Infinity !
*T was Rubi, in whose mournful eye
Slept tlie dim light of days gone by ;
Whose voice, though sweet, fell on the ear
Like echoes, in some silent place,
When first awak'd for manv a year j
And when he smil'd, if o'er his face
Smile ever shone, 'i was like the grace
Of moonlight rainbows, fair, but wan,
1 he sunny life, the glory gone.
£v'n o'er his pride, though still the same,
A s flemtig shade from sorrow came ;
And Ih' ugh at limes his spirit knew
The kindlings of disdain and ire,
Short was ihe fiifnl gla^e they threw —
Like the last t'ashes, fierce but few,
Seen through some noble pile on fire !
Such was the Angel, who now broke
The silence that had come o'er all,
When he, the Spiri' that last spoke,
Clos'd the sad his'nry of his fall;
And, while a sacied lustre, flown
For muiy a dav, relum'd his cheek —
Beautiful, as in days of old;
And not those eloquent lips alone
But every fealuie seem'd to speak —
Thus his eventful story told ; —
SECOND ANGEL'S STORY.
*' Ynu both remember well the day,
When unto Eden's new-niade bowers,
Alia convok'd the bright array
Of his supreme anselic powers.
To witness the one wonder ye',
Beyond man, angel, star, or ^un,
He njust achieve, ere he could set
His seal upon the world, as done —
To see Ihat last perfectiim ri«e.
That crowning of creation*s birth,
When, mid the wnrship and surprise
Of circling angels, Woman's eyes
First open'd upon heaven and earth ;
» The Kerubiim, as the Mussuln.ans call them, are
often joined indisciimin..tely wiihihe Asrafil or Sera-
phim, under one common nante of Azazil, by which
all spirits who approach near the throne of Alia are
designated.
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS,
367
sent,
And from their lids a thnll ^
1'hat thrnueh each livin< apl
Like drsX light through Ihe linnamcot I
C^n you forget hnw pradu:il stole
'Jhe fre>h avvakeiiM t)reaih of s.ul
riirouRhoul her perft-ci (>>Tm —which
Togro.v lraii>p;.rtu(,
£>h>
TheproKrc^8 of Uu
\Uerc 1>L _
liii, and caught
h new thoughl?
Diiiipliiig ila bright and ^letit face
Kach luiiiuie into some iiew ^race,
And varying hea\eii*s redeclions Ihere—
Or, like the hght of evening, stealing
o'er some f tir temple, which all day
H.tih slepi in shadow, slow revealing
lis seveial beauiies. ray by ray,
Till It shines nu', a thing t-. bless,
All full of light and loveliness.
Can you forget Iier blu h, when round
Through Kden's lone, enchan ed ground
She look'd. and s.iw, the sea — the skies-
And heard Ihe rush of many a wing,
On high behests then vanishing j
And '-aw the last few angel eyes,
Still lingering — mine aumng the rest,—
iteluctant leaving bctnes bO bleat ?
From that miraculous hour, the fate
Of this new, glorious Iking dwelt
For ever, with a epell-like weiglit.
Upon my spirit— early, late.
Whate'er I did, or dre.mi'd, or felt.
The Ihoughl of what mipht yel befall
That matchless creauie mix'd «iihall.—
Nor she alone, but her whole race
Through ages yet to come — whatever
Of feminine, and fond, and fair,
Should spring from thai pure mtnd and face,
All wab'd my souPs iniensest care ;
Their forms, souls, feelings, still to me
Creation's strangest mystery!
It was my doom — ev'n from the first,
When witnessing the primtj burst
Of Nature's wonders, I saw rise
Those bright creations in the skies, —
Those worlds instinct with life and ligbt,
Which Man, remoie, but sees by night,—
It was my dnom still to be haunted
Bv sonie new wonder, some sublimft
And nialchless work, that, for the time
Held all my snul, enchain'd, enchanted,
And left me not a thought, a dream,
A word, but on that only theme !
The wish to know — that endless thirst,
Which ev'n by quenching is awak'd,
And which beomes or blest or curst,
As is the fount whereat 't is slak'd —
Still uig'd me onward, with desire
Iiidaliae, to expl'tre, inquire —
Whaie'er ihe wondrous things might be,
Tbat vvak'd each new idolatry —
Their cause, aim, source, whence-eversprung-
Their inmost powers as though for me
Kxisteiice ou that knowledge hung.
Oh what a vision were the stars,
When first i saw them burn on high,
Rolling along, l.kc living cars
Of light, lor gods lo journey by ! i
« "C'est un fait indubitable que la plnpart de
ciens philosopbes, soit Chaldcens, soil Grec, non
doDne les astres conirne aniines. et i>nt souieim ni
They were mv heait's first passion — dayt
And nights, unwrarted, in their rays
Have I hung llnaiii.g. till each sense
Seem'd full of their biight influence.
Inn- cent joy I alas, how much
Of misery had I shwnnM below.
Could I havt- Mill livd hle^t with such;
Nor, priiud and restless, burn'd to know
The knowledge that brings guilt and woe.
Often - so much 1 Inv'd to irace
Ttie secrets of this s'airy lace —
Have I at morn and evening run
Along the lines of ladiance spun
Like «eljs, l-elweeu tliem and the sun,
Untwisting all the tangled ties
Of light into their diltV;rent dyes —
Then fleetly wjng'd 1 oli", in quest
Of th se, the farthest, loneliest,
That watch, like winking sen inels,^
The void, beyond which Chaos dwells;
And there, with noiseless plume, pursued
'Iheir track through th^t grand solitude,
Asking intently all and each
Wh.l soul within their radiance dwelt,
And wishing their sweet light were speech,
Thai they might lell me all they ft;lt.
Nay, oft, so passiona'e my chase
Of ihtse resplendent hei'S of space,
Oft did I h.llow — lest a ray
Should 'scape me in Ihe larlhest night —
Some pilgnni Comet, on his way
'I'd visit distant shrines of light,
And well remember how I sung
Exultingly. when on my sight
New worlds of s'ars, all fiesh and young,
As if Just boru of darkness, sprung !
Such was my pure ambition then,
My sinless tr^nspon, night and morn;
Ere yet this newer woildof men.
And that most fair of stars was boro
W'hich I, in fatal houi, saw lise
Ani(>ng Ihe (lowers of I'aradise !
TheiiCt lurih my nature all was changed,
My heart, soul, senses lurn'd below ;
And he, who but so lately langd
Voii wonderful expanse, where glnvir
Worlds upon worlds, — yel found his mind
Ev'n in that luminous range conhn'd,—
Now blest the humblest, meanest sod
Of Ihe dark earth where \V(»man Irod 1
111 vain my former idols glis'eiiM
from their far ihrunes ; ui vain these ears
To the once-tlirillihg mu.ic listen'd,
That hymnd around my f^vuuiiie spheres —
To earth, loeirth each thonght « as given,
Ihat m thi> hatf-lost sout li.<d birih;
Like snnie high mount, who-e he.<d *s in heaven.
While its win le shadow rests on earth 1
astrea, qui nous eclairent n'e^oient que, ou les chars,
ou nieme les naviies des Inielligences qui les cnndni-
soient. I'our les Chars, cela se lit parti'ut ; on ii'a
qu'ouvrir Mine. Sr, Clement, &c &c. — Memoire His-
toriquc. sur le Sabiisme, pir M. Fourniont.
A belief Ihat the s;ar> are either spirila or the vehi-
cles of spirits, was common to all ihe religions and
heresies of Ihe East, Kircher hai given 'he names
and stations of ihe seven ^i channels, who were by the
Cabala of the Jews di=tnbi.ted through the pl.inels.
^ According lo the rosmognny of the ai cient Per-
sians, there were fuur stars 4et as sentinels in the fnur
qn.irlersofthe heavens, to waich I'vei the other fixed
stars, and ^upel intend the planets in their course.
The names of these four senliuel stars are, acc-rding
lo the Boundesh, Taschler, for the east; Satevis, tor
St ; Venand, for the south ; and Hatlorang, for
nth.
Tses
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
Nor was it Lnve, ev'n yet, tliat thrall'd
My spirit in his luirniiig ties;
And less, still lea- could i' be c.<II'd
'Ihal grosser tianie. round " liioh Love flies
Nearer and nearer, tjl he die- —
No, it i>a. wonder, such as Ihiiird
At all God's ivorks my dazzled seme;
The same rapt ivondei, only hlld
Wiih pission. more piof und, intense, —
A vchenielil, hut w.tiideling fire,
Wlucl), ihough nor love, i.or \et desire, —
Though through all womankind it took
lis range, as t.iwless lightnings run,
Vet wanted but a touch, a look,
To iix it burning upon One.
Then, too, the ever-re*tless zeal,
The' insatiate cunosiiy
To know how sliapes, so fair, must feel —
To look, but once, beneath the seal
or so much loveliness, and see
What souls Ijelong'd to sucli bright eyes —
Whether, as s j'lj-beanis find their way
Into ihe gem that hidden lies.
Those looks could inwaid turn their ray,
And ni .ke the soul as bright as they :
All this inipeli'd my anxious chase.
And slill the more I saw and knew
Of Woman's fond, weak, coi quering race,
The' inlenser still my wonder grew.
I had beheld their First, their Eve,
Bom in that splendid P.iradise,
Which sprung there scdely to receive
'Ihe fi St light of her waking eyes.
1 had seen purest angels lean
In worship o'er her from above ;
And m^in — oh, yes. had envying seen
Proud man posess'd of all her love,
1 saw their happiness, so brief,
So exquisite, — her error, loo.
That ejsy trust, that prompt belief
In what the warm heart wishes true;
That faith in words, when kiiidlv s.nid,
Bv which the whnle fond sex i> led —
Mingled with — what I durst not bl.ime,
For 'lis my nun — thai zeai to hiioWy
Sad, fatal zeal, so sure of woe;
Which, though from heaven all pure it came,
Yet stain d, nji-us'd, brought sin and shame
On her, on me, on all below I
I had seen this ; had seen Mati, arm'd.
As his soul is, with s'rength and sense,
By her first words to ruin ctiariii'd ;
His vaunted reason's cold defence,
Like an ice-barrier in the ray
Of melting summer, smil'd away.
Nay, stranger yet, spite of all this —
Though by lier counsels taught to err,
Thou?h driv'n fioiri Paradise for her,
(And w.llt her — Ihat, at least, was bliss,)
Had 1 not ireard him, ere he crost
1 he threshold of that earthly heaven.
Which by her wildering smile he lost —
So quickly was Ihe wrong forgiven ! —
Had I not heard him, as he prest
The frail, fund irembler to a breist
Which she h.ad doorn'd to sin and s'rife,
Call her — ev'n then — his Life ! his Life I «
t Chavah, cr, as it is in Arabic. Havah (Ihe name
by which Adam called the woman after their trans-
gression), means "Life."
Yes, such the Inve-taught name, Iho first,
That ruin d Man to Woman gave,
Ev'n in his oulca-I h"ur, when c"r«t
By her find wilcheiy, with that worst
And e.ri.est bnon of love, Ihe grave!
She, wliO b ousht dei h iido the world,
1 here stood before him, with the light
or their lost Paradise slill bright
Upon ihnse sunny locks, that cun'd
n.iwn her while shoulders to her feet —
So beautiful in form, so sweet
Jn hear! a..d voice, as to redeem
The loss, Ihe dea'h of all things dear,
Except herself — and make it seem
Life, endless Life, w hde she was near !
Could I help wondering at a creature.
Thus circled round with spells so strong —
One, to whose every thought, word, feature,
In joy and woe, Ihmugh right and wrong,
Such sweet omnipoience heaven gave,
To bless or ruin, cmse or save?
Nor did Ihe marvel cea<e with her —
New Eves in all her daughters came,
As strong to charm, as weak lo err.
As sure of man through prai-e and blame,
Wha'e'er they brnugirt him, pnde or shamt
He slill the' unrea ooiiig wmshiiiper,
And they, throughout all tune, the sahie
Enchuitresses r.r soul and frame,
Into uhoe hands, from hist to last.
This world with all its destinies,
Devo'edly by heaven -eeins cast,
Tn save or rum, as Ihey please!
Oh, 'ti- not to he lolJ how long.
How restlessly I sigh'd tn find
Some one, from out that witching throng.
Some abstract of the form and mind
Of the whole matchless sex, from which,
!n my own arms beheld, pnsscst,
I might learn all the po»eis to witch.
To warm, and {if my fate uiibiest
IV'iuld have it) ruin, of the rest!
Into whose inwaid snul and sense
I niigtit descend, as dolh the bee
Into the flower's deep heart, and thence
KiHe, in all its purity,
The prime, the quintessence, the whole
Of wondrous Woman's frame and soul 1
At length, my burning wish, my prayer —
(For such — oh what will tongues not dare.
When hearts go wrong? — this lip preferr'd)-
At length my ominous piayer was heard —
But whether heard in heaven or hell,
Listen— and thou wilt know (oo well.
There was a maid, or all who move
Like visions o'er this orb, most fit
To be a bright young angel's lnve,
Herself so bright, so exquisi'e !
The pride, too, of her step, as light
Airing the' unconscious earth she went,
Seeni'd that of one, born " ith a right
To walk some heav'nlier element.
And tread in places wlieie her feet
A star at every ste|i should meet.
'T was not aliine that loveliness
By which the wilder'd sense is caught —
or lips, whose very breath could bless;
Of playful blushes, that scem'd nought
But luiiiinous escapes of thought;
Of eyes that, "hen by anger stirr'd,
Were fire itself, but, at a word
Of tenderness, all soft became
As though they could, like the sun's bird,
Dissolfea^ay in their own flame^
Of form, as pliant as the shoots
Of a young tree, in vernal flower ;
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
369
Yet round and glnwing as the fruits.
That drop from it lu summer's huur; —
T was not alone this loveliness
That falls lo loveliest women's sh^^re,
TliouH;h, even here, her furm could spare
From its own beauty's rich excess
Enough to make ev'n them more fair —
But Uwas the Mind, outshining clear
Through her whole frame— the soul, still oear,
To light each charm, yet independent
Of what it lighteJ, as the sun
That shines on (lowers, would be resplendent
Were there no flowers to shine upon —
»T "as this, all this, in one comhinM —
The' unnumberM looks and arts that form
The glory of joung wnnian-kind,
Taken, in their j)erfecti.>n, w.irm,
Kre time had chilPd a single charm.
And stauip'd with such a seal of Mind,
As g^ve lo beauties, that might be
Too HiMisual else, too uuretiri'J,
The impress of Diviui y !
»Twas this— a union, which the hand
Of Nature kept fur her alone,
Of every thing mo»l playlul, blandy
Voluptuous, spirifual, gr.tiid,
In angeUnalures nnd her own —
Oh this it was that drew me nigh
Oup, who seem'd kin to heaven as I,
A bright twin-sister from on high —
On**, in whose love, I felt, weie given
The niix'd ddiglrs of eiiher sphere,
All that the spirit sreks in heaven,
And all the sen&es burn fur here.
Had we— but hold — hear every pirt
Of our sad lale — ipiie of the pain
Remembrance »ives, when 'lie fix'd dart
is stirr'd thus in the wound again —
Hear every step, so full of bliss,
And \ei so ri.tnons, that led
Down to the last, duk prtcipice,
Where perish'd both— the falPn, the deadi
From the first hour she caught my sight^
I never left her - d »y and night
Hovering unseen around her uay,
And 'mid her loneliest musings near,
I so .n could track each though' liial lav,
GKaiiiing wirhin her heart, as clear
As i>ebble> within brooks appear;
And tiiere, among ihe countless Ihinga
Thit keep young hearts for ever glowing,
Vaiiue wishes, fond iniaginiig:*,
Love-dieanis. as yet no ohjed knowing —
Li^ht, wiiigtd hopes, thai come vx hen bid,
And rainbow j ys Ih-tt end in weeping;
And passi'ins, among pure though's hid,
Like serpents under (iow'rt-is sleeping:
'Mongall thtse feelings — felt where'er
Young heart> are beating— I saw tliere
Proud thoughts, aspjnngs high — beyond
Whate'er yet dwelt in suul so fond —
Glimp-es of glory, far away
Into the bright, vague future given ;
And fancies, free and grand, whose play,
Like that of eaglets, is near heaven !
With this, t,)o— Vhat a (.oul and heart
To fall beneath the lemptei's art ! —
A zeal for knowledge, such is ne'er
Enshrin'd itself infoim so fair.
Since thai fust, fatal hour, when Eve,
Wiih every fruir of Eden bleit,
Save one alone— rather 'han leave
Thai 07ie unreach'd, lost all the rest.
It was in dreams that (jrst I stole
With gentle maslery o'er her mind —
In that rich twilight of the soul,
When reason'^ beam, half hid behind
The clouds of sleep, obscurely gilds
Each slnd.wy shape ihe Fancy builds —
'T was then, by that soft light, I brought
Vague, glimmering visions to her view; —
Cliches of r^.diaiice, lost when caught,
Brighi labyrinths, that led lo nought,
And vistas, wiih n'^ pathway through ; —
Dwellings of bliss, that opening shone,
Then clos'd, d.ssolv'd, and left no trace —
All that, in ^hnrt, could tempt Hope on,
hut give her wing no resing-place ;
M\self ttie while, with brow, as yet.
Pure .IS the young moon's coronet.
Through eveiy dieam still in her sight,
The' enchanierof each mocking scene,
Who gave ihe hope, then brought the blight,
Who said, "Behold yon world of light,"
Then sudden diopt a veil between !
At length, when I perceiv'd each thought,
Waking or sleepir^g, fix d on nought
But these illusive scenes, and me —
The phantom, who thus came and went,
In half revealment!^, only meant
To madden curiosity —
When by such vinous arts I found
Her fancy to its utnmst won d,
One night — 't was in a hnly ^pot,
Which she for pray'i had chos'ii — a grot
Of purest marble, built below
Her garden beds, through which a glow
From lamps invr-ible then stole.
Brightly pervading all the place —
Like ttiat nnsieri. us light itie S'>ul.
Itself unseen, shed^ through the face.
There, at her altar while she knelt,
And all that wuman ever felt.
When God and man both cbim'd her sighs —
Every warm thought, that ever d» ell,
Lik-e summer clouds, 'twixt earth and skies.
Too pure to fall, too gross lo rise,
Spoke in her gestures, tones, and eyes-
Then, as Ihe mvbtic hghfs soft ray
Grew softer stiM, as tho' its ray
Was breath'd from her, 1 heard her say : —
*' Oh idol of my dreams! whate'er
*' Thy nature be — human, divine,
"Or but half heav'nly — sliil loo fair,
** Too heavenly to be ever mine 1
<* Wonderful Spirit, who dnst make
•'Slumber so lovety. that it seems
"No longer life to live awake,
'* Since heaven itself descends in dreams,
** Why do I ever lose thee ? why
" When 01) thy realms and tltee I ga/e
"Slill drop> thai veil, which I conMdie,
" Oh gladlj , but one hour lo raise ?
" Long ere such miracles as thou
"And thine came o'er my thoughts, a thirst
*' For light xvas in this soul, which now
" I'by looks have into passion nurs'd.
" There 's nothing bright abire, below,
•Mil sky — earth — ocean, that this breast
** Doth not intensely burn to know.
*' And thee, thee, thee, «'er all the rest I
"Then come oh Spirit, from behind
*' The curtains of thy radiant home,
*' If thon wouhl'st be as angel shriu'd,
*• Or lov'd and clas[)'d as mortal, comet
370
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS,
" Brinj all lliv dnzzlinj w mders here,
"Thai 1 ruay, waking, know and see;
<• Or waft ine hence to thy own sphere,
*' Thy heaven, or — ay, even that with Ihee .
•' Deninn or Ood, who hold's! the book
"Of knowlalBC spreidbeneatli thine eye,
" Give me, with Ihee, bul one bright look
" Into its leaves, and let nie die !
**By those ethereal wings, whose way
" Lies IhrouKh an element, sn fr:iught
" Wilh living Mind, Ihat, as they pl.iy,
'* Then every movenient is a thought I
" By that bright, wreathed hnir, between
" Whose sunny clusters ihe sweet wind
"Of Paradise so laie hath been,
"And left its fragrant soul behind !
" By Ihose impassion'd eyes, that melt
"Their lighi into the inmost heart;
" Like iunsel in Ihe waters, felt
"As molten fire through every part —
'• I do implore thee, oh most bright
"And worshipp'd Spirit, shine but o'er
**Mv waking, wondering eyes ihis night,
" This one blest night — 1 ask no more !"
Enhausled, breathless, as she said
These burning words, her languid head
Upon Ihe altar's steps she cast,
As if thai braiu-thiob weie iis last —
Till^ startled by the breathing, nigh,
Of lips, that echoed back her sigh,
Sudden her brow again she rais'd ;
And there, just lighted on tiie shrine,
Beheld me — not .is 1 had blaz'd
Around her, full of light divine,
In her late dreams, but soften'd down
Into more mortal grace ; — my crown
Of flowers, too radiant for this world,
Lefi hanging on yon slarry steep ;
My wings sliut up, like banners furl'd.
When Fence halh put their ponip to sleep;
Or like autumnal clouds, th^t keep
Their lightnings sheaih'd, rather than mar
Ihe dawning hour of some young star;
And nothing left, but what besecm'd
The' accessible, though glorious male
Of mortal woman — whose eyes beam'd
Back upon hers, as passionate ;
Whose ready heart brought flame for flime,
Whose sin, whose madness was the same;
And whose soul lost, in that one hour,
For her and for her love — cih more
Of heaven's light than ev'n tlie power
Of heav'n iiself could now restore!
And ye', that hour!"
The Spirit here
Stnpp'd in his ulterance, as if words
Gave way beneath the wild caieer
Of his then rushing thoughts — like chords,
Midway in s>me entliusiasi's song,
Bie.iking biMieath a touch too s'rong ;
While Ihe clei.ch'd hand upon Ihe biow
Told how remembrance throbb'd there now I
But soon 't was o'er — that casual blaze
From the Slink fire of o'her days —
That relic of a flame, whose burning
Had been too fierce to be reluin'd,
Soon paas'd away, and the youih, lurnin;
To bis bright "listeners, Ihus re'um'a : —
" Days, months elaps'd, and, though what mott
On earth I -igh'd for was mine, all —
Yet — was I happy ? God, thou know'st,
llowe'er tliey smile, and feign, and boast,
Wliat haiipiness is theirs, who fall !
'T was bilteiest anguish — made mure keen
Kv'n by tlie love, the bliss between
Whose throbs it came, like pleams of hell
In agonizing cioss-light given
Athwait the glimpses, they who dwell
In iiurgatory t catch of heaven!
The only feeling that to me
Seem'd joy — or rather my sole rest
From aching misery — was to see
My young, proud, blooniing Lilis blest.
She, the fair fountain of all ill
To my lost soul — wlioni yet ila thirst
Fervidly panted after still.
And found the chatni fresh as at firs! —
To see her happy— to rellect
Whatever beams still round me play'd
Of former pride, of glory wreck'd,
On her, my Moon, whose light 1 made,
And whose soul worshipp'd ev'n my shade —
This was, I own, enjoyment — Ihis
My sole, last lingeiing glimpse of bliss.
And proud she was, fair, creature ! — proud.
Beyond what ev'n most queenly stirs
In woman's heart, nor would have bow'd
That beauuful young biow of hers
To aught beneath the First above.
So high she deem'd her Cherub's love!
Then, loo, that passion, hourly growing
Stronger and stronger— to which even
Her love, at limes, gave way —of knowing
Every thing strange in earth and lieaven;
Not onlv all that, full reveal'd,
1 he' eternal Alia loves to show,
But all that He halh wisely seal'd
Jn darkness, for man »io( to know —
Ev'n this desire, alas, ill-slarr'd
And fatal as it was, I sought
To feed each minute, and unbarr'd
Such realms of wonder on her thought,
As ne'er, till then, had let their light
Escape on any mortal's sight!
In the deep earth — beneath the sea —
Through caves of fire— Itirough wilds of air-
Wherever sleeping Mystery
Had spread her curtain, we were there —
Love still beside w, as we went,
At home in each new element,
And sure of worship every where!
Then first was Nature laught to lay
The wealih of all her kingdoms down
At woniai,'s worshipp'd feet, and say,
" Bright creature, this is all thine own !"
Then first were diamonds, from the night,t»
Of eartli's deep centre brought to light.
• Called by the Mussulmans Al Araf— a sort of
wall or parli'ion w hich, according to the 7lh chapter
(f Ihe Koian, sejiaraies hell fiom paradise, and « here
thev, who have not merits sullic ent to gain them im-
mediate admittance iulo heaven, aie supposed to
stand for a cerliin period, illernalely lanialized and
toimenled by the sights that are on cillier side pre-
sci ted to them.
Manes, who borrowed in many instances from the
Pl.,louists, placed his purgatories, or places of purifi-
cation, in Ihe Sun and Moon. — htaitsohre^ liv. iii.
cli.ip. 8.
ti '' Qnelques gnomes desireux de devenir immor-
tels, avoient voulu gagner les honneo graces des nos
filles, et leur avoient apporte des pierreries dont iU
Bont gardiens naturels : el ces auteurs ont cm, s'ap-
p .yans sur le livre d'Enoch mal eniendu, que c'etoient
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
371
And made to grace the conquering way
Of proud youiit; beauty with their ray.
Then, ton, ilie pearl from out its shell
UnsJKhlly, in ihe sunless st-a,
(As H Wfie a .spii il. lorcM lo dwell
Jti fimii unlnv. iv) was set free,
AikI n.niKi ti.e r.fck of woni;»n threw
A lit;hi ii k-nt ami borro^^'d too.
I'lir nuvcrdid iftis maid — whate'er
Tlie» ambition of Iht^ hour— forget
Her sex^3 pride in being fair;
Nor that aduriunent, laslelul, rare,
Which makes the mi^hiy magnet, set
III Woman's form, more mighty yet.
Nor was ihure aught willii.i Ihe range
Of 1
lit '
Of beai.tiful, or grand, or siringe,
Thai, quickly as her wish could change,
I did not seek, with such foiid care.
That when I 've seen her look above
At some bright star admiringly,
1 *ve said, •' Nay, |nnk not itiere, my lov«,>
Alas, 1 cannot give it thee V*
But not alone the wonders found
Through N;iture's realm — the' unveil'd, ma-
terial,
Visible glories, that abound,
Through all her vast, enchanted ground —
Hut whatsoe'er UMseen. ethereal,
Dwells faraway from hunian sense,
Wrapp'd in its own intelligence —
The mystery of that Fountain-head,
From which all vi'al spirit runs.
AH breath of Life, where'er 'tis spread
Through nien or vigels, flowers or sunt —
The workings of the' Aln.ighiy Mind,
When first o'er Chios he design'd
The outlines of this world ; and through
That depth of darkness— like the bow,
Call'd out of rain-chiuds, hue by hue» —
Saw the grand, gradual picture grow ; —
The covenant with human kind
Hy Alia made 3 _ the chains of Fate
He round himself and them hath twin'd,
I'lll his high task he consummate ; —
Till good from evil, love from hale,
Shall be worked out through sin and pain.
And Fate shall louse her iron chain,
And all be free, be bright again I
Such were the deep-drawn mysteriea,
And some, ev'n more obscure, profound,
And wildering lo the mind Ihui these.
Which— far as woman's thought could sound,
des pieges que les aagea amnureux," &c. &c— Comfe
d£ (Jabalis.
As the fiction of the loves of angels with women
gave birth to the fanciful world of sylphs and gnomes,
so we owe to it also the invention of those beautiful
Genii and Peris, which embellish so much the my-
thology of Ihe East J for in the fabulous histoiies of
Caioumarath, of Thamurath, &c., these spiritual crea-
lures are always represented as the descendants of
Seth, and called Ihe Bani Algiann, or children of
Giann.
I I am aware that this happy saying of Lord Albe-
marle's loses much of its grace and playfulness, by
being put into the mouth cf any but a human lover.
a According to Whilelmrsi's theory, the mention of
rainbows by an antediluvian angel \^ an anachronism ;
as he sayv, "There \va(< no ram before 'he flood, and
consequently no ralnlow, which accounts for the
novelty of this sight after the Deluge."
3 For the terms of this compact, of which the
angels were supposed to be witnesses, see the chapter
of Ihe Koran, entiHed Al Araf, and the article
"Adam" in D'Herbelot.
Or a fall'n, outlaw'd spirit reach —
She dar'd lo learn, and I to teach.
Till— fill'd with such unearthly lore,
And mingling ihe pure light it bring!
With much thai fmcy had, before,
Shed lit filse, tinted glimmerings--
The' cutltu^iast gni spoke out, as one
Ihspii'd, arimiig her own dark race,
Who from their aitcienl shrmea would run,
Leaving their h' ly rites undone.
To gaze upon her holier face.
And, th'^ugh but wild the things nhe spoke.
Vet, mid that pl.y of error's sunke
Into fair shapes by fancy curl'd.
Some gleams of pure religion broke-
Glimpses, that have n"t jel awoke,
But siartled the slil I dreaming world !
Oh, many a truth, reii'Ote, sublime,
Which Heav'n wouhl f.om the minds of meo
Have kept conceal'd, till its own time,
Stole out in these revealments then —
Revealments dim, that have fore-run,
By ages, the great, Sealing One 1 *
Like that imperfect dawn, or light*
Escaping from the zodiac's signs,
Which makes the doubtful east half bright,
Before the real nioruing shines 1
Thus did some moons of bliss go by—
Of bliss to her, who saw but love
And knowledge throughout earth and sky:
To whose enamour'd soul and eye,
I seeui'd — as is the s-uii on high" —
'Ihe light of all below, above.
The spirit of sea, and land, and air,
Whose influence, felt everywhere,
Spread from its centre, heroun heart,
Ev'n to the world's extreme t part j
While thiough that woild her reinless mind
Had now career'd so fis' and far,
That earth itself seem'd left behind.
And her proud fancy, nncnnfin'd.
Already saw Heaven's galea ajar!
Happy enthusiast 1 still, oh, fitill
Spile of my own heart's mortal chiU,
Spite of that double-frunted sorrow,
Which looks at once before and back,
Beholds the yes'eiday, the morrow.
And sees both comtortless, both black —
Spite of all Ihis, I could have still
In her delight forgot all ill ;
Or, if pain wtmldxvii be forgot.
At least liare borne aud murmurM not.
When thoughts of an oHcnded heaven.
Of sinfulness, which I — ev'n I.
While down its sleep mn,t headlong driven —
Well knew could never be forgiven,
Came o'er me with an agony
Beyond alt reach 'f mortal woe —
A tortute kept for those tvho knovp,
Kpow eoery thing, and — worst of all —
Know and love Virtue while they fall I
Ev'n then, her presence had the power
To soothe, to warm — nay, ev'u to blesi —
If ever bliss could graft its flower
On stem so full of billerness —
Ev'n then her glorious smile to me
Brought warmth and radiance, if not balm j
Like moonlight o'er a troubled sea.
Brightening the storm it cannot calm.
Oft, too, when that dishpartening fear.
Which all who love, beneath yon sky,
< In acknowledging the authority of Ihe great Pro
pheis who had preceded him, Mahomet represented
his own mission as the final ** Sea/,'* or consummation
of them all.
* The Zodiacal Light
372
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
Feel^ when thev ^ze on what is dear —
The dreadful ilioiieht thai it must diel
That desoUiirtg thought, which cnines
Into men*s happiest hnurs and homes j
Whose nit'l.uich ly boding flings
Death's shadow o'er the brightest things,
Sicklies the infant's bh'Oni, and spreads
The erave bC' ettli young lovers' heads 1
Thistar, so sad m all - to me
Mos- tiill of sadness, from the thought
That I must ^tiII live on,3 wheu she
Would, lik.' the ^n<tw ili:it on ihe sea
Fell yeserday, la vain be sought:
Thnt henveri tome lliis final seal
Of all earth's sorrow would deny,
And I e'ernally uiusl feel
'I he death-pang, without power lo diet
Ev'u this, her fond endearinenis— fond
As ever cherish'd the sweet b md
'Tvvixi heart and he.irt — could charm away J
Before hrr |<.nk no clouds would slay,
Or, if Uiey did, iheir gloom w:n gone,
Their darkness put a glury oa I
But *t is not, 't is not for the wrong,
The s,u\Uy, lo be hippy long ;
And slie, too, now, had sunk withia
The shadow of hf-r tempter's sin,
Too deep for ev'n Omnipotence
Tusna'cb ihe fated victim thence t
Listen, and, if a tear there be
Left in your hearts, weep it for me.
*T was on the evening of a day,
Wliich we ill love had dreamt away j
In that sanie garden, where— the pnde
Of seraph splendour laid aside,
And those wings furl'd, whnse oi)en light
For mortal pa7e were else too bright —
I first hid stood Iiefore t.er sight,
And found m\ self— oh, ecstasv,
Which ev'n in pain I ne'er forget —
Worshipp'd as only God should be.
And tov'd as never ntmi was yetl
In that >ame ^.irden were we non.
Thoughtfully side by side reclining,
Her eves tuin'd upward, and her brow
With it^ own silent fancies shining.
It was an evening bright and still
As ever bhtsh'd on wi\e or bfivver,
Smiling from heaven, as if nought ill
Could happen in ^o swtet an hour.
Yet, I remember, both crew s'd
In looking at th<t light — ev'n she
Of heart so tresh. and brow bo glad,
Feh the still hour's solemnity,
And thought she saw, in that repose.
The death-hour not alone of liahi,
But of this whole fair world — the close
Of all things beautiful and bright —
The last, grand ^un■et, in whose'ray
^Jature her?elf died calm away 1
At length, as though some livelier thought
Had suddenly her fancy caught,
She turn'd upon me her dark eyes,
Dil.i'ed into thai full shape
They look in jnv, recrnach. surprise.
As 't were to let more soul escape.
And, pla>fully as <>n my head
Her while hand resitd, smird and said : —
I Pococke, however, gives it as (he opinion of the
Mahometan doctors, that all souls, not only of men
ftiid of animals, living either on lirid or in Ihe sea, but
of the angeU also, must necessarily taste of death.
** 1 had, last night, a dream of thee,
** Resembling those divine ones, given,
"Like preludes to sweet minstrelsy,
** Before thou cam'st, thyself, from beaveo.
** The same rich wreath was on thy brow,
" D.izzliNg as .f of sarhght made ;
«• And these wirgs. lying dafkly now,
"Like meteors round thee flash'd and playM.
"Thou stood'st, all bright, as in those dreams,
'*A3 if just waf'ed from above;
" Mingling earth's warmth with heaven's beams,
*■ A creature to adore and love.
"Sudden I fell thee draw me near
" lo thy pure heart, where fondly plac'd,
"I seem'd within the atmosphere
** Of that exhaling light euibrac'd ;
"And felt, methought, the ethereal flamo
" Pass from thy purer soul to niinej
« Till — oh, too blissful — I became,
** Like thee, alt spirit, all divine I
"Say, why did dream so blest come o'er me,
** If, now I wake, 't is faded, gone ?
"When will my Cherub shine before me
" Thus radiant, as iu heaven be shone ?
" When shall I, waking, be allowM
*'To gaze upon Ihose peifect charms,
** And clasp thee once, without a cloud,
"A chill of earth, within these arms?
" Oh what a pride to say, this, this
'* Is my own Angel — all divine,
** And pure, and dazzling as he is,
" And fresh from heaven — he's mine, ht's mioe I
"Think'st thou, were Litis in thy place,
*' A creature of yon lof y skies,
"She would have hid one single grace,
*' One glory from her lover's eyes ?
"No. no — then, if thou tov'st like me,
"Shine out, \oung Spirit, in the blaze
**0f thy most proud diviui'y,
" Nor think thou >t wound (his mortal gaze.
"Too long and oft I 've lonk'd upon
"Those ardent eyes, ifitense ev'n thus —
"Too near the stais Ihemsehes have gone,
" To fear aught grand or Itiminous,
" Then doubt me not — oh, who can say
** But that this dream may yet come true,
"And my blest spirit drink thy r^y,
** Till It becomes all heavenly tuo ?
" Let me this once but feel Ihe flame
"Of those spread wings, the very pride
" Will change my na'uie, and ibis frame
" By the mere touch be deified I"
Thus spoke the maid, as one, not us'd
To be by earth or heiv'n refus'd —
As one, who knew her influence o'er
All creaiures, wtiatsoe'er they were.
And, though to h'aven slie could noi soar.
At least would bring down heaven to faer.
Little did she, alas, or 1 —
Ev'n I, who^e soul, but half-way 3fet
Imnierg'd iu sin's obscurity
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
373
Was a« the earih nhercnn we lie,
O'er tinlf whose disk the sun is set ^
Iril'Ie did we foresee the fate,
The dreadful - how can ii be tolf.?
Such pain, such ansruish to relate
Is o'er a«;aiii lo feci, behold 1
But, ch 'ri;'d as '( is, my heart must speak
Its sorrow ou', or it will break !
Some d 'fk tuis^iviDgs had. I own,
I'ass'd for a moment through my breast -»
Feais (if some danger, v;tgue, unknown,
Jo one, or bi'th — aomelhtng uiibiest
To happen from this proud request,
Dnt soon these brxlini^ lancies fled ;
Nor taw I aiighi that C"i.ld forbid
My full revealnient, save the dread
Of that first d.izzle, when, unhid,
Such light should t»urst upon a lid
Ne*er tried in heaven ; — and ev'n this glare
She might, by loveN own nursing care,
Be» like young: eagles, taught lo bear.
Fur well'l knew, the lustre shed
From cherub wings, when proudliest spread.
Was, in lis na'ure, lambent, pure,
And innocent as is the li^ht
The glnw-worni hangs out to allure
Her mate to her green bnu er at night
Oft had I, in the midair, swept
Throiigh clouds in which (he lightning slept,
As iii its Inir, ready to spring,
Yei wak'd it not — thnutih from my wing
A thousuid sparks fell gli!lering!
Ofi too when lound me from above
The ft-ailierM snow, in all its whiteness,
Fell, like the mnuliinga of heaven's Dove,» —
So harmle"";, though so full of brightness,
Was mv biow's wreath, that it would shake
From off its (lowers each downy flake
As delicate, unmelted, fair,
And cool as they had lighted there.
Nay ev'n with Lilis — had I not
Around her sleep alt radiant beamed,
Hung o'er her slunihers, nor forgot
To kiss her eye-lids, as she dream'd ?
And yet, nt morn, from that repose.
Had she not wak'd, unscafh'd aricl bright.
As doth the pure, unconscious rose,
Though by the fire-fly kiss'd all night?
Thus having — as, alas, deceived
By my sin's blindness, tbeliev'd —
No cause for dread, and those dark eyei
Now fix'd uponme, easerly
As though the' unlocking of the skies
Then waited but a si^n from me —
How could I pause ? how ev'n let fall
A word, a whisper that could itir
In her proud heart a doubt, ihat all
1 brought from heaven belong'd lo her?
Slow from her side I rnse, while she
Arose, too, mutely, tremblingly,
_> The D-ive, or pigeon which attended Mahomet as
his Familiar, and was frequently seen to whisper into
his ear, was, if I recdlecl right, one of that select
number of animals (including also the ant of Solomon,
I (he dog of the Seven Sleepers, &c.) which uere
I thought by the Prophet worthy of admission into
I Paradise.
*' The Moslems have a tradition that Mahomet was
1 saved (when he hid himself in a cive Id Mount Shur)
by bis pursuers finding the mouili of the Give covered
by a spider's wtb, arid a nest buill by two pigeons at
the entrance, with two egjs unbroken in it, which
made them think no one could have entered it. In
conBeqiieiice of this, tht-y >ay. Mahomet enjoined his
followers to look upon pisrei-us as stcred, and never to
kill a spider.*' — Modem Uiiinirsal Hufury, vol. i.
32
But not with fear — all hope, and pride|
She wailed for the awful boon,
Like priestesses, at evemide,
Watching the rise of the full mooD,
Whose light, » hen once its orb hath sbODei
'T will madden them to look upon i
Of all my glories, the bright crown,
Which, when I last from heaven came down.
Was left behind me, in yon star
T hat shines from out Ihose clouds afar, —
Where, relic sad, 't is treasur'd yet.
The dowiifall'n angel's coronet 1 —
Of all my glnries, this alone
Was v\anling; — but (lie' illumin'd brovf,
The sun-bright I'Cks, the eyes that now-
Had love's spell added to ilieir own,
And pour'd a light till then unknown ; —
The' unfolded wmgs, Ihat, in their play.
Shed sparkles bright as Alias throne;
All 1 Could bring of heaven's ariay,
Ol thai rich p.mojdy of charms
A Cherub moves in, on the day
Of his best pomp, 1 now put on ;
And, pruud thai iu iicr eyes 1 shone
Thus glcrious, glided lo her arm^ ;
Which still (ihou^h, at a sight so splendid,
Her dazzled brow had, iubt;»nt]y.
Sunk on her brea:«',J were wide eitetided
To cla.sp the form she durst not tee ! ^
Great Hcav'nl how could thy vengeance light
So bitterly on one so bi ight ?
How could the hand, that gave sucli charms,
Bl ist ihem again, in love's own arms ?
Scirce h.id i louchd her shrinking (tame,
When— oh, most humble! — i felt
That every spark of that pure fl^me —
Pure, while am'>ng the stars I dwelt —
Was now, by niy transgression, turn'd
Into gross, ear:hly fire, which burn'd,
Bnrn'd all it touch d, as fast as eye
Could follow ihe fierce, ravening flashes:
Till there— oh, God, 1 still ask why
Such donm was hers ?— I saw her lie
lilack'iiing withm my arms to ashes I
That brow, a glory but to see —
'ihose lifis, whose touch was what the fiist
Fresh cup of iinmortaliiy
Is to a new-made angel's thirst I
Those clasping arms, within whose round —
My heart's horizon — the whole bnund
01 its hope, prospect, heaven was found I
Which, ev'n in this drt-ad moment, fond
As when ihey first were round me cast,
Loos'd not in death the fatal bnnd.
But, burning, held me to the Ingt !
All, all. thai, but that morn, had seem'd
As if Love's self there breath'd and beam'd,
Nf'w, paich'd and black, before me lay,
Withering in agony away ;
And mine, ih, misery ! mine the ''gme,
From which this desolation came ; —
I, the curst spirit, whose caress
Had blasled all that loveliness I
'T was n.addeningt— but now hear even worse-
Had deatli, death only, been the curse
1 brought upon her — had the doom
Bui ended here, when her young bloom
Lay in the dust — and did the spirit
No part of that fell curse inherit,
'T uere not so dreadful — but, come near —
I'l'O shocking 'l is tor earlh lo he.tr —
^ '* Mohammed (says Sale), though a yirophet, wat
not able to bear the siaht of Gabriel, when he ap-
peared in his proper form, much less would others be
able to support it."
374
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
Ju?t when her ey^s, in fading, look
Their las', keen, a^onizM farewell,
And lonk'il in mine with — <^h, that look !
Great vengeful Power, whaie'er the boll
Thou may 8l to liuniati souls assign,
The meuory of that look is mine 1 —
In her last struggle, on my brow
Her ashy lips a kiss imprest.
So withering:— I feel it now —
'T was hie — but tire, ev'n more unblest
Than was my own, and like that flame,
The angels shudder but to name,
Hell's e\er!a^tin?t:Ieiin-nt!
l)ee|), deep ji pierc'd into my brain,
Madd'iting and toi tuning as it went ;
And heie — niark heie, the brand, the stam
It left upnn my fiunt — burnt in
By thai last kiss of love and sin —
A brand, which all the pnnip and pride
Of a fallen Spirit cannot hide!
But is it thus, dread Providence —
Can it, indeed, be Ihi/S, that she,
Who, Cbut for mie proud, fund offence.)
Had hOTiour'd heaven itself, .should bo
Now dnom'd — I cannot speak it— no,
Mercitul Alia! 'tis not so —
Never could lips divine have said
The fiat of a fate so dread.
And yet, that bok — so deeply fraught
With more than anguish, wnh despair —
That new, fierce fire, resembling nought
In heiven or earth — ibis scorch I bear! —
Ob — for the first time that these knees
Have bent before thee s:nce my fall.
Great Power, if ever thy decrees
Thou could^st for prayer like mine recaH,
Pardon that spirit, and on me,
On me, who t;>ught her pride to err,
Shed out each drop of agony
Thy burning phial keeps for her !
See, too, wheie bnv beside me kneel
Two other outcasts, who, though gone
And Inst theniselvts, yel dare lo feel
And prav for that pour mort'I one.
Alas, too well, too well they know
The psin. the peni'ence, the woe
That Passion brings upon the best,
The wisest, and the Invetiesl.—
Oh, who is to be savM, if such
Bright, erring souls are not forgiven ;
So loth they wander, and so much
Their very wanderings lean tow'rds heaveD I
Again, I c y, Just power, tr.nsfer
That ere (ure's suffVrings all lomc^
Mine, mine the guilt, the torment be,
To save one minute's pain to her,
Let mine last all eternity !"
He paus'd. and to the earlh beni down
His throbbing head ; while they, who felt
That agony as H were their own,
Thote angel youths, beside him knell,
And, in the night's still silence theie
While mourntully each wandeiingair
Play'd in those plumes, that nevt. more
To their lost home tn heav'n must soar,
BreathM inwardly the vuiccles:. praver,
Untieard by all but Mercy's ear —
And which, if Mercv did not hear.
Oh, God would not be what this bright
And glorious universe of His,
This world of beauiy, goodness, light
And eodltss love proclaims He ist
Not Ion* they knelt, when, from i wood
That ciown'd (hat aiiy solitude,
They heard a lo\v, uncertain sound,
As from a lute, that Just had found
Some happy theme, and murmurM round
The new-born fancy, wiih fond (one,
Scarce thinking aught so aweel its own!
Till soon a voice, that maich'd as well
1 (tat genile instrument, as suits
The sea-air to an ocean-shell,
(So kin lis spirit to ihe lute's),
Treniblmgly follow'd the soft strain,
Inlerpretiiig' its joy, its pain,
And lending Itie lighi wings of words
To many a thought, that else had lain
Uufledg'd and mule among the chords.
All started at the sound — but chief
The third young Angel, in whose face,
Though faded like the others, grief
Had left a gentler, holier trace;
As if, ev'n yet, through pain and ill,
Hope had not fled him— as if still
Her precious pearl, in sorrow's cup,
Unmelted at Ihe boHom lay,
To shine again, when, all drunk up.
The bitterness should pass away.
Chiefly did he, though in his eyes
There shone more pleasure ihan surprise,
Turn to the wood, from whence that sound
Of soliiary sweetness broke ;
Then, listening, look delighted round
To his bright peers, while thus it spoka;-
•*Come, piay with me, my seraph love,
*'My augel-Iord, come pray with mej
"In vain lo-night my lip hath strove
•' To send one hnl\ prayer above —
*' The knee may bend, the lip may move,
"But pray I caniioi, without thee!
<• I 've fed the altar in my bower
" Wiih droppings from the incense tree;
** I\e sbelier'd it from wind and shower,
*' But dim it tiurns the livelong hour,
*' As if, like me, it had no power
*' Of life or iublre, without thee !
*• A hoat at midnight sent alone
*' To drift upon Ihj moonless sea,
"A lute, whose leading chord is gone,
*' A wounded bird, that hath but one
*' Imperfect wing to soar upon,
*' Are tike what I am, without thee !
•*Then ne^er, my spirit-love, divide,
*' In life or death, thyself from me;
** But when again, in bunny pride,
"Thou walk'at through Eden, let me glide,
"A prostrate sliadow, by thy side —
"Ob happier thus than without thee I"
The song had ceas'd, when, from the wood
Which, sweeping down that airy height,
Reach'd the lone spot whereon they stood —
There suddenly shone out a light
From a clear lamp, which, as it bla:M
Across the brow of one, who rais'd
Its flame aloft (as if to throw
The light upon that group below).
Displayed two eyes, sparkling birtween
The dusky leaves, such as are seen
By fancy only, in those faces,
That haunt a poet's walk at even.
Looking from out their leafy places
Upon his dreams of Love and heaven.
'T was but a innment — Ihe blush, brought
O'er all her features at Ihe thought
Of beint; seen thus, late, alone.
By any but the eyes she sntight.
Had scarcely for an instant shone
Through the dark leaves, when sh» wm gooe—
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
375
Gone, like a meteor that o-erhead
Suddenly shines, and. tre we 've ariid,
"Behold, how beauliful !»»--'t is fled.
Yet, ere she went, the words, " [ cnme,
" I coniCj my Natna," reach'd her eir
In that kiud voice, familiar, dear,
Whicli lella of confidence, of home, —
l)f habii, that hath drawn hearts near,
Till they grow one, — of faith sincere,
And all that Love niost Inves to hear;
A music, breathing; of tlie past,
The pieseiit and the time to he.
Where Hnpe and Memory, to ihe last,
Lengtlieii out life's true naiinoay I
Nor lon^ did he, whom call bo kind
SummouM away, remain behind ;
Hot did there need much lime to tell
What they— alas, more fall'ii than he
From happiness and heaveD — knew well,
His gentler love's shoit history I
Thu9 did il run — ?io( as he tnid
The tale himself, but as U is gravM
Upon the tablets thar, of old,
liy Seih 1 were from the deluge savM,
AU writtt-n over willi sublime
And siddening legends of the' unblest,
But glorious Spirits of that time,
And this yuuug Angel's 'uioug the rest.
THIRD ANGEL'S STORT.
Amopg the Spirits, of pure fl-ime,
That in Ihe'etfrnal heav'na abide —
Circles of light, that from the ^ame
Unclouded centre sweeping wide,
Carry its beams on every side —
Like spheres of air rliat waft around
Tlie undulations of rich sound —
Till Ihe far-Circling radiance be
Did'us'd into infinity I
First and immediate near the Throne
Of Alla,'ias if most his own,
The Seraphs s'aud a — this burning sign
Trac'd on their banner, " Love Divine !'*
* Seth is a favourite personage among the Orientals,
and acts a conspicuous part in many of their most ex-
travag.mt romances. The Syrians pretended to have
a Testament of this Patriarch in their possession, in
which was explained the whole theology of angels,
their dillerent mders, &c. &c. The Curds, too (as
Hyde mentions in his Appendix] h.ive a book, which
contains all the rites of Iheir religion, and which they
call Sohuph Shell, or the Book of Seth.
In Ihe same manner that Seth arid Chim are sup'
posed to have jireserved these memorials of antedilu-
vian knnwledge. Xixuthrus is 5aid in Ctialdsean fable
to have depnsiled in Siparis the cily of Ihe Sun, tho-e
nionunients of science which he had saved out of ihe
%vater8of a deluge.— See Jnblonski's le:irned remarks
upon these columits or tahkts of ?elh, which he sup-
poses to be the same wiih the pillars of Mercury, or
(he Egypliau Ihoth.—rantheon. Egypt, lib. v. cap. 5.
^ The Mussulnnns.says D'Herbelot. apply the gene-
ral name, Mocanebnun, to all those Spiiits '*qui ap-
prticliL-nt le plus pres le Trone." Of ihis number are
Mikail and Gebi-ail.
3 The Seraphim, or Spin's of Divine Ijove,
There appears to be, among writers on the E^st, a
well as among the Orieutals themselves, con--ider:ibl
indecision with regard to the rcspecive claims o
Strapliini and Cherubim tn the highest rank in th(
celestial hierarchy. The derivaliorr which Hyde as
signs to the word C/icrtt^ seems to determine (he pre
Their rank, their honours, far above
Ev'n those to high-brow'd Cherubs given,
Though knowing all ; — so much dolh Love
Transcend all knowledge, ev'u in beaveul
'Mong these was Zaraph once — and nono
E'er felt atfectiou's holy fire,
Or yearn'd towards the' Eternal One,
Willi half such longing, deep desire.
Love was to his impassion'd soul
Not, as with others, a mere part
Of its existence, but the whole —
The very lite-breath of his heart I
Oft, when from Alla's lifted brow
A lustre canie, too bright to bear,
And all the seraph rank? would bow.
To shade their dazzled sight, nor dare
To look upon ttic' eflulgence there —
This Spirit's eyes would court tlie blaze
(Such pride he iu adoring took),
And rather lo-e, in that one gaze,
The power of looking, than 7wi lookl
Then too, when aigel voices sung
The mercy of ihe^r God, and strung
Their harps to hail, with welcome sweet,
That moment, watch'd for by all e>es,
Wht
; repentant (
! teet
First touch'd the Ihreshold of the skies,
Oh (hen liow clearly did the voice
Of Zaraph above all rejoice !
Love was in every bu"yaiit tone-
Such love, as only could belong
To the biest angels, and alone
Could, ev'u from angels, bring such song
Alas, that it should e'er have been
In heav'n as 'I is tdo often here,
Where nothing fond or brighl is seen.
But it halh pain and peril near; —
Where right and wrong so close resemble,
That what we take for viriue's (brill
Is often the fir^t downward tremble
Of the heart's b;ilance unto ill ;
Where Love ba'h not a shrine so pure,
Sohuly, but Ihe serpen!, Sin,
In moments, ev'n the most secure,
Beneath bis altar may glide iu !
So was it with that Angel — such
The charm, that slop'd his fall along,
Froni good to ill, from loving much,
Too easy lapse, to loving wrong. —
Ev'n so that am'rous Spirit, bound
By beauiy's spell, where'er 't was found,
From the bright things above Ihe moon
Down 10 earth's beaming eyes descended.
Till love for (he Creaior soon
In passion for the creature ended.
*T was first at (wilight, on the shore
Of the smooth sea, he heaid the luto
And voice of her he lov'd steal o'er
'I he silver waters, that lay mute.
cedence in favour of thai order of spirits: — ** Che
bini, i. e Fropiitqui Ai'geli. qui sc. Deo pr^prius qui
alii accedunt ; nam Chnrab est t. q. Karob, appropin*
quare." (P. 268.) Al Beidawi, too one of the com-
mentators of the Koran, on that passage, " Ihe angels,
who bear Ihe 'J hmne, and lliose who sfand about i(,"
(chap, x! ) says, "These are ihe Cherubim, Ihe high-
est order of angels."' On the other hand, we have seen,
in a preceding note, thai the Syrians place the splie
in which Ihe Seraphs dwell at the very summit of all
the celeslial syslcms ; and even, among Maliomel
the word Arazit and Mocarreboun (winch mean the
fpiriis that stand nearest to the throne of Alia) r.re '
discriminalely applied to both Seraphiu and Cheru-
bim.
376
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
As lofj, by ev'n a breath, tn slay
The pil§riuiaiie of ihat swtet lay ;
Whrse echoes fitill v\ent on and on.
Till lost among ihe light Ihat shuoe
Far otF, beyond Ihe ocean's brim —
There, where the ricli cascade of day
Had, o er the' hnnzoi.'s golden nni,
Into KlysmmrolI'dawHy!
Of Gnd she snng. and of the mild
Ai end.nt Mercy, Ihat beside
His awful ihrnne lor eversinii'd,
Keady, wiUi her v^ hite hand, to guide
His bolis of vengeance to Ibeir prey —
That she niighi qutnch them on the way I
Of fe.ce — of that Aioning Love,
Upon who-e star, shining above
This twilight world of hupe and fear,
'Jhe weeping eyes of Faith are lix'd
So fond, Ihat with her eveiy tear
The light of ihai love-^la^ is mix'd —
All ihis ^he sung, and &uch a soul
Of pieiy wa- in Ihat song,
That the charoi'd Angel, as it stole
'I'enderly to his ear, along
Those lulling witcrs uhere heliy,
Waiching the daylight's d\ ing rav.
Thought 'I was a voice from out the wave,
An echo, that sonie -ea-nymph gave
To Eden's disiant harniouy,
Heard faiut and sweet beneath the sea!
Quickly, however, lo its source,
'J'racking that music's melting course,
He saw, upon the golden t-and
Of the sea-shore a maiden siand,
Before whose feet the' expiring waves
FluDg their ia-t oftering with a sigh —
As, in the Last, exhans:ed slaves
Lay down the fai-brought gift, and die —
And. while her lute hung by ber, hush'd,
As if Unequal to ihe tide
Of song, that trnni her lips still gush'd,
bUe lais'd, like one beatihed.
Those eyes, whoe tight st-emd rather given
To beador'd than to adore —
Such eyes, as may have look'd frorn faeaveOi
But ne er were raia'd to il betore!
Oh, Lnve, Religion. Music * — all
That '8 left of Eden upnn earth —
The only blessings, since the fall
Of our weak souls, thai shil recall
A trace of their high, glorions birth —
How ki.idred are the dreams you bring!
How Love, th ugh unto earih so prone,
Pelights to lake ileligion's wing,
When time or grief hath sfaiu'd his own I
Ho"' near lo LoveN beguiling brink,
Too<)ft, enlranc'd Rehgrnn hcs!
While Music. Music is ihe link
They both still hold by lo the skies,
The language of their nitive sphere,
Which they had else forgotten here.
How then c-uld Zaraph fail to feel
That mnmenl's witcheries ? — one. so fair.
Breathing out music, that might steal
Heaven from ilself, and rapt in prayer
Thst seraphs might be proud to share I
Oh, he did feel jr, all tno well —
Wiih warmth, that far too denrly cost —
Nor knew he, when at last he fell,
To which attraction, to which spell,
Love, Music, or Devotion, most
His soul in that sweet hour was lost.
1 **Le3 Egyptien<t di-eni que la Mnsique est Sc£ut
dc to Religion.''^ — Voyages dc Pulhugurc, tom. I. p.
422.
Sweet was the hour, though dearly won,
And pure, as aught of earth could be.
For then hist did the glorious sun
liefore religion's altar see
Two ht-arts in wedlock's golden tie
Self-pledg'd. in love to live and die.
Ble&t union ! by thai Angel wove.
And worthy from such hands to come;
Safe, sole asylum, in wliich Love,
When fall'n or exii'd from above,
la this dark world can lind a home.
And, though the Spirit had transgress'd,
Had, from" his st,Uiun 'mong tlie blest
Won duuu by woman's smile, allowM
Terrestrial passion to bieitheo'er
The niirrcr of hi^ heart, and ch-ud
God's image, there so bright before —
Yet never did Ihat Power look dovvn
On error with a brow so mildj
Never did Justice « ear a frown.
Through which so gently Mercy smil'd.
For humble wns their love — with awe
And trembling like snnie treasure kept,
That was not theirs by holy law —
Whose beauty with remorse they saw,
And o'er whose preciouvness they wept.
Humility, that low, sweel root,
From which all heavenly virtues ehoot,
Was m the hearts of both — but most
Id Nama's heart, by whom alone
Those charms, for which a heaven was lost,
Seem'd all unvalued and unknown j
And when her Seraph's eyes she c-tught,
And hid hers glowing on hl^ breast,
Ev'n bliss was humbled by Ihe thought —
** What claim have I lo be so blest?"
Still less could maid, so meek, have nurs'd
Desire of knowledge— thd vam Ihirat,
With which the sex hath all been curs'd,
From luckless Eve lo her, who near
The Tabernacle stole to he.ir
The secrets nf he angels:* no —
To jiive as her own Seraph lov'd,
With Fairh. the same through bliss and woe-
Faith, that, were ev'n rts light remov'd,
Could, like Ihe dial, hx'd remain.
And wait till il shone out again; —
With Patience that, thou-h often bow'd
Ity (he rude storm, can rise anew ;
And Hope tliaf, ev'n from Evil's cloud,
Sees sunny Good hilf breakii g through 1
This deep, reljing Love, v^(t^th more
In heaven than all a Cherub's lore —
This Faith, more sure ihan aught beside,
Was the sole joy. amhilii.n, pride
Of her fond heart — the' unrfasoning scope
Of all IS views, above, below —
So true she felt it ih.it to hupCy
To trusty is happier than to know.
And thus in humbleness (hey trod,
Aba--h'd, but pure before theit God;
Nor eer did earih behold a sight
So meekly beautiful as ihey.
When, wi'h the alur's holy light
Full on their brows, they knelt to pray,
Hand wiihin hand, and side by side,
Two links of love, awhile untied
From the great chain above, but fast
Holding together to (he last 1 —
Two fallen Splendor=,3 from that tree.
O Sara.
3 An aiiu=ion to the Sephiroths or Splendors of the
Jewish Cabbala, repre-emed as a tree, of which God
is rhe crown or summit.
The Sephiroths are the higher orders of emanative
being in the strange and inconipr<.heiiMble system of
THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
377
Which buds wiih such eternally, »
Shaken l> eirlh, yet keeping all
T jeir jighl and freshness lu Uie lall.
Tlieir only punishment, (aa wrong,
However sweet, must bear its brand),
Their only dumu w.^s this — thai, long
As Ihu green erirth and ocean stand,
Tliey bnlh shall wander here— ihe same,
'Jhronghdut all tune, in heart and frame —
Mill loukniK to lh:>t f^'tal sublime,
Whose liijhl remoie, bul sure. Iliey see;
Pilgi lilts of Love, whose way is Tiuie,
Whose home is in Kiernity !
Subject, the wjiiie, to all the s rife,
True Love ei.couners in this l>fe —
The wishes, hoiies, he breathes m vain;
The dull, that Iu^n^ his warmes; siglu
To earthly vapour, ere theyiise;
The doubt he feed^ on, and ihe pam
Tliat in his verv sweetness lies: —
Still worse, the' illusions that betray
His footsteps to iheir shining brink;
That tempt hini, on his desert v^ay
'I'hrou^h the bleak world, to bend aud dri
Where nothing meets his lip-, atas, —
But he again must sighing piss
On to that fai-nti' home of peace,
lu which aluue bis Ihirbt will cease.
All this they heir, hut, not the less.
Have moments rich in happiness —
Blest meetings, after many a day
Of widowhood past f.ir away.
the Jewish Cabbala. They are called by various
les, Piiy, Beau y, &c, &c. ; and their influences
supposed to act through certain canals, which
comniuiiicate with each other.
■ The reader may judge of the rationality of th;
.visli system by the following explanation of part
of the machinery : — *' Les c;inaux (jui sortent de li
Misericorde et de la Force, et qui vont aboulir a I;
Beaute, sont charges d'un grand iiombie d'Angcs. 1
11 a trente-cinq sur le canal de la Miseries rde, qn
recompenseiit el <jui C' uronutnt la vt-rtu des Saintm,"
&c. &c. — for a concise account of (he Cahaliat
Philosophy, see Kntield's very useful coinpendiuai of
Brucker.
"On les represenfe quelquefois sous la figure d'un
arbre .... J'Knsnph qu'on niei au-de-siis de I'arbtc
Sephirotique ou des bplendeurs divms, est lUiiliDi."—
Vliiatoirt dtt Juijs^ liv. ix. II.
When the lovM face ftgain is seen
Close, close, wiih not a tear between ^
ContidiDKs frank, without control,
Four'd mutually from soul to soul;
As free trnni any fear or doubt
As is that tight frmii chill or stain,
The sun into the stars sheds out,
To be by them shed back agaiul— •
That liappy minglemeiit of hearts,
Whue. chang'd as cliymic compounds are,
Efch with its own existence parts,
To hod a new one, happier far!
Svich ate their joys — and, crowning' all,
That blessed hope of Ihe bright hour,
When, happy and no more to fail,
'Iheir spirits shall, with frebheu'd power,
Rise up rewarded for tJiuir trust
lu Him, finm whom all goodness springs,
And, sh;ikingolI" earih's soiling dust
From their emancipa'ed wings,
Wander for ever through those skies
Of radiance, where Love never dies I
In what lone region of Ihe earth
These Pilgiims now may roam or dwell,
Gnd and the Angels, who look forth
To watch their steps, alone can tell.
But should we, in our wanderii gs,
Meet a young pair, w hose beauty waola
But the aaornnient of bright wmgs,
To lo.,k like heaven's inhabitants —
Who shine where'er Ihey tread, and yet
Are humble in their earthly lot,
As is the way-side violet,
That shine- unteen, and were it not
For its sweet breath would be r.^igol —
Whose hearts, in every thought, are one,
Who5e voices utter the same wills —
Answering, as Kcho doih some tone
Of fairy music 'mong the hills,
So like itself, we seek in vain
Which is the echo, which the strain —
Whose piety is love, whose love,
Though close as 'I were their souls' embrace,
Is not of earth, but from above —
Like two fair mirrors, face to face.
Whose light, from one lo the' other thrown,
Is heaven'.- rellection, not Iheir own —
Should we e'er meet with aught so pure,
So perfect here, we may be sure
'Tis Zar.'ph and his bride we see;
And call young loveis round, to view
The pilgrim pair, as they pursue
Their pathway tow'rds eternity.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
SCEPTICISM.
Ere Psyche drank the cup, thai shed
Ininiorial Life into her soul.
Some evil spirit pour't), 'lis said,
Une drop of Doubt into llie bowl ^
Which, min^lin? darkly with the stream,
To Psychf's li|is — slje kiieiv lint wliy —
Made ev'ti tliat Ijlessed nec'ar seem
As though its aweeliiess &ooa would die*
0(>, in the very arms nf Lovf;,
A chill c;*iiie o'er her heart — a fear
That Deah niieht, oven yet, remove
Her spirit from Ihal happy sphere.
' Those sunny rinflefs," she exclaim'd.
Twining Iheni »-.,tjnd her snowy fingers;
'Tlat forehead, where a li^hl, unnani'd,
" Unknown on earth, for ever lingers j
'Those lips, throush which I feel the breitb
*' (If Heav'n itself, wheueVr they sever —
*Say, are Ihey mine, beyond all death,
"My own, hereafter, and for ever?
'Smile not — I know that starry brow,
'• Those riiiglels. and bright lips of thine,
' Will always sliine, as thiy do now —
"But shall /live 10 see Ihem shine?"
3:i»
378
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS,
In vain did Love sav, " Turn thine eyes
"(Jn all that sparkles round Ihee here —
*' Thou V now in heaven, v\ here nothing dies^
** And in lhe.se arius — wiiat canst tbou tear?"
In vain -- the fatal drop, that stole
|[i(o that cujj's iiiiiiiortal lieabure,
Had Indg'd (tb hitter near her soul,
And gave a (inge lo every pleasure.
And, though there ne'er was transport giveo
Like Psyche's ^viih that radiant boy,
Hers is the only face in heaven,
That \>car& a cloud auiid its joy.
A JOKE VERSIF lED,
* Come, come," said Toni's father, " at your time of
life,
** There 's no longer ejccuse for thus playing the
rake —
' It is tune you should think, boy, of taking a wife" —
*' Why, so It 13, father— v/hose wife shall I take?'*
ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
Pure as the mantle, which, o'er him who stood
By Jordan's stream, descended from the skv,
Is <hat remembrance, which ihe wise and good
Leave in tlie hearts that love them, when Ihey die.
So pure, so precious shall the memory be,
Bequealh'd, in dying, to our souls by thee —
So shall the love we bore ihee, cheiish'd warm
Within our souls through grief, and pam, and
strife,
Be, like Elisha^s cruise, a holy charm.
Wherewith lo ^''beal the walera'^of this lifet
TO JAMES CORRV, ESQ.
ON HIS MAKING ME A PRKSENT OF A
WINE STRAINER,
Brighton, June, 1825,
This life, dear Corry, who can doubt ? —
Resembles much friend E wart's* wine.
When JiTst the rosy drops come out.
How beautiful, how cleur they shine I
And thus awhile Ihey keep their lint,
So free from even a shade wilh some,
That they would smile, did you but hint,
I'hat darker drops would evur come.
But soon the ruby tide runs short,
Each minute makes Ihe sad truth plainer,
Till life, like old and crusty port,
When near its close, requires a strainer.
This friendship can alone confer.
Alone can Ie.ich the drops to pass,
If not as bright as oiKc they were,
At least unclouded, through the glass.
Nor, Corry, could a boon be mine,
Of which this bean were foii<Jer, vainer,
Than thus, if life grow like old wine,
To have thy friendship for its strainer,
> A wine-nierchani.
FRAGMENT OF A CHARACTER.
Here lies Factotunt Ned at last;
Long as he breath'd the vital air,
Nothing throughout all Europe pass'd.
In which Ned hadn't some small share.
Whoe'er was in, whoe'er was outj
Whatever st.itesmen did or said,
If not exactly broui^ht about,
'T was all, at least, contriv'd by Ned,
With Nap, if Russia went to war,
'T was owing, under Providence,
To certain hints Ned gave the Czar —
(Vide his pamphlet — price, sixpeoce.)
If France was beat at Waterloo —
As all but Frenchmen think she was —
To Ned, as Wellingtun well knew.
Was owing half thai day's applause.
Then for his news — no envoy's bag
E'er pass'd so many secrets through it;
Scarcely a telegraph could wag
Its wooden finger, but Ned knew it.
Such tales he had of foreign plots.
With foreign names, one's ear to buzz iol
From Russia, chefs ;.nd ofs in h.'8,
From Foland, oujskis by the dozen.
When George, alarm'd for England's creed,
Turn'd out the last Wing nunislry,
And men ask'd — who advis'd the deed ?
Ned niodeslly confe^s'd 't was he.
For though, by some unlucky miss,
He had not downright sten the King,
He sent such hints through Viscount This,
To Marquis That, as clench'd the thing.
The same it was in science, arts.
The Drama, Books, MS. and prin'ed —
Kean learn'd from Ned his cleveies' parts.
And Scotl's last work by him was hinted.
Chitde Haro!d in the proofs he lead.
And, here and there, infus'd snnie soul in M —
Nay, Davy's Lamp, till seen by Ned,
Had — odd enough — au awkward hole in't.
'T was thus, all-doing and all-knowing,
Wit, state>man, boxer, chymist, singer,
Wh;ttever was the best [jye going.
In that Ned — trust him — had his finger.
WHAT SHALL I SING THEE?
TO .
What sh^n I sing thee? Shall I tell
Of that bright hour, remember'd well
As tho' it shone l>ut je.tetday,
When, loilering idly in the ray
Of a spring snii, 1 heaid, o'er-bead.
My name as by some spirit said.
And, looking up, saw two bright eyes
Altnve me from a casement shine,
Dazzling my mind wiih such surprise
As Ihey, who sail beyond the Line,
Feel when new stars above ihem rise ; —
And it was ihine, the voice that spoke,
Like Ariel's, in the nud-air then;
And Ihine iIir eye, who^e lustre broke —
Never lo be foigot again I
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
379
Wliat shall I sinR Ihee P Sliill I weave
A song of thai swetl siimnier-cve,
(.Suniiiier.of winch the auimiesl part
Was that we, each, liad in ihe heart,)
When thou .ind i, and one like Ihee,
lu life and beauty, lo the eound
Of our own bieathless nunstrelsy,
UancM llll the sunlight faded round,
Ourselves the whole ideal llall,
Lights, music, company, and all!
Oh, 't IS not ni the languid strain
Of lute like mine, whose day is past.
To call up ev'n a dream again
Of the fresh light those nionienlB cast.
COUNTRY DANCE AND QUADHILLE.
One night the nymph calld Coumry Dance —
(Whom folks, of laie, have used so ill,
Preferring a coquetle from France,
That nunccng thing, ManudU Quadrille) —
Having been chased from London (iowo
To thai must huniLle haunt nf all
She used 10 grace — a Country Town-
Went smiling to the New-Vear's Ball.
" Here, here, at least," she cried, " though driv'D
•' from London's gayand shining tracks-
" Though, like a Peri cast from heaven,
"I've lost, for ever lost, Alniack's —
•'Though not a London Miss alive
" Would now for her acquainlance own me;
"And spinsters, ev'n, of f..riy-hve,
•' Upon their honours ne'er have known me ;
" Here, here, at least, I triumph still,
" And — spite of some few dandy Lancers,
"Who vainly try lo preach Quadrille —
"See nought but true-blue Country Dancers,
" Here still t reign, and, fresh in charms,
" My Ihrnne, like Magna Charia, raise
'"Monff slurdy, free-born legs and arms,
"That scorn the threaten'd c/ioine MnglaiM."
T was Ihus she said as 'mid Ihe din
Of fwMinen and the lowii sedan.
She lighied at the King's Head Inn,
And up the siairs tiiuniphant ran.
The Squires and their Sqniresses all.
With young Squirians, just come out.
And my Lord's daughters from the Hall,
(Quadrillers, in their beans, uo doubl,) —
All these, as light she Iripp'd up slair».
Were in Ihe cloak-room seen assembling-
When, hark ! some new, outlandish airs.
From the Firat Fiddle, set her trembling.
She stops — she 1 istens — con it be ?
Alas, in vain her ears would 'scape i(-
Itij "Di taiili paipili"
As plain as English bow can scrape it.
" Courage !" however — in she goes.
With her best, sweeping couniry grace;
When, ah loo true, her worst of foes.
Quadrille, there meets her, face to lace.
Oh for Ihe Ivre, or violin.
Or kit of 'that gay Muse, Terpsichore,
T" sing the rage these nymiihs were in,
1 heir looks and language, aira and trickery.
There stood Quadrille with cat-like faco
(The belu-ideal of French beauty),
A band-box thing, all art and lace
Down from her nose-tip to her shoe-tya.
Her flounces, fresh from VictoriTie —
From UippUyte, her rouge and hair —
Her poetry, from LamnrHne —
Her morals, from — the Lord knows where.
And, when shedanc'd— so slidingly.
So near Ihe ground she plied her art.
You 'd swear her mother-earth and shs
Had made a compact ne'er lo part.
Her face too, all Ihe while, sedate.
No signs of life or motion showing.
Like a briiU fendult'a dialplate —
So still, you 'd hardly think 't was gcmg.
Full fronting her stood Coimtry Dance —
A fresh, frank nvniph, whom you would know
For English, at a single glance-
English all o'er, froni top lo loe.
A little gauche, >l is fair to own.
And rather given to skips and bounces;
Endangering thereby many a gown.
And playing, oft, the dev'l with flounces.
Unlike Afomj£i;c — who would prefer
(As morallv a le=ser ill)
A thousand flaws of character.
To one vile rumple of a frill.
No rouge did she of Albion wear ;
Let her but run that two-heal race
She calls a Set, not Dian e'er
Came rosier from the woodland chase.
Such was the nymph, whose soul had in't
Such anger now - whose eyes of blue
(Eyes «( that bright, victorious tint.
Which English maids call " Waterloo") —
Like Slimmer lightnings, in the dusk
Of a warm evening. Hashing broke,
While — to Ihe tune of "Money Musk,"'
Which struck up now — she proudly spoke —
"Heard you that strain -that joyous strain?
" ' r was such as England lov'd to liear,
" Ere thou, and all thy frippery train,
" Corrupted both her foot and ear —
'•Ere Wal'z, that rake from foreign lands,
"Presum'd, in sight of all beholders,
I'To lay his rude, licentious hands
"On virtuous English backs and shoulders —
n Eie times and morals both grew bad,
'And, yet unfleec'd by funding blockheads,
" Happy John Bull not only had,
•' Bui danc'd to, 'Money in both pockelb'
•'Alas, the change! — Oh, L— d— y,
" Where is the land could 'scape disasters,
'• With such a Foreign Secre'ary,
"Aided by Foreign Dancing Masters f
•'Woe to ye, men of ships and shops!
" Rulers of day-bioks and of waves !
•• QuadrilPd, on one side, in'o fops,
"AnidriU'd, on t'other, into slavet!
I An old English Country Dan(».
380
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS,
•• Ye, too, ye lovely viclim?. seen,
" Like pigeons, truss'd for exhibilion,
•• With elbows, a la crapaitdine,
" And leet, iu — God knows what positioo ;
•'Hemni'd in by watchful chapemns,
" Inspectors (if your airs and graces,
•• Who intercept all whisper'd tones,
"And read your telegraphic faces j
« Unable with the youth ador'J,
" In that grim cordon of Mammas,
«To iuteich:inf;e one lender word,
** Though whisper'd Lul jn qutn.ie de-chats »
*• Ah did you know how blest we ranR'd,
"Ere vile (iu.idrille u^urp'd the fiddle —
'*\Vhal looks m netting were exchang'd,
** What lender words in down the middle;
•*How nuny a couple, like the wind,
*' Wliich nnlhiu? in its course cotrrola,
•'Left time and chaperons far behind,
"And g.ue a loose to legs and souls ;
** How matrimnny throve — ere atopp'd
" By this cold, silent, fuot-coquetting —
"How charmingly one's partner pop[>"d
" The* ijnportaui question in poussette-ing*
" While now, al»s no sly advances —
" No niairiage hints — all goes on badly —
"'Twixt Parson Malibus and French Dances,
" We, girls, are at a discount sadly.
"Sir William Scott (now Barnn Sto^^ell)
" Declares not half so much is made
"By Licences — and he aiusl know well —
"bince vile Quadriiling spoil'd the trade."
She ceas'd — tears fell from every Miss —
She now liad touch'd the irue pathetic : —
One such authentic fact ->s this,
Is worth whole \olunies theoretic.
Instant the cry was " Country Dance !"
And Ihe maid a:iw, with biightening face,
The Steward of the night advance,
And lead her to her birihnght place.
The fiddle*, which awhile had ceas'd,
Now lun'd again their summons sweet,
And, for one happy night, at least,
Old Knglaiid's triuoiph VFas complete.
G AZEL.
Ha5te, Maami, the spring is nigh;
Alre;idy, in the* unopen'd flowera
Thai sleep around us, Fanc>'s eye
Can see tlie blush rif future bowers;
And joy it brings to thee and me,
My own beloved Maanii !
The 8'reanilet frozen on its way,
'Jo feed the maible Founis of Kings,
Now, loosen'd by the vern:il ray.
Upon i's path exulting springs —
As doth this bounding heart to Ihee,
My ever blissful Maami !
Such bright hours were not made to stay ;
Enough if tliey awhile remain,
Like Irem's bowers, that fade away,
Krnm time to time, and come again.
And life shall all one Irem be
For us, my gentle Ma.imi.
0 haste, for this impatient heart,
Is like the lose in Yemen's vale,
That rends its inmost leaves apart
With passion for the nightingale;
So languishes this soul for thee,
My bright and blushing Maaai> \
LINES ON THE DEATH OF JOSEPH ATKIK-
SUN, ESQ. OF DUBLIN.
If ever life was prosperously cast.
If ever life was like the kngthen'd flow
Of some sweet music, sweetness to Ihe last,
'1' was his who, niouru'd by many, sleeps below.
The sunny temper, bright where all is strife,
The simple heart above all worldly wiles;
Light wit that plays along lh«i calm of life,
And stirs its languid surface into smiles j
Pure charity, that comes not in a shower.
Sudden and loud, oppressing what it feeds,
But, like the dew, wilh gradual silent power,
Fell in the bloom it leaves along the meads;
The happy grateful spirit, that improves
And brightens every gilt by fortune given ;
Thv, wauder where it will with lliose tt loves,
Makes every place a home, and home a heaven:
All these were his.— Oh, thou who read'st this stone,
When for thyself, thy children, to (he sky
Thou humbly prayest, ask this boon alone.
That ye like him may live, like him may die 1
GENIUS AND CRITICISM.
Of old, the Sultan Genius reign'd,
As Nature meant, supreme, alone ;
With mind uncheck'd, and hands unchained.
His views, his conquests were bis own.
But power like his, that digs its grave
With its own sceptre, could noi last ;
So Genius* self became the slave
Of laws Uiat Genius' self bad pass'd.
As Jove, who forg'd the chain of Fate,
Was, ever after, doom'd to wear it;
His nods, his struggles all too late —
" Qui stmel jussitj semper paret,**
To check young Genius* prnud career.
The slaves, who now his throne invaded,
Made Criticism his prime Vizir,
And from t^at hour his glories faded.
Tied down in Legislation's school,
Afraid of even his own ambi."ioD,
His very victories uere by rule,
And he was great but by permissioD.
His most heroic deeds — the same.
That dazzled, when spontaneous actions'*
Now, done by law, seem'd cold and tame.
And shorn of all their tirst attractions.
If he but stirr'd to take the air,
Instant, the Vizir's Council sat —
"Good Lord, your Hii^hnes-; can't go thf-re
" Bless me, your Highness can't do that.**
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
381
If, toviiiff pomp, he chose to buy
Kich jewels for Ijis Jiadein,
** The tasle was bad, (lie price was high
** A Iluwer were stiuipltr thau a, gem."
To please them if he took to flowers-
*■*■ VVhat trilling, wtul uiitneaniiig (hlugtl
**Fit for a woinau's toilet lioui's,
» But not at all the style tor Kings."
l( fond of his domestic sphere,
He pl-iy'd no mure the rambling cornel —
"A dull, good sort of man, U was clear,
*' But, as for great or brave, far from it.**
Did he then look o'er distant oceans,
For realms more worthy to enthrone him ?^
"Saint Aristotle, wliat wild notions!
*' Serve a * ne exeat regno' ou him,"
At length, their last and worst to do.
They round him placM a guard of watchmen,
Reviewers, knaves in brown, or blue
Turu'd up with jellow— chiefly Scotchmen;
To dog his footsteps all about.
Like those in Longwood's prison grounds,
Who at Napoleon's ht-elB rude out,
For tear the Conqueror should break bounds.
Oh, for some Champion of his power,
Some Ultra spini, to set fiee,
As erst in Shakspeare's sovereign hour^
The thujiders of his Uoyalty I —
To vindicate his ancient line.
The lirst, the true, the only one,
Of Right eternal and divine,
That rules beneath the blessed buo.
TO LADV J*R*»Y,
ON BEING ASKED TO WRITE SOMETHING
IN HER ALBUM.
Written at MiddteloQ.
Ob, albums, albums, how I dread
Your everlasting scrap and scrawl 1
How often wis.li that Irom the dead,
Old Omar would pop forth his head,
Aud make a bunhre of you all !
So might I *scape the spinster band,
The tlushless blues, who, day and night,
Like duns in doorwa)s, take their btaud,
To waylay bards, with book in hand,
Crying lor ever, " Write, sir, write V*
So might I shun the shame and pain,
That o'er me at this inslani come,
When Beauty, seeking Wit in vain,
Knocks at the portal of my brain,
Aud gets, for answer, *' ^ot at home !"
Hove/itbtr. 1S2S.
TO THE SAME,
ON LOOKING THROUGH HER ALBUM.
No wonder bards, both high and low,
From Hyron down to # » » * » and me,
Should seek the fame, which all bestow
On him whose task is praising Ihee.
Let but the theme be J * r * * y's eyes,
At once all errors are forgiven ;
As ev'n old Sienihold still we prize.
Because, though dull, he sings of beavea.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
The following trifles, having enjoyed, in their cir-
culation through the newspapers, all the celebrity
and length of life to which they were entitled, would
have been sull'ered to pass quietly into oblivion wiih-
out pretending to any further distinction, had they col
already been published, in a collective form, both in
London and I'aris, and, in each case, been milted up
with a number of other produciions, to which, whal-
ever may be 'heir merit, the author of the following
pages has no claini. A natural desire to sep'trate his
own properly, worthless as it is, tiom that of o hers,
is, he begs to say, the chief motive of the publication
of (hid volume.
TO SIR HUDSON LOWE.
Secuta morum regula. Au$on
Sir Hudson Lnwe. Sir Hudson low,
(By name, aud ah ! hy nature so)
As thou art fond of per-ecu'ioti*
Terhaps thou 'st read, or heard repeated,
How {.-apLun Gulliver was treated,
When thrown among the Lilliputians.
They tied him down^ these little men did-
And having valiantly ascended
Upon the Miijhiy Alan's protuberance,
They did so strut !— upon my soul,
It must have been extremely droll
To see their pigmy pride's exuberance 1
And how the doughty mannikins
Amus'd Iheiiiselvcs with sricking pins
And needles in the gieat m;wj's breeches;
And how some very little rhings,
That pass'd for Lords, on sc;*li'nlding9
Got up, and worried him wii^ speeches,
Alas, alas ! that it should happen
To niighiy men ti> be caui^ht napping! —
Thoush ditlerent, too, these per eculionsj
For Gulliver, there, took 'he nap,
While, here, the Kap, oh, sad mishap.
Is taken by the Lilliputians I
AMATORY COLLOQUY BETWEEN BANK
AND GOVERNMENT.
1826.
Is all then forgo'ten ? those amorous pranks
You and I, in our youih,my dear Go\einmeiit,pIayy;
3<j2
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
When you c^Il'd me the fondest, the truest of Baokif
Aud eujoy'd the endearing advatices 1 madel
When left to ourselve?, unmolested and free,
To do All ih.<t a da^hI^g youn^ rnuple should do,
A law aga.nst payiYt^ was laid upon nie,
But none against owing^ dear lielpmate, on you.
And Uil then vanished?— that *'hour (as OHiello
So liap[iily calls it) (-f Love and Direclioti F'^ ^
And ii.ijst we, like other (und doves, my dear fellow,
Grow good in our old age, and cut the cooncxioD ?
GOVERNMENT.
Even 80, my belov'd Mrs, Bank, it must be ;
This paying in cash pU)S the devil with wooing: ^
We've both had our swing, but 1 plainly foresee
There must soon be a stop to our bill-iag aud cooing.
Propagation in reason — a small child or I wo —
Eveu Reverend Mallhus himself is a friend to ;
The issue of some folks is mod'nte aud few —
But vurs, my dear corporate Bank, there 'a no end to!
So — hard though it be on a pnir, who 've already
Disposed of 60 many pounds, shillings, and pence;
And, 111 spjie of thai pink of prosperity, Freddy,3
tio lavish of cash and so sparing of sense —
The day is at hand, my Papyria * Venus,
When — high as we once us'd to carry our capers—
Those soft bilitl-dotix we 're now p.issiug between us,
Will serve but to keep Mrs. Coutts iu curl-papers :
And when — if we still must continue our love,
(After all thai h-ia pass'dj— our amour, it ii clear,
Like tliat wbich Mibs Danae manag'd with Jove,
Must all be transacted iu buUioiij my dearl
February f 182ti.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN A SOVEREIGN AND
A ONE FOUND NOTE.
Said a Sovereign to a Note,
In the pocket of my coat.
Where they met in a neat purse of leather,
•' How happens it, 1 prithee,
'* That, though 1 'm wedded with thee,
" Fair Pound, we can never live together ?
** Like your sex, fond of change^
** With Silver you can range,
*' And of lots of young sixpences be mother j
•' While with me — upon my word,
'* Not my Lady and my Lord
•* Of W— stui— lb see bo little of each other I*
The indignant Note replied
(Lying crumpled by his side),
" Sbaoie, shame, it is yourself that roam, Sir —
X "An hour
Of love, of worldly matter and direction.'*
^ It appears, however, that Ovid was a friend to the
resumption of paymeut in specie : —
—— — *' finem, apecit caeleete reavmtar
Lucti^ui inipoiiuit, vetiit^ue ealutifer urbl.**
Met. I. 15. T. 743.
3 Honourable Frederick R— b— ns— n.
4 So called, to distinguish her from the " Aurea^' or
Qolden Venus.
"One cannot look askance,
"But, whip! you're oti'lo France,
"Leaving nothing but old rags at borne, Sir.
"Your scampering began
"From the moment Parson Van,
"Po:>r man, made us one in Love's fetter ;
*' * For better or for worst'
" Is the usual marriagt- curse,
" But ours is all * worse' aud uo * better.'
" In vain are laws piss'd,
"There's nothing liolds you fast,
**Tho* you know, sweet tiovereign, 1 adore y(» —
"At the smallest hini in life,
"You forsake your lawful wife,
"As other Sovereigns did l>efore you.
" I flirt with Silver, true —
"But what can ladies do,
" When disowuM by their ua'ural protectors?
" And as to falsehood, siuffl
•' I shall soon le false enough,
" When 1 get amoug those wicked Bank Director*."
The Sovereign, smiling on her,
Now swore, upon his honour,
To be henceforth domestic and loyal j
But, within an hour or two,
Why — I sold him to a Jew,
And he 's now at No. 10, Palaia Royal,
AN EXPOSTULATION TO LORD KING.
** Qoem das finemt Rex xaagnp. lal>orum 7" — Virgil,
1826.
How can you, my Lord, thus delight to torment all
The Peers of the realm about cheapening their
corn, f>
When you know, if one hasn't a very high rental,
'T is hardly worth while being very high born t
Why bore them so rudely, each night of your life.
On a question, my Lord, there's so much to abhor
in?
A question — I ike asking one, " How is your wife?" —
At once so confounded domestic SiUd foreign.
At to weavers, no matter how poorly they feast ;
But Peers, and such animals, ted up for show,
(Like the «e!l-physick'd elephant, laiely deceas'd,)
Take a wonderful quantum of cramniing, you
know.
You might see, my dear Baron, bow bor'd and dis-
trest
Were their high noble hearts by your merciless
tale,
When the force of the agony wrung ev'n a jest
From the frugal Scotch wit of my Lord L-d-d-le ! •
Bright Peer ! to whom Nature and Berwickshire gave
A humour, endow'd with efiects sn provoking.
That, when the whole House looks unusually grave.
You may always conclude that Lord L-d-d-le's
joking!
* See the proceedings of the Lords, Wednesday,
March I, 1826. when Lnrd King was severely re-
jjroved by several of ihe noble Peers, for making so
liiany speeches against the Corn Laws.
« This noble earl said, that "when he heard the
petition came from ladies' boot aud shoemakers, hfl
thought it must be against the * corns' which they in-
flicted on the fair sex."
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
383
Anl thflti^ those unfortunate weavers of Perth —
Not to know the vast dirt'eretice Pnividsnce dooms
Between weavers of Perth and Peers of high birth,
'T wixt (tiose who hue /in ir* looms, aud those
who 've tul looiiist
♦•To talk jtout uf starving!'* — as great Ath— 1
(And the nobles all cheer'd, aud the bi:>hops all
wonder'd,)
** When, some years ae^o, he and o!hors had fed
Of these s^me huugry devils about fifteen buo*
dred !"
It follows from hence — and the Duke's very words
Should be (jublish'd wherever poor rogues oi this
crutt are —
That weavL-rs, once rescued from starving by Lords,
Arc bound to be slarved by said Lords ever alter.
But nol so Ihe plan of our noble physicians,
"Js'o Bread aud (lie Tread-miil 'i Ihe regimen
So ceise, my dear Baron of Ockham, your prose
As 1 >h:tll my poetry — ntither Convinces;
And all \ve have spoken and written but shows
When yun tread on a nobleuian's coni,^ how he
winces.
THE SINKING FUND CRIED.
"Now what we ask, la become or thie Sinking Fund —
Ihese eight millions itf 9ur|iluB above cxpeiidilurt*. whiih
were to rcJuct Ihe inlereMt of Ihe (lalijnal debt by the
amount of four hundred thousand pounds annually?
Wherr, indeed, is the Sinking Fund itself 7 — 7Ae
Ttmts.
Take your bell, tike your bell,
Good Crier, and tell
To the Bulls and the Re;»rs, lill their ears are stunnM,
That, lost or s'olen,
Or fall'n throui;h a hole in
The Treasury floor, is the Siuking Fund I
0 yes ! 0 yes !
Can any body guess
What the deuce li-^s become of this Treasury wonder?
I( has Pitt»s name on 't.
All brass, in the Ironl,
And R— b— us— n's, scrawl'd with a goose-quill,
Folks well knew what
Would soon be its loi,
When Frederick and Jenky set hob-nobbiDg,3
And said lo each o her,
*' Su[ pose, dear brother,
" We make this funny old Fund worth robbing."
We are come, alas !
To a very pretty pass —
1 The Duke of Athol said, that "at a former pe-
riod, when these iveavers were in great distress, the
landed interest of Perth had supported 1500 of them.
It was a pour relnru for the^e very men n^iw to peii-
!ion against the psrsona wlm had ted ihem."
a An improvement, we Halter ouiselves, on Lord
L.'s joke.
a In 1824, when Ihe Sinking Fund was raised by
the imposition of new taxes to Ihe gum of five mil-
lions.
Eight Hundred Millions of score, to pay
With but Five in Hie til),
To discharge the bill,
And even thai Five, loo, whipp'd away I
Slop thief! slop Ihiefl —
From the Sub to the Chief,
These Gauuim uf Fin-mce are plunderiug caltlfl —
C.i!l the w.iifh — call biougham,
TellJoseph Hume,
That best uf Charleys, to bpring his rattle.
Whoever wilt bring
This aforesaid thiu^
To the well-known House of Bobinson and JenkiOf
Shall be paid, with IhaukH,
In ttie notes nf banks,
Whose Funds have all luaru'd ^' the Art of Sinking.^*
Oyes! 0 yes !
Can any body guess
What the dev 1 hits become of this Treasury wonder ?
It has Pitt's name on 't,
All bias», in Ihe front,
And R— b— ns— u's, scrawl'd with a goose-quill,
uuder.
ODE TO THE GODDESS CERES.
BY SIR. TH— M — S L— THBR— E.
*'Legiferae Cereri Phoeboque." VirgiL
Dear Goddess of Corn, whom the ancients, we know,
(Among other odd whims of those comical bodies,)
Adorn'd wilh somnilerous |>oppies, to show
Thou wert always a true Country -gentleman's
G'jddess.
Behold, in his best shooting-jacket, before thee.
An eloiiuent 'Squire, who most humbly beseeches,
Great Queeu of Mark-laue (if the thing duesu't bore
thee).
Thou 'li re:id o'er the last of his — never-last
Breeches.
Ah ! Ceres, thou know't not the slander and scorn
Now he.)pM upon Euglaud's 'Squirearchy, so
bo.isted ;
Improving on Hunt,* 't is no longer the Corn,
Tis tbe^0U7£r«ofCorn that are now, alas! roasted.
In speeches, in books, in all shapes they altack us —
Reviewers, ecouoniisis - fellows, no d..ubt,
Thai you, my dear Ceres, aiid Venus, and Hacchus,
And Gods of high fashion know little about.
There's B— nih— m, whose English is all his own
niaking,—
Who thinks just as little of settling a nation
As he would nf smoking liis pipe, or ol taking
(What he. himself, calls) his •' post-prandial vibra-
tiun."a
There are two Mr. M lis, too, whom those that
love reading
Through all that h unreadable, call very clever; —
And, whertas M 11 Senior makes war on euod
bleeding,
M II Junior makes war on all breeding what-
* A sort of " breakfist'powder," composed of roa>t-
d corn, was about this time introduced by Mr. Hunt,
' The venerable Jeremy's phrase for his afternliD-
384
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Id short, my dear Goddess, Old England 's divided
Bftween ultra blockheads and superfine sages ; —
With which of these classes we, landlords, have sided
Ttiuu 'It tind ia my tipeecb, if Uiou Hi read a iew
Iiagea.
For therein I 've prov'd, to my own satisfaction,
And th.4t ot all 'Squires I've the honour of meeting,
That 't Is the uiost seiiseiesa and foul-nioulh-d detrac-
tion
To say that poor people are foud of cheap eating.
On the contrary, such the ^^ chaste notions" « of food
TJjat dwelt ui each pale maimfacturer's heart,
They would scorn any law, be it ever so good.
That would make thee, dear Goddess, less dear
thau thou art I
And, oh ! for Monopoly what a blest day,
When the Land and the Silk^ bhall, lu fond com-
bination,
(Like Suiky and Silky^ that pair in the play,2)
Cry out, tvilh one voice, for High Keats and
btarvation I
Long life to the Minister!— no matter who,
Or how duH he may be, if, with dismfied spirit, he
Keeps the pi^rls shut— and Ihe ptople's moulhs, too—
We shall all have a long run of t leddy'sprut-perity.
Had England but One to stand by thee. Dear Corn,
Thai last, honest Uni-Corn * would Le tiii
Th— m-s I
A HYMN OF WELCOME AFTER THE
RECESS.
Animas sapicntiorea fieri quieeceDdo.
And now — cross-buns and pancnkes (i*er —
Hail, Lnrds rind Gentlemen, once more !
Thrice hail and v%elCNme Houses Twain 1
The short echpse of Apn 1-Day
Having (God prant it I; ptss'd aw.iy,
Collective Wisdom, shine again!
Come, Ayes and Noes, through thick and thin,—
With Faddy H-Imes iur whipptr-in,—
Whate'er the job, prep.ir'd lo back it;
Pome, vomers nf Supplies- t esiowerg
Of jackets upoji Irunipet-bJf'weis,
At eighty mortal pounds the jacket! *
Come — free, at leng'h, from Joint-Stock cares —
Ye Senators of many Shares,
Whose dreams of premium knew no boundary ;
So foud of auglit like Company,
That ynu unuld even have lakt-n tea
(Had you been ask'd^ with Mr. Goundry.^
1 A phrase in one of Sir T— m— s's last speeches.
^ Great efTnrts were, at that lime, making for the
exclusion of foreign silk.
3 "Road to Ruin."
* This is meant not sn much for a pun, as in allu-
sion to the natural historv of the Unicnrn, which is
supposed to be something between Ihe Bos and Ihe
Asiriu'^, and, as Rees's Cyclnpa:dia a-sures us, has a
particular liking for evt-ry thing "chaste.''
ft An i*em nf expense uhich Mr. Hume in vain en-
deavnured lo ee' nd nf : — iriin;peters, it appears, like
Ihe men of AU-SouU, must be " bene vatili.^'
6 The gentleman, la ely before the [.ubiic, who
kept his /onjf-Sli'Ck 'IVa Company all lo himself,
singing *• Tc snlo adorn."
Cnnie, matchless counlry-gentlemen ;
Come, wise Sir Thomas— wisest then,
Wliun creeds and corn-laws are debated J
Couje, rival ev'u the Harlot Ked,
And show how wholly into bread
A 'Squire, is traiiSubxtaiiluUcd.
Cnme, L-derd— e, and tell Ihe world,
That — surely as thy scraich is cuil'd,
As never scratch was curl'd before —
Cheap ealitig does more harm than good,
And working-people, sj)oil'd by food.
The less they eat, will work'the more.
Come, G— Ib-rn, with thy glib defence
(Which thou Mbt have made (or Fder's Pence)
Of Church-Rales, worthy of a halter;
Two pipes of port {old port, 't was said
By honest Newpovi i) bought and paid
By Papists for the Orange Altar I 8
Come, H— rt— n, with thy plan, so merry,
For peopling C-nada from Kerry —
Not so much rendering Iieland quiet,
As grafting on Ihe dull Canadians
That liveliest of earth's contagions,
The 6uZi-pock of Hibernian riot !
Come all, in short, ye wond'rnus men
Of wit and wisdom, come again ;
'Ihough short your absence, all deplore it —
Oh, come and show, whate'er men say,
That ynu can, ajter April-Uay,
Be just as — sapient as bcjore it.
MEMORABILIA OF LAST WEEK.
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 182G.
The Budget— quite charming and witty— no hearing.
For plaudits and laughs, the good things that were
Great comfort to find, though the Speech isn't chcertng,
That all its gay audiiors yjere^ every miuule.
What, still more prosperity ! — mercy upon us,
*' This boy "II be Ihe deaih of me"— oft as, already.
Such Bmno!h Budseteers have genteelly ui.done us,
For Kuiii made cosy there 's no one like Freddy.
TUESDAY,
Much grave apprehension express'd by the Peers,
Lesi-- calling to life the old Peachums and Lock-
itts —
The large stock of gold we *re to have in three years.
Should all find its way into highwaymen's pock-
WEDNESDAY.
Little doinff — for sacred, oh Wednesday, thou art
Tn the seven-<.'.clock jo>s.>f full m.my a table-
When ihe Members all meet, to make much of that
part.
With which they bo rashly fell ou', in the Fable,
1 Sir John Newport.
fl This charge of two pipes of port ff>r the pacra-
menlal wine is a precious sjiecmien of the sort of ra'es
levied upon 'heir Caiholic tellow-j)arishioiiers by the
Irish Protestants.
9 "Another objection to a metallic currency was,
that il produced a grea'er number of highway robbe-
ries."—Dcta/e 171 the Lords.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
385
I tt uppear'd, though, lo-oight, that — as cliurch-ward-
ens. yearly."
Eal up a snial I baby — Ihoi-e cormorant sinners,
The Hankrupl Cniniuis^ionets, ic/r very iieaily
A mod'rate-siz'd Laukrupl, tout chaud^ for their
dinuers! ^
JV'pfa bene — a rumour today, in the City,
"Wr. R—b— IIS— n just has resignd"— what a pity 1
The Bulls and the Bt:»rs all fell a sobbing,
When they he.ird of (he fate of poor Cock Robin;
While thus, to the nursery tuue, so pretiy,
A murmuring MocA-dove breath'd her ditiy : —
&}aS} poor RoliJif he crow'd as long
And as sueet as a prosperous Cick could crow;
£ut his note was smalls and (he gold-ducli^s song
Was a pitch loo high for Robin to go.
Who '11 make his shroud ?
" I," Raid the Bank, "though he playM me a prank,
" While I have a rag, poor Rob shall be roll'd in »t,
" Wiih niauy a pound I'll paper him round,
*' Like a plunip rouleau — withoiit the gold in U.**
ALL IN THE FAMILY WAY.
A NEW PASTORAL BALLAD.
6UNQ IN THE CHARACTER OF BRITANNIA.
Peet't Letter.
TuDe — Mif banks are all fu
ah'd uith beat.
My banks are all furnish'd with rigs,
So thick, even Freddy can't thin 'em ;
I've torn up luy old money-bags,
Having litde or nought to put in 'em.
My (radeBineii are sni.Tshmg by dozens,
But this is all nothing, they say ;
For lianbrupls, since Adam, are cuusiDs, —
So, it 's all iu the family way.
My Debt not a penny takes fr-^ni me,
As sages the mailer explain ,—
Bob owe^ it to Tom, and then Tommy
Just owes it to Bob back a^ain.
Since all have thus taken to otoing",
There 's nobody left that can pay;
And this is the way to keep going,—
All quite iu the family way.
My senators vote away millions,
To put in Prosperity's budget ;
And though it were billioiis or trillions,
The generous rogues wouldn't grudge it.
'T is all but a family /lo/j,
'T was Pitt began dancing the hay ;
Hands round I — why the deuce should we stop?
'Tis all iu the family \^ay.
BIy labourers used to eat mutton.
As any great man of the State does
And no»v the poor devils are put on
Small rations of tea and potatoes.
But cheer up, John, S:iwnev, and Paddy,
The King is ynur father, they say;
So, ev'n if you starve for ynur Daddy,
*T is all in the family way.
* Mr, Abercromby's statement of the enormous ta-
Tarn bills of the Commissioners of Bankrupts.
My rich manufacturers tumble.
My poor ones have nothing to chetr ;
And, ev'n if ttiemselves do not gruuible,
I'heir stoma chs undoubtedly do.
But coolly to fast en Jamiile,
Is as gnod for the soul as to pray;
And (amine itself is genieel,
Wheu oue starves lu a fauiily way.
I have found out a secret for Freddy,
A secret t(ir next Budget day i
Though, perhaps, he may know it already,
As hcy loo, 's a sage in his way.
When next for the Treasury scene he
Announces " itie Devil to Pa\,"
Let him write on ihe bills, *• JVola hene^
"'Tis all iu the family way,"
BALLAD FOR THE CAMBRIDGE ELECTION.
mittee to take tlic etcp whic-b thry
ir cniripanboii of sircngth, upnii the
uUilerHlauaiiig Ihtil whichever uj the two should pro'ji
to be the wcukeit, Mhould give way In the oltit-r."— £*-
tract Jram Mr. W. J. D—iei'z Letter \.o Mr. G—lt^n.
B— kes is weak, and G— lb— n too,
No one e'er tlie fact denied j —
Which is *' i*JcaAeji" of Hie two,
Cambriitge can atone decide.
Choose between tliem, Canibridge, pray,
Which IS weakest, Cambridge, say.
G— lb — n of the Pope afraid is,
B— kes, as much afraid as he \
Never yet did two old ladies
On this point so well agree.
Choose between them, Cambridge, pray,
Which is weakest, Cambridge, say.
Each a diflerent mode pursues,
Each the *ame conclusion reaches ;
B— kes is foolish in Reviews,
G— Itj — n, foolish in his speeches.
Choose between them. Cambridge, pray,
Which is weakest, Cambridge, say.
Each a ditfei
When his .
B— kes he da
G-lt.— n d
Choose betM
it foe doth damn,
/n affairs Iiave gone ill ;
neth B'lckiKgltam,
nueth Dan OCoiinell.
1 them, Cambiid^e, pray.
Which ts weakest, Cambridge, say.
Once, we know, a horse's neigh
Fii'd Ihe' election to a throne j
So, whichever tirsi shall bray^
Choose Iiim, Cambridge, lorthv own.
Choose him, choose him by his bray,
I'hus elect him, Cambridge, pray.
Jungf 1826.
MR. ROGER DODSWORTH.
TO THE EDITOR OP THE TIMES.
•• 8tr,~Hnvin? juBt heard of the wonJerrul reaurri
oT Mr. Raider DodMWorlh from under an ntaU
Viheie he had remained, bien /rappe, it seemK, for the
last 166 yenrfl, I hasten In impart to yuu a few reflec*
tioos uo the suluect. — Youru, &c.
Laudator Temporis Acti.
What ft lucky turn-up! just ^s Eld— n's with-
drawing,
To find thus a gentlei^ian, ffoz'n in the year
Sixteen hund
To serve for our tin,ies~quit<
ho nnlv
A-ell i
tbawinff,
the Peer ;—
33
386
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
To bring thus In li^hf, not the Wisdom alone
i)i our Ancestor-., such as 't is fnuiid on our shelves,
BlI, ill perlect cnudiiiotJ, full-wj^g'd and fuM-grown,
To ehi'vel up oue of Iho&e wise bucks Ihemselves !
Oh thaw Mr. Dodsworlh, and send him safe home —
Lei liirii lc.li n nothing uselul or new oo the way j
With his uisdom kept snug from the light let him
What a Gi d-sentl to thtm! — a good, obsolete man,
Wiio has ne%er of Locke or Voltaiie beeu a
reader ; —
Oh, thaw Mr. Dodsworlh as fast as ynu can.
And the L.— nsd— les and H— rif— rds shall choose
biiu for leader.
Yes, Sleeper of Ages, thou skult be their chosen ;
And deeply witii ihee will they sorrow, good men,
To think that all Europe hiis, since thnu wert frozen,
Ho altered, ihou hardly wilt know it agaia.
And Eld — n will weep n'er each sad innovation
Sucli oceans of tears^ thou wilt fancy that he
Has been also laid up in a lung cdnpjetaiion,
And is only now liiawing, dear lioger, like Ihee.
COPY OF AN INTERCEPTED DESPATCH.
FROM HIS EXCELLENCY DON STREPITOSO
DIABOLO, ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO
HIS SATANIC MAJESTY.
St. JameB'8 Street, July 3, 1826.
Great Sir, having just had the good luck to catch
An ofiicial young Demon, prfpanne 'o ?o,
Ready booted and spuri'd, wuh a Mack-les; des;.alch
From the Hell here, at Cr— ckf— id's, lo our ilell,
below —
I write these few lines to your Highncas Pa'anic,
To ^ay that, first having obey'd your directions,
And done all the niisclnef I could in *' Itie Panic,"
My next special care was lo help the Eleciions.
Well knowing how dear were those times to thy soul,
When ev*ry e;ood Christian tormented his brother,
And cauf'd, in thy realm, such a saving of coat.
From all coming down, ready griU'd by each other ;
RemembVing, besides, how it painM thee to part
With the Old Penal Code — that dief-d^ccuvre of
Liw,
In whi:h (though to own it loo modest thou art)
We could plainly perceive the liue touch of thy
claw ;
I thought, as we ne'er can those good times revive,
(Though Eld— n, wiih help from your Higliuess,
would try,)
'T would still keep a laMe for Hell's music alive,
Cou Id we get up a thuud'ring No-Popery cry ; —
That yell which, when chorus'd by laics and clerics,
So like is to ours, in ils spirit and lone,
That I often nigh laugh myself into hysterics,
To think that Ueligion should make it her own.
So, having sent down for the' original notes
Of the chorus, as sung by your Majesty's choir,
With a tew pints of lava, to gargle the throats
Of myself and some oihi^rs, who sing it ** with
fire," »
* Con fuoco — a mupic book direction.
Thought I, " if (he Marseillois Hymn coald com-
mand
•*Such audience, though yell'd by a Sans-culatU
ciew,
"What wonders shall we do, who've men in onr
b.iid.
'* That uot only wear breeches, but peiticoaU too."
Such then were my hopesj but, with sorrow, your
Highness,
I 'm forc'd to confess — be the cause what it will,
Whether fewness of voices, or hoarseness, or &by>
Our Beelzebub Chorus has gone off but ill.
The truth is, no placeman now knows his right key,
The Treasury pitch-pipe of late is so variou*;
And certain base \oices, that look'd for a fee
At the york uiusic-meeiing, now think it precari-
Even some of our Reverends misfit have been
warmer, —
Though one or two capital roarers we 've had ;
Doctor VVise'i is, for instance, a cf>arming performer,
And Uuiitingdun Maberley's yell was uot bad i
Altogether however, the thing was not hearty: —
Even Eld— n allows we got on but so so;
And when next we attempt a No-Popcry party,
\Ve »7iw,vr, please your Highness, recruit from
below.
But, hark, the young Black-leg is cracking his whip —
Excuse me* Great Sir — there's no time to be
The next opportunity shan't be let slip,
But, till then,
1 'm, in haste, your most dutiful
Devil.
July^ 1S26.
THE MILLENNIUM.
suggested by THE LATE WORK OF THE
REV. MR. IRVING **0N PROPHECY."
A Millennium at hand! — I'm delighted to hear
it —
As matters, both public and private, now go,
With multitudes round us all starving, or near it,
A good, rich Millennium will come a-yrufios.
Only think. Master Fred, what delight to behold,
hibtead of thy bankrupt old City of Hags,
A br.m-new Jerusalem, buiit all of gold,
Sound bulliou throughout, from the roof to the
flags —
A City, where wine and cheap corn a shall abound —
A celestial Cocaigne^ on wliose buttery shelves
We may swear the best things of this uorld will be
found.
As your Saints seldom f.iil to lake care of them-
selves!
Thanks, reverend expounder of raptures Elysian, ■*
Divine Squintilubus, who, plac'd wiinin reach
Of two opposite worlds, by a twist of your vif-ioi»,
Can cast, at ! he same time, a sly lonk at e<chj—
3 This reverend gentleman distinguished himself
at the Reading election.
s "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny.'' — Re.o. vi.
4 See the oration of this reverend gentleman, where
he describes the cnniinbial j'^ys of Paradise, and paintl
the augels hovering round "each ha[)i v fair."
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
387
Thanhs, thanks for the hope thou afTordest that we
May, ev'n in our owo times, a Jubilee share,
Which so loDK has beea proinis'd by prophets like
thee,
And so ot'sn postpoo'd, we began to despair.
There was Whiston,* who learnedly look Prince
Eugene
For the man who oiust bring the Millennium
about ;
There 's Faber, whose pious productions h.ive been
All belied, ere his book's hrst ediiion was out ; —
1 here was Counsellor Dobba, loo, an Irish M. P.,
Who discours'd on the subject with signal cdatj
And, each day of his life, sat expecting to see
A Millennium break out in the town of Ar-
maghia
There was also —but why should I burden my lay
With your Brotheises, Southcotes, and names less
deserving.
When all past Millenniums henceforth must give
way
To the last new Millennium of Orator Irv— ng.
Go on, mighty man,— doom them all to the shelf—
And when next thou with Prophecy troubtest thy
tcuiice,
Oh forgtl not, I pray thee, to prove that thyself
Art the Beast (Chapter iv.) that sees nine waya at
ouce.
THE THREE DOCTORS.
DoctoribDs laetamur tribuB.
IS
Though many great Doctors there be.
There are three that all Doctors out-lop,
Doctor Eady, (hat famous M. 1).,
Doctor ii— th— y, and dear Doctor Slop.a
The purger — the proser — the bard —
All quacks in aditferent style;
Ti.^ntnr <<. — (h — » i.,r.iojj ^ooks by tfac yaro,
pulls by the mile • *
All quacks
doctor S— th- ^ ...
Doclor Eady wri((
Doctor Slop, in no merit outdone
By his scribbling or physicking brother,
Can dose us with stuff like the one,
Ay, and doze us with stuff like the other.
Doctor Eady good company keeps
Wuh '^No i'opery" scribes, on Ihe walls;
Doctor S— th— y as gloriously sleeps
With '* No topery" scribes, on the stalls.
Doc'or Slop, upon subjects divine,
Such bedlamite slaver lets drop,
Tha', if Eady shoidd t^ke the mad line,
He *11 be sure of a patient in Slop. .
« When Whistoti presented to Prince Eugene the
Essay in which he atiemp'ed to conitect hi^ vic'ories
over the Turks with Revelation, the Prince is sai
have replied, that " he was not aware he had ever bad
the honour of being known lo St. John."
2 Mr. Dobbs \va« a member of the Irish Parliament,
and, on all other subjects but the Millennium, a very
sensible person : he chose Armagh as the scene of hi;
Millennium, on account of the name Armageddon,
xueniiuned in Revelalion,
■ * Alluding to the display of this doctor's name, in
chalk, on all the walla round the metropolis.
Seven millions of Papists, no less,
Doct'T S— th— y atiacks, hke a Turk ; •
Docior Eady, less buM. 1 c .nfess,
Attacks but his niaid-of-all-work.s
Doctor S — th— y, for his grand attack.
Both a laureate and pensioner is j
While poor Doctor Eady, alack.
Hits been had uj) to Buvv-slreet, for his!
And truly, the law does so blunder,
That, though little Hood has been spilt, be
May probably suffer as, under
The ChcUking Act, known lo be guilty.
So much for the merits sublime
(With whose catalogue ne'er should I stop)
Of the three greaiei-l lights of our time,
Doctor Eady, and S— th— y, and Slop!
Should you ask me, lo which of the three
Cireat Doctors the pref'rence should fall.
As a matter of course, I agree
Doctor Eady must go to ihc waU,
But as S-th— y with laurels is crown'd,
And Slop with a wig and a tail is,
Let Eady's bnglil temples be bound
With a swingeing " Corona Murcdit t**^
EPITAPH ON A TUFT-HUNTER-
Lament, lament, Sir I^aac Heard,
Put mourning round thy page, Debretf,
For here lies one, who ne'er preferred
A Viscount to a Marquis yet.
Beside him place Ihe God of Wi*.
Before him Beauty's rosiest girls,
Apollo for a star he 'd quit,
And Loves own sister for an Earl's.
Did niggard fate no peers afford.
He took, of cfiuise, to peers' relations;
And, rather than not sport a Lord,
Put up with ev'n the last creations.
Ev'n Irish names, could he but tag *eni
With"Lord"and '■ Duke," were sweet to call j
And, at a pinch, Li'id Ballyragaum
W^s better than no Lord ai all.
Heiv'n grant him now some noble nook,
For, rest his soul ! he 'd rather be
Genteelly d^nm'd beside a Duke,
Than aavM in vulgar company.
fi This seraphic Doctor, in the preface to his last
work (Ki7Jc/ici"aE Eccltsix Jin^licansE)^ is pleased to
anaihematize not only all Catholics, but all advocates
of Catholics:— "They have fur iheir immediate
allies (he says) every faction that is banded against
the State, every demagogue, every irreligious and se-
ditious jotiinalist, every open and every iusidicus
enemy to Monarchy and to Christianity, "
G See ihe late accounts in the neuspapers of (he
appearance of this gentleman at one ol the Police-
offce?, in consequence of au alleged assault on his
•'maid-of-all-v\ork."
1 A crown granted as a reward among the Romans
to per-oni who performed any extraordinary exploits
upon tvaliSy such as scaling them, b;4tteririg them,
&c.— No doubt, writing upon them, to the extent Dr.
Eady does, would eq^ually establish a claim to tbe
honour.
388
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
ODE TO A HAT.
Aedificat caput." Juvenal,
1S26.
Haii, reverend Hat ! — snbUine 'mid all
The iiiiijor feUs Ihat round thee grovel: —
Thnu, ifi^f lheGo(Js''aUelia'-c,.ll,
Willie iiieauer mortals call thee 'Shovel."
When on Ihy shape (like pyramid,
Cut horizontally jii two) i
I raptur'd gaze, what dreams, unbid,
Of stalls and mitres bless my view
That brim of brims, so sleekly enod —
Not tiapp'd, like dull VVesleyan;.', down,
But looking (as all churchmen's should)
Devoutly upward— tovv'rds the a'awn,
Gods ! when I gaze upon that brim,
So redolent of Church all over,
VVhnt su-arms of 'I'lthes, in vision dim,—
Some pig-taii'd, some like cherubim,
With ducklings' wintjs — around it hoverl
Tenths of all dead and living things,
That Nature inio being brings,
From calves and corn lo chitterlings.
Say, holy Hat, that hast, of cocks,
'J he very cock most orthodox,
To which, of all the well-fed throng
Of Zion,^joy 'st thou (o belong?
Thou'rt 7iut Sir Harcourt Lees's — no —
For hats grow like the heads thai wear *em ;
And hats, on heads like bis, would grow
Particularly haruin-scaruni.
Who knows but thou may'st deck the pate
Of Ihat fam'd Doctor Ad— mth— te,
(The reverend rat, whom we saw stand
On his hind-legs in Westmorel.tnd,)
Who chaiig'd so quick from blue to yellow
And would from ytUow back to bluCf
And back again, convenient fellow,
If U were his interest so to do.
Or, haplv, smarlest of triangles,
Thou art the hat of Doctor Ow— n;
The hat that, to his vestry wrangles,
Thaf venerable priest doth go in, —
And, then and there, amid the stare
Of all St. Olave's, takes ihe chair.
And quotes, with phiz right orlhodor,
The' example of his reverend brothers,
To prove that priests all fleece Iheir flocks,
And he must tleece as well as others.
Blest Hat ! (whoe'er thy lord may be)
TIius low I take oti" mine to thee,
The homage ot a layman's castor^
To the spruce /feiia of his pastor.
Oh may'st thou be, as thou pmceedest,
Still smarter cnck'd. still bnish'd the biigliler,
Till, bowing 2II the way, thou leadest
Thy sleek possessor to a mitre 1
NEWS FOR COUNTRY COUSINS.
Dear Coz, as I know neither you nor Miss Draper,
When Parliament 's up, ever take in a paper,
1 So described bv a Reverend Historian of the
Churcn : — *' A Delta hat, like the horizontal section
(if a pyramid." — GranVs History of the English
Church.
2 Archbishop Magee affectionately calls the Church
Establishment of Ireland " the little Zion."
But trust for your news to such stray odds and endt
As you chance to pick up from poliiical friends-
Being one of this well-inform'd class, I sit down
To transmit you the last newest news that V in towQ.
As to Greece and Lord Cochrane, thinga couldn't look
Letter —
His Lordship (who pronuses now to fight faster)
Has just taken Rhodes, and despatch'd otia letter
To Daniel O'Connell, (o make him Grand Master;
Engaging to change the old name, if he can,
From the Knights of St. John to the Knights of St.
Dan;—
Or, if Dan should prefer (as a still better whim)
Being made the Colossus, 'tis all one to him.
From Russia the last accounts are that the Czar —
Most gei.'rous and kin., as all sovereigns are.
And wtiose first pimcely act (as you know, I sup-
pose)
Was to give away all his late brother's old
clothes 3 —
Is now busy collecting, with brotherly care,
The late Emperor's nightcaps, and thinks of be-
One nightcap apiece (if he has them to spare)
On all Ihedtotinguish'd old ladies now going.
(While I write, an arrival from Riga— Ihe 'Bro-
thers'—
Having nightcaps on board for Lord Eld— n and
others.)
Last advices from India — Sir Archy, '( is thought,
Was near catching a Tartar (Ihe first ever caught
In N. Lat. 21.)- and his Highness Burmese,
Being very hard press'd to shell out the rupees,
And not having rhino sufficient, they say, meant
To pawn his august Golden Foot * for (he payment.
(How lucky for monarchs, that thus, when they
choose,
Can establish a running account with Ihe Jews!)
The security bemg what Rothschild calls "goot,"
A loan will be shortly, of couise, set o7i foot ;
The parties are Rothschild, A. Baring and Co.
With three other great pawnbrokeis: each takes a
toe,
And cng.iges (lest Gold-foot should give us Zeg*-bail,
As be did once before) (0 pay down on the 2iail.
This is all for the present— what vile pens and
paper
Yours truly, dear Cousin — best love to Miss Draper.
Septemterj 1826.
A VISION
BY THE AUTHOR OF CHRISTABEL.
"Up!" said the Spirit, and, ere I could pray
One hasty orison, whiri'd me away
To a Limbo, Iving — I wist nni where —
Above or below, in earth or air;
For it ghmmer'd o"er with a donltfxtl light.
One cimldn't say whether 't was day or night;
And 't was crost by many a mazy track.
One didn't know how lo get on or b:ick ;
And I felt like a needle that 's going astray
(With its one eye out) through a bundle of hay ;
When the Spirit he grinn'd. and whisper'd me,
"Thuu'rt cow in the Court of Chancery 1"
3 A disiribu'ion was made of the Emperor Aleian-
der'a military wardrobe by hrs successor.
* This potentate styles himsolf the Monarch of the
Golden Foot.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
389
Around me flitteiJ unnumbered swarms
Of shapeless, bodiless, tailless forms;
(Like bottled-up babes, that ^race (he room
Of thai wor by knight, Sir Kverard Home)^
All of (hem, things hnlf-kilPd in rt-arin^;
Some were l.iiiie— eonic wanted hearing;
Snme had through half a c^nlury run,
'1 hough they hadn't a leg to s'and upon.
Others, more merry, as just beginning,
Around on a point of law were spiiming;
Or bahncM aloft, 'twixt Ji7Und Ajuwer^
Le;id at each end, like a light-rope dancer.
Snme were so crojv, ihal no' hing could please 'em ; —
Some guip'd doivu affidavits to e^se 'em ;—
AH were in motion, yet never a one,
Let it move as it might, could ever nnve on,
" These," said ihe Spiri', " you plainly see,
"Are what they call suits in Chancery I"
I heard a loud screamin? of old and young,
Like a chorus by fifty Velullis sting;
Or an In.sh Dump ("(he words by Moore'')
At an amateur concert screaniM in score j—
So harsh on my e.ir that wailing fell
Of the wre'ches who in this LimbodweUI
It seemM like the dismal symphony
Of the shapes ^neas in hell did see ;
Or those frogs, whose legs a barbarou-. cook
Cut otf, and left the trogs in the brook,
To cry all night, till life's last dregs,
** Give us our legs I — give us our legs !**
Touch'd with the sad and sorrowful scene,
I ask'd what all this yell might mean.
When the Sitiril replied, Wtth a grin of glee,
*''Tisthe cry of ihe Suiiois in Chancery J
1 look'd, and I ?aw a wizard rise,*
With a wig like a cloud before men's eyes.
In his aeed h^nd he held a «and.
Wherewith he br ckon'd his embryo band,
And they mov'd and mov'd. as he wav'd it o'er,
But they never got on one inch the ftiore.
And still they kept limping to and fro,
Like Ariels round old Prospero —
Saying, "Dear Nhster, let us go."
But still old Prospero answer'd " No,"
And I heard, (he while, that wizard elf
Muttering, muttering spells to himseT,
While o'er as many old papers he turn'd.
As Hume e'er miu'd for, or Omar burn'd.
He talk'd nf his virtne -- '• though some, less nice,
(He own'd with a siith) preferr'd his rtte"—
And he said, 'M thiiik"— "I doubt"-"! hope,"
Calld God to witiess, and d .mn'd the Pope ;
With njany more sleigh's of tongue and hand
I couldn'i, for the soul of me, understand.
Aniaz'd and pos'd, I was jus' about
To ask his name, when the screams without,
The merciless clack of the mips within.
And th^t conjuror's mutterings. made such a din,
That, startled, I woke— leap'd up in my bed —
Found the Spirit, the imps, and the conjuror fled.
And bless'd my stars, right pleas'd to see.
That i wasn't, as jet, iu Chancery.
THE PETITION OF THE OHANGEMEN OF
IRELAND.
1&26.
To the People of Er.glaml, the humble Petition
Of Ireland's disconsola(e Orangemen, showing —
That sad, veiy sad, is our preseni condition ; —
Our jobbing all gone, and our noble selves going;—
That, forming one-seventh, within :k few frictions,
Of Iceland's seven millions of hot heads and heai'ts.
i The Lord Chancellor Eld— n
l3«
We hold it the basest of all base transacloils
To keep us from niurd'ring the other six parts ; —
That, as to laws made fnr the pood of the many,
We humbly suggest there is nothing less true ;
As all human laws (aiid our own, more tlian any)
Are made hij audjor a particular lew j —
That much it delights ev'ry true Orange brother,
To see you, in England, s"ch ardour evince,
In discussing which sect most tormented ttie other.
And burn'd with most gustUy some hundred yean
That we love to behold, while old England grows
faint,
Messrs. Southey and Buller nigh coming to blows.
To decide whether Dunstan, that sirong-bodied Saiut,
Ever truly and really puU'd the Dev'l'a nose;
Whether t* other Saint, Dominic, burnt the Dev'l's
paw —
Whether Edwy intrigued with Elgiva's old mo-
tber^ —
And many such points, from which Southey can draw
Conclusions most apt fur our hating each ottier.
That *t is very well known this devout Irish nation
Has now, for snme ages, gone happily on,
Believing in two kirjjs of Substantiation,
One parly in Trans and tlie other iu Con ; '
That we, vour petitioning Cons, have, in right
Of thf said nionnsyllable, ravag'd the lands,
And embezzled tl,.; goods, and annoy 'd, day and night.
Both the bodies and souls of the sticklers for
Trans ; —
That we trust to Peel, Rldon, and other such sages,
For keeping us still in tlie same slate nf mind ;
Pretty much as the world us'd to be in those ages,
When still smaller syllables madden'd mankind j
When Ihe words ex and per* serv'd as well, to annoy
One's neighbours and fi lends with, as con and trans
now ;
And Christians, like S— th— y. who stickled for oi.
Cut the throats of all Christians who stickled for
That, relying on England, ivhnse kindness already
So often has help'd us to play this game o'er.
We have go' our red coats and our carabines ready.
And wait but the word to show sport, as before.
That, as to Ihe expense — the few millions, or so.
Which for all such diversions John Bull has to
pay —
'T IS, at least, a great comfort to John Bull to know.
That to Orangemen's p.'ckets 'twill all find its way.
For which your petitioners ever will pray,
&c. &c. &c. &c &C.
"i To such important discussions as these the greater
part of Dr. Souihey's l>'indicix Ecclaix JJnglicanx it
devoted.
» Consubstantiafmn — the true Reformed belief; at
leas', the belief of Luther, and, as Mosheim asserts, of
Melancthon also,
« When John of Ragnsa went to Constantinople (at
the lime this dispulc between "ex" and "per" was
going on', he found Ihe Turks, we are told, " laughing
al Ihe C hrislians for being divided by two such insig-
nihcant particles.**
' The Arian controversy — Before that lime, says
Hooker, " in order to be a sound believing Christian,
men were not curious what syllables or particles oi
speech they used."
,390
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
COTTON AND CORN.
A DIALOGUE.
Said Cotton to Corn, i^other day,
As Itiey uiel and excban-'d a salute —
(Squire Corn in his ctiria^e so gay,
i'oor Cotion, half famisli'd, on fool):
"Great Squire, if it isn't uncivil
*• To hint at sUrvation before you,
*' Look down on a jioor hung-^y devil,
** And give hiiu some tread, 1 implore youl**
Quoth Corn then, in answer to Cmton,
Ferceivins he meant lo make free —
** Low fellow, you 've surely forgotten
*'Tbe distance belwt^en you aud me!
» To expect that we Peers of high birth,
"Jhould waste our illustrious acres,
**For no other purpose on earth
•*Thii) to fallen curst calico-makers ! —
" That Bishops to bobbins should bend —
"Should stifop from their Bench's sublirailj,
"Great dealers in lawn^ (o betnend
*'Sucb contenipiible dealers iu dimity !
"No — vile Manufacture ! ne'er harbour
"■ A h"pe to be fed al our boards ; —
"Base otispring nf Atkwnghl the barber,
** What claim canst lh(ni have upon Lords ?
"No — thanks to the taxes and debt,
'* And the inumph o| papL-r it'ci guineas,
"Our race of Lord Jemmys, as yet,
"May defy your whole rabble of Jennys!"
So saying — whip, crack, and away
Went Corn in his chaise through the throng,
So headlong, 1 heard lliem all say,
"ijquire Corn would be down, before long."
THE CANONIZATION OF SAINT
B— TT— RW— RTH.
"A ChriBtiaii of the best edition." Rabelaig,
Canonize him ! — yea, verily, we 'II canonize him ;
Though Cant is his hobby, and meddhn!; his bliss,
Thout^h sages njay piiy, and wits may despi>e him,
He'll ue'er make a bit the worse Saint for all this.
Descend, all ye Spirits, that ever yet spread
ThedominH.nof Humbug o'er hnd aud o'er sea,
Descend on our B— tt— rw-rth's biblical head,
Thnce-Great, BibliopoUst, Saml, and M. P.
Come, sliade of Joanna, come down from thy sphere,
And bringliitleShiloh — if 't isn't too far —
Such a sight will lo B— tl— rw— rth's b^soni t»e dear,
^15 ixinceptions and thine being much on a par.
ce more to behold
'd by cheating so many ;
NorbIi.3h, Saint Joant
A world thou ha>t hi
Thou 'It findsiillanif.i
Who aiso by ti icks aud the i>tals i makes a pen;
Thou, too, of the Shakers, divine Mother Lee!»
Thy smiles lo beatitied B— tl— rw— rth deign j
> A great part of the income of Joanna Soulhcott
arose from the Seals of the Lord's protection which
she sold to her followeis.
* Mrs, Anne Lee, the "chosen vessel" of (he
Two ''lights of the Gentiles" i/e .hou, Anne, and ha,
One hallowing fleet Street, and Vother Toad
The Heathen, we know, made their Gods out of
And Sa
As
may be fram'd of as handy materials; —
■nieo and B — tt— rw— rths make just as good
ny the Pope ever book'^d as Eihereala.
Stand forth, Man of Bibles ! — not Mahomet's pigeon,
When, perch'd on (he Koran, he dropp'd there,
they say,
Strong njaiks of his faith, ever shed o'er religion
fciuch glory as B— ti — rw— rlh sheds every day.
Great Galen of souls, with what vigour he crams
Down trios idolatious fhroats, till they crack
again.
Bolus "u bolus, good man ! — and ihen damns
Both iheir siom..chs and souls, if they dare cast
them back .^gain.
How well might his shop — as a type represenfine
The creed of himself and his sanctified clan —
On its counter exhibit " the Art of Tormenting,'*
Bound nealiy, and letlei'd " Whole Duty of Man !»
Canonize him ! — by Judas, we will canonize him;
for Cant is his hobby, and twaddling his bliss ;
And, though wise men may piiy and vvils may de-
spise him,
He 'II make but the belter f/io;)-saint for all this.
Call quickly tngether the whole tribe of Canters,
Convoke all ihe scrioxis Tag-rag of the nation ;
Bring Shakers and Snufllers and Jumpers and Ranters,
To Witness Ibeir B—li—nv— rib's Canooizalion I
Yea, humbly I 've ventui'd his merits to paint,
Yea. feebly have tritd all his gifis lo p -rlray;
And they form a sum-foial U>t making a Saint,
That the Devil's own Advocate could not gainsay.
f Ran'ers all roar,
's spirit, uprais'd from your
.ike a kiie made of fnoJscap, in elory shall snar.
With a long tail of rubbish behind, lo the ikies !
AN INCANTATION.
SUNG BY THE BUBBLE SPIRIT.
Air.—Come with i
J tLiU go
'. the TtiCkt of coral grow.
Come with me, and we will blow
Lots of bubbles, as we go ;
Bubbles, bright as ever Hope
Drew from fincy — or from soap;
Bright as e'er the Sou'h Sea sent
From its frothy element!
Come with me, and we will blow
Lois nf bubbles, as we go.
Mix Ihe lather, Johnnv W— Iks,
Ihou, who rhym'al so well lo bilks ; «
Shakers, and "Mother of all the children of regene-
ration."
8 Toad I^ane, in Manchtsler. where Mother Lee
was born. In her " Addrtss to Y- ung Believer^,'' she
says, that "ii is .1 matter ol no iinporlance with ihem
from whence the means of Ihrir deliverance come,
whether frooi a stable in Beljlehcut, or from Toad
Lane, Manchester."
* Strong indications nf character may be socaetiBDUi
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
391
Mix the lather — who
Filler fnr such lask Ihan Ihee,
Great M.P. for Suds b u ry !
Nnw the froihy clianii is ripe.
Puffins Peler.i brins thy r'l«.— .
1 hou whuiii ancient Coventry
Once so dearlv lov'd, that she
Knew Dc.i wh'ich In her was sweeler,
I'eepi-iK Tom or Puffing Peler;-
Puft the bulihles high in air,
Pufi' thy bcsl to keep Iheni there.
Erivo. bravo. Peter M-re !
Now llie rainbow humbugs^ soar, _
Gliilenn? all wiih eoldeii hues,
Such as haunt the dreams of Jews, -
Some, r. fleeing mines that lie
Under Chili's glowing sky,
Sc.nie ihnse virgin pearls that sleep
Cloistei'd in the souihern deep;
01her^, as if lent a ray
F.om the 8ir.an,ing Milky Way,
Gliseiiingo-erwi'hcu.ds and whey
Fioni ihe cows of Alderney.
Now 's Ihe nionient — who shall first
Catch Ihe bubbles, ere they hurst ?
Run ve Siiuirts, ye Viscounts, run,
Br-'gd-n'. T-ynh-m, P-lni-t-n;-
John W— Iks junior runs beside ye .
Take Ihe good the knaves provide ye . •• ,
See, Willi upturn'd eves and hands*
Where the .S7.<ircinan,4 Br-gd-n, stands,
Gaping for the froth I'lfall 1
Down his gullet— ;j<: and all.
But, hark, my lime is out —
Now. like snnie greil water-spout,
Scaitrr'd by the catin.ui's thunder,
Burst, ye bubbles, all asunder!
rf/cre the stage dnrhms — a discordarit criuh is
drdfrZthc Irche.tra-the ,,roken bubbles d^ccnd
in a saro'.uicwus but unclcardy mist ou«r the head
of the rhaviatis Person^e, and tliescme drofS. leav
■iif lite bubbk-lMiiters all in the suds.)
A DREAM OF TURTLE.
BY SIR W. CURTIS.
•Twas evening time, in Ihe twilight sweet
1 saii'd along, when — «hom should I meet
Bui a Turlle journeying o'er Ihe sea,
" On the service of his Majesty."'
When spving him first through twilig! t dim,
I didn't know whal to make of him ;
But said to myself, as slow he plied
His fins, and roli'd from side lo side
Conceitedly o'er the watery path —
•' 'T is my Loid of St-w— II laking a balh,
" And 1 hear hini now, among the hshes,
"Quoting Valel and Burger>dicius !"
But, no — 'twas, indeed, a Turlle, wide
And plump as ever these eyes descried ;
A Turlle, juicy as ever jet
Glu'd up Ihe lips of a Baronet !
And much did it grieve niv soul to see
That an animal of such dignity.
Like an absen'ee abroad should roam,
When he ongU. lo stay and be ale al home.
But now "a change came o'er my dream,"
Like Ihe magic lanlern's shifling slider;-
I look'd, and saw, by the evening beam,
On Ihe back of lh.at Turlle sal a rider —
A goodly man, wiih an eye so merry,
1 knew '1 was our Fnieign Secrelary,6
Who there, at his ease, did sit and smile,
Like Walerlon on his cn.codile ; t
Cracking such jokes, at every motion,
As made the lurlle squeak wiih glee,
And own Ihey gave him a lively notion
Of what his/wc'd-meal balls would be.
So on the Sec. in his glory went.
Over thai briny element.
Waving his hand, as he tonk farewell,
Willi graceful air, and bidding me tell
Inquiring fiiends that Ihe Tuitle and ha
Were gone on a fureign embassy —
To soflen Ihe heart of a Dijilomate,
Who is known to doat upon verdant fat,
And to lei admiring Europe see,
That calipash and caiijcc
Are the English forms of Diplomacy.
THE DONKY AND HIS PANNIERS.
•Parte iUi : veetr
A FABLE.
" Tes^sus jam sntlat a-sfllii
Vireil- Cot*.
traced in the rhymes to names. Marvell thought 60,
when he wrote
"SirBIwarri Sutton,
The fonli»h Knight v»lio rhymes lo inullnn."
1 The Member, during a long period, for Coventry.
* An humble imitati.m of one of our modem poels,
who in a poem against War. afler describing ihe
splendid h.abilimenls of the soldier, thus aposlrophijes
him— Mhou rainbow ruffian !'*
3 " Lovelv Thais sits beside thee;
Take Ihe good llic Gods [irovide thee."
« So caled by a son of 1 u-can dulcification of the
c/i, in the word •' Chairman."
s We are told that Ihe passport of this grand diplo-
matic Turlle (sent bv the Secretary for Foreign Affairs
lo a ceriain noble envoy) described him as "oq his
najeaty's service."
dnpibup stipreml
Orata icsliiclo Jovi».
A donky, whose laleni for burdens was wond'rous.
So much that you 'd swear he rejoic'd ma load.
One day had to jog under panniers so pond'rous,
■jhit — down Ihe poor Donky fell smack on Ihe
road I
His owners and drivers stood round in amaze —
What ! Neddy, the patient, the prosperous Neddy,
So easv to drive, through the dirtiest ways.
For every description of job-woik so ready .
One driver (whom Ned might have " hail'd" as a
"brother"')
Had just been proclaiming his Donky's renown
For vigour, for spirit, fnr one thing or other -
Wheu, lo, 'mid his praises, the Donky came down!
But how to upraise him ? — one shouls, V other
' whistles, . , „ I
While Jenky, Ihe Conjurer, wisest of all,
e Mr. Canning.
I IVnnilerivgs in South Jlmcrica. " It was lbs
first and last lime (says Mr. Walerlon) I was ever on
a crocodile's back."
8 Alluding to an early poem of Mr. Coleridgey
addreseJ to an Ass, and beginning, "1 ball then,
brother !"
392
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Declared that an "over-production of thislles — *
(Here Ned gave a starej — was the cause of his
fall."
Another wise SoJonn^n cries, m he passes —
*' There, let hini alone, atid the fit will soon cease ;
"The beaal has been fighting witli other jack-asses,
** And this is his mode of ' tramition to peace.* "
Some look'd at his hoofs, and, with learned grimaces,
Pron unc'd that too long wiibout shoes be bad
gone —
** Let the blacksmith provide him z sound nutal
basis
{The wise-acres said), *' and he 's sure to jog on."
Meanwhile, the pnor Neddy, iti torture and fear,
Lay under liis [lanniers, scarce able to groan j
And — what was still doletuller — lending an ear
To advisers, whose ears were a match for bis own.
At length, a plain rustic, whose wit went so far
As to see oihers' foliy, roar'd out, as he pass'd —
*'Qutck— ofl'w.th the panniers, all dolls as ye are.
** Or your prosperous Is'eddy will bouu kick his
last 1"
OctobeTf 1826.
ODE TO THE SUBLIME PORTE.
1826.
Great Sultan, how wise are thy state compositions!
And oh, above all, I admire that Decree,
In which thou command'st, that all she politicians
Shall forthwith be strangled and cast in the sea.
*T is my fortune to know a lean Benthamite spin-
ster—
A maid who her fai'h in old Jeremy puts ;
Who lalks, with a lisp, of 'Mhe last new West
minster,'^
And hopes you're delighted with '*Mill upon
Glut*;"
Who tells you how clever one Mr. Fun-blank is.
How charming his Articles 'g-ilns* the Nnbilily ; —
And assures you that even a gentleniairs rank ji»,
In Jeremy's school, of no sort of uliiity.
To see her, ye Gods, a new Number perusing—
Art. 1. — '*()n the Needled variations," byPI-
^rl. 2.— By her fav'riie Fun-blank 3 — "so amu
*■ Dear uian I he makes Poetry quite a Law c
ing!
^rt. 3. — "Upon Fallacies,*' Jeremy's own —
(Chief Fallacy bein;;, his hope to hnd readers) ; —
^rt. 4. — " Upon Hontsty," author unknown ;—
.4r(. 5. — (by the young Mr. M > "Hints to
Breeders."
Oh, Sultan, oh, Sultan, though oft for the bag
And the bowstring, like (hee, I am tempted to
call —
* A certain country gentleman having said in thi
House, *-tliat we must re'urn at last to the food of
our ancestors," somebody asked Mr, T, " what food
the gentleman meant ?"— " Thistles, I suppose," an-
iwered Mr. T.
5 A celebrated political tailor.
■ This pains-taking gentleman has been at (he
trouble of count i tic, willi the assistnncc of Cocker. the
number of metaphors in Moore's " Life of Miendm, '
and has found them to amnunl, as nearly as possible,
to 2235 — and some fractions.
Though drowning *a loo good for each blue^tocHciog
hag,
I would bag this she Benthamite first of them all !
And, lest she should ever again lift her head
From the watery bottom, her clack to renew —
As a clog, ns a sinlier, far better than lead,
I would hang round her neck her own darling
Review.
COKN AND CATHOLICS.
What ! still those two infernal questions,
1'hat with our meals, our !>luDibers mix-
That spoil our tempers and digestions —
Eterual Corn and Catholics !
Gods '. were there ever two such bores ?
Nothing else talk'd of night or moru-
Nothing i?t doors, or out of doors,
But endless Catholics and Corn 1
Never ?*«§ such a brace of pesfs —
Wliile Ministers, still worse tljan either,
SkilI'd but in fe;ithering their nests,
Plague us With both, and settle neither.
So addled in my cranium meet
Popery and Corn, (hat vU 1 doubt,
Whether, this year, 'i was bonded Wheat,
Or bonded Papists, they let out.
Here^ landlords, here, polemics nail you,
Arm'd with all tubbi^h iht-y ca^ lake up;
prices and Texts at once a!«sail you —
From Daniel these, and those from Jacob.4
And when you sleep, with head still torn
Between the two, their shapes you mix,
Till sometimes Ca holies seem Corn —
Then Corn again seems Catholics.
Now, D^ntsic wheat before you foats —
Now, Jesuits fiom California —
Nr.w Ceres, link'd with 'litus OatSy
Comes dancing through the "Porta Cornea."
Oft, (oo, the Corn grows animate.
And a whiile crop of heads appears,
Like P^pi-rts, btardmg Church and btate —
Themselves, together by the ears 1
In short, these torments never cease ;
And oft I wish myself trani^ferr'd off
To some f;*r, lonely land of peace,
Where Corn or Papists ne'er were heard of.
Yes, waft me, Parry, to the Pole ;
Fnr — if my f.ite is to be chosen
*Twixl bores and icebergs — on my soul,
1 *d rather, of the two, be frozen I
A CASE OF LIBEL.
" The grpater the trutli, the worse the libel."
A certain Sprite, who dwells below,
(T were a libel, perhaps, to mention where,)
4 Author of the late Report on Foreign Coro.
* The Horn Gate, through which the ancients sup-
r'>ited ail true dreams (surh as those of the Popish
Plot, &c ) to pass.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
393
Cftme up tncoff,, some years aeo,
To try, for a change, the i^ndoD air.
So well he look'd, and dressM, and talkM,
And hid hia tail and horns so handy,
You'd hardly have kiunvo him as he walk'd,
From C e, or any oihcr Dandy.
(His horns, it seems, are made 1' unscrew ;
So, he has but to take Ihein out of the socket,
And — just as some tine hushaiids do —
CouveoieDtly clap them iulo his pocket.)
Id short, he lookM extremely natly,
And ev'iicnntriv'd—to his own gi eat wonder—
liy dint of sundry scents from Gatlie,
To keep the sulphurous Iwau under.
And so my gentleman hnofd about,
UnWiown to all but a chosen few
At Whitens and Crockford's, where, no doubt,
He had oiany jjust-obils falliug due.
Alike a gamester and a wit,
Ai night he was seen with Cmckford^s crew.
At morn with learned dames would sit —
So passM bis lime Hwixl black and blue*
Some wish'd to make him an M, P.,
But, finding W^lks was also one, he
Swore, in a rage, '* he 'd be d— d, if he
" Wouid ever sit in one house with Johnny."
At length, as secrets travel fast,
And devils, whether he or she,
Are sure to be tnuiid out at last,
Ttie atlair got wind most rapidly.
The Press, the impartial Press, that snubs
Alike a fiend's or an angel's c-ipers —
Miss Paton's soon as Beelzebub's —
Pir'd o&' a squib in the morning papers:
*' We warn good men to keep aloof
"From a grin, old Dandy, seen about,
"With a fire-proof wig, and a cloven hoof
** Through a neat-cut Hoby smoking out."
Now,— the Devil being a genllpman.
Who piques hiniself on weil-bred dealings, —
You may guess, when o'er these lines he ran.
How much they hurt and shock'd his feelings.
Away he posts to a Man of Law,
And 't would make you laugh could you have
seen 'em.
As paw shook hand, and hand shook paw.
And 'I was "hail, good fellow, well met," be-
tween 'em.
Straight an indictment was preferred —
And much the Devil enjoy'd the jet,
When, asking about the Bench, he heard
That, of all the Judges, his own was Sest.i
In vain Defendant prnfTer'd proof
That Plainlitl's self was the F.ilher of Evil —
Brought Hoby forth, to swt-ar to (lie hoof,
And StuUz to speak to the tail of the Devil.
The Jury (saints, all snug and rich,
And readers of virtuous Sunday papers)
found for the Plaintiil — on hearing which
The Devil gave one of bis loftiest capers.
For oh, 't was nuts to the Father c f IJes
(As this wily tiend is nam'd in the Bible)
To find it settled by laws so wise.
That the greater the truth, the worse the ibel !
LITERARY ADVERTISEMENT.
Wanted — Authors of all-work, to job for the sea-
son,
No matter which party, so faithful to neither;
Good hacks, who, if pos'd for a rhyme or a reason,
Can manage, like ****»*, to do without either.
If in gaol, all the better for out-o' door topics ;
Your gaol is for Trav'llers a charnjing retreat ;
They can take a day's rule for a Inp to Ihe Tropics,
And sail round the world, at Iheir ease, in the
fleet.
For a Dramatist, loo, the most useful of schools —
He can ^tudy high life in the King's Bench eom*
munily;
Aristotle could scarce keep him more within rtiUtf
And oi place he, at least, must adhere to the unity.
Any lady or gentleman, come to an age
To have good "Reminiscences" (three-score or
higher).
Will meet with encouragement — so much fer page,
And the spelling and grammar both found by the
buyer.
No matter with what their remembrance is stock 'd,
So they 'II only remember the qiunitiim desir'd : —
Enouiih 10 fill hiiidsonieiy Two Volumes, oct.y
Price twenty-four shillings, is all that's requirM.
They may treat us, like Kelly, with old jeu-d^espritsj
Like Dibdin, in.iy tell of each farcical frolic;
Or kindly inform us, like Madame Genlis,^
That gingerbread-cakes always give them the colic.
Wanted, also, a new slock of Pamphlets on Corn,
By " f armeis" and "Landholders" — (worthies
who>>e lands
Enclos'd all in bowpots, their attics adorn,
Or, whose share of the soil may be seen on their
hands).
No-Popery Sermons, in ever so dull a vein,
Sure of a market ;— should they, too, who pen
'em,
Be renegade Papists, like Muitagh CS-ll— v— n,3
Something extra allow'd for the' additional venoin.
Funds, Physic, Corn, Poetry, Boxing, Romance,
All excellent subjects for" turning a penny ; —
To write upon all is an author's sole chance
For attaining, at last, the least knowledge of any.
Nine limes out of ten. if his title is good,
The malenal within of small consequence is ,*—
Let him only write fine, and, if not understood.
Why — that 's the concern of the reader, not his,
Notn Bene — zn Essay, now printing, to show,
That Horace (as cleai ly as words could express it)
1 A celebrated Judge,
ned.
5 This lady also favours u^ in her Memoirs, with
the address of ihose apothecaries, wh" hive. Iraii
time to time, given her pills thai agieed with her;
always desiring that the pills should be oidered
"conimc pour elle."
s A gentleman, who distinguished himself by his
evidence before ihe Iriali Comniit'ees.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
394
Was for taxing the FuDtl-IiolJers, ages agn.
When lit; wrole thus — *' Quodcunque in Fundi j,
assess it." 1
THE IRISH SLAVE. 3
1827.
I heard, as ! lay, a wailing sound,
'• He is dead — (le is de^d,'' ihe rumour flew :
And I rais'd my chain, and lurn'd me round,
Audaslt'Jjlhioughlliedungeou-wiudovv, "Who?"
1 saw my livid tormentors pass ;
Their grief 't was bhss lo hear and see !
For, never came joy tu 1,'ieni, ala^,
Tiiat didn't bring deadly bane to nie.
Eager I look'd through the mist of night.
And .nsk'd, ' What fne of inv race haih died?
" Is it he — Ihat Doubter of law and right,
** Whom nothing but wrong could e'er decide —
'Who, long ashes
ibut 1
alth to 1
" Who, a clog for ever on Truth's advance,
" Hangs round her (like the Old Man of the Sea
** Round teinbad's neck 3j, nor leaves a chince
" Of shaking him off— is 't he ? is 't he ? '
Ghastly niy grim tormentors smil'd.
And thruslirg me back to my den of \voe,
Willi a laughter even more fierce and wild
Than their funeral liowling, answer'd '• No."
But the cry still pierc'd my prison-ga'e.
And again 1 ask'd, " What scourge is gone ?
" Is it he — that Chief, so coldly great,
" Whom Fame unwillingly shines upon —
" Whose name is one of the' ill-omen'd words
"They link with hale, on his native plains ;
"And why ?— ihey lent him lieaitsand swords,
" And he, in return, gave scoffs and ch.iius !
"Is il he? is it he?-" I loud inquir'd,
When, haik!— there sounded a Royal knell;
And I knew what spirit had just expir'd,
And, slave as 1 was, my triumph fell.
He had pledg'd a hate unto me and mine,
He had lull to the future nor liope nor choice,
But seai'd thai hate with a Nime Divine,
And he now was dead, and — I couldnH rejoice !
He had fann*d afrerh the burning brands
Of a bigotry waxing cold and dim ;
He had arni'd anew my torturers' hands,
Aud Ihem did 1 curse — but sigh'd for him.
For, his was the error of head, not heart ;
And — oh, how beyond ihe ambush'J foe,
Who to eniiiily adds Ihe traitors p.irt.
And carries a smile, with a curse below !
i According to the common reading, *'quodcunque
infundis, acescit."
» Written on the de:ith of Ihe Dukeof Yo'k.
3 "You fell, said they, inm Ihe hinds of the Old
Man of the Sea, and are itie first w ho ever escaped
strangling by his malicious Incks." — Story of Sin-
lad
If ever a heart made bright amends
For the fal.il faull of an erring head —
Go, learn his fame from the lips of friends,
In the orphan's tear be bis glory read.
A Prince without pride, a man without guile,
To the hst unchanging, warm, sincere.
For VViirih he had ever a hand and smile,
And for Misery ever his purse and tear.
Touch'd lo Ihe heart by thai solemn loll,
I calmly sunk in mv chains again.
While, still as 1 said " Heaven rest his soul !»
My mates of the dungeon sigh'd '* Amen !"
January, 1S27.
ODE TO FERDINAND.
Quit the sword, thou King of men,
Grasp Ihe needle once again j
Makmg petticoats is far
Safer sport than making war;
Trimming is a betler lliihg,
Than the being trimnrd, oh King !
Grasp the needle bright with which
Thou didst for the Virgin stilch
Garment, such as ne'er before
Monarch sfiich'd or Virgin wore.
Not for her, oh sempiter nimble!
Do 1 now invoke thy thimble ;
Not f.ir Ixer ihy wanted aid is,
Bill for certain grave old ladies.
Who now sii in Kngland's cabinet,
Waiting 10 be cloth d in tabiiiet,
l)r whatever choice eloffe is
Fit for Dowagers in office.
First, thy care, oh King, devote
To Dame Eld— n's petticoat.
Make il of that silk, whose dye
Sliiflsforever tothe eye,
Just as if it hardlv knew
Whether lo be pink or blue.
Or — miterial filler yel —
If thou could's' a remnant gel
or Ihat stuff, with which, of old,
Sage Feiielope, we're Inid,
Still by doing and undoing.
Kepi her suitors always wooing —
That's the stuff which I pronounce,
Fittest for Dame Eld— u's flounces.
After this, we'll try Ihy hand,
Manilla-making Ferdinand,
For old Goody VV-sIm— I— d ;
One uho loves, like Mother Cole,
Church and Slate w iih all her soul ;
And has pa-s'd her life in frolics
Worthy of your Apostoiics.
Choose, ill dressing this old flirt.
Something that wo'n'l show Ihe diit,
As, friim habit, everv miouie
Goody VV— Sim— l-ii IS in it.
This iiall I now shall ask,
H^e thee, monarch, in Ihy task ;
Finish EIJ— n's fulls and borders,
Ihen return fr furllier orders,
ivhal progress fur our sake,
lilli:
:nak
Ribands, gar ers and such things.
Are sujiplied by olfcr Kings —
FerdiiiaTid his ra'k deuolea
By providing petticoats.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
395
HAT versus WIG.
1S27.
■M the Inlermpn! of Ihe Duke of York, Lord Eld— o, In
order to gunrd agatust the effects of the damp, stood upou
ktodBt during llie whole o( the leiemoiiy."
-~— metUK omues et inexorabile fatum
Sul^ecit pedibuK, sirepitumiiue Acheiontia avari*
Twixl Eld-ii's Hat and Eld— o's Wig
There lalely rose an .illercalion,—
Each with Its oivii imporlance big,
Disputing which niosi serves the nation.
Qu 51b Wig, with consequeritiil air,
" Pooh ! pooti ! you surely cau't design,
*' My wt'ithy beaver, to conipa'e
•* Vour station in ihe stale with mine.
" Who meets the learned lesal crew ?
" Who tronis the lufdly Senate s pride?
•* The Wis, the Wis, my friend — while you
" Hang daujiing on some peg outside.
• Oh, 't is the Wig, that rules, like Love,
"Senate and Court, with likecdut —
"And wards below, and lords above,
'• for Law is W ig and W ig is Law ! «
" Who tried the long, Lcmg W— II— si— y suit,
" Which tried one's patience, in return }
" Not thou, oh Hat ! — though, cmU(Vst thou do't,
" Of other trims* than thine lliuu 'dsl learn.
«*»T was mine our master's toil In share ;
" When, like 'Truepenny,' inthepiay.s
•' He, every minute, cried out -Swear,"
"And merrily to suear went they;* —
• When, lo*h poor W — 11— si— y to condemn, ho
" Witli nice di-criinmalion weigh 'd,
" Whether 't was only ' Hell and .leniniy,'
" Or ' Hell and Tommy' that he play'd.
" No, no, my worthy heiver, no —
" Though cheapeii'd at the cheapest hatter's,
" And snian enough, as heavers go,
" Tliuu ne'er wen made for public matters."
Here Wig concluded his oration,
Looking, as wigs do, wondrous wise;
While thus, full cock'd for declama;ion,
The veteran Hat eurag'd replies : —
*' Ha ! do-t thou then so soon forget
" What thou, what England owes to me?
"Ungrateful Wigl— when will a debt,
" So deep, so vast, be owed to thee ?
"Think of that night, that fearful night,
'' When, through the s'e.iming vault below,
" Our master dar'd, in gout's desfiile,
** To venture his podagric toe 1
« Who was it then, thou lioaster, say,
" When 1Ih>u h.id'st In thy bo« siieak'd off,
"Beneaiti his feei proiectilig l.av,
" Aiid siv'd 111 in Iroui a mortal cough ?
I *' X.ove rules the court, the camp, Ihe grove.
And men below aud god above.
For Love is Heav'n and Heavn is Love.-Scofr.
a"flnV(i— a naushly wnnian."— CVolc.
» " ahosl [benealhl —Swear !
"Wo»«fc(. — Ha, ha! say'st thou SO? Art thou
(here, Tiuepeiiny ? Come on."
His Lordship's demand for fresh affidavits was
locessant.
"Think, if Catarrh had quench'd that suD,
"How blank this world had been to thee!
" Without that head to shine upon,
"Oh, Wig, where would thy glory be?
" You, loo, ye Britons,— had this hope
" Of Church and slate been ravish'i; from ye,
"Oh, think, how Caiioing and the Pofe
"Would then have play'd up 'Hell and Tom-
my 1'
"At sea, there "s hut a plank, they say,
"' I'wixt seamen aud aiiniliilaliun ;
"A Hat. that awful moment, lay
"'Twut England aud Emancipation!
«Oh!!I "
At lliis " Oh ! : '," The Times' Reporter
Was taken poorlv, and relir'd ;
Which made him cut Hal's rhetoric shorter,
Than justice lo the case requir'd.
On his return, he found these shocks
Of eloquence all ended quite ;
Aod Wig lay snoring in his box.
And Hat was — hung up for the night.
THE PERIWINKLES AND THE LOCUSTS.
A SALMAGUNDIAN HYMN.
revenue of the LofUsts and Pertwinltles. aniouutioi
one ye.r with another to the value of 2,i3s,7bb," iic
li.c.—Ilithelais.
" Hurra ! hurra !" I heard them say.
And they cherr'd and shouted all the way,
As the Laird of Salmagundi went,
'I'o open in state his Parliament.
The Salmagundians once were rich.
Or JAoKg/it they were — no matter which —
For, every ye.ir, the Revenue s
Frcim their Periw inkles laieer grew ;
And 'heir rulers, skill'd in all the trick
And leuerdeinain of aiiihinetic,
Knew how to place 1,2, 3, 4,
6, 6, 7, 8, and Sand 10,
Such various wavs, behind, before.
That they madea unit seem a score.
And prov'd themselves most wealthy meni
So, on they went, a prosperous crew.
The people wise, the rulers clever —
And God help those, like me and )0U,
Who dar'd to doubt (as some now do)
That Ihe Periwinkle Revenue
Would thus go fluuri hing on for evei.
•*Hnria! hurra 1" I heard them say,
And thev cheerd a'd sh uled all the way,
As the Cireal Panurge in glory went
To open his own dear Pari lament.
But fo ks at leiig'h began to doubt
Whit a I tins conjuring u,.s abt.ut ;
For. every dav, more deep in debt
Thev saw their wealihy lulersge': —
" Lei ■» look (-aid they , Ihe items through
"And see if what we're told be liue
"Of our Periwinkle Revenue,"
* Accented as in Swift's line —
396
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
But. lord ! they found there wasn't a tiKle
Of truth in aii^ht they heard before j
For, they gaiii'd by Periwinkles little,
And tost by Locus s ten times morel
These Locusts are a lordly breed
Some Salmasundi-iris love lo feed.
Of all the beasts thai ever were born,
Vour Locust Ntost deligUls in com ;
And, ihouiih his body be but sniall,
To fatten him takes the dev'l and all I
*' Oh, fie I oh, fie I" was now ihe cry,
As they saw the gaudy show go by,
And the Laird of Salmagundi went
To open his Locust Parliament I
NEW CREATION OF PEERS.
BATCH THE FIRST,
" His 'prentice han*
And then he made ihe lasses. *'
1827.
"And now,'' quolh the Minister, (eas'd nf liis panics,
And ripe for eich pastime the summer afTords,)
** Having had our full swing at destroyinti: mechanics,
"By way oi set-ajf, let us make a lew Lords.
'•'Tis pleasant — while nothing but mercantile frac-
"Sonie simple, some compound^ is diunM in our
*' To think that, though robbM of all coarse manufac-
tures,
*' We still have our fine manufacture of Feers; —
"Those Gobdin productions, which Kings take a
pride
" In engrossing the whole fabrication and trade of j
" Choice ta|iestry things, very grand on one side,
"But showing, on t'other, what rags they are
made of,"
The phn being fix'd, raw material was sought,—
No matter h"w middling, if Tory the creed be;
And first, to begin with, Squire W , U was
thought,
For a Lord was as raw a material as need be.
Next came, with his penchant for painting and pelf.
The tasteful Sir Chirles,* so reiiown'd, far and near,
For purchasing pictures, and selling hitiiaelf —
And both (as the |;ubiic well knows) very dear.
Beside him Sir John comes, wi'h equal eclaty in ; —
S'and forth, chosen pair, while for titles we mea-
Both connoisseur barone's, both fond o( drawing^
Sir John, af er nature, Sir Charles, on the Treasury,
But, bless us! — behold a new candidate come-
In his hand he upholds a prescription, new written ;
He poiseth a pill-bnx 'twixt finger and thumb.
And he askelh a seal 'uiong the Peers of Great
Britain I
" Forbid it," cried Jenky, " ye Viscounts, ye Earls ! —
"Oh Kaiik, how thy i^lories would f^ll disenchanted,
•*lf coronets glisten'd with pills Vead of pearls,
"And the strawberry-leaves were by rliubarb sup-
planted !
it^o — ask it not. ask it not, dear Doctor H— If— rd—
•* If nought but a Peerage can gladden thy life.
« Created Lord F— rnb— gh.
"And young Master H— If— rd as yet is tno tauU
for M,
** Sweet Doctor, we Ml make a she Peer of thy wilfc
*' Next lo benring a coronet on our awn brows,
" Is to bask in its lie;til from the brows of another;
"And grandeur o'er Itiee fhall reflect from thy spouse,
"As o'er V— y F— tz-d 'twill shine through hif
mother."^
Thus ended the First Batch— and Jenky, much tir'd,
(It being no joke to make Lords by the heap),
Took a lara;e dram of ether— Ihe same that inspired
His ppeech Against the Papiss — and prosM otl' to
sleep.
SPEECH ON THE UMBRELLA3 QUESTION.
BY LORD ELD — N.
•* Vos xtiumbTtUes Tideo."4 — Ex Juvenil. Georgii Can-
1827.
My Lords. I*m accus'J of a trick that, God knows, is
The last into which, at my age, I could fall —
Of leading this grave House nf Peer=, by their noses,
VVherever I chooae, princes, bishops, and all.
My Lords, on the question before us at present,
Nu doubt 1 shall hear, " 'i' is thai cursed old fellow,
"That bugbear of all that is lib'ral and pleasant,
" Who wo'nH let the Lords give the Uiao his um-
brella 1"
Not much, I confess, lo your credit 'I would be,
To mind such a twaddling old Trojan as I am,
I own, of our Protestant laws I am jealous,
And, long as God spares me, will always maintain,
That, once having taken men's rights, or umbiellas,
We ne'er should consent to restore them agam.
What security have you, ye Bishops and Peers,
If thus you give back Mr, Bell'.-, parapluie,
That he mayn't, with i's stick, come about all your
No, heav'n be my jud^e, were I dying to^lay,
Ere I diopp'd'm the grave, like a medlar that's
mellow,
" For God's sake" — at that awful moment I 'd say —
"For Gnd's sake, don't give Mr. Bell his um-
brella.'*
['*This address," says a ministerial journal, " de-
Iivered with amazing emphasis and earnestness, occa-
sioned an extraordinary sensation in the hoij^e. Nn-
lliing since the memorable address of Ihe Duke of
York has produced so remarkable an impression."]
5 Among the persons mentioned as likely to be
raised to the Peerage are Ihe mother of Mr. V— v
y_tz_d, &c, '
3 A case wliich interested the public very much at
this period. A genlleni;in, of Ihe name of Bdl. hav-
ing left his umbrella behind him in the House of
Lords, the doorkeepers (s'andinff, no dnubt, on Ihe
privileges of that noble body) refused to res'ore it to
him ; and Ihe above speech, winch may be considered
as 71 pendant to tliat of the Learned Earl on the Ca-
tholic Question, arose out of the transacioo.
* From Mr. Canning's translation of Jekyl*s—
"I say, my good felluwa.
As you 've no umbrella*."
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
397 I
A PASTORAL BALLAD.
BV JOHN BULL.
Dublin, March 12, 1627.— FriJny, arier Ihi! arrival of the
packtrt Itniitiatg lli-j account of Uic ilcfesit of the Catholic
UucsIioD, 111 the House or Couiinoiia, orders were aeut
j to the Piseou House lo (nrwsrd 6,000,000 rouiidn or mua-
I ket-bull caitriOge 10 the ditrcieiit (jarriaotiB round the
country. — Freeman's Journal,
I have found out a gift for my Erin,
I A gift Ihal will surel) con'eiit her;—
Sweet pledge of a loie so eiidciriDg !
I'lvc niillious of bullets 1 've sent her
She ask'J me for FreeJoni and Kight,
But ill she her iiaiiis uiider>lood j—
Ball cartridges, nioruiiigand ni^hl.
Is a dose tliat will du her more good.
There is hardly a day of our lives
Hut we read, in soiiie amiable Irials,
How husbands make love to their wives
'I'lirougli the medium of hemii and of phials.
One thinks, with his mistress or mate
A good haller is sure to a^ree —
That love-knot which, early and la'e,
I have tried, my dear tiin, on thee.
While aitothir, whom Hymen has bless'd
VViih a wife that is not over placid.
Consigns the dear ch irmer to rest,
With a dose of the best I'russic acid.
Thus, Erin ! my love do I show —
Thus quiet ihee, male of my bed !
And, as poison and hemp are lou >low,
Do thy business with bullets instead.
Should thy faiih in my medicine be shaken.
Ask K-d— n, that mildcsl of sainl>;
He'll tell tell thee, lead, inwardly laken,
Alone can remove Ihy compl linls i —
Thai, blest as thou art in (by lot,
Nothing 's wanted to make it more pleasant
But being hang'd, torlur'd, and sliot,
Much ofl'ner than thou art at present.
Even W— 11— I— n's self haih avcrr'd
Thou art yet but half sabred and hung,
And I lov'd him the more when 1 heard
Such tenderness fall from his tongue.
So take the five millions of pills,
Dear partner, I herewith enclose;
'T is the cure that all quacks f..r thy ills,
from Cromwell to Eld— u, propose.
And you, ye brave bullets that go.
How I wish th it, before you set out.
The nevil "f the Freischu'z could know
The good work you are going about.
For he'd charm ye, in spite of your lead,
Into such supernatural wit,
Tint you 'd all of you know, as you sped,
Wheie a bullet of sense ought to hit.
A LATE SCENE AT SWANAGE.t
RcgnlB ei-»ul ad.mlis. — Virg, 1627.
To Swanaee — that neat little town, in whnse bay
Fair Thetis shows oU, in her best silver slippers —
1 A small bathing-place on the coast of Dorsetshire,
' 34
Lord Bags 5 took his annual trip t'other day.
To taste the sea breezes, and chat will the dippen.
There — learn'd as he is in conundrums and laws —
Quoth he 10 his dame (whom he oft plays the wag
"Why are chancery suitors like bathers?''— "Be-
cause
Their tt;il» are put off, (ill — they haven't a
rag on."
Thus on he went chatting— bu', lo, while he chits.
With a face full of wonder ari'Und him he looks;
For he misses his parsons, his dear shovel ha's.
Who used to Hock rouud him at Swanage like
rooks.
' How is this. Lady Rags ? — lo this region aquatic
" Last yeir they came swarniing, to make me their
bow,
'As thick as Burke's ch
'•Deans, Rectors, D
they now ?"
' My dearest Lord Bags !" sailh his dame, " can
you doubt?
" I am loth to remind you of things so unpleasant ;
'Butdo/i'r you perceive, dear, the Church have
" That you 're one of the people call'd £x's, at
present?''
'Ah, true — you have hit it— I am, indeed, one
" Of thoe ill-faied Ex's (his Lordship replies),
'And, wi h (ears, 1 confess — God forgive uie the
pun ! —
" We X's have proved ourselves not to be Y'b."
WO! W O ! 3
Wo, wo unto him who would check or disturb it —
That beautiful Light, which is now on iis "ay ;
Which, beaming, at first, o'er the bogs of Beltuibet,
Now brightens sweet Ballinafad witli its ray !
Oh, F— riih— m. Saint F— rnh— m, how much do we
owe thee I
How forni'd (o all tastes are thy various employs!
The old, as a catcher of Catholic", know thee,
The young, as an amateur scourger of boys.
Wo, wo to the man, who such doings would smo.
ther I —
On, Luther of Cavan ! On, Saint of Kilgroggy !
With whip in one hand, and with Bible m t'other.
Like Alungo's tormentor, both " preachee and
tioggec."
Come, Saints from all quarters, and marshal his way
Come, L— it— n, who, scorning prof me erudition,
Popp'J Shakspeare, they say, in the river, one day,
■Though 'I was only old Bowdler's I^Muli edition.
Come, R— den, who doubtest — so mild are Ihj
Whellier Bibles or bullets are best for the nation ;
long a favourite summer resort of the ex-ncbleman in
question, and lill this season, much fiequenled also
by gen lenien of the church.
•> The Lord Chancellor Eld— n.
a Sugjested by a speech of the Bishop of Ch— st— r
on the subject of the New Reformation in Ireland, in
which his Lordship denounced " Wo! Wt ! Wo!"
pretty abundantly on all those >vho dared to interfere
with its progress.
398
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Wrto leav'st to poor Paddy no medium tn chnose, Art
'Xwixt giiod old Rebellion and new Reformation. | Ij
What more from her Sainis c\n Hibtrnia require? So
SI. Tiiiii-et, of y.tie, like a duliful d .uih ei,
Suppiietl her, 'tis said, wiili jeriielual Ji-e,!
And Sajuta keep her, now., lu elernal Iioi water.
those ihat, like Vishnu and others, descend
1 the form, so atlractive, of loave» and of fishes I >
Wo. wo to the niai
<)rs:op ihe Millt
When, bless'd wnj
We shall learn t
vho would check their career,
iuin. ihat 's sure to await us,
1 oilhodox crop every yi;ar,
lise I^folestaiils, fast as pota oea.
In kidnapping Papists, our rulers, we know,
Had been riyiitg their talent for many a day;
Till F — rrih— ni, when all had been tried, came to
show,
Like the German flea-catcher, " anoder goot way."
And nothing »9 more simple than F— rnh— m's re-
ceipt ; —
** Catch your Catholic, first — soak hira well in
yjoree?! — *
*' Add salary sauce,3 and the thing is complete.
**You nuy serve up yuur fro.eslant, sniokiug and
clean,"
" Wo, wo to the wag, who would laugli at such
cookery 1"
Thus, from his perch, did I hear .i black crow 4
Caw angrily out, while Ihe rest of Ihe r-i«kerv
Opeu'd their bills, and re-echo'd *' Wo 1 woV
TOUT POUR LA TRIPE.
abstain from treating them wiih offens;
and, tluiugh unable to consirler them sacit-d, wc would
nol 6ne<*r at the name ot Fot, or laush ai the imimteU
divinity of Vjsfftnou."— Cyuricr, Tutsday, Jan. 16.
Come, take my advice, never trouble your cranium,
When " civil advautages" are to be gain'd.
What gnd or what goddess may help to obiain you
Hindoo or Chinese, so ihey Ve only obtain'd.
In this world (let me liint in yonrorgin auricular)
All the good things to goi.d hypocrites fall ;
And he. who in sw,tllovvm^ creeds is particular,
Soon will have nothiugio rwallow at all.
Oh, place me where Fo (or, as snme call him. Fu*)
Is the gnd, from whom *' civil advantages" flow,
And >ou Ml find, if there's any thing snug to be got,
1 shall soon be on excellent lerms with old Fo.
Or were I where Vishnu., th:it four-handed god,
li the quadruple giver of pt-nsions and places,
I own I should feel it unchristian and odd
^'ot to find myself aUo iu Vishnu's good graces.
For, among all the gods that humanely a'tend
To our wants in this planet, the god's to my wishes
y advice— for, if even the devil
Shnuld temp men again as an idol to try him,
' were best fur us Torie-, even then, to be civil,
As nobody doubts \^ e should get something by hhn.
* The inextinguishable fire of St. Bridget, at Kil-
dare.
^ Whi.key.
3 " We understand that several applications have
lately been made to the Protestant clergymen of this
town by fellows, inquiring ' What are they giving a
head for converts ?' " — PVtxford Post,
4 Of the rook species— Corvus frugilegus, i. e. a
great consumer of corn.
ENIGMA.
Monstrum nulla virlule redemptnm*
Come, riddle-nie-ree, come, riddle me-ree,
And tell me what my name niay be.
I am nearly one hundred and thirty years old,
And therefore no chicken, as you "may suppose; —
Though a dwarf in my youth (as my nurses have
toldj,
1 have, ev'ry year since, been outgrowing my
clothes ;
Till, at l-Aht, such a corpulent ginnt I stand.
That, if folks were to furnish me now with a suit,
It would lake evVy morsel cf xcrip in the land
But to measure my bulk from Ihe head to the foot.
Hence, they who maintain n>e, grown sick of my
stature,
To cover me nolliingbut rags will supply;
And the doctors declare that, in due course of nature.
About Ihe year 30 in rags 1 shall die.
Meatn\hile I ?talk hungry and bloated amUnd,
An ohjtc' of i7it*rtst, m"st piinfui, to all ;
Id the warehouse, the cot>age, the palace I 'm found,
Holding citizen, peasant, and king in my thrall.
Then riddle-me ree, oh riddlc-nie-ree.
Come, tell me what my name may be.
When the lord of the counling-house hends o'er his
h ok,
Bright piclures of profit delighting to draw,
0 er his shoulders with large cipher eyeballs I look,
And down drops ihe pen from his paralyz'd paw •
When Ihe Premier lies dreaming of dear Waterloo,
And expec's ihrnudi another to c;*per and pr^nk it,
You'd laugh did ynu'see, when I bellow out "Boo !»
How he hides his brave VVaterloo head in l!ie
blanket.
Whei mighty BeUhazzar brims high in the hall
His cup, full of gout, to the Gaul's overlhrow,
Lo, •'Eight Hundred Millions^' I wiiie on the wall,
And the cup (alls to eanh and— the gout to his toe!
But the joy of my heari is when lart^ely I cnm
My maw wi h the fruits of the Squirearchy's acres.
And. knowing who made me the thing that I am.
Like Ihe iiionsiernf Frankenstein, "drry my makers.
Then riddle-nie-ree, come, riddle-me-ree,
And tell, if thou know'sl, who /may be.
DOG-DAY REFLECTIONS.
BY A DANDY KEPT IN TOWN.
" Vox clamantis in de-serti,
IS27.
Said Mallhus, one day, to a clown
Lying streich'd on the be.tch, in the sun —
*' VVhat'sIhe number of souls in this town?'—
*' The number ! Lord bless you, iheie 's none.
" We have nothing but dabs in this place,
*'()f (At77i a great plen y there are ; —
*' Bu' the solesy plense ynur rev'rence and grace,
*• Are all f other side of the bir."
* Vishnu was (as Sir W. Jones calls him] "a pisci-
form god,"— his first Ava ar being iu the !>bape of k,
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
3y9
And so 'I is in London just now,
Not a soul to be seen, np or down ; —
Of dabs a creal ^lu', I allow,
But your Soto, every cue, out of town.
East or west, nolliing wonj'ious or new ;
No couilslnp or scindal, worth ktmwing;
Mis, B , and a Merninid ■ or two.
Are the only loose tish that are going.
Ah. where is that dear honse of Peers,
Tha', some weeks a^o, kept us merry?
Where Eld— n. art thou, with thy 'ears?
And thou, with thy sense, I^-d— d— y?
Wise Marqnis, how much the Lord May'r,
In the d*-e-day^, wi'h th£e niust be nuzzled ! —
It beins; his task to lake care
That such animals slian't go unmuzzled.
Thou, too, whose polilical toils
Are so worthy a captain of horje —
Whose amendments^ (like honest Sir Boyle's)
Are " aTiieiidments that make matters «)o«e;"3
Great Chieftain, who (akest such pains
To prove — what is granted, 7iem. con, —
With how moderate a |)nrtinn of brains
±3ome heroes contrive to gel on.
And, thou, ton, my R — d— sd— e, ah, where
Is the peer, with a star at his button,
Whose quarters could ever comp.ire
Witll R — d — sd — e's five quarters of mutton ? *
Why, why have ye taken your flight,
Ye diverting and dignified crew ?
How ill do three farces a night.
At the Haymarket, pay us for you!
For, what is Bombastes to thee,
Mv Ell— nbro'. when thou look'st big?
Or, where 's the burletta can be
Like L— d— rd— It's wit, and his wig?
I doubt if ev'n Griflinhnof 5 could
(Though Griffin's a comical lad)
Invent any joke half so good
As that precious one, " This is too bad !"
Then come ajain. come again. Spring I
Oh haste thee, with Knn in thy train ;
And — of all thines the funniest — bring
These exalted Grimaldis asaia!
THE "LIVING DOG" AND "THE DEAD
LION."
1828.
Next week will be publish'd (as " Lives" are the
rage)
The whole Reminiscences, wondVous and strange.
* One of the shows of London.
5 More parlicularly his Grace's celebrated amend
ment to the Corn Bill; for which, and the circum-
stances cnnnecled with it, see Annual Register for
A. D. 1827.
3 From a speech of Sir Boyle Roche's, in the Irish
House of Commons.
* The learning his Lordship displayed, on tho sub-
ject of the butcher's " fifih quarter" of mutton, will
not speedily be forgotten.
' The nam de picrre under which Colman has
written gome of his best farces.
Of a small puppy-dog, that liv'd once in the c.lge
Of the lale noble Lion at Exeter 'Change.
Though the dog is a dog of the kind Mn-y call "sad,"
'T is a puppy Ihai much to g. od breeding pretends;
And few dogs have Mich oiipniluliilies had
Of knowing how Lions behave — among friends ;
How that animal eats, how he snores, how he drinks.
Is all noted down by this Boswell so small ;
And 'tis phin, from each sentence, the puppy, dog
thinks
That the Lion was no such great things after all.
Though he roar'J pretty well — this the puppy
It was all, he says, borrow'd — all second-hand
ro.ir J
And he vasily prefers his oivn little bowwows
To the loftiest war-note the Lion could pour.
T is, indeed, as good fun as a Cynic could ask.
To see how this cockney-breil setter of rabbits
Takes gravely the Lord of the Forot to task,
And judges of lions by puppy-dog habits.
Nav, fed as he was (and tliis makes it a dark case)
With s"ps every day from the Lirm's own pan,
He lifts up his leg at llie noble beast's carcass,
And — does all a dog, so diminutive, can.
However, the book 's a good book, being rich in
Examples and warning to lions hieh-bred.
How they suffer small niongrelty curs in their kit-
Who'll feed on them living, and foul them when
dead.
T. PIDCOCK.
Exeter ^Chan^e*
ODE TO DON MIGUEL.
El lu, Brule!
182S.<
What ! Miguel, not patriotic ? oh, fy !
After so much good teaching 'i is quite a tahe-in,
Sir ; —
First school'd, as you were, under Metlernich's eye.
And then (as young misses say) " iiiiish'd" at
Windsor ! i
I ne'er in my life knew a case that was harder ; —
Such feasts as you had, when you made us a call !
Three courses each day from his Majesty's larder,—
And now, to turn absolute Don, after all ! !
Some authors, like Bayes, to the s'yle and the matter
Of each thing they lortVe suit the way that Ihey
Roast sirloin for Epic broil'il devils for Sitire,
And ho'chpotch and tri/tc for rhymes such as
That Rulers should feed the same way, I 've
doubt;—
Great Despots on bottilli serv'd up a la i2u«e,8
6 At the commencement of this year, the designs of
on Miguel and his partisans against the constitution
itabli-hed liy tiis brother had begun more openly to
decl
thcmselv
Don Miguel had paid a visit to the English court,
at the close of the year 1827.
8 Dressed with a pint of the strongest spirite — h
400
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Vour small German Princes on fro^s and sour crout,
And your Vice-roy of Hanover always on goose.
Sotnt Dons, too, have fancied (though this may be
fabie)
A dish lather dear, if, in cooking, they blunder
Not content with the common hot meat 07i a table,
Thev 'le partial (eh, Mig i) to a disli of cold under
it! 1
No wonder a Don of such appe'ites found
Even VVind>or'scoIlatioiij. plebeiauly plaJn ;
Where the dishes most Aig/i that uiy Lady sends
round
Are her Mainteno7i cutlets and soup a la lieiyte*
Alas ! that a youth with such charming beginnings,
Sliould sjnk, all at once, to so sad a conclusion,
And, what is still wor,-e, throw the losings and win-
nings
Of worthies on 'Change into so much confusion !
The Bulls, in hysterics — the Hears just as bad —
'I'he few men who Aaye, and the many who 've 7iot
lick,
All shock'd to find out that that promising lad,
rriDce Metleruich's pupil, is — not patriotic!
THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT GOVERN-
MENT OF IRELAND.
1S23.
Oft liave I seen, in gay, equestrian pride,
6oine well-rouged youth round AsHey's Circus ride'
Two stately steeds— slanding, with graceful straddlC]
Like him of Rhodes, with font on either saddle,
While to soft tunes— some jigs and some andantes-^
He steers around his light-paced Rosiuantes.
So rides along, with canter smooth and pleasant,
That luTseman bold, Lord Angle^ca, at preseni;—
Papist s.nd Protestant the coursers twain,
TImI lend their necks to his impanial rein.
And round the ring — each honoured, as they go.
With equil pressui-e from his gracious tne —
lo the old medley tune, half " Patrick's Day"
And half '• Hoyne Water," lake their cantering way,
While Peel, the showman in the midrlle, cracks
His long-lash'd whip, to cheer the doubtful hacks'.
Ah, ticklish trial of equestrian art !
How blest, if neither sieed would bolt or start j —
If Prottstanth old reslive tricks were gone.
And Pu-pUiH winkers could be still kept on !
Bui no, false hopes — not ev'n the greai Ducrow
'Twixt t'.vo such steeds could 'scape an overthrow:
If solar hacks playM Ph:»efon a trick,
What hope, alas, from hackneys lunatic?
If once my Lord his graceful balance loses,
(Jr fails lo keep each foot where each horse chooses ;
If Pef-t but gives one Extia touch of whip
To Papist's tail or PrctcstanVn ear-tip —
That ins'ant ends their gloi tons horsemanship !
Off boll the sever'd steeds, fnr mischief tree,
And down, between them, plumps Lord Anglesea !
favouri'e dish of the Great Frederick of Prussia, and
whicli he per-evered in eating even on liis death-bed,
much to the horror of his ph)bici-in Zimmerman.
i This quiet cise of murder, wi h at! its parijcu-
lars — Ihe hiding the body under the dinnei-lable, &c.
&c. — is, no doubt, well linown to the reader.
THE LIMBO OF LOST REPUTATIONS.
" Cio chc si perde qui, ta e
valley, where Y
Thiiigs thatc
.rlh 1
: loMt."
MiUo
I&2&
Know''st thou not him^ the poet sings,
Who l^ew to Ihe moon's serene domain,
And saw that valley, where alt the things,
Th.it vanish on e,-rth, are found again —
The hopes of youth, the resolves of age.
The vow of the lover, Ihe dreani of the sage.
The golden visions of mining cils,
'Jhe promises great men s^rew about them;
And, pack'd in compass sm.ill, the wits
ot nionarchs, w ho rule as well without them ! —
Like him, but diving with wing prolound,
1 have been lo a Limbo under giound,
Where characters lost on earth, (and criedy
In vain, like H— rr— s's, far and wide,)
In heaps, like yesterday's oris, are thrown
And there, so worthless and tiy-blown.
That even the imps would not purloin them,
Lie, till (heir worthy owners join thetn.
Curious it was to see (his ma^s
Of lost and torn-up reputations ; —
Some of ihem female wares, alas,
Misliid at innocent assignations ;
Some, th.u had sigh'd their last amen
From the canting lips of saints that would be;
And some unce own'd by *' 'he best of nien,"
Who had prov'd— no better than they should be,
'Mong oiliers, a poet's f.ime I spied,
Once shining lair, now soak'd and black —
**No wonder" (^n imp at my elbow cried),
*- For 1 pick'd it out of a butt of sack I"
Just then a yell was heard o'er head.
Like a chininey-3ueei)er's lofty summons;
And lo I a devM right downward 'ped,
Bringing, within his clans so red.
Two staresmen's characters, found, he said.
Last night, on the Hoor ot ihe House of CommoDt;
The which, wiih black official grin.
He now to the Chief Imp handed in; —
iioik these articlw much ihe worse
For iheir journey down, as yim may suppose;
But one o devilish rank — *' Odd's cur^e 1"
Said Ihe Loid Chief Imp, and held his nose.
" Ho, ho !"' quoth he, *' I know full well
'* From whom these iwo stiay matteis fell ;''-^*
Then, casting away, with loathful shrug,
The' uncleaner waif (as he would a drug
The' Invisible's own dark hand had mix'd),
His gaze on the oihers firm be fix'd.
And trying, though misohitf laugh'd in his eye,
To be moral, because of ihe yoiuig imps by,
" What a piiy !" be crird — "so fresh its gloss,
"So long preserv'd — 'l is a pubbc loss I
" This comes of a man, the carele-s blockhead,
" Keeping his character in his pocket ;
" And there— without considering whether
*' There's room for ihai and his gains together —
" Cramming, and cramming, and cianiming away
"Till — out slips character some line day !
" However" — and here he vievr'd it round —
" This article still may pass for sound.
"Some flaws, soon patch'd, some sfains are all
"'Ihe hnrm it lus had in its luckless f. II.
•* Here, Puck '."—and he cali'd lo one of his train-
" The owner may have this back again.
a Astolptio.
a H-k-n.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
401
,1
"Though damagM for ever, if usM with skill,
*'It may serve, perhaps, to trade on still ;
**'rhoutch the ^em can never, as once, be set,
« U will do for a Tory Cabinet."
n jW to write by proxy.
Qui Tacit per alium facit per se.
Mjng oar neighbours, the French, in the good olden
(inie
When Nobility floLrish'd, great Barons and Dukes
Often si:t up tor authors in prose and 'n rhyme,
Bui ne'er took the trouble to write theirowu books.
Poor devils were found to do thia for their betters; —
] And, one day, a Kishop, addressine: a /f/jfc,
Said, "Ma'am, have you read my new Pastoral Let-
ters ?"
To which the Slue answer'd — " No, Bishop, ha ve
you ?"
The same is now done by cntr privile^c'd class ;
And, to show ynu how simple the procesa it needs,
If a ^reat Major-Getteral * wtshfs to pass
For an author of History, thus he pi-oceeds : —
First, scribbling his own etock of notinns as well
A5 he can with affoose-qtiill that claims him asftm,
He settles his neckcloth- takes snuff— rings the bell,
And yavvumgly orders a Subaltern in.
The Subaltern comes — sees his General seated,
In all the self-ijlory of authoiship swelling; —
"There, Inok," saith his Lordship, *' my work is
comple'ed,-
It wants nothing now but the grammar and spell-
ing."
Well used lo a breach, the brave Suballern dreads
Awkward breaches of syntax a hundred limes more ;
Anil, though often condemn'd to sec breaking of heads.
He had ne'er ^een such breaking of PriscJans before
However, the job 's sure to pay — 'hat 's enough —
So, to it he sets with his tinkering hammer,
Convinc'd that there never was jib hilf so tough
As the mending a great Major-General's grammar.
But, lo, a fresh puzzlement starts up to view* —
New toil fur the Suti.— for the Lord new expense :
'Tisdiscover'd that mending his fJ-ummar wo'n't do,
As the Suballeio also must find him in sense!
At last — even this is achiev'd by his aid ;
Friend Subaltern pockets the cash and — the story ;
Drums beat — the new Grand March of Inlelleet's
play'd —
And oU struts my Lord, the Historian, in glory !
IMITATION OF THE INFERNO OF DANTE.
"Cofil quel flaCo gll nplritl mall
Di qua, <li la, di giu, di su gli mena." h/ernc, canto 6.
I turii'd my s'eps, and lo. a shadowy throng
Of ghosts came fluilennK low'rds me — blown alone,
Like cockchiifets in high autumnal storms.
By many a fitful gust that thron»h their f rms
Wliislled, as on they came, with wheezv puff,
And puli'd .18- though they 'd never pufl' enough.
] " Whence and what are ye ?" pitving I inquir'd
! Of these poor ghosts, who, tatler'd, lost, and lir'd
I » Or Lieulenant^Jeneral, a« it may happen to be.
With such eternal pitfTJng, scarce could stand
On their lean legs while answeiing iriy demand.
** We once were authors"— thus the Sprite, who ted
This taff-rag regiment of spectres, said —
•' Authors of every sex, male, tcninle, neuter,
" Who, eailv sniil » iih love of praise xvii—f)noter,'i
"On C-lb— n's slielvei lirst saw the light of day,
"In 's3 putt's exhal'd our lives avsay—
" Like summer windmills, doom'd to dusiy peace,
" When tlie brisk gales, that lent tliein motion, cease.
"Ah, little knew we then what ills await
" Much lauded scribblers in their aftei-slate ;
"DepulI'd one.irth— hiiw lo dly Sir— t can tell —
*' And, dire reward, now doubly putf 'd in hell I"
Touch'd with compassion for this ghastly crew,
Whose nbs. even now, the hollow wind sung through
In mournful prose,— such prose as Rosa's* ehost
Slill, at ttie' accustom'd hour of egss and toast,
Siglis through the columns of the Al—m~g P—t,~
Pensive 1 lurn'd lo weep, when he, who stood
F.ireniost of all that llalulenlial brood.
Singling a 47ie-ghost from the parly, said,
"Allow me lo present Miss X. Y. Z.,»
" One of our teller d nymphs -• excuse the pnn —
'* Who giin'd a nanie on earth by — having none;
"And whose initials would immoital be,
*' Had she but learn'd those plain ones, A. B. C.
" Yon smirking ghost, like mummy dry and neat,
** Wrapp'd in his own dead rh\mes — fit winding-
sheet —
" Still marvels much that not a soul should care
**One single pin to know who wrote * May Fair;' —
" While thii young een'leman," (here forth he diew
A dandy spectre. put!*d quite through and through,
As though his ribs were an .Solian lyre
For the whole Row's soft ^-ode-winds to Inspire,)
" This modest genius brea'h'd one wish alone,
** To have his volume read, himself unknown ;
" But dilferent far the course bis glory took,
" All knew the author, and — none read the book.
"Behold, in yonder ancient fiffure of fun,
" Who rides the blast. Sir J-n— h B-rr— t— n ; —
" In tricks to raise the wind his life was spent,
" And now the wind returns the compliment,
" This l.idy here, the Earl of 's sister,
" Is a dead novelist; and this is Mister —
" Beg pnrdon— ^OTiottrafcie Mister L— st-rrr,
" A gentleman who, some weeks since, came over
" In a smart puff (wind S. S. E.) lo Dover.
"Yonder behind us limps young Vivian Grey,
" Whose life, poor youth, was long since blowD
" Like a lorn paper-kite, on whicli the wind
" No further purchase for a pufl' can find."
"And thou, thyself"— here, anxious, I exclaim'd —
" Tell us cod ghost, how tiiou, thyself, art named."
" Me, Sir !" he blushing cried—" Ah, there 's the rub^
"Know, then— a wailei once at B^ooks'^ Club,
"A waiter slill I might have long remain'd,
" And long the club-room's jokes and ghsses drain'd;
" But, ah, in luckless hour, this last December,
" I wrote a book,6 and Cnlburn dubb'd me ' Member'—
34*
2 The classical term for money.
3 The reader mav fill up this gap with anyone of
the dissyUalic publishers of London that cccuis to
him.
* Rosa Mafilda, who was for many years tl>e writer
of the pnlitjcal a-ticles in the jnurnal alluded to, and
whose spirit still seems to preside— " regiiat Rosa"—
over its pages.
« Not the chtrming L. E. L, and still less Mrs.
F. H., whose poetry is among the most beautiful of the
present day.
6 *' History of the Clubs of London," announced as
by '*a Membtrof Brooks's."
27
402
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
"*Memberof Brooks'sl*— oh Ptoniethean puff, I
"To what wilt thou exalt even kiichen-stuil !
*■ With crunis of e;nssip, causfhi from dining wits,
"And halt-heard jokes, beque.it h'd, like half-cbew'd
b,ts,
" To be, each ni^ht, the waiter's perquisites ;—
"With such ingredients, ser v'd up oft bef re,
*' Hut With flesh fudge and ticttuu s;arui>h'd o*er,
" 1 nianagM, for s >ine v\ ttks, lo d' se the town,
"Till frtrsh reserves of non-ense ran me down;
"And, ready still even w^iter^* s^uls to damn,
"'1 he Devil but rana; his bell, and — heie 1 am ;—
"Yes — * Coming it/j, Sir,' once niy fivourite cry,
" ilxchang'd for ' Coming dowHf Sir,' here am 1 !'*
Scarc2 had the Spectre's lips these words let drop,
When, lo, a breeze— such as from 's shop
Blows in the vernal huur, when pi.ffs prevail,
And speeds the shtcts and sweils the Ug^ing saU'^
'I'ook the poor waiter rudely in the ponp,
And, whirling him and all his gnsly group
Of literary ghosts — Miss X. Y.' Z —
The nanteless author, belter known than read
Sir Jo. — the honourable Mr. L — st— r.
And, last, not leist. Lord Nobody's twin-sister —
Blew theni, ye gods, with :ill ther prose and rhymes
And sins about them, far into those climes
*■ Where i'eter pitch'd his waistcoat" i iu old times,
Leaving me much in doubt, as ou I prest.
With my great master, through this realrn unblest
Whether Old Nick or C— lb— d pufis the best.
LAMENT FOR THE LOSS OF LORD
B-TH-ST'S TAIL.*
All in again — miluok'd fnr bliss!
Yet, ah, one adjunct still we missj —
One tender tie, atiach'd so long
To the same head, through right and wrong.
Why, B— th-st, why didst Ihuu cut ofl"
That memorable tail of thine ?
Why — as If one was not enough —
Thy pig-lie with thy place resign,
And thus, at once, both cut and 7U7i ?
Alas, my Lord, 't uas not well done,
'T was not, indeed — though sad at lieart,
From nthcc and ils sweets to part,
Yet hopes of ci'mmg in a^ain,
Sweet Tory hopes ! beauil'd our pain ;
But thus to miss that tail of ihiue.
Through long, long years our rallying sign —
As if the Sl.ite and all its powers
By tenancy in tail were ours —
To see it thus by scissors fall.
This was "the' unkii.dcst cut of all I"
It seeni'd as though the' ascendani day
Of Toryism had pass'd a**ay.
And, provmff Samson's <tory true,
She lost her vigi'ur with her que-uu
Parties are much like fish, 't is said ^
The tail directs them, not the head;
Thsn, how could any party fail,
That sleer'd i's course by B— th— sfs tail ?
Not Murat's plume, through VVagram's fight,
E'er shed such guiding glories fiom it,
As er»t, in all true Tories' sight,
Bla^'d from our old Colotiial cnmet 1
If you, niy Lord, a Bashaw were,
(As W— ll-gr_n will be anon)
1 A /)rt/i/€Jgv^ allusion to the old saying^ "Nine
miles beyond H— II, where Peter pi:ched his waist-
coat."
2 The noble Lord, it is well known, cut off this
much-respected appendage, on his retirement from
office some months since.
Thou might'st have had a tail to spare ;
But nn, alas, ihou hadst but one.
And that - like 'iVnv, or Babylon,
A tale of other limes'— is gone !
Yel — weep je not, ye Jorie^ true —
Fate has not yet of alt beretl us ;
Thou^^h (bus dcpriv'd of B--ih— si's quote^
We've E—b—hsc«>-is still left us ;-
Swtet curls, from whxh young Love, so vicioua,
His stio s, as from nine-pounders, issues;
Grand, glori"us curls, whicti, iu debate,
Surchar^'d with all a mtiou's fa'e,
His Loid.hip shakes, as Homer's God did,3
And ofr in thundering talk comes near hiai •—
Except ihal, there, the sjieaAer nodded
And, here, 't is only those who hear hini.
Lonu, I'tng, ye linglels, on the soil
Of that Jal cranium m.iy je bourish.
With pleniy of Mac^^sar oil,
Thr.'ugh m^ny a year your growth to nourish!
And, ahrshould 'lime too soon uusheath
His t<arbarous shears such locks to sever,
Still dear to Tories, even in death.
Their last, lov'd relics we'll bequeath,
A hair'ioom to our buds for ever.
THE CHERRIES.
A Parable,*
See those cherries, how Ihey cover
Yonder smmy garden wall ; —
Had they nut tha^ network over,
Thieving birds would eat Ihem all.
So, to guard our posts and pensions,
Ancient sages wove a net,
Tliruugh who^e holes, of small dimeosions,
Only certain knaves can get,
Sh^ll we then this network widen?
tjhall ue stretch these sacred holes,
Through which, ev'u already, slide in
Lots of small dissenting souls ?
"God forbid I" old Testy crieth;
" God forbid 1** so echo 1 ;
Every ravenous bird that tiieth
Theu would at our cherries fly.
Ope but half an inch or so.
And behold, what bevies break iD; —
Here, some curst old Popish crow
Pops his long and lickerish beak in ;
Here, sly Arians flock unnumber'd,
And bocinians, ^lim and spare,
Who, wilh small belief encumber'd,
blip iu easy any where; —
Methodists, of birds the aptest,
Where lliere 's pcckiiig going on;
And that water-fowl, the Baptist —
All would share our fruits anon ;
Ev'ry bird, of ev'ry ci'y,
That, for years, with ceaseless din,
Hath revtrs'd the starling's ditty.
Singing out " 1 can't get »u'*
3 "Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod.'*
Pope's h onur,
4 Written during the late discussion on the Ttit
and Corporation Acis.
PREFACE TO THE NINTH VOLUME.
403
**Gotl forbid !" old Ttsty snivels;
•* God forbid !" I echo too ;
Ralher may len tliousaiid d-v-ls
beize the whole vuiacious crew !
If less cosily fruit wo'n't suit 'em.
Hips and haws and such like berries,
Curse the conu'raii's ! sioiie 'eiii, shoot 'em,
Auy thing — to save our cberriea.
STANZAS WRITTEN IN ANTICIPATION OF
DEFEAT.*
1828.
Go seek for some abler defenders of wron?.
If we iniist run the gaullet Ihrough blood and ex-
pense ;
Or, Golds aa ye are, in your multitude strong,
fie content with success, and pretend not lo sense.
If Ihe words of the wise and the gen'rous are vain,
If Trulh by the bowstring nucst yield up her breath,
Let Mutes do the office — and sp're her die pain
Of au In — gl— 8 or T — nd— 1 lo talk her lo death.
Chain, persecu'e, plunder — do all that you will —
Hut Kive us, at least, the old womanly lore
Of a F— sl-r, who, dully prophelic of ill,
Is, at once, the two instruments, augur ^ and bore.
I Bring legions of Squires — if they 'II only be mute^
And array their thick heads against reason and
right,
I Like tlie K .man of old, of historic repule,3
I Who With droves uf dumb animals carried the
fight i
Pour out, from each corner and hole of the Court,
Yum Hedchaniber lordlings, your salaried slaves,
Who, ripe for all job-wotk, no matter what sorl
Have tlieir consciences (ack'd to their pateuti and
slaves.
Cnlch all the small fry who, as Juvenal sings,
Aie 'he Treasury's creatures, \vhere\cr they
With aii the base, time-serving toadies nf Kingi,
Who, if FiiiiCh were the monarch, would worship
cv'D him;
And while, on the one side, each name of renown,
That illumines and blesses our a-e is combiu'd ;
While Ihe Foxes, the Pi:ts, and the Cannings look
* This rhyme is more for the ear than Ihe eye, as
the carpenter's tool is spell auger*
And drop o*er the cause their rich mantles of
Mind ;
Let bold Paddy H— Imes show his troops on the other.
Ami, counting of noses Ihe quantum desir'd.
Let Taddy but say. like the Gracchi's fain'd mother,
"Come forward, my jeictia" — H is all that's re-
quirM.
And thus let your farce be enacted hereafter^
Thus honestly per-ecute, outlaw, and chain ;
Bui spare ev'n your vtc'ims the torture of laughter.
And never, oh, never, try reasoyiing again !
s Fabius, who sent droves of bullocks against the
enemy.
* Res Fisci est, ubicumque na!at. — JuvenaL
END OP VOL. VIII.
PREFACE TO THE NINTH VOLUME.
In one of those Notices, no less friendly than they
are able and spirited, which this new Edition of my
Poetical Works has called forth fnmi a leading politi-
cal journal, I find, in reference to the numetous
satirical pit-ces contained in these vlumes, the fol-
lowing suggestion : 5 — "It is now more 'han a quar-
ter of a century since this bundle of political pa^tpii-
nades set the british public in a roar; and, though
the events to which they allude may be well kuowa
to every reader,
••Cuius octavum trepidavil aeta«
Claudere luHtruni,"
there are many per-ons, now forming a part of the
literary pul>liC, vvho have come into existence since
they happened, and who cannot be expected, even if
they had the leisure and opportuiiily to rumnmee the
files of our old newspapers for a history of the
peri-hable facts, on which Mr. Moore has so often
re^Ied the flyrng artillery of his wit. Many of ihose
fads will be considered beneath the notice of the
grave historian; and it is, therefore, incurnbent on
Mr. Moore — if he wishes his political squibs, im-
bued 38 Itiey are with a wil and humour quite Arislo-
ph>nic, to be relished, as they deserve to be relished,
by our great-grandchildren— to preface Iheni with a
* The Times, Jan. 9, 1841.
rapid summary of Ihe events which gave them
bir'h."
Without pausing here to say how gratifying it is to
me to find my long course of Anti-Tory warfare thus
tolerantly, and even generously spoken of. arid by so
dis'ingui^hed an organ of public opinion, 1 shall as
briefly as I can, advert to tlie writer's fiiendly sug-
gestion, and ttien mention some of those reasons
which have induced me not to adopt it. That 1 was
disposed, at hrst. lo annex some 5uch commentary to
this series of squibs, may have been cliecled from
the concluding >entences of my last Fieface; but a
little further consideration has led me to abandon
ntenrion.
that kind of satire which deals only with the
lighter follies of social life, with the passing modes,
whims, and scandii '-f the dav, ^uch illustrative com-
meiils become, after a short time, necessary. But Ihe
true preserving stlt of political satire is its appli-
cability to future times and generations, ns well as to
Ihose which h.d litsl died il forth; its power of
transmitting the scourge of ridicule (firough succeed-
ing periods with a lash still fre^h for Ihe "back of Ihe
bigot and Ihe oppressor, under whatever new shapes
they niay present them elves. 1 can hirdly Hatter
myself with Ihe persuasion that any one of the sati'i*
cat pieces cont.iined in Ihrs Volume is likely lo pos-
sess this principle of vi'ality ; but I feel quiie certain
404
PREFACE TO THE NINTH VOLUME.
that, without it, not all the notes and illuslrations in
which even the industry t<( Dutch conmientalorship
could embalm them would injure to these iriiiea a lilt;
niucli beyond the present hour.
Already, lo niMiy of '.hem, that sort of relish — hy
far the leasl worlhy s(furce of their suci.-es3 — which
the names of living vic'iui^ lend tn such sallies, hns
heconie, in the course of time, wan'ine. Bu', as far
as iheir appositeriess lo the passing political events of
the day has vet been tried — and the dites of these
satires range over a penod of nearly thirty years —
ttieir ridicule, thanks 10 (he undyin;; nature of hunian
absurdity, appears lo have lo;t. as yet, but little vf ttie
original freshness nf its first application. Nor is this
owing to any peculuir felicity of aim, in the saiire
itself, but to the sameness, thiou^hout ihat period, of
all its original objects;— ihe unchangeable nature of
that spiiil of Monopoly by which, under all its vari-
ous impersonations, commercial, religious, and politi-
cs!, these satires had been first provoked. To refer
but lo one instance. Ihe Corn Question,— assuredly,
the e:>lire apposiieness at this very moment, of such
versicles as ihe following, redounds far less to Ihe
credit of puesy than to the disgrace of legislation : —
How can you, my Lord, thus delight to tnrinent all
The Peers of ihe realm ahout chfap'iiiiig iheircorn,
When you know if one hasn't □ very high rental,
'T is hardly worth while to be very liigh-tJorQ.
That, being by nature so litile prone to spleen or
bitterness, I should jei have frequenicd so much the
thorny paths of satire, has always, to myself and
those best acqu.Tinted with me, been a matter of some
surprise. By supposing the imaginaiion, however, lo
be, in such cases, the sole or chief prompter of the
&atire — which, in my own instance, 1 must say, it has
generjUy been — an easy solution js found for the dif-
ficulty. The B-ime readiness of fancy which, with
but little help frnm reality, can deck out " the Cvn-
thia of the minute" wiih all possible attraction?, will
likewise he able, when in the vein, to shower ridicule
on a political adversary, without allowing a single
feeling of reil bitterness to niii itself with the opera-
tion. Even tint sternest of all satirists, Dante, who,
not content with the penal fire of the pen. kept au
Inferno ever ready to receive the viciinis if his
wrath, — even Dante, on becoming acquainted with
some of the persons whom he had thus doomed, not
only revoked their awful Bcntence, but even honour-
ed them with warm praise ; » and probably, on a
little further acquaintance, would have admitted Ihem
into his Paradiso. When thus loosely and shallowly
even the sublime satire of Dante could strike its roots
in his own heart and menmry, it is easy to conceive
how licht and passing may be the feeling of hostility
wiih which a partisan in the field of silire plies his
laughing warfare ; and how often it may happen Ihat
even Ihe pride of hiit/ng his mark hardly outlives the
^ightof the shaft.
I cannit dismiss from my hands these political
trifles, —
thai, in thus alluding to a great light of the social and
political world recently gone out, 1 mean the late Lord
Holland.
It may be recollected, perhaps, thai, in mentioning
some pariicniats re^ipecting an early squib of mine, —
the Pitrody on the Prince Regent's Letter,— I spoke of
a dinner at which I was present, on the very day of
the first )\< bhcaiioii of that Parody, when it was the
subject of much conversation at tableland none of the
pany, except our hos', had any suspicion that I was
the author -f it. 'J his host was Lord Holland j and
as such a name could not but lend value to any anec-
d(tte connected with literature, I only forbore the
pleasure of adding such an on ament to my page, from
knowing Ihit L'.rd Holland had loug viewed with
disapprobation and regret much of Iha' conduct of the
Whig patty towards the Regent, in 1812-13^ of the
history of which this squib. .Tnd Ihe welcome reception
it met w i h, forms an humble episode.
Lord liitlUnd himself, in addition lo his higher in-
tellectual accomplishments, possessed in no ordinary
degree the taleni of writing easy and playful vers de
societe ; and, among the instances 1 could give of Ihe
lightness of his hand at such trifies, there is one no
less characteristic of his good-nature than his wit, as
ii accompanied a copy of the oc'avo edition ol Bayle,3
which, on hearing me rejoice one d.iy that so agree-
able an author had been ai last made portable, he
kindly oidertd for me from P.iris.
So late, indeed, as only a month or two before his
lordship's death, he wa^ employing himself, with all
his usual cheerful eagerness, in translating sume verses
of Metastasio ; and occasionally consulted both Mr.
Rogers and myself as to difFeient readings of some of
Ihe line-i. In one of (he le lers which I received fiom
him uhile thus occupied, I find Ihe foUcwiug post*
script: —
*' 'T IS thus I turn Ih' Italian's song.
Nor deem I read hiB meaning wrong.
But With ruujih English lo combine
tnat, and — little Mora,
He then adds, '* I send yon, too, a melancholy Epi-
gram of mine, of which 1 have seen many, alas, wit-
ness the truth : —
*■ A minister's answer is always so kind!
I Hiarve, and he tells me he 'Jl keep me in mind.
Half hiH promise, God known, would my Bpirila restore:
Let hii
-and, faith. I will at. k fori:
"This Bwnrm
Whi:h Mil
r-ilu
shake
without vinluring to add that I have now to connect
with them one mournful recilledion — one loss from
among Ihe circle uf those 1 have longest looked u|) to
with affection and admiralion— which 1 li:tle thought,
when I began Ihts series of prefatory ske'ches, I should
have 10 mouin before their close. 1 need hardly add,
The only portion of the mass of trifles contained in
this volun.e, Ihat first found its way lo the public eye
through anv more responsible channel than a news-
paper, was 'the Letters of the Fudge Family in Eng-
land,—a work which was sure, from i's very nature,
to encounter the double ^i^k of being thought dull as
a mere sequel, arid light and unsafe as touching on
follies cnnnecled with the name of Religion. Into the
3uestion of the comparative duliiess of any of my pro-
uctioiis, it is not for me, of course, to enter; but to
the charge of treating religious subjects irreverently,
I shall content myself with replying in ihe words of
Pascal,—" II y a bien de la difference enire rire de la
religion et rire de ceux qui la profaoent par leu rs
opinions extravagantes.''
* In his Convito he praises very warmly some per-
sons whom he had before abused.— See Foscolo, Lis-
COTSO sul Tcslo di Lanle,
i Thi^ will be seen whenever those valuable pa-
pers cnme to be published, which Lord Holland left
behind, containing Memoirs of his own limes, and of
those immediately preceding them.
3 In sixteen volumes, published at Paris, by Desoer.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
405
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS;
CONTINUED.
ODK TO THE WOODS AND FORESTS.
BY ONE OF THE BOARD.
1828.
I.et other bards to groves repair,
Where liunets s'rain iheir tuneful throats,
Mine be the Woods a-id Forests, where
The Treasury pours its aweeler ?io(eJ.
No whispering winds have charms for me,
•Nor zephyr^s bilmy sighs I ask ;
To raise the wind fot Royalty
Be all our Sylvan zephyr's task \
And, 'stead of crystal brooks and floods,
And all such vulgar irrieatinn,
Let Gallic rhino ihrou^h our Woods
Divert its ** course of liquid-ation."
Ah, surely, -Virgil knew full well
What Woods and Forests ott.fht to be,
When, sly, he introduc'J in hell
His guinea-plant, his bullion-tree : * —
Nor see I why
When short -- ,
Our H-rr-8 down- h_
To see if Woods in hell
. future day,
ih, we should not send
lows (he way —
nil lend.
Long may ye flourish, sylvan haunts.
Beneath whose "fcrn?icAf.v of expense"
Our gracious K g gets all he wants, —
Except a little ta^(e aud sense.
Long, in your golden shade reclined,
Like him of fair Annida's bowers,
May W— 11— n some liioorf-nymph fi"d,
'Jo cheer his dozenth lustrum's hours ;
To rest from toil the Great Untaught,
And snothe the panes his w.irlike brail
Must sQffer, u hen. unus'd to thought,
It tries to think, and — tries in vain.
Oh long may Woods and Forests be
Freserv'd. in all their teeming graces,
To shelter Tory bards, like ni-,
Who take delight in Sylvan yZocer/*
STANZAS FROM THE BANKS OF
THE SHANNON. 8
1828.
"Take back the virB:in papp.'*
Mu'jre's Irish Melodiea.
No longer, dear V— sey, feel hurl and uneasy
At hea'in? it said by the Treasury brolher,
That thou ari a sheet of blank p:iper, my V— sey.
And he, the dear, innocent placeman, another.*
For, lo, what a service we, Irish, have done thee j— •
Thou now art a sheet of blank paper no more;
By St. Patrick, we've scrawl'd such a lessoa upon
thee
As never was scrawl'd upon foolscap before.
Come— on with your spectacles, noble Lord Puke,
(Or O'CoDuetl has grten ones he haply would lend
you,)
Read V — sey all o'er (as you can't read a book)
And improve by the lesson we, bog-trollers, send
youj
A lesson, in large Roman characters trac'd,
Whose awful impressions from you and yourkio
Of blank-sheeted statesmen will ne'er be effic'd —
Unless, 'stead of paper^ you 're mere asses^ ahiiu
Shall I help you to construe it ? ay, by the Gods,
Could 1 risk a translaiion, yuu should have a rare
one;
But pen against sabre is desperate odds,
And you, my Lord Duke (as you hinted once), wear
one.
Again and again I aay, read V— sey o'er ; —
You will tiud him worth all the old scrolls of
papyrus,
That Egypt e'er fitl'd with nonsensical lore,
Or the learned ChimpoUiou e'er wrote of, to tire
c 've retuni'd him on hand,
a warning to Princes and
* called by Virgil, botanically, ** species auri fron»
deniis.'?
» Til facis, ut ailvaSf ut amem Zoca
Ovid.
3 These verses were suggested by the result of the
Clare election, in the year 1828. when the Right
Honourable W. Vesey Fitzgerald was rejected, and
Mr. O'Connell returned.
All blank as he was,
Scribbled o'er w
Dukes,
Whose plain, simple drift if they won't understand,
Though caresi'd at SI. James's, they're fit for St.
Luke's.
Talk rf leaves of the Sibyls! — more meaning con-
vey'd is
In one single leaf such as now we have spell'd on,
Than e'er haih been uiter'd by all the old ladies
That ever yet spoke, from the Sibyls to Eld— n.
THE ANNUAL PILL.
Vill nobndies try my nice Annual Ptliy
Dat's to purify every ting nashty avay ?
Pless ma heart, pless ma heart, let ma say vat I vill,
Noi a Christian or Shenlleman minds vat I say 1
'T is so pretty a bolus I — just down let ii go,
j And, at v^nce, such a radical shange you vill see,
Dat I 'd not be su'prish'd, like de hor>e in de show,
If your heads all vere found, vere your tailsh ought
to be!
Vill nobodies try my nice ^miual Pill^ &c.
* Some expressions to this purport, in a published
let er of one of these gentlemen, had then produced a
good deal of amusement.
406
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
'T will c\'re all Electors, and purg:e away clear
Dat mifhiy bad itcliing dey've got in deir hands —
»T will cure, too, all &t;ae>,nien, of dulnc^^s, n.a tear,
Though ihi case vas as desperate as poor Mister
Dere is noiing at all vat di* Pill vill not reach —
Give ihe Sinecure Ghentlem-n von little ^r.iin,
Pless ma heart, It vill act, like de sail on de leech,
And he Ml throw de pounds, flhillinga, and pence,
up a^ain !
ViU nobodies try my nice Aimual PiUf &c.
T would be tedious, nia tear, all its peautres to paint-
But, among Oder tin;s fiindanientnUy wrong.
It vill ciire de pT«id Puttom '—a comnion complaint
Ainong M. P.'s and weavers — from sitting too
long.
Should symptoms of spcecking preak nut on a dunce
(Vat is nften de ca"-e), it vtll s op de di-ease,
And pring avay all de long sjieeclies at vonce,
Dal else vould, like tape-worms, come by degrees!
Vill nobodies try my nice Annual Pill,
Dat's to purify every ting iiaslity avay
Pless ma heart," pless ma heart, let me say vat I vill,
^ot a Chrishtian or Shentleman minds vat 1 say I
**IF» AND "PERHAPS."*
Oh, tidings of freedom ! oh, accents of hope !
Waft, waft them, ye zephyrs, to Erin's liluesea,
And refresh with their sounds every son of ihe Pope,
from Dingle-a-ccocii lo far Donaghadee,
" If mutely ihe slave will endure and obey,
" Nor clanking his fetters, nor breithing hia paini,
" His mas'ers, perhaps, at some f^r distant day,
**May think (tender tyrants!) of looseninf h»
chains."
Wise " if" and " perhaps !" — precious salve for our
wounds,
If he, who would rule thus o'er manacled mutes,
Could check the free spring-tide of Mind, that re-
Even now, at h»s feet, like the sea at Canute's.
But, no, 'tis in vain — the grand impulse is given —
Man knows bis high Charter, and knowing will
claim ;
And it ruin mvst follow where fetters are riven,
Be theirs, who have forg'd them, the guilt and the
shame.
"If the slave will be silent!" — vain Soldier, be-
w are —
There is a dead silence the wrong'd may assume,
When the feeling, setit back from the lips'In despair.
But clings round tlie heart with a deadlier giuoin j—
When the blush, that long burn'd on Ihe suppliant's
cheek.
Gives place to the' avenger's pale, resniule hue;
And the tongue, that once threaten'd, disdaining to
speak.
Consigns to Ihe arm the high of!ice — to do.
If men, in Ihat silence, should think of the hour,
When proudly tlieii faihers in pmoply stood.
X Meaning, I presume. Coalition Administrations,
^ Written after hearing a celebrated speech in the
House of I.nrds, June 10, 1S28, when the motion in
favour of Ca'holic Emancipation, brought forward by
the Marquis of Lansdcwne, was rejected by the
House of Lords.
Presenting, alike, a bold front-work of power
To the despot on land and the foe Dn the flood- —
That hour, when a Voice bad come forth from the
west.
To the slave bringing hopes, to the tyrant alarms;
And a lesson, long look'd for, vi'as taught the opprest,
That kings are as dust before fieemen in aroii I
That dream of his boyhood, when Freedom^s Bweet
dny
At length seem'd to break through a long night Of
thrall,
And Union and Hope went abroad in its ray; —
// F.-»ncy should tell him, that Day-spring of Good,
Though swiftly its light died away from his chain,
Though darkly il set in a naiion'e best blood.
Now wants but invoking lo shine out again ; —
If~if, I say— breathings like these should come o'er
The chords of remembrance, and thrill, as they
come.
Then, perhaps -^zy^ perhaps — but I dare not say
more ;
Thou hast will'd that thy slaves should be mute —
1 am dumb.
WRITE ON, WRITE ON
A BALLAD.
Air. — *' Sletp on, atecp on, my Kathleen Jcat
Salvete, fratrea Aainl. St. Francig,
Write on, write on, ye Barons dear,
Ye Dnkes, write hard and fast ;
The good we 've sought for many a year
Your quills will bring at last.
One letter more, N— uc— stle, pen,
To match Loid K — ny~n'a two.
And more than Ireland's host of men,
One brace of Peers will do.
Wiiie on, write on, 8tc
Sure, never, since the pr
Of pen and ink began,
Did letters, writ by fools, produce
Such signal good to man.
While inieliect, 'mom; high and low,
Is marching o)i~, they say.
Give me the Dukes and L^rds, who go,
Like crabs, the other way.
Write on, write on, &c
Ev'n now I feel the coming light —
Evn rsow, could Folly lure
My Lord M — ntc — sh — 1, too, to write,
Emancipation's sure.
By geese (we read in history),
Oid Hume was sav'd from ill ;
And now, to qtiills of geese, we see
Old Rnmeiudeb'ed siill.
Wiiie on, write on, &c.
Write, write, ye Peers, nor stoop to style,
Nor beat for sense about —
Things li tie worth a Noble's while,
You 're better far without.
Oh, ne'er, since as'-es ^poke of yore,
Such miracles u ere dure;
For, write but four such letters more,
And Freedom's cause is won t
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
407
SONG OF THE DEPARTING SPIRIT OF
TITHE.
••The parting Genius la wtlh sighing sent."— Jtfif(on.
It is o'er, it is o'er, my reign is o*er;
I hear a Voice, from shore to shore,
Fioni Dunfaiiadiy (o BalririKire,
And it saith, in sad, parsonic lone,
" Great Tithe and timall are dead and ^ne !"
Even now, I behold your vanishing wings,
Ye Tenths of all conceivable things,
Which Adam first, »» Doctors deem,
Sa», iti a sort of ni'^ht-mare dream, &
After the feisl of fruit ^bhorr'd —
FiisI indigestion on recrd ! —
Ye decimate ducks, ye ctif>6rn chicks,
Ye pigs ivhich, lh'>ugh ye be Catholics,
Or of Calvin's mo>I select deprav'd,
In the Cliurcli must have your bacon savM ; —
Ye fields, where Labour counts his sheaves,
And, whatsoever himself believes,
MiiSi bow (o the' EslablishM Chitrch belief,
Tha' the tenth is always a Protestant sheaf; —
Ye calves, of which llie man of Heaven
Takes Irish tithe, one calf in seven ; ^
Ye (etjths of rape, hemp, barley, flax,
Eg(r3,5 timber, milk, fish, and bees'-wax ;
All things >" short, since earth's crea>ion,
D"0inM, by the Church's dispensation,
'I o sutler eternal decrmafMin —
Leaving the whole /ay-world, since then,
Reduc'd to nine pans out of ten ;
Or — as we calcula'e Ihctfs and arsons —
Ju:>t ten ptr cent, the v^orse for Pardons !
Alas, and is MI this wise device
F(T the saving of souls thus gone in a trice? —
The whole put down, in Ihesimplest way,
By the souls re-olving 7wt to pav !
And even the P.ipists, thankless mce.
Wlio haie had so much the easiest case-
To pay for our sermons doom'd. '1 13 true,
But n»v condemnM to hear them, too —
(Our holy business beir g, 't is known,
With the ears of their tatley, not their own,)
Even thty ol-joct to let us pillage.
By right divine, their tenth of tillage.
And, iiortor of horrors, even decline
To find us in sacramental wine ! <
It is o*er, it is o'er, my reign is o'er,
Ah, never shall rosy Rector more.
Like the shepherds of Israel, idly eat,
And make n( his fl xk "a prey and meat."»
N*i more shall be his the pastoral sport
Of suing his flock in ihe Bishop's Court,
1 A reverend prebendary of Hereford, in an Essay
OR Ihe Revenues of the Church of England, has
assigned Ihe oriiiin of Tiihes to "some unrecorded
evelatiou made to Adam."
^ " The tenth calf is due fo the parson of coninron
right ; and if there are seven he shall have one."—
Rtts^s Cyciopxdta^ art. *' Tithes.*^
3 Chaucer's Plowman con)plain3 of the parish rec-
tors, that
•• Fnr the tithing of a durk.
Or an ai^ple. nr an aye (<-Kg).
They make him swear upon a bnke;
Thus Ihey foulfU Chrisl'e fay."
* Among the specimens laid before Parliament of
(he sort of Church rates levied upon Catholics In Ire-
;1, was a charge of two pipes of poit for tacra-
menial wine.
» Ezekiel, xxxiv. 10. —" Neither shall the shep-
herds feed themselves any ni-re; for I will deliver
Diy flock from their niouth, that Ihey may not be meat
I for them."
Through various steps, Citation, Libel —
Scriptures all, but jivt Iho Bible;
Working the Law's whole apparatus.
To get .»l a few pre-dooui'd poiaioes,
And sunmioning all Ihe powers of wig,
To settle the fraction of a pig ! —
Till, paisoii and all committed deep
In the case of "Shepherds versus isheep,"
The Law usurps the Gospel's place.
And, on Sundays, meeting f^ce t> face,
While Plaintift" fills the preacher's station,
Defendants form Ihe congregaiion.
So lives he, Mammon'? priest, not Heaveu'a,
For tenths thus all at sixes and sevens^
Seeking what parsons love no less
Thin tragic poets — a good distress.
Instead of studying St. Auguslin,
Gregory Nyss., or old St. Justin
(Books fit only to hoard dust in).
His reverence stints his evening readings
To learii'd Repoilsof Tithe Pioceedings,
Sipping, the while, that port so ruddy,
Which forms his only ancient study ;—
port so old, you 'd swear its tartar
Was of Ihe age of Justin Martyr,
And, had he sipp'd of such, no doubt
His martyrdom would have been — to gout 1
Is all then lost ?— alas, too true —
Ye Tenths belov'd, adieu, adieu !
My reign is o'er, my reign is o'er —
LiKe old Thumb's ghost, " i can no more,'*
THE EUTHANASIA OF VAN.
' We are told thnt the blKotti are growing old and faflt
Wfaring out. If it be su, why m»l let us die 10 peace?"
'—Lord Bexlcy'r Letter to the Freeholdcra nf Kent,
Stop, Intellect, in mercy atop,
Ye curst iniproveuienis, cease;
And let poor Nick V— ns— tl— t drop
Into his grave in peace.
Hide, Knowledge, hide thy rising sun.
Young Freedom, veil thy head ;
Let nothing good be thought or done,
Jill Nick V— ns— tt— I'sdead!
Take pity on a dotard's fears.
Who much doth light detest;
And let his last few drivelling yean
Be dark as were the rest.
You, too, ye fleeting one-pound notes.
Speed not so fast away —
Ye rags, on which old Nicky gloats,
A few monih^ longer stay.®
Togetlier soon, or much I err
You both from life iijay eo—
The notes unto the scavenger.
And Nick~lo Nick below.
Ye Liberals, whate'er your plan,
Be all reforms suspended ;
In compliment to dear olu Van,
Lei nothing bad be mended.
Ye Papists, whom oppression wrin^
Your cry politely cease.
And fret your hearts to fiddle-stringf
That Van may die in peace.
* Periturae parccre chartae.
408
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
So thaU he win a fame sublime
By few old mg-inen gained ;
Since all shall own, m Nicky's time.
Nor sense, nor justice reigu'd.
So shall his name through ages paat,
And dolts UDgo'ten ye',
Date from '* the days of Nicholas,**
With fond and sad regrei ; —
And sighing, say, ** Alas, had he
'*' Been spar'd from Pluto's bowers,
" The blessed reign of Bigotry
*' And Kags might still be ours V*
TO THE REVEREND .
ONE OF THE SIXTEEN REQUISITIONISTS
OF NOTTINGHAM.
1S28.
What, yoUf too, my ****»», in hashes so know-
Of »auces and soups Aristarchua profesi !
Are ymt, Ion, niy savoury Brunswicker, going
To make an old fool of yourself with the rest?
Far belter to stick to your kitchen receipts ;
And— if you want something to teise — for variety,
Go study how IJde, in bis *' Cookery," treats
Live eels, when he fits them for polishM society.
Just snuggling them in, Mwixt the bars of the fire,
He leaves them to wriggle and writhe on the cnals,i
In a manner thai H-rn-r himself would admire.
And wibh, 'stead of ee/5, they were Catholic &ouIs.
Ude tells us, the fi^h little suffering feels;
While Papists, of late, have mme sensitive grown ;
So, take my advice, fry your hand at live eels,
And, (or once^ lei the other poor devils alone.
I have e'en a still better receipt for your cnrfc—
How to make a gonse die of C'infirmM hepatitis i*^
And, if you'll for once, /c//ouj-feiIiTigs o'erlook,
A well-lorlui'd goose a mo:>t capital sight is.
First, catch him, alive—make a good steady fire —
Set your victim before it, both legs being tied,
(As, if left to himself, he might wish to retire,)
And place a large bowl of rich cream by his side.
There roasting by inche5, dry, fever'd, and faint.
Having drunk all the cream, you bO civilly laid,
off.
He dies of as charming a liver complaint
As ever sleek parson could wish n pie made of.
Besides, only think, my dear one of Sixteen,
What an eniblem Ibis bird, for the epicure's
Presen's of the mode in which Ireland has been
Made rt tid-bit for yours and your breifaren's amuse-
ment ;
Tied down to the stake, while her limbs, as they
quiver,
A slow fire of tyranny wastes by degrees —
No wonder disease shnuld have swell d up her liver.
No wonder you, Gourmands, should love her dis-
* The only w*ay, Monsieur Ude assures us, to get
hd of the oil so objectionable in this fish.
« A liver complaint. The process by which the
livers of geese are enlarged for (he famous Pales de
foie cTuic.
IRISH ANTIQUITIES.
According lo some learn'd npiniong.
The Irish once were Carihatcinians;
But, trusting to more late descrrptioua,
I M rather say they were Egyptians.
My reason N this : — the Fries;s of Isis,
When forth (hey march'd in long array,
Enipluy'd, 'mong other grave devices,
A Sacred Ass to lead the way j 3
And still the antiquarian traces
'Mong Irish Lords this Pagan plan,
For still, tn all religious cases.
They put Lord R— d— n in the van.
A CURIOUS FACT.
The present Lord K— ny— n (the Peer who writes
letters,
For which the waste-paper folks much arc his
debtors)
Hath one little oddity, well worth reciting.
Which puzzlelh observers, ev'u more than bis writ-
ing.
Whenever Lord K— ny— n doth chance to behold
A cold Apple-pie — mind, the pie mm( be cold —
His Lord^hlp looks solemn (few people know why).
And he makes a low bow lo the siid apple-pie.
This idolalroua act, in so '* vital" a Peer,
Is, by most serious Protestants, thought rather queer —
Pie-worship, Itiey hold, coming under the head
(Vide C'nwfmm, chap, iv.) of the VVorship of Bread.
Some think 't is a tribute, as author, he o«es
For the service that pie-crust haih done to his
prose ;—
The only good things in his pages, they swear.
Being those that the pastry-cook sometimes puts
there.
Others say, 'tis a homage, through pie-crust con-
vey'd,
To our Glorious Deliverer's much-honour'd shade ;
As that Protestant Hero (or Saint, if you please)
Was as fond of cold pie as he was of green peas,*
And 't is solely in loyal remembrance of that,
My Lord K— ny- n to apple-pie lakes oft'his hat.
While others account for this kind salutation
By what 1 ony Lumpkin calls *' concatenation j"—
A certain gnod-wilt that, from Bympa'hy's ties,
'Twixt old ^-jypU'Woniea and Orange mtn lies.
But 't is needless to add, these are all vague surmises,
For thus, we're assur'd, the whole matter arises;
Lord K— ny — n's respected old father (like many
Respected old fathers) was fond of a penny;
A;>d lov'd BO to save,S that— there's uot the least
question —
His dea'h was brought on by a bad indigestion.
From cold apple-pie-crust his Loidship would stuff
At breakfast, to save the expense of hot muffin.
Hence it is. and hence only, that cnM apple-pies
Are beheld by his Heir with such reverent eyes--
3 To this practice (he ancient adage alludes, "Asi-
nus portans mysleria."
* See the anecdote, which the Duchess of Marlbo-
rough relates in her Memoirs, of this polite hero a|)-
propiiating to himself one dav, at dinner, a whole
dish of green peas— the first of the se-son— while the
poor princess Anne, who was then in a longing con-
dition, sat by, vainly entreating, with her eyes, for a
share.
6 The same prudent propensity characterises his
descendant, who (as is well known) would not even
go to the expense of a diphthong on his father's monu-
ment, but h:id the inscrip'ion spelled, economically,
thus: — " Mors ja7iua vita.^
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
409
Juat as honest Kinit Sieplien his beaver might doff
To ihe lishts thM c.irried his kind uncle otf—
And while yiital piety urges so niany on,
'T is pure a_pjjk-pie.ety Dioves my Lord K— ny— d.
NEW.FASHIO"NED ECHOES.
nted
Sir, — Most of your readers are, nn doubt
wirh the anecd Me tdld of » certain, not ovei-wiae
jud^e, wht', u heu in ihe act of delivering a charge ii
some country courI-h"U9e, was interrup'cd by th
braying of an aas at the door. '• Wliat m-rse is ihal ?
asked the an^ry judge. ''Only an extraordinary ech
there is iu court, my Lord,** answered one of th
counsel.
As there are a number of s
echoes" abrond just now, you \
uuwillinsf, Mr. Editor, (o receiv
litcs suggested by them, ]
\ch " extraordinary
iti not, perhaps, be
the follovviog few
Hu
it: ii]ilHr)ue libentiua unrjiia:
CneamuBt retulit echo.
Otid,
There are echoes, we know, of all sorts,
From the echo, that * dies iu the dale,"
To the "airy-iorigu'd babbler," thst sports
Up the tide of the loirent her *' tale."
There are echoes that bore us, like Rlues,
With the latest smart mot they have heard;
There are echoes, extremely like >htew3,
Letting nobody have the last word.
Id the bogs of old Paddy-!and, too,
Certain •' t:ilented'' echfies^l there dwell,
Who, on bein; ask'd. '• How do you do ?"
Poliiely reply, '• Prelly well."
But why should I tilk any more
Of such old-fashioriM echoes is these.
When Britain has new ones in store.
That transcend them by many degrees?
For, of all repercussions of sound.
Concerning which bards make a pother,
There's none like iliat happy rebound
When one blockhead echoes another ; —
When K— ny— n commences the bra\',
And the Borongh-Dnke follows his'track;
And loudly from DublmV sweet bav,
R_ll,d—-ne brays, with interest, back J—
And while, of most echoes the sound
On our ear by retieclion doth fall,
The-e Brunswicker^s pass the hray round,
Withiml any reflection at all.
Oh Scott, were I gifted like you.
Who ran name all the echoes 'here are
Front BenvoirlJch to bold Ben-venue,
From fleiiledi lo wild Uamvarj
I might track, through each hard Irish name,
The rfbonnds of ihls asinjne strain,
T I) fri.m Neddy to Nedtv, it came
To Ihe chief Neddy, K-ny— n, ag;»in j
« " Let ua form Clubs."
« Commonly nlled " Faddy Blake's Echoes."
8 Aiiti-Cathnl/c assnciitions, under the title of
Brunswick Clubs, werent this time bt;coming nume-
rous both in England and Irel.vad.
35
Mii<ht lell hn«- j't roar'cl in H— Ihd— ne,
Hf)\v from Ti — ws— n it died off ^CDleeDy—
How hollow i( rung from liie crown
Of ilie fatpated Marquis cf E— y ;
How, on Iiearing my Lord of G- — e, *
Tliialle-eaters, the aloulest, gave way,
Ouldciic-, in Ihcir own specjai'line,
By the lortyass power of his bray.
But, no — for so humble a bard
' I is a subject loo Irsinj^ to touch on:
Such noblemen's Kimes are loo hard.
And their noddles loo soft to dwell much on.
Oh Echo, sweet nymph of the hill.
Of Ihe dell, and Ihe sweel-sounding shelves;
If, in spile I'f Narcissus, you still
Take lo fools who are charm'd with themselves,
Who knows but, some morning retiring,
To walk by the Trent's wooded side.
You m ly meet wiih N— wc— slle, adniiring
His own lengthened eais iu Ihe tide I
Or, oil into Cambria straying,
Fii.d K— nv— n, that double-tongu'd elf,
In his love of asa cendency, braying
A Brunswick duet with himself 1
INCANTATION,
FROM THE NEW TRAGEDY OF "THE
BRUMS WICKER3."
1828.
SCENE.— PcncKdcn Plain. In the middle, a cat-
drtm boiling. Thunder. Enter three Bruna-
wickers.
\>t BntM. — Thrice hath scribbling K— ny— n
scrawl'd,
2d Vru7is.—0nce halh fool N— wc— stle bawl'd,
3d l!nais.-ii—\\—y snores:— 'lis time, 'tis lime,
tsl /Jn/m —Round abnui Ihe caldron go:
In the pnis'n.rus nonsense Ihrow.
Ili^nt s[)i1e, thai long h-ilh grown,
Like a toad within a stone.
Sweltering in the heart of Sc— It,
Boil we in the Brunswick pot.
Ml.-T),ibble, dribble, uonsen-e dribble.
Eld— n, talk, and K— ny— n, scribble.
2d 5rU7iJ.— Slaver from N— wc— slle's quill
In Ihe noisome n)es3 distil,
Rrinmiing high our Brunswick broth
Both with venom and with froth.
Mix Ihe brains (ihough apt to hash ill.
Being scant) of Lord M-ntc— shel,
Wilh thai maltv sluff which Ch— nd-t
Drivels as no other man does,
Cntch (i. e. if catch yon can)
One idea, spick and span.
From my Lord of S— 1— sb— y,—
One idea, though il be
Smaller than the " happy Pea,"
Which his sire, in sonnel terse,
Wedded to immortal verse.4
Though to rob Ihe son is sin,
Put his OTIC ilea in;
4 Alluding to
the laie Marrpii!
ight be addresse
stance ; —
ell-known lyric composition of
fhicb, with a slight alteration,
ilier to a flea or a fly. For in-
Oh, happy, happy, happy fly.
in
410
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
And, to keep it cnmpany,
Le' ihat conjuror VV— nch — Is— a
Drop but half another Ihere,
If (,e h^ilti so much io spare.
Dreanisof murders aud of arsons,
HaicliM in heads of Irish pirsoiis,
BrioK from every hole and corner,
Where ferocious pries s, like H— rn— r,
Purely for reli;?ious good.
Cry aloud for Papist's blood,
Blood for VV— lis, and such old women,
At their ease to uade and swim in.
All.—ViVihbXe, dr.bble, nonsense dribble,
B— xl— y, talk, and K— ny— n, scibhie.
3^ Bnnu. — Now ihe cSaim begin to brew j
Sisters, sis'ers, add thereto
Scraps of I,— Ihbr— due's old speeches,
Mix'd vvitti !e.i her from his breeches.
Rinsings of old E-xl— y's brains,
Thickeii'd (if you 'II take the pains)
With that pulp which ragscieate,
III their middle, nymplia s'ale,
Ere, like insect, fr.il a-.d sunny.
Forth ihey win^ abroad as money.
The.-e— Ihe Hell-broih we've enchanted —
Now but one thiri^ more is wau'ed.
Squeeze o'er all lhat (ira)iffe juice,
C keeps cork'd for use,
Which, to wotk the better spell, is
Coloured deep with blood of -,
Blood, of powers f>r more various,
Ev'u than rhal of Januaiius,
Since so great a charm hangs o'er it,
England's parsons bow befme it!
^/;.— Dribble, dribble, noDseiise dnbble,
B— xl— y, talk, and K— ny— n, scribble.
2d. Brwns.—Coo] it now with 's blood,
So the charm is firm aad good. \^}Cxcu.nU
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD POLITICIAN.
Whene'er ynu 're in doubt, said a Sa»e I once knew,
*Twixt 'wo lines of conduct which course to pursue,
Ask a woman's advice, and, whale'er she advi-e,
Do the very reverse, and you Ve sure lo be wise.
Of the same use as guides, are the Brunswicker
throng;
In their though's, words, and deeds, bo instinctively
wrong.
That, whatever they counsel, act, talk, or indite.
Take the opposite course, aud you're sure to be
right.
So golden this rule, that, had nature denied you
s use of that finger-post, Keastni, to guide you —
•se yoii even more doltish than any giv'n man is.
More soft than N— wc— sile, more twaddling than
Van is,
I'd stake my repute, on the following conditions,
To make yoj Ihe soundeal of 60uud politicians.
Place yourself near the skirls of some high-flying
Tory —
Some Brunswicker parson, of porl-drinking glory, —
Watch well how he dines, during any great Ques-
tion —
What makes him feed gaily, what spoils his diges-
tion—
And always feel sure that his joy o'er a stew
Portends a clear case of dyspepsia to you.
Or
*01i. happy, liflppy, happy flei
Read him backwards, like Hebrew — wbateTcr b*
wishes,
Or praises, note down as absurd, or pernicious.
Like the folks of a wealher-iiou^e, shifting about.
When he's outy be an In — when be-s in be %u
Out,
Keep liim always revers'd in your thoughts, night
and day,
i an Irish barometer turn'd the wrong way : —
If he's up, you may swear lhat foul weather is
nigh ;
If he 's down., you may look for a bit of blue sky.
Never mind what debaters or journalists say»
Only ask what he thinks, and then thiflt t'other
way.
Does he hite the Small-note Bill ? then firmly rely
The Smali-note Bill's a blessing, though ymi dont
know why.
Is Brougham his aversion ? then Harry 's your man.
Does he quake at O'Connel ? take doubly to Dan.
Is he all for the Turks? then, at once, take Ihe
whole
Russian Empire (Czar, Cossacks, and all) lo your
In short, whatsoever he talks, thinks, or is,
Be your thoughts, words, aud essence the contrast
of his.
Nay, as Siamese ladies — at least, the polite ones —
All paint their teeth black, 'cause the devil has
white ones —
If ev'n, by the chances of time or of tide,
Your Tory, for once, should have sense on his side,
Even then stand aloof— for, be sure lhat Old Nick.
When a Tory talks sensibly, means you some trick.
Such my recipe is — and, in one single verse,
1 shall now, in conclusion, its substance rehearse.
Be all th^t a Brunswicker is not, nor could be,
Aud then — vou'llbe all that au honest man should
EPISTLE OF CONDOLENCE,
FROM A SLAVE-LORD, TO A COTTON-LORD,
Abs ! my dear friend, what a slate of afTairs !
How unjustly we both are despoii'd of our rights!
Not a pound of black flesh shall 1 leave to my heirs.
Nor must you any more work, to death little
whites.
Both forc'd to submit to that general controller
Of King, Lords, and cotton mills Public ()[)inion,
No more shall Xjou beat with a big billy-roller.
Nor / with the cart-whip assert my dominion.
Whereas, were we sufFer'd to do as we please
With our Blacks and our Whites, as of yore we
were let,
We might range them alternate, like harpsichord
keys,
And between us thump out a good piebald duet.
But this fun is all over; — farewell lo the zest
Which Slav'ry now lends to each tea-cup we sip ;
Which makes still the cruellest cotfee the best.
And ttiat sugar Ihe sweetest which smacks of the
whip.
Farewell, too, the Factory's white pic:ininnies —
Small, living machines, which, if flogg'd to their
tasks.
Mix so well with their namesakes, the "Billies" and
Thai which have got souls in 'em nobody asks;—
Little Maids of the Mill, who, themstilves but ill-fed,
Are oblig'd, 'mong their other bene rolent cares,
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
411
To "keep feeding the Bcritblersj"* — aod betier, 't is
said.
Than old Blackwood or Fraser have ever fed
theirs.
All this is now o*er, and so dismal my loss is,
So hard 'i is to part from the siinck of the thnng,
That 1 iiieaii (from pure love for the old whipping
proces3),
To take to whipt syllabub all my life long.
THE GHOST OF MILTIADES.
Ah quoties dublus Scri/jtis exareit atnalor I — Ovid,
The Ghost of MiUiades cime at night,
And he diood by the bed of the Beiilhaniite,
Ai'd he 5aid^ in a voice that IhrilPJ the frame,
" If ever the pound of Marathon's name
"Hah ar'd thy bl.iod or tlush'd thy biovv,
** Lover of Liberty, rouse thee now 1"
The Benthamite, yawning, left his bed^
Away 10 the Stock Exchange he sped»
And he found (he Scrip of Greece so high,
Th^t it tirM his blond, it tlustrd his eye,
And oh, I was a sight for the Ghost lo see,
For never was Greek more Gieek than he 1
And stiil as ihe premium higher went,
Hia ecslasy rose — so much per cent.
(As we see iu a glass, that tells (he weather,
'I he heat and the silvtr rise logeiher,)
And Liberty sung from the patriul^s lip,
While a voice from hia pocket whisper'd *' Scrip!''
The Ghost of Miltiades c;ime again ; —
He smii'd, as the pale moon smiles through rain,
For his soul was glad at that patiiot strain ;
(And poor, dear ghost — ln-w liiilehe knew
The jobs and the tncks of the Philheilene crew!)
"Blessings and thaiiksr w.is all he said,
Then, melting away, like a night-dream, lied !
The Benthamite hears— amaz'd that ghostB
Could be such fools —and away he posts,
A patiiot still ? Ah, no, ah, no —
Goddc s of Freedom, thy Scnp is low,
And, warm and fond ns thy lovers are,
Thou Irieat their passion, when undei par.
The Beiithami e'a ardour fast deca;>s,
By turns he weeps, and swears, and prays.
And wishes Ihe d — 1 had C^e^ct:nt and Cross,
Ere ht had bt^en forc'd to sell at a loss.
They quote him the Slock of various nations,
But, spite of his classic associations,
Lord, how he loathes Ihe Greek quotations !
•' Will) 'II buy my Scrip? Wlio'll buy my Scrip V
Is now the iheine of tlie palrioi's lip,
As he runs to tell how hard his lot is
To Messrs. Orlmdo and I.urioitis,
And says, *' Oh, Greece, fur Liberty's sake,
*' Do buy my Scrip, and 1 vow to break
»' Those dirk, unholy iionds (^{ thine —
" if you '11 only consent to buy up mine .'"
The Ghost of Miltiades csme once more ; —
His brow, like ihe night, was lowering o'er.
And he >aid, with a I ^uk that flash'd diomay,
*'0f Liberty's toes the worst are tliey,
"Who turn to a tr.^de her cause divine,
*' And gamble for gnld On Freedom's shrine 1"
Thus B.iying, Ihe Ghost, as he took his flight,
Give a Fartl.ian kick lo ihe Ben haniite.
Which >ent him, whimpering. oH' lo Jtrry—
And vanish'd auay to the Slygiin ferry *
■ One of Ihe operations in cotton milts usually per-
formed by chidden.
ALARMING INTELLIGENCE — REVOLUTION
IN THE DICIIONARY— ONE G^LrAT THE
HEAD OF IT.
God preserve us!— there's nothjng^ nov? safe from
assault ; —
Thrones toppling around, churches brought to the
hanimer;
And accounts have just reach'd us that one Mr. Gait
Has declar'd open war against English and Gram*
marl
He had long been suspecfed of some such design,
And, the beiier his wicked intents to arrive at,
Had I.itely 'mong C— lb— u's troops of the line
(Ihe peDQy-a*liiie men; enlisted as private.
There school'd, with a rabble of words at command,
Scolcli, Engllsll,and^lang, in promiscuous alliance,
He, ai length, agiinst S) max has l;ikrn hia stand,
And sets all Ihe Mine Parts of Speech at dehauce.
Next advices, no doubt, further facts will afford;
In the mean lime Ihe danger ninsl imminent grows.
He has taken the Life of one err.iaent Lord,
And whom he '11 next murder Ihe Lord only knows.
JVedntsday eveni7i§.
Since our last, matters, luckily, look more serene;
Tho' Ihe rebel, 't is s'aled, to aid his defecnon,
Has seized a great Powder— no. Puff Magazine,
And the' explosions are dreadful in every direction.
What his meaning exactly is, nobody knows.
As he talks [in a sir.iin of intense botheration)
Of l>rical " ichor,"' ^ " gelatine us" prose,3
And a mixture calPd amber immortalization.*
N&Wt he raves of a bad he once happen'd lo meet,
Sealed high "among ratUings," and churning a
sonnet ; s
NoWy talks of a mystery, wrapp'd in a sheet.
With a halo (by way of a nightcap) upon it!S
We shudder in (racing these terrible lines ;
Soiaelhing b;id they must mean, tho* we can't
make it out ;
For, whale'er may be guess'd of Gait's secret des gns,
That they're all ^/iri-Engiish no ChristiJU can
doubt. «
RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT A LATE MEET^
ING UF REVERENDS AND RIGHT REVE-
RENDS.
Resolv'd — to stick to ev'ry particle
Of ev'iy Creed and ev'ry Anicle ;
Reforming nought, or great or little,
We'll 8t.mchly stand by "every linlej^T
And scorn the swallow of that >oul
Which cann> t boldly bolt ihe whole.
* ** That daik diseased ichor which coloured his
effusions." — GalVs Lift of Byron.
3 " 1 hat gelatinous character of their effusions."—
Ibid.
5 *' Sitting amidst the shrouds and raltlings, churn
ing an iuarticulaie melody." — Ibid.
6 " He was a mystery in a wjoding-sheet, crowned
wiih a haio." — I'bid.
T One of the questions pn-pnundcd (o the Puritans
in 1573 was — " Whether the Book of Service was
412
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Resolv'd, that, though St. Athanasius
Id damning souls is rather spacious —
Though wide and far his curses fall,
Our Church " hath stomach for them all j"
And those who 're not content with ■■uch
May e'en be d d ten tiuies as much,
Resolv'd — such liberal souls are we
Though hating; Nonconformity,
We yet believe the cash no worse is
That comes from Noncnnformist purses
Indifferent whence ihe money readies
The pockets of our reverend breeches,
To U3 Ihe Jumper's jingling penny
Chinks with a tone as sweet as any ;
And ev'n our old friends Yea and Nay
May through the nose for ever pray,
If also ihiuugh the nose they '11 pay
Resolv'd, that Hooper,! Latimerji
And Cranmer.3 all extremely err,
In taljingsuch a Inw-bred view
Of what Lords Spiri ual ought to do: —
All owing to the fact, poor men,
That Mother Church was modest then,
Nor knew what golden eggs her goose,
The Public, would m thneproduce.
One Piagah peep at modern Durham
To far more lordly thoughts would stir 'em,
Resolv'd, that when we, Spiri'ua) Lords,
\Vho>e income jnsi enough affords
To keep our Spiritual Lordships cozy,
Are told, by Antiquarians prosy,
How ancient Bishops cut up theirs,
Giving the poor the largest shares —
Our answer is, in one short word,
^Ve think it pious, but absurd.
Those gond men made the world their debtor.
But we. the Church refTm'd, know better;
And, taking all that all c^n pay,
Balance the' account the other way,
Resolv'd, our thanks profoundly due are
To last month's Qu:(rierly Reviewer,
Who proves (by aigunients so clear
One sees how much he holds per year)
That England's Church, though out of date,
Must still be left to lie in stale,
As dead, as rotten, and as grand as
The mummy of King Osymand\as,
All pickled snug— the hiains drawn out* —
With costly cerements sw.iihed about. —
And " Touch me not," those words terrific,
ScrawPd o'er her in good hieroglyphic.
good and godly, every tiltle grounded on the Holy
Scripture?" On which an honest Dissenter remarks
— " Surely they had a wonderful opinion of their Ser-
vice Bonk thai there was not a titlle amiss in it."
« '*Thev," the Bishops. " know that the primitive
Church had no such Bishops If Ihe fourth part of
the bishopric rennined unto the Bishop, it were suf-
ficient."— On the Commandments, p. 72.
2 "Sinie the Prelates were made Loids and Nobles,
the plough standelh, there is no work done, the people
starve '2 — Lat. Serm.
3 "Of whom have come all these glorious titles,
style?, and pomp? into the Church. But I would that
I, and all my brethren, the Bishops would leave all
our styles, and write the slyles ot nur offices," &c. —
Life of Cranmer, by Strij-pe, Jifpendix.
* Part of the process of emb ilmment.
6 Tht Book of Spnrts drawn up by Bishop More'on
was *^rst put forh rn the reign of James I., 16IS, .md
afterwards republished, at the advice of Land, by
Charles L, lti33, with an iojuttc'ion thai it should bu
SIR ANDREW'S DREAM.
"Nkc tu Bperne pile venienlia somnia portii:
Cum pia veiierunt Bumiiia, ponUun halwnt"
Properl. lib. jT. elef. 7.
As snug, on a Sunday eve, of late,
Jn his easy chair Sir Andrew sate,
Being much too pious, as every one knows,
To do aught, of a Sunday eve, but doze,
He dreamt a dream, dear, holy nian.
And 1 'It tell you his dream as well hs I can.
He found himself, loiiis great amaze,
In Ctiarles the First's high Tory days,
And just at the tjnie that gravest of Courts
Had publish'd Its Book of Sunday Sports.* —
Sunday Sports ! what a thing for ihe ear
Of Andrew, even in sleep, to hear! —
II chanced to be, too, a Sabbath day.
When the people from church were coming away J
And Andrew with horror he rd this song.
As the smiling sinners llock'd along : —
*' Long life to the Bishops, hurrah ! hurrah I
*' For a week of work and a Sunday of play
•'Make the poor man's life run merry av^ay."
"The Bishops!" quoth Andrew, "Popish, I guefts,"
And he grinned with conscious holiness.
But the song went on, and, to brim the cup
Of poor Andy's grief, the fiddles struck up 1
*' Come, take out the lasses — let 's have a dance -
" For the Bishops allow u^ to skip our fill,
*' Well knowing tliat no one's the more in advance
" On the road to heaven, for standing s'ili.
"Oh, it never was meant that grim grimaces
•' Should sour the cream of a creed of love ;
"Or that fellows with long, disastrous faces,
'* Alone should sit among cherubs above.
**Then hurrah for the Bishops, &C.
" For **unday fun we never can fail,
" When the Church herself each sport points out;—
"There's Ma> -games, archery, VVhitsun-ale,
" And a May-pole high to dance about,
*' Or, should we be for a pole hard driven,
" Some lengthy saint, of aspect fell,
" With his pockets on earth, and his nose in heaven,
" Will do for a May-pole just as well.
" Then hurrah for Ihe Bishops, hurrah ! hurrah !
" A week of work atid a Sabbath of play
" Make the poor mau's life run merry away."
To Andy, who doesn't much deal in history.
This Sunday scene was a downright mysteiy ;
And Gnd knows where might have ended the joke,
But, in trying to stop the fiddles, he woke.
And the odd thing is (as the rumour goes)
That since that dream — which, one vvould suppose,
Should have made his godly stomach rise,
Even more than ever, 'gainst Sunday pies —
He has view'd things quite wiih different eyes ;
Is beginning to take, on matters divine,
Like Charles and his Bishops, the j/JoWin^: line —
Is all for Christians jigging in pairs.
As an interlude 'l\\ixi Sunday pravers ; —
Nay, talks of gelling Archbishop H— I— y
To bring in a Bill, enacting duly,
•' made public by order f r m the Bishops." We find
it therein declared, that " for his good people's recrea-
tion, his Maje-ty's pleasure was, that after the end of
divine service they should not be disturbed, letted, or
di'couraged from any lawful recreations, such as
dancing, either of men or women, archery for men,
leaping, vaulting, or any such harmless recreations,
nor having of May-games, Whiisun-ales, or Morris-
dances, or setting i.p of May-poles, or other sports
theiewith uted,"^c.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
413
Th»t all icood Protestan's, from this date,
Mi.y freely and lawtuHy, recreate,
Of a Suiid.iy eve, their spiriis iiio:)dy,
With Jack id (he Straw, or Puucb and Judy.
A BLUE LOVE-SONG
Air
• Come liv
:ith t
and be my tove."
3 sic a noodle, our Andie Agnew*
Come wed with me, and we wil! write,
My Illue of Blues, fnim morn till night
Chased from our classic souls shall be
All thoughts of vule;.ir progeny;
And thou sh:ilt walk thruugh tmiting rows
Of chuhby duodecimos,
While I. lo match thy products nearly,
Shall lie-in of a quario yearly.
'T is true, ev'n bodks entail some 'rouble;
But live productions give one double.
Coireciinsf children is such bother,—
While pridiers' dev'Is correct (he other.
Just think, my own Mallhusian dear,
How much more dt;cent 'l is to hear
From male or female — as il may be —
"How is your book?" than " How '5 your baby ?*'
And, whereas physic and wet nurses
Do much exhaust paleri>al purses,
Our books, if ricke'v, niay go
And be well dry-nursed in the Row;
And, whenGnd wills (0 lake them hence,
Are buried at the Jiow^a expense.
Besides, (as M is well prov'd by thee,
In thy own Works, vol. 93,)
The mirch, just now, of popntalioo
So much outstrips all niodeiatnm,
Thr.t ev'n prolific herring-shr als
Keep p ice not with our erring souls.*
(th, far more proper and well-bred
To stick 10 » riting books instead ;
And show the world h"W two Blue lovers
Can coalesce, like two bo^k-C'vers,
(Sheep*skin, or calf, or such wise leather,)
Letter'd at back, and stilch'd together,
Fondly as first ihe binder liit'd 'em^
Wiihoought but — literaiure betwixt *era.
SUNDAY ETHICS.
A SCOTCH ODE.
Puir, profligate Londoners, having heard tell
That IheDe'il's got auiangye, and fearing 't ib true.
We ha' sent ye a mon wlia's a malch for his spell,
A chiel o' our ain, that Ihe Dt^Nl hiinset
Will be glad lo keep clear of, one Andrew Agnew.
So, at least, ve mav reckon, for ane day enlire
Id ilka hng week ye »n be iraNqutI et.eueh.
As Auld Nick, do him justice, abhors a Scotch squire,
An* would sooner eae roast by his am ki'chen fire
Tlian pass a hale bunday wi' Andrew Agnew.
For, bless the gude mon. gin he had his aIn way,
He 'd na let a cat n„ the Sabbath say " mew ;'»
Nae birdie maun whistle, nae lanibie maun play,
An* Phceltus himsel could na travel ihal Hay,
At be *d find a new Joshua in Andie Agnew.
Only hear, in your Senate, how awfu' he cries,
" Wae. wae .0 a' sinners who boil an' who stew.
Wae, wae tn a' eaters o' Sabbath-liak'd pies,
For as surely again shall Ihe crust thereof rise
*^ Jn judgment against ye," saith Andrew Agnew I
; may think, from a' this, that our Andle*s the lad
To ca' o'er the coals ynur UDbeelily, too ;
That their drives, o' a Sunday, wi' rtunkies,'i a'clad
.ike Shawmen, behind 'em, would mak the mon
mad —
But be
If Lairds an' fine I--»dies, on Sunday, think right
To gang to the deevil -— as maisi o' em do —
To stop them our Andie would think na poliie ;
And 'I is odds (if the chiei could get ony thing by 't)
But he 'd follow 'eai, booing,^ would Andrew
Agnew.
AWFUL EVENT.
Yes, W— nch— Is— a (I tremble while I pen il),
W— nch— Is— a's Earl hath cut the British Senate
Hath said to England's I'eers, in accent gruff,
* That for ye all'' [snapping his fingers], and exit, in
a hutt !
Disastrous news ! — like that, of old, which spread
. . 11 shore to shore, *'our mighly Pan is dead,"
O'er the cross benches (cross from being crosl)
Sounds the loud wail, "Our W— uch— Is— a is lost!"
Which of ye, Lords, Ihat heard him, can forget
The deep impression of that a»ful threat,
'M quit your house 1 1"— 'midst all that histories
telt,
I know but one event that 'a parallel : —
It chanc'd at Drury Lane, one Easter night,
When the gay gods, too blest to be poli'e,
Gods at their ease, like those of learn'd Lucretius,
Laugh'd, wliistleii, grt-an'd, uproariously ficelious —
A well-dres-.'d member of the middle gallery,
Whose ** ears polite" disdaiiiM such low canaillerie,
Rose in his place— so grand, you'd almost swear
Lord W — nch— Is— a hintself stood lowering therF —
And like that Lord of dignity and nous.
Said, ** Silence, fellows, or — I '11 leave the house ! !"
How brook'd the god< this speech ? Ah well-a-day,
'I hat speech s" fine should be su thrown away I
In vain did this mid-gallery grandee
Assert his own two-shilling dignity —
III vain he menac'd to withdraw Ihe ray
Of his own full-price countenance away —
Fnn against Dignily is fearful odds,
And as the Lords laugh 7iouj, bo giggled then the
gods!
THE NUMBERING OF THE CLERGY.
PARODY ON SIR CHARLES HAN. WIL-
LIAMS'S FAMOUS ODE,
*' Come Cloe and give mt awut Awjm."
** We wont more Churctiefl and mnrf Clereymen."
Biihop 0/ London'! late Charge,
"Eectorura numerum, terria pert'untit)n8. aueeiii. "
Viaudian in Eutrop.
Come, give us more Livings and Rectors,
For, richer no realm ever gave;
t See "Ella of Garveloch."— Garvelnch being
place wheie there was a l.trgc herring-tishery, but
where, as we are told by the author, " the penple '
created much faster than the produce."
3 Servants in livery.
3 For the "gude etFecIa and uteelity of booing,"
ee the Man of ihe rtW/d.
414
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
But why, ye unchristian objectors,
Do ye ask us how many we crave ? *
Oh. there cati'l be too many rich Livings
Fnrbo.ilsof ttie Pluralist kii.d.
Who, dfsi.ising n)d Cocker's ims^ivings,
To auiiibt;rs can uc'er be coiifiu'd.^
Count the cnrmoranis hovering about, 3
Al ihe time their tish season sets in,
\> tiL'D these models of keen diners nut
Are preparing their beaks to begin.
Count the rooks that, in clerical dre^sea,
Flock round when the harvest's in play,
And, not minding the farmer's distresses,
Like devils in grain peck away.
Go, number the locusts in heaven,4
On their way to some litheable shore;
And when so many Parsons you 've giveo,
We still shiU be craving for more.
Then, unless ye the Church would submerge, ye
Must leave us in peace to au2;uient
For the wretch who cnuld nuniber the Clergy,
Wilb few will be ever coDteDt.^
A SAD CASE.
'If it be the nndergroduate
religiosa U lo be
G — lb — n against il _
actuolly exposed to the full
Dissenters 1"— Tke Time
,.v „.-o™ al which this rabiei
ffarful, what Becurily has Mr
vtiiom Gf an associalioD witl
I, March 25.
How sad a case ! — just think of it —
If G— lb— n junior should be bit
By some insane Dissenter, reaming
Through Gran'as halls, at large and foaming,
And with that aspect, uZfra crabbed
Which marks Dissen-ers when they 're rabid t
God only knows what miscliiefs might
Result from this one single bite,
Or how the venom, once suck'd in.
Might spread and rage through kith and kin.
Mad folks, of ;tll denoniinaions,
Firsi 'urn upon theirown relations:
So that one G— lb— n, fairly bit,
Might end in maddening the whole kit,
'lill, ah, ye gods, weM have to rue
Our G— lb— n senior bitten loo;
The Hychurchphobia in those veins,
Where Tory blood now redly reigns ; —
And that dear man, who now perceives
Saivaiion only in lawn sleeves.
Might, tainteli by such coarse infection,
Run mad in the' opposi'e direction,
And think, poor man, 't is only given
To linsey-woolsey to leacli Heaven!
I Come, Cloe, and give me sweet kisses.
For sweeter sure never girl gave ;
But why, in the midst of my blisses,
Do you a^k me how many I'd have?
G For whilst I love thee abjve measure,
To numbers 1 '11 ne'ei be confin'd.
3 Count the bees that on Hybb are playin?,
Count Ihe flowers that 'enamel its fields,
Count Ihe flocks, &c.
4 Go number the slars in the heaven.
Count how many sands on the shore ;
When so many kisses yu 've given,
1 still shall be craving for more.
» But the wretch who can number his kisscsj
With few will be ever content.
Just fancy what a shock 't would be
Our G— Ib-n in his hts to see,
Tearing into a thousand particles
His once-|..v d Nine and Ihiriy Articles;
(Ihose Ariicles Ins friend, Ihe l)uke,6
For GoM el, L'ulher ni^M, mistook;)
Cursing CAthedial-, de-nis, and singers —
Wi>hins the ropes mi(»ht hang the ringers-
Pelting the church wiih blasphemies,
Kven worse than Parson B— v— il— y's;—
And ripe for severing Church and Slate,
Like any creedless reprobate,
Or like ihat class of Methodists
Prince Waterloo styles *•■ AtheistsI
But 't is too much — Ihe Muse turns pale,
And o'er the picture drops a veil,
praying, God save the G— lb— rns all
From mad Dissenters, great and small I
A DREAM OF HINDOSTAN
risvm leneatla, amici.
"The longer one lives, the more one learns,
Said I, as otl' to sleep I ivent,
Bemus'd u ith thinking of I iihe concerns,
And reading a bonk, by the Bishop of Ferns,'
On the lush Climch Establishment.
Buf, lo, in sleep, not long I lay,
When Fancy her usual Iricks began,
And J found myself bewitch'd away
To a gnodly ci'y in Hindustan —
A city, where he, who daies to dine
On aught but nee, is deem'd a sinner ;
Where sheep and kine aie held divine.
And, accordingly — never drebt for dinner*
** But how is this?'* I wondering cried —
As I walk'd that city, fair and wide,
Arid saw, in every maible street,
A row of beautiful butchers' shops —
" What means, for nieu who don't eat me%t,
** This grand display of loins and chops ^
In vain I a^k'd — 't was plain to see
That nobody dar'd to answer me.
So, on, from street to street I strode ;
And you can't conceive how vastly odd
The butchers look'd — a roseate crew,
Inshrin'd in statlsy wjih nought lo do ;
While some on a bencti, half-dozing, sat,
And the Sacred Cows were not more fat.
Still pos'd to think, what all this scene
Of sinecure trade was meant to mean,
*' And, pray," ask'd I — '* by whom is paid
The expense of this s range masquerade?" —
"The' expense! — oh, that *s of course defrayed
(Said one of these well-fed Hecatombeis)
*' By yonder rascally rice-consumers."
*' What 1 they^ who mustn't eat meat !" —
•*No matter-
(And, while he sprke, his cheeks srew fatter,)
" 'I he rogues may munch their Paddy crop,
"But the rngues must sliil support our shop.
'* And, depend upon it, the way 'o treat
" Heretical sioniachs Ihat thus dissent,
" Is lo burden all that wo'n't eat meat,
" With a costly Meat Esiablishmeol."
6 The Duke of Wellington, who styled them "the
Articles of Christianity.'*
T An indefatigable scribbler of anti-Cathol e p«m-
phlets.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
415
On hearing these words so gravely said,
Wilh a volley of laughter liHi<t 1 shook ;
And iitv sliniiher Hed, and m\ dream was sped,
And I found I »a- hi. ^ snug in htd,
Wilh uiy nose iu 'the Bish"|i of Feinss book.
THE BRUNSWICK CLUB.
k letter having jeeD arldresflfd to a vt-ry il]!-tin(,'ui«hed
personage, rtquesting liim lo b^romt- Itie ration of Ih
Oranse Club, a pilitr answer vian furlhwilh returned,
of which we have been furtunnle enough to obtain i
Brimatont-hall, September 1, 1828.
Private.— Lord Belzebub presenls
To Ihe Brunswick Club his conipiimenls,
And much regrets to say that he
Cannot, at present, ttieir Palion be.
In slating this, Lord Belzebob
Assures, on his honour, the Brunswick Club,
That 't isn't from anv lukewarm lack
Of zeal or Sie be thus holds hack —
As ev'n Lord Coal ■ him elf i- nc t
For the ttrange par'y more red-hot;
But the truth is, lill their CluhalTo.ds
A somewhat decen'er show of Lords,
And on ilj list of members gets
A few less ruhliishv Bar nets,
Lord Belzebub must beg to be
Excused from keeping such company.
Who the devil, he humbly begs to know.
Are Lord Cil— nd— ne, and Lord D-nlo?
Or who, with a grain of sense, would go
To sit and be bored by Lord M— yo?
■ What living creature — ixccpt his nurse —
For I^rd M— nc— sh— I cares a cur>e.
Or thinks 't would mailer .f L.ird M— sk— rry
Were t'other side of llie ,Slv»ian ferry >
Brea'hes there a man in Dublin tov>n.
Who'd give but hilf of halt-a-crmvo
To save from dnnvnm; mv I.o-d R— thd-ne,
Or who wouldn't also gladly hustle in
Lords R-d— n, B— nd— n, C— le, and J_c— 1— n?
In short, though, from his tenderesl years,
iccuslom'd to all sTls of I'eers,
Lord Belzebub much questions whether
He ever yet saw, niix'd trgetber,
&s 't were in one capacious tub,
Such a mess of noble silly-bub
As the twenty Peers of the Brunswick Club.
'T is tbe-efore impossible that Lord B.
Could stoop to such society,
Thinking, he owns ('hough no great prig),
For one in his station »t were t'ri/ro di^.
But he begs lo propose, in the inlerim
(Till ihev find some p.opVer Heeis for him).
His Highness of C-mb d, as Sub,
To take his p'ace at the Brunswick Club-
Begging, roeaiiwhile, himself to dub
Their obedient servant, BELZEBUB.
It luckilv happen.", Ihe R— y— I Duke
Resenildes so much, in air and look.
The bend of the Bel/ehub family,
That few c^n any difiereiice see;
Which makes him, of course, the better suit
To serve as Lord B.'s substitute.
PROPOSALS FOR A GYN.ECOCRACr.
ADDRESSED TO A LATE RADICAL MEETING.
Aa Whi; Reform has had its nnge.
And none of us are yet content.
' Usually written "Cole
Suppose, my friends, by way of change,
We try a Frmak Pmliamnit ;
And .iiice, of la'e, wilh lit M. I'.'s
We've tared -o h ilK, liket.. she's —
Pe ticoit paliiol-. 11 uiiril John Kussells,
Bindi-lts in Uuntk. a„d llr-. gliaiiis in bialla.
■Ihe plan IS siai'lii.g, 1 confess-
But Ms hut nallairol dies;
Wor see I much Iheie is to choose
'Twixl Ladies (so ttiey 're thurouch-bred onea)
In ribands of all sorts of hues,
Or Lords iu only blue or red ones.
At least, the fiddlers will be winners,
Whatever other trade advances;
As then, instead of Cabinet dinners.
We 'II have, at Almack's, Cabinet dancei
Nor lei this world's imporl^int questions
Depend on Ministers' digestions.
If Ude's receipts have done thim^s ill,
■| 0 Weippen's band they mav go belter;
There's Lady * +, in one quadrille.
Would selile Europe, if you 'd let her:
And who the deuce or asks, or cares.
When Whigs or Tones liave undone 'em,
Whclh.-r they've danc'd through State alTairs,
Or simply, dully, diji'd upon 'ein ?
Hurrah 'heii for the Petticoats !
To them we pledge our free-born votes;
We'll have all xlie, and only slu —
Perl hlues shall ,.ct .as " best debaters,"
Old dowagers our Bishops be.
And teruiagaiits our Agitators.
If Veslris, to oblige the nation,
Her own Olympus will abandon.
And help to prop the' Adminislration,
It can't have tieiter legs lo stand on.
The fam'd Macaulay (Mi-sl shall show.
Each evening, forih in learn d oration;
Sh.ll ui.ve (midst general cries of " Oil !")
For full reiurnsof population:
And, finally, lo crown Ihe whole,
The Piincess Olive.'J Roial soul.
Shall from her bower in' Banco Regis,
Descend, lo bless her f lithful lieges.
And, mid our Unions' loyal choius,
Reigu jollily for ever o'er us.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE » • *.
1 — y has for some time past been suffering, in conse-
quence of his declared hnsiilily lo "anthems, solns,
duets,''3 )(;c., I took the libertv of making inquiries
at his Lnidship's house this morning, and lose n.. lime
in transmitting to you such paiticulars as 1 could C"l-
lect. It is said that the screams of iiis Lordship, under
Ihe operation of this nightly concert, (which is, no
doubt, some trick of the R.dicals,) may be heard all
over the neighb 'urhood. The female who personates
St. Cecilia is supposed to be the same tli.at, list year,
ppeared in lite charac'er of Isis. at the Rotunda.
How the cherubs are managed, 1 have not yet ascer-
tained. Yours, 4c. P. P.
LORD H-NL-Y AND ST. CECILIA.
in Metii descendat Judicis aures. Horttt*
As snug in his bed Loid H— nl — y lay.
Revolving much his own Renown,
^ A personage, 'o styling herself, who attained con-
siderable notoriety at that period.
3 In a work, on Church Reform, published by hia
Lordship in l|s32.
416
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
And hoping to add thereto a ray.
By pulling due*ii aud aothems down,
Sudden a strain of choral sounds
Mellirtuous o'er his senses stole;
Whereat the Iteformer muiter'd, "Z>urds!''
For he lualh'd sweet oiusic wUb ail his soul.
Then, starting up, he saw a sight
That well iiiight .shock so tearnM a snorer —
Saint Cecilia, rnb'd in light,
With a portable org:ia slung before her,
Jvl rcund were Cherubs, on rainbow wings,
Wao, his Lordship fear'd, nii?hl tire of flitting,
8j begg'd Ihey 'd sit — but ah ! (loor things.
They 'd, none of them, got the nieaus of sitting.^
"Having heard," said the Saint, "you*re fond of
hymns,
"And indeed, that musical snore betrayed you,
" Myself, and my choir of cherubimt,
** Are come, for a while, to serenade you.**
In vain did the horrified H— nl — y say
**'T was all a mis'ake" — "she was misdirected ;"
And point to a concert, over the way,
Where tiddlers and angels were expected.
In rain — the Saint could see Jn his looks
(She civilly said) much tuneful lore ;
So, at once, all open'd their music-bonks,
And herself and her Cherubs set otf at score.
All night duets, terzels. quartets,
Nay, long quiniets most dire to hear;
Ay, and old ninlels, and canzonets,
And glees, in sets, kept boriug his ear.
He tried to sleep — but it wouldn't do ;
So loud ihuy squall'd, he must at'eod to 'em;
Though Cherubs' songs, to his cost he knew.
Were like themselves, and had no end (o 'em.
Oh judgment dire on judges bold,
Who meddle with music's sacred strains!
Judge Midas tried the same of n|d,
Aud was punish'd, like H — nl— y, for his pains.
But worse on the modern judge, alas !
Is the sentence launch'd frnm Apollo's throne ;
For Midas was given the ears of an ass,
While H— nl— y is doom'd to keep his own !
ADVERTISEMENT. a
1830.
Missing or lost, last Sunday night,
A Waterloo coin, whereon was IracM
The' inscription, "Courage!" in letters bright,
Though a little by rust of years defacM,
The meta! thereof Is rough and hard.
And ('t is thought of late) mix'd up with brass
But it bears the stamp of Fame's award,
Aud through all Posteriiy's hands will pass.
I *' Assevez-vous, mes enfans." — " II n'y a pas de
quoi, mon Seigneur."
* Written at that memorable crisis when a distin-
guished Duke, then Prime Minister, acting under ihe
inspirations of Sir Cl— <1— s H-nt— r and other City
wor'hies, advised his Majesty (o give up his an-
liouDctd ioientioa of dining with the Lord Mayor.
How it was lost, God only knows,
But certain City thieves, they say,
Broke in on the owner's evening daze,
And filcliM this *' gift of gods'' away !
One ne'er could, of course, the Cits suspect.
If we hadn't, that evening, chanc'd to see.
At tlie robb'd man's door, a Mare elect,
With an ass to keep her company.
Whosoe'er of this lost treasure knows,
is begg'd to state all facts about it,
As the owner can't well face his foes.
Nor ev'u bij friends, just now, without it.
And if Sir Clod will bring it back,
Like a trusty Baronet, wise and able.
He shall have a ride on Ihe whitest hack3
That's left in old King George's stable.
Carlton Terrace, J832
Whereas, Lord #»#**« de *******
Left his home last Saturday,
And, though inquir'd for, round and round,
1 hrough certain purlieus, can't be found ;
And whereas, none can solve our queries
As to where this virtuous Peer is,
No'ice Is hereby giv'n, that all
May forthwith to inquiring fall.
As, oiice the thing 's well set about,
No doubt but we shall bunt him out.
His Lordship's mind, of late, Ihey say,
Halh been in an uneasy way,
Hiniself and cnlleagues not being let
To climb into the Cabinet,
To settle England's state affairs,
Hath much, it seems, wnsetiled theirs;
And chief to this stray Plenipo
Ha'h been t most distressing blow.
Already,— certain to receive a
Well-paid mission to the Neva,
And be the bearer of kind words
To tyrant Nick from Tory Lords,—
To tit himself for free discussion.
His Lordship had been learning Russian;
And all so natural to him were
The accents of the Northern bear,
That, while his tones were in your ear, you
Might swear you were in sweet Siberia.
And siill, pour Peer, to old and young,
He goes on raving in that tongue ;
Tells you how much you would enjoy a
Trip to Ualnodoubrowskoya ; *
Talks of such places, by the scorCj oa
As Ouli^fflirmchi^agobo^^[l,6
And swears (for he at nothing sticks)
That Russia swarms with Rasknl.niks,6
I'hough one such Nick, God knows, must be
A mure than ample quantity.
3 Amone other remarkable attributes by which Sir
C — Id — s distinguished himself, the dazzling whiteness
of his favourite steed was not the least conspicuouf
* In the Government of Perm.
s Territory belonging to the mines of Koliva
Kosskressense.
6 T he name of a religious sect in Russia. " II ex-
iste en Kus-ie plusieurb sectes ; la plus nombreuses eat
celle des Raskol-niks. ou vrai croyauls.'* — Gamta,
Voyage dans la Russie MeridionaU,
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
417
Such are the niarki; by wliich to know
This stmyM or stolen Pltiuipo;
And \\ hosoever brings or senJs
'I'he unhappy sUiesman to his friends,
Oh C-irltori Terrace, shall have thanks,
And — any paper but the Bank'9.
P. S.— Some think, the disappearance
01" this our diplum.Ttic Fcer hence
Is for (he purpose cf reviewine,
Jnptrso7t, what dear Mig h doing
So itK to 'ncape all lell- ale letters
'Br.ut B— 8-d, and st^ch abettois.—
'J"he ouly •* wre'ches" for whose aid 1
Letters seeni not to have bten made.
THE DANCE OF BISHOPS;
OR, THE EPISCOPAL QUADRILLE. 2
A DREAM.
I83X
•Solemn rfancpg were, on great festivals and celebrations,
adinitU'd among thti [ininitive ChriHtiaas, in which
even Itie Bislio(iH and digiiilied Clt.'rgy were perforinens.
BcaligtT Huya, Ihnl tlip first Bishops were CBiled Prae-
aulus 3 for no other reason than that they led oif these
liaucvB."— Cyclopaedia, ait. Dances.
Pve had such a dream — a frightful dream —
'i'h'iufjh funnv, mayhap, to wa?s 'i will seem,
By all who regard the Church, like us,
'T \vill be tJiOughl exceedingly omiaousl
As reading in bed I lay last night —
Which ;t)einEr insured) is my delight— .
I happen'd to doze off just as I got to
The sintruUr f..ct which forms iiiy motto.
Only think, thought I. as I doz'd away,
Of a |iarly of Ctiurchmea dancing the hay I
Cleiks, curates, and rectors, cafiering all,
Wilh a neal-legg"d Bishop to open the ball I
Scarce had my eyelids ijnie to close.
When the scene 1 hid f.incied betore me rose —
An Kpiscnpat Hop, od a scale so grand
As my dazzled eyes could hardly stand.
For, Britain and Erin cl-.bb'd their Sees
To make it a Uance of Dignities,
And I saw — oh, brightest of Church events 1
A quadrille of the two Establishnieuts,
Bishop to Bishop vjs-a-vis.
Fooling away prodigiously.
There wns Bristol capering up to Derry,
And Cork wi'h London making merry :
While huge I,land;.lf, with a See, so so,
Was to dear old Dublin pointing his toe.
There was Chester, hatch'd by woman's smile,
Performing a chaine des Dairies in style;
While he who, whene'er the Lords' House dozes.
Can waken ihem up by citing Mose8,4
The portly Tuam, was all in a hurry
To set, £71 avatitf to Canterbury.
Meantime, while pam;ihle(8 stuff'd his pockets,
(.411 out of d.te, like spent sky-rockets.)
(Mr Exeler ^t<)Md f „ih to ciper,
A > high on the floor as he do h on paper —
*•' Hsav'u first taught letters for some wretch's aid."
Pope.
a Written on the passing of the memorable Bill,
in the year 1833, for the abolition of ten Irish
Bishopric?.
■ Literally, First Dancers.
* " And what does Moses sav?''— One of the ejacu-
lations wilh which this eminent prelate enlivened
i his famous speech on the Catholic question. '
Much like a dapper Dancing Dervise,
Who pirouettes his whole church-service —
Performing, 'midst those reverend souls,
Sucli entrechats^ such cabrivlcs^
Such haluiina^^ such — rigmaroles,
Now higli, niiw low, now this, now that.
That noncc'Hild guess what the dev1 he'd beat;
Thniigh, watching his various step-, some l-Sougbt
That a step iu (he Church was all he sought.
But alas, alas ! while thu? so gav.
These rev'rend dancers fri k'd av:iv,
Nor Paul himself (not the saint, but he
Of the Opera-house) could brisker be,
There galher'd a glooni around their glee —
A shadow, which came -md went so fast,
Thai ere one cnld say **'T is there," *t was past—
And, lo, when the scene again was clear'd,
Ten of the dancer.-, had dtsanpear'd !
Ten able-bodied (juadrHlers 'swept
From the hallnw'd floor where lr.te (hey stept,
While twelve was all that footed it s ill,
On the Irish side of that grand Quadrille!
Nnr this the worst ; — still danc'd they on.
But the pnnip was sadden'd, the smile was gone ;
And again, from time to tune, the same
Jll-ometieJ daikness round them came— .
While slill, as the light broke out anew.
Their rank^ lookd lc?-s by a dozen or two ;
Till -^h ! at la-l thee were only found
Just Bi-hops enough fnr a four-hands-round ;
And when 1 awi ke, impntient getting,
I left the last holy ^2.\t jpousseiling t
N, B.— Ah ladies in years, it seems,
Have the happie-t knack at s-dving dreams,
I ^hail leave to my ancient feminine friends
Of the Standard to say what (Aw portends.
DICK • » * *.
A CHARACTER.
Of various scraps and fragments huilt,
Porrow'd alike from fools and \wts,
Dick's mind was like a palchv^o^k quilt,
Made up of new. old, motley bits —
Wheie, it the Co. call'd in their thares,
If petticoats their quota got.
And gowns were nil refunded theirs.
The quilt wou'd look but shy, God wot.
And thus he still, new pbginrjes seeking,
Revers'd ventriloquism's trick,
For, 'stead of Dick through others speakirr^.
' r «as otheis we heard speak through Dick.
A Tory now, all bounds exceeding,
Now best of Whigs, now worst of rats;
One day, with Malthu-*, foe to breeding,
The next, « itli S .dier, all f-T brats.
Vom- Dick ! — and how else cou'd it be ?
With notions all at random caught,
Asrirt of men'al t'ricasspe,
Made up of legs and winss of thought —
The leavings of the last Debate, or
A dinner, ye-'erday. of \vi(3,
Wtiere Dick sate by and, like a waiter,
Had the craps (or perquisites.
* A description of the meihod of executing this
step may lie useful 'o future j»t'rfoiniers in the same
line:— '^Cp pas est compose de deux mouvemens
dilferons, savoi:^. •plir.r, ei snuter sur un pit-d, et se
rejeter sur I'aulr&y — I)ict\6nnair& d& JDansc, art, j
Cu7itre temps,
2^
418
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
A CORRECTED REPORT OF SOME LATE
SPEECHES.
"TheD I heard one i
liDt said
lint speaking, and another
unto that saiut."
IS34.
S». S— ncl— r rose and dfclar'J in sooth.
That he ivouldu't give sixtniice to MMiioolh.
He had h.led [.nesis the whole uf his life.
For a priest was a una who had uo wife,'
And, having no wife, the Church was his mother,
The Church wns his filher, sister, and brolber.
This being the case, he was sorry to say,
Tbal a gulf 'Iwixl Papist and Pruleslant lay,a
So deep and wide, scarce possible was it
To say even •' how d'ye do ?'* across it :
And though your Liberals, nimble as fleas,
Could clear such gulfs with perfect ease,
Twas a jump that nought on eirth could maSe
Your proper, heavy built Christian take.
No, no,— if a Dance of Sects must be.
He would set to the Baptist willingly,3
At the Independent deigii to smirk,
And rigadoon with old Molher Kirk;
Nay ev'D, for once, if needs must be,
He'd take hands round wiih all the three;
But, as to a jig with Popery no,—
To the Harlot ne'er would he point his loe.
St. M— nd— V— 1e was the neit thai rose —
A Saint who round, as pedlar, goes.
With his pack of piety and prose.
Heavy and hoi enough, God knows. —
And iie said that Papists were much inclin'd
To extirpate all of Protestant kind,
Which he couldn't, in truth, so much condemn,
Having rather a wish to extirpate them;
That is,— to guard against mistake,—
To extirpate them for their doctrine's sake;
A distinction Churchmen always make,—
Insomuch that, when they 've prime control.
Though sometimes roasting heretics whole.
They but cook the body for sake of the soul.
Next jump'd St. J— hnst- n jollily forth,
The spiritual Dogberry of the North,*
A right " wise fellow, and, what 's more,
An officer,"' like his lype of j-ore ;
And he ask'd, if we grant such toleration.
Pray, what 's the nje of our Reformation ? 6
What is the use of our Church and State ?
Our Bishops, Article?, Tithe, and Rale ?
And, «lill as he jell'd out 'what's IlieutB?"
Old Echoes, from their cells recluse
Where thev 'd for centuries slept, broke looeB,
Yelling responsive, " What 's the wt ?"
MORAL POSITIONS,
A DREAM.
*• His Loidstiip Bait] thai it look a long time
pottitioil to tiiitl its way across tile Atlantic, lie was
very sorry that its voyage had been to lont," &c. —
Speech of Lord Dudley and Ward on Colonial Slavery,
Marcli 8.
T'other night, after hearing Lord Dudley's oration
(A treat that comes once a-vear as May-day does),
I dreamt that 1 saw — what a' strange operation !
A " moral position" sbipp'd oli for fiarbadoes.
grave atti-
" He objected to the main'enance and education
The whole Bench of Bishops stood by i
tudes.
Packing ihe article tidv and neat ; —
s their Rev'rences know, that in southerly latitudes
*■ Moral positions" don't keep very sweet.
here was B— th — at arranging the custom-house
from lousing and
There stood my Lord Eld — n, endorsing it "Glass,"
Ihoti^h as to which side should iie uppermost,
doubling.
The freight was, however, stow'd safe in the hold ;
The winds were polite, and the moon look'd
romantic.
While otf in the good ship "The Truth" we were
roll'd,
With our ethical cargo, across the Atlantic.
Long, dolefully long, seem'd the voyage we made;
For " I he Truth," at all times but a very slow
sailer,
By friends near as much as by foes, is delay'd.
And few come aboard her, though so many hail
ber.
At length, safe arrived, I went through " tare and
Deliver'd my goods in the primest condition,
And next morning read, in the Bridgetown Gazette,
•' Just arrived by ' The Truth,' a new moral posi-
tion.
of a clergy bound liij the particular vows of ccUbacy, ,it-|^ Canlain"— hi
which, as it were, AToBC them Ihe church asthcironly I „ , t ranlaio"
e, startled to find myself nam'd
family, making it Jill the places of father and mothir I ^» "'Z^'''"'''" ~ '* ""°^ "'''"'' ' """ " '''""
d trot/ier."- Debite on^the G.ani to Maynoolh J ,i,„'„',h' life have avoided,) I woke-look'd
asliam'd,
College, The Times, April 19.
2 " It had always appeared to him that between the 1
Catholic and Protestant a great gulf intervened,
which rendered it impossible," &c.
3 "The BaptisI might acceptably extend Ihe offices
of Religion to the Presbyterian and the Independent
or Ihe member of Ihe Church of England to any of 1
the other three ; but the Catholic,'' &c.
4 "Could he then, holding as he did a spiritual
office ill Ihe Church of Scotland, (cries of hear, and
lauglltei,) with any consistency give his consent to a
grant of money ?'' &c.
5 " I am a wise frllow, and which is more, an offi-
cer."— Much Ado about Nothing.
6 » What, he asked, was the u«e of the Reforma-
tion? What was llie use of the Articles of Ihe
Church of England, or of the Church of Scotland ?"
kc.
Found 1 wasn''t a captain, and doz'd oif again.
THE MAD TORY AND THE COMET.
FOUNDED ON A LATE DISTRESSING INCI-
DENT.
1P32-3.
'* Motantem regna cometem." — Luean. 7
"Though all the pel mischiefs we count upon, fail,
•' Ttiough Cholera, hurricanes, Wellington leave ui,
"We've still in reserve, mighty Comet, thy tail; —
«• Last hope of Ihe Tories, wilt thou too deceive lu ?
1 Eclipses and comets have been always looked to
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
419
**No — 't is coming, H 19 coming, th* avenger is nigh ;
*' Heed, heed not, ye placemen, how Herapath
flatters
" One \\ tiisk trom that tail, as it passes us by,
" Will settle, at once, all political maltcis ; —
"The East India Question, the Bank, the Five
Powers,
"(Now lurn'd into two) with their rigmarole Pro-
tocols ; 1 —
•*Ha! ha ! ye gods, how this new friend of ours
" Will knock, right and left, all diplomacy's what-
d'ye-calls !
Yes, rather than Whigs at our downfall should
mock,
** Meet planets, and suns, in one general hustle !
** While, nappy in vengeance, we welcome the shock
" That shall jerk from their places, Grey, Althorp,
and Russell.*'
Thus spnke a mad Lord, as, with telescope rais'd,
His wild Tory eye on the heavens he set ;
And, ihoui^h nothing destructive appear'd as he gaz'd,
Much hopM that there wuuLd, before Parliament
uiet
And B'ill, as odd shapes seem'd to flit through his
gl.iss,
*' Ha ! there it is now," the poor maniac cries ;
While his fancy with forins but too monstrous, alas !
From his oiva Tory zodiac, peoples the skies ; —
" Now I spy a big body, good heavens, how bi^ !
" Whether Ducky ^ or 1 aurus I cannot well say :-
"And, yonder, there 's Eld — n's old Chancery-wig,
*' In its dusly aphelion fast fading away.
'*! see, 'mong those fatuous meteors behind,
" L — iid — lid — ry, in vacuo, fl.iring about j —
" While that dim double star, of the nebulous kind,
** Is the Gemiul, R— den and L — rt — n, 00 doubt.
"Ab, EI— b'r— h! 'faith, I first thought 'twas the
Comet ;
"So like ihat in Milton, it made me quite pale;
"The head with the same 'horrid hair' 3 coming
from it,
"And plenty of vapour, but— where is the tail ?"
JujI then, up aloft jump'd the gazer elated —
For, to, Ins brighr gl-iss a phenomennn show'd.
Which he took to be C — mb— rl — d, upwards trans-
lated.
Instead of his natural course, t'other road !
But too awful that sight for a spirit so shaken,—
Down dropp'd the poor Tory in fits and grimaces.
Then oil' to the Bedlam in Charles Streel was taken.
And is now one of Halford's most favourite ca^es.
as great changers of administrations. Thus Milton,
speaking of the former : —
And in Statins we find,
"Mutant quae sceptra cometae."
• See, for some of these Protocols, the Annual
Register, for the year 1832.
» The D -6 of n-ck— ra.
» "And from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war."
FROM THE HON. HENRY
EMMA
-, TO LADY
Paris, March 30, 1832.
Vou bid me explain, my dear angry Ma'amselle,
How 1 came thus to boil without saying farewell ;
And the truth is,— as truth you wUi have, my sniet
There are two worthy persons 1 always feel loth
To take leave of at starling, — my mistress and
tailor, —
As somehow one always has scenes with them
both;
The Snip in ill-humour, the Syren in tears,
She calling on Heaven, and he on the' attorney. —
Till somelinies, in short, 'Iwixt his duns and bis
dears,
A young gentleman risks being stopp'd in his joui^
ney.
But, to cnme to the point,— though you think, I dare
That 't is debt or the Cholera drives me away,
'Pon honour you 're wrong ;— such a mere bagatelle
As a pestilence, nobody, now-a-days, fears;
And the fact is, my love, I'm thus boiling, pell-mell,
To get out of the way of these horrid new Peers ; ♦
This deluge of coronets, frighlful to think of.
Which England is now, fur her sins, on the brink of;
This coinage of 7ioW£S,— coin'd, all of 'em, badly,
And sure to bring Counts to a discouaX most sadly.
Only think, to have Lords overrunning the nation,
As plenty as frogs in a Dulch inundation ;
No shelter from Barons, from Earls no protection,
And tadpole young Lords, too, in every direction, —
Things created in hasie, jus' to make a Court list of,
Two legs and a coronef all they consist of;
The prspcct's quite frightful, and what Sir George
(My parlicular friend) says is perfectly true,
That, 50 dire the alternative, nobody knows,
'Twixt the Peers and the Pestilence, what he's to
do;
And Sir George even doubts, — could he choose his
disorder,—
'Twixt cnrtin and coronet, which he would order.
This being the case, why, I thougtit, my dear Emma,
'T weie best to fight shy of so curs'd a dilemma;
And though I confess myself somewhat a villain.
To 've left idol mio wiihoul an addio.
Console vnur sweet heart, and a week hence, from
Milan
I 'II send you — some news of Bellini's last trio.
N. B. — Have just pack'd up my travelling set-out,
Things a tourist in Italy caii't go wilhout —
Viz., a pair of gants gras, from old Houbigant's
shop,
Good for hands that the air of Mont Cenis might
chap.
Small presents for ladies, — and nothing so wheedles
The creatures abroad 'S your gnlden-ey'd needles.
A nest Jacket HoMce, by which folks are cnzen'd
To think one knows Latin^ when — one, peihaps,
doesn»t ;
With some little book about heathen mythology,
Jiisf large enough to refresh one's theology ;
Nothing on earth being half such a bore as .
Not knowing the diffrence »lwixt Virgins and Floras. '
Once more, love, farewell, best regards to the girls,
And mind you beware of damp feel and new Etrls.
HENRY.
420
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
TRIUMPH OF BIGOTRY.
CoUese.~\\'<2 aniiouiicd.
in fiur last, Ihat Lt-frny and
Shaw wert- R-tunitrU. '1 1.
y uere .liitluil yt-hlerday ;
l(if aiiidciits o. Uie (Mil, ,
.'■ '1 MiiiiJ. i|, it would sefin.
to iniiuitf the mob m i :
. 1 . I. --sifig thtmselves
tu llie cur, ami ttm M.t i
, i : ■ >iijiii Oraufie flags
SQd bludyeous before, l ■ .
1 , ii. uin.l ttie far."
.,..-.,. r„>f, Dt'c. 2U, 1632.
Ay, yoke ye to the bignts' car,
"Ve clios'n of AlinaMatei's scions;—
Fleet charters die w the God of War,
Great C>bele was ilrawu hy iJous,
And SyUan Pan, as Poets dream,
Drove four young paulhers in his team.
Thus classical L—fr— y, for once, is,
Thus, studious of a like turn-out,
He harnesses young sucking dunces,
To draw hiin, as their Chief, about,
And let the world a picti.resee
Of Dulnessyok'd to Hie<.try :
Showing us how young College hacks
Can pace wiih bigots at Ihtir backs,
As though the cubs were buT^i to draw
Such luegtge as L— fr— y and Sh— w.
Oh sliade ol Giild>!:.iih, shade of Swift,
Blight spiiiia whom, in da\s of yore,
This queen of Uulness sent adrift,
As aliens to her fo^gy shore ; ^ —
Shade of our glorious Gr^itau, loo,
VVhose very name her bhame recalls;
Whose efiigy Iier bigol crew
Revers'd upon their inoi.kit^h walls.^ —
Bear witness (lesi the world should doubt)
'Jo your mute Mothers dull rennwn,
Then famous but for Wit turn'd cwf,
And Eloquetice tum'd upside dovjn j
But now oidain'd new wieaihs to win,
Beyond all fame of former days,
By breaking thus young dnnkies in
To draw M P-n amid the brays
Al ike of donkies and M. A.s ;—
Defying Oxford lo surpass 'em
In this new ** Gradus ad Paiuassuni.*'
TRANSLATION FROM THE GULL
LAN GUAGE.
Scripla manet.
1833.
'T was graved on the Slone of Desliny,3
In letters four, and letters thiee;
And ne'er did the King of the Gulls go by
But those awful letters scar'd his eye ;
For he knew Ihat a Pn.phel Voice h;id said,
** As long as iho?e words by man were read,
*' The ancient race ( f the "Gulls should ne'er
•*One hour of peace or plentv s!i;ire."
But years on years successiveflew.
And the letters stUl more legible grew,—
At lop, a T, an H, an E,
And underneath, D. E B. T.
Some thought them Hebrew,— such as Jews,
More skiiril in Scrip th m Sciipture, use;
t See the lives rf these two poe's for the circum-
tances under which they left Dublin College.
1 Id the year 1799, tlie Board of Trinity Collpge,
I Dublin, thought proper, as a mode of expressing their
I disapproba'ion of Mr. Grattan's public conduct, to
order his portrait, in Ihu Great Hall of (he University,
to be turned upside down, and in this position it re-
mained for some time.
3 Liafail, Of the Stone of Destiny, — for which see
Westminsler Abbey.
While some aurniis'd 'twas an ancient way
Of keeping accounts, {well known in the day
Of the fam'd Didlenus Jeremias,
Who bad thereto a wonde-ful bras.)
And prov d in books most learn'dly boring,
*T v\as called the PonlicA. way of scoiing.
II iweVr this be, (here never were yet
Seven letlers of the alphnbet,
Tha', 'tw,xl ihem, form d sn grim a spell
Or sc.r'd a Land of Gulls so well.
As did this av^ful riddle-me-ree
Of T. H. E. D. E. B. T.
Hark !— it is struggling Freedom's cry
*' Help, help, yc nations, or 1 die;
" * i is Freedom's fight, and, on the field
'* Where 1 expire, your doom is seal'd."
The Gull-King hears the awakening call,
He ha!h summonM his Peers and Patriots all,
And he asks. '■ Ye noble Gulls, shall we
" Stand basely by at the fall of the Free,
*' Nor utter a curse, nor deal a blow ?"
And they answer, with voice of thunder, " No.
Out fly their flashing swords in the air ! —
But. — why do they rest susjiended there?
What sudden blight, what baleful charm,
Hath chill'd each eye, and check'd each arm?
Alas 1 some withering hand hafh thrown
The veil from off that fatal s'oie,
And pointing now. with sapless finger,
t-howeth where dark those letters linger,—
Letters four, and letters Ihiee,
T. H. E. D. E. B. T.
At sight thereof, each lifted brand
Powerless falK frrim every hand ;
In vain the Patriot knits his brow,—
Even talk, his staple, fails him now.
In vain 'he King like a hern treads,
His Lords of the Treasury shake their heads:
And to all his talk of " brave and free,"
No answer getteth his M nesty
But*'T. H. E. D. E.B. T."
In shnrt, the whole Gull nation feels
1 bey Ve fairly spell-bound, neck and heels;
And so, in the face of the laugliiiig world,
Musi e'en sit down, with banntr.i furi'd.
Adjourning all their dreams sublime
Of glory and war tu — some other time.
NOTIONS ON REFORM.
BY A MODERN REFORMER.
Of all the misfortunes as yef brought to pass
By this comei-like Bill, with its long tail of speecUs,
The saddes' and worst is the schism which, alas!
1( h^s cau'-ed betweeo W — th — r— !'s waisicoat and
breeches.
Some symptoms of this Anti-Union propensity
Had oft broken out in tha' quarter before ;
But the breach, since the Bill, has attain'd such im-
mensity.
Daniel himself could have scarce wish'd it more.
Oh ! hasfc to repair it, ye friends of good order,
Ye Atw— ds and W— iins, ere the moment i^ past ;
Who can doubt that we tiead upon Anarchy's border,
When the lies that should hold men are loosening
so fast ?
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
421
AfoAi W— Ih— r— I yield to "some sort of Reform"
(As A'e alt must, God help us! with very wry
nces) ;
And loud as he likes let him bluster and storm
About Corporate Rights, so he'll only wear braces.
Should tho-e he now sports have been long in posses-
sion,
And, like his own boroue:h, the worse for the wear,
Advise him, at least, as a prudent conce^sioa
To iDtellecl's progress, to buy a new pair.
Oh ! who thai e^er saw him, when vocal he stmds,
With a lonk something midway 'twixl filch'sand
While slill, to inspire him, his deeply-thrust hands
Keep jingling the rhino in both breeches-pockets —
Who that ever haslisten'd, through groan and through
cough,
To the speeches inspired by this music of pence, —
But must grieve that there's anything like/a//i»^ off
In >hat great nether source t<f his wit and his sense }
Who that knows how be lookM when, with grace
debonair,
He began (ir^t to court— rather la'e in the season—
Or when, less f.4slidious, he s.it in the chair
or his old friend, the NoiiiDgbam Goddess of Rea-
son;^
That Goddess, whose borough-like virtue allracfed
All mongers in both wares to proif'er their love;
Whose chair like the stool of the Fythontss acted,
As W— th — r — I's rants, ever since, go to provej*
iVho, in short, would not grieve, if a man of his graces
Should go on rejecting, unwamM bv the past,
The '*n.oderate Refjim' of a nair of new hr.cea,
Till, some day,— he'll all fall to pieces at last.
TORY PLEDGES.
I pledge myself through thick and thii
To labour still, wi h zeal devout,
To get the Outs, poor devils, in,
And (urn the Ins, the wretches, out.
I pledge myself, though much bereft
Of ways and means of ruling ill,
To make the nmst of wh.it j
And stick to all that^ ruti
lie let!
en still.
Though gone the days of place and pelf.
And drones no more 'ake all the honey,
I pledge myself to cram myself
With all 1 can of public uiouey.
To quarter oo that social purse
My nephews, nieces, sisters, brothers,
Nor, so we [Tospei, ere a curse
How much I is at the' expense of others.
I pledge myself, whenever Right
And Might on any point divide.
Not to :*-k winch is black or u hite.
But lake, at once, the sirongeit side.
i It will be recollected tint the learned gentleman
himself boAsteit, one mght, in the Mouse of fomninns,
of having sat in rhe very chair which Ihis allegorical
lady had occi'pied.
^ Lucan's description of the etlects of the tripod nn
the appe.raiice and voice of the sitter shows that the
symplums are, at least, very similar :
Spumea luoc priinum rabii-s vesaiia per ora
£niuit
tunc mut-HtuN vudtm iilulatuti in enlris.
' 36 "
For instince, in nil Tithe discussion!',
I 'ni fur the Kfverend encn.achers : —
1 loathe the Toles, applaud the Russian^-, —
Am for the Squires, against the ^oacfaen.
Betwixt the Corn-Lords and the Poor
1 've not the iligtitC't hesitation, —
The People must be starv'd, I' insure
'i he Land iis due reniuneiation.
I pledge myself to be no more
Willi Ireland's wronjjs bepros'd or shaiDUiM }
1 vote her grievances a bore.
So she may sutler, and be d d.
Or if she kick, let it console ns,
We slill h.ive plenty of red coats,
To cram the Churcli, ihat general bolus,
Uowii any giv'u amount of throats.
I dearly love the Frankfort Diet, —
'I'hiiik newspapeis Ihe worst of crimes
And would, to give some chance of quiet,
Hang all the writers of The Times;
Break all their correspondents' bones,
All aulhors of " Keply," •' Kcjoinder,"'
From the Anti lory, Colonel J— es.
To the Anti-buttee, Mi, 1*— ynd— r.
Such are the Pledges I propose;
And though i can't now i.lfergold,
There 's many a wjy of buying those
Who've bul the taste for'beingsold.
So here 's, with three times three hurrahs,
A toast, of which you'll no: complain, —
"Lon^ life to jobbing ; may ihe days
*' Ut Peculation shine again 1"
ST. JEROME ON EARTH.
riRST VISIT.
1S32.
As St. Jerome, who died some ages ago,
Was sitting, cue day, in the shade* below,
" I've heard niucti of Knjlish bishops," qu'ilh he,
"And shall now take a tiip to eirih. to sue
" How far they ajree, in Iheir lives and ways,
" With our good old bishops of ancient days."
He had learn'd — but learn'd without misgivings —
Their love for good living, and eke good livings:
Nol knowing (as ne'er having taken degrees)
That go.iil lioing means claret and friossees,
While its plural means simply — pluralities.
" Fiom all i he.ir," said the innocent man,
" They are quite on ihe good old primitive plan.
"F.T wealth and pomp they litlle can care,
"As they WI say • A'o' to ihe' Episcopal chair:
"And Iheir ve> at viilue it well deuoles
"'ihat they all, good men, wear petticoats."
Thus saying, post-haste to earth he hurries,
And knocks at the' Archbishop of Canierbury's.
'1 he d'inr was oped by a lackey in lace,
Sn^ing, " Wliai 's your busmes* wilh his Grace ?•
•• His Grace :'' quoth Jerome — for posed was he,
N •! knowing what sort Ihis Grace cnuld be;
Whether Gr.ice prcfeiitini;. Giace fiartiCHlar,
Grace ni that breed called Quinquarticular 3 —
in short, he rummag'd his holy mind.
The' exact description of Grace to lind.
3 So called from the proceedings of iba Synod of
Dort.
422
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Which I lus could represented be
By a footman in full livery.
At last, out loud in a laugh he broke,
(For dearly ihe good saint lov'd his joke) »
And said — surveying, as sly lie spoke,
The costly palace' fr'in roof to base —
*' Well, it isnM, at lea&t, a saving Grace !"
*' Umph I" said the lackey, a man of few words,
*'Th' Archbishop is gone to the H<:use of Lords.'
"To the House of the Lord, you mean, my son,
**For, in my time, at least, there was but one;
"Unless such maiiy-/o/d priests as these
**Seek, ev'n in their Lord, pluralities I" i
" No time for gab," quoth the man in lace :
Then, slamming the door in St. Jerome's face,
With a curse to the single knockers all.
Went to finish his port in the servants' hall,
And propose a toasi {humanely meint
To include even Curates in its extent)
*' To all as serves the' Establishment.*
ST. JEROME ON EARTH.
SECOND VISXT,
"This much I dare say, that, since lording and loitering
halh come up, iireaching hath come down, tonlrary lo
the Apoallea* limes. For Ihcy prt-ached and Iorde<!
not: and now they lord and prt^arh not Kver
eincc the Prelates were made Lords and Nobles, the
plough standeth ; Iher*- i« i»o work done, the people
eiarve." — Latimer, Sermon of the Plough.
" Once more," said Jerome, " I '11 run up and see
How the Church goes on," — and otT set he.
Just then the pacbei-boat, which trades
Betwixt our planet and ihe shades,
Had arrived below, with a freight so queer,
" My eyt-s!" said Jerome, " ivhal have wehere?"—
For he saw, when nearer he expIor'J,
They 'd a cargo of Bishops' wigs aboard.
*' They are ghosts of wigs," said Ch:iron, " all,
*'Once worn by nobs Episcnpal.3
•' For folks on earth, who've got a store
"Of cast-otf things they'll want no more,
^'Oft send rhem d-nvn, as gifts, you know,
*' To a certain Gentleman here below."
•' A sign of the times, I plainly see,"
Said the Saint to himself as, pondering, he
Sail'd off m the deUh-boal gallantly.
"ArrivM on earth." quo'h he, *' No more
"I'll affect a body, as befo.e ;
*' For I think I *d best, in the company
"Of Spiritual Lords, a spirit be,
'* And slide, unseen, from See to See."
Bnt oh ! to rell whai scenes he saw,—
It was more than Rabelais' pen could draw.
For instance, he found Ex— t-r.
Soul, body, inkstand, all in a stir,—
For love of God ? for sake of King?
For good of people ?— no such thing;
Rut to get fnr himself, by some new iripfc,
A shove to a belter bishopnck.
He found that pious soul. Van M— Id — L
Much wiih his money-bags bewilderllj
Snubbing ihe Clerks of the Diocess,*
Because the rogues show'd restlessness
At having too little cash to touch,
While he so Clirislianly bears too much.
He found old Saruin's wiis as gone
As Ins own beloved text in John, & —
Text he hath piosed so long upon.
That 't is thought when ask 'd, at the gate of heaveft^
His name, he'll answer "John, v. 7. *
*' But enough of Bishops 1 've had to-day,**
Said the weary Saint, — " 1 must away.
" 'I lioutih I own I shonid like, before I go,
•' To see fur nnce (as I 'm ask'd below
" If really such ndd sigh:s exist)
"A regnl.ir six-fold Pluralist."
Just then he heard a general cry —
*' There 's Doctor Hodgson galloping by !"
" Av, that 's the man," savs the Saini, " to follow,*
And off he sets, with a loud view-hollo,
At Hodgson's heels, to caich, if he can,
A glim(-se of this singular plural n.,.n.
But,— talk of Sir Boyle Roche's bird ! 8
To compare him "ilh Hodgsoti is absurd.
*' Which way, sir, pray, is the doctnr gonef* —
*' He is now at his living at Hillingdon." —
** No. no, — you 're out, by niany a mile,
" He's away at his Deanery, in Carlisle.'* —
" Pardon me, sir; but I understand
*' He's gnne to his living in Cumberland."
*' God ble^s me, no, — he can'l be there ;
**Vou must try St. George's, Hanover Square."
Thus all in vain Ihe Saint inquir'd.
From living lo living, mock'd and tir'd ; —
'Twas Hodgson here, 'twas Hodgson there,
''I' was Hodgson nowhere, everywhere;
Till, fairly beat, the Saint gave o'er,
And flitted away to the Stygian shore.
To astonish the natives under ground
With the comical things he on earth had founJ.
THOUGHTS ON TAR BARRELS.
(Firfe Description of a late Ftle.i)
1832.
What a pleasing contrivance ! how aptly devisM
*Twixt tar and magnolias to puzzle one's noses !
And how Ihe tar-barrels must all be surpris'd
To find themselves seated like "Love among
roses I"
What a pity we can't, by precautions IJke these,
Clear the air of that other still viler infection ;
That radical pest, that old whiggish disease.
Of which cases, true-blue, are in every directioD.
Stead of barrels, let's light up an Auto da Fe
Of a few gofd combustible Lords of " thL- Cl-ib :**
They would fume, in a trice, the Whigchol n awav.
And there's B— cky would burn like a barrel of
bub.
1 Witness his well known pun on the name of his
adversary Vigilantius, whom he calls facetiously Dor-
mit.tntius.
2 The suspicion attached to «ome of the early
Fathers of being Arian-^ in their doctrine would ap-
pear to derive some conhrmation from this pas^age.
3 The wig, which had so lon^ formed an essential
part of tho dress of an English bishop, was at this
time beginning to be dispensed with.
4 See the Bisbop's Le ter to Clergy of hi^ Docese.
I 1 Jnhi', V. 7. A text which, though long given
up by all the res' of the orthodox world, is >till perti-
naciously r^dhered to by Ibis Right Reverend >chu|ar.
6 It was a saying of the well-known Sir Boyle, that
*' a man could not be in two places at once, unless he
was a bird."
1 The M 8 of H— tf— d's Fete. — From dread of
cholera his Lordship had ordered tar-barreli lo be
burned in every direction.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
423
How R— d— n would blaze ! and what rubbish Ihrow
oul !
A volcano of nonsense, in active display ;
While V— ne, as a bull, amidst laughter, would spout
The hoi nolhings he's full of, all night aud all day.
And then, for a finish, there's C— nib-d's Duke,—
Good Lord, how his chjn-luft would crackle iu air!
Unless (as is sh>«wdly surmised from his look)
Ue's already oespoke for coutbuslion elsewhere.
THE CONSULTATION.'
"When tlieyifoi
Scene diKooer) Dr. Whig and Dr. Tory in consuUa
tion. Patient on the floor betuxcn them.
Dr. WAiff. -
This wild Irish patient does pester
curst if I know.
That what to do with him, I
1 've promised hiui anodynes
Dr.Tu)-u. Anodynes!— Stuff".
Tie him down — gag him well — he'll be tranquil
enough.
That 's jny'iuode of practice.
Dr IVhi^. True, quile in your line,
fiul unluckilv not much, till lately, in mine.
'T is so painful
Dr. Jury. — Pooh, nonsense— ask Ude how he feels,
Kpicure feasts, he prepares his I"
By (Imsi
And Iclliiii! ihcm
He, loo, ^avs " 't
bleeJ"—
But "your eels a
lie would faiu
• No,''
'ixt the bars of the fire,
wriggle on there lill they lire.
i painful" — '*quile makes his
■e a vile, oleaginous breed." —
i=e them gently, but Cook'ry says
Which you help'd me to make for my pal!<nt lail
year, —
[Goes to a aipboard and li ings out a
strait'Waiitcoat and gag.
And such rest I 've enjoy 'd from his raving, since then.
Thai 1 've made up mv mind he shall wear il again.
Dr. Tory (niihracing Aim). — Oh, charming! —
My dear Uoclor Whig, you 're a treasure.
Next to torluring, myself, to help you is a pleasure.
IMssisting Dr. Whig.
Give me leave — I've some practice in these mad
machines j
There— lighter— Ihe gag in the mouth, by all means.
Delightful ! — all's snug— not a squeak need you
fear, —
Vou may now pul your anodynes off' lill next year.
[i'tCHC ctec*.
TO THE HEV. CH-RL-S OV— RT— N,
CURATE OF KOMAI.DKIBK.
AUTHOR OF THE POETICAL PORTRAITURE
OF THE CHURCH.'
1833.
Sweet singer of Romaldkirk, thou who art reckou'd,
By criiics Episcopal, DsviJ the Second,*
If thus, as a Curale, so lofly your flight,
Only think, in a Rectory, how you would write!
Once fairly inspir'd by Ihe " 1 ilhe-crown'd Apollo,"
(Who beats, I confess it, our (ay Pha:bus hollow.
Having gotien, besides Ihe old Nine's inspiration,
The Tenth of all ealible things in creation,)
There's nothing, in fact, that a poet like you,
So be-nined and be-IenlA'd, couldn't easily do.
And— in short — eels were bom to be treated just so.*
'T IS the same with these Irish,— who 're odder fish
still,—
Your lender Whig heart shrinks from using them ill ;
1, myself, in my youlh, ere ! cime lo get wise,
t'sed, at some nperations, lo blush to Ihe eyes; —
But, in fact, my dear brulher,— if I mav make bold
To style you, as I'eachum did Lockil, of old,—
We, Donors, must acl with Ihe lirmness of Ude,
And, indifferent like him,— so Ihe fish is but slew'd,—
Must toiture live Pats for Ihe geniral good.
[Here patient groans and kicks a little.
Dr. Whig.— But what, if one's patient's so devilish
perverse,
That he tco'ji'I be thus torlur'd ?
Dr. Tory. Coerce, sir, coerce.
Vou 're a jnv'nile performer, hut once you begin.
You can't think how fast you may train your hand in:
And (smifing) who knows but old Tory may lake to
the shelf,
Wilh the comforting thought that, in place and la
peir.
He 's succeeded by one just as— bad as himself.'
i)r. Whig Hooking flattered). — Why, to tell vou
the tru h, 1 've a small matter here,
Round the lips of the sweet-tongued Athenian ' they
say.
While jet but a babe in his cradle he lay.
Wild honey-bees swarni'd, as a presage (o tell
Of the sweel-llovving words Ihat Ihence afterwards
fell.
Just so round our Ov — rt— n's cradle, no doubt,
Tenlh ducklings and chicks were seen flilling about;
Goose eiiibiyos, w,iiliiig Iheir dooni'd decimation,
Came, shadowing forth bis adult deslination.
And small, sucking tithe-pigs, in musical droves,
Announc'd Ihe Church poet whom Chester approves.
0 Horace ! when thou, in thy vision of yore.
Didst dream that a snowy-while plumage came o'er
'Ihy elherealis'd limbs, stealing downily on,
Till, by Fancy's strong spell, thou wert turn'd to a
swan,6
Liitle thought 'st thou such fate could a poet befall,
Wiihoul any effort of fancy, at all ;
Little thoiight'st thou the world would In Ov— rt— n
find
A bird, re.idy-made, somewhat different in kind.
But as peifecl as Michaelmas' self could produce.
By gods yclept anser, by mortals a goose.
some others, Ihat follow
1 me by th.l lamciilabl
itry, Ihe Irish Coerciu
I 1 hese verses, as well ns
(p. A2e ) were extorted fnii
measure of the Whig niin
A:l.
ti This eminent artist, in the second edi ion of Ihe
work «lureiii he projiouiids this mode of [mrifying
IT'S eels, professes himself much cnnceriied at the
charge .if inhiioianily brought against his practice,
but still liegs leive respectfully lo repeat that il w the
only proper mode of prejiaring eels for the table.
s See Edinburgh Review, No. 117.
<'*Vour Lordship," savs Mr. Ov — rt — n, in the
Dedication of his P.em to the Bishop of Chester,
'* has kindly expressed your persu.ision that my
'Muse will always be a Muse of sacred song, and
that t( will be tuned as David's was.' "
1 Sophocic
album mutor in alilem
Superne: nascunlurque laeves
Per digitus, humerosque plumx.
45M
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
SCENE FROM A PLAY, ACTED AT OXFORD,
CALLED "MATRICULATION."!
1834.
[Boy discovered at a tah?f, wilh the Thirty-Nine Arlicli
before hitn.— Enter the Rt. Kev. D.tftor Ph— Up— ta.]
Doctor P. — There, my lad, lie the Articles — C5oy
Lefcins to count them) just thirty-nine —
No occasion to cnuni — you ve now only to st^n.
At Cambridge, where folks are less High-church than
we,
The whole NIne-and-Thirty are lump'd into Three.
Let 's run o'er the items ; — ihere 'a Justificaiion,
Predestinilion, and Supererogalinn, —
Not forgettiii? Salvation and Cretd Athanasian,
Till we reach, at last, Queen Bess's Ratification.
That's sidficient — now, sign — having read quite
enough,
You *' believe in the full and true meanin* thereof?"
{Boy stares.)
Oh, a mere form of words, to make ibinga smooth and
brief.-
A commodious and short make-believe of belief,
Which our Church his drawn up, in a form thus
arhcular.
To ket-p nut, in eeneral, all who 're particular.
But what's Ihe boy doing? what! rending all through.
And my lunched fast cooling I — this never will do.
Boy ipO)-in^ over the Articles.) — Here are poinls
w hich — pray, Doctor, what 'b " Grace of Con-
g:u.ty?"
Doctor P. {sharply),— Yon '\\ find out, young sir,
\vhen ynu 've more ingenuity.
At present, by signing, you pledge yourself merely,
VVJiate'er it may be, to btlieve it sincerely.
Both in dining and signing we lake the same plan, —
First, swallow all down, then digest — as we cm.
Boy {still reading).— I 've to gulp, I see, St. Atha-
nasius's Creed,
VVTiich, [ 'm told, is a very tough morsel. Indeed :
As he damns
Dodur P. {aside).— Ay, and so would /, willingly,
too,
AM confoutided p:irticular young boobies, like ynu.
This comes of Reformina^ I— all 's o'er with our land,
When people woVt stand what ihey cau'l wider'
stand ;
Nor perceive that our ever-rever'd Thirty-Nine
Were made, not for men to believe, but to sign.
[Exit Dr. P. in a passion.
LATE TITHE CASE.
I'TheVii
r of B— rati — m dei
eof Itie passing of i
. .impi^lled to adopt
isidered harsti or p
IP to etnte that, i
1 Act of Parliam.
ich may by i
consKlered narsti or pn-npitate ; bur, in dvty to what .
ewes to his succci>$nrs, he feeh bound lo preserve tl
rights of the vic^tase."— Letter from Mr. S. Powe
August 6.
No, 710/ for yourselves, ye reverend men,
Do vou t'ke one pig In every ten,
Butfnr Holy Church's future heirs.
Who've an abstract right to that pig, as theirs ;■
t " It appears that when a vouth of fifteen goes to
be matriculated at Oxf >nl, and is required first tn <,ul)-
scribe Thirty-Nine Articles of Religious Belief, this
only means thai he engnfites liini'^elf afterward-* to un-
derstand what is now above his comprehension ; that
he expresses no assent ,.t nil lo what he signs; and
that he is (or, ought m be) at full liberty, when he has
studied the subject, to withdraw his provisional as-
weuU'*— Edinburgh Review, No. 120.
The law supposing that such heirs male
Aie alredy ^eised o( the pig, in tail.
No, 710/ for himself haih B— n.h— u.'s priest
His "well-belnvM"of their pennies fleec'd
But it is that, before his prescient e\es,
All future Vicars of B— mh-m rise,
With their embryo danghfeis, nephews, nieces,
And 'I is for them llie poor he fleeces.
He heareih their voices, ages hence,
Saying, "Take Ihe pig"— "oh take the nence,*
The cries of litlle Vicarial dears.
The unborn B — mh — mites, reaoli his ears;
And, drd he resist th-it soft appeal,
He would not like a true-born Vicar feel.
Thou, too, L— ntly of L— ck— ngl— nl
A Rector true, if e'er there was one,
Who, for the sake of the L— ndies of coming ages,
Gripeil the tenths of labouiers' wages.'^
'Tis true, in the pockets oFlhy small-clothes
The claint'd "obven'ion"3 of four-pence goes^
But its abstract spirit, unconfin'd,
Spreads to all future Rector-kind,
Warning them all to Iheir nghrs to wake,
Atid rather to face the block, Ihe stake,
Than give up Iheir darling i\s,httotake.
One grain of musk, it is siid, perfumes
(Ho subtle iis 'pirit) a thousand room«.
And a single four-pf-nce, pocketed well.
Through a thousand rectors' lives \vill tell.
Then still coniiriue, ye reverend souls,
And still as your rich Pactolus rolls,
Grasp every penny on every side,
Fmm every wretch, to swell its IJde:
Reniembering still what the Law lays down,
In Iha' pure poetic s'yie of its own,
*' If Ihe parson tit esse submits tn loss, he
*'luliicts the same on the parson in •posse.''*
FOOLS' PARADISE,
DREAM THE FIRST.
I have been, like Puck, I h^ve been, in a trice.
To a realm 'hey call Fools' Paradise,
Lying N.N.E. of the Land of Sense.
And seldom bless'd with a glimmer thence.
But they want it not in this happy place,
Where a light of its own gilds every face j
Or, if some wear a shadowy brow,
*T is the wish to look wise.— not knowing how.
Self-glory glistens o'er all that's there,
The trees, the flowers have a jaunty air;
The well-bied wind in a whisper blows,
The snow, if it stjows, is cotdsur de rose.
The falling founts in a titier fall.
And the sun looks sinipering down on all.
Oh, 't isn't in tongue or pen to trace
The scenes I saw in that joyous place.
There were Lords and Ladies sitting together,
In converse sweet, " What charming weather !—
" You 'H all rejoice to hear. I 'm sure,
" I>ord Charles has got a good sinecure;
" And the Premier says, my youngest brother
" (Him in Ihe Guards) shall have another.
2 Fourteen agrlcuUural l.ibourers {one of whom re-
ceived so little as six guineas for yenly wage«, one
eight, one nine, another fen euitie.TS, and the best paid
of the wh'>le not more than IS/, ann-iallr) "ere all, in
the course of the au'umn of 1S32, served with demands
of tithe at the rate nf -id. in the 1/ sterling, f'n behalf
of the Rev. F. L-dy, Rector of, &c. &.c.—The Times,
August, 1S33.
3 One of the various general terms under w Inch ob*
latious, tithes, Sic. arc compromised.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
425
** Isn't thb very, very gallaul ! —
" As for my poor olJ virgin aunt,
*' Who has lost her all, poor Ihiiie:, at whist,
" We must quarter her on the Pension List."
Thus siiioolhly lime in that Etieii roil'd;
It seent'd like an Age of real ^"M,
Where all who liked mieh( have a slice>
So rich was that Fouls' Paradise.
But the sport at which most lime they spent,
Was a piippet-shuw, call'd i'arliaiiieul,
Perlbrni'd by wooden Ciceros,
As large as life, who rose to prose,
While, hid behind them, lords and squires,
Whoown'd the puppets, puli'd ttie wires;
And thought it the very best device
l)f that most prosperous Paradise,
To make the vulgar pay ihrni,gh the nose
For I hem and their wooden Ciceros.
And many more such things I saw
InthisEdenofChuich, a.idS'aie, and Uwj
Nor e'er were known such pleasant folk
As those who had the best of Ihe joke.
There were Irish Rfctors, such as resort
To Cheltenham yearly, lo diink— port.
And buuiper, *' Long may the Church endure,
May her cure of souls be a sinecure,
And a scoie of Parsons to every soul
A mod'rate allowance on the whole."
There were Heads of Colleges, lyitJg about,
From which the sense had all run out,
Ev'n lo ihe lowesi classic lees,
Till nothing was telt but quantities;
Which made them heads most fit to be
S'uck upon a University,
Which yeirly hatches, in ilii schools,
Such flights of young Elysiau fuols.
Thus all went on, so snug and nice,
In this happiest possible Paradise.
Bui plain it was o see, alas !
T hal a downfall soon must come to pass.
For grief is a lot the good and wise
Don't quite so much monopolise;
But that ("lapt in Elysium" as they are)
Even blessed fools must have their share.
And so it happen'd : — but what befell,
In Dream the Secund I mean to tell.
THE RECTOR AND HIS CURATE;
OR, ONE rOIiND TWO.
• I trust we Bhall purl, m we have met. In peace and cha-
rity. My last pnymeul 1 - yuu paid ynur salary up to tlie
l8t ofthis mouth. Since Hint, I nwe you Tor one month,
which, btiug u long nifnith, of thirly-one duys, amouiits
airulate. lo bix pnuDils eiaht ehillinga.
My I
nrd 1
<rn pounits ten j
18 a ilcbl'
/ur cun-acre gr„und, whii-h
Icavca aome inriiiig lialance in my favour." — Letter of
Dismissal from the. Rev. Marcut Bcret-ford to hit Cu-
rate, the Rev, T. A. Lyon»,
The account is balanced — Ihe bill drawn out,
The debit and credit all righf, n > doiilti _
The Rector, rolling in wealth and stale,
Owe^ to his Curate six pound eisjM ;
The Curate, that least well-fed of men,
Owes to hiii Rector seven pound ten.
Which makKth the hilance cItMrlv due
From Curate to Rector, one jiound two.
Ah balance, on earth unfair, uneven !
But sure to be all set right in li^ven,
Where hills like these will be check'd. some day.
And the balance settled the other w.iy ;
Where Lyons the curate's hard-wrung sum
Will back to his shade with interest come.
And Marcus, the rector, deep may rue
This tot, in his tavour, of oue pound two.
PADDY'S METAMORPHOSIS.*
1833.
About fifty years since, in the days of our daddies,
That plan was couimeuced which the wise DOW
applaud.
Of shipping otl' Ireland's most turbulent Paddiea,
As good raw material tot settlers y abroad.
And such the success the first colony met,
That a second, soon after, set sail o'er th' Atlantic,
Behold them now safe at the long-look'd-for shore,
Sailing in between banks that the Shannon might
greet,
And thinking of friends whom, hut two years before,
They had sorrow'd to lose, but would soon again
And, haik! from the shore a glad welcome there
*'Arrah, Paddy from Cork, is it you, my sweet
boy ?''
While Pat stood astounded, to hear Iiis own name
Thus haii'd by black devils, wlio caper'd for joy \
Can it possibly be ?— half amazement — half doubt,
Pat listens again — rubs liis evfs and looks sleafly j
Then heaves a deep sigh, and in horror yells out,
"Good Lord I only think,— black and curly
already !"
Deceiv'd by that well-mimick'd brogue in his ears,
Pat read his own doom in these HOol-hesded figures,
And thought, what a climate, in less than two years,
To tut u a whole cargo of Pats into niggers 1
MORAL.
'T is thus, — but alas ! by a marvel more true
Than is told in this rival of Ovid's best storii
Your Whigs, when in oftice a short year or tw
By a luaus naturiBj all turn into Tories,
And Ihus, when I hear them "strong
advise,
Ere the seals that they sit on have time lo get
steady,
I say, whjle I listen, with tears in my eyes,
" Good Lord i only think, — black and curly a]
ready !**
COCKER, ON CHURCH REFORM.
FOtmOED UPON SOME LATE CALCULA-
TIONS,
1833.
Fine fizures of speech lef ynur orators follow.
Old Cocker has figures that beat them all hollow.
1 I have already, in a preceding page, referred lo
this squib, as being one of those wrung tn'oi me by
the Irish Coercion Act of my friends, Ihe Whigs.
36*
'126
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Thoujfh famed for his rules Aristotle may be,
In bvi( kalf of this Sa?e any merit I see.
For, 3s houest Joe Hume sa}9, the **(o((?e"i for me !
For instance, while others discuss and debate,
i( is thus about Bishops / r.itiucioate.
In England, where, spite of the infidel's laughter,
'T is ctrlain cur souls are iitok'd viry well atier,
Two Hishops cm uell (if judiciously sunder'd)
Of parishes manage two Ihuusaid two hundred, —
Said number tjf paiiilies, under said tt-acheis,
Containing three niilhnnsof Prnte&tant creatures, —
S>i th:it each of said Bishops full ably cr.nirola
One million and five hundred thousands of souls.
And now ernes old Cocker. In Ireland we 're told,
Half a million include^ ihe wh -le Froles'anf Md ;
If, therefore, for three million snuls, 't is conceded
Two proper-sized Biahi'ps are all that is needed.
»T is plain, for the Irish half million who want 'em,
One third of one Bishnp js jusi the right quantum.
And thus, by old Cocker's subhme Rule of Three,
The Irish Church question's resoI\M lo a T ;
Keeping always that uxct-lleni maxim in view,
'i'hat, m saving men's suuls, we must save money too.
Nay, if — as, St. Roden complains is the case —
'i'he half million of soul Is decreasing apace,
The demand, t-.o, for bishop will also fall ofl'.
'I ill the tithe^'i one, taken in kind, be enough.
But, as fracljoiis imply that we'd have to dissect.
And to cutting up Bi^hnps I srrongly object.
We've a small, fraciious prelate whom well we could
sp.i
Who has just the same decimal worth, to a hair;
And, not to lea\e Ireland too much in the lurch,
We II let her have Ex — t— r, solCy^ as her Chmch.
LES HOMMES AUTOMATES.
1834.
II not
'We are persuaded that this ourorlificial
only walk and sjieak, and perrorm mnst of ihe fun.
of nniinal life, but (bfiug wound up once a week) wil
perhaps reason a« well as mnst of your country pareona.'
•^Memoirs vf Marttnua ScnbUrus, ttjap. xii.
It being an object now to meet
With Farsotis that don't want to eit,
Fit men to fill those Irish rectories,
Which soon will have but scant refectories,
It his been suggested,— le^t that Church
Should, all at "iice, be left in the lurch,
For want of reverend men endued
With this gift of ne'er requiring f.od,—
To try, by way < f experinient, whether
There couldn'l be made, of wood and leather,3
(Howc'er the notion may sound chimerical,)
Jointed figures, not lay,* but clerical,
Which, wound up carefully once a week,
Might just like parsons lonk and speak,
N^y even, if requisite, reason too,
As well as most insh parson^ do.
The' experiment hiving succeeded quite,
(Whereat those Lords must much delight.
Who've shown, by stopping the Church's food,
They think il isn't for her spiritual good
To be serv'd by pardons of Hesh and biood.)
* The total,— so pronounced by this industrious
2 Corporation sole.
3 The materials of which those Nuremberg Savans,
mentioned by Scriblerus, construc'ed their aitificial
man.
* The wooden models used by palnti.rs are, it is
well known, called "lay figures."
The Patentees of this new inventioa
Beg leave re-pec'fully to mention,
They now are enabled to produce
An ample supi)ly, f->r present use,
Of these reverend pieces of machinery,
Ready fOr vicarage, rect'ry, deanery.
Or any such like po t of s'kll
That wood and leather are tit to fill,
N.B. — In places addicted to arson.
We can't recinmiend a wooden parson
But, If the Church any such appoints.
They 'd better, at least, have iron joints.
In parts, not much by Pro esfanis haunted,
A figure to look at 's all that 's wanted —
A block in l>lack, to eat and !^!eep,
Which (now that the eating's o'er) comes cheap.
P. S, — Should the Lords, by way of a treat,
Permit the clergy again to eat.
The Church will, of cnurse, no longer need
Imitation parsons that never feed ;
And these tvood creatures of ours will sell
Fur secular purposes just as well —
Our Beresfords, turu'd to bludge<»ns stout,
May, 'stead of beating theii own about.
Be knocking the braiiis of Papists out ;
While our smooth O'SuIlivans. by all means,
Should traijsniigr^te into (urjimg- machines.
HOW TO MAKE ONE'S SELF A PEER.
ACCORDING TO THE NEWEST RECEIPT,
AS DISCLOSED IN A LATE HERALDIC
WORK.*
1834.
Choose some title that 's dormant — the Peerage hath
many —
Lord Baron of Shamdos sounds nobly as any.
Next, catch a dead cousin of said defunct Peer,
And marry him, oH'-hand, in ^ome given year,
To the daughter of somebody,— no matter who,—
fig, the grocer hinuself, if y.u're hard run, will do;
For, the Medici pUh slill in heraldry leJI,
And why shouldr.'t lollyp- -ps qua.rfer a.s well?
Thus, having your couple, and one a lord's cousin,
Young materials for peers may be had by the dozen ;
And M is hard if, inveiitiug each small mother's bod
You can't somehow manage to prove yourself one
of 'em.
Should registers, deeds, and such matters refractory,
Siand in the way of this lord-manufactory,
I »ve merely to hint, as a secret auricular.
One grand rule of enterprise,— dotiH be particular.
A man wiio once t^tkes such a jump at nobility.
Must 710^ mince the matter, like folks of nihility,^
But clear thick and thin with true lordly agility,
'T is true, to a would-be descendant from Kings,
parish-registers sftmetimes are trouldesonie things;
As oft. when the vision is near brought about,
Some goblin, in shape of a grocer, grins out ;
Or srune barber, peihaps, with my Lord mingles
bloods.
And one's patent of peerage is left
But I here are ■
lords -
Ofexpurginge*
the suds.
■ when folks are resolv'd (o be
blesome parish records.
» Tlie claim to the baronv of Chandos (if I recol-
lect righl) advanced by the late Sir Eg— r— t— D
; call pure nihility, cr mere nothing."^
H^atts's Logic.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
427
What think ye of scissors? depend on't no heir
Of a Shanidos should go unsupplied wi'h a pair.
As, whate'er else the Icinrd in such lore may invent,
Tour scissors does wonders in proving descent.
Yes, poels may sitjg of those terrible shears
With wtiich Atropos snips o& t>oih bumpkins and
But they 're nought to that weapon which shines in
the hands
Of some would-be Patrician, when proudly he stands
O'er the careless churchwarden's bap'ismal array,
And sweeps at each cut generations away.
By some babe of old times is his peerage resisted ?
One snip, — and the urchin hath neuer exis'ed !
Does some marriage, in days near the Flood, in-
teifere
With his one sublime object of being a Peer?
Quick the stiears at once nullity bridegroom and
bride,—
No such people have ever liv'd, married, or died I
swest receipt for those high-minded elves,
fancy fur making great lords of theni-
Follow this, young aspirer, who pant'st for a peer-
age,
Take S— in for thy model and B — z for thy steerage.
Do all and much worse than nid Nicholas Flam does.
And — wko knows but you'll be Lord Baron of
Shanidos?
THE DUKE 18 THE LAD.
ilir. — " A master 1 have, and I am his man,
Oallu|)iog dreary dun."
Ca»((« of Andaluti,
The Duke is the lad to frishlen a lass,
Gatlnping, dreaiy duke ;
The Duke is the lad to frighten a lass.
He's an "gre tn nieel, and the d — 1 to pass,
With his charger pranciug,
Grim eye glancing.
Chin, like a Mufli,
Grizzled and tufly.
Galloping, dreary Duke.
Ye snisses, beware of the neighbourhood
Of this galloping, dreary Duke;
Avoid him, all who see no good
Id being run o'er by a Prince of the Blood.
For, surely, no nymph is
Fond of a grim phiz.
And of the mariied,
Whole crowds have miscarried
At sight of this dreary Duke,
EPISTLE FROM ERASMUS ON EARTH TO
CICERO IN THE SHADES.
Southampton.
As 'tis now, my dear Tully, some weeks since 1
stalled
By rait-rnad, for earth, having vowed, ere we parted
To drnp vnu J line, l.y the Dind-Litli-r \i'k\
Just to say hnw 1 ihiive, in my new line of ghost.
And how deucedly odd ills l.vc world all appeari.
To a man who 's been dead now for three hundred
yean,
I take up my pen, and, with news of this ear'h,
Hope to wikeu, by turns, bo li your spleen and your
mirth.
In my way to these shores, taking Italy first.
Lest the change frnni Elysium too sudden should barfCj
I forg .t not lo visit those h.Tuiits where, of yore,
You look lessons from Pietus in cookeiy's lore,*
Turn'd aside from the calls of the rostium and Muie,
Todiscus Ihe rich nieiils of rotis ai;d stews,
And preferr'd to all honours of triumph or trophv,
A supper on prawns with Ihat rogue, little Sophy'.*
Having dwelt on such classical musings awhile,
I set otr, by a steain-boal, for this happy isle,
<A conveyance j/oii ne'er, I think, sail'd by, my Tully,
And therefore, per nex', 1 'II describe it moie fully,)
Having heard, on Ihe way, what distresses me greatly,
That England's o'er-iun by idolaters lately.
Stark, slaringadoreis of wood and of stone,
Who will let neither stick, stock, or statue alnne.
Such the sid news I heard from a tall man in black,
Who fiom sports continental was hurrying back.
To look after his lilhes ; — seeing, doubtless, 'I would
follow,
That, just as, of old, your great idol, Apollo,
Devour'd all the I enths,3 so the idols in ques-ion.
These w ood and stone gods, may have ei|ual digestioD,
And th' idolatrous crew, n honi this Rector despises,
Way eat up the tithe-jiig which he idolizes.
London.
'Tis all but too true — grim Idola'ry reigns,
In full pomp, over Eng and's lost ciiies and plains!
On arriving just now, as my lirsl thought and care
Was, as usual, lo seek out some near House of Prayer,
Some calm, holy sp .t, ht for Christians to pray on,
I was shown to — what Ihmk you! — a downright
Pantheon ! *
A grand, pillar'd temple, with niches and hills,<
Full of idols and gods, which they nickname St.
Paul's; —
Though 'tis clearly Ihe place where the idolatrous
ciew.
Whom the Rector coniplain'd of, their dark rites
pursue ;
And, 'mong all the " strange gods" Abr'ham's father
carv'd oui,»
That he ever carv'd stranger than these I n. jch doubt.
Were it ev'n, my dear Tully, your Hebes and
Graces,
And such pretty things, that usurp'd Ihe Saints* places,
I shouldn't much n.ind,— for, in this clas-ic dome.
Such folks fioni Olympus would feel quite at home.
But the gods they've got here !— such a queer omnium
gatherum
Of misbegol things, that no poet would father 'em ; —
Brilani.ias, in light, summer-wear for the skies,—
Old 1 hame--, ■urn'd to stone, tohis no small surprise,
Father Nile, too,-a portrait, (in spile of what 's said,
That no mortal e'er >et got a glimpse of his Aead,«)
And a Ganges, which India would think someivbat
fat for 't,
Unless '1 was some full-grown Director had sat for 't :—
Not to mention the'e£ cxteras of Genii and Sptiinxet,
Fame, Vicl'ry, and other such semi-clad minxes; —
Sea Capiains,i— ihe idols heie nio,t idolised ;
And of wtiorn some, ala-, might too well he comprised
Anioiig ready-made Saints, as Ihey died cannon-
ized ; —
1 See his Letters to Friends, lib. ix. episl. 19, 20, (tc
"i Ingcmiuni squillaruni cum Sophia Seplimx.—
Lib. ix. epi-t. 10.
3 Tithes were paid lo Ihe Pylhian Apollo.
« See Dr. Wiseman's learned and able letter to Mr.
Poynder.
• Joshua, xxiv. 2.
fi " Nee contigit ulli
Hoc vidisse caput.*' Claudtan,
t Captains Mosse, Riou, &c. &c.
428
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
Wilh a multitude more of oJd cockneytied deitieg,
Shrined m such pump thai quite shocking to see it
Nor know I what better the Rector could do
Than lo shrine Ihere his own LelovM q-jadiuped too j
As nioit surely a tithe-pig, whatever the world ihinkSjis
A much fitter beast for a church thau a Sphinx is.
But I *ni call'd off to dinner — grace just has been
And my liost waits for nobody, living or dead.
Go, ha>te, at the Congiess pursue Ihy vocalioD
Of addins fresh sums to ihis National Debt of ours,
Leaguing with Kings, who, for inere recreation,
Break promises, fast as your Lordship breaks
metaphors.
Fare ye well, fare ye well, bright Pair of Peers,
And may Cupid and fame fan you both with their
The one, the best lover we have — of his ysarSj
And the other, Prime Statesman of Britain's do-
minions.
ON THE DEPARTURE OF LORDS C— S-
T — R — GH AND ST — W — P.T FOR THE
CONTINENT.
At Parish et Fratreg, el qui rapuere atib illi«
Vix tenuere manu8(f.ci8 hoc, MfiielaeJ nefandas.
Ovid. Metam. lib. xiii. v. 202.
Go, Brothers in wisdom — go, bright pair of Peers,
And may Cupid and Pame fan you both with their
pinions !
The one, the best lover we have — of his years,
And the other Prime Statesman of Britain's domin-
ions.
Go, Hero of Chancery, blest with the smile
Of the Missf-s that love, and the nionarchs that
piize thee J
Forget Mrs Ang-lo T—yl—r awhile.
And ail tailors but him who so well dandifies thee.
Never mind how thy juniors in gallantry scoff,
Never heed how perverse athdavits may thwart
thee.
But show the young Misses thou 'rt scholar enough
To translaie " Amor Fortis" a love, about forty !
And sure 't is no wonder, when, fresh as young Mars,
From the battle you came, with the Orders you 'd
earn'd in 't.
That Bweet Lady Fanny should cry out **my stars!"
And forget th tt the Moon^ too, was some way con-
cern'd in 't.
For not the great R— g— t himself has endnr'd
(Though I 've seen him with badges and oiders all
shine.
Till he Iiiok'd like a house that was over insur'd)
A much heavier burden of glories than thine.
And 't is plain, when a wealthy young lady so mad is.
Or any young ladies can so go astray.
As to marry old Dandies that might be (heir daddies,
The stars^ are in fault, my Lord St — w— rt, not
they !
Thou, too, fother brother, thou Tully of Tories,
'Jhou Mnlz-prop Cicero, over whose lips
Such a smooth rigmarole about •' nionarchs," and
And *■■ nuUidgti''* ^ and "features," like syllabub
^'JF- ^___^^
1 This and the following squib, which must have
been written about ihe year 1815-16, have been by
some oversight misplaced.
^ Ovid is mistaken in saying that it was "at Paris"
these rapacious iransaciions took place — we should
read "at Vienna."
3 *' When weak women gc\ astray,
The stars are more in fault than they."
4 It is thus the noble lord pronounces the word
"knowledge"— deriving it, a> fir as his own share is i
conceined, from the Latin, ''nullus." |
TO THE SHIP
IN WHICH LORD C— ST— R— GH SAILED
FOR THE CONTINENT.
Imitated from Horace^ lib, i. ode 3.
So may my Lady^s pray'rs previil,5
And C— nn— g's too, and lucid Br— gge's.
And F,ld-n beg a fivouriii^ gale
From Eolus, that older Ras^s^e
To sjieed thee on thy destin'd way,
Oh, ship, that bear'st our C — t— r--eh,"»
Our gracious R—g—t's better half a"
And, Ihtrefore, quarter of a King —
(As V.in, orai.y olher c^lf.
May lind, without much figuring),
Wif' him, oh, ye kindly breezes.
Waft this Lord of place and pelf,
Anywhere his Lordship pleases,
tliough 'I were to Old Nick himself!
Oh, what a face of brass was his,9
Who first at Congress show'd his phiz —
To sign away (he Rights of Man
To Russian threats and Au>trian juggle;
And leave the sinking African lO
To fall without one saving siruggle —
'Mong ministers from North and South,
To show his lack of shame and sense,
And hoist Ihe Sign of " Bull and Mouth"
For blunders and for eloquence!
In va
Sees, at home i*
d their papery, de>ks, and shelves,
If silly Sees, abroad will
And maku such noodles of themselves.
ih ha'h always been the case —
it^hioEc itiiMnHerice of fice,
your Tory race! **
*or matchless im|iu'derice of fice
There's nothing liki
fi Sic (e Diva potens Cypri,
Sic fratres Helensc, lucidasidera,
Ventorunique regat pater.
6 See a description of the aa-Koi. or Bags of Eolus,
in the Odys.ey, lib. 10.
t Navi«, quoe tibi creditum
Debes Virgilium.
8 Animas dimidium meum.
9 IIH robur et aes triplex,
Circi pectus erat, qui, &c.
10 __ prjecipitem Africum
Decerl.iniem Aquilnnibus.
*1 Nequicquam Deus abscidit
Prudens oce.ino dissociabili
Terrts, ^i lamen impije
Non tangenda Rates transiliunt va^U.
This last line, we mny suppose, alludes to some dit>
tinguished Rats that attended the voyager.
la Audax omnia perpeti
Gens ruit per veiilum nefas.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
429
First, Pm,i the clios'n of F-nsland, taught tier
A laste for famine, lire, ami slausliler.
"I'tieit came the Doctor.^ lor our "ease,
Wilh K— (I— ns, Ch— Ih— liis, H— «k— b-»,
And other deaillvinal.a(lies.
When each, in turn, Ind run their rigs,
Necessity brought in llie Whi^- : 3
And oh,'l blush. I tjlush to sav,
Uheli thise, iu turn, were |iut to flight, loo,
Illustrious 'r— nip— u flew away
With Uit.i of ptiu he had no righl lo ! *
In shnrt, what will uot niurlal man do i s
And n"w, thai — strife and blnodshed pist —
We've done on eirlh wha' li,.lii we can do,
We gravely lake 10 lieiv'n at last. «
And think its favnurine 5mile 10 purchase
Oh Lord, good Lord ! by — building churches I
SKETCH OF THE FIRST ACT OF A NEW
ROMANTIC DRAMA.
*' And now," quoth the goddes--, in accents jocose,
" Having got pood materials, 1 MI brew such a dose
" Of Double X mischief as. mortals shall say,
**They*ve not known its equal forniany a long day."
Here she wink'd to her suballern imps to be steady.
And alt ivagg'd their lire-tipp'd tails and stood ready.
"So, now for the' ingredients : — first, hand me thsl
bishop ;"
Whereon, a whole oevy of imps run to fish up,
Froni out a largei eserv ir, wherein they pen 'em,
The blackest of all its black dabblers in veiinm ;
And wrapping him up (lesl the virus should ooze.
And one ''drop of the' immortal" 1 Right lle». s
they might lose)
In the sheets ot his ovm speeches, charges, reviews.
Top hini into the caldron, while liudly a burst
From the by-standers welcomes ingredient the first!
"Now fetch the Ex-Chancellor,'' muMer'd the dame—
" He who's c.ll'd after Hairy the Older, bv name."
"The Ex-Chaiicellor !" echoed her imps, the whole
"True, true," said the hig, looking arch at her
**And a douhle-iTx dose they compose, in them-
selves."
Thisjnke, Ihesly meaning of which was seen lucidly,
Set all tlie devils a laughiiig most deucedly.
So, in went the pair, and (what uone thought sur-
prising)
Show'd lalenis for sinking as great as fur rising ;
While nut a glim phiz in that realm but was
liglred
Will joy to see spirits so twin-like onited —
Audax Japeti genns
Ignem fraude mala genlibus inlulit.
r-ist
^s, et nova febrium
lerris incubit cohi
> tarda necessitas
Leihi virrip.iit gradum.
* Exper.us vaainm D^daliis aera
Pennis non hnmiiii datis.
This alludes to the I200Z. worth of stationery, which
his Lordship is said to have ordered, when ou the
point of vacating his pUace.
' Nil morialibus arriuum est.
6 Ccelum ipsuni petimus stulliiia.
•> " To lose no drop of the immortal man."
• The present Ilishop of Ex— t~r.
Or (plainly to speak) two such birds of a feather.
In one mess of venom thus spitted together.
Here a flashy imp rose — some connexion, no doubt.
Of ihe young h'rd in question— and, scowling about,
" Hop'd his fiery friend, St — nl— y, would not be left
out;
"As no schoolboy unwhipp'd, the whole world must
"Lov'd niiscliief, pure mischief, more dearly than
he."
But, no— the wise hag wouldn't hear of the whipster j
Not merely because, as a shrew, he eclips'd her.
And nature had giv'n liiin, 10 keep him slill young.
Much tongue in his head and no head m his tongue;
Hut because she well knew that, for cliange ever
ready.
He 'd not ev'ii to niischief keep properly steady ;
'1 hat soon ev'u the -wrong side would cease to de-
lithi,
And, for want of a change, he must swerve to the
r,fht ;
While, 1 11 lach, sn at random his missiles he threw.
That the side he atlack'd was most safe, of llie two.—
This ingredient was tlierehire put by on Ihe shelf,
There to bubble, a bitter, hot mess, by itself.
"And uou," quoth the hag, as her caldron she ey'd.
And the tidbits so f>ieiid)lly rankling inside,
" There wants but some seasoning ; — so, come, ere 1
stew 'em,
" Py way of a relish, we'll throw in ' -f- John Tuain.'
"In cooking up mischief, there's no flesh or fish
"Like your meddling High i'liest, to add zest to the
dish,"
Thnss.iyiui, she pops in the Irish Grand Lama —
Which great event ends the First Act of the Drama.
ANIMAL MAGNETISM.
Though fam'd was Mesmer, in his day,
Nor less so. in ours, is Dupolet,
To say nothing of all the wonders done
By that wizaid. Dr. Elliotson,
When, standing as if Ihe gods to invoke, he
Up waves his arm, and — down drojis Okey ! 9
Though s'range these fhintrs, to mind and sense,
If you wish still stranger things to see —
If you wi>h 'o kii >\v the power immense
Of Ihe true niagnelic influence,
Jusf go to her Majesty's Treasury,
And learn the wonders working there —
And I'll be hang'd if you don-lsare !
Talk of your animal masnetists.
And that wave nf ihe hand no soul resists,
Not all its witcheries can conipete
With the friendly beckon tow'rds Downing Street,
Which a premier eives to one who wishes
To taste of the Treasury loaves and fishes.
II actually lifts the luckv elf,
Thus acted upon, above himself; —
He jumps to a slate of ctaironyance^
And is jilaceman, statesman, ail, at once I
These efl"ect>, observe (wilh which I begin),
Take place when the patient 's inotion'd m ;
Far ilifferen', of cour-e. Ihe m"de of all'ec ion.
When the wave of the hand 's in the out direction:
The efftcts being hen extremely iinpleisant,
As IS seen in the case of Lord R m, at present;
In whom this sort of manipulation
Has late y prrduc'd such iii'llanimation.
Attended with cons'ant irri'alion.
That, in sh irt — not to mince his situation —
9 The name of the heroine of the porformances at
Ihe North Lon Ion Hospital.
430
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
It has work'd in the man a transformation
Tliat puzzles all bimian calculatioa !
Ever since the fata Hv whicli saw
'i hai " p.iss' I perfotniM on ttiis Lord of Law —
A pa-s piiieulMl, n'Mie can dnub'
As it ^el,l Harr> K — in t . llie right about —
The cndiiion in wtiicti ilit patient has been
Is a Ibin;; quite a» lul to be seen.
Not thai a casutl eye could scan
TJiis wondrous cliaiif^e by oulivad survey;
It lieiiig, in fac% tlie' iiiUrior man
Ttiat 's turn'd conij>lefely topsy-turvy : —
Like a ca^e tha' lately, in reading o'er 'em,
1 Ibund 111 the Acta Erudilorum,
Of a man in whise inside, « hen disclns'd,
The whole order of things was found traiispos'd; *
By a Ittsiis naturx, strange to see,
The liver plac'd ubere the heart should be.
And the spleen (like B ni's, since laid OD the
shelf )
As diseasM and as much out of place as himself.
In short, *t is a case for consultation,
If eVr there was one, in tins ibiiiking nation;
And therefore I humbly bfg to propose,
Th.\t ihose savaiis who mean, as the rumour goes,
To sit on Miss Okey's wonderful case,
Should also Lord Harry's case embrace;
And inform us. in both these patients' states,
Which istn it is ftiat predoniinates,
Wlie'her magneism and somii.>nibulisra,
Or, siaiply and solely, inounlebaukism.
THE SONG OF THE BOX.
Let History boast of her Romans and Spartans,
And tell hnw they stood against tyranny's stiocks;
They were all, I confess, in Tny eye, Betty Martins,
Compared to George Gr— te and his wonderful Box.
Ask, where Liberty now has her seat? — Oh, it isn't
By Delaware's banks or on Swiierland's rocks ; —
Like an imp in sonie conjuror's bottle imprisoii'd.
She 's silly shut up in Gr — te's wonderful Box.
How snug! — 'stead of floating through ether's do-
minions.
Blown this way and that^ by the " populi vox,"
To fold thus in silence her sinecure pinions.
And go fast asleep in Gr- te's wonderful Box.
Time was, when free speech was the life- breath of
freedom —
So thought once the Seldens, the Hampdens, the
Lockes ;
But mute be our troops, when to ambush we lead 'em.
For " Mum" is tlie word with us Knights of the
Box.
Pure, exquisite Box ! no corrup ion can soil it;
There >s Otto of Rose in each breath it unlocks ;
Willie Gr— te is the " Betty," that serves at the toilet,
And bieathes all Arabia around from his Box. 3
T is a singular fact, that the fam'd Hugo Grotius «
(A namesake of Gr— te's — being both of Dutch
stocks).
Like Gr— te, too, a genius profound as precocious.
Was also, like him, much rcnown'd for a Box ; —
1 The technical term for the movements of the
I magnetizer'a band.
a Onines fere inlernss corporis partes inversoordine
litas.—Mt. Erudit. 1C90.
■ And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.
PupeU Rape of Vie Lock.
* Groot, or Grote, latinized into Grotius.
An immortal old clolhbs-box, in which tj>e great
When sutteiing, in prison, for views hel'rodox.
Was pack'd up incog, spite of gaolers ferocious,*
And sciil to his wife, 6 carriage tree, in a Box 1
But the fame of old Hugo now rests on the shelf,
Since a rival bath ris'n that all parallel mocks; —
T/iat Gll.llll^ ingloriously sav'd but bini-elf,
While ours saves the whole British realm by a
Box!
And oh, when, at last, ev'n this greatest of Gr— tes
Must bend to the Power that at every door knocks '
May be drop in the urn like his own "silent votes,"
And the tomb of his rest be a large Ballot Box.
While long at his shrine, both from county and cilf,
Shall pilgrims tricnnially gather in flocks,
And sing, while they whimper, the' appropriate ditty,
*' Oh, breathe not his uatne, let it sleep — in the
Box."
ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW THALABA.
ADDRESSED TO ROBERT SOUTHE? ES(l
When erst, my Soulhey, thy tuneful lon'ue
Ihe terrible tale of Thalaba -ung —
Of him, the Destroyer, dooni'd to rout
Thai grim divan of conjurors out.
Whose dwelling dark, as legends ^ay,
Benealh the roots of (he oce.in lay,
(Fit place for deep ones, such as they,)
How liltle thou knew'sl, dear Dr. Soulhey,
Although bright genus all allow thee.
That, some yeir^ ihence, thy wondering eye»
Should ^ee a second Tbalaba rise —
As ripe for ruinous rigs as ihine.
Though Ins havoc lie in a dilterent line.
And should hnd this new, inrprov'd Destroyer
Beneath the wig of a Yankee lawyer ;
A soit of an ''alien,' alias niAii,
Whoe country or parly guess who can.
Being Cockney hall, half Jonathan;
And his life, to make the thing completer.
Being all in the genuine Thilaba metre,
Loose and irregular as thy feet are; —
First, into Whig Pindarics rambling,
Then in low Tory doggrel scrambling;
Now hme his theme, now Church his glory
(At once both 'lory and amatory).
Now in the' Old Bailey-ioy meandering,
Now in soft couplet style philandering;
And, las'ly, in lame Alexandrine,
Dragging his wounded length along.s
When scourg'd by Holland's silken thong.
In short, dear Rob, Destroyer the Second
May fairly a match for the First be reckou'd;
Save that your Tbalaba's talent lay
In sweeping old conjurors clean away.
While ours at aldermen deals bis blows,
(Who no great conjurors are, God knows,)
6 For the particulars of this escape of Gro'ius fro»
the Castle of Lnuvei.stein, by means of a box (onl>
three feet and a half long, it is said) in which books
used lo be occasionally seni to him and foul linen re-
tui ned. see any of the Biographical Dictionaries.
6 This is not quite according to the facts of Ihe
case; his wife having been the contriver of the
siratagem, and reniainttl in Ihe prison herself lo give
hini time for escape,
■> Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede, &c. IloraS.
8 "A needless Alexandrine ends the song
That, like a wounded snake, drags its ilav
length along.''
:=^JJ
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
431
Layr Corporalions, by wholesale, level,
Seii'l! Acls of ParliaiiienI lo ihe devil,
Bullies the whole Milesian race —
iievec n>illioiiS of I'addie-, f.ice to face;
Aud.sei7ini; llial iria^lc wuid. hinisell,
Which erst lliy cnjurors left on 'he shelf,
Trausloniis the hoy, M the lioyi.e »iid Lid'ey
All n.lo/urcitr"-:", ma Jirtey —
Atieti!>, tiu C3sl>, every 6uul of 'etn,
Uui'u but fur whips and chajui, the whole of em
Never, in short, did parallel
Belwixt two heroes see so well ;
And, amon§ the point;, in which they fit.
There 's one, dear Bnh, I can'l omit.
Thai backinic, hectorine; blade of thine
Dealt much in the Domdajtivl line ; ^
And 't is but rendering justice due,
To say that ours and his 'I'ory crew
Damn Danitl most devoutly too.
RIVAL TOPICS. »
AN EXTRAVAGANZA.
Oh, \V— II — ngt — n and Stephenson,
Oh, morn and evening papers.
Times, Herald, Courier, Globe, and Sun,
When will \e cease our ears to stun
With these two heroes' c.pers?
and '• VV— II— ngt— n."
Still "Sieph
Still doo
To hear
And t'
■d, fri
e to set of sun,
ef one has done,
10 do: —
Willi lulls the banker pass'd lo friends.
Rut never meant to pay ;
What Hills the other wighl intends,
As h Miest, in their wav ; —
Bills, payable at distant >ie;ht.
Beyond the Grecian kalends.
When all good deeds will come to light,
When VV-ll— ngt— n will do what'i right.
And llowland pay his balance.
To catch the banker all have sought.
But still the rogue unhurt is;
While t'other juggler -who'd have thought?
Though slippery long, has just been caught
By old Archliishnp Curtis;-
And, such the power of papal crook.
Waa of aBuUdeliver'd!
Sir Kichard Birnie doth decide
Thai Rowland " niusi be mad,"
In priva'e coach, w'ilh crtst, to ride.
When chaises could be had.
And t'other hero, all agree,
St. Luke's will soon ar ive at.
If Ihus he shows off publicly,
When he might pass in private.
Oh W— 11 — ngt — n, oh Stephenson,
Ye cver-horing pair.
Where'er I sit, or stand, or run,
Ve haunt nie everywhere.
Though Job had p.tience tough enough.
Such duplicates would try it;
Till one's mrn'd out and t'other off,
We shan'i have peace or quiet.
« " Vain are the spells, the Ilestrnver
Treads ll.e D.inidaniel tinor."
Thalala, a Metrical Romance.
3 The dale of Ihu squib must have been, I Ibink,
abou* \S28-9.
Bui small 's the chance that Law alfords
Such folks are daily let oil';
And 'twixl the' Old Bailey and the Lord^
They both, 1 fear, will get oil'.
THE BOY STATESMAN.
BY A TORY.
: can't but fall ;
Ah, Tories dear, our ruin
Wiih SI— iil-y to help
Already a warning voice 1 liear,
Like ttie lale Charles Matthews' croak in mv
"That boy— that boy '11 be the death of yo
1 all.'
He will, God help us! — not ev'n Scriblerius
In the " Art of Sinking" his match could be J
And our case is growing exceeding serious,
For, all being in the same boat as he.
If down my Lord goes, down go we,
Loid Karon SI— nl-y and Company,
As deep in Oblivion's swamp below
As such " Masters Shallow" well could go;
And w here we sliall all bolli low and high,
Enibahn'd in mud, a. foiEotlen lie
Asalreadi dolh Gr— h— in of Netberby!
But that boy, that boy 1- Ihere 's a tale I know,
Which in t.ilking of hini comes a-jjro>roJ.
Sir 1 homas More bad an only son.
And a foolish lad was that only one.
And Sir Thomas said, one day to his wife,
" My dear. 1 can't but iv^ you joy,
*' for you pray'd fora boy. and y.'U now have a boy,
" Who 'II continue a boy to the end of his life.'*
Ev'n such is our own distressing lot.
With the eier-young sateMnan we have got;
Nay ev'n slill worse ; for Mas'er More
Wasn't more a >outh ihaii he'd been before,
While ours such power of boyhood shows,
Th.at, the older he ge s. Ihe more juv'nile he growj,
And, at what extreme old age he 'II ch se
His schoolboy course, heaven only knows; —
Some cenluiy hence, should he reach so far.
And ourselves to witness it heav'n condemn.
We shall find him a sort of ctifc Old Parr,
A whipper-snapper Metluisalem ;
Nay, ev'n should he make still longer stay of it.
The boy 'II want jurfi-nieiil, ev'n to the day of it !
Meanwhile, 't is a serious, sad infliction ;
And, dav and night, with awe 1 recall
The la'e Mr. Matthews' silenin prediction,
" That boy 'II be the death, the death of you all."
LETTER
FROM LARRY O'BRANIO.iN TO THE REV.
MURTAGH O'MULLIGAN.
Arrah, where were yoUy Murlhagh, that beautiful
day ? —
Or, how came it your riverence was laid on the
their.
When thai poor craythur, Bobby — as yott were
away —
Had lo make twice as big a Tom-fool of himself.
Throlh, it wasn't at all civil lo lave in the lurch
A boy so desarving your lindh'rest atTeC'ion; —
Two such iliganl Siamase twins of the Church,
As Bob and yourself, ne'er should cut the cod*
nection.
439
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
If Ihus in (ivo differeni direclinns you pull,
*faith ihey'll svvearthat yourself and your rivereiid
broiher
Are like lhf.se quare foxes, in Gregory's Hull,
Whose tails i\ere joiu'd otie way, while theylookM
anoihtr 1 1
Och bless'd be he, whosomdever be be,
Thai bel|j'd sofl Masee lo tlial Hull of 3 Letthtr :
Nol cv'ii iny own self, Ihoujh 1 someliuies make free
At such buU-inauufaclure, could make biiii a
betlhcr.
IV- be sure, when a lad takes to forgin\ this way,
1' IS a tbiick he's much liinpted lo carry on gaily;
Till, at last, his " injanious devices," l soiiie day,
Show him u[i, not at Exelher Hall, but the' Ould
Bailey.
That parsons should for^e thus appears mighty odd,
And (as if sometinu* "odd" in Iheir nantes, too,
must be.)
One forger, (.f ould, was a riverend Dod,
While a riverend 'lodd's now his match, lo a T.3
But, no niallher who did it — all blessins betide bim,
For dishiu* uj) I)(»b. in a manner sn nafe ;
And there wanted but wou, Murlbaah 'vourneen,
beside bim.
To make Ibe whole grand dish of iwij-calf corn-
plate.
MUSINGS OF AN UNREFORMED PEER.
Of all 'he odd plans of Ihis nionslrously queer age,
'1 he od'lest i^ that of refojMiiiig the peerage ; —
Just as if we, great duns.^ith a title and star
Did not net on exceedingly well, as we rtre,
And perform all the functions of noodles, bv birth,
As completely as any burn noodles on eir.h.
Mow acres descend, is in law-books displayed,
But we as Mji.vcacres descend, ready maile ;
And, by right of our lank in Uebielt's nomenclature,
Ale, all of us, born legislators by nature; —
I.ikeduckliuss to water instinctively taking,
S" we, with like quackery, lake to law-making;
And God forbid any reloini should come o'er us,
To m.ike us more wise than our sires were before us.
The' Esypt ans of old the same policy knew —
if your sire \^as a cook, you must be a cook too:
I hu< niakiiig, from f ilher lo son, a good trade of it,
hoisoneis iy lig/U (so no more cnuld be said of it).
The cooks, like our loidships, a pretty mesa made
of it;
While, fam'd for conservative stomachs, the' Egyp-
tians
Without a wry face bolted all the prescript ions.
I "You will increase the enmity with which they
are regarded by their associates in heresv, thus lying
these foles by Ihe tails, lb it their faces may lend in
oppisiie directions."— iJoi's Bull, read at Exeter
Hall, July 14.
- " All ingenious device of my learned friend." —
Bob's Letter to Standard.
3 Had I consulted only mv own wishes, I should
not have allowed this hasty' attack on Dr. Todd lo
have made its appearance in this Collection; being
now fully convinced that Ihe charge brousht against
that reveieiid geiiileman nf intending to pass off as
genuine his famous mock Papal Letter was allogeiher
unfounded. Finding it to be the w isli, however, of
my reverend friend — as I am now glad to be permit-
led to call him-lhil both the wronsand the repaia-
lion, the Ode and the Palimde, should be thus placed
in juiiap'-sitlon, I have thought it but due to him to
comply Willi his request.
II is true, we 've among us some poers of the ptst,
Who keep pace with the present nicsi awfully fast —
Fniils, that rijien beneath the new light now irising
With speed that 10 !«, old conserves, is surprising,
f.'onsei ves, ill whom— potted, for grandn.aiiima uses —
' r would piiz;^le a sunbeam lo find any juices,
'■f is true, too, 1 fear, midst the geneial movement,
Ev'n oiir House, God Jielp it, is doom'd to iniprove-
And all its live furniture, nobly descended,
But sadl> wot-n out, must be sent to be mended.
With moi'eiiWt's 'mnng us, like B ui and .ike
D— rh-m.
No wonder ev'n fixtures should learn to bestir 'em ;
And, distant, je gods, be thai terrible day.
When— as playful Old Nick, for his pastime, they say,
Flies oif Willi old houses, sometimes, in a storm —
lio uurs may be wliipt off, some night, by Reform;
And, as up, like Lorelto's fam'd house,* through the
Nol angel's, bul devils, our lordships shall bear,
Grim, radical phizzes, unus'd to the sky,
ishall flit louiid like cherubs, to wish us "good-bv,'*
While, peich'd upon clouds, little imps of plelieians.
Small Grotes and O'Counells, shall siug lo fa^aus.
THE REVEREND PAMPHLETEER.
A ROMANTIC BALLAD.
Oh, have you heard what hap'd of late?
If not, come lend an ear.
While sad 1 stile the pneous fate
Of the Reverend Pamphleteer.
All prais'd his skilful jockeyship.
Loud rung the Tory clieer,
While away, away, with spur and whip,
Went the Reverend Z'amphleteer.
The nag he rode — how cmtld it err ?
'T was the same that look, last vear.
That wonderful jump to F.xeler
With the Reverend Pamphleteer.
Set a beggar on h ^rseback, wise men say,
The course he will take is clear;
And in that direction lav the way
Of Ihe Reverend Pamphleteer.
"Slop, stop" said Truth, but v.iin her cry —
Left faraway in the rear.
She heard but the usual gay "Good-by"
From her faithless Pamphleteer.
You may talk of Ihe jumps of Homer's gods,
\Vl.eii canteiing o'er our sphere —
I 'd back for a bounce, 'gainst any odds,
'1 his Reveiend Pamphleteer.
But ah, what tumbles a jockey hath!
In the midst of his career,
A file of the Times lay right in the path
Of the headlong Pamphleteer.
Whether he tripp'd or shy'd thereat,
U.ilh not so clear appear :
But down he came, as his sermons flat —
This Reverend Painphleieer 1
Lord King himself could scarce desire
To see a spiritual Peer
Fall iiinch more dead, in the dirt and mire,
Than did this Pamphleteer.
< The Cnsa Santa, supposed lo have been carried
by angels through Ihe air from Galilee to I'aly.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
433
Vet pitying parsons, many a day^
Shall viNii his silent bier,
And. tliinkine the while of Stanhope, saj
" I'ooT dear nld Pamphleteer I
" He has finish 'd, at last, his busy span,
" And now litx coolly here —
*' A^ ofieu hedi'l in lite, Kond man,
"Good, Reverend PAmphleleer ;"
A RECENT DIALOGUE.
A B >h 'p aid a bold drneroon,
Bi)lh hernes in !heir way
Did thus, of late, one afteinonn,
I'lito each oihcr say : —
" Dear bishop," quoih Ihe brave hussar,
■' As iinhuJy deities
" T liat y"u a wise losician are,
*■ And 1 am — otherwise,
*' 'T is ill Ihal in this que-ilion, we
"Slick each to his own art-
shntik
: the fiff/itirig ]iart,
" M\ creed, I need not It'.l you, is
•• Like that ■ f W ^d.
'And wh--n w.
'If lau-hing
9 for words,
"For lack of sense we *ll draw our swords —
'Iht sole thing sharp about us." —
*' Dear bold dragoon,*' the bishop siid,
•■ T i> true for w.ir thou ui meant ;
*' And reasoning — bless that dandy head !
** Is rioi in thj dcpariDienl.
** So leave the argunienl to me —
*' And, when my holy Uboi.r
<' Hath tit Ih^ri-s of bigoiiy,
" Thou 'It p'ke them wiifa thy sabre.
** From pulpit and from seniry-hcx,
»• We Ml make our joint .iMacks,
*' I at the head of my Cassocks,
*'Aiid you of your Cossacks.
"So here '.-• your health, my brave hussar,
*' My exquisite dd figtre'r —
**Succe;.s to bigo'ry and war,
" The mu-ket and the mitre 1"
Thus prayM the minister of heaven —
While V— k. just eniering tlien,
Snor'd out (as if some Clerk had given
His no^e the cue) *' Amen."
T. B.
THE WELLINGTON SPA.
*< And driijk obtiaion to our woes." — Anna Matilda*
1829.
Talk no more of your Cheltenham and Harrowgate
springs,
'T IS from Ltthe we now our potations must draw j
YoMT Ld he s a cure for — all possible thint:-,
And the doclora have Dam'd it the Wellington
Spa.
Other physical waters but cure ynu in part ;
Oiie cobbles your gout — ro^Aer mends your di-
gestion —
Some settle your stomach, but this — bless your
heart ! - '
It will setile, for ever, your Catholic Question.
Cui nulla meretrix diBpUcuit praeter Babyloni-
37
Unlike, too, (he potions in fashion at present,
This Wellington nostrum, restoring by stealth.
So purges the niern'ry of all ttiat's unpleasant,
'J'lial patlenis forget themselves into rude beallk.
For instance, the' inventor — his having once said
" He sh(.ulJ think himself mad, it, at a)iv oneH
call, '
"He became what he is" — is so purg'd from bis
head.
That he now doesn't think he 's a niadmaa al all.
Of course, for your mem'ries of very lonj stand-
ing—
Old Chronic diseases, that date back, undaunted,
To Brian Itoroo and Filz-Slcphens' tiist landing
A dev'l of a dose of the Lellie is wanted.
But ev'n Irish patients can hardly regret
An oblivion, so much in their o\»u rjalive style,
So conienicntly plann'd, ihat, whale'er they forget,
They may go on rememb'riug it still, all the
while!*
A CHARACTER.
IS34.
Ad'
' Whig, half Tory, like those midway things,
ixt bird and beast, that liy misl.ke liave wings;
longrel Slaiesnian, 'Iwixt two factions nurst,
0, of the faults of each, combines tlie worst —
Tory's lofiiness, the Whigling'.s sneer,
leveller's rashness, and the bigot's tear;
thirst for meddling, leslless still to show
V Frerdom's clock, repaii'd by Whigs, will go;
alarm »hen others, more sincere than they,
ance the hands to the true time of '^ay.
i tone,
By Mother Church, high fed and haughty dame,
'I he hoy was dandled, in Ins dawn of faiue ;
Lisl'niiig, she smilVI, and Idess'd the flip|,aiit tongue
Oo which the tale of unborn iilhe-pigs hung.
Ah, who sli.ill p.iiiit the grandam's gr<m dismay,
When loose Reform enlic'd her bov away ;
When shock'd she heard him ape the la
And, in Old Saruni's fate, foiedoom her
Groaiiii'c she cried, while tears roll'd down her
cheeks,
"Poor, glib-'ongued youth, he means not what he
speaks.
•'Like oil at top, these Whig professions flow,
"But, pure as lymph, runs Toryism below.
" Alas, that t'uigtie should start thus, in the race
"Kre niir^d can reach and regulate its pace ! —
oulslrippy tjy li.ngue, poor, lagging mind,
' At every step, still further
' But. bless the boy 1 _ whateV
'Still turns his he.rt to Tor\ism and me
iig be.
'* Like thoTC odd shapes, pnrtrty'd in D.infe's lay,t»
" Willi heads fix'd on, ihe wrong and backward way,
'* His feet and e^es pursue a diverse track,
" While (/io»e n'.arch onward tlirse look 'ondlv bsck "
And well she knew him - well fores iv Ihe day,
Which now h.ith come, when snatcti'd fr:>m Whigs
away.
The self-same changeling drops the mask he wore,
And rests, rcstor'd, in granny's arms once more.
But whither now, mixt brood of modern light
And ancient dirkness. caii'st thou bend thy llighl?
Tried by bolli factions, and to neilher true,
Fear'd by Ihe old school, laiigh'd at bv llie ticw ;
O The only parallel I know to ihis sort of nliliriOE
is (0 be found in a line of Ihe laic Mr. R. F. Knisht—
•'The pleamiig meinoiy of thin^ti forgot."
Che dalle reni era lornaio 'I volto.
F. iiidieho venir li c
Ferclie '1 veder dina
era lortolto.
434
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
For this too feeble, and for that too nsli,
Thix wanting nu.re of tire, that le-s of flash,
Lnne shall thou st.ind, in isolaiinn cold,
Betwixt two worlds, ihe new one and the old,
A small and '• vex'd Bennoo'hes," whicli Ihe eye
Of venturous seaman &ees — and (lasi^es by.
A GHOST STORY.
TO THE AIR OF " UNFORTUNATE MIS3
BAILEY."
1835.
Not long in bed had L — ndh— rst Iain,
Whej., as his lamp buni'd dimly,
The ghosts of crpoiate bndies slain,*
Stood by tiis bed-side grimly.
Deid aldermen, who once could feast,
Bui now, themselves, are (ej on,
And skeletons of may'rs deceas'd,
'J his doleful chnrus ted on : —
"Uh Lord L— ndh— rst,
*' Unmerciful Lord L-ndh— rst,
"Corpses we,
»' All burk'd by thee,
"Unmerciful Lord L— ndh— rst I"
"Avaunt, ve frights!" his Lordship cried,
"Ye look most glum and vWiilely."
" Ah. L— ndh— rst dear !" the frights replied,
"You've u^'d us unpolilely.
•*And nnw, uui^raeful man! to drive
" Dead bodies from ynur door sn,
*' Who quite corrupt enough, alive,
" You 've made, by dea'h, still more so.
"t)h. Ex-C;iiancellor,
"Destruciive Ex-Chaucellor,
"See thv work,
'^ Thou second Burke.
** Destructive Ex-Chancellor!**
Bold L— ndh— rst ihen, whom nought could keep
A^vake, or surely that would,
Cried " Curse yn., all"— fell fast asleep —
And dream' of " Small v. Aivvnod.'*
Wliile, shocked, the bodies flew duwn stairs.
But, courteous in tliejr panic.
Precedence tave to eh'tsls of majors,
And corpses aldermanic,
CrviniT, "Oh, Lord L— ndh— rst,
" That terrible Lord L— ndh— rsl,
*' Not Old Scratch
Himself could malch
*'That terrible Lord L— ndh— rs(.»
THOUGHTS ON THE LATE DESTRUCTIVE
PROPOSITIONS OF THE TORIES.^
BY A COMMON-COUNCILMAN.
1835.
I 3a( me down in my easy chair.
To read, ns usual, the iuorning; papers;
But — who sh;iil describe my look of despair,
When I came tn Lefrov's '■deslructive" capers !
Tint Ae — that, of all l-ve men, Lefroy
Should join in the cry " Destrnv, destroy !'*
Who, ev'n when a b^be, as I 've beard said,
On Orange conserve ^^ as chiefly fed,
J Referring to the line t.iken by I^rd L — ndh— rst,
OB (be question of Municipal Reform.
* These verses were written in reference to the Bill
brought in at this time, for the reform of Corporations,
and the sweeping ametidmenls. proposed by Lord Lynd
nursi and other Tory Peers, in order to obstruct Ihe
measure
And never, till now, a movement made
'Jhat wasn't most manlully retrograde I
Only thiiili — to sweep frnm the light of day
Ma\ors. macts, cners, and wigs away;
'Jo aiinihila'e — never to rise again -^
A whole gtPeralicMi of aldermen,
Nor leave Uiem ev'n the' accusloni'd tolls,
To ki-ep lugdlier iheir bodies and souis ! —
At a lime, tnn, when snug posts and placij'
Aie tailing away from u>, one by one.
Cr;ish— crash— hke Ihe mummy-cases
Belznni. in Egyp!, s^t upon,
Wheiein lay pickled, in slate sublime,
Conservatives of the ancient time ; —
To choose such a moment to overset
The few snug nuisaiicts left us yet ;
To add to Ihe ruin that round us reigns,
By knncking t>ul mayors' and KAvn-clerks' brains j
By dnoming all corpoiate bndies lo f.ill,
Till they leave, at last, no bodies al all —
Nought but the ghosts of by-gone glory,
Wrecks of a world that once was Tory ! —
Where pensive criers, like owls unblest,
Robb'd of their roost-;, shnll slili hoot o'er them;
Nnr may'rs shall kiitnv where to seek a itest.
Till Gatly Knight sh.ill find one lor ihem ; —
Till mayors and kings, wuh none to rue 'cui,
Shall perish all in nne common plague;
And the s()vcrei§:ns of Belfast and Tuam
Muat jnin their brother, Charles Uix, at Prague.
Thus mu-M I, in my chair, alone,
(As above de^c^ib'd) till dozy grown,
And ii'-dding a-scnt lo my own opitnons,
1 found myself borne to sleep's dominions,
Where, lo. before my dreaming eyes,
A new House of Commons appear'd to rise,
Whose living contents, to fancy's survey,
Seem'd to me all turn'd topsy-iurvy—
A jumble of polypi — nobody knew
Wh.ch was itie head or which tlie queue.
Here, Inglis, luni'd to a sai.s-culoile.
Was dancing the hiys with Hui^ and Grate;
I'herCy ripe for riot. Recorder SMw
Was learning from Roebuck " Ca>ira ;"
While Stanley and Graham, as jtoissarde wenchsi
Screim'd " a-ias .'"' from the 'lory l>enches;
And reel and O'Conuell, cheek by jowl,
\Vere dancing an Irish carmagnole.
The Lord preserve us ! — if dreams come true,
What is this hapless realm to do?
ANTICIPATED MEETING OF THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION IN THE YEAR 2b36.
1836.
After some observations from Dr. M'Grig
On that fossile reliquium call'd Petrified Wig,
Or PimtquohthiLS — a specinien rare
Of those wigs, made for an'ediluvlan wear,
Which, ii seems, stood the Fluod without tuning a
Mr. Tomkins rose up, and requested attention
'i o facts no less wondrous w hich he. had to meJtioa.
Some large fossil creatures had lately been foun I,
Of a species no hinger now seen above ground.
But the same (as toTomkins most clearly apperrs)
Wiih those animals, lost now for hundreds of years,
Which our ancestors us'd to call " Bishops" and
' But which Tomkins more erudite names has be-
I stowM on,
Having callM the Peer fossil the' Ar{itocratodon,3
And, finding much food under t'other one's ihnrax.
Has christen'd that creature the' Episcopus Vor.tx.
3 A term formed on the model if the Maslodon, fcc. j
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
435
Lett the tavantei and di^ndies thould think this all
fable,
Mr Toiiikiiis iiiosl kindly prnduc'd, on the table,
A saniple (i each of ihese sjieci*-* if creaiures,
Hulli loPrably human, iii !.triicluie .-ind fcaluies,
Lxcfpl that Uic^ Kpi>cn{)us seeriis, Lord deliver us!
To 've been carnivious as well a> graiiivorous ;
And I oiiikiiis, oil -earching its s'omach, louud there
Large luinp-, such as no modern slouiach could bear.
Of a substance c Ji'd Tithe, upon which, as H JS said,
The wh ie tienu= C encum formerly fed ;
And which having lately himself decompounded,
Ju^t 10 ^ee » hat 't wa^ made of, he actually found it
Compos'd of all possible Ci okable things
That e*er Iripp'd upon tiotlets or soar'd upon winifs —
All products of earh, both gramineous, herbaceous,
Hordeacenus, t:tbaceous, and eke fannaccous,
All clubbing their quo'as, to glut the ccs^phagus
Uf this ever g< eedy aud grasping Tithophagus.^
** Admire," exclaimM Tonikins, " the kind dispeosa- |«We
IlOD
** By Providence shed on this much-fa vour'd riatjon,
"In sweeping so r. venous a race f on. theeanh,
''That nnglit el?e have occasion d a general dearth—
*'And thus burying 'em, deep as ev'n Joe Hume
would sink 'em,
" Wiih ihe tchtliyosnirua and Paloenrynchum,
** And other queer ci'd£vaiit things, under gr'>und —
" Not forgelliiig lh.it (o sili^ed youth,* ^o reunwu'd,
" Who livM just lo wi ness Ihe Deluge— was gratified
*' Much by the sight, and has siuce been found strati-
fied !"
And the moment Ihese eewg\«s fell ofT, they became
({uiie a new sort uf creature — so h innless and lame.
That Z"olngi!>is migh', fi>i the first time, maintain 'ew
I'o be near ;ikin to the genus Aumd/iur/t,
And the' expel iment, tried ao succe^lully then,
Should be kepi in ienieiubi.>uce, when wanted again.
SONGS OF THE CHURCH.
NO. ] .
LEAVE ME ALONE.
A PASTORAL BALLAD.
standing on the defenoive. All that we Gay
lo them iH, 'leave us alone.' The l':3to!jli8h*'d Church
is pcirt und panel of tht; tontittlutiuii uf thin rouutr7>
You are bound to coufurm lu Ihm cnnBtilution. We unk
ol you nolhiiig more;— ie( uj alvne." — Letter in The
This picturesque touch — quite in Tontkins*s way—
Call'd forth fium ihe sava7ites a general hurrah;
While inquiries ainou^ Iht-m v^eitt npidly round,
As to where (his yuung stialihed man could be found.
Ihe "learn'd 'I heljau's" disc^'urse next as livelily
fl.wdon,
To sketch t'other wonder, the' Arislocratodon —
An animal, differing fiom most human creatuies
Not 80 niuch in speech, inlaid srucluie, or features,
As in having a ceriam excrescence, T. said.
Which in f im of a coronet grew from its head,
And devolved to its heirs, when the creature was
dead ;
Nnrniatierd it, while this heir-loom was transmitted.
How unfit were the heads^ so ihe cunniet tilled.
He (hen mention'd a strange zoological fact,
Whose announcement appear d uiuch applause to
aitraci.
In France, said the learned profesor, this race
Had so noxious become, m some centuries' space,
From their number^ and strength, that the land was
Every one's questiou being, ** What *g to be done
iih'
When, lo 1 certain knowing ones — *au07if, mayhap,
Who, like Hucklaud's deep fuUowerA, understoud
Silly hinttd that nought U[ on earth uas so good
For Ariitt'Ciatodons, when rampant and rude,
As tn * (»p, nr cuitail, their allowance of lood.
■| his expednrul was tried, and a proof it aflnrds
Uf the elt'ect that short cmutuns will have upon
lords J
For this whole race of bipeds, one fine sunimer's
morn,
Shed their coronets, just as a deer sheds his hi
X The zoological term for a tithe-eater.
*The mail found by Schenchzer, and supposed by
him to have witnessed the Deluge ("homo diluvii
testis"), but » ho turned out, 1 am soriy to say, lo be
merely a great lizard.
* Particularly (he formition called Transition
Tr»p.
1838.
, Nov. ic3b.
Come, list to my pastoral tones,
lu clover mv shepheids I keep ;
My stalls are well fumish'd with dronei,
Whoe preaching invites one to sleep.
At niy spint let infidels scoff.
So they leave but the substance my own
For. in sooth, I 'm extremely well otf,
If the world will but lei me alone.
Dissenters are grumblers, we know ;—
Though excellent men, in tlieir way,
They never like things to l^e 40,
Let things be however they may.
But dissenting 'sa trick I de'esl;
And, besides, 't is an axiom well known,
The creed that 's best p nd is the best,
If Ihe unpaid would lei ii aluue.
To me, I own, very surprising
Vour Newmans and Puseys all seem,
Who s!art first with raiii'nalizing,
'i hen jump to the nther extreme.
Far l.eter, Mwixt nmisense and sense,
A nice /ja//-wa> concern, like our own,
Where piety 's mix'd up wiih pence,
Aud the latter are nt'er left alone.
Of all our tormentors, the Press is
The one that most tears us lo bits ;
And now, Mrs. Woolfrey's "excesses,"
Have ihrowii all iis im|» into fiis.
The dcv'ls have been at ns, for weeks,
Aud there 's no spying w hen they Ml bav«
done ; —
Oh, dear, how I wish Mr. Breeks
Had iett Mrs. Woolfrey alone 1
If any need pray for the dead,
'■]■ is ihfibe to whom post-obits fall ;
Since wisely hath Solomon ^aid,
'T IS " mitney that answereth all.»
But ours be the latrons uho/iye; —
Fur, nnce in their glebe they are thrown,
The de'd have no liung lo give,
Aud therefijre we leave them alone.
Though in morals we miy not excel.
Such perfection is rare to be had j
A good lite is, of course, very well,
hut good living IS also — not bad.
And v<.hen, to feed earlti-worms, 1 go.
Let this epitaph stare trom my stone,
" Here lies ihe Right Rev. so .md so ;
*' Pass, stranger, aud — leave him alooe.*
436
^SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
EFISILE FROM HENRY OF EX— T— R TO
JOHN OF TUAM.
HIT brother nf London,
vie'-lge, both s.tcred and
iread
Dear John, ai I know, lik
You've sipp'd of all k]
No doubt, in some ancient Joe Millei
What Calo, lh.ll cuiiniui old Konian, nnce said —
1 hat he he'er saw t\\o revrend si oihsayers meet,
•Lei it be xvhere it might, in the shrine or the slreel,
Without W0(!derin§ the rogues, *iiiid their sotemD
grimaces,
Didn't burst out a laughing in e.nch olher's faces.!
What Cato then meant, Ihnu^h 't is so long ago.
Even we in ihe present times pretly well know ;
Hiving soolhayers also, who— somh to say, John —
Are no better in some points than tho>e of d.iys gone,
And a pair of whom,nieetiiig (between you and me),
Might lauijh in their sleeves, too— all lawn though
the> be.
But this, by the way— my intention being chiefly
In this, my first letter, to hint to you briefly.
That, seeing how (orid you of Tuuin 2 must be,
While Afeum'sat all innes ihc main point with roe,
We scarce could do belter than form an alliance,
Til set these -ad Anii-Cliurch times al defiance:
You, John, recollect, being slill to embark,
Willi no share in tlie firm but your tiileS and mark;
Or ev'o should vou feel in your grandeur inclin'd
To call yourself i'ope, why, 1 shouldn't much mind ;
While my church as usual holds fast by your Tuum,
And every one else's, to make it all Suum.
Thus allied, I've no doubt we shall nicely agree,
As no twms can be liker. in most points, than we ;
B th, specimens choice of that niix'd sort of beast,
(See Rev. xiii. 1.) a p' lilical priest ;
Both mettlesome chargers, b ith brisk pamphleteers.
Ripe and ready for all thai sets men by tlie ears ;
And I, at leasi one, who would scorn to stick longer
By any giv'n cause than I found it the stronger.
And who, smooth in my lurninscs, as if on a swivel,
Wbeu the tone ecclesiastic wo'u't do, try the civiL
In short (not to bore you, ev'n jttrc divino)
We've the same cause in common, John— all but the
rhino ;
And that vulgar surplus, whale'er it may be.
At you 're not us'd to cash, John, you 'd best leave to
And so, without form- as the po tman wo'n'l tarry—
I 'm, dear Jack of Tuam, Yours,
EXETER HARRY.
SONG OF OLD PUCK.
"And those things do beat please me.
Thai l)eraM prepont
Puck Jiiuior, Mtdsummr.
Who wants old Puck ? for lien
A mongrel imp, 'iwixl earth .i
Ready alike to crawl or fly ;
,m I,
sky.
Now in Ihe mud, now in the air,
And, so 't is for niischieC, reckless where.
As 10 my kiio^ ledge, (here's no end to't,
For, where I haven't i', 1 pretend to't;
And, 'slead - f laking a learn'd degree
At'omedull univer>ity,
Fuck found it handier tn commence
With a certain share of impudt^nce,
Which pavses one off as le;irnM and clever
Beyond all oiher degrees whatever j
And enables a man of lively sconce
To be Mailer v( all the Arts at once.
Nn rnalter what ttie science mav be-
Ethics, Physics. Thenloey,
Mathematics, Hydrns"atics,
^rost:itic> orFneumaiics —
Whatever it be, I take my luck,
>T is all the same to ancient Puck ;
VVhn=»f head 'a so full of all sorts of warei,
Tliaf a brother imis old Smugden, swears
If I had but of Zaw a linle sm^tl rin^.
I 'd iheu be perfect ♦—which is flati'ring.
My skill as a linguist all niusl know
Who met me abioad snnie ni"nihs a^o;
(And heard me abroad exceedingly, too,
In the njoods and lenses lAparhz uoiw)
When, as old Chambaud's sh^de stoud mule
1 spr'ke such French to the Institute
As puz/led tl.ose learned 'lheb.ins much.
To know if 't uas Sanscrit or High Dutch,
And mi^ht have passM with the' unnbserviEg
As one of the unknown tongues of Irving.
As to my taleni for ubiquity.
There *s nothing I ke if in all antiquity.
Like Mungo (mv peculiar care)
" 1 'm here, I 'm det e, I 'm ehery where." *
If any one 's wanted to take the chair,
Upon any subject, anywdere,
Just look aroi nd, and — Puck is there*
When slaugliter's at hand, ynur bird of prey
U never known tn be out of the way ;
And wherever mischief's to be got,
There's Puck instatitetj on the spot.
Only find me in negus and applause,
And I 'm your man for aiiy cause.
If wro7ig the cause, the more my delight ;
But I don't object lo it, ev'n when right^
if I only can vex s >me old friend by »t ;
There' '^ ' ...-.-- . - .
Fills u
only can vex s >me old friend by H ;
ere's I)— rh— m, for iubtance;— m worry him
Is up my cup of bliss lo ilie brim !
(note by THE EDITOR.)
Those who are anxious to run a muck
Can't do better than jom wiih Puck.
1 hey *ll find him bu7t rfmi/e— spite of his phia —
And in fact, his great ambition is,
While i.Iaving old Puck in first-rate style,
To be thoiishl Rubin Good-feilow all the while.
POLICE RE PORTS.
CASE OF IMPOSTURE.
augur augurem aspiciens sibi tern- Amongother stray fla^hmen, difp^sM of, this week,
I Was a ynunester, nam'd Si— nl— y, genteelly con-
nected.
Who has lately been parsing ofF coins, as antique.
Which have prov'd lo be thani ones, though long
unsuspected.
« Mirari
peraret a i
i So spelled in those ancient versicles which John,
v>e understand, (t> qutrnily chants : —
"Had every ones num.
You wouldn't have Tiium, _____^__
But I Rhould have Meum, !,„._. ■ , r^
And sing Te Of urn." 1 * Verbatim, as said. T
.For hi, keepin, the title he may quote clas.ical ^^,1^' l''Jj7„"i::' '" ''
autboiity, as Horace expresdy says, "Poieris servare
Tuam.»» — De ^rt. Poet. v. 329. — Chronicle.
tribute is only equalled |
ledical friend, Dr. : i
connoit en tout; et menie un peuen medeciae.'' j
t Song in " The Padlock."
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
43?
Tbe ancictils, our readnfs need hinlly l>e told,
Had a coin they call'd " Talenta,*' for wholesale
deniAiiifs ; 1
And 'I was some of said coinage this youth uns so hnid
As to f.iricy lic'd got, God knows how, in hi3 hands.
People look him, however. like fools, at his word ;
And tlie^e talents (all prizM at his own valuation,)
VVeie bid for, with eagerness ev'n more nbsurd
'Jhan has often dlstiuguish'd this great thinking
nation.
Talk of wonders one now and then sees adverti'*d,
" filack -wans"' — *' Queen Anne farthings"— or ev'n
•*a child s caul''—
Much and ju^tly as all these rare objects are priz'd,
*'S(— nl— y's talents'' ou:did them— swans, farthings,
and all 1
At lenRih, some mistrust of this coin got abroad j
Kvenqiioi'dauibehevers began much to doubt of it;
Some rung it, some lubb'd it, suspeciing a fiaud —
And tlie hard rubs it got rather took tbe ehiue out
of it.
Others, wishing tn break the poor prodifvV fall,
Said M was known well to all who had studied the
matter.
That the Greeks had not only great talents but
And those found on (he youngster were clearly the
latter.
While othe
vho Tiew'd the grave farce with a
Seeintj counterfeits pass thus for coinage so massVy
By way of a hint to the dolls taken in,
Appropriately quoted Budasus de .^s«.
In short, the whole sham by degrees was found out,
And liiis cnin, which they cliose by such fine names
to call,
I'rov'd a mere lacker'd article — showy, no doubt,
But, ye gods, nut the true Attic 'lalent at all.
As th' impostor was still young enough to repent,
And, besides, had some claims to a grandee con-
nexion,
Their Worships — considerate for once — only sent
The young '1 himblerig off to the House of Correc-
tion.
REFLECTIONS.
ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR OF THE
ARTICLE OF THE CHPRCH IN THE LAST
NUMBER OF TUE
QUARTERLY REVIEW.
That ihey 've zot '* too much Church," *t is all non-
sense and stuff-;
For Church is like Love, of which Figaro vow'd
'J'hat even too much of it 'a nnt quite enough. 3
t For an account of the coin called Talents by the
ancients, see Budzeus de Asse, and the other writers
de Re Nummaria.
* The Talenium Magnum and the Taleutum Atti-
cum appear lo have been the same coin.
5 En fail d'amour, trop nienie n'est pas assez. —
Barlncr de ScviUe,
I'ours throuph the patient his black-coated pills,
Mor cares what their quality, so there's but quui*
lily.
I verily think, 'twould be worth England's while
To consider, for Padtly's own beiielit, whether
»T would not be as well to give up the green isle
Tu the care, wear and tear of (he Chuich alto
gether.
The Irish are well usM to treatment so pleasant;
The harlot Chutch gave them to Henry Tlanta-
genet,*
And now, if King William would make them a pre-
sent
To t'other chaste lady— ye Saints, just imagine ill
Chief Sees., Lord-Lieutenants, Commanders-in-chief,
Might then all be cull'd from the* episcopal
benches ;
While cor.neU in black would afford some relief
From (he hue th.it reminds one of the' old scarlet
wench's.
Think how fierce at a charge (bein^ practis'd 'herein)
The Right Keverend Brigadier Th— 11— tis would
slash ON !
How General jJl-mf-d, through thick and through
For, in one point alone do the amply fed race
iM bishopi to beggars >imilitude bear —
That, set ihem on tiorseback, in full steeple chase,
And they'll ride, if not pull'd up in time — you
know where.
But, bless ynu, in Ireland, that matters not much,
Where atlairs have for centuries gone the same
And a good stanch Conservative's system is such
That he'd back even Beelzebub's long-founded
sway.
I am therefore, dear fjuarterly. quite of your mind ; —
Church, Church, in all sliapts, into Erin let 's pour;
And *,he more she rejeclclh our med'cine so kind,
The more let 'a repeat it— "Black dose, as bufore."
Let Coercion, that peace maker, gn hand in hand
With deniure-ey'd Conversion, lit sister and bro-
ther;
And, covering with prisons and churches the land.
All that wo'n't g^o lo o»/e, we '11 put into the other.
For the sole, leading maxim of us who 're inclin'd
To rule over Ireland, not well, but religiously,
Is to treat her like ladies, who 've just been confin'd
(Or who oxight to be so) and lo church her piodigi-
ously.
NEVV GRAND EXHIBITION OF MODELS OF
THE TWO HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
Come, step in, gentlefolks, here ye may view
An exact and naf'ral representation
(Like Siburn's Model of Watetlno i)
I Of the Lords and Commons of this here nation.
There ihey are --all cut out in cork —
I be *' Collective Wisdom" wondrous to see;
My eyes! when all them heads are at work,
I What a vastly weighty consarn it must be.
4 Grant of Ireland to Henry II. by Pope Adrian.
» One of the most interesting and curious of all the
exhibitions of the day.
37*
438
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
As for the '* wisdom," — that may come anon ;
Though, to say Irulh, we somelmiej see
(And ! hnd the jiheiininenon no unconinion 'un)
A man who's M. P. with a head that's M. T.
Our Lords are rather too small, 't is true ;
But Ihei dri well enough for Cal.iiiel shelves;
And, be>ides,— MJ/iat 's anian with creeturs to do
That make such wary small ligures themselves ?
There — don't touch those lords, my pretty oears
Curse the children! — this comes of reforming a
nation ;
Those meddling young brats have so damag'd my
peers,
I must lay in more cork for a neiv creation.
Them yonder 's our bishops — "to whom much is
giv'n,"
And who 're ready to take as much more as you
please :
The seeis of old limes 5aw visions of heaven,
But these holy seers see nothing but Sees.
Like old Atlas i (the chap, in Cheapside, there below,)
T is for so much per cent, they lake heav'n on Iheir
shoulders ;
And joy 'I is to know thai old High Church and Co.,
Though not capital priests, are such capital-holders.
There's one on 'em, Ph— lip— ts. who noiv is away.
As we 're having him fill'd wilh bumbus'ible stuff,
Small crackers and squibs, for a great gala-day,
When we annually fire his Right Reverence off.
•T would do your heart good, ma'am, then to be by.
When, bursting wilh gunpowder, 'stead of with bile,
Crack, crack, goes the bishop, w hile dowagers cry,
" How like the dear man, holh in matter and style !"
Should you want a few Peers and M.P.s, to bestow.
As presents to friends, we can recommend these : ^
Our nobles are conie diiwn to nine-pence, you know
And we chirge hut a penny apiece for M P.s. *
Those of io((Zc-corks made lake most wilh the trade,
(At least, 'niong such as niv Irish writ summons,)
Of old whiskey corks our (J'Connells are made.
But those we make Shaws and Lefroys of, are rum
'uns.
So, step in, gentlefolks, &c. &c.
Da Capo,
ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW GRAND AC-
CELERATION COMPANY FOR THE PROMO-
TION OF THE SPEED OF LITERATURE.
Loud complaints being made, in these quick-readine
limes, *
Of too slack a supply, both of prose works and
rhymes,
A new Company, form'd on the keep-moving plan
First piopo>d by ihegieat Hrm of Calch-'eni.« ho-cin
Beg to say ihey 've iioiv ready, in full wind and speed.
Some fast-going authors, of <|uile a new breed —
Such as not he who ru;ij but who pallojis may read-
And who, if \vell curried and fed, Ihey 've no doubt
Will heal even Benlley's swifl stud out and out.
II is true, in these days, such a drug is renown.
We've "Immortals 'as rife as M.P.s about town:
And not a Blue's rout but can ofl-baiid supply
Some invalid bard who 's insur'd " not to die."
I The sign of the Insurance Office in Cheapside.
!> Producing a bag full of lords and gentlemen.
Still, lei England but once try owr aulbors, she 'II Hud
How fast Ihey "11 leave ev'n these Immortals behiltd :
And how truly the toils of Alcides were light,
Conip:.r'd with his toil who can read all Ihey wnte.
In fact, there's no saying, 50 gainful the trade,
How fast immiTlalities now m-y be made;
Since Helicon never will want an " Undying One,"
As long as the public continues a Buying One ;
And the company hope yet to wiiness the hour,
When, by strongly applying the mare-niotive 3 1 ower,
A three-decker novel, 'midst oceans of praise,
May be wrilien, launch'd, read, and— forgot, in three
days!
In addition to all this stupendous celerity,
Which — to the no small relief of posterity —
Pays off at sight the whole debit of fame,
Nor troubles futurily ev'n with a name
(A prjecl thai wo'ii'l as much tickle Tom Tegg as u»,
S:nce 'I will rub him of his srcond-priced Pegasus ) ;
We, the Company — still more to show how immense
Is the power o'er the mind of pounds, shillings, and
pence ;
And thit not even Phcebus himself, in our day.
Could get up a lay without first an outlay —
Beg to add, as our literatuie soon may compare,
In its quick make and vent, with our Birmingham
And it doesn't at all matter in either of Iheee lines.
How sham is the article, so it but ihints,—
We keep authors ready, all perch'd, pen in hand.
To write otl', in any giv'n st>le, al coniniand.
No matter what bard, be he living or dead,*
Ask a work from his pen, and 't is done soon as said :
There being, on Ih' esUblishment, six Waller Scotis,
One capital Wordsworth, and Soulheys in lots; —
Three choice Mrs. Nurlons, all singing like syrens.
While most of our pallid young clerks are Lord
Bjrnns-
Then we 've • • *s and • • *s (for whom there's small
call),
And • • •» and * • 'a (for whom no call at all).
In short, whosoe'er the lasl " Lion" mav be.
We've a Bottom who 'II copy his roar i to a T,
And so well, that not one of the buyers who've got
'em
Can tell which is lion, and which only Bottom.
N. B. — The company, since they set up in this line,
H ive niov'd Iheir concern, and are now al the sign
Of ihe Muse's Velocipede, Fleet Street, where all
Who wish well to the scheme are invited to call.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LATE DINNER
TO DAN.
From tongue to tongue Ihe rumour flew;
All ask'd, aghast, "Is't true? is 'I true?"
Bui none knew >> hether 'I was fact or fable 1
And still Ihe unholy rumour ran.
From Tory woman to Tory man.
Though none to come at the truth was able —
Till, lo, al lasl. Ihe fict came out.
The horrible fact, beyond all doubt.
That Dan had dind al Ihe Viceroy's table-
Had Hesh'd his Popi-h knife and fork
In the heart of th' Establish'd mutton and pork 1
8 " *T is money makes the mare to go.'*
* We have lodgings apart for our posthumous peo-
ple.
As we find thai, if left wilh the live ones, they
keep ill.
» " Bottom : Let nie play Ihe lion ; I will roar yoy
as 't were any nightingale "
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
439
Whn can forg«t the deep sensation
'I'hal news pniduc'd in this orthodox nation?
Deans, rectors, cuiates ^H agreed.
If Oan ivas allow'd al th« C;istle to feed,
'T was clearly aii up wilh the Frotes'ant creed 1
There haduN, itidctrd. such an apparition
Been heard of, in Dublin, aince ihat day
When, during the first ^land exhibitioa
Ol D.'U Giovantii, that nan)|;liiy play,
There appearVl, as if rais'd hy necroiiiaQcerSi
All exira devd anions the dancers !
Ws— ev'iyone saw, uith lea-ful Ihrill,
That a dtvil lou much had join'd the fjuadritje ; t
And sulphur vva^ suicll, and the lamps let fall
A grim, gretn light o'er the ghasilv ball,
And the poor sfuim devNs didn't like it at all ;
For, Ihey knew from whence th' intruder hid come,
Though he left, t/tot mghi, his tail at home.
This fact, we see, is a parallel case
To Ihe diiiTier that, some w.eks since, took place.
V'/h the dillert-nce slight of fiend and man,
at shows what a nest of I'npish sinners
That ci'y must be, where the devil and Dan
May thus drop in, at (juadiilles and dinnen I
Rut, mark Ihe end of these foul proceedings,
These demon ho) s and Popish feedii)gs.
Some comfort »t will be — to those, at least,
VVho*ve studied this awful dinner question --
To know thai Dan, on the night of that feast,
Was seiz'd with a dreadful indigesUon;
That envoys were sent, posi-haste, to his pnest,
To come and absolve the sufi'ering sinner,
For eating so much at a heretic dinner j
And sjine good people were even afraid
That Petl's old conlectiooer — s'ill at the trade-
Had poison'd the Papist with orangeade.
NEW HOSPITAL FOR SICK LITERATI.
With all humility we beg
To infoini the public, that Tom Tegj —
Known for his spunky spt-culations,
In buying up dead reputations.
And, by a mode of galvuiizing
Which, all must own, is qui e surprising,
Making dead authors move ■•gain,
As though they still were living men j— >
All this, to s nianagd, in a trice.
By thn^e two migic words, " Half Price,*'
Which brings the charm sn quick about,
That v\orn-out poet-, left wiihout
A second /oot uheie'O to st.ind,
Are made to go at second hand;
'T will plea>e the public, we repeat.
To learn that Tegg, who works this feat.
And, therefore, knows wliat care it ueeds
To keep alive Fame's invalids,
Has op'd an Ho-pital, in town.
For ca^es of knock'd-up renown —
Falls, fractures, dangerous Epcjits
(Uy some cali'd Ca^iiop), stabs from wits ;
And. of all wounds for wh.ch they're nurst,
Dead cuts from publishers, the worst ;—
All these, and other such fatalities.
That happen to frail immortalities,
By Tegs; are so expertly tre^ited,
That off-times, when the cure*8 completed,
The patient 's m^de robus' enough
To stand a few more rounds of puff^
Till, like the ghosts of Dante's lay,
He's putPd into thin air away !
A« titled poets (being phenomenons)
l>on't like b) mix wiih low and common 'una,
History of the Irish Stage,
Tegg's Ho-ipital has separate ward»
Express for liiemry lords,
Where projti-peers. of immoderate length,
Arennrs'd, when they've out gro\\n their sirengtbi
And poets, xvhom their friends deNpaii of,
Are — put to bed and taken care of.
Tegg begs to contradict a story,
Now current both with Whig and Tory,
That Doctor W— rb— t— n, M. P.,
Weil known for his antipathy,
His deadly hate, good man, to all
The race of poets, gieai and small —
So much, Ihat he's been heard to own,
He would most uillingly cut down
Ihe holiest gioves on Pindus' mount.
To tiTii Ihe limber to account ! —
Tlie st'Ty actually goes, that he
P^e^cIlbes at 'I'eggs Infirmary;
And oft, not only stints, for spite,
1 he p.itients in Iheir copy-righ',
Bui that, on being call'd in lately
To two sick poels, sutlering greatly,
This vaticidal Docior sent itiem
So strong a dose of Jeremy Benfham,
'Ihat one of the poor bai-ds but cried,
•M)h, Jerry. Jerry I" and then died ;
While t'other. Ihougli less stufi' was given,
Is on hii road, 't is feai'd, to heaven I
Of this event, ho
unpleasant,
at present,-
Tegg means to say no moie at prt
Intending shortly to prepare
A statement of the whole atlair,
With full accounts, at the same ti
Subsc
Thai
} tprose and rhyii.e),
wnii cveiy author's name,
/ on the S(cK List of Fame.
RELIGION AND TRADE
' Sir Robf rt Peel believed It was necessnry to originate all
respecting religion nud trade in o Cuinmitlee of the
'" "■ ■ " un, May 22. 1B30.
-Church Extei
Say, who was the wag, indecorously willy.
Who first, in a s'alu'e, thi^ libel convey'd;
And thus slily referr'd to fhe self-same committse,
As matters congenial, Religinn and Trade?
Oh, surely, my Ph— Up— ts, 'twas thou did'st Ibe
For none but thyself, or some pluralist brother,
Accu^tonl'd to mix up ttie crWl witli the creed.
Could bring such a pair thus to tvMU with each
other.
And yet, when one thinks of times present and gone,
One is forc'd to confess, on maimer refltciion,
That 't isn't in the eyes of committees alone
That the shrine and the t>hop seem to have some
connection.
Not 10 mention those monarchs of Asia's fair land,
Whose civil list all la in * god-money'* paid j
And where the whole people, by royal command.
Buy their gods at the government mart, ready
made;» —
There was also (as menlion'd, in rhyme and in prose,
is)
Gold heap'd, throughout Egypt, on every shrine,
To make rings f;)r right reverend crocodile^' noses —
Just such as, my Ph-llp— ts, would look well in
thine.
* The Birmans may not buy the sacred marble in
ma35, but must purchase figures of the deity already
made. — Symcs.
440
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
But one needn't fly off, in this erudite mood ;
And t is clear, without going lo regions so sunny,
That priests love to do ttie Itast possible good.
For the largest most possible quantum of money,
"Of him»** saiih the lext, '*unto whom much is given,
"Of him much, in turn, will be also required :'' —
"By mc," quolh the sleek and obese man of heaven—
"Give a<i iiiucU as you will — more will still be
debir'd."
More money! more churches ! — oh, Nimrod, had'st
thou
*Sff:.id of rotoer-exlension, some shorter way gone —
Had'bt Ihou known by what niethods we mount to
heav'n 71010,
And tried C'Aurc/i-extension, the feat bad been
MUSINGS,
SUGGESTED BY THE LATE PROMOTION OF
MRS, NETHERCOAT.
•'The widow Nctherciiat i« appointed gaoler of Loaghrea,
in the room of her deceabcU hunbuud." ~- Limerick
Chronicle.
Whether as queens or subjects, in these days,
Wniiien s-eeiii formM to grace alike each station;—
As Captain Flaherly gallantly says,
"You, ladies, are the lords of ihe creation !"
Thus e'er my mind did prescient visions float
Of alt thai matchless woman yet may be;
When, hark, In rumours less anJ Ie>s remote,
Came the glad news o*er Erin's ambient sea,
The important news — that Mis. Nethercoat
Had been appointed gaoler of Lnughrea ;
Yes, mark it, Hisioiy — Nethercoat is dead,
And Mrs. N. now rules his realm instead ;
Hers the high 'ask to wield the' uplocking keys,
To rivet rogues and reign o'er Rapparees!
Thus, while your bUisfrers of ihe Tory school
Find Ireland'? sanest sons so fiaid to rule,
One meek ejM nntron. in Whig doctrines nurst.
Is all that's ask'd to curb the maddest, worst!
Show me the man that dares, with blushless brow,
Prate about Erin' »age and rrot now ; —
Now, when her temperance forms her sole excess ;
When loiig-lov"d whiskey, fading from ber sight,
"Small by deerees, and beautifully less"
Will soon, like other spirits^ vanish quite ;
When 4if red coa's Ihp nunibt;r's giown so smnll.
That sonn, to cheer the warlike patsnn's eyes,
No glimpse of scarlet will be seen a' all.
Save, that which she of l^abyion supplies; —
Or, at the m^st, a corporal'd guard will be.
Of Ireland's red defence the sole remains;
While of its ga^ls bright woman keeps the key,
And captive Paddies laneuish in her chains !
Long niay such lot be Eiin's, long be mine !
Oh yes— if ev'n this world, though bright it shine,
In Wisdom's eyes a prison-house must be,
At lea^t let woman's hand our fetters twine.
And blitlie I'll sing, more joyous than if free,
The Nethercoats, the Nethercoats for me I
Of all such dowagers — he or she —
(No matter tlie sex, so they dowagers be,)
Whose opinions, concerning Church and State,
From about Ihe time of the Curfew d.ite —
Staunch sticklers still for days by-gooe,
And admiring them for their rust alone —
To whom if we would a leader give,
VVortliy their tastes conservative,
We need but some mummy-stae-^man raise.
Who was pickled and pntted in Ptolemy's days;
For that 's the man, if waked from his shelf
To coi serve and swaddle this world, like hint
self.
Such, we 're happy lo state, are the old Ae-dames
Who 've met in committee, and given tbcir
names
(In good hieroglyphics), with kind intent
'I o pay some handsome compliment
To their si:.ter«author, the nameless he.
Who wrote, in the last new Quarttrly^
That charming assault upon Papery j
An arlicle justly prrzed by them,
A"' a pel feet antediluvian gpm —
The work, as Sir Sampson Legend would say,
Of some ''fellow the Flood couldn't wash away."*
The fund being nis'd, there remain'd but to see
What the dowager-.iu'bor's gift was to be.
And here, I mu.l say, Ihe Sisters Blue
Shov%'d delicale taste and judgmenl too.
For, finding Ihe poor man sufl'ering greatly
From the awful stuff he has thrown up lately —
So much so, indeed, to the alarm of all.
As to bring on a fit of what doctors call
The Aniipipistico-monomania
(I 'm sorry wiib such a long word to delaio ye).
They 've acted the part of a kind physician,
By suiting fheir gift to the p.itienfs condiiion;
And, as soon as 't is ready for presentaiion,
We shall publish the facis. for the gratiiicjtion
Of this highly-favour'd and Proteslaut nation,
Meanwliile, to the great alarm of his neighboursi
He still continues his Quarterly \:^.hoMTs }
And often has strong No- Popery fits.
Which frighten his old nurse out of her wits.
Sonielimes he screams, like Scrub in the play,^
" Thieves 1 Jesuits ! Popery !■' nighl and day ;
Takes ihe Printers Devi! for Doctor Dens.a
And shies at him hea|)s of High-church pens ; *
Which the Devil (himself a louchy Dissenter)
Feels all in his hide, like arrows, enter.
'Stead of swallowing wholesome stuff from the
druggist's,
He will keep raving of " Irish Thuggisis j" 5
Tells us they all go murdering, for fun,
From rise of morn till set of sun,
P"p, pop, ,is fast as a minute-gun IS
If -isk'd, how comes it ihe gown and Ciissock. are
Safe and fat, 'mid this general massacre —
How haps it that Pafs own population
But swarms Ihe more for this Irucidation —
INTENDED TRIBUTE TO THE AUTHOR OF the Ulster
AN ARTICLE IN THE LAST NUMBER OF
THE QUARIT.RLY REVIEW, ENTITLED
••ROMANISM IN IRELAND."
1 See Congreve's Love for Love.
9 Beaux S'ratagem.
3 The writer of the article has groped about, with
much success, in whit he calls " the dark recesses of
Dr. Dens' disquisitions."— Quaricr/y Reutew.
4 *'Pray. may we ask, has there been any rebellious
movement of Popery in Ireland, since the planting of
' ■ s, in wliirh something of the kind
among the Presbyterians of Ihe
It glads us much to be able to s:»y,
Th.it \ meeting is fix'd, for some early day.
North ?"-/iid
» " Lord I^ortnn, for instance, who, for cleiring his
estate of a village of Irish I huggi-ts," &c. &c — Ibid
6 "Observe how murder after murdei is conitnitted
like minute-guns."— /fcid.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
441
He refers you, for all such memonnda,
To tlic "archives of the Propaganda l^^i
This is all we 've got, for the present, In say —
But shall lake up the subject some (ulure day.
GRAND DINNER OF TYPE AND CO.
A POOR poet's DRKAM.*
\i I «ate in my study, lone and still.
Thinking of Sergeant TalfourJ's Itlll,
And the speech by Lawyer Suaden made
In spirit congenial, for "the Trade,"
Sudden 1 sunk to sleep, and, lo,
llpon Fancy's reinless nighl-mare flitting,
I fiiund myself, in a second or so,
At Ihe table of Messrs. Type and Co.
VVilh a goodly group of diners sitling;-
All in the prinling aud publishing line,
Drest, I tlioiighi, exlreniely line.
And sippins, like lords, their rosy wine;
While I, in a slate near iiianiii-n,
VVilh cal Ihal hadn't much nap lo spare
(Having just gone into its second ediijon).
Was the only wretch of an author there.
But Ihink, how great w.is my suiprise.
When 1 saw, in casling lound my cjes.
That Ihe dishc~, seiil up by Type's she-cooks,
Rore all, in appearance, Ihe shape ol books ;
Large folios — God knows where Iheygot'em,
In these small limes — at lop and bolloni
And quartos (such a'^ Ihc Press provides
For no one lo read them) down Ihe sides.
Then flash'd a horrible thoni;ht on my brain.
And I said lo myself, " ' I' is all mo plain,
•' Like those, will known in school quolalions,
" Whoa'e up fnrdiuner Iheir own relalions,
'• I see now, before me, smoking here, ~
" Ihe bodies and bones of my bnlhren dear;
" Bright sons of ihe lyric and epic Muse,
" Ail cut up in cntle:s, or hash'd in slews;
"Theii uiorkj, a lighl through ages lo go,—
" Themselves, eaien up by Type and Co. !'
While thus I moralized, on ihey went,
Finding the fare inosl excellent ;
And all so kindly, brother 10 brother.
Helping the lidliits lo each olher:
" A slice of Houlliey lei me send yon'' —
"Ibis cut of Campbell 1 recommend you" —
•' And here, my friends, is a Ireal indeed,
"The imnioital Wordsworth fricassee'd !"
Thus having, the cormorants, fed some lime.
Upon joints of poelry— all of the prime —
With also (as Tvpe in a whi-per aierr'd it)
" Cold prose on Ihe sideboard, for such as preferr'd
if—
They rested awhile, to recruit their force.
Then pounc'd, like kites, on the second course,
Which was singing-bird- merely — Moore and others—
Who all went theWay of ihcir larger brothers;
And, num'rnus now Ihough such songsters be,
*T was really quite di^tressiog to see
A whole dishful of Toms — Moore, Dibdin, Bayly,—
Billed by Type and Co. so gaily !
And Type's old port, to my horror I found
Was in skulls of bards seni merrily round.
And sliil as each well-till'd cranium came,
A health was pledg'd lo its ownei's name;
Willie Typo said slily, midst general laughter,
We eat Ihem up first, then drink to lliem alter."
There was )io standing this - incensed 1 broke
11 my bonds of sleep, and indignant woke,
Exclaiming, •• llh shades of oilier limes,
Whose voices still sound, like deathless chlinej
Could you e'er have lorelold a day would be,
When a dreamer of dreams should live to see
"A party of sleek and honest John Dulls
Hobnobbing each other in puels' skullsl '
CHURCH EXTENSION.
TO TUE EDITOR OF THE HORNINO
CHRONICLE.
Sir — A well-known classical traveller, while em-
ployed in exriloring, some lime since, the supposmi
.lie of the Temple of Uiaiia of Ephesus, was so lortu-
iiate in the course of his researches, as lo light upon
a very ancient bark nianuscripl, which has turned
out, oil examination, lo be part of an old Ephesiaa
newspaper :— a newspaper published, as you will see,
so far back as Ihe lime when Demetrius, Ihe great
bhrine-Exlender,3 flourished. 1 am, ciir, yours, &c.
EPHESIAN GAZETTE.
Sicand edition.
Important event for the rich and relisions
Great Meeting of Silversmiths held in Queen
Square ; —
Church Extension, their object,— Uie' excileinenl
prodigious; —
Demetrius, head man of the craft, takes the chair!
Third idition.
The Chairman still up, when our dev'l came away ;
Having prefac'd his speech with the usual slate
That Ihe Three-headed Dian< would kindly, Ibi*
day,
Take the Silversmiths' Company under her care.
Being ask'd by some low, unestablisli'd divines,
"When your churches are up, where are flocks
to be got?"
He manfully answer'd, " Let us build the shrines,'
"And we care not if flocks are fouud for them or
not.'*
He then added-toshow that Ihe Silversmiths' Guild
Were above all conlin'd and iiilolerant views —
Only pav through the nose to the altars we build,
" You may vray through Ihe nose to what altars you
choose.*'
Nor was this Ihe worst
What a scene was disci
The warriors nftldin, ;
Used to drink out of skulls of slaughter'd foes:
I shudder to think
i when Ihey came to drink.
I " Might not Ihe archives of the Propaganda pos-
•ibly supply ihe key?"
s Written during the late agitation of Ihe questijn
bI Copyright.
s " For a certain man named Demetrius, a silver,
smilh, which made shrines for Diana, brought no
small gain unio Ihe craftsmen ; whom he called toge-
ther with Ihe workmen of like occiipaiion, and s.aid.
Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth." ,
— jjcfj, xix. 1
« Tria Virginis ora Diana:. j
» The "shrines" are supposed to have been small |
churches, or chapels, adjoining lo Ihe great temples ; ,
— "a:diculK, in quibus slatuse reponebanlur. '— ,
Erastri. !
442
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
This tcilerance, rare from a shrine-dealer's lip
(Thofigh a tolerance niix'd with due taste for the
r.lD-
So much chirmM all Ihe holders of scriptural scrip,
Tha'. Iheir strouts of "Hear'" "Heari" are re-
ecbuiug still.
Fourth edition.
Great stir in (he Shrine Market ! altars to Phcebus
Ate going dog cheap — may be had for a rebus.
Old DianVas usual, outsell all theresf; —
But Veaus'a also are tnuch la request.
LATEST ACCOUNTS FROM OLYMPUS.
Af news from Olympus has g;rovvn rather rare,
Since bards, jii iheir c^uj^es, liave ceasM lo touch
iliere.
We extract for our readers the' intelligence given,
In our latest accounts from that ci-de.vant Heaven —
Tlial retlin of ihe By-gones, where ^till sit, in state,
Old god headfl and nod-heads, oow long out of date.
Jove himself, it appea-s, since his love-days are o'er,
Seems to fi^id ininionali'y rather a bore;
Though he sitll asks for uews of earlh^s capers and
And reads daily liis old fellow-ThundVer, the Times.
He and Vulcn, il seems, by iheir wives still heu-
p'.ck'd are.
And kept on a stiuted allowance of nectar.
Old Phcebus, poor lad, has »iven up inspiration,
And pack'd ott to earth on a pu^->peculaijt>n.
The fact is, he found his old shrines had grown dim,
Since bards iook'd tu Hentley ;iiid Coiburu, not him.
So, he sold off his stud of anibrosia-fed nags.
Came Incog, down to earth, and now v\rj.e$ for the
Alags ;
Taking caie that his work not a gleam haih to linger
in't,
From uhich men cjuld guess that the god had a
hnger in 't.
There are other small facts, well deserving attention,
Of which our Olympic des|<atches make mention.
Poor H cchu^ is suli verv ill, they allege,
Having never recover'd the Temi)erince Pledge.
** What, (lie Irish ;" he cried—" tJiose 1 looked lo Ihe
most !
"If they give up the spirit, I give up ihe ghost;"
While M.'iiiu^ who us'd of the g .ds n make fuo,
Is lurii'd Socialist now, and declares there are none !
But these changes, though curious, are all a mere
farce
Compared to the new *■ casus belli" of Mars,
Who, fir years, has been sutiering the horrors of
Uncheerd by one glimmer of blnodshed nr riot!
In vain rroni the clouds his belligerent b'ow
Did he pop forth, m hopes that somewhere or some-
how.
Like Pat at a fair, he might " coax up a row :'*
But the joke wouldn't take— the uhole world bad
gni wier;
Men liked tw.t to take a Grent Gun for adviser;
And. siill less, to march in fine clothes m be shot,
Without very well knowing for whom or lor what.
The French, who of slaughter had had their full
8»|ng,
Were content with a sliot, now and then, at (heir
King;
While, in England, good fighting's a pistinie so hard
logain,
Nobody 's left to fight with, but Lord C— rd— y— n.
*T is needless to say, then, how monstrously happy
Old Mars has been made by what 's now on the tapitt
How much it delights him to see the French rally,
In Liberty's name, around Mehemet Ali;
Weil knowing that Satan himself could not find
A confection of mischief much more to his mind
Than the old Bonnet Rouge and the Bashaw com-
bin'd.
Right well, too, he knows, that theie ne'er were
attackers,
Whatever Iheir cause, that they didn't find backers:
While any slight care for Humanil>'s w..es
M.iy be soothed by that "'An Diplomatique," which
shows
How to come, in the most approved method, to blovrs.
This is all, for to-day — whether Mara is much vext
At bis friend Thiers's exit, we 'It know by our next.
THE TRIUMPHS OF FARCE.
Our earth, as it rolls through the regions of space,
Wear^ always two faces, Itie dark and the sunny ^
And pour human life runs the same sort of race.
Being sad, on one side — on the otiier side, funny.
Thus oft we, at eve, to the Haymarket hie,
To weep o'er Ilie woes of ftlacready ; — but scarce
Hath the tear-drop of 'I ragedi piss'd from the eye,
When, lo, we 're all laughing in fits at the farce.
And still let us laugh— preach Ihe world as it may—
Where the cieam of Ihe joke is, the swarm will
soon follow;
Heroics are very grand things. In their way.
But the laugh at the long run will carry it hollow.
For instance, what sermon on human affairs
Could t-qual the scene that look place t'other day
'Twixi Romeo and Louis Philippe, on the stairs —
The Sublime aud Ridiculous meeting h»lf*way !
Yes. Jncus ! gay god, whom the Gentiles supplied,
And whose worship not ev'n among Christians de-
clines,
In nur senate thou 'st langtiish'd since Sheridan died,
But Sydney still keeps thee alive in our shrines.
Rare Sydney ! thrice honour'd the stall where he
And be his evVy honour he deigneth to climb at !
Had England a hierarchy fonn'd at! of wils.
Who but Sydney wuuid England proclaim as its
primate?
And long may he flourish, frank, merry, and brave
A Horace to hear, and a Paschal to read ; t
While he iaughSf all is safe, but, when Sydney grows
Meanwhile, it much glads us to find he^ preparing
To teach other bishoj,3 tr) •• seek the right way ," 3
And means shortly to treat the whole Bench to an
Just such as he gave to Charles James t' other day.
I Some parts of the Provinciales may t>e said to be
of the highest oider of jeux d tis^rif , or squibs.
4 "'I'hts stroll in the metropolis >' extremely well
contrived for your Lordship's speech; but suppose, my
dear Lord, that instead of gnirjg E. and N. E. yon had
turned about,' kc kc— Sydney Smith's LaU Letter
to the Bishop ofLondn7i.
SATIRICAL AND HUMOROUS POEMS.
443
For our |i»rts, Ihougti jmvity's good f'r the «oul,
Such a fancy have we for the side that llif
Such a fancy have
fun on,
We 'd rather «iih Sydney sou
Than cuach it o.rlh-eaat
Lunuun.
ti-wesi take a "simll,"
vith his Lordship of
THOUGHTS ON PATRONS, PUFFS
AND OTHER MATTERS.
IN AN EPISTLE FROM T. M. TO S. R.
What, thoit, mv friend ! a man of rhymes,
Anci, belief s'lll, a man of guineas,
To talk of •■pilroMS," in these limes,
When authors thrive like spinning-jenniei,
And Arkwright's livisl and Riilwer's page
Alike may laugli al pationage !
No, no — tho.e times are past away,
When, donnrd in upper floois to slar it.
The baid iiiscrib'd to liirds his lav,—
Himself, the while, my Lord MountgarwI.
No more he begs, with air dependent,
His " little bark may sail attendant"
Under some lordly ikiiper's steerage;
But launched Iriunipbai.t in the How,
Or la'en by Murray's self in lo.v.
Cuts bJili Star Chamber and the peerage.
Patrons, indeed ! when scarce a sail
Is whisk'd from England by the gale,
But bears on boaid some author*, sIlippM
For foreign shores, all well equipp'd
With piiiper bi.ok-niaking machinery.
To sketch the morils, manners, scenery.
Of all such lands as Ihey shail see,
Or not see, as the case may be : —
It being enjoin'd on all svho go
To sudy til St Miss M**»»*»«»,
And learn from her the method true.
To do one's books — and readers, too.
For so this nymph of nous and nerve
Teaches niaiikiiid " How to Otiservej"
And, lest mankind at all should swerve.
Teaches Iliem also '* tl^hat to Observe."
No, no, my friend — it can't be blink'd —
The Patron is & race extinct ;
As dead as any Mes.i'herion
That ever Buckland built a theory on.
Instead of bartering, in this age,
Our praise for pence and pa'ronage.
We. au hors, now, more prosperous elve»,
Have learn'd to palroni-e uurselves ;
And since all-p dcnl Puffing's made
The life of song. Ihe soul of trade,
More frugal of our praises grown.
We puff no merits but our own.
Unlike those feeble gales of pralie
Which cii ics blew in foimerd.iy«,
Our modern putts are of a kind
Th»t inilv, really raise Ihe wind;
And since they've fairly set in blowing,
We find them Ihe best (radc-winds going.
'Stead of frequrning paths so slippy
As her old haunts near Aganippe,
The Muse, now, lakii g to the till,
Has open'd shop on Ludgale Hill
<F«r handier than the Hill of i'indus,
Aa seen from baid's back allic windows) ;
And swallowing there without ces-alion
Large draughU («( sight) of inspiration,
"Touches the notes for each new theme.
While still fresh "cAanjrc conies o'er her dream.'
Whai .Sieam is on ttie deep — and more —
1* Ibe vast power of Puff un share;
u
Which jumps to glory's future tensei
Before the present ev'n commences;
And makes "immortal" and "divine" of US
Before Ihe world has read one line of us.
In old times, when the God of Song
Drove his own two-horse team along,
Carrying inside a bard or two,
Book'd for posterity " all through ;" —
Their luggage, a lew cl se-pack'd rhymes,
(Like yours, my friend.) for after-limes —
So slow the |iull to Fame's abode,
That folks ol't slept upon the road ;—
And Homer's self, sometimes, they say,
Took to his nightcap on the Way. I
Ye Gods ! how difTerent is the story
With our new gilloping sons of glory,
Who, scorning all such slack and slow time,
Da-h to posterity in no time!
Raise but one general blast of Puff
To start your author — that 's enough.
in vain Ihe critics, set lo watch him.
Try at ihe starting-post to catch him:
He's off— the puffers carry it hollow —
The Clitics, if they please, may follow.
Ere tk£y 've laid down their first positions,
He's fairly blown through six editious
In vain doth Edinburgh dispense
Her blue and yellow pes ileiice
(That plague so awful in my time
To youn^ and touchy sons of rhyme).—
The Quailerlv, al three months' dale.
To .■! ch the' Unread One, conies too late J
And nonsense, liiter'd in a hurry.
Becomes "immorial," spite of Murray,
But, Wesj me ! — while I thus keep fooling
I hear a voice cry, " Dinner 's cooling."
That postman, loo, (who. truth to lell,
'Mong men of letters bears the bell,)
Keeps ringing, ringing, so infernally
Thai I must slop —
Yours sempiternal ly.
THOUGHTS ON MISCHIEF
BY LORD ST— NL— Y.
(his first ATTEMPT IN VER8K.)
*• Evil, be thou my good." — Milton,
How various are the inspirations
Of different men, in different nations!
As genius prompts to good or evil,
Some call the Muse, some raise the devil.
Old Socrates, that pink of sages.
Kept a pet demon, on board wages.
To go about with him incog..
And sometimes give his wiis a jog.
So L— lid— st, in mr day, we know.
Keeps fresh relays of imps below,
To lorssard, Irom that nameless spot,
His inspirations, hot and hot.
But, neat as are old L — nd— st's doings —
Beyond ev'n Hecate's ■* hell-broth" brewings —
Had I, Lord Stanley, but my will,
1 'd show you mischief preitier still ;
Mischief, combining b-iyliood's tricks
With afiC's sourest polilics;
The urchin's Ircaks, the wefran's gall,
Both diiU mix'd,and mslchless all;
A compound nought in '.listory reaches
But Machiavel, when first in breeches!
I Quandoque bonus dormitat Honierus. — Horat,
444
SATIRICAL AND HUM0R0U8 POEMS.
Yes, Mischief, Goddess multiform,
Whene'er thou, wilch-like, riJs't the slorm
Lei Stanley ride cockhorse behind Ihee —
No livelier lackey could they find thee.
And. Goddess, as I 'in well aware,
bo mischief's Jmie, you care nol loAerc,
I own, 'I will nio>t my fancy tickle
In Faddyland lo play the i^ickle ;
Having gof credil f(ir inveiiiiiig
A new, brisk method of rorinenting-
A way, they call the S anley fashion,
\Vlii:h puts all lieland in a passiooj
tin neat it hits the mixture due
Of injury and insult tnu;
So letibly il bears upou't
The stamp of Stanley's brazen front
Ireland, we're told, meaus land of Ire,
And why she's so, none need inquire.
Who sees her millions, m;*rtial, manly,
Spat upon thus by me, Lord St— ul — y.
Already in the breeze 1 scent
The whiff of coming devilment;
Of strife, to me more s irrjng far
Than the' Opium or the Sulphur war,
Or any such drug fermenls are.
Yea — sweeter In tliis 'I'ory soul
Than all such pests, from pole lo pole^
Js thf; rich, "aweliei'd venom" got
By stirring Ireland's " charmed pot ;" i
And, ihanks to practice "U ihat land,
I stir il with a master-hand.
Again thnu 'It see, when forth hath gone
The War. Church-cry, '* On, Stanley, on !»*
How Caravats and Shanavesis
Shall swarm from out their mountain nests,
Wjlhall their merry moonlight brorbera,
To whom the Church (*rep-danie to others)
Hath been the best of nursing mothers.
AgAJu o'er Erm's lich domain
Shall Rockites and right reverends reign j
And both, exempt from vulgar mil,
IJetween them sh.ire that lilheful soil;
Puzzling ambition which ti> climb at,
The post of Captain, or of Pnmate.
And so, long life to Church and Co.—
Hurrah for mischief I — here we go.
EPISTLE FROM CAPTAIN ROCK TO
LORD L— NDH— T.
Dear L — ndh— t, — you^U pardon my making thus
free, —
But form is all fudge 'twixt such "comrogues" as we.
Who, whatever the smooth views we, iu public, may
drive at,
Have both the same praiseworthy object, in private—
Namely, never lo let the o'd regions of riot,
Where Rock hath long retgn'd, have one instant of
quiet,
But keep Ireland still in that liquid we *ve taught her
To love more than meat, drink, or clothing — hot
water.
All the diff'rence betwixt you and me, as I lake it,
Is simplv, that you make the law and 1 break it;
And never, of big-wigs and small, were there two
Play'd so well into each oiher's hands as we do ;
Insomuch, that the laws you and yonrs manufacture,
Seem all made express for the Kock-boys to frncture.
Not Birmingham's self — tn her shame be it spoken —
E'er made things moie neatly conlriv*d to be broken;
*Swelter'd venom, sleeping got.
Boil thou first i' the charmed pnt."
And hence, I confess, in this island religious.
The breakage of laws— and of heads is prodigioni.
And long may it thrive, my Ex-Higwig, gay I,—
Though,'^of lale, muchlfear'd allourfun was gone bj';
As, except when some tilhe-huntlng parson show'i
sport.
Some rector — a cool hand at pistols and port.
Who *■ keens dry" his powder, but never hiuutlf —
One who, leaving his Bible to rnst on the shelf.
Sends his pious texts home, in the shape of ball-car-
tridges,
Shooting his *' dearly beloved," like partridges ; —
Except when some hero of this sort turnM out,
Or, the' Exchequer sent, flaming, its tilhe-writsS
about —
A conirivsnce more neat, I may say, without flattery,
Than e'er yet was thought of for bloodshed and bat-
tery ;
So neat, that even /might be proud, I allow,
To have hit off so rich a receipt for a row ; —
Except for such rigs turning up, now and then,
I \\as actually growing the dullest of men ;
And, had this blank tit been allowM to increase.
Might have snor'd myself down to a Justice of Peace,
Like you, Reformatir'm in Church and in Siate
Is the thing of all things I most cordially hale.
If once these curst Ministers do as thev like,
All 'a o'er, my eood Lotd, with your wig and my pike,
And one may be hung up on t'oiher, henceforlli,
Just to show what such Captains and ChaacMIor*
were worth.
But we must not despair — ev'n already Hope sees
You 're atjout, my bold Baron, lo kick up a breeze
Of the true baffling sort, such as suits me and you,
Who have box'd the whole compass of party right
ihri ugh.
And care not one farthing, as all the world knows,
So we hut raise tJie wmd. from what quarter it blows.
Forgive me, dear Lord, that thus rudely I dare
My own small resources with thine to compare:
Not ev'n Jerry Didler, in '' raiding the wind,'- durst
Compe'e, for one instant, with thee, my dear L— nd-
h— t.
But, bark, there's a shot! — some parsonic practi-
tioner?
No — merely a bran-new Rebellion CommiFainner ;
The Courts having now, with true law erudition,
Put even Rebellion itself '■ in commission."
As seldom, in this way, I 'm any man's debtor,
I'll justpny niT/ shoty and then fold up this letter.
In the mean time, hurrah for the 'lories and Rocks !
Hurrah for the parsons who fleece well 'heir flocks !
Hurrah for all mi chief in all ranks and spheres.
And, above all, hurrah for that dear House of Peers I
CAPTAIN ROCK IN LONDON.
LETTER FROM THE CAPTAIN TO TERRY
ALT, ESQ. 3
Here I am, at head-quarters, dear Terry, once more,
Deep in Tory designs, as I 've oft been before : —
for, bless them ! if h wasn't for this wrong-headcc
You and I, Terry Alt, would scircc know what to do ;
So ready they 're always, when dull we are growing,
To set our old concert nf discord a-going,
While L— ndh-t'9 the lad. wiih his Torv-Whig face.
To play, in such concert, Ihe 'rue double-base.
I had fe:ir*d this old prop rf my realm was beginnicg
To lire of his c'urse of political sinning.
^ Exchequer tithe proces'C, served under a tcm-
mission of rebellion.— CAro»ide.
3 The subordinate officer or lieutcniiil of Captain
Rock.
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
445
And, like Mother Cole, when her heyday was past,
Meant, by way of a chanK;e, lo try virtue at last.
But i wrotitsM ihe oi.j boy, who .is staunchly derides
All reforii> ill himself as in iii< st thnii^b besides j
Aud, by u.iiig Iwo faces thiough lite, all allow,
ll.is acquirM face sufiicieut fur any tliiug now.
In short, he^sall right ; and. ir mankind's old foe,
My '*Lord Harry" himself — who's the leader, we
kuow,
Of aoolher red-hot Opposition, below —
If that "Lfird," in his well-known discernment, but
spares
Me and I.— ndh-t, to look after Ireland's affairs,
We sliall Sf.on such a region of devihnent make it.
That Old Nick hli^^el^ for his own may mistake it.
Kv*n already — long life to such Rig-wi^s, sny I,
For, as long as (hey flnurish, we R-icks cannot die —
He has serv*d our ri^lii riotous cause by a speech
Whose perfeclion of mischief lie only could reach;
As it sh'iws off both At* and my men's alike.
Roth the swell of the wig, and ihe pnint <,f (he pike;
Mixes up, wiih a skill which one can't but admire,
The lawyer's cool craft wjth ihe' incendiary's fire,
And enli5i8, in the graves', most plauslMe manner,
Seven millions of souls under Rockery's banner 1
(th Terry, my man. let this speech 7ieV£r d\e ;
Throtigli the regions uf Rockland, like ilame, etit
fly;
Let each syllable dark the Law-Or.tcle ulter'd
Ry all Tipperary's wtld echoes be mut'erM,
Till ii'iufcht shall be heard, over hill, dale, nr flood,
Bui '* Y(>u Ve aliens in language^ in aced, and tJi
blood ;"
While voices, from sweet Cnnnemara afar,
Shall answer, like true Irish echoes, " We are!"
And, though false be Ihe cr\, and though sense m"jst
abhor it,
Still the' echoes may quote Law authority for it,
And nought L— ndh— t cares for my spread of do»
So he, in the end, touches cash " for the' opinion,^
Rut I 've no time for more, my deir Terry, just now,
Reinghusy In helping these Lords through their roio.
They're bad hand^ at mob-work, but, once they
brgin,
They'll have plenty of practice to break them well
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND;
BEING A SEQUEL TO THE "FUDGE FAMILY IN PARIS."
PRE FAC E.
The name of the country town, in Eneland — a
well-known f;»5hi"nable waterins-place — in which
the events that gave rise to the following correspon-
dence occurred, is, fop obvious reisons, suppressed,
'I'he Interest attached, however, to the facts and per-
sonages of the story, renders it independent of all
tune and place; and when It is recollected that the
\vhole train of romantic circumstances so fully un-
folded In these Letters has passed during the short
period which has now elapsed since the great Meet-
ings in Exeter Hall, due credil will, it is hoped, be
allowed tn ihe Editor for the rapidity with which he
has brought the de'ails before the Public ; while, at
ttie sianie time, any errms that may h^ve been the
result of such haste will, he trusts, with equal con-
sideration, be pardoned.
LETTER I.
FROM PATRICK MAG AN, ESQ., TO THE
RtV. RICHARD , CURATE OF ,
IN IRELAND.
Who d'ye think we've got here? — quite reformed
from the giddy.
Fantastic young thing, that once made such a
Why, the famous Miss Fudge— that delectable Biddy,
Whom vou and I saw once at Paris, when boys,
Id the full' blaze of b'-nnets, and ribands, and airs —
Such a ihirig as no raintiow hath C'llours to paint ;
Ere time hr«d reduced hor to wrinkles and prtyers,
And the Flirt found a decent retreat in the Saint.
Poor *' Ta** hath ivppd olf— gnne, as charily judges,
To some ch"ice Elj stum reserv'd for the Fudges ;
And Miss, with a fortune, besides expectations
From 8 >me niuch revered and much-palsied relations,
Now wants but a husband, with requisites meet,—
Age thirty, nr thereabouts — stature six feet,
And warranted godly — lo make all complete.
Nvta /.trie — a Churchman would suit, if he 's Ai^/i,
Hut Sociniaua or Catholics need not apply.
What say you, Dick? doesn't this tempt your ambi-
tion ?
The whole wealth of Fudge, that renown'd man
of pith.
All brought to the hammer, for Church competi-
tion,—
Sole encumbrance, Mifs Fudge to be taken there-
with.
Think, my boy, for a Curate how glorious a catch !
While, instead of the thousands of souls you 7ww
"atch,
To save Riddy Fudge's is all you need do ;
And her purse will, meanwhile, be the saving of you.
You may ask, Dick, how comes it that I, a poor elf.
Wanting subslance ev'n more than jour spiritual self,
Should thus generously lay my own claims ou the
shelf,
When, God knows ! there ne'er was young gentleman
>et
So much lack'd an old spinster to rid him from debt,
O' had cogenter reasons ihan mine lo assail her
With teuderlove-suit — at thesuit of his tailor.
Rut thereby there hangs a soft secret, my friend.
Which thus to your reverend breast I commend :
MissFiid^e halh a niece — such a creature ! — with
eyes
Like those sparklers that peep oul from summer-
night skies
At astronomers-roya!. and laugh with delight
ee elderly gentlemen spying all night.
While her figure — oh, bring all the gracefullest
things
That are borne through the light air by feet or by
wings.
38
446
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND,
Not a single new grace lo That form could ihev teach*
Which cnibines rii itself rhe perfecliou of e-cb;
While, rapid or slow, as her t;iirv feet fall,
The mute music of symmetry modulates atl.
Ne'er, in short, was there creature more form*d to
bewilder
A ^av youth like me, who of castles aerial
(And (ynlyoi such) am, God help me! a builder;
htill peopling e.icli mansion wiih lodgers ethereal,
And iif .V, to thii nymph of the seraph-i.ke eye,
Letting out, as you ^ee, my first floor next the sky.l
But, alas! nothing's perfect on earth — even she
This divine ii lie gi|)sy,dot-s odd th\ngi sometimes:
Talks learning — looks wi^e (rather p;iinful to see),
Prin s already in two Countv pai)ers her rhymes;
And r.tves — the sweet, charniing.'absuid little dear!
About Amulets, Bij"us, and Keepsakes, next yeir,
In a manner which plainly bad sjmpioms portends
Of thai Annual blue fit, so distressing to friends ;
A fit which, Ihoujjh lasting but one short edition,
Leaves the patient long after in sad inanitioo.
However, let's hope for the best — and, meanwhile,
Be it minestiti to bask in the niece s waim smile;
While you, if you Ve wise, Dick, will play the gallant
(Uphill wo k, I confess,) to her Saint of an Aunt.
Think, my boy, for a youngster like you, who've a
lack.
Not indeed of rupees, but of all other specie,
What luck thus to find a kmd wilch al your b.nck.
An old goose with gnld eg^s, fiom all debts to re-
lease ye !
Never mind, Ihn' the spinster be reverend and thin.
What are all the Three Graces to her Three per
Cents ?
While her acres ! — oh Dick, it don't matter one pin
How she touches the' atlections, so you touch the
And Love never looks half so plea^M as when, bless
him, he
Sings to an old lady's purse *' Open, Sesame.**
By the way, I've just heard, in my w»lks, a report,
Which, if true, will insure for your visit some sport.
'T IS rumour'd our Manager means lo bespeak
The Church tumblers from Exeier Hall for next
week ;
And cer!ainly ne'er did a queerer or rummer set
Throw, for the' amusement of Chrisliaus, a summer-
*T is fear'd their chief "MerrimaD," C — ke, cannot
come,
Being call'd off, at present, to play Punch at home;^
And the loss of so practis'd a wag in divinity
Will grieve much all loversof Jokes on the Trinity ;—
His pun on the name Unigenitus, lately
Having pleas'd Robert Taylor, the ^euerend, greatly. 3
'Twill prove a sad drawback, if absent he be,
As a wag Presbyterian 's a thing quite tn see;
And, *ninng the Five Points ot' Ibe Calvinislg, none
of 'em
Ever >ei reckon'd a point of wit one of 'em.
I That floor which a facetious garreteer called " le
premier en de^-cend mt du ciel "
^ See the Dublin Evening Post, of the 9th of this
month (Juty). for an account of a scene which lately
took place at a meeting of the Svnod of Ulster, in
which the performance of the above-nientioued part
by the personage in question appears to h^ve been
worthy of all his former repu'aHon in that line.
3 " All are punsters if they have wit lo he so ; and
therefore when an Irishman has lo commence with a
Bull, you will nalurally pronounce it a bull. (A
laugh,) Allow me to bring before ynu the famous
Bull that is called Unigenifus, referring to the only
begotten Son of Gnd.*' — Report of the Rev, Doctor*$
Sftcch June 20. in the Record Newspaper.
But ev'n though deprived of this comical elf.
We 've a host of LuJJ'oiti in Murtagh himself,
Who of all the whole troop is chief mummer and
mime,
As C— ke lakes the Grou7id Tumbling, he the Sub*
And of him we're quite certain, so, pray, come lo
LETTER II.
FROM MISS BIDDY FUDGE, TO MRS. ELIZA-
BETH .
Just in time for the post, dear, and monstrously busy,
With godly concernments — and woildly ones, too j
Things carnal and spiritual mix'd, my dear Lizzy,
In this htlle brain, till, bewilder'd and diz/y,
*Tvv)xt heaven and earth, I scarce kno\r what
Ido.
First, I 've been to see alt the gay fashions from Towd,
Which our favourite Miss Gimp for the spring has
had down.
Sleeves still worn (which / think is wise), a la folle.
Charming hats, pou de soie — though the shape rather
droll.
But you can't think how nicely the caps of tuUe lace.
With the mentoyinieres, look on this poor sinfnl face;
And I mean, if ihe Lord in his mercy thinks right,
To we>r one at Ms. Fitz-wigrams to-night.
The silks ate quiie heav'niy : — I 'm gUd, too, to say,
Gimp herself grnws more godly and good every day ;
Ha h had sweet experience — yea, ev'n doih begin
To turn from the Gentiles, and jiul away sin —
And all since her last stock of goods was laid in.
What a ble-sing one's milliner, careless of pelf,
Should thus '' walk in newness" as well as one's self I
So much for the blessings, the comforts of Spiiit
I've had since we met, and they're more than I
merit I —
Poor, sinful, weak creature in every respect,
Though ordain'd (God knows whyj to be one of the*
Elect.
But nnw for the picture's reverse. — You remember
That footman and conk-maid I hired last December;
He. a Baptist Particular — j/ie of some sect
Not particular, I fanc> , in any respect ;
But desirous, poor thing, to be fed u ith the Word,
And *' to wait," as she 'said, *' on Miss Fudge and Ihe
Lord."
Well, my dear, of all men, that Particular Baptist
At preaching a sermon, offhand, was the aptest ;
And, long as he staid, do him justice, more rich in
Sweet savour- of dnctrine, theie never was kitchen.
He preach'd in the parlour, he pteach'd in Ihe hall.
He pieach'd to the chambermaids, scullions, and alL
All heard uiih delight his reprovings ot sin.
But above all, the cuok-maid ; — oh, ne'er would she
Though in learning to save sinful souls from the fire,
She would oft let the soles she was frying Ml in,
(God forgive me for punning on points Ibis cf
piety ! _
A sad trick I 've learn'd in Bob's heathen society.)
But ah : there remains still the worst of my tale ;
C'ime. Ast'risks, and help me Ihe sad truth to veil —
Conscious stars, that at ev'n your own secret turn
p&le!
In short, dear, this preaching aiid p'^alm-singing pair,
Chosen " vessels of mercy," as / thought they were,
* In the language of the play-bills, "Ground i
Lofty Tumbling.*'
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
417
.6 together this last » ei
whip otf as much poods
Nut forgetling some scores
) from my
And beside
it-
^ large as fhemselve
I tlie drawer— 1 iieglecling to lock
My ne.it "Morning Manna, done U[) fur the pocket,*' *
5 lliere e'er known a ca>e so distressing, dear Liz?
It has made me quite ill : — and the worst uf it is,
When rogues are ali pious, 't is hard lo delect
IVhich rogues are the reprobate, which ihe elect.
■■■ is man " had a Co!/," he said— impudent mockery !
What call had he to my liueu and ciuckery ?
I now, and have been for Ih
Of some godly )oung couple ttr
The enclos'd
eye
is week past, in chase
IS parr lo replace,
nis have just met my
In that veri'rable Monihly where Saints advertise
For such temporal comfoits as ihis world supplies; 5
I And the fruits of ilie Spirit are properly made
An essential in every craft, calling, and trade.
Where Ihe' attorney requires for his 'prentice some
youlh
Who has " learn'd to fear God and to walk in llie
truth;"
Where the sempstress, in search of employment, de-
clares.
That pay is no object, so she can have prayers ;
nJ the' Est.iblish'd Wine Company proudly gives out
That the whole of the firm, Co. and all, are devout.
H.ippy London, one feels, as one reads o'er the pages.
Where baiiits are so much more abundant than sages ;
Where pirsous may soon be all laid on the shelf,
ch Cit can cile cliapler and verse for himself,
And the striuus fre<iuelliers of market and dock
All lay in religion as pari of their stock. 3
lorning Manna, or Briti-h Ve:
I for the pocket." and chiefly ii
••hook, neatly
ot'the British V
design is, we are told, 'Mo induce the iiihabit.inis i
Great Britain and Ireland to comniit one and tli
same veise of Scripture to memory every morning.
Alieady, it is known, seveial thousand persons in
Scotland, besides lens of thousands in America and
Africa, are euciT/ mwliitig learning the sarnt vfrse."
^ The Evangelical Magazine — A few specimens
taken at random from the wrapper of this highly
esteemed periodical will fully jusiil'y the cliar.acter
which Mi-8 Fudge has here given of it. " Wanted,
in a pious pa^vnbroke^'s family, an ac ive lad as an
apprentice." " Wanted, as housemaid, a young female
who h.is been broughl to a saving knowledge of the
truth," " Wanled immedia'ely, a man of decided
piety, to assist in the baking b siness." *' A gen le-
man who uriderslaiids the Wine -Inde is desirous of
entering irrlo par'nership. &c. &c. He is not desirous
of being connected with any one whose system of
business is not of Ihe siricte 1 integrity as in the sight
of God, and seeks connecion only with a truly pious
man, either Churchman or Dissenter,''
3 Accoiding to the b'e Mr. Irving, there is even a
peculiar form of theology got up e.vp'Pssly for the
money-market. " I know how f.ir " ide," he s,iys,
"of Ihe mark my views of Christ's work in the flesh
will be viewed by those who are working with the
stock-jobbing theology of Ihe religious world." " Let
these preacher-," he adds, "(for I will not call them
theologians), cry up, broker-like, their article." —
Morning IVatch. — tio. iii. 442, 443.
From the statement of another writer, in the sai
publication, it would appear that Ihe stnckbrok
have even set up a new Divinity of their own. '*'rhis
shows," says the writer in queslion, "that the doc-
trine of the union between Christ aod his members is
quite »s essential as that of substituiion, by taking
Who can tell to what lenglhs we may go on imprnv-
ingi
When thus tnro' all London Ihe Spir:t keeps moving.
And lieaveii's so in vogue, ibat each stiop aiverlise-
meiit
Is now not so much for the earth as the skies meant?
P.S.
Have mislaid the two paragraphs— Can't stop to look,
But both describe charming — both Footman and
Cook.
She, "decidedly pious" — with pathos deplores
The' increase of French cook rv, and sin, on lur
shores ;
And adds — (while for further accounts she refers
To a great (jospei preacher, a cousin of hers,)
That "though soma make their Sabbalhs mere mat-
ter-iif-fuii days.
She asks but for tea and the Gospel, on Sundays."
The footman, loo, full of Ihe true sav iiig knowledge ;—
Has late been lo Caiiibi idge — to Trinity College ;
Serv'd las' a young gentleman, studying diyinily,
But left — not approving the morals of Trinily,
P.S.
I enclose, too, according to prom'se, some scraps
Of my Journal — Ih'at Day-book 1 keep of my
heart ;
Where, .nt some little items, (partaking, perhaps,
More of earlh than of heaven,) Ihy prud'ry may
start.
And suspect jiwmething tender, slv girl as thou art.
For the pre-ent, I 'in niute-bul. whaV'er mav befall,
Uecollect. dear, (in Hebrews, xiii. 4,) Si. Full
Hath himself declar'd, "marriage is honourable in
EXTRACTS FROM MY D I A K V.
Monday.
, new chale gown on — pretty.
No one to see me in it — pity!
Flew in a passion with Friz, m
The Lord forgive ' '
But got her to sing me luuili fsal
While she curl'd my hair, which
Nothing so soothes a Christian lit
As sacred music — heavenly art 1
he look'd dismav'd ;
Tiusday,
At two, a visit from Mr. Magan —
A remarkably hand.snine, nice young man ;
And, all Hibernian though he be.
As civilis'd, strange lo say, as we !
I own this young man's spiritual state
Hath much engross'd my ihouglils of late ;
And I mean, as soon as my niece is gone,
To have sometilk with him thereupon.
At present, I nought can do or say.
But Ihat troublesome child is in the way:
Nor is there. I think, a doubt Ihat he
Would also her alisi nee ninth prefer,
As ofi, while li-tening intent lo inc.
He's forc'd, from politeness, to look at her.
Heigho I — what a blessing should Mr. Magan
Tu'U out, after all, a " renewed" young man;
And hi me should fall Ihe lask, on earlh.
To assist at Ihe dear youth's second birth.
Blest thought I and, ah, more blest ihe tie,
Were it heaven's high will that he and 1 —
which Latter alone the Stock-Exchange Divtnily hat
been produced."— No. x. p. 375.
Among the ancients, we know the money-market
was provided with more than one presiding Deity —
" Uese Pecuni.-e (says an ancient author) commenda-
bantur nt pecuniosi essent."
448
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
But I blush to write the nuptial uoid —
Should wed, as yt. I'aul says, "in iheJLord;"
A'ol l/ns world s wedlock — gross, gall:vnt,
Bui pure — as when Ainrani iiiairied his aunt.
Our a^es ditier — but who would count
Oiie^si.aiural sn-ful Uiv.h aiiiou,,t.
Or look IN Ihe Kegisier's vulgar pase
For a regular Iwice-boin Christian's age,
VVhn, bltrs^cti piivilege ! (miIv then
Bi-guis to live when lie's burn again.
And, ciunlMig in t/Us way — let me see —
1 myself but hve years old shall be,
And deir Magari, when the' event takes place,
All aciiial new-born child of grace —
Should Hea%'n in mercy so dispose —
A six-h>ol baby, in swaddling clothes.
IVednesday,
Findina; mvself, bv some good fate.
With ISlr/Magaii'left tclea-tctey
H-id just begun — having stirr'd the fire,
And drawn mv chair near his — to inquire
Wh.t his noiinns were of Original Sin
When thai iiaut;hiy Fanny ai^aiii bouncM in,
And all the sweet things I had got to say
Of the Fle;U and (he Devil weie whisk'd away !
Much grieved to observe that Mr. Magan
Isaciually pleased and amused wiih Fan!
What cliaruis any sensible man can see
In a child so iooiishiy joung as she —
r.ut ju-sl eighieen, come next May-day,
With eyes, like herself, full of nought but play —
Is, I own, an exceeding puzzle to me.
LETTER III.
FROM MISS FANNY FUDGE, TO HER COU-
SIN, MISS KITTY .
STANZAS (ENCLOSED) TO MY SHADOW; OR,
WHY?— WHAT?— HOW?
Dark comrade of my path ! while earth and sky
Thus wed their charms in bridal light array'd,
Why in this bright hour, ualkM ihuu ever mgh,
Blackening my footsteps wiih thy length of shade —
Dark comrade, Why ?
Thou mimic Shape that, mid these flnwery scenes,
Gtidest beside me o er each sunny spoi,
Sadd'ning tht-m as thou goesi —say, what means
So dark an adjunct to so 1. right a lot —
Grim gnblin, Whit?
Slill, as to pluck sweet flowers I bend my brow,
Thou benilesf, too -then rjsesl when'l ri^e; —
Say, mute mvsteiious Thing ! how is 'i that thou
Thus coui'st beiween me and tho'C blessed skies —
Dim sliadow, How?
^ADDITIONAL STANZA, BY ANOTHER
HAND.)
Thus said I to (hat Shape, far less in grudge
Thnn gloom of snul ; while, as I e^tger cried,
Oh, Why? What? How?- a Voice, ttiat one might
juiige
To be some Irish ech'^'s, faint replied,
Oh, fudge, fudge, fudge !
You have here, dearest Coz, my last lyric effusion;
And, With it, thai odious '^iddaionalsr.mza."
: Which Aunt will insist I must keep, as conciusion,
i And which, you'll at mice see, is Mr. Magaii's;— a
I Most crue" and dark-designM extravaganza,
And part of that plot in which he and my Auot are
To slitle the flights of my genius by banter.
Just so H was with Byron's young eagle-eyM strain.
Just so did they launt him ; — but vain, critics, vain
All your ellbrts to saddle Wil»s fire with a chain !
To blot oil I the splendnur of Fancy's young stream,
Or crop. In its cradle, her newly-lledg'd beam ! I !
Thou perceiv'st, dear, that, ev'n while these lines I
indite.
Thoughts burn, brilliant fancies break out, wrong or
right,
And 1 'm all over poet, in Criticism's spite i
That my Aunt, who deals on!y in Psalms, and regards
Messrs. Sternhold and Co. as the first of ail bards —
Thai she should make light of uiy works I can't
bUnie ;
But that nice, handsome, odious Magan — what a
shame \
Do you know, dear, that, high as on most points I
rm really afr.iid — afier all, I — must hate him.
He is so provoking — nought's safe from his tongue;
He si>ares no one authoress, ancient or young.
Were you Sappho herself, and in Keepsake or Bijou
Once shone as contributor, Lord how he 'd quiz yoH I
He iHughs at all Montlilies- i 've aciually seen
A sneer on his brow at the Court Magazine I —
While of Weeklies, poor things, there's but one he
peru es,
And buys every book which that Weekly abuses.
Hut 1 care not how others such s^rca'^ln nuy fear,
Otie spirit, at least, will not bend to his sneer ;
And though tried by the fire, my young genius shall
Uninjuied as ciucificd gold in the furnace I
(I suspect the word "ciucified" must be made " cru-
cible,"
Before this fine image of mine is producible.)
And now, dear — to (el! you a secret which, pray
Only tiu>t iosuch fritnds as with safely you may—
You know, and, indeed the whole county s-uspecta
(Though the Editor ofien my best things rejects),
That the ver es sign'd so, jf |^, which you now and
then see
In our Ci'untv GazeCe (vide last) are by me.
But 'I is dreadful to ihiiik uhat provoking mistakes
The vile cuuntry Fress in one's prosody makes.
For ynu know, dear— I may, \vithout vamty, hint-
Though an angel shuuld write, still 't is di:vils must
print ;
And you can't think what havoc these demons some-
Choose to make i f one's sense, and what 's woree, of
one's rhymes.
But a ueek or two since, in my Ode upon Sprine,
Which 1 mtant ti* have made a n:osI beautiful thing.
Where I talk'd of the *'de\\diops from freshly-
bh.wn roses,"
The nasty things made it "from freshly-blown
noses 1"
And once when, to please my cross Aun', I had tried
To conmieniN;ite some saint of her clique, who'd
just died,
Having said he '* had tak'n up in heav'ii his position,"
Tiiey made it, he'd "tak'n up to heav'n his phy=i-
This IS very disheartening;— but brighter dsys shine,
I lejnice, love, to say, both for me and the Nine;
For, what do you think ?-so delighttui : next yea--,
Oh, jirepare, dearest girl, for the grand news pre-
pare—
I »m to write in the Keepsake — yes, Kitty, my dear,
To wriic in the Keepsake, as sure as you're
there ! I
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND,
449
T'olher night, at a Ball, 't was my fortunate chance
Wiih a very nice elderly Ibndy to dance,
\Vho, 't was piain, fruiii some bin's whicli I itowand
then cauglit,
Was llie author of sonuthmg — ouc couldn'l tell
u hat i
But his satisfied manner left no room to doubt
It was bonicthiug that Cvlburu had lately hrouglit
out.
And then stilled the point in a hold £71 avaiiL
In the couise of Uus talk 'twas that, having just
hinted
That / too had Poems which — lonfi'd to be prinled,
He protested, kind man ! he had seen, at first sight,
1 was actually loin in the Keepsake lo write.
"In the Annals of Kngland let some,'* he said,
*' But a place in her Annuals, Lady, be thine !
" Kven now future Ktepsakes seem brighily to rise,
"Through the vista of years, as I gaze on those
" All letter'd and press'd, and of lar^e-paper size 1"
How unlike lliat Magan, who my genius would
siiioiher,
And how we, true geniuses, find out each ether!
This, and much more he said, with that fine frenzied
glance
One 80 rarely now sees, as we slid through the
Till between us M was finally fixM that, next year,
In this exquisite task I my pen slioutd ent^age ;
And, at parting, he sioopM duwn and lispM in my ear
Tiirse mjstical words, which I could but ju^l hear,
"Terms fur rhjme — if it's jjritne — ten and six-
pence per page "
Think. Ki:ly, my dear, if I heard his words right,
What a mint of half-guineas this small lie.kd con-
tains;
If for nothing to write is itself a delight,
Ve Gods, what a bliss to be paid tur one's strains!
Ha.ving dropp'd the dear fellow a courl'sy profound,
Ort'at once, to i-.iuireall ahnut Inni, I ran;
And from what 1 cjuld learn, do you know, desFi
• found
That he 's quiie a new rpecies of litVary man ;
One, whose task is — to u hat will not fashion accun-
toni us? —
To cdite live authors, as if they were poslhumou?.
I'or ins'ance — the plan, to be sure, is the odd-
rst !-
If any young he or she author feels modest
In venturing abroad, this kind gentleman-usher
Lends promptly a hand to the infresiinst blusher;
Iiuiiles a smonth Preface, brings merit to light,
Wtnch else migh', by accident, shrink out of sight,
Aiid, in short, lenders reader^and critics poliie.
My Aunt ^ays — though scarce on such points one
can credit her
He was Lady Jane Thingumbob's last novel's editor,
Tis certain the fashion's but newly invented ;
And quick as the change of alt things and all
names is.
Who knows but, as authors, like girls, v^re •presented^
We, girls, may he cdittd soon al i^t, James's ?
I must now close my letter — there's Aunt, in full
screech.
Wants to take me to bear some great Irvingile
preach.
God forgive me, I 'ni not much inclined, I must a^y,
To go and sit still to be preach'd at, tO'day.
And, l>e.sides — 't will be all ugainst dancing, no
doubt,
Which my poor Aunt abhors, with such hatred de-
vout.
Thai, sn far from presenting young nymphs with a
For their skill in the dance, as of Herod is said,
She'd wi>h their own be^ds in ;he platter, insiead.
There.aiaiu — cumiue, Maam ! — I'll write mure, if
leu,
Before the post gees,
YouraiTeclionate Fan.
Funr o'clock.
Such a sermon! — though not about dancing, mj
dear;
'T was nnlv on the' end of the world being ne:ir.
Eigiiteen Hundred and Forty's the year that some
stale
As the time fnr that accident — some Forty Ei?ht : l
And 1 own, of the two I M prefer mucli the latter.
As then I shall be an old maid, and 't wc'n'r matrer.
Once more, love, good-b}e — 1 've to make a new
cap;
But am now so dead tired with this horrid mishap
Of (be end of the world, ttiat 1 must take a nap.
LETTER IV.
FROM PATRICK MAGAN, ESQ. TO THE REV.
RICHARD .
He comes from Erin's speechfnl shnre
Like fervid kettle, bubli!ii;g o'er
With hot eflusions— hot and weak ;
Sounj, Humbug, all vour hfillowest drums,
He comes, of Erin's 'martyrdoms
To Britain's well-fed Church to speak.
Puff him, ye Journals of the Lord,^
Twin prosers, Wa'chman and Record!
Journals re<ierv'd for realms nf blis?,
Being much too ?ood to tell in this.
Prepare, ye wealthier Saints, ynur dinners.
Ye Spinsters, spread your tea and crumpets;
And you, ye cmnile^s Tiac's for Sinners,
Blow all your little penny Irumpels.
He comes, the reverend man, to tell
To all who still the Church's part take,
Tales of parsonic woe, that well
Might make ev'n grim Dissenter's heart ache: -»»
Of ten whole Bishops snalch'd away
For everfr.Tn the light of day;
(With God knows, too, how many more,
For wh 'm that doom i^ yet in store)—
Of Rectors cruellv conipell'd
From Bath and'Chelfenham to haste home,
Because the tithes, by P^t withheld,
Will not to Bath or Cheltenham come;
Nor will the flocks consent to pay
Their par-ons ihus to stay away ;—
Though, wi'h such parsons, one may doubt
If 't isn't money well laid out ;—
Of all, in short, and each degree
Of that onco happy Hierarchy,
1 With regard to the exact time of this event, there
appears to be a difference only of about two or three
yeirs among 'he respective calcuhiors. M. Alp^-on^e
Nicole, Dncteur en Droit, et Avocal. nerely doi.Lts
whether it is to he in 1846 or 1S47. "A ce le epnque,"
he says *' 'es fideles peuvent esperer de voir s'elfectuer
la purification du Sancluaire."
i *' Our anxious desire is to be found on the side of
the Lord." — Record Newspaper.
2d
450
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
Which us'd to rA. in wrallh so pleasantly ;
Bui now, alas, is donni'd to »ee
lis surplus brought lo nonplus presently !
Such are the themes this man of pathos,
Prjelof prove and Lord of haih^s,
W.ll preacli a„d p each I'ye, till vou>dMll again
Then, hiil hrri,, Siints, with joor' acclaim
Shout to ihesars his luin-ful n me,
Which Murlagh was, ere known lo fame,
But now i. Monimtr OAlulligau 1
All true, Dick, true as you '
en hii
liuurs since, arrive,
Murl.ish is come, the gjeal Itinerant —
Anl Tuesday, in the market-place,
Inteiidj, In every saint and eioner in 't.
To state what Ae calls Ireland's Case;
Meanins thereby the case of hit shop,
Of curate, vicar, rector, bishop.
And all those other grades seraphic.
That make men's souls their special traffic,
Though carina; not a pin which way
The" erratic souls go, so they jJoy. —
Just as some roguish country nurse,
Who takes a foundling babe to suckle,
First pop, the payment m her purse,
Then leaves poor dear lo — suck i!5 knuckle;
Ev'n so these reverend rigmaroles
Pocket the money — starve the souls.
Murta?h, however, in his glory,
Will tell, next week, a ditlerenl s'oty :
Will n.ake out all tliese men of barier,
As each a saint, adoiuinglil niarlyr.
Brought to (he j(afte— i. e. a Ucf one.
Of all Ihtir martyrdom- the chief one;
Though try them ev'n at ihis they 'II bear it,
If lender .lud wash'd down with claret.
Meanwhile Miss Fudge, who loves all lions.
Your saintly, next lo grea' and high 'uns —
(A Vrscount, be he what he niav,
Would cut a saint out, any day,)
Has just announc'd a godlv rout.
Where Murlagh 's to be fii'st brought out,
And shown in his lame, mnk day stale :—
"Pra>'rs, half-past seven, tea at eight."
Ev'n so the circular missive orders
Pink cards, with cherubs round the borders.
Haste, Dick — you 're lost, if you lose time;—
S|iinsters at f irty-fivc grow giddy.
And Murtagh, with his tropes sublime.
Will surely carry off rdd Bitldy,
Unless sonre spark at once propose.
And distance him by dovvnrrght prose.
That sxk, rich squire, whose wealth and lands
All pats, they say, to Biddy's hands,
(The patron, Dick, of three fat rectories!)
Is dying of angina pectoris;—
So that, unless you 're slirriiig soon
Murtagh, that priest of puff and 'pelf,
May come in for a honey-mooji.
And be the man of it, himself!
As for me, Dick - 'tis whim, 'tis folly.
Cut this yoirng niece absorbs me wholly.
Trs true, the girl 's a vile verse-maker —
Would rhyme all nature, if you 'd let her:—
But ev'n her oddities, plague lake her.
But make me love tier all the better.
Too true ir is, she 's bitten -.nlly
Wi h this new rage for rhyming badiv.
Which la'e liatir sei^'J all r.nks and dasses,
Down lo that new Estate, •' the masses;"
Till one pursuit all tastes combines —
One common rail-road o'.ir Parnassus,
Where, sliding in those t iiieful g-ooves
Cill'd couplets, all creati rn moves, '
I And the whole world riiirs mad in tinet.
Add to all this — what 's even still wine.
As rhyme itself, though slill a curse.
Sounds better to a chinking purse
Scarce sixpence hath my ctiarmer got.
While I can musier just a groat ;
So that, coinpiiting self and Venus,
Tenpencein uld clear ihe amount between n>.
However, things may yet prove better: —
Meaiilime, what awful lengrh of letter!
And how, while heaping thus with gibes
1 he Pega-us of modern scribes,
My own small hobby of farrago
Haih beat the pace at which ev'n they go!
IE TTER V.
FROM LARRY o'bRANIGAN, IN EPIGLAND, TO
HIS WIFE JUDY, AT MULUNAFAD.
Dear Judy, I sind you this bit of a letlher.
By mail-coach conveyance — for ivant of a betther-
To tell you what luck in this world 1 have had
Since I left the sweet cabin, at Mullinafad.
Och, Judy, thai night I — when the pig which we
meant
To dry-nurse in Ihe parlour, to pay off the rent,
Juiianna, the crayihur— that name was the death of
On' —
Gave us the shiip, and we saw the last breath of her!
And lltere were Ihe childher, six innocent sowls
For their nale little play-fellow tuning up howls';
While yourself, my dear Judy (though grieviu 's a
folly),
Stud Over Jnlianna's remains, melancholy —
Cry in', half for ihe crayihur, and half for the money,
"Arrah, why did ye die till we'd sowld you, my
honey ?''
But God's will be done! — and then, faith, sure
enough.
As the pig was desaiced, 'I was high lime to be off.
So we golher'd up all the poor duds we could catch
Wk'd the owld cabin door-, put the kay in the thatc'h.
Then lus laave of each other's sweet lips in the dark,
And set off, like the Chrishlians turn'd out of the
."he six childher with you, my dear Judy, ochone!
And poor 1 wid myself, left condolin' alone.
How I came lo Ihis England, o'er say and o'er lands
And what cruel hard walkiii' 1 've had on my hands'
Is, at this present whtin', ino ladious lo speik.
So i 'II minlion il all in a postscript, next week :—
Only slarv'd 1 »as, surely, as thin as a lath,
Till I came ro .an up-and-down place ihey cill Ra'h,
Where, as luck was, 1 maiiag'd to make a meal's
nieat,
B>- dhiaggio owld ladies all day ihrough the street -
Which Iheir dodhors (who pocket, like fun. the
pound starlins,)
Have brought into fashion In plase Ihe owld darlins.
JJiv'l a boy in all Bath, though /say il, could carry
The grannies up hill half so handy as Larry •
And the higher Ihey liv'd, like owld crow, in the air,
1 he more / was wanted to lug ihem up there.
But luck has two handles, dear Judv, they say
And mine has biith handles put on the wron» way
For, pondlrerin', one morn, on a drame 1 'd j',s, had
Of yourself and the babbies, at Mu linaf.ad
Och, there came oer my sinses so plasin a flullher,
1 hat I spilt an owld Counle s right clane is the
gutther,
' The Irish peasantry are very fond of giving fine
names lo their pigs. I have heard of one insiani-e 'a
^- .^*'.\ T"'!^" ';' >'""°S pigs were named, at their
birth, Abelard and Eloisa.
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND
451
Muff, fe.iit«ers and all !— Ihe dcscint was most awful,
And — what was still worse, hilh — 1 knew 'twas
unlawful
For, though, wilh mere icJ07«cn, no very great evil,
■1' iipscl an ni>lJ Ccuiilas in IlaHi is Ihe divil !
So, liflii.' Ihe chair, "illi helsclf safe upon it,
(For nolhin'ahiM,! Iier was W(, (nil her bonnet,)
Wilhoul even nienlionin' " liy ycur lave, ma'am,"
1 tuk to my heels and — here, Judy, i am !
What 's Ihe name of this town 1 can't say very well,
B it your heart sure will junij) when you bear what
befell
Your ow n beautiful Larry, the very first day,
(And a Sunday it was, shinin' out mighty gay,)
Wien ■:.'> brogues to Ibis city of luck fouud their
HeLl' hungry, God help me, and happeniii' to stop.
Just to dine on the shinell of a pasihry-cooks shop,
1 saw, in Ihe wii.dow, a large printed paper.
And read there a name, och ! that made my heart
Thougli prin'ed it was in some quare ABC,
'I'liai migh' b ilher a ^choolma^lber, let alone me.
Cy gor, you 'd have laughed, Judy, could you've but
listeiiM,
As, douljtin', 1 cried, "why it I'j.' — no, it w>rf;"
But it tccM, aflcr all — for, by spellin' quiie slow,
I'irst I made out "Rev. Mortimer"— then a great
•" 0 ;"
And, at lasl, by hard rcadin' and rackio' my skull
again,
Out it came, nate as imported, " O'Mulligan !"
Up I jump*d, like a sky-lark, my jew'l, at that
name, —
Div'l a doubt oa my mind, but it must be the same.
" M.isther Murthagh, himself," says 1, '■ all the world
over !
My own fi sther-brolher — by jinks, I'm in clover.
Though tlure, in Ibc playbill, he figures so grand,
One wei-nurse it was brought us but/i up by hand.
And he'll not let me sblarve in the intmy's land !"
Well, lo make a long hishtory short, niver doubt
But I manag'd. in no lime, to hiid Ihe lad out ;
And the joy of ihe meetin' belhuxl him and me,
Such a pair of owhl cumro^ues — was chariniii' :o see.
Nor is Murthagh less plas'd with the'evint Ihan/am,
As lie jusl then was wanting a Valley-de-shani ;
And, for dressin^ a giiiileman, one way or t' other,
Your naie Irish lad is beyaiit every o;tier.
But now. Judv, comes the qnare pari of the case;
And, in Ihrolh, 11 's Ihe only drawback on my place,
' T was Murthagh's ill luck to becro-s'd, asycu know,
Wilh an awkward mishfor'une some short time ago;
Tlial's to say, he turn'd Protestant — u)/iy, 1 can't
lam ;
But, of ciiorse, he knew best, an' it 's not my consarn.
All I know is, we both we-e good Calh'lics, ai nurse
And myself am so still — naylher betlher nor worse.
Well, our bargain was all right and tight in a jittey,
And lads more contini never yet left tfie l.iifey,
When Muriliagh — or Morthinier, as he's now
chrishen'd,
His natnc being cnnvarted, at laist, if he isn't —
J.nokin' sly al nie (faiih, 't was divartin' lo >ee)
^Of coarse, you 're a Proleslanl, Larry," says he.
Upon wliich says my. elf, w id a wink j"si as shly,
" Is 't a Proiesfari' ? — oh, yes, f avi^ sir," says I ; —
And ihere the chat ended, ar,d div'l a more word
Conlrovarsial between us lias since then occurr'd.
What Murthagh could mane, and, in troth, Judy
dear.
What / iny.*ef/ meant, doesn't seem migtily clear;
But Ihe ibiuih is, though still for the Owld Light a
stickler,
1 was just then too slitarv'd to be over partic'Iar : —
And, God knows, between us, a comic'l
Of twin rrotestautj couldn't be
y where.
Next Tue-day (as towld in the play-bills I min-
tion'd,
Address'd lo Ihe loyal and godly intinlion'd,)
His riveieiice, my master, comes foi ward lo preach,—
Myself doesn't kmiw wlielher sani or .speech,
Hul it 's al I one lo him, he 's a dead hand al each ;
Like us, Paddys, in gin'ral, whose skill in orations
l^uite bothers the blarney of all other nations.
But, whisht! — there's his Rivirence, shoutin' out
" Larry,"
And sorra a word more will this shmall paper carry ;
So, here, Judy, ends my short bil ot a leillier,
Which, laix, I'd have made a much bigger and
heither.
But div'l a one rost-ollice hole in this town
t'll to swallow a dacent siz'd billy-dux down.
So pood luck to the childer! — tell Mdly, I love her;
Ki-s Ooiiagh's sweet mouth, and kiss Kaity all over-
Not forgctiin' the mark of ihe rtd-cuirani whiskey
She gol al Ihe fair when yourself was so frisky.
The heav'ns be your bed '. — 1 will write, when I can
again,
Yours to the woild's end,
Larry O'Branioan.
LETTER VI.
FROM MISS BIDDY FITDGE, TO MRS.
ELIZABETH .
How I grieve you 're not with us I — pray, come, if
ynu can,
Ere we 're robb'd of this dear, oratorical man.
Who combines in himself all Ihe mulliple glory
Of Orangeman. Saint, quondam I'apisI and Tory; —
(Choice inixlure! like that from which, duly con-
founded,
The best son of brass was, in old times, com-
pounded)—
The sly and Ihe sainlly, the worldly and godly,
All fused down in brogue so deliciously oddly !
In short, he 's a dear — and such audiences draws,
Such loud peals of hiu^hler and shouts of applause,
As ca7t't but do good to Ihe Prolestanl cause.
Poor dear Irish Church!— he lo-day skelch'd a
Of her hisi'ry and prospects, to me al least new,
And which (if it takes as ii ought) must aiouse
The whole Christian world her jusl riehls to espouse.
As to rcajonijig — you know, dear, that 's now of no
usi;,
People slill will their/nc(j and dry.fig™-ej produce,
As if saving the souls of a Prole lani flock were
A tiiii'gto'be managed "accordiuB to Cocker!"
In vain do we say, (when rude radicals hector
At paying some ihoiisands a year to a Rector,
In places where Proteslants 7ic-ucr ytt were,)
"Who knows but young Proieslanis may \m bora
Ihere?
And graining such accident, think, what a shame.
If ihey didn't find Rector and Clerk when they
came !
II is clear ihai, without such a staff on full pay,
'I'hese li'lle Church embryos mtut go aslray ;
And, while fools are computing what Parsons would
cost,
Precious souls are meanwhile to the' Establishment
lost !
In vain do we put the case sensibly thus ; —
They 'II slill wilh their figures and facts make a fuss,
And ask " if, while all, choosing each his own road.
Journey on, as we can, tow'rds the Htav'nly Abode,
452
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND,
It h right ihat seven eighlhs of the t av'llers should
p;iy
For cnie eighth ihat goes quite a diffL-rent way ?"—
Just as if, foolish projtle, this wasii'i, in reaiily,
A pr; of of the Churcfi'^ txlremt: I,beialiiy,
'J hat, thougli hal:iig i'.ip'ry in other respects,
She HI Calholtc v/jo'icy \u rm u'.iy oltjec's;
And so lib'ial her very besl Saluis. in this sense,
That they ev'n gi to lieav'u at the Ca h'lic s expense.
Rut, thous;h clear to our minda all these arguments be,
People caiuint or will not their c gency see ;
Anii, 1 grieve to confess, did the prior Irish Church
Stand on reasoiiii^g aloue, she M he Itft in the lurch.
It was therffore, dear Lizzy, with joy most sincere,
That I heari this nice Rev rend O' iomtfAmg- we've
here,
Produce, from the depths of his knowledge and
reading.
A view of ih.it marvellous Church, far exceeding,
In novelty, force, and profnunrfness of thought.
All Ihat Irving liiniself, iu his glory, e'er taught.
Looking through the whole history, present and
past,
Of the Irish Law Church, from the first to the laBt;
Considering how siran^e i's original birth —
Such a thing having never before been on earth —
How oppos'd to the inslinct, Ihe law, and the force
Uf natu'e and reason has been its whole course;
'Ihrou^h ceuluries eucount'iing repugnance, resist-
ance.
Scorn, hste, execration — yet still in existence!
Considering all this, the co. elusion he draws
Is that Nature exempis this one Church from her
That Reas^n, dumb-founder'd, gives np the dispute,
And before the portentous anom'ly stands mute , —
That, in short, 't is a Miracle I — and, once begun,
And transmitted through a?cs, from father to son,
For the honour of miracles, outfit to go on.
Never yet was conclusion so cogent and sound,
Or so fiiteJ Ihe Church's weak foes to confound.
For, obseive, the more low all her merits they place,
The more they make out the miraculous case.
And the more all good Christians must deem it pro-
fane
To disturb such a prodigy's manellous reign.
As for scriptural proofs, he quite plac'd be}ond
doubt
That the whole in the Apocalypse may be found out,
As clear and well-provM, he would venture to swear.
As any thing else has been ever found there : —
While the mode in which, bless the dear fellow, he
de,ils
With that whole lot of vials and trumpets and seals,
And Ihe ea.e with which vial on vial he strings,
Shows liim quite a first-rate at all these iort of
things.
So much for theology : — as for the' afTairs
Uf this temporal wurld — the light, drawing-room
And gay toils of the toilet, which, God knows, I seek,
From no love of such things, but in humbleness
meek,
And to be, as the* Apostle was, '* weak with the
weak,'*
Thou wilt tind quite enough (till I'm somewhat less
busy)
In the' extracts enclosed, my dear news-loving Lizzy.
EXTRACTS FROM MY DIARY.
Thursday
Last night, having nought more holy to do,
Wrote a letter to de.ir Sir Andrew Agnew,
About the " Do-nothing-on-Sunday Club,"
Which wc wish by some shorter name to dub .■ —
As the use of more vowels and consonants
Than a Christian, on Sunday, really wants,
Is a grievance that ou£;hl to be dune away,
And the Alphabet left to rest, that day.
Sunday,
Sir Andiew's answer ! — but, shocking to say,
Being Iranked unthinkingly yesterday,
To the horror of Agnews yei unborn,
It arriv'd on this blessed Sunday morn ! ! —
How {■hocking I — the postman's hClf cried "shame
on "t,"
Seeing the' immaculate Andrew's name on 't ! I
What will the Club do?— meet, no doubt.
»']■ is a matter thai totichps the Class Devout,
And the friends of the Sabbath 77iust speak out.
Tuesday,
Saw to-day, at the raffle — and saw it with pain —
That those stylish Filzwigrams begin to dress plsin.
Even gay little Sophy smart trimmings renounces —
She, who long has stood by me (hrough all sorts of
flouiice=,
And showed, by upholding the toilet's sweet rites,
That we, girls, may be Christians, without being
frights.
This, I own, much alarms me; for though one's
religious.
And strict and — all that, there's no need to be
hideous ;
And why a nice bonnet should stand in the way
Of one's going to heav'u, U isn't easy to say.
Then there's Gimp, the poor thing— if her custom
we drop,
Pny, what 's to become of her soul and her shop ?
If by saints like ourselves no more orders are given,
She'll lose all the interest she now takes in heaven;
And this nice little "fire-brand, pluck'd from the
burning,"
May fall in again at the very next turning.
IVedncsday.
M<mi.— To write to the India-Mission Society;
And send 201. — heavy tax upon piety !
Of all Indian luxTies we now-a-dajs boagi.
Making "Company's Christians"! periaps costs the
mo>t.
And the worst of it is, that these converts full grown.
Having lived in our faith mostly die in their oto/i,*
Praying hard, at the last, to some god, who, they say.
When incarnate on earth, used to steal curds and
whey. 3
Think, how horrid, my dear 1 — so that all 's thrown
away;
And (what is still worse} for the rum and the rice
They consum'd, while believers, we samls pay the
price.
Still 'tis cheering to find that we do save a few —
The Report gives six Chiistians for Cunnangeadoo ;
Doorkotchum reck^-ns seven, and four Trevandmm,
While but one and a half's left at Cooroopadum.
In this last-mention'd place 'tis the baibers enslave
For, once they turn Chrislian?, no barber will shave
J The title given by the natives to such of their
countrymen ns become converts.
^ Of such reUpses we find innumerable instances
in the accounts of ihe Missionaries.
3 The god Krishna, one of the incarn^ttions of Ihe
god Vishnu. *' One day (^ajs Bhagsvata) Kri-hna's
pla\fellows complained to Tasuda that he had pilfered
and ate their curds."
* "Roteen wants shaving; but the barber here
will not do it. Ue is run awa^-, lest he should be
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
453
To atone for this rather small Heathen amount,
Some I'apisis, turn'd Christians,* are tacU'd to the
account.
And though, to ca'ch Papists, one needn't go so far,
iSuch hsh are worth himking, wherever they are ;
And now, when so g-eat ot audi coivcrts the lack is,
Chie Papist well caught ia wonh luiUiOLB of Blackies.
Fiiday.
Last night had a dream so odd and funny,
1 ciininit rit-ibt recording il here. —
Me hMUtih! thai Ihc Genius of Matrimony
Ikfiire me stood, with a joyous leer,
Leadiica husband in eich hand,
Aiidliotti fur me, which look'd rather queer;—
One I could perfectly uu'eisLind,
IJut why thcic were two wasn't quite so cl-ar.
'Twa-. meant, however, i soon c .uld see,
'I'o afford me a choice — a. ni'is' excel lerl plan;
And — who i>hould ttiis biace of cai<didaie:) be,
But Messrs. '; -Mulligan aiid Magao :—
A thing, i suppn e, unheard of till ihen,
To dream, nt once, of twj irislmien I —
Thai handsome Magan, too, with wings on his
shoulders
(For all UiU pass'd in the realms of the Blest,)
And qui e a ciealure t ■ dazzle beholders;
While even O'Mulligao, feallier'd and drest
Ait an elderly cheiub, »as looking his bret.
Ah Liz, you, who know me, scuct- cui doubt
As to which t'i (he two 1 singled cut-
Bul — aulul 'o tell— when, all in dread
Of losing so bright a visions chums,
I gia'pM ;it Matjui, tiis iinat;e fled.
Like a mis', aivav, and I found but the heai
Of U'Mulli^;*o,' wings and nil, in my arms
The Angel h id llown Hi snme nest divine,
And the elderly Uhtriib aloi;c wrts mine !
Heigho ! — it is certain that foolish Mrtgan
Kiihcr can't or woiiH ses thai he mi^ht be the man ;
And, perhaps, dear— who knows? — if nought betier
bei;.|l.
But — U*MuUigan may be the man, after aU.
N. R.
Next week n.ein to have my first scrlptunl rout,
For the special discu?si to of matters devout ;—
Like Ihnse soirceSt at Povv'rscourt,'i to jQ^tly re-re-
For the zeal with which doctrine and negus went
lound ;
CompelleJ. He ^ays he will not shave Vesoo Kreest'a
people."— .Bopf. Mission Society^ voL ii. p. 493.
I In ihe Reports of the Missionaries, the Roman
Calholics are almost always clnssed along with the
Heathen. *' I liave exiended my labours, (says James
Venning, in a Report for IS3I,) to the Heathen, Ma-
honiedans, and Roman Calholics." " The Heathen
and Roman Calholics in this OLighb'ujrhood (^^avs
anotherinisslonary fur the year 1S32) are not inditfe-
rent ; but wilhst.ind, ratlier than yield to, the force of
truth."
5 An account of Ihesc Powerscourt Conversaziones
(under the direct presidency of L'-rd R'-dun), as well
as ;t ll^t of the siib|<-c s discusstd t 'he diffi-reot meet-
ings, mny be found in the Christiui Herald for I he
month of D^cemher, lS3;i. 1 he folUnvi,,^ l^ a sj)eci-
men of ttie i-ature <>t the questions submitted to the
company :—*' MuTidai/ F.vciting, .Six d'clncU^ Scjiferti-
ber 2Aih, IS3J — ' Au t:x.vniiiia-iou into the quo a'in.is
guen in the New Testnment from the OhI, with iltuir
cnniifdion and ex|i!ai.a'ion, viz.' &c. i^c. ll'cdiics-
rfai/.— 'ShnuM Wf exi)tTl a |'^■r^r.^ll AuMcliri.lr and
to whom will he he revealed}"^ kc Hic-Fytduy.—
' What h^lil J'Ca .^crqiture throw on present events,
and ther nnr.! fharac er ? Ifhat is ntxl to he looked
for or expected .^' '* &c.
The lapid progrtss made at these tea-parties in st
tlin^ points of :3criplure, may be judged from a par
Those iheolosy-routs which the pious Lord R — d— o,
That pink d Christianity, first set the mode in ;
Where, b'e^sed down-p'mring 13 from tea UDtil nine,
'the subjects lay all in the i'n.phecy line ;—
Then, supper — and then, if for topics hard c riven,
From thence until bcd-tiiue to S-itan was eivm;
While R— d— n, deep re.td in each topic and tome,
On all svbjecis (especially the last) was at home.
LETTER VII.
FROM MISS FANNY FUDGE, TO HER COUSIN^
MISS KITTY ,
IRREGULAR ODE.
Bring me the slumbering souls of flowers,
While yet, beneath sonie norihern sky,
Ungilt by beams, ungemm'd by showers,
They wait the breath of summer hours,
'Jo v^ake 10 light each diamond eye,
And Itt loose every llorid !>igh 1
Bring me the firsl-horn ocean waves,
Friim out tho-e deep primeval caves,
Where from Ihe dawn of Time they've lain —
The Embryos of a future Main ! —
Untaught as yet, young things, fo speak
The language of their i'arent Sea
(Polvphlyslioeaii 4 nmi'd, in Greek),
'I'hough soon, too soon, in bay and creek,
Round startled isle and wondering peak,
'J hey '11 thunder loud and long as He !
Bring me, from Hecla's Iced abode,
Young fires
I had got, dear, thus hr in my Ode,
Intending to fill the whole page lo the bottom.
But, having invok'd such a lot of fine things,
Flowers, billows and tliunderboIl>, rainbows and
wings.
Didn't know what to do with 'em, when I had got
The truth is, my thoughts are too full, at this minute,
Of pa>t MSS. any new nnes lo try.
This very nighl'> coach brings my destiny tn it —
Decides t tie great question, to live or lodie!
And, whether I 'mhef.cetorlh immortal or no,
All depends on the ansv\er of Simpkius and Co.!
g^raph in the account given of one of their evenings,
by the Christian Herald:
"(hi Daiuel a good deal of light was thrown, and
there was i^ome, I think not so much, perhnps, upon
Revelations; (hnu:jh particular parts of it were dis-
russed with considerable accession of knowledge,
'there was some very interesting inquiry as to the
quot^ition of ttie <Hd 'iVs ament in Ihe New ; piriicu-
larly on the point, whether there wis any •acconimo-
dation,* or v^hether they were quoted according to
the mind of the Spiiit in' I he did; this gave occ»-ion
to some very iiiieres'iiiff developnunt of Scripture.
The progress of the An'ichi istian powers was very
tullv di-cus-cd."
3 "About eight o'clock the Lord betran to pour
down hi5 spirit copiously upon us - for they h.ul all
by this tinie as^enihled in mv room for Ihe purpohe uf
i/raycr. 1 his d wn-po-jriii't; cnniinu-d till ahoui ten
o\|ock.— Le lerfr.m M.u v C;impbell lo th<; Re.. John
Campbell, -f Row, (dated Fernicary, Api i! 4ih, 1S30),
giving an account of her "miraculous cure.'*
4 If you guess utiat this wcrd means, His more
than / can : —
I but give 't as 1 got it frou, Mr. Magan.
F. F.
454
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
You 'I! think, love, I rave, so 't is best to lel out
The whole secret, at once — I have publish'd a
Bock ! ! !
Yes, an actual Book : — if the marvel you doubf,
You have only m Inst Monday's Couiitr to look,
And you'll find "This day publish'd by Simpkins
and Co.
A Roniaunt, in twelve Cantoa, entitled * Woe, Woe'.'
By Miss Fanny F , known more couimonly
This I put ihat my friends mayn't he left in the dark,
But may guess at my writing by knowing my jnark.
How I managM, at last, this great deed to achieve,
Is itself a **Koiiiaunt" which you *d scarce, dear,
believe;
Nor can I just now, being all in a whirl,
Looking out for ihe Magiiet,i explain it, dear girl.
Suffice it to say, that one half the expense
Of Ihis leasehold of fame for long centuries hence —
(Though "God knows," as aunt says, my humble
anibilion
Aspires not beyond a small Second Editions-
One half the whole cost of (he paper and printing,
I 've nianag'd to scrape up, this year past, by stinting
My own liitje warns in gloves, riband-^, and shoes,
Thus defrauding the toilet to fit out the Muse !
And who, my dear Kitty, would not do the same?
What 's eau de Cologne (o the sweet breath of fame ?
Yards of rjband soon end — but the measures of
rhyme,
Dipped in hues of the rainbow, stretch out through
ail time.
Gloves languish and f.nde a^vay, pair after pnir,
While coujitets shine out, bui the brighter for wear,
And ftie dancing-shoe's gloss in an evening is gi-aCj
While light-footed lyrics through ages Inp on.
The remaining expense, trouble, risk — and, alas!
My poor copyright loo — into ether hands pass ;
And my fnend, tlie Head Dev'i of the *• Cout:(y
Gazelle"
(The only Mecsnas I 've ever had yetj.
He who set up in type my first juvenile lays.
Is now sei up by them for the ttst of his d,iys;
And while Gods (as my '■ Heatht n Mythology" says)
Live on nought but ambroaia, his lot how much
sweeter
To live, lucky dev'I, on a young lady's metre!
As for puj^^ng- — that first of all lit'rary boons,
And essential alike both to bards and balloons
As, unless well supplied wiih iiifl,'»tion, 't is found
Netiher bards nor balloons buJge an inch from the
ground; —
In thii respect, nought could more prosp'rous befall ;
As my friend (for no less this kind mip can I call)
Knows the whole world of critics — the hypers
and al'.
I suspect he h.mself, indeed, dabbles in rhyme,
Which, for imi'S diabolic, is ni.t the first time;
As I've heard uncle Bub tay, 'twas known among
Gnostics.
That the Dev'l oq Two Sticks was a dev'l at
Acrostics.
But hark! there's the Magne* just dash'd in from
How my heart, Kitty, beats! I shall surely drop
down.
That awful Court Journal, Gaze'te, Athenaeum,
Al! full of my book — 1 shall sink uhen I see 'em.
&nd then the great point — whether Simpktns and
Co.
Are actually pleas'd with their bargain or no ! —
L.="
1 A day-coach of that name.
Five o'clock.
All's delightful —such praises! — I really fear
That this poor little head will turn giddy, my dear,
I 've but time now to send you two exquisite scraps-
All the re^t by the Magnet, on Monday, perhaps.
FROM THE ** MORNING POST-'*
'Tis known that a certain di^tinguisli'd phyjician
Prescribes, f'-r dyspepsia ^ a course of li^lit reading;
And Rhymes by young Ladies, the first, fresh edilioii
(Ere critics have mjur'd their powers of nutiition),
Are he thinks, tor weak stomachs, the best sort of
feeding.
Satires irritate — love songs are found calorific;
But smooth, female sonnets he deems a specific,
And, if taken at bed-time, a sure sopoiific.
Among works of this kind, the most pleasing we
know,
h a volume just published by Sinipkins and Co,
Where all such ingredients — the floweiy, the sweet,
And the genily narcotic — are imx'd per receipt,
With a hand so judicious, we 've no heaita'ion
To say that — 'bove all, for the young generation —
'T IS an elegant, soothing, and safe prepaiaiion.
Nuta bene — for readers, whose object 's to sleepy
And who read, in iheir niglUcaps, ihe publishers keep
Good fire-proof binding, which comes very cheap.
ANF.CDOTE — FROM THE "COURT JOURNAL."
T'other night, at the Countess of • • "s mut,
An amusing event was much whisper'd about.
It was said that Lord , at the Council, th;<t day.
Had, more than once, jump'd from his scat, like a
fNcket,
And flown to a corner, where — heedless, they say,
How the country's resources were squander'd away —
He kept reading some papers he'd brought in his
pocket.
Some th ught them despatches from SpaiQ or the
lurk.
Gibers swore they brought word we had lost the
Mauritius;
But it lurn'd out 't was only Miss Fudge's new work,
Which his Lordship devoui'd with such 2eal ex-
peditious—
McFsrs. Simpkinsand Co., to avoid all delay.
Having sent it in sheets, that his Lordship might say,
He had distanc'd the whole reading world liy a
day I
LETTER VIM.
FROM BOB FUDGE, ESQ., TO THE REV,
MORTIMER O'MULLIGAN.
Tuesday eueyiinj,
I much regret, dear Reverend Sir,
1 could not conie to • • • to meet you ;
But Ihis curst gout wo'n't let me stir —
Ev'n now 1 but by proxy greet you ;
As this vile scrawl, whate'er i;s sense is.
Owes all to an .>ni»nuensis.
Most other jcourees of disease
Rfduce men to extreni'ties —
But gout wo'n't leave one even these.
From all my sis'er writes, I see
That you nnd 1 will quite njree.
I 'm a plain min. who si eak Ihe truth.
And trust \ou 'H ilniik me not uncivil,
When I declaie ihi', fn. ni my youih,
I've wished yourcoun rv at the devil:
Nor can I doubt, indeed, from all
1 've heard of your hitjh patriot fame —
From every word your lips let fall —
That you most truly wish the same.
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND,
455
It plagues one's life out — thirty years
Have I liad dinning in my ears,
'• Ireland iiauls this, and that, and t'other,"
Aiui, 10 this liDur, 'irie iiolliing hears
Hut lh(! SMie vile, eternal bother.
While, of ttiose countless things she wanted,
1 li.ink (Jod, but htlle has been granted,
And rv'n that little, if we're men
And Britons, we'll have back agiin!
I really think that Catholic <)uestioa
Was wiial brought on my indit^eslion ;
And still each year, as I'opery's curse
Has ga'Jiered round us. 1 've got wone;
Till ev'n niv pint of port a day
Can't keep the I'ope and bile away.
And whereas, till the Catholic bill,
] nei er wanted draught or pill,
The settling of tliat cursed question
lias quite U7lsetlled my digesiion.
Lo.ik what has happen'd since — the Elect
Of all the bores of every sect.
The chosen triers of men's patience.
From all the Three Denominations,
Let loose upon us; — even Quakers
Turn'd into speechers and law.m.ikers,
Wh'i'll move no question, slitT-runir-'j elvM,
Till first Ihe Spirit nmves themselves ;
And whose shrill Vtas and Na>B, in cliorus,
Co. quering our Ays and Nos sonorous,
Will soon to dea h'soivn flumlier snore us.
Then, too, those Jews ! — I really sicken
'I'o think of such aboniiiiation ;
Fellows, w ho wo'ii't eat ham with chicken,
To legislate for this great nation ! —
Depend upon t, when once they've swav,
With rich old Gold-mid at the head o' them,
Th' Kxcise laws will be done away.
And C'trcumcise ones pass'd instead o' them !
In short, dear sir, look wliere one will,
Things all goon ^o devilish ill,
Thnt, 'poll my soul. I rather fear
Our reverend Rector may lie right,
Who tells me Ihe Millennium 's near ;
Nay. swears he kiinws the very year,
And rei^ulates his leases by 't ; —
Meaning their terms ^hnuld end, no doubt,
Before the world's own lease is out.
He thinks, too, that the whole thing's ended
So much m-Te soon than was intended,
Purely to scourge those men of sin
Who brought th' .iccurst Reform Bill in. I
However, let's not yet despiir;
Though Toryi.ni 's eclips'd, at present.
And — like m\self, in this old chair —
Sits in a state by no me ms pleasant ;
Feet crippled — hands, in luckless hour,
Dis tiled nf their grasping power;
And all that r.impani glee, which revell'd
111 this world's sweets, be-duli'd, bedevil'd
"Vet, though condemn'd to frisk no more.
And both in Chair of Tenance set.
There's sometliing tells me, all's not o'er
With Ttiryi-nior R bby v,l;
Thai though, between us. I il|,.w
We'ven.ta les to s|,,n,| on now;
'I'hougli curst Hefnrni and cokhictim
Have male us boMi lo k dioced slum,
Ye' s'ill. in spile of Gioteaiid Gout,
Again we'll shine triumphant out !
' This appears to have been the opinion also of an
loqneiit writer in the Moiriing W.iich. " One great
olijecl of Christ's second Advent, as the Man and as
the Kins of the Jews, is to pHiiisk the Kinst who do
ackiioi> ledge that their authority is derived fiom
t, and who submit to vtceivt it fruni that many-
tuadtd mon.'ter, the moh."— No. x. p. 373.
Yes — back again tihall come, egad,
Our turn for sport, my reverend lad.
And then, O'Mulligau — oh then.
When mounted on our nags again.
You, on your high-flown Kosiname,
BediEcn'd out, like Show-Gallanlee
(Glilterere.it fruni substance scanty) ; —
While i; liob Fudge, Es(|uire, shall ride
Your faithful Siiiciio, by your side ;
Then — talk of tills and tournaments !
Dam'me, we 'M
'Squire Fudge's clerk preset ts
To Reverend Sir, his coniplinienis ;
Is griev'd to say an accident
Has just occiiri'd which will prevent
The Squire — though now a little bolter —
From finishing this present letter.
Just when he 'd got to " Dam'me, we 'II "
His lliinour, full nf marii i| ze.il,
Grasp'd at his cmlch, but not being able
To keep his balance or his h ild.
Tumbled, both self and crutch, and rolld
Like ball and bat, beneath tlie table.
All 's safe — the table, chair, and crutch j —
Nothing, thank God, is broken much.
But the'Squire's head, which, in the fall,
Got bunip'd cmsid'rably— that's all.
At Ihis no greal alarm we feel,
As the Squire's bead can bear a deal.
IVcdnesday Mornings
Squire much Ihe same — head ratlier light —
Rav'd about " Barbers' Wigs" all uiglit.
Our housekeeper, old Mrs Griggs,
Suspects that he meant "barbaious Whigs."
LETTER IX.
FROM LARRY O'BRANIGAN, TO HIS WIPE
JCDY.
As it was but last week that I sint you a letthcr.
You 'II wondher, de.ir Judv, what this is about ;
And, Ihroth, it 's a letlher myself would like betther.
Could I manage to lave the contints of it out j
For iure, if it makes even nie nnaisy.
Who takes things quiet, 't will dhrive you crazy.
him.
Or (0 far demane the O'Branigan blood.
And my Aunts, the Diluvians (whom not ev'n the
Flood
Was able lo wash away clane from the eartli)'^
As lo sarve one whose name, of nieie yestherday'a
birlh.
Can no more to a great 0, before it, purtend,
Than mine can to wear a great Q at its md.
But that's now all over — last night I gev warnin'.
And, masth'r as he is, will dischaige hitn this moriiin',
■Ihe thief of Ihe world: — but il 's no use balrag-
gin'; -3
All I know is, I 'd lifly limes rather te draggln'
- " I am of your P.r'riarchs. I, a blanch of one of
nur antediluvian families — fellows that the Flood
juld not wash away." — Congreve, I^fwcfur Love,
3 To liilrag is to abuse— Mr. Lover makes it ial-
l^rffg, and he is high authority: but if I remember
ighlly, Curran in his national stories used to employ
he word ao above. - See Lover's most amusing and
456
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND.
Ould ladies up hill to the ind of my days,
'Ihan with Murlhagh to ruwl in a chaise, at my aise,
And be forc'd to discind thro' the same duty ways.
Arrah, sure, if i 'd heerd where he last show'd his
ph>2,
I 'd h,ive known what a quare sort of monsther he is j
For, by gnr, 'twas ai Exeiher Change, sure enough,
Thai himself and his <-iher wild In.h show'd ofl";
And it 's pily, so 'I is, that they hadn't gol no man
Who knew the wild craytburs to act as their show-
"AK by taison, we're towld, that the nathur o'
the baste I
*' Is to ctiange its coat once \n lis lifetime, at laste; \
"And such objiks, iu aurcounihry, not beiu' common
" Are boug/U upy as this was, by way of Fine Nome-
"In regard of its nanie — why, in throth, Pm con-
*'To ditiVr on this p'int lO much wi'h the Larn'J,
*' VVhf-call it a ' Murthimer,' whereas the cr.iylhur
*' Is plainly a ' MuiJhagli,' by name and by nathur."
This is how I 'd have towld them the rights of it all,
Had /been their sliowman at Kxether Hall —
INol lorgctliii' ih.il other gre,.t woitdher of Airin
^Uf tli' owld bi ihi:r bleed which they call Frosbe-
tairin).
The famM Daddy C— ke— who, by gor, I'd have
shown 'em
As proof how sucli bastes may be tam'd, when you've
thrown 'em
A good friiidly sop of the rale Raigin Donem.t
I!ut, thioth, I 've no laisure just now, Judy dear,
For anything, b.urin' oui own duings here.
And the ciirsin', and dammin', and ttiuud'rin', like
mad,
We Tapis's, God help us, from Mu;thagh have had.
He says ue'reall muriht-rers — div'l a bit less —
And Ihit even our priests, when we go to confess,
Give us lesions in murth'ring and wii>h us bucce^ !
When ax'd how he daiir'd, by tongue or by pen.
To belie, in ihis w,.y, seven nii lions of men,
FaiUi, he said 't was all towld him by Ducihor Den ! a
•' And who Ihe div'l's he ?" was the question thai flew
From Chrishtian to Chrishijau— but not a sow!
knew.
While on went Murlhngh, in iligant style,
Rlasphaming usCaih'lics all the while,
As a pack of desaiver^, parjurer^=, villians.
All Ihe wh'.te kii of th' afore>aid niillions,3 —
Yourself, dear Judy, as well ;is the re?t.
And ihe innocent c^.^ytt]U^ Ihat 's .it your breast,
All rrgues ingether, m word an I deed,
Uwld JJcn our inslhructor and Sin our creed !
When ax'd f-rhis
nnd;
* Larry evidently means the Reghim Donum ; ~.
a sum coniributed by the governmenl nnnually to the
support of the Presbyterian churches In Ireland.
a CorrecMy, Dens; Larry not being very particular
ill his nonieiicia'ure.
3 *' The deeds of darknes-? which are reduced to
hoi rid pr.iciiceover the drunken dtbauch of ilie mid-
night assassin are debated, in principle, in the scber
morning religious conferences of Ihe priests." —
Spetxh of tlie mo. Mr. M Ghee. — " The characier of
the Iii;h people generally is, ilwl they are given to
lying and to acts of theft." — Sfnedi of ifui Rev.
Rubtrt Daly
Couldn't he call into coort some liuz/i' men ?
•' No, thank you"— he 'd stick to Docthor Den —
An ould gini'lenian dead a ceiiiury or two.
Who all about its, live Ca?h lies, knew;
And of coorie was nmre hand\, to call in a hurry,
Thau Ducthor Mac Hale or Docthor Murray \
But, throth, it 's no case to be jokm' upon,
Though myself, from bad habits, is inakin'' it one.
Even you, had you wifness'd his grand cUmiciherica,
Which aciially threw one owld maid in hysterics —
Or, och ! liad you heerd such a puriy remark as his,
That Papislb are only " Humanity s carcasses^
" Ris^n''— hut, by dad, I *m afeard 1 can'i give it ye —
'* Ris^n from the sepuldire oj — inactivity ;
^'■.^tid, like owld corpses^ dug uy Jrotn antikity^
** Wandrin'' about in all sorts oj imkiiy ; /' -i —
Even you, Judy, irue as you are to the Owld Light,
Would have taugh'd, out and out, at this ihgant
flight
Of that figure of speech call'd the Blaiherumskite.
As for me, though a funny thought now and then
came to me,
Rage got the betlher at last— and small blame to me I
So, shipping my thigh, '• by the Powe.s of Ddt,"
Says I bow Idly, "I '11 nake a nora'ion myselt."
And with that up 1 jumps— but, my darlint, the
I cock'd up my head, div'l a sinse remain'd in it.
Though, sailed, 1 could have gol beantif.il on,
When 1 tuk to my legs, faith, the gab was all gone:—
Which was odd, for us, Pats, who, whate'er we've a
hand in.
At laste in our legs show a s^hrong underslandiri',
Howsumdever, detarmin'd the chaps should pursaive
What I thought of their doiu's, betore 1 tuk lave,
"In regard of all that,'' says I — there I s oppM
slu'rl —
Nut a woid more would come, though I shiruggled
haidfor't.
So, shnapping my fingers at wliat 's calTd the Chair,
And the owld Lord (or Lady, 1 b'lieve) Ihal sat
there —
" In regard of all that." says I bowldly n^ain —
**To owld Nick I pilch Mortimer — and Doclhor
Den;" —
Upon uhich ti.e whole compiinv cried out '^Amen;"
And myself was in hopes 'I was to what / had said,
But, by gor, no such Ihmg — they were not so well
bred :
For, 't was all to a pray'r Murlhagh just had read
By way of fa finish to job so devout ;
That is— afther well jiamning one half the com
munity,
To pray God to keep all in pace an' in unity !
This is all I can shtuff in Ihis letther, though plinly
Of news, faiih, 1 've got to fill more— if U was twuity.
Ru! I 'II add, on the outside, a line, should 1 need ii,
(Writin' ''Private' upon it, that no one may read
To tell you how Mortimer (as the Saints chrishten
him)
Beirs the big shame of his sarvanl's dismisshin* him.
« " But she (Popery) is no longer the tenant of Ihe
sepulchre of inactivity. She h:is come from tlie
hurial-pl.-ire. walking for:h a monster, as if the spirit
of evil had c:)rrup ed the carcais of htr dtparted
humanity ; noxious and noi.^iinc, an object nt nbtior-
reiice and di£m:<y lo ;ill who are w.\ leagued with her
in iniquity. ^^ — Ke|)nrt of the Rev. Gentleman's
Sj.eech, June 20, in the Record Nt wspaper.
We may well ask, after reading Ihis and (ttNer such
reverend ravings "Quia dubitat juin omne si I h(r
r.ttioui^ egestas ?"
THE FUDGES IN ENGLAND,
45"
(Private outside.)
JusI come from his riv'rence— the job is all drnie —
liy Ihe powers, I 've discharg'd liirii as sure as 3 gun '.
And liow, Judy dear, what on earlli I 'ni lo do
Wilh myself and my appelile— bolb sund as new—
Witbnut cv*n a single (raiieeo in my pocket,
Let alone a go.id, dacent pound-st.irliri', to slock il-
ls a niysht'ry 1 lave lo Ihe One thai 's above,
Who lakes care of us, dissolule sowls, when hard
dhrove !
LETTER X.
IROM THE REV. MORTIMER o'mULLIGAN,
TO THE REV. .
These few brief lines, my reverend friend.
By a safe, private hand I send
(Kearins: lest some low Catliolic wag
Should pry into Ihe Letter-bag),
To tell you, far as pen c^n dare
How we, poor errant niarl\rs, fare: —
Martyrs, not (jnite to fire and rack.
As Sainls were, S"me few ages back,
But — scarce less trying in its way—
To laughter, wheresoe*er we stray;
To jokes, which Providence mysterious
Fermils on men and things so serious,
I-owenng the Church still more each minule,
And — injuring our preferment in ii.
JusI think, how worrying 'tis, my friend,
To find, where'er oui footsteps bend.
Small jokes, like squibs, around us whizzing ;
And bear Ihe eternal loi luring play
Of that great engine of oui day.
Unknown to lire Inquisition — quizzing!
Your men of thumb-screws aird of racks
Aini'd at the l.idy their attack- ;
Bui modern lorinrers, more refin'd,
Work their in.chiiierv on the mind.
Had SI. Sebastian had' the luck
With me to be a godly rover,
Instead of arrows, he'd be stuck
Wilh slings rif ridicule all over;
And y or St. La>Mei.ce, who was kill'd
By being on a gridir'n grilPd,
Had he but shar'd my errant lot,
los'e.d of grill on gndir'ii hot,
A munil roasting would have got.
Nor should I (tiyi.igasalllhisis)
Much heel the suffering or the shame-
As. like an actor, used to hisses.
I long hive known no other f.ime,
But ihai (as I nnv own lo you,
Though lo Ihe world it would not do,)
No hope appears of fortune's beams
Shining on any of my schemes ;
No chance of ■.omeihing more per ann.
As supplement to K-llyni—n;
No prospect that, by fie-ce abuse
Of Ireland. 1 shall e'er induce
The rulers of this thinking nation
To rid us of Kinaiicipatinn ;
To forge anew Ihe sever'd cliain.
And bring back Penal Laws again.
Ah happy lime! when wolves and priests
Alike were hunted, as wild lie sis;
And five pounds was the piice, jier'head,
Tor bagging eilAcr, live or diad ; —1
» ''Among other ami.ible enactments agiinst the
^s at this period (1649), tlie pricir of five pounds
on the head of a Komi h priest — being ei-
aclly the same sum otTered by the same legislators for
the bead of a wulf."_JUemoiri 0/ Captain Kock,
book I. chap. 10.
Cailu
Though oft, we're told, one outlmw'd brotber
Sav'd cost, by ealiiig U[i tfu: other.
Finding thus all those schemes and hopes
I built upon my (lowers and rrop
All scaller-rl, one by one, away,
As (lashy .Tiid unsound as ihey,
'1 he que-tioii conies— what '3 10 he done?
And there *s bill one course left me — one.
Heroes, "hen lir'd of war's alarms,
Seek sweet repose in [J<;an(y's anus.
The we.iry I)a\-God's la-t retreat is
The breast of silvry-footed Thetis ;
And mine, as mightv Love's my pidge.
Shall be the arms of rich Miss I'-udge!
Start not, my friend, — Ihe tender scheme.
Wild and romantic though it seem,
Bevrind a irarsoifs fondest dream.
Vet shines, loo, with those golden dyes,
So pleasing to a parson's eyes —
That only f^ildiug which the Muse
Cannot around her sons ditfuse ; —
Which, whencesoever flows its bliss,
From wealthy Miss or benefice,
To Mortimer indid'renl is,
So he can only make it his.
There is but one slight damp I sea
Upon this scheme's felicity.
And tfiat is, the fair heroine's claim
That 1 shall lake her family name.
To tills (though it may look heni.eck'd),
1 can't quite decently object.
Having myself long chos'n to shine
Conspicuous in the aft'rtj^- line ;
So that henceforth, by_ w ife's decree,
(For Biddy from this point wo'n't budge)
Your old friend's new add-ess must be
The Rco. Mo>-timcr (fFudge —
The '"D" being kept, that all may see
We 're loth of ancient family.
Such, friend, nor need the fact amaze you,
Mv public life's calm Euthanasia.
Thus bid I long farewell lo all
Tbefieaksof Exetei's old Hall —
Freaks, in grimace, Us apes exceeding.
And riv illing its bears in breeding.
Farewell, the platfnrni frll'd wiih preachers —
■| be pray'r giv'n out, as grace 3 by speechers.
Ere thev cui up their fellow-creatures : —
Farewell lo dead old Dens's volumes.
And. scarce less dead, old Standard's columns:—
From each and all 1 now retire,
Mv ta-k. henceforth, as spouse and sire,
To bring up lillle filial Fudies,
To be M.P.'s, and Peers, and Judges—
Parsons 1 'd add ton, if, alas !
There \et were hope ihe C.'hurch could pass
The gulf now oped for hers and her.
Or long survive w hat Exeter —
Both Hall and Brshop, of that name-
Have done to sink her reverend fame.
Adieu, dear fi lend — you'll oft hear/ronime,
Now 1 'm no more a travelling drudge ;
Me.inwhile 1 sign (that you niay judge
How »ell Ihe surname will become me)
Yours truly,
Mortimer O'Fudge.
"i In the first edilion of bis Hiclionary, Dr. John
irv significanllv exemplified the meaning of tht
ord '• alias" bv'the instance of Mallei, the poet, « ho
had exchanged for this more refined ninie his original
oicli paironymic, Mahoch. *' VVhat other proofs lie
ve (-avs Johnson) of di-re-pcct to his native coun-
try, I know not : but il was remarked of him that he
the only Scot whom Scotchmen did not corn-
<i."~Lifcof MaUtl.
' " I think 1 am acting in unison u ith the feelings
of a Meeting assembled for this solnnli object, when 1
call on Ihe Rev. Doctor Halloway to open il by
prayer." — Sptuh of Lord Kmyoii.
39
438
SONGS FROM M.P.; OR,
LETTER XI.
FROM PATRICK MAGAN, ESQ., TO THE REV.
RICHARD ,
, Ireland,
Dear Dick — just arrivM at my own humble j^t'e,
I enclose you, post-haste, the account, all complete,
Just arriv'd, per expi ess, of our late noble feat,
[Extract from the. " County Gazette.^'']
This place is getting gay and full agaio.
******
Last week was married, "in the Lord,"
The Reverend Mortimer O'Mulliean,
Piescher, in Irish, of the Word,
(He, who the Lord's force lately led on —
Kxeter Hall his Armaich-gfdiUm,) i
•Jo Miss B. Fudge of Pi-tcah Place,
One of the chos'n, as " heir of grace,"
And likewise heiress of Phil. Fudge,
Esquire, defunct, of Orange Lodge.
Same evening, Mi-^s F. Fudge, '( is hinted —
Niece of Ihe above, (whose "Svlvan Lyre,"
In our Gazelle, last week, we printed,)
EInp'd with Pal. Ma?an, E.squire.
The fugitives were Irackd, some time,
After they 'd lefl the Autil's abode.
By scraps of paper, scrawl'd with rhyme,
Found strew'd along Ihe VVes'ern road j—
Some of them, ci-devant curl-papers,
Others, half burnt in lighting tapers.
This clue, however, to their flight
After some miles was seen ii" more;
And, fmm inquiries made last nighl,
We find they 've reach'd the Irish shore.
Every word of it true, Dick — th' escape from
Aunt's Ihrall —
Western road — lyric fragments — curl-papers and
1 The rectory which the Rev. gentleman holds is
situated in the county of .4>mag/i .' — a mobt remark-
able coincidence — :»nd well worthy of the attention
of certain expounders of the Apocalypse,
My sole stipulation, ere link'd al the shrine
(As some balance between fanny's nutnbera and
Was that, when we were one, she must give up the
Nine ;
Nay, devoie.to the Gods her whole stock of MS.
Wnh a vow never nmre .igainsi prose to transgress.
This she did, like a heroine;- sm^ck went to bits
The whole pr^iduce sublime of her dear little wilj —
Sonnets, elegies, epigrams, odes, canzonets —
Some twisted up neaily, lo form altumettcSj
Some turn'd into oapi/io^e*, worihy to rise
And enwreaihe Berenice's hrigtil locks in the skies!
While the rest, honest Larry (who's now in my
pay),
Begg'd, as *' lover of poHhry^" to read on the way.
Having thus of Iife*s poetry dar'd to dispose.
How we now, Dick, shall manage to get through
its prose,
With such slender materials {oTstyle^ Heaven knows!
But — I 'm cali'd otl' abruptly — another Express !
What the deuce can it mean?— I'm alarmM, I
confess.
P. S.
Hurrah, Dick, hurrah, Dick, ten thousand hurrahs!
I 'ni a happy, rich d<ig to the end of my days.
There — rend the good news — and while glad, foi
my sake,
That Wealth should thus follow in Love's shining
wake.
Admire alsi the morai — that he, the sly elf,
Who has fuds'd all the world, should be now fudg'd
himself!
EXTRACT FROM LETTER ENCLOSED.
With pain the mournful news I write,
Miss Fudge's ui.cle died last night ;
And much to mine and friend^i' surprise,
By will dolti all his wealth devise —
Lands, dwellings — reclorit-s likewise —
To his " beiovM grand-niece," Miss F;tnny,
Leavirig Miss Fudge herself, who many
Long years hath waited — not a penuy !
Have notified the s^we to latter.
And wait instructions in the matter.
For self and partners, &c, &C.
SONGS FROM M. P. ; OR, THE BLUE STOCKING.
SONG,
SUSAN.
Young Love liv'd once in an humble shed,
Where roses breathin*.
And vvnodbine> w-CAthin?
Around the litlice Iheir tendrils spread,
As wild and swept as the life he led.
HisEirden fl..urisird.
For voijns Hope nonrish'd
The iiifai.t buds with beams and showers j
But lips, ihnueh blooming, must still lie fed.
And not even Lo"" -■" '■'"> "" flmvor..
Alas ! that Poverty
2 can live on flow
il eye
hither.
Such sweets to wither !
The flowers laid down their hea
And Hope fell sick as Ihe wiich
She came one morniue,
Ere Love had warning,
I nigh.
And rais'd the latch, where the youn? god lay;
' Oh ho '" said Love — " is it you ? gond-by ;"
So he oped the window, and flevf away I
To sigh, yet feel no pain,
T'^ Teep, yet scarce know why ;
"" pnr? ati bimr with Beauty's chain.
Then throw il idiv bv.
To kneel al many a shrine,
Yet lav Ihe heart on none;
To ihink all other rlarms divine.
But Uinse we just have won.
This is love, faithless love.
Such as ktndleih hearts thai rove.
To keep one sacred dame.
Through life unchili'd, unmov'd,
To love, in wintry age, the same
As first in youth v
: lov'i J
THE BLUE STOCKING.
459
To feel that we adore,
Ev*u (D such fond excess,
That, Ihou»h the heart would break, with inorCj
It cnuld oot live with Itss.
This is hn-e, faithful h>ve,
Such as &aiiil:i might feel above.
Spirit of Jny, thy altar lies
In youthful hearts that hnpe like mine;
And 't is the light of laughing eyes^
That leads us to thy faiiy &hrine.
There if we find the sigh, the tear,
They are not ih^se lo Sorroiv known;
But hreaih so soft, and drops so clear,
That HIiss may claim them for her own.
Then give me, give me, while I weep,
The sanguine hope that brightens woe,
And leaches ev'n our lear» to keep
The tinge of pleasure as they riow.
The child, who sees the dew of night
Upon Hie spangled hedge at morn,
Atteini ts to catch the drops of light,
But wounds his finger with the ihorn.
Thus o(t the brightest j.^ys we seek,
Are lo^t, when loiich'd, and turn to pain;
The flush they kindled leaves the cheek,
'Ihe tears they waken long remain.
But give Die, give me, &c. &c.
When Leila tnuch'd the lu'e,
Not then alone H was felt,
But, when the rounds were nmte,
In memory still ihey dwelt.
Sweet lute 1 in nit;h'ly slumbers
btill we heard thy niuming numbers.
Ah, how could she, who s!ole
Such bre-iih from simple wire,
Be led, in pride of soul.
To string with gold her lyre?
Sweet lu e ! thy choids she breike'h
Golden now the strings she waketh!
But where are all (he tales
Her lule so sweetly old?
Id lofty themes she fails,
And sofi ones suit not eojd.
Rich lute ! we see thee glisten,
But, alas ! no more we Iis:eD !
BOAT GLEE.
The Bon^ that lightens our languid way
When brows are glowing.
And faint with rowing,
Is like the spell of Hope's airy lay.
To wh'ise sound ihroiii<h life we stray.
The beams that flash on the onr awhile,
As we row along throusjli waves so clea
Illume its spray, like ihe fleeting s.mile
Thai shines o'er Sorrow's tear.
Nothing is lost on him who >^ees
Wiih an eye tha' Feeling gxve; —
For hiin there's a s'oiy in every breeze,
And a pic'ure in everv wave.
Then sing to lighten tJie languid way; —
When brow j; are glowing,
And f.int with rowing: '
'T is like the siidl nf Hope's airy lay.
To whose sound througli life we etray.
Oh, IhiriU, when a hero is sighing,
W hat danger in such an adorer !
What woman cou/d dream of denying
The hand thai l.iys laurels before her.
No heirl is so guarded around,
But the smile of a victor would take it ;
No hnsoni c 'n slumber so sound.
But the trumpet of Glory will wake it.
Love sometimes is given to sleeping,
And woe to the heart that allows him;
For soon neither smiling or weeping
Will e'er fmni such slumber arouse him.
But though he were sleeping so fast.
That the life almost seem'd to forsake him,
Ev'n then, one soul-thrilling blast
From the trumpet of Glory would wake hira.
CUPID'S LOTTERY.
A Lottery, a Lottery,
In Cupid's Court there used to be;
Tw{) roguish eyes
The highest pnze.
In Cupid's scheming Lottery}
And kisses, too,
As good as new,
Which weren't very hard to win,
For he, who woq
The eyes of fnn.
Was sure to have the kisses in.
A Lottery, a Lottery, &c.
This Lo'tery, this Lottery,
In Cupid's Court went merrily,
And Cupid play'd
A Jewish irade
In this his sclieming Lottery;
For hearts, we're told,
In shares he sold
To many a loud believitig drone,
And cut the hearts
So wtll in parts,
That each believ'd the whole his own.
Chor, — A Lottery, a Lottery,
In Cupid's Court there used to be
Two roguish e>es
The highest prize
In Cupid's scheming Lottery.
S 0 N G ,1
Though sacred tlie tie that our country entwineth,
And dear to the heart her remembrance remains,
Yet dark are the ties where uo liberty shineth,
And sad the remembrance thai slavery stains.
Oh Liberty, born in the cot of the peasant,
liut d) ing of languor in luxury's donie.
Our viHon. when absent — o^t glniy when present-^
Where thou art, O Liberty ! theie is my home.
Farewell to the land where in childhood I wander'd !
In vain is she nnghlv, nt vun is slie biave ,
Unhles.'d is the blood that for tyrants is squandered.
And Fame has no wreaths f.r tt.e brow of ihe slave.
But hail to tl,ee. Albion ! who meet'^l Ihe commotioa
Of Europe, a^ calm as thy cbfTs meet the foa i. ;
With no biHids but the law, and no slave bul *he
ocean,
Hail, Temple of Liberty ! thou art my home.
Sung \u the character of a Frenchman.
460
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS
AT NIGHT.*
At night, when all is still around,
How sweet to hear the distant sound
Of foo'step, coming soft and light I
What pleasure in Ihe anxious beat,
With which the bosom flies to meet
That foot that comes so soft at night 1
And then, at nighf, how sweet 'o say
" ' r is late, my love ! ' and chide delay.
Though slill the western clouds are bright;
Oh ! happy, loo, Ihe bilent press,
The eloquence of mute cartas,
With those we love exchanged at night 1
TO LADY HOLLAND.
ON napoleon's legacy of a SNUFF-iQOX
Gif^ of the Hero, on his dyin? day,
To her, whose pitv watch d, for ever nigh;
Oh ! could he see Ihe prnud, the happy r.iy,
1 hi> relic lii^hts ip in her generous eye,
Sighing, he'd fesl how easy 't is to pny
A friendship all his kingdoms could not buy.
Paris, July, 1S21.
EPILOGUE.
WRITTEN FOR LADY DACRE'S TRAGEDY
OF INA.
Last night, as lonely o'er my fire 1 sat,
Thinking of cues, siaris, exits, and — all that.
And wondering much what litle knavish sprite
Had put it fitst ill women's heads to write: —
Suddf It I saw — as in some witching drtam —
A brigh'-blue glory roui d my book ca^e beam.
From whiise quick-opening f-'Ids of azure light
Out flew a linv form, as small and bright
As Puck the Fairy, when he pnps his head,
Some sunny morning from a vinlei bed.
* Bless me:" I starting cried, '* what imp are
you ?"* —
*A small he-devil, Ma'am — my name Bas Bleu —
'A bookish sprite, much given to rou's and reading;
* M 18 I wlin teich your spinsters of good breeding,
' The reigning taste in chemistry and c:ips,
' The last new bounds of tuckers and of maps,
*And. when Ihe waltz has 'wjrlM her giddy brain,
'*Wiih metaphysics twirl it back again I"
ew'd him, as he spoke — his hose were blue,
„ing3— the covers of the last Review —
ulean, bnrder'd with a jaundice hue,
And t.n^ell'd giMv o'er, for evening near,
Till the nest quarter brings a new-fledg'd pair.
'Inspir'd by me--(pursut-d this waggi^h Fairy) —
' That best of wives and Sipphos, Lady Mary,
"Vo'ary alike of Crispin and the Mnse,
'Makes her own sp!a\-foot cpigr.mis and shoes.
' For me the eyes of young C;*milU shine,
** And mingle Love 's blue brilliances with mine ;
These lines allude to a curious lamp, which has
for its device a Cupid, with the words "at night"
writiett over him.
** For me she sits apart, from coxcombs shrinking,
"Looks wise — the pretty soul I — and thinks sbe'D
thinking,
" By my advice Miss Indigo attends
*' Lectures on Memory, and assures her friends,
"*'i'on honour I — (mimi'cJ) — nothing can surpaw
the plan
***0f that professor — {U'yins (o rccoZ/ecO — psha!
that mem-'ry-man —
"'That— what 'a his name?— him I attended lately-
"*'Pon honour, he improved my memory greatly.'*'
Here, curtseying low, I ask'd the bhie-Iegg'd sprite,
What share 'he had in this nur play tonight.
'* Nav, there — (he cried) — theie I am guiltlesi
■ qui^e-
" What ! choose a heroine from that Gotliic time,
" When no one waliz'd, and none but monks could
rhyme ;
" When lovely woman, all unschool'd and wild,
" Blush'd wiihout art, and wiihout culture smii'd —
**SimpIe as dowers, while yet unclass'd they shone,
" Ere Science call'd their brilliant world her owu,
** Kang'd the wild, rosy things in learned orders,
"And filPd with Greek the garden's blushing bor-
" No, no — your genie Inas will not do —
*'To-mnrrow evening, when tlie lights burn blue,
*' 1 '11 come — {pointing dawntoards)— -you understand
— till then adieu !"
And has the sprite been here ? No— jests apart —
How
rule
'Ihe sphere of woman's glories is the hearL
And, if our Mu-e haie sketch'd with pencil true
Ihe wife— the mother — firm, yet gentle 'on —
Whose soul, wrapp'd up in ties itself hath spun,
Trembles, if touch'd in the remotest one;
Who loves — yel dares even Love hin^elf disnwt
Wlien Honour's broken shaft supports his throne:
If such our Ina, she may scorn the evil',
Dire as they are, of Critics and — Blue Devils.
THE DAY-DREAM.a
They both were hush'd, the voice, the chords,*
I heard but once th.U wilcliing lay ;
And few the notes, and few the words.
My spell-bound memory brought away;
Traces, remember'd here and there,
L'ke echoes of some broken strain;—
Links of a sweeiness lost m air.
That nothing n: ;v could join again.
Ev'n these, too, ere the morning, fled ;
And. though ihe charm s'ill linger'd on,
That o'er each sense her song had \^hcd,
The song itself wa» faded, gone; —
Gone, like the thoughts that once were ours,
On summer days, ere youth bad set ;
Thoughts bright, we kn'uv, as summer flowers,
Though what they were, we now forget.
^ In these stanzas I have done little more than
relate a fact in verse; and the lady, whose singing
gave rise to this curious instance of the power of
memory in sleep, is Mrs. Robert Arkwright.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
461
In vain, with hints from other strains,
1 woo*d ttiis truatit air Ut come —
4s birds are taught, on eastern plains,
To lure their wilder kindred home.
In vain : — the snng that Sapptio gave,
liidyiiig, 1., iheniou,.,l.ilsi;>,
No niutei slepi benea ti ttie Wii^e,
Tlian tliis » itliin iny iiieinury.
At length, one morning, as I lay
III that hall-wakiiii; nmod, when dreams
Unwillingly at Last give way
To the full truth of daylishi's heams,
A face — the very face, niethousht,
from >vliich had bnath'd, as Iroin a shrine
Of song and soul, the tiotes 1 soughi —
Came with its music close to mine;
And sung the long-.ost measure n'er —
Kach ijole and word \v i li every lone
And look, that lent it life litfure,—
All perfcci, all again my own !
Like parted 50iils, when, mid the Rlesl
Ihey meet again, each widnv'd sound
Through memory's realm had wing'd in quest
Of its sweet male, till all were fimod.
Nor ev*n in waking did the clue,
'Ihus strangely caught, escape asjain ;
For never lark iis ma ins knew
So well as now 1 knew this strain.
And oft, when memory's wondrous spell
Is lalk'd of in our Iraiiquil bower,
I eiug tliis lady's song, and lell
The vision of that morning hour.
SONG.
Where is the heart that would not give
Yiar^of diowsy davsand uiglits,
One little hour, like this, to live —
Full t" the brim, of life's delights?
Look, look around,
1 his fairy ground,
VVi h love-ligirs glilleiing o'er:
While c^lp^ tint shine
With freighl divine
Go coasting round its shore.
Hope is the dupe of future Iionrs,
Memory lives in those gone byj
Nei'her can see the moment's flowers
Springing up fresh beneaih the eye.
Wouldst thou, or thou,
Foiego what's iioio,
For all that Hope may say ?
No -Joy's reply.
Is, "Liv
vhile we may."
SONG OF THE rOCO-CURANTE SOCIETV.
Haud curat Hiiipoclidcs.
Erasm. Adag,
To those we love we've drank to-night ;
But now altcnd, and stare not,
While 1 Ihe ampler list reciie
Of tlio e for whom We care not.
For royal nien, howe'er they frown,
If on their fronts Ihey bear not
39"*
That noblest gem that decks a crown,
'ihe I'eople's l.ove— We care not.
For slavish men, who ben-I beneath
A despot yi.ke, yet daie not
rrono-jiice the will, whose very brcalh
Would lend its links— We care not.
For priestly men, who covet sway
And we..llli, though Ihey declare not ;
Who point, like finger-posts, the way
They never go — We care not.
For martial men, who on their sword,
Howe'er it conqueis, wear not
The pledges of a soldier's word,
Rcdeem'd and pure — We care not.
For legal men, who plead for wrong,
And, though to lies they swear not.
Are hardly betler than the throng
Of iho^e who do— We care not.
For cour:ly men, who feed upon
The land, like grubs, and siiare not
The smallest leaf, « here thev can sun
Their crawling limbs — We care not.
For wealthy men, who keep their min»
In darkness hid, and share not
The paltry ore with him who pines
In honest vvanl- We care not.
For prudent men, who hold the power
Of Love aloof, and hare not
Their hearts in any guardlpss hour
To Beauty's shaft— We care not.
For all, in short, on land or sea.
In camp or court, who art not.
Who never uitrc, or e'er will he
Good men and true — We care not.
ANNE BOLEYN.
TRANSLATION FROM THE METRICAL "HIS-
TOIRE D'aNNE BOLEVN."
" S't-Ile esfoit belle ct de tnille elegante,
IJitoit des yeiilx eilcor pljs altlrantc,
Lesriiiclz scavoil trien cniKlayre a pruiiot
I'^li Ics lenaill quelfiiiefuys en repos;
AuruiiefoyH flivnyailt ell message
Torter du cueur le secret tesniitignDge.**
Much as her form seduc'd the sight.
Her eyes could ev'ii more surely woo ;
And when, and how to shoit their light
Into men's hearts full well she knew.
For somefimes, in repose, she hid
Their rays beneath a downcast lid ;
And then again, with wakening air.
Would send their sunny glances out.
Like heralds of delight, to bear
Her heart's sweet messages about.
THE DREAM OF THE TWO SISTERS.
FROM DANTE.
N.-11 <
I'rii
(Jlie 111 lu
Git
a. credo, che dell' oriente
ia mgEio nel monte Citeri-a,
ar scmpre ardtute.
: bclla
sogn
1 pan
1462
PREFACE TO THE TENTH VOLUME.
Sappia qtialunque '1 r
Ell' e ilf'Buoi befili occhi
'T waa eve*s soH hour, and bright, above,
The star of Beauty beain'd,
While lull'd by light so full of love,
In slumber thus 1 dreaniM —
Methoijght, at that sweet hour,
A nymph came o'er the lea,
Who, galh'ring many a (low'r,
I'iius said and sun^ to me : — .
"Should any ask wh^t Leila lovea,
*'S.iy Ihou, To wrealhe her hair
" With fluw'rets culTd from gleus and groves,
"la Leila's only care.
** While thus in quest of floiv'rets rare,
"O'erhiH and dale I roam,
"My sibler, Rachel, far more fair,
**SiIs lone and mule at home.
" Belore her glass untiring,
" With IhoMghis that never stray,
"Her own biiglit eyes admiring,
" She sits the live-long day j
" While I! — oh, seldom ev'n a loot
"Of sf-if salutes my eye; —
•*My only glavs, the limpid brook,
" That bhiues aud passes by."
SOVEREIGN WOMAN.
A BALLAD.
The dance was o'er, yef still in dreams.
That fairy scene went on ;
Like clouds siill tlusti'd with daylight gleams
Though day itself is gone.
And gracefully to music's sound,
The same bright nymphs went gliding round :
While thou, the Queen of all, wert there —
The Fairest slill, where all were fair.
The dream then chang'd — in halls of state,
1 saw ihee high enrhion'd ;
While, raitg'd around, ihe wise, the great
Id thee their ojistress ovvuM ;
And still the same, thy gentle sway
O'er willing ^ubJects won its way —
''i'lll all confe-s\i ihe RiEhl Divine
1 o rule o'er man was ouly thine I
But, ]o, the scene now chang'd again —
Aud buiue on plumed steed,
I saw thee i)-er the ballle-plain
Our land s defenders lead :
Ai d siTiiiiger in Ihy lieauty's charms,
1 han n.an', with countless hosts in arms.
Thy voice, like mu^ic, cheer'd the Free,
Thy very smile was victory I
Nor reign such queens on thrones alone —
In cot and court the same.
Wherever woman's smile is known,
Victoria's still her name.
For though she almost blush to reign,
Though Love's own flow'rets wreath the chatD,
Disguise our bondage as we will,
'T is woDiau, wonau, rules us still.
COME, PLAY ME THAT SLMPLE AIR AGAIN.
A BALLAD.
Come, pUy me that simple air again,
1 us'd so 10 love, in life's young day.
And bung, if ihon canst, the dreams that tbeo
Were »aken'd by ihat sweet lay.
The lender gloom its slr.iin
Shed o'er the heart and brow,
Grief's shadow, without its pain —
Sav where, where is it now?
But play me the well-known air once more.
For though's of ynuth still haunt its straiOy
Like dreams of some far, fairy shore
We never shall see again.
Sweet air, how every note brings back
Some sunny hope, some day-dream bright,
That, shining o'er life's early track,
f jil'd ev'n Its tears with light,
'i'he new found life thai came
With love's first echo'd vow;—
The fear, the bliss 'he shame —
Ah — where, where are they now ?
But. still the same lov'd notes prolong,
For sweet 't were thu<, to that old lay,
In dreams of youth and love and song,
To breathe hfe'a hour away.
END OF VOL. IX.
PREFACE TO THE TENTH VOLUME.
The Story which occupies this volume was intended
iri^inally to be lold in verse ; and a ffieat portion of
t was at first written in thai form. This fact, as well
as t tie ctiarac'er. perhaps, of ihe whole work, which
I good deal partakes of the cast and cnlouriii; of poe-
try, have been thought sufficient to e title it to a
place in this general collection of my poetical writ-
ings.
ow little akin to romance or poesy were some of
the circumsiances under which this work was first
projec'ed by me. the reader may have seen from a
preceding preface; ■ and Ihe following rough outline,
1 Preface to the Eighth Volu
, p. 360.
which 1 have found among my pipers, dated Paris,
July 25, 1.^20. will show bo:h my first general concep-
tion, or fiire-shadowiug of the slory. and likewise Ihe
ex entto which I thought right, in afterward* working
out this design, to reject or modify some of its details
" Began mv Egyptian Poem, and wrote about thir-
teen or fouileen lines nf it. The story In be lold in
tellers from a young Epicuiean philosopher, who, in
Ihe second century of Ihe Christian era, goes to Esypt
for the purpose of discovering Ihe elixir of immor-
tality, which is supposed to he one of the secrets of
the Eg)plian priests. During a festival on Ihe Nile,
THE EPICUREAN
4G3
he meets wilh a beau'lful maiden^ the daughter of nne
of the priests lately dead. Si\e enierd the ca'acoinbs,
and disappears). He hovers around the spot, and at
last finds the welt and sircret pas»at;es, &c. by vvliich
llir
vho r
a ted
He
in one of those iheatncal spectacles which iornit-d a
paitofthesnbienaiieaii Kl>siuni of ihe pyiaiurd:^ —
finds opponunities of conversing vvilh her— Ilieir
intercfturse in this mysierious rt-gion described. 'I hey
are discovered ; and he is llirown itiio lho>t: &ub!eria-
nean prisons, where Ihey "In* virdale the rules of
Initiation are confined. He is libt^nled from Dieoce
by th9 young maiden, and lakirij; tli^ht to^elhei, they
reach siune beautiful region, where they linger, for a
time, delighted, and she is near becoming a victim to
his arts. But lakiug alarm, she Hies ; and seeks refuge
with a Christian monk, in Ihe Thebaid, to whom her
nioiht^r, who was secretly a Christi;in, had consigned
her m dying. The strugstles of her love with her
religion. A persecution of the Chijsiians t.tkes place,
and she is seized fchietly through the unintentional
means of her lover), and suH'eis ni.iriyrdom. The
scene of her martyrdom described, in a letter from the
Solitary of the Thebaid, and Ihe atieinpt made by the
young philosopher to rescue her. He is earned ofl
from ihence to the cell of the Solitary, His letters
from that retreat, alter he has bee Jne a Christian,
devoting his thoughts entirely to repentance and Ihe
reculleclion of the beloved saint who had gone bt:fore
him. — If I doo'l make something out of all this, Ihe
deuce is iuU."
According to this plan, the events of (he stnry were
Id be told in Leiters, or Epistolary Piems, addressed
by ttie philosopher to a young Athenian friend ; but,
for greater varieiy, as well as convenience, 1 after-
wards distributed the task of narration among the
chief pers'inages of the Tale. The great difficult),
however, of managing, in rhyme, the minor details of
a story, so as to be clear withuut giowing prosaic,
and still more, the dittuse length to which 1 saw nar-
ration in verse would extend, deterred me from fol-
lowing this plan any further; and 1 then commenced
the tale anew in its present shape.
Of the Poems written for my first experiment, a
few specimen?', the best I could select, were intro- I
duced into ihe prose story j but the remainder I had '
thrown aside, and nearly forgotten even their exist-
ence, when a circnmsance soinewh.t chaiacieri tic,
perhaps of thai tr.ullng s].int, wliitli h^s now con- ,
vt-rfed Parna->us itself ii.t a markcl. :i.<Hin called my >
at entioii to them. '1 he late iMf. Maoone, to who.^e ,
geneial taleiiLs and eniKip-ise iu bu-ine.^s all u ho ,
knew bini will bear read> le^ imony, had long been
aiixir.us tliat I ^ho^lId undeiiake for him some new (
I'ocm or Story, atturding such subjects for ilh.stratior
.13 might call into pi ,y the fanciful pencl of Mr,
Turner. Other tasks and ties, however, had rendeied
my compliance with this wish impracticable j and ht
was about to give up all thoughts of attaining his ob-
ject, when on learning from me accidentally that the
Epicurean was aiill my own properly, he proposed to
(Hircliase of ine the use of the copyright for a single
illustrated edition.
The terms protlered by him being most liberal, 1
readily acceded to the proposed anangemenl ; but, on
further considerali'tn, there arose some ditficuliy in
the way of our Ireity — Ihe work Itself being found
uihuffirient to foini a volume of such dimensions as
would yield any hope of defraying the cobt of the nu-
merous illuslralions then intended f'>r it. Some modi-
ficatiotijiherefore, of our terms was thought necessary j
and then first was the notion suggested to me of bring-
ing forth fioin among my papers the original sketch,
or opening of the story, and adding these fragmci
as a jort of niake-weiglit, in the mutual adjustment of
our terms.
That I had myself regarded the first experiment n
a failure, was suthciently shown by my relin<|uibl
nient of it. But, as the published wo.k U^d the
parsed through several editions, and had been Iran
lated into most of Ihe languages of Europe, it w;
thou^lit that an insight into the anxious process by
which such success bad been allamed, mi^ht, as
encouragement, al le.ist, to the humble merit of pa
taking, be deemed of some little use.
'Ihe following are the translations of this tale which
have reached me : viz. two in French, two in Italian,
(Milan, IS36 — Venice, 1^35), one in German (Ins-
pruc, )^2S), and one in Dulcb, by M. Herman van
Loghem (Dcveuter, 1S29).
THE EPICUREAN: A TALE.
TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,
BY ONE WHO ADMIRES HIS CHARACTER AND TALENTS,
AND IS PROUD OF HIS FRIENDSHIP.
A LETTER TO THE TRANSLATOR,
FROM , Esq.
Cairo, June 19, )800.
My dear Sir,— Diirinj a visit l.itely paid by me to
the ninriaslcry of St. Macarius— wliich is situated, as
you knnw, in tlie Valley of tlie Lakes of Natron — I
was lucky enough to obtain possrsNion of a curious
Greek nianuscripl, which, in ilie h'pe that jou may
be induced to translate it, I herewith Iraiistiut to you.
Observing one of ttie monks very busily occupied in
tearing up into a varieiy of fantastic shapes some
papers which had the appearance of being the leaves
of old bonks, I inquired of him the meanins: of his
lask, and received the following exidanalion ; —
The Arabs, il seems, « ho ate as fond of piijeons as
Ihe ancient Egyptians, have a superstitious notion
that, if they place in their pigeon-hnuses small sciaps
of |iaper, wn ten over with learned rhiraclers, ihe
bird, are alwavs sure to thrive Ihe belter for Ihe
charm ; and the monks, who are never slow in proht-
ing liy superstition, hive, at all limes, a supply of
such amulets for purchasers.
In general, the fathers of the monastery have been
in the hibii of scribbling these fragments iheinselvcs ;
■ery lalely made hy Ihem, saves all thi!
tving dug up (.13 my informant stated) a
trouble
464
THE EPIC U REAN.
cheat nf olil nnnuicr.pts, which, beins^ chirfiv nn tli
suliject I'f alcheniv,niiist hnve been buririi in thu tpiii
ol Dinclesiaii, " vve Umu^ht," added thti monk, "thr
we could not employ -uch rubbish uvut- prnpeiij
than in fearing il up, as you see, for the pigejU-hou;t
of ihe Arabs."
On niv expres-Mng a wish to rescue some part nf
tliese trt-.iMjres from the fate to which his indolent
fraternity h.id consigned Iheni he pmduccd Ihe nianu
sciipl wiiich I have now the pleasure of sending you
— the only one, he said, remaining eu'i-e — and I
veryreidily paid Ihe price which he demanded for it.
You will find the slory, I think, not aho^etl.
teresiirig; and the coincidence, in many rrspects, of
the curious details in Chap. VI. with ihe description
of the same ceremonies in the Romance of Sdhos
wiU, I have nn doub', strike you. Hnpingthat you
may be induced to give a translation of this 'iale to
the world,
I am, my dear Sir,
Very truly yourg.
THE EPICUREAN
C H AFTER I.
It was in the fourth year of the reisn of the Ia(
Emperor Vak-rian, thai the followers of Epicnnis. wtn
were at that lime numerous in Aihens, proceeded (o
the election of a rera^n to fill the vacant chair of
their sect;— and, by the unanimous voice of the
School, I was the individual chosen for their Chief.
I was just then entering on my luenty-fnurih year,
and no in-tance had ever before occurred, of a person
so young being selected for that higti ofhce. Youth,
however, and 'he personal advan ages thai adorn it,
could not but rank among the ni-^st agreeable recom-
meiidations to a sect tl^ai included "ilhiii its circle
all the beau'v a^well as Ihe wit of Athens, and which,
though dignifying its pursuits wi h the name of philo-
sophy, was little else than a plausible pieieatt for the
more refined cultivation f>f pleisme.
Thecharac'.erof 'hesect had, indeed, much changed,
since Ihe limc of its wise and vjrtunus founder, who,
wliile he asserted that Pleasme i-; the only GooCl, in-
culcated also that Gond is the only source (;f PJea-u'e.
'J'tie puier part of this doctrine had long evaporated,
and the temperate Epicurus would have as litle re-
cognised his own sect in ihe assL-mblage of relined
voluptuaiies who now usurped its nnme. as he wOuId
have known his own quiet Garden in the hixn<ious
groves and bowers among which the meetings of tlie
School were now held.
Many cauics concurred, at this period, besides the
attractiveness of it> d ctrines, to render our school by
far Ihe most popniir of any that still survived the
glory of Greece. It may generally be ob-erved, that
the prevalence, in one half of a community, of very
rigid notions on Ihe subject of religion, produces the
opposite extreme of laxity and intidelity in the olher;
and this kind of re-action it was thai now mainly
contributed to render the doctrines of ihe Garden the
most fashionable philosophy of the diy. The rapid
progress of the Chijs'ian faiih had alarmed all those,
who, either from piety or wrldliness, were interested
in the continuance of the old established creed — all
who believed in the Deities (.f Oiympus. and all who
lived by them. The natural conseciuence was, a con-
1 The description, here alluded to, may also be
found, copied vcrLalim fmni Sethr^s, in Ihe * Voyages
d'An'enir." — " In that philosophical romance, called
'La Vie de Sethos,"' siys Warburton, "we (ind a
much juster account of old Egyfitian ivjsdoni. thin in
all the pretended 'Histoire du Cicl.^ *' — Viv. Leg.
book iv. sect. U.
siilerable increase nf zeal and activity, throughout the
c^Mi-*' [tilted anibfiri'ies and priesthood of the whole
He. then world. What was wan'ing in sincerity of
belief was ina.le up in rigour,— the we.ikest parts of
the .Myihnlngy v% ere tho^e, of course, most angi"
j defended, and ^'^y reflec!i<'ns, tcndingto bring Salu
' or liis wife Ops, into conleuipt, were punislied wilti
tlie utmost severity .f ihe law.
In th's a 3te of affairs, between the alarmed bigotiy
of the dr-ctinlng Faith and Ihe simple, sublime ar
rity of her rival, it was not wonderful that those
lovers of ease and ple^cure, who had no interest
vervionary o^otherwI^e, iu the old r<-Ii-ion. and w,
too indolent to inquire nito the sinclini'.s of (he nt
should lake refuge from the seventies of boh in the
arii.s of a luxurious jhilosophv, which, lejvim
others the task of disputing about the tuture, ceirtred
all its wisdom in Ihe full enjoyment of the pre-ent.
The 'ectaries of the Garden had, ever i-ince Ihe
death of iheir founder, been accu>lomed to dedicate
to hiS memory Ihe tv\entieih day of every month.
To these njonthly n'es had, for some linie, been added
a grand annual festival, in commemoration of liis
birih. The feast*', given on ihis occasion by niy pre-
decessors i;i Ihe Chair, had been invariatJIy disiin-
guished lor their taste and splendour; and il was
ambiiinn, n^t merely to iniilate this example, but
evt-n to render Ihe anniversary, now cetebraled uiide
niy auspices, so lively and brilliant as to efface Ihe
recollecii' n of all that had preceded it.
Seldom, indeed, had Athei.s witnessed so bright i
scene. The grounds that formed the original site oi
Ihe Garden had received, from time lo time, conside
r.ible additions; and the «ho!e exfent was now laid
out with that perfect taste, which understands how to
wed Nature with Art, wiihnut sacrificing any of he
simplicity tn the alliance. Walks, leading through
wildernessi'S ot shade and fragrance — glades, oj
ing as if to atturd a play-gmund for the sunshine —
temples, rising on the very spots where Im.iginatirn
heise f would have called them up, and f'lun'ains
lakes in allernate motion and repose, either i\antunly
courting the verdure, or calmly sleeping in its i
brace— such was the v-*riety of feature that diversified
these fair gardens; and. animated as they were
ihis occasion, bv all the living wit and loveliness of
Athens, it afiorded a scene such as my own youthful
l.uicy, rich as it was then in Images of luxury and
beauty, could hardly have anticipated.
1 lie ceremonies of the day began with the very
dawn, when, according to the form of simpler and
better times, tho--e among ihe disciples who had ap.irt-
men's within the Garden, bore the image of our
Founder in procession from ch;init)er to chamber,
chanling verses in praise of what had loug ceased to
be objects of our imi ation — his frugality and tempe-
rance.
Round a beautiful lake, in the centre of the Garden,-
stood four white Doric temples, in one of which i
collected a lihiary containing all Ihe flowers of Gre-
cian literature; wliile, in the reniaining three, Con-
versation, the Snng, and the Dance, held, uninerrupt-
ed by each other, their respective rites. In the
Library stood busts of all the mo.t illnsirious Epicu-
reans, both of Rome and Greece — Horace, Atlicus,
Pliny the elder, Ihe poet Lncreliu-^, Luci;in, and the
lamented biographer of (he Philoeopliers, lately lost to
us Ul 'genes Laeriius. There were als'i the portraits,
in marble, of all the eminent female votaries of the
school— Leontium and her fair daughter Dame, 'J he-
mlsla, Philasnis, and others.
It was heie that, in my capacity of Heresiarch, on
the morning of the Festival, 1 received Ihe felicita-
tions of the day from some of the fairest lips of
Athens; and, In pronouncing the customaiy oration
to the memory of our Master (in which it was usual
to dwell upon the doctrines he had inculcated) en-
deavoured tn alt lin that art, sri UNcfuI before such an
udience, of lending lo the gravest subjects a cha ni,
^hich secures them lisleneiseven amougthe simplest
nd most V''latile.
THE EPICUREAN
465
Though sftidy, as niny be supposed, engrossed but
little the nights or mornings of the Garden, yel all
the lie:hier parts of learning— that pnrti-in of its afric
honej-\ for which the bee i> not compdli^tl to s^o very
deep in'o tlic tlnwrr — was soniewhai zcrilously cnlM-
vatcd by us. Even here, however, the young sludeitt
had to encounter that kind of distracrion, which is, of
ail others, the least favourable to composure of
thought; and, wirh more than one of my fair disci-
ples, there used to occur such scenes as the following,
which ;i poet of ihe Garden, taking his picture from
the life, thus described : —
•'Ab o'er Ihr* lake, In evening's glow,
Thai lemplc^ threw ite IciiKlheiiiii^ shade,
V]"in the marblf eteps below
There nnte a Tair Coriuthian moid,
Grart^fully o'er some volume beiidiii^;
Willie, by her side, the youthful S:ige
IIclJ b.ick her ringietft, Iwt, (i.-8remliiig,
They bhould o'er-alia'^ow all llie yu&t:.'*
But it was for the evening of that Hay, (hat the
richef t of our luxuries were reserved. Every part of
(be Garden was illuniinated, with the most skilful
variety of lusire ; while over ihe Uke of the Temples
were scattered wre.iKi-i of (lowers, through which
boats, filled with beautiful children, Healed, as
through .1 liquid parterre.
Between two of these boats a mock combat was
perpetually carried on ;— their respective command-
ers, two blooming youths, being habited to represent
Eri)s and An'eros: the former, the Celestial Love of
the i'latonis's,and the latter, that more earthly spirit,
which usurps the nante of Love among Ihe Epicu-
reans. Throughout Ihe whoie evening their conflict
was maintained with various success; the limid dis-
tance at which Eros kept aloof Oom his lively anta-
gonist being his only safeguard against those dnr'sof
(ire, with showers of which the other assailed him,
but which, falling short of Iheir mark upon the lake,
only scorched the few flowers on which they fell, and
were extinguished.
In another part of the gardens, on a widi
illuminated only by ihe moon, was performed
tilion of the torcb-race of the Fauaihensa by young
boys cho-en for their flee'ne.'-s, and arrayed wi\\\
wings, like Cupids; while, not far oft", a grnup of
seven iiyinphs. with e^ch a star on her forehead, re-
presented the movements of ihe planetary choir, and
emb(jdied Ihe dream of Fythagoiaa into real motion
: gl.ide,
md t
'iig-
ery turning some new enchanlment broke
unexpecedly on the eye or e.<r; and now, front the
depth of a d.irk grove, from which a fnunt.in at the
same tune issued, there came a strain of sueet muvic,
which, mingling with the murmur of Ihe water,
Bcemeil like the voice of the spirit that presided over
its flow j— while, at other times, the same strain ap-
peared to c'ime breathing from among flowers, or "as
iic.ird ^uddenly from under ground, as if the fiot had
just touched some spiing that eet its Dietody in mo-
tion.
It may seem strange thai I should now dwell upon
all these trifling details; but they uereto me full of
the future ; and every thing connected \vith thai me
moraMe night — even its lonii-repentLd follies— mus
for ever live fondly and sacndly m my memory
The fetival concluded with a btmjuet, at which, a
master of the Sect, 1 presided ; and being, myself, ii
every sfiise, Ihe ascendant ^pi^it of ihe whole scene
gave life to all around me, aud &aw my own happiuei
reflected in that of others.
CHAPTER II.
The festival was over;— the Bounds of the song and
dance had ceased, and I was now left in ihose luxu-
rious gardens, ainne. Though so ardent and active a
votary of pleasure, I had, by nature, a disposition full
of melancholy ;— an imagination that, even in the
midvt of mitth and happiness, presented saddenmg
houghts. and threw the shadow of the future over Ihe
gayest illusions of the present. Melancholy was, in-
deed, twin-born in my soul wiUi pjssion ; and not
I in the fullest fervour of the latter were Ihey ever
separated. From ihe (irst mnnient that I was con-
ciousof thought and feeling, the same dark thread hid
un across tlie web; and images of death and annihi-
ation came to mingle themselves with even the n.ost
niiling scenes through which Invc and enjoyment led
ne. My very passion for plea-ure but deepened
these gloomy thoughts. For, shut out, as I was by
cretd. from a future life, and having no hope
beyond the narrow horizon of this, everv minute of
rtlily delight assumed, in my eyes, a mournful pre-
ciousncss ; and pleasure, like the flower of the ceme-
tery, grew but more luxuriant from Ihe neighbourhood
of death.
(lis very night my triumph, my happiness had
led complete. I had been Ihe presiding geriius of
that volupMi'us scene. Both my ambition and my
love of pleai-ure had drunk deep of the rich cup fur
which they tliiis'ed. Looked up to as I wa^ by the
learned, and admired and loved by the beautiful and
the yrxinj, I hid seen, in every e\e that met mine,
eiiher theacknowied^iment of bright triumphs aheady
won, or Ihe promise of olheis, still brighter, that
awailtd me. Yet, even in the mid-t of all this, the
same dark tlioughts had presented themselves; — Ihe
perishableness of myself and all annjnd me had re-
curred every ins'ant to my mind. Those hands ! had
prest — those eyes, in which I had seen sparkling a
■pirit of light and life that ought never to die— Ihose
;oices, that hid spoken of eternal love — all, all, I
'elt, were hut a mockery of the momcn', and would
leave nothing eternal but the silence of their dust !
Oh, were it nnt for this eail voice,
iSlealing amid our mirth lo Bay,
That all, in which we inoht rejoice.
Ere nifjhl may be Ihe earlh-vkorm's prey ;—
But for this biiter — nnlv this —
Full aB the world ia brinim'il with bliss,
And capiible ae feela my anul
Of draining ui its depth the whole,
I Hhould turn earth to heaven, and be.
If blisa made gods, a deity !
Such wjs the description I gave of my own feelings,
in one of those wild, passionate eongs, lo which this
mixture of mirth and melancholy, in a spirit so
buoyant, naturijly gave birth.
And seldom had my heart so fully surrendered itself
to this soil of vague sadness as at that very moment,
when, as 1 paced thoughtfully among the fading liffhls
and flowers of Ihe bant}uet, the echo of my own step
was all that now sounded, where so many gay forms
had laely been revelling. The moon was still up. Ilie
mnrniii!; hid not yet glimmered, and the calm glories
of the night siill rested on all around. Unconscious
whither my pathway led, I continued to wander
along, till I, at lei-elh, found myself before thu fair
statue nf Venus, with which the chisel of Alcamenes
bad embellished our Garden ; — lhat image of deifled
woman, the only idfjl to which I bad ever yet bent
the kitee. Leaning againvt Ihe pedestal of the sta'ue,
I raised my eyes lo heaven, and fixing them sadly and
intently on theever-burnins -tars, as if seeking lo read
tlie mournful secret in their lii^hl, a;ked, wherefore
was it that Man alone must fade and perish, while
they, so much le-s wonderful, le^s godlike than he,
Ihii? s'ill lived on in radiance unch uigeable and for
ever!- "Oh, that there were some spell, gnnie talis-
man," I exclamed, *Mo make the spirit that burns
within us deathless aa those stars, and oi en to ji a
career like theirs, as bright and inextiuguisliable
throuiihout all time!"
While ibus itidulging ir wild and melancholy fan-
ciei. I fel* (hat la'^situde which earthly pleasure, 1
eier sweet, still leaves behind, come insensibly over
me, and at leuglh sunk at the ba^e of Ihe statue lo j
sleep.
2e
466
THE EPICUREAN,
But even in sleep, the SMue fancies continued to
taunt me; and a die;un,i sodisiinct and vivid ns to
leave bt^hind it ihe imjire.^s on of reality. lhu>i pre-
seMed itself to mv muid. 1 f-m d n.vself suddenly
traiispriried ti» a u id^ and desolate plain, \\ tiere iioihii.5
appeared to breailie, 01 nio\e, or hve. Jlie very t.ky
ihai hungabuve ii i.oked pale and extinct, giving Uie
ides, not o( d-trkite-s, bui of light iha: had became
dead ;~ and had that whole region been ihe remains
<,f some oldtr world, left btok-m up and sunless, it
could not have presented au aspect more qiiei.ched and
lale. 'I he only thing that besp. ke lite, through-
out tliis melanclioly waste, was a small spark of light,
that at fiisl glimmered m Ihe distaiiCe. but, al lengtli,
slowly apprnaclied Ihe bleak ?poI where I stood. As
it drew Ilea er, I could see that its small but steady
gleam came f.om a taper in tl:e hand of an aiiCienl and
vener.'ble ninn, who now siood, like a pale messenger
(viu Ihe g'avc, btlore me. Af er a lew moment, of
awful silence, during which he looked at me with a
padne.s thai thrilled my very s"ul, he siid, *''lhou,
who seekest eternal life, go unio the -horesof the datk
Nile — go unto the shores < i the dirk Nile, and thuu
wilt find ihe etirnal life thou seekest !"
No sooner had he uteied these words than the
deathlike hue i f his cheek at once brightened into a
smile of moiethan earthly piomi^e; while the small
toich he held in his hai.d sent lor h a glow of radiance,
by wtiicli suddenly the whole surface of the desert
w\s illumiiiaied J — the light spreading even to he
dis'ant h'tiizNii's edge, along whuse line I could now
tee gardens, palaces, and spires, all :ts brisht as the
lich architectuie ot ilie clouds at sunset. Swtet niu-
sic, too, came floating in every direction through the
air, and, from all sides, such varieties (;f euchannieut
broke upon nie, ihai, with the excess alike of haiinony
and of ladtance, 1 3w<;ke
That infidels -'^hould be supers'itious is an an^^maly
neither unusual nor >trai ge. A belief in supethnman
agency seems naural and necessary 10 the nnnd ; and,
if not suffered to tl-)w in the obvious channels, it will
liiid a vent in ^onie other. Hence, many who have
d(tub;ed the existence of a God, have yet implicitly
placed themselves under the patronage of Fate or the
stars. Mucli die same inconsistency I was conscious
of in my ou n feelings. Though rejecting all belief in
a Divine Providence, I hid yci a fai h in dreams, that
all nay philos- phy could nut conquer. Nor was expe-
tience wanting to confirm me in my delusion ; for, by
lonie of those accidental coincidences, which make
the fortune of s othsayers and prophets, dreams,
more than once, had been to me
Orarlee truer far than cak,
Or duve, or tripixj> ever sjtoke.
It was not wonderful, therefore, that the vision of that
night — touchms, as it did, a chord so ready to vibrate
— stiould have affected me wiih more than oidinary
power, and even ;>unk deeper into my memory witti
every eff.u t 1 made to forget it. lu vain did 1 mock al
my own weakness; — such self-derision is seldom in-
cere. In vain did I pursue my accustomed pleasures.
J heir 2esl -a as, as usual, for ever new; but still, in
the midst of all my enjiwmeu', came the cold and sad-
dening cnnsciousnesi of niorlali y, and, with i\ Ihe
recollection of that visionary promise, to which my
faiicv, in defiance of reason, -till couiinued to c ing.
At limes icdulging in reveries, that were little el-e
Ihin a continuation of my dream, I even contemplated
the po sible PKisietice of some mighl\ secie*, by which
youth, if not peipeluated, might be at least prolonged,
and th.it dreadful viciniiy of "death, within whose cir-
cle love pines and ple.isuie sickei.s, might be for a
while averted. "Who knows," I would ask, *• but
that in Eg>pt, th.t re^inn of wonders, where My>tery
haih yet unhd led but lialf her tieasi.res— where still
remain, undcciphercd, upon the pillars of Seth, so
many written secrels of the antediluvian world — who
can tell but thai some powerful charm, some amulet,
may there lie hid, wliose discovery, as this phantom
hath promised, tnit awai s my coming— some com-
pound of tlie same pure atoms, that form the essence
of the living >tars, and » luse inf^ioion into Ihe frame
of man might render him also unfading and im-
mortal I"
Thus fondly did I sometimes specula'e, in those
vague moods If mind, when ihe life of excitement in
which I w.is engaged, acting upon a warm htailaud
vivid fancy, produced an intoxication of spirit, during
which I was not wholly myself. 'Ibis bewildeiinen',
too, was not a litlle increased by the constant struggle
I experienced bctv*een mv own natural feeling*, and
tlie cold, mortal creed of my sect — in endeavouring
to escape from whose deadening bondage 1 but broke
loo e into Ihe realms of fanlasy and roniance.
Kven in my soberest moments, however, that
s!range vision for ever haunted me; and every effort
I made to chase it fr m niy recollection was unavail-
ing. Jhe delitieraie conclusion, iheiefnre, to which 1
at last came, was, th.I to visit Kgypt was now my
only res urce ; Ih d, without seeing ttiat land of won-
ders, I could not rest, nor, until convinct-d of my fidly
by disappointment, be reasonable. Without delay,
accordii gly, I am oiinced to my friends of the Garden,
the intention 1 had fornied to pay a visit to Ihe laud of
Pyramids. To none of them, however, did I dare to
confess ihe vague, visionary impulse that actuated
me ; — Knowledge being the object that I .dleged,
while Pleasure was that for which they gave ine
credit. 'Ihe inerests of the Sch'.xd, it wa feared,
might suffer by my absencej and 'here were some
tenderer lies, which had still more lo fear fiom sep.t-
raiion. Kut for Ihe former inconvenience a temporary
remedy was provided ; while Ihe laliei a skilful dis-
tribution of vows and sighs alleviated. Being fur-
iii-hed with recommendatory letters to all parts of
Egypt. I set s.iil, in the summer of the year 2j7, A. D.,
for Alexandria.
1 For the importance attached to dreinis by the
ancients, see Jorfm, Remarks on Ecclesiastical Hia-
lory, vol. i., p. 90.
CHAPTER III.
3 SO well knew how to extract pleasure
it on land, a sea-voyage, however
able, appeared the least agieeable
i that could be devised Often, in-
To one, who :
from every moi
smooth and favi
niodeof losing I
iietd, did my imagimtiun, in passing some isle of
thuse -eas, people i' with fair foims and loving hearts,
to ^\hich mo^t willingly would I have paused to offer
homaae. But the w ind blew direct towaids Ihe land
of Mystery; and, slill more, I heard a voice within
me, whispering for ever '■ on."
As we approached the co st of Egypt, oui course
became less [iro-perous; and we had a specinitnof Ihe
benevolence if the divinities of the Nile, in the shape
of a storm, or rathe whirlwind, which had nearly
sunk our vessel, and which the Egyptians on board
declated to be ihe work ol iheir deity, Typhon.
After a day and 1 ight of daiger. during which
of
• cnur;
ird. i
bennrn
jeiice prevailed above ; and, at length,
ng freshly iT-ke, we ^aw Ihe beautiful
ciiy of Alexa. dria ri ing from Ihe sea, w i h its proud
P;ilace of King-, its ponic' of four hu died c lumns,
and the fair Fil.arof Piilars,^ towering in the midst
to heaven.
After i'assi!ig in review this >plendid vis;On, we
shot rapidly round the Rock of Pharos, and in a few
minutes, found ourselves in the haibour of Eunoslus.
^ Mo-e propeily, perhaps, "the C<^'lumnof the Pil-
lars" \ idp- Abdallatif, Relation de PEgypte, and Ihe
no'es of M. de Socy. 'Ihe great por'ico round this
C'dumn (lormeily desiena'ed Pompey's, but now
known to have Ue 1 erec'ed in honour of Dioclesiun)
was slill standing. M. de Sacy say-s in the time of
Saladin. Vide Lord Val€ntia>s Travels,
THE EPICUREAN.
467
Thd »un ^al^ risen, lut Ihe lieht on Iho Great Tower
pl the Kr>rk was still burning j and lliere was a laii-
gucriii lilt- fir-i waknis iiiiuiie.Is of lliai voluptuous
I city — ^liiMf linuses and tt-mples Iny shining in silence
an.unci the li.irbiiur — ttial sumculilly atltsltj tlie fes-
llVltle^ n( Ihe preceJins nighl.
We were si'oii lai.ded on Ihe quay ; and, as I walked
Ihruush a line cif palaces and shrines, up Ihe sireel
which leads fr ni ihe sea t'l llie Gale nf Cuiopus. fresh
as 1 was from the conteiiipl ttinn nf my own lovely
Alhrni, I yet fell a gl'iw of admiralion' a' Ihe scene
liroiiitd nie, which its novelty, even mTe tlian its
magnificence, inspired Nor were tiie luxuries and
delights, wfiich such a cily promised, anionj; the least
of tlie considerali'ins upon whicli my faiicv dwelt. On
the conlraiy, everything an>und me seemed prophetic
of love and pleasure. The very f.irins of ihe .-.rchi-
tecture. 10 my Epicurean imaginalion, appeared to call
up imaees of living giace; and even Ihe dim seclusion
of the temple^ and groves spoke only of tender myste-
ries to my mind. As the whole bright scene grew
animated aiouiid me, I fell that IlKiugli Egypt might
not en.ible me to leng'hen life, she could leich the
Dexl best ait — that of multiplying its enjo)ments.
'J'he population of Alexandria,* at this period, con-
sisted of Ihe most motley miscellany of nations, reli-
gion>, and sects, that had evt-r beeti brought logelher
in one cily. He.side the school of the Giecian Platn-
nisl was seen the oratory of ihe cibalislic Jew ; while
Ihe chuich of the Christian stond, undis urhed, over
the crypts of Ihe Egip'ian Hieiophai.t. Here, I be
adorer of Fiie, from Ihe East, laughed at ihe less
elegant supers'ilion of the worshipper nf cats, from
the VVe>l. Here Chrisiianity, too, had learned to
emulate ihe pious vagaries of Fag.nism; anJ while,
on one side, her Itphile pr^ -lessor was seen bending his
kneegr.ivelv befoie a serpenlj on the other, a Nicosian
Clnistian was heard contending, with no le-s gravity,
that there C'-uld be no chance whatever of silvation
out of Ihe pile of the Greek alphabet. Still worse,
the unchariiableness of Chrisian schism was a'readv,
with equal vigour, distinguishing itself; and I heard
everywhere, on mv arrival, of the fierce rancour and
hale, wilh which the Greek and Latin chuichnien
were then persecu ing each other, because, forsooth,
the one fasted on the seventh dav of Ihe week, aud the
others fisted upon the fourth and sixth !
To none, however, of these dirtereni creeds and
sects, except in as f.r as they furnished food for ridi-
cule, bad I lime to pay much attention. 1 was now in
the most luxurious cry of the universe, and accord-
ingly gave way wi-hout reserve, to Ihe various seduc-
tions that surrounded me. My repu ation, both as a
philo>oplier and a m-n of pleasure, bad preceded my
coining; and Alexandria, the second Athens nf the
world, welcomed me as her on n. I fiund my cele-
brity, indeed, act as a talisman, th I opened all hearts
and doors at my approach. The usual novitiate of
acquaintance was dispensed with in my favour, and
noi onlv intimacies, bul loves and frieuilsbips, ripened
as rapidlv in my p»lh, as vegetation spriuss up where
IheNilehas lowed. Ihe dark beauty of the Egyp-
tian women* possessed a novelty in my ejes that
» Ammianiis thus speaks of the s'a'e of Alexmdiia
in his lime which wis, I believe, as lae as the end of
the fourth century:— "Ne nunc quidem in ladem urbe
Doclrina; variae silem, non apud nos exaruil Musica
nee Hirmoniaconiicuit."— Lib. 22.
« From the charac'er of the fea'uies of ihe Spliinx,
and a passage in Herodotus, describing the Egyptians
as iiikaYXfOcs "ti ovAoTpixe;. Volney, Bruce ai d
a few others, have concluded iliit Ihe ancient inhabi-
lan's of Egypt were negrje-. But this opinion is con-
liadicted bv a host of auihori-ies. S--e CasUra's N des
upon Bnnxme's Tramls, for Ihe result of Blunien-
bach's dis eclion of a variety of mummies. Denon,
speaking of the character of the heads lepresenled in
Ihe ancient scclpture and painting of Ei;\pt, says,
'■Celle des fe es res-emble encore a la figure de-
jolies feninies d'aujourd'hui de la rondeur, de la
enhanced its other charms ; and the hue left by the
sun on their rounded cheeks seemed but an earnest
of the genial ardour he mus: have kindled iu their
Some weeks had now passed in such constant and
ever-chansing pleasuies, ihal even Ihe melancholy
V ice de. p wilhiii my hean, though it still spoke,
was bul seldom listened to, and soon died away iu the
sound of Ihe siren songs that surrounded nie. At
leiigih, as Ihe novelty of these gay scenes wore off,
Ihe same vague and gloomy bodiugs began to mingle
"ilh all my joys; and an inc. dent lhal occurred, at
this time, during one of my gajesi revels, conduced
still more In deepen their gl om.
'I he ceiebra'ion of Ihe annual festival of Serapis
happened In lake place during my stay, and 1 wa,
more than once, induced to mmgle with the gay mul-
titude, Ihat fl.-cked to the shrine at Canopus on the
occasion. Day and night, as long as this festival
lasted, the great canal, which led from Alexandria to
Canopus, vvascover-.d wilh boats full of pilgrims of
both sexes, all hastening to avail themselves of this
pious license, which lent the zest of a religi-us sanc-
lioii to pleasure, and gave a holyday 10 the follies and
passions of earth, in hnn-ur of heaven.
1 was returning, one lovely night, to Alexandria.
The north wind, tha' ^velcome vi-iler, had cooled and
freshened Ihe air, while the banks, on eilherside of
the stream, sent forth, from groves of orange and
henna, Ihe most delicious .douis. As I had left all
the crowd behind me at Canopus, there was not a
boat to be seen on Ihe canal b t mv own ; and I was
just yielding to Ihe thoughts which solitude a- such
an hour inspires, when my reveries were suddenly
volupte, le nez pelil, les yeui longs, pen ouverls,"&c.
kc. He could judge, loo, he says, from Ihe female
mummies, '- que leurs chcveux et ient longs ol li-ses,
que le caraclere de tele de la pluparl teiioil du beau
style.''— "Je rappnrlai," he adds, "uiie lete de vieille
femmequi eioit aussi belle que celles de Michel-Ange,
et leur resembloit beaucoup."
In a •' Dtscnption ^aterale de T/tcbes,^^ by Messrs.
JoUois et IJesvtlhers, ibey say, '• 'i'ouies les sculptures
Egyptiennes. depuis des plus grands colosses de
Tliebes j squ'aux plus petites idoles, ne rappellent en
aucune maniere les traits de la hgure des negres;
outre que les tetes des mnniies des catacombes de
I hebes presenient des prolils dioils." (See also itf.
Jomard's " Description of Syene and the Calancts,"
ISaroii Larny, on the " conf rma'ion physique" of the
Egyptians, &c.) But Ihe most sa isfaclory refutation
of Ihe opinion of Vo nev has been afforded within
these few years, by Doctor Granville, who having
been lucky enough to obtain possession of a perfect
female mummy, has. by the dissec'ion and admeasure-
ment of lis form, completely es ablished the fact, that
the ancient Egyptians were of the Caucasian race, not
of the Ethiopi.n. See tins gentleman^s curious " Es-
say on Egyptian Mummies" lead before Ihe Royal
Societv, April 14th, IS-23.
De Pauw, the great depreciator of everything Egyp-
tian, his, on the author! y of a passage in jEliaii, pre-
sumed lo alljx 10 the countrywomen of Cleopatra ;!,t!
stigma of comi lete and unredeemed ugliness. The
following line of Euripides, however, is an answer to
such charges : —
NtiAov /iEV at^t KaWiitapBtvot poai.
In .addition to ihe celebrated instances of Cleopatra,
Rliod pe, &c. we are told, on the authority of Mane-
tho (as given by Zoegi from Geoigius Svncellu-), of a
beautiful queeu nf Memphis, Nitocris, of ihe sixth dy-
nasty, who, in addition to other charnis and perfec-
tions, was (rather inconsistently with the negro hypo-
thesis) lav^i) Tijv XQotav, i. e , yellow-haired.
See for a liibu'e lo Ihe beauty of Ihe Egyptian wo-
nien, Montesquieu's Temple deOnide.
468
THE EPICUREAN.
b;-3ken by the sound of some female voices, coming
mingled with aui^h'er and screams, from the gapdeii
of a pavilion, hai s!ood, brilliantly illuminated, upon
the bank of the canal.
On rowing neaier, I perceived thai bmh the mirth
and the alarm had been caused by ihe elt'crU 'f snme
playful girls 10 TLach a hedge of j.ismiiie v.iiich §revv
neur the water, and in bending toivards which they
had nearly fallen into the stre m. H,-.siening to
pr^tfer my assistance, I si^on rec guised the vojce t.f
one of my fair Alexaii<lrian friend-, ao'f, s-priugiiig on
the bank, was surroundid by the whole group, who
insisted on my joinii.g their parly in ihe pivilion, ai,d
baving tlung ;tround nif, as fetters, ihe tendrils of jas-
mine, which they had ju t plucked, conducted me, no
unwilling c.iplive, to Ihe banquet-i-ooni.
I found here an assemblage of the very flower of
Alexandrian socieiy. The unexpectedness cf tli«
nit-e ing added new zest to it on both sides ; and sel-
dom had I ever felt more enlivened myself, ur suc-
ceeded belter in infusing life and gaiety in-o other-..
Among the company weresomeGeek women, who,
accoidingto the la-hion of their counliy, wore vciU;
but, as usual, rather to set off than to conceal their
beauiy, some brighi gleams of which were cons'anily
escaping from under the cloud. There was, how-
ever, one female, who pariicularly a'tracfed my atten-
tion, on whose head was a chaplet of dark-c-louied
flowers, and who sat veiled and silent during the
\vIiole of (he banquet. She took no share, I obs^ii-ed.
in what was passing aronnd : ihe viands and the wine
went by her untouched, nor did a word that was
spoken seem addressed to her ear. This abstiaciion
from a scene so sparkling with gaiety, though app;i-
renliy unnoticed by any one but myself, struck rne as
niys'erious and straiige. 1 inquired of my fair neigh-
bour the cause of it, but i.he looked grave and was
silent.
In the mean time, the lyre and the cup went round ;
and a young maid from Athens, as if inspired by ihe
presence of her couiitryman, 'ook her lute, and sung
to it some of Ihe songs of Greece, with a warmth of
feeling that bore me back to the banks of the llissus,
and, even iu the bosnni of present pleasure, drew a
sigh from my heart fi*r that which had passed away.
It was da\break ere our delighted party rose, and
most unwillingly re-embarked to reUirn to the city.
We were scarce a^oat, u hen it Avas discovered that
the lute of the young Athenian had been left behind ;
and, with a heart siill full of its sweet sounds, I most
readily sprang on shore lo seek it. I hastened at once
to the banquet-room, which was now dim and soli-
tary, except that — there, to my utter astonishment,
was still sealed that silent figure, which had auakened
so much my curiosity during the evening A vague
feeling of awe came over nie, as i now slowly ap-
proached it. There was no motion, no sound of
breathing in that form ;— not a leaf of Ihe dark chap-
let upon its brow sirred. By the light of a dying
lamp which stood on the table before the figure, I
raised, with a hesitating hand, ihe veil ; and saw —
what my fancy had already anticipated — ihat the
sliape underneath was lifeless, was a skeleton ! Star-
tled and sliocked, I hurried back with the lute to ihe
bo it, and was almost as silent as that shape ii&elf
du-ine Ihe remainder of the voyat;e.
This custom among the Egyptians of placing a
niummv, or skeleton, at the hanqne'-iab^e, had been
for some time disused, except at particular cei"emo-
nies; and, even on such occasions, it had been the
practice of the hixuiious Alexandrians lo disguise this
meniorial of mortality in llie manner just described.
But to me, who was wholly unprepared for such a
spec'acle, it gave a shock fiom which my imagina'ion
did not speedily recover. This silent and ghastly wit?
ness of minh seemed to embody, as it were, the sha-
dow in my own heart. The features of Ihe grave
were thus slaiiped upon Ihe idea that had lonj; haunted
ine, and this picture of what I was to be now asso-
ciated i'self constantly with the sunniest aspect of
what I uirtt.
The memory of the di
" elily than
>i th;
■ibie S|.iri
.dark Nile.
Tlie b
ind hij
■ recuired to me
lit, as.suring smile
ords, "Go lo the
li find Ihe tiernal
life U]> u set^kest," ue e for e\ei pre^enl to niy inind.
Bui as ye;, aUs, I had d.ine nolhi- g t>.uard^ realising
the i)rou(l premise. Alexandria was not Egypt;—
tiie i.ery soil on which it now siood was i.ot in exist-
ence, when already Thebes and Memphis had num-
beied agtrs of glory.
*^ ^o," I exclaimed ; '*it is only beneath the Pyra-
mid, of Memphis, or in the mysiic Halls of ihe Laby-
rinth, those holy arcan-i are lo be tound, of which Ihe
antediluvian wodd has made Egypt its heir, and
;<.)nnng \\hich — blest thought! — the key to eternal
life may lie."
Having formed my deermina'ion, I took leave of
my many Alexand'ian friends, and departed for Mem-
phis.
C H AFTER IV.
Egypt was, perhaps, of all others, Ihe country most
calculated, from that mixture of the melancholy and
the voluptuous, which marked the chamctcr of her
people, her religion, and her scenery, to urtect deeply
a fancy and lempeiament like mine, and keep both
for ever tremldingly alive. Wherever I turned, I
beheld (he desert and Ihe garden, mingling together
their desolation and bloom. I saw the love-bower
and the b'mb standing si-ie by side, as if, in ihal land,
Pleasure and Death kept hourly waich upon each
other. In the veiy luxury of the climate there was
the same saddening influence. The monotonous splen-
dour of the days, the solemn radiance ofthe nights —
all tended to cherish that ardent melancholy, the off-
spring of passion and of thought, which had been so
long the lamiliar inmale of my soul.
When I sailed from Alexandria, the inundation of
Ihe Nile was at its full. The whole valley ol Egypt
lav covered by its flood ; and, as, looking around me,
1 saw in the light of the setting sun, shrines, palaces,
and monumenls, encircled by the waters, I could
almost f.incy that I beheld the sinking island of Ata-
lanlis, on Ihe last evening its temples were visible
above the wave. Such varielies too, of animatiou as
presented themselves on every side ! —
While, far as sight could reacti, btneath as clear
And blue a tieavfii as L-vpr bless 'd ttiU fijihere.
OiinU'iiti. aniJ pillar'd streets, atiij purphyry dumes*
And high-built temples, fit to be the homt'S
or migtily yods — and pyramids wtiose hour
Outlasts all time, above ttie waters tower!
Then, too, the Bcenea of pomp and joy, that make
One llieatre of this va-sl peopled lake,
Wtiere all that Love, Religion, Commerce give^
or life and motion, ever movew and lives.
Here, up the steps of temples, fnini Ihe wave
ABifnding, in proression slow ond grave,
Friesl.s, iu vvhife garments, go, with aar red wands
And ciilver cymbals gleaming in their hands :
While, there, rich bark.s — fresh from those sunny tracts
F;tr otl". beyond the sonniliiig caturacta —
Glide wiih their preciouw ludinn In the sea,
I'lumes of bright birds, rhinoceros' ivory,
Gt-ms from the Isle of Meroe, and those grains
Of gold, wauh'd down by Abyssioiau rains.
Here, where the waters wind into a hay
Stiiidowy and roo], some pi I" rims on their way
To Saisor Bul.astu-, ainniig b. ds
Of lotus-flower-. 1 ihal close :<l>'>vc their heads,
Push their 1i-Ij1 i>;uk-^. nud Uni. as in a bnwir.
Sing, talk, or t-lei-p jiwov ltn- sullrv hour;
While huply. not far .^ 11". beiit-attiit liauk
Of blosBDiniiig aearias, many a prnnk
Ih play'd in the cool current by a train
Of laughing nymphe, lovely as she, whose chsia
Around two conquerors of the world was cast
But, for a third too feeble, broke at last t
i Vide Strata,
THE EPICUREAN
46&
Encliaiited with the whole sceni. 'inhered delight-
edly on niy voyage, visiting: aU \'ncit luxurious and
venerable places, whose naniefl iiave been consecraled
by the wonder nl'ageJ. At Sais 1 was present during
her Kesiival of Lani(.s, and read, bj Ilic blaze of innu-
merable lights, those sublime woids on llie tenjple of
Nei ha: ' — " 1 am all th.it has been, lliat is, and lliat
will be, and no man halh ever lifled my veil." 1
wandered among the prostrate ubelisksof Heli^ipolis,^ j
and Stw, not wilhoui a 5ia;h, the sun smilitig over her ;
rums, as it in mockeiy of the mass of nerisliable g an- i
deur, Ihalhad once called it,. II, in lis [iride, ■•■Ihe|
City of Ihe Sun." But to the Isle of the Golden '
Vsittisu was, 1 own, my fondest pilgrimage; — aiid
t";ere, .as I rambled Ihrouith its shades, where bowers
are the only lemples, I telr how far more wmthy lo
form tlie shrine of a Deiiy are the everliving sleuis of
the garden aiid the grove, than ihe most precious
columns the inatiimate quarry can supply.
Everywhere, new pleasures, new jnlerests awaited
me; aiid though Melancholy stood, as usual, for ever
near, her shadow fell but half-way over my vagrant
path, leaving the rest but more >velcomely brilliani
from the contrast. 'I'o relate niy various advenluies,
during this short voyage, would only detain me from
events, far, far more worthy of record. Amidst all
this endless varie'y of attractions, the great cbjecl of
my jouiney had been forgotlen ; — the ni)sleries of
this land of the sun still remained, to me, as muoli
mysteries as ever, and as yet 1 had been initiated in
nottiing but its pleasures.
It was not till that memorable evening, when I firs'
stood liefore the 1') ram ids of Memphis, and beheld
them towering alofl, like the watch-towe.T of 'Jinie,
from whose summit, \i hen abnul to expire, he vviU
look his last — it nas not till this moment that ihe
great secret announced in my dream again rose, in all
its inscrutable darkness, upon my thoughts. 'J here
was a solemni'y in ihe sunshine resting upon those
monuments — a stillness, as of reverence, in Ihe air
Ihat breathed aruund them, which seemed lo steal,
like the music of past times, into my heart. I
thought what myriads of the wise, the beautiful, and
the brave, h.ad sui.k into dust since earth first saw
those wondeis; and, in the sidness of my suul, I ex-
claimed,— '* Must man alone, then, peiish ? must
minds and hearts be annihilated, u hiie pyramids en-
dure ? Oh, Death, Death: even Ujioii these eierlasl-
ing tablets — the only 'Pproach lo immi.rtalily that
kings themselves could purcll ise— thou ha-l written
our dooni awfully, -md intelligibly, saying. * There is
for man no eternal man-ion but ttie grave!' "
My heart sunk at the thought; and, for the mo-
ment, 1 yielded lo that desolate feeling, which over-
spreads Ihe soul that halh no light fioni the future.
But again the buoyancy of my nature prevailed, and
again, Ihe willing du|ie of vain dreams, 1 deluded
mnelf into the belief of all ih.l my heart most wi-h-
ei, with that happy facility which enable." imagi-
nation to stand in the place of happiness. " Ves," I
cried, "immortaliiy must be wi hin man's reach;
and, a< wisdom alone is worthy of such a blessing, to
the wise alone must the secret have been revealed.
It is said, that deep, under yonder pyramid, has lain
for ages concealed the Table of Emerald, 4 on which
the Ihrice-Gieal Heimes, in times before the flood,
engraved ihe secret of Alchtniy, which gives gold at
will. Why, then, may not the mnihlier, the nmro
god-like secret, that gives life at will, be recoided
tlure also .' it was by the power of gold, of endless
gold, that the kings, who now repose in thnse massy
stiuctuie% sconpeii earth to its very centre, and raised
quarries into tlie air, lo provide f"r Iheinsclves tombs
that might ouistai.d ihe "orld. Who can tell but that
thegifi of immi.rt..lily was also theirs.' who knows
but that they iheiiiselves, triumphant over decay, still
live;— those mighty mansions, wliich we call tombs,
being rich and everl.isting pal. ices, within whnsc
depths, concealed Irom this withering world they
wander, with the few Elect who have been
crs of their gift, ihrough a shnless, but ever iilu-
itrd, elysiiim nf then own? Else, vvherefore
E structures? whcief re that .-uh erraiiean realm,
by which the wh.de valley of Egypt is undermined?
Why, ilse, those labyrinihs, winch none of earth
halh ever Lelield— iv hich none of heaven, except lh.a
God. who stands, with linger on his hushed lip,' hath
er l.odden?"
While thus I indulged in fond dreams, the sun, al-
re,ady half sunk beneath Ihe horizon, was taking,
calmly and gloriously, his last look of the Pyramids
— as lie had done, evening after evening, for ages, till
they h.ad groivn familiar to him as the earth it.self.
thi Ihe side turned to his ray they now presented a
front of (kiziling whiteness, s while, on the other,
their gieat sh.idows, lengthening away to the easl-
ivard, looked like the first steps of Night, hastening
to envelope ihe hills of Araby in her shade.
No sooner had ihc last gleam of the sun disappear-
ed, than, on every house-top in Memphis, gay. gilded
banners were seen waving aloft, to proclaim his sel-
ling—while, at Ihe same niomeiil, a full burst of liar-
ony was heard to peal from all Ihe temples along
the shores.
Startled from my m'jsing by these sounds, I at once
recollected, thai, on ttal very evening, ihe great fesli-
l of the Moon was lo be" celebrated. Un a little
island, l.alf-way over between the gaidens of IVlem-
phis and Ihe eastern shore, stood Ihe temple of that
goddess,
whose beams
Bring the sweet time of ciKht-llowers and dreama*
Nol ihe cold Dian at Ihe Unilh, who ctlaius
111 veslal Ite Ihe current of young vein«i
hut ehe, who haunta tlie gay, llubaslian 7 grove.
And owns she sees, from her tiright heav'n above,
r^olliiiig un earth, to match that heav'n, but luvet
Thus did I exclaim, in the words of one of their
own Egyptian poels, as, anticipating Ihe various tie-
1 To iJ' cv Zaa ttj; Ae-qvai, ijv km l<nv vofti-
Jovo-ii', idos, iiriypat/)?)!' cx'^ rotavTijv, Eyui a;ii
nov TO yLyovos, Kai ov Kat ttni/iivov. Km tov
ifLov ntitXov ovdcis Jrw aKtKaKvtptv. — Plutarch,
de Isid. et Osir.
» De-la, en remontant toujnurs le Nil, on Irouve a
deux cent cinquanle pas, ou enviion de la Malaree,
Ifs traces de I'ancienne Helioiiolis, ou Ville de Soleil,
? lui ce lieu etoit particuiieremeiit consacre. C'est
pour cette raison qu'on Tappelloit encore I'tEil, ou la
f onldine du Soleil. — MailM.
3 "On trouve une ile appelee Venus-Doree. ou Ic
champ d'or, avant de remonter jusqua Memphis." —
Vtm^gu tie Pythagore,
4 For an account of the Table of Emerald, vide
Lethxs sur VOri^im dcs Dicnx d Egypte. VePauw
supposes it lo be a modern ticnoii of the Aiabs.
Manv writers have fancied that ihe art of making
gold'wasthegreai secret that lay hjj under the forms
of Ettyplian iheology. "La science Hermetique,''
says the henedictiiic, Pernetz, 'M'art sacerdoral, eloit
la snurce de toutes les richesses des Rois d'Egypte, et
I'objer de ces inysle es si ciche^ sous le voile de leur
nrelendiie Rtligmn." FaUes Egyptiennes. 'ihe
Iiierofjiyphs, lliat formerly covered the P>ramids, are
supposed by some of tliese wniers to relate lo U»e
^aIue art. — See Mutus Liber, Jiu-pdlx.
6 *' Eniin Harp cra'es represenloit aussi le soleil.
II est vrai que c'etoit le Dieu du silence; it meitoil
le doigt iur la bouche parce qu'on adoroil le soleil
avec uu lesiRCiueujc silence, et c'est de la qu^est venu
le Sige des Rasilidieus, qui tiruient leur urigiue de
l'£gypte." — i>fi lusobre.
6 '■ By reflec'ing the sun's rays," says Clarka^
speaking of the Pyramids, " they appeared while aa
1 For Rubaslis. the Diana of the Egyptians. —Viae
Jablonikif lib. iii. cap. 4.
470
THE EPICUREAN,
lights of Ihi! (eslival, 1 cnst away from my mind all
gloimiy tlioughls, and, hastening lo my little bark, in
wliich I now lived the life of a Nile-liird, on the
waters, steered my course lo the island temple of the
Mood.
CHAPTER V.
The nsin; of the Monn, slow and majestic, as if
conscious of the honours thai awaited her up"n eailh,
was v/elconied wilh a loud nccliim from every emi-
nence, where muliiiudes s ood w^ilchiiig lor her first
liaht. And seldom had rliat li^lil nseii upon a more
be.uiiful scene. 'I he city of Menijihis — still grand,
though no looser the uiiiivalled iMe!ii|ihis. that had
borne a^^ay fioni 'I hi-bes the crown of supremacy,
and worn ii uiidi-puled through anes — now, sofiened
by the mild moonlight that harmonised wilh her de-
cline, shone forth among her lakes, her pyramid-, and
her shrines, like one of those dreams of human glory
that must ere long pass a»av. Even already ruin
was visible around her. 'I he sands of the Libyan
desert were gaining upon her like a sea ; and there,
among solitary columns and sphinxes, already half
sunk fiom sigh', lime seemed lo s'ai;d wailing, till
all that now (i urislied around him should fall beneath
his desolating hand, like the rest.
On the waters all was gaiety and life. As far as
eye could reach, the lights I'f innumerable boats were
seen studding, like rubies, the surface of the stream.
Vessels of every kind — from the light coracle,' built
for shooting down the cataracis, lo the large y.icht
ttiat glides slowly to the sound of flutes — all were
alloal for this sacred festival, filled wilh crowds of the
young and the gay, not only from Memphis and Baby-
lon, bul from cities still larlher removed from the
fe-tal sceue.
As I ap|,roaclied the ishnd, I could see, glittering
through the trees on the bank, the lamps of the pil-
grims hastening to the ceremony. Landing in the
direction which those lights poinled out, 1 soon joined
the crowd ; and, passing through a long alley of
sphinxe-, whose spangln g marble gleamed out from
the dark sycamores around them, reached in a short
time the grand vestibule of the temple, where I found
the ceremonies of the evening already commenced.
In this vast hall, which was surrounded by a dou-
ble range of columns, and l.y open over-head to the
stars of heaven, I saw a ginup of young maidens,
nioviii" in a sort of measured step, between w.ilk and
dance,''rouiid a small -hrinc, upon which stood one of
those sacred birds,* that, on account of Ihe variegaled
colour of their wings 'fe dedicated lo the worship of
the monn. The vestibule was dimly lighted — there
being but one lamp of naphtha hung on e.icli of the
great pillars that encircled it. But. having aken my
station beside one of those pillars, I had a clear view
of the young dancers, as in succession they passed
me.
The drapery of all was white as snow; and each
wore loosely, beneath the bosom, a dark-blue zone. or
baiidclel. studded, like ihe skies at midnight, wilh
small silver stars. Through their dark locks was
w-ealhed Ihe white lily of Ihe Nile — Ihat sicred
flower being acconnled ao less welcome to the moon,
than the golden blossoms of the bean-flower* are
known lo be lo the sun. As they passed under the
lamp, a gleam of light flashed from Iheir bosoms,
which, I could perceive, vxas ihe leflection of a small
mirror, thai,- in the manner of the women of the
Eist, each of the dancers wore beuea h her left
shoulder,
'J'here was no music to regulate their steps; but, as
they gracelullv went round the bird on Ihe shrine,
some, to the beat of the ca-lanet, some, to ihe shrill
ring of a sisinim * — which they held U| lified in Ihe
alli'tude of Iheir own divine Isi — continued harmoni-
ously to time the cadence of their feel ; w liile olheis,
at every step, shook a small chain of silver, whose
sound, mingling wilh tho e of Ihe castanets and sis
Iruiiis, produced a wild, but not unpltasmg, bar
m ny.
They seemed all lovely ; bul there was one— whose
face the light had not yet reached, so downcast she
held it— wlio atlracted, and, at lengtli, riveled all my
looks and thoughts. I know not why, but there was
a something in those half-seen features— a charm in
Ihe ve'y shadow, Ihat hung over their imagined
beaulj — which look my fancy more than all the out-
shining loveliness of her companions. So enchained
was 1 by thi- coy mystery, lh.it her alone, of all the
group, could 1 either see or think of— her alone 1
~w,itclied, as, w ith the same downcast brow, she glided
gently and aeiially round the altar, as if her piesence,
like that of a spirit, was someihing lo be felt, not
seen.
Suddenly, while 1 gazed, the loud crash of a thou-
sand cymbals was heard;— Ihe massy gales of the
Icii.ple tleiv open, as if by magic, and a flood of
radiance from ihe illomina ed aisle filled Ihe whole
vestibule, while, at the same insiant, as if ihe light
and Ihe sounds were born together, a peal of rich har-
mony c.iine mingling with the radiance.
It was then — by that light, which shone full upon
the young maiden's fea ures, as, starting at the sudden
blaze, she raised her eyes lo Ihe portal, and as quick-
ly let fall the.r lids again— it was then 1 beheld, what
even my own ardent imagina'ion, in its mosi vivid
dreims of beautv, had never pic uted. Not Psyche
herself, when pausing on the threshold of heaven,
while its first gl->ries fell on her da/zled lids, could
have looktd more purely beautiful, or blushed with a
more innocent shame. 01 en .is I had fell Ihe power
of looks, none had ever entered inlo my soul so deep-
ly. 11 was a new feeling — a new sense — coming as
suddenly upon me as that radiance into the vestibule,
and, at once, filling my whole being ; — and had that
blight vision but liiigeied another moment before my
eyes, I should in my Iran-port have wholly forgotten
who I \\as and where, and thrown myself, in pros-
trate adoration, at her feel.
Kut scarcely had thai gush nf harnriony been heard,
when the sacred bird, which had, liil now, been
standing motionless as an image, spread wide his
wings, and flew into Ihe Temple ; while his gnceful
young "orshippers, wilh a flectness like his own,
followed— and she, who had lefl a dream in my heart
never 'o be lorgot en, vanished along wilh ihc rest.
As she went npidly past the pillar against which 1
leaned, Ihe ivy that encircled it ' caught in her dra-
i Vide Amailhtm, " Histoire dc la Navigntiotl tt
dxl Commerce dcs EgypHens sous les Ptulemees " f f "
See also, for a description of the various kinds of celles d
boats used on the Nile, Maillet, tom. I. p. 98.
Anoll
1 est mille fois plus odoriferante que
vcs d'Europe. quoique leur parfum
lerres
:'est quelque
Caire, du cole d(
charmant que 1'
. ..Je >f.»'-.cc,ApVendixt^' Ruins of B,abylon,''7;;'J.j'',^^^^^ ,,„,,^„^ ^^ „^ .„„...„.,.,....„..
Another reason, he sa\s, for their worship ol the Ibis, ,.„,|jju,„e que I'on respire le soir sur les lerrasses,
" founded on their love of geometry, was (according ^^^^^^ |^ ^^^, j^ pny^,, ^jeni a soufller, el y apporte
to Plutarch) thai the space between its legs, "lien I ' „^ „j|.yr admirable.''-A/a.7fc(.
parted asunde,-, as ,t ;"><>• .'°f;;'''f;,",''l'''^J''=;-',^' 4 " Isis est genius," savs SeroUa, " iEgypti, qui per
^:,':;:int.™'''of'=;L'='il"red' b?;dt-fonn'd" 1: ;l;: | -tn motum,\uod geni lu ilextri. Nil. l?ces'sus "re.
Catacombs of Saccara, there seems 10 be no doubt th,at I cessusques.gmhcat.
the Ibis was the same kind of bird as that described by 6 The ivy was consecrated lo Osiris. VlJe flicdor.
Bruce, under the Arabian name of Abou Hannes. I Sic I. 10. ^
THE EPICUREAN,
471
pery, and disengaged some orbament which fell to the
ground. It was the small mirror i which I had seen
whirling on her bosom. Hastily and tremulously I
picked it up, and hurried to restore it ; but she was
already Josi to my eyes in the crowd.
In vain did 1 try to follow ;— the aisles were already
filled, and numbers of eager pilgrims piessed towards
the portal. Bui the servants of Hie 'IVniple denied all
further eiilraiice. and .still, as I iifcsented myself, their
while wandb b.irred the way. Perplexed aid irritated
amid that crowd of facte, regarding all as enemies
that ini[»edud my progress, I stood on tiptoe, gazing
into the busy aisles, and with a heart beating as 1
caught, from lime to lime, a glimpse of some spangled
zone, or lotus wreath, which led me lo f.incv that 1
h:id discovered the fair object of my search.' But it
was all in vain ; — in every direciion, tiles of sacred
iiyiiiplis were mtKiiig, but nowhere could 1 discover
her whom alone I sought.
Jn lliis slaeof breathless .-agitation did I stand for
some time — bewildered wjih tlie conlusion of faces
ami liiihis. as uell a.s with the clouds ul incense that
ri.lled around me— till, feveied aud impa leut, I could
endure it no longer. Forcin;; my way uut of the vesli-
1 air, i hurried back through the
to the i^hore, and liung myself into
solitary
alley of spli
my boat.
There lies, to the north of Memphis,^
lake, (which, at this season of the year, mi
the re.vt of the w:.terb,) upon whose shores stands the
Necropolis, or City (if Hie Dead —a place of mclan-
choty grinJeur, covered over wiih shrines and pyra-
mids, where many a kingly head, proud even in deaih,
has lain awaiting through long ages he resurrection
of its glories, 'ihrough a range of sepulchral giois
underneath, the humbler denizens of the tomb are
deposited — looking out on each successive generation
that viMts them, with tl>e same face and features 3
they wore centuries ago. Every pl.ini and iree, con-
secrated to death, from the asphodel-flower to the
mystic plantain, lends its sweetness or shadow to this
place of tombs; and the only noise that disturbs its
eternal calm, is the low humming siumd of the priests
at prayer, when a new iuhabilant is added to the
silent city.
It was towards this place of death, ihat, in a mood
of mind, as usual, half gloomy, half bright, 1 now,
almost uncousct'.usly, directed my bark. 'Jhe form
of the )ouiig I'riebtess was continually before me.
That one lirii>hl look of hers, the very remembrance
of whicli was worth ;.II the actual smites of others,
never for a nioinent left my mind. Absorbed in such
thoughts, I continued to row on, scarce knowing
1 '* Quelques unes," says Dupuis, describing the
processions of Isis, *' portoitriit dcs miroirr- attaches a
leurs epaule?, alin de multiplier ei de pnrterdans tous
les sens leg images de la Deesse." Online des Cui-
us, tom. viii. p. 847. A mirror, it api'.e.irs. was also
one of the emblems in the mysieties of Bacchus.
* "Tout prouve que la lerritoirede Sakkarah e'oit
la Necropolis au sud de Memphis, et le faubourg
oppose a celui-ci.nu soni les pyramides deGizeh, une
autre Ville des Morts, qui terminoit Memphis au
nnrd." — Denon.
There is nothing known with certainty as to the
tiite of Memphis, but it will be [)erceived that (he de-
of its position given by the Kpicu
icB^iu.ius, in almnsi every paidcular, wiih iha
K. Maillet (the French consul, for many y
i^airo) has, in his work on EEVpt, left us. it musi .
always borne m mind, ton, that (.f the distances l:
tween the respective places heie mentioned, ue ha
no longer any accurate nieans of judging.
3 " Par-la *non senlement on cnservoit les cor
d'une tamille entiete. niais en dccendant dans c
lieux souterreins, ou ils eioient deposes, on p^.uvnit
repre;,enter en un instant tous ses anceres dcpuis pi
8 eurs milliers d'annecs, teis a-peupres uu'ils etuie
de|.-urvi.ai.l."-Mi(7/.r. * ^
hich
whiiher I went, till, at length, startled to find myself
within the shadow of the City of the Dead, I looked
up, and beheld, rising in nuccession before me, pyra-
mid beyond pyramid 4 each towering more lodily
than the other- while all were out-t()p|)ed in gran-
deur by one, upon whose summit the bright moou
rested as on a pedestal.
Drawing neaier lo the shore, which was sufficiently
elev.Ued to raise thi>Hlent city of tombs above (he level
of (he inundation, I rested m\ oar, and allo^^ed the
boat to rock idfy upon the water, while, in (he mean
time, my thongh'ts, left equilly xviihnut direclioii, were
allowed to fluctuate as idly. How vague and various
were the dieams that (hen lloaled through my mind —
that bright vision of the temple still mingling itself
wiMi all ! Soinetinifs she stood before me, like an
aerial spirit, as puie ns if that element of music and
light, into whicli I had seen her vanish, was her only
dwelling. Sometimes, animated with pa sion, and
kindling in'o a cuaiure of earlh, she seemed to lean
towatd^ me uith looks of tendernc'S, which it were
wnitli wo: Ids, but for one insiant, to in-'pire; and
again — as the dark fancies, thai ever hauuied me,
recurred— 1 saw her cold, parched, aid blackening,
amid the gloom of Iho^e eternal sepulchres before
'Jurning away, with a shudder, from the cemetery
at 'hiH thought, I Iitard the sound of an o.r plying
swiftly ihrou-h the water, and, in a few moment-,
saw, slionrin^ past me towards ihe shore, a small boat,
in whicli sal two fem.ile figure^ muflled up and veiled.
Hiv.nt; landed thrm not far fiom the spot where, under
the shadow of a lomb on the buik, i lay concealed, the
boat again dej^arLed, with the same fleetness, over the
Hood.
Never had the prospect of a lively adventure come
more welcome l) me than at this moment, when my
busy fancy was employed in weaving such cliains for
my hearl, as thiealened a bondage, of all others, Ihe
niost diflicult to break. To btcome enamoured thus
of a creature of my own imagination, was the worst,
because Ihe m st lasting, of follies. It is only realiiy
that can ailbrd any chance of dissolving such spells,
and the id(d I was now crtrating to m>self must for
ever rtmain ideal. Any pursuit, therefore, that
seemed likely to divert me fiom such tJioughta — to
bring back niy imaginatiitn to eaith and reality, from
the vague legion in which it had been wandering,
was a relief far too seasonable not to be welcomed
with easerness.
I liad watched the course which the two figures
took, and, having hastily fastenevl my boat to the bank,
stepped genily on shore, and, at a little distance, fol-
lowed them. 'Jhe windings ihrough v\ hich they led
weie intricate; but, by the bright light of ihe moon, I
was enabled lo keep their forms in view, as, with
rapid ste|>, (hev gliled among ine monuments. At
lengih, in the ^h.^de of a small pyramid, v\ hose peak
baiely >urmounied ihe plane-trees thai grew ni^h, they
vani^hed Irom my sight. I has ened to the spot, but
there was not a st.;n of life aiound , and,h<d n.y creed
extended lo another woild, I might have fancied these
fornix were spiiiis, sent down from thence to mock
me — so jns'antaneously had they disappeared. 1
seaiched through the neighbouring grove, but all there
was still as death. At leng'h, in examining one of
(he sides of the pyramid, which, for a tew leet from
Ihe ground, was lurnished with steps, I found, mid-
\vay beiween pe.ik and bise, a pan of its surface,
which, alihough presenting to the eye an appearance
of smnoihness, gave to the touch, 1 thought, indica-
tions of a concealed opening.
After a variety of ettbris and experiments, I, at last,
♦ " Mul'isotimpyramidas fuisse e ruinis arguKur.'*
''■Zocga.- yanstcb, who visited more than ten of the
small'pyraniids, is of opinion that there must have
oiiginaliy been a hundied in this place.
See. on Ihe subject < f the lai.e lo the northward of
Memphis, Shaw's Travels, p. 302.
472
THE EPI C U REAN.
more by accideni than skill, pressed Ihe spring that
cnniniamled tliis hidden a|ieriure In an instant the
portal slid a'iide, and d.scli^ed a narrow st.invay
wiihin, the two or ihree first steps of which were dis-
cernible liy tlje moonlight, while the rest were all lost
in uller darkness. 'I housli it was difficidi to conceive
that the persons whrnn"! hail been pursuing would
have venlnied to pass through this gloomy opening,
yet to account for their aisappeirance otherwise was
still more difficult. At all events, my curiosity \v.as
too I
the cliai
spirit of adventure, once raised, could not be so easily
hnd. Accordingly, having sent up a gay pr.iyer to
that bliss-loving Queen whose eye alone was upon
nie, I passed through the portal, ai,d descended iu:o
the pyramid.
CHAPTER VI.
At the bottom of the stairway I found myself in a
low, narrow passage, through which, without stoop-
ing slmoat to the e.uth, it was impossible to proceed.
Though leading through .i mulliplicily of d.irk wind-
ings, ihis way seemed but lillle to adv.. nee my pro-
gress — i's couibe, I perceived, beini; chiefly circular,
and gathering, at every lurii, but a deeper intensity of
darkness.
"Can anything," thousht I, " r,f human kind,
sojourn here?" — and had scarcely asked myself the
question, when Ihe path oDened into a long gallery, at
the farthest end of which a gUam of light was lisihle.
'I'his we'oome glimmer appeared to issue from some
cell or alcove, in which the riKht-hand wall of the
gallery terminaled. and, breathless with eipec'alioii, 1
stole gently towards it.
Arrived at the end of the gallery, a scene presented
itself to my eyes, for w hich my fondest expeclations
of adventure could not have prepared ine. The
place from ivhich the light proceeded was a small
chapel, of whose inleiior, fmm the dark recess in
which I stood, I could lake, unseen myself, a full and
distinct view. Over the walls of this oratory were
painted some of those various symbols, by which ihe
mystic wisdom of the Egyptians loves to shallow nut
the History of the Soul ; the winged globe with a ser-
pent — Ihe rays descending from above, like a glory—
and the Theban beelle,' as he Cumes forth alter the
waters have passed away, and the hrsl sunbeam falls
on his regenerated aviiigs.
In the middle of thechapel, on alowallar of granite
lay a lifeless female form, enshrined within a case of
crystal 'i— as it is tire custom to preserve ihe dead in
Klhiopia — and looking as freslily beautiful as if the
soul had but a few hours departed. Among the eili-
blems of dealh,3 on the front of Ihe al ar, were a slen-
der lotus branch broken in two, and a small bird jtnl
winging its fiigtit from ttie spray.
lo these memorials of the dead, however, I paid
but lillle ailenlion ; for there was a living object there
ujion ^vhich mv eves were now intently fixed.
The lamp, by which Ihe whole of the chapel was
illuminaled, was |itaced al the head of ihe pale image
in Ihe vhrine; and between it? light and me slooil a
female firm, bending over the monument, as if to
gaze upon the sileni (ealures wilhin. The position in
which this figure was placed, intercepting a strong
light, alinrded me, at first, but an imperfect anil
ihado
Yet I
at ihii
ullii
felt my heart beat high — and memo y had no Ics
share, as it proved, in iliis feeling ihan imagination.
For, on the head changing ils po^ilion, so as to let a
gleam fail upon the feature-, I saw, with a transport
which had almost led me to t;elray niv lurking-place,
that it was she — Ihe young worshipper of Isjs- Ihe
same, the very same, whom I had seen, brightening
the holy place where she stood, and looking like an
inhabilant of some purer world.
'J he movement, by which she had now afforded me
an 0[)porIuniIyof recognising her, w^as made in raising
from Ihe -hrine a small cross! of silver, which lay
direclly over Ihe bosom of the lifeless figure. Bring-
ing il close to her lips, she kissed ii wifh a religious
fervour ; then, lurnmg her eyes mournfully upwards,
held Ihem fixed with a dei^ree of inspired earnestness,
as if, at that moment, in direct communion with
Heaven, they saw neither roof, nor any other earthly
barrier between Ihem and Ihe skies.
What a power is ibtre in innocence! whose very
heijilessness is i's safeguard — in whose presence even
rassinn hini'^elf stands aba-hed, and turns worshipper
at Ihe very altar which he came to despoil 1 She,
who, but a short hour before, had pre-enled herself to
my imaginalinn as something 1 could have risked im-
mortality to win — she. whom gladly, from the floor
of her own lighted temple, in the very face of its
proud minis'ers, I would have borne away in triumph,
and dared all punishments, divineand huoian, to make
her mine — that very crealure v\as now befoie me, as
if thrown bv fate itself, into my power — standing
there, beautiful and alone, with nothing bu( her inno-
cence for her guard 1 Vet, no — so touctiiiig was the
purily of Ihe whole scene, so calm and august that
protection which the dead extended over the living,
i " On volt en Egyple. apres la retrai'e du Nil et la
fecomlalioii des teries, le limnn coii\ei I d'unc i-iulli-
tude de scarabees. Un pareil phenonieiie a du sem-
bler aux Egyptiens le plus propre a peindre une
nouvelle existence." M. /omarrf. _ Partly for the
same reason, and partly for another, still more fanci-
ful, the early Christians irsed to apply this emblem to
Christ. " Bonus ille scarabxus mens,' says St. Auo-us-
line, "non ea tantum de cau-a quod unigenitus, q'uod
i|isemet s,,, auctor morlalium speciem induerit, sed
quod in hac nostra faece seso volulaverit et ex hac ipsa
nasci voluerii." '
t "l.es Egypliens ont fait aussi, pour conserver
leurs morls, des caisses de verre." Dc Pauw — He
j mentions, also, in another place, a sort of transparent
1 substance, which the Erhiopians used for Ihe same
purpose^and which was f.equenlly mistaken by the
j Greeks for glass. ' )
1 '"Unpretrcquibriselatiged'uneneur.desoiseaui
qui senvolent, sont les emblenies de la inort et de 1' the cm
Theseus employs tlie same image in the Phadra :—
Opws yap (US TiS lk xcptuv aipavjo^ u
Xlri5jj[/,* £5 &6ov TTiKpov dutitjcraca /lot.
* A cross was, among the Egyptians, the emblem
jfafuurelife.
" The singular appearance of a Cross so frequently
ecurriug among the hieroglyphics nf Egypt, had ex-
:iled the curiosity of the Cl'iiistiaus al a veiy early
leriod of ecclesi.aslical history; and as some of the
I Piiesls. who were acquainted with Ihe meaning of the
I hieroglyphics, became converted lo Chiislianity, the
secret transpired. 'The converted heathens,' says
Socrates Scholaslicus, 'explained the symbol, and
declared thai it srgnifed Life to Come,'" — C/nrJe.
! Lipsius, therefore, is mistaken in supposing fit
Cros, in have been an emblem peculiar to Ihe Chris-
tians. See, on this suiijecl, L'Hutoirc des Juifs, liv.
vi. c. 16. •' '
II is singular enough that while the Cross was thu>
held saced among the Egyiilians, not only the cusloi.i
' of marking the forehead with the sign of the Cros<,
but Baptism and the consecration of Ihe bread in the
Eucharisi, were imitated in Ihe mysterious ceremo-
nies of Miihra. — Ttrtull. dc Proscrijjlione HcrUico-
Zocga is of opinion that the Cross, said to have been
for Ihe first lime found, on Ihe deslrucHon of the tem-
ple of .'ieiapis, by the Christians, could not have beea
nothing is more comni:n Ihdu tbit
nblem on all the Egypli:
nuiiienli.
THE EPICUREAN
473
!iy earlhly fejliiifc was forgotten aB I gazed, beautiful enchanlres-i Rhodope, I sawherrise froni oh!
that . .
a,nd lo\e iluM became ex •I'ed
Bui, entranced as I felt in
ttiua lo enjoy i by s'l-allii seemed to me a wrnng, a
sacriiei;e-aiid, r-iH,er than let I,er eyes encnunler rtie
flash of ni-ms or di^lu^t), by a whisper, ihat sacred
silence, in which Voulh and Death held cr>uinimii"ii
tliT'Ugh utidying I.i>ve, I would have suttcted my
heart to break, wiihoul a Timrmur, where I stood.
Gently, as if life ii>el( depended en niy every move-
ment. I -tole away fr >ni tha- Irinquil and holy scene
1 had tnund i(
and, /liduit; back ilirou'h 'the same piss;<i;es and
windings by wtiich I had entered, reached again the
narr'W stnir-way, aiid re-asceiidcd into light.
The sun had ju-l risen, and. fiom the summit of
the Aiabian hills. w;is pouring d >wn his beams into
that vast valley of waters— as if proud of last night's
honnge to his own divine his, now f ditig away in
the superior splendour of her L^rd. My fi'st impulse
was to lly at once fri'ni 'his d'li^erous spot, and in
new loves and pleis.Tes seek f-r^e fulness of the
wondrous sctne I hadjusi wilues?'ed ••Once," 1 ex-
claimed, "our of ihe firclp i| ihis enchanment, I
kn iw t'lo Will my own suscep;ibility to new inipres-
si ns, to feel any doubt that I vhatl soon break the
spell ihat is n iw an>und me."
liul vain were all my efforts and resolves. Even
while swearing to fly to Ihki spot, I fnunu my steps
still lineerina; fiudly round th« pyrannd — my eyes
slili turned towards the jiorlal which severed this t;n-
chaiilress from tl;e world <( the living Hour after
hour did 1 wander through that City of Silence, till,
a-ready, it was mid-day, and. under the sun's meri-
dian eye, the mighty pyramid of pyramids stood, like
a ^reat spiii', stiaduwlejs.i
Again did those wild and fiasvionate feeling?,
which, for ihe moment, her i^resence had sniidued
iuio revt-rence, return to t^ike possession of my imagi-
nation and my senses. I even repmached myself for
Ihe awe, tint had held me spell-bound befoi
"What." tl; *
Garde
y, did they know thai their chief— he wh'
pah L"ve had strewt-d with trophies— was now
pining for a simple Kgyptian girl, in whose presence
he had nnt dared to uttrr a single sigh, and w h" had
vanqiiislied the Victor, without even knowing her
triumph I"
A blush came over my cheek at Ihe humiliating
thnughl, and I de'ermintd, at all risks, to await her
coming. That she should be an inmite nf those
gloomy caverns seemed inconceivible ; nor did there
appear to be ai-y egress out of iheir dej-ths but by the
pyamiii. Again, therefiTe, like a senlinel of the
di-ad, (lid I pace up and down among ihfse tombs,
contrasting mournfully Ihe burning fever in my
the p}ramid in which she had dwelt for ages,—
'* Fair Rhodope.S as btory ii'Ili*.
Thcbiiplit unearthly iiyin^h. who dwells
'MiO Biuilcfa Hulii ai>d jfWt U h>df
'Ihe Ludy of the ryromid '.'•
So long had mv sleep continued, that, when I awoke,
I f.'nnd the moon again resplendent .ibnve ttic horizon.
But all ar und w;is io.kini iianqml and liftdess as
before; nnrdid a print on the grass betrav that any
foot liad parsed there sii;ct: my own. JirfM-shed,
hovveiir, by my long res', and \v ilh a lancy sull more
excied by He mystic wonde-s of which I had been
dreamiiii!, I now resolved to revint Ihe chapel m the
pyramid, and put an end, if possible, to this strange
myscrylh.t bau.,led me.
H.iving learned, from the experience rT the pre-
ceding iM-lit, the inconvenience ot encountering lliose
l.vbvrinihs wi hout a litiht, 1 now hasieued to piovule
my'relf wi:h a lamp fr m my bi-at. 'iracking my
way back wi'h si'iiie difiiculiy lo Ihe shore, I ihere
fjund Dot only my lamp, but also some d.iiei and dried
fruits, of w'hich I was always provided with store, for
niy njving life upon the watt-rs, and which, after so
many hours of ab^Iiueuce, were now a ntcst welcome
and necessary relief.
'I'luis prepared, 1 again ascended the pyramid, and
was proceeding lo Starch out hi; secret spring, when
a luud, dismal nois-e was heard al a distance, to which
all Ihe luchncl.oly echoes of the ceme ery gave
answer, 'ihe Mumd came, I knew, f.um Ihe Great
Temple <u Hie shore of the lake, and ua. the sort of
shriek which its gales — the Gate^ of ubltvion,3 as
they are called - u^ed always to send bTlh from their
hin'nes. wiieii opening al night, to receive the newly-
l.inded dead.
1 had, more than once before, heard tint soutd, and
always with sadiie 8 : but, at this moment, it thrilled
Ihtouih me like a voice of ill onien, and I almost
doubtci whether 1 should not abandon my enlei prise.
d before her. The htsiiation, however, was but monicn'ary ; — even
mions of the while it parsed through my mind, I had touched th.
pring of ' Ihe portal. In a few seconds more, 1 was
agfiin in the passage beneath Ihe pyiauiid ; and, being
enabled by the light of my lamp to follow the wind-
ings more npidly, >o m found uiyself at the doorof Ihe
small cliapel in the ealkry.
1 entered, slill awed, though there was now, alas,
nonght living wuhin. The young Fnestiss hid
vani heJ like a spirit into the darkiieE>i; and all (he
rest remained as 1 had lefi it on the preceding niglit.
The lamp still stood burning upon the crystal shtine ;
the cross wa** lying where (he hands of ihe joung
had placed i', and the cold image, w ithin the
.ore Mill the same iranquil look, as if resigned
liiude of death— of all loi "
veins with the cold quiet of those who lay slunibcring jiesl. Remeinl'eiing ihe lips that I had seen kiss lh:it
around. ! cross, ami kindling with the recollection, I raised it
At length the intense glow nf Ihe sun over my ; i)a-.Fionatel> to my own; — but liie dead eyes, I
head, and, s'ill more, that ever-resUcs-agiialion in my i thonghi, met mine, and, awed .ind s.»ddei ed
gth like
t,btcame loo much forei
enduie. Kxhaus'ed, 1 Ihiew myself do
of the pyramid — chcosinj my (jiace
the poital. wtiere, e/tn sliould slunib
my heart, if not my car, might still ke
her too Sep, light as it wa3,'coud not fail to awaki
iiidsi of my ardour, I replaced the cross upon the
iirtclly node
r;,uip.;se n.e
shrine
I had now lost every clue to the object of my pur-
suit, and. with all that sullen sali-fadion which cer-
flinty, even when unweldme, bfings, was about to
retrace my s tps slowly to earth, w hen, as 1 lield forth
me. I niy lamp, on leaving the chapel, I perceived Ihat the
After many an ineffectual struggle against drnwsi- ' g,]|ery, ins'ead of termina'ing here, look a sudden
ness I at ieng'h sunk into stjep — bur not into fiTgel- and suake-like bend to Ihe left, which bad before
fulniss. The same image still haunted me, in every 1 ......
lyof .ba^ie, with w^h.cht.naeinajion.a&.isled by | ^ From the stoty of Rhodope, Zocg-a think-, "vi-
N-ilh..'np>n her ti
w.th Ihe veil just r
then DO mortal had
t it. Now. l.ke
lie :it Sais, she see
.ed from that biov
'er beheld - and i.(
; Kodde
t;l to sit,
Ihat Ihe I'yia
never to c.isl ;
dentur Arabes ansam anipuirse ut in una ex py
>i libu^, genii loco, habitare dicerent mnherem
'^h 'III ! jiuJani iiisigi i- pulcbri udiids quacaspectosuo homines
^'^ '"^ I insanire facial." Dc Um OLdiscoiiiui, See also,
j VEpjptc dc Murtadi par l-'attier.
J the ancients 3** Apod Memphim aeneas quafdam porlas, qa»
were ^o consitucted ("mecanica ' Lf tbes ei Cocyti (hos est oblivioiiis et iTinenlatioi.is)
ys ^mmiauus Marcdlimis) as j apnullantuij aperiri, gravem asperumque ededtet
halow. toii'ji.j," Zc«i;a.
ntertai
40*
474
THE EPICUREAN.
eluded my cbservation, and which seemed to give in infant mi?ht have opened them with eaae — to
promise oi a pittiway still fuiiher into iheje recesses, readily did their stupendous folds give way to my
Keanii
ed by thib discovery, which opened a new touch,
source uf hiipe to my hear!, I ca^t, for a mnmeiit,
hesi;atin2 Innk ^t my lamp, as if lo inquire whether it
would be f.iillilul Ihroush the gloom I was about to
encuuntet, ,.iid iheii, without further consideration,
rushed eagetly foiward.
CHAPTER VI J.
vhile, thmugli the same sort of natu
those v\hicli I had before encoun- guild
tere.l in de^cemling the jtairway ; and al lenirlh I and
cpeiied, in a similar irai;ner, iiiio a straight and steep ejes
gillery, along each .ide of iihich stood, closely ranged 1 Ihroi
;-nd u|. light, a hie of lifeless bodies,' whose gl.ssy soun
eyes appiared to glare upon me prelernalurally as 1
passed
Ariived at the end of tliis sallery, 1 found my hopes
for the second lime, vanish ; as the p.ilh, ii wa- mani-
fes'. ejclended no fn.lhcr. Tlie onlv obj.cl 1 was abe
to discern, by ihr gliinmerin; of mv lamp, which now
Luii.ed, every miiune, fiinler ;.iid fainter, was the
mouth of a huje vvell. INa- lay gnpma lirfoie me — a
reservoir of darknes-, black and unfa homable. 11
now cr sscd my memo y ihat I had once heard of such
ivells, .is being ued occisionally for |.issa^'es by Ihe
ng down, therefoie, over Hie edie, I
" Light as a lime-biish, that receives
Some wandering bird among ila leaves,"
No soiiier, however, had I passed through, than the
astounding din, with wliich ihe gates clashed logeher
.igaiiiii, w.as such as might have awakened death
Itself. Ii seemed as if every eclioa ihroughout tliat
vast, subterranean world, from ihe Citacombs of Alex-
andria 10 Ihclies'i Vailey of Kings, had caught up
and repented the thundering sound.
■ IS by Ihe cia^ii, not even this super-
could divert my alleulion from the
gh iht
ihal n i
old
opi osite,
' far as the
I "ith Ihii
I ohercxi
, light, Iha
of this splendo
illu
broke aiound me — sofi, narm,
le stars of his own South lo the
who has long been wandering
of the Norlh. Looking for Ihe
, through
chway
lined
all
aff.ided the meuis of eUec in
chasm ; but the side-, I cnul I pr
order to
into Ihe
li;ird ;ind
died all over wiih that
sort of dark pi ch, which the Dead Sea throws out
upon lis slimy shore.
Afleraniorealtei.tivescrutiny, ho\\ever, I observed,
at the depth of a few fee', a sort of iron step, pioject-
'Kh
ng dimly from Ihe side. and.
which, though hardiy perceptible, was just'
to encourage an adventurous f 'or to the Irial.
all hope ' f tnciiig ilie y uiig Priestess was i
end — it being im,,nssible tli.il female foot should bavi
ventured on this descent -- yet, as 1 had engaged si
lar in Ihe .idveiilure, and Iheie was, al least, a mi
lo be unravelled, 1 determined, al all hazard!
explore Ihe chasm. Placing mv lamp. Therefor
f which «Ms hollowed at Ihe bottom, so as to be wor
like a helmet,) firmly upon my head, and having thi
both h.inds at liberty for exerlion, 1 set my foot cau-
tiously on the iron siep, and descended into the well.
1 found the same fooling, at regular intervals, to a
considerable deplh ; and had alreadv counled near a
hundred of these steps, when ihe iaddei altogeiher
ceased, and I could descend no further. In vain did I
slreich down my fool in seaicli of support — the hard,
slippery sides were all thai it encountered. Ar leiig h,
stooping my held, so as lo let ihe light fall below, 1
observed an opening or window direcily above the
slep on which I stood, and, taking for granted that
the way must lie in that direc ion, con rived lo clam-
I'cr, wiih no small difficnlly, ihrough the aperluie.
1 now found myself on a rude and narrow slairwav,
Ihe steps of which were cut out of Ihe living rock,
and wound spirilly downward in Ihe same direc ion
as the well. Almost dizzy with the descent, which
seemed as if it would never end, I, at last, reached the
boltom, where a pair of niassy iron ga'es were closed
directly acros< my path, as if wholly to forbid any
further progress. Massy and giganlic, however, as
they were, I found, to my surprise, Ihit the hand of
ley. si
eye could reach, and fenced, on one side,
kets of odoriferous shrubs, while along the
iided a line ol lofty arcades, fiuni which the
hlled Ihe wh'de area, issued. As soon, too,
a»-iieoMi of the deep echoes had subsided, there slole
giadually on my e.ir a sir, in of choral music, which
appealed to come mellowed and sweetened in its pas-
sage, Ihrough many a spacious lull wilhin those
shining aicides ; while among llie voices I could dis.
tinguish some female tones, which, towering high and
clear above all ihe rest, formed the spire, as it were,
into which Ihe hirmony lapered, as it rose.
So excited was my fancy by ihis sudden enchant-
ment, Ihal — Ihough'never had 1 caughi a sound from
Ihe fair Egyptian's lip,— 1 yet persuaded myself that
the voice 1 now heard was hers, sounding highest and
most heavenly of all lhat choir, and cilling o me.
like a dislaut spiril from its sphere. Animated by
this thought, I fiew forward to ilieaichwav, but found,
tner, j lo my moriihcation, that il was guarded by a irellis-
work, who e bars, though invisible at a distance,
resisted all my etlbrls lo fo.ce them.
While occupied in these inellrctiial struggles, I per-
ceived, 10 Ihe left of Ihe archway, a dirk, cavernous
o so I opening, which seemed lo lead in a direclion paiallel
tery I lo Ihe lighted arcndes. Nuiwilhslanding, however,
■; 'o , my inipalience, llie .-.siiecl of this passage, as I looked
"'■'!> ihuddeniiglv into it. chilled my veiy blood. Il was
'"•"'■ - il so mucii darkness, as a sort of livid and ghasily
iligllt. from a d.inip. like lhat of death-vaults,
haled, a. d ihrough wjiich, if my eyes did iiol deceive
pale, phanlomlike shapes* weie, at that very
« See, fur Ihe custom of burying Ihe dead nprighi,
('•post fiinus santia busto corpora," as Statins de-
■cribes it.) Ill C. -rke's pieface to Ihe ZJ section of hi?
fiflh volume. They used lo insert p'ecinus stones in
Ihe place of the eyes. " Les yeux etoieni formes
lorqutises," &c, — Vide Masoudy^
it,h"
Looking anxiously round, to discover some le-s for-
midibie outlet, I saw, over the v.isl folding-gales
through which I had jusi pas-ed, a blue, Ireniulous
tlame. which, afler playing for a lew seconds over the
diik ground of the pediment, setlled gradually into
characters of light, and formed the following words:—
''■ The following verses of Claudian are supposed to
have been meant as a description of those iniiaiions
of the noise of earthquake and thunder which, by
nieins of ihe Ceraunoscope, and other such contri-
vances, weie practised in the shows of Ihe Mysteries :
Jam mlhi cernuiilur Crepidia tieliibra moverl
SeilibUK, el rlaram dispergt-re euhiuii.i liii-em,
Aiidilur fremitus terris, templumque remugit
Cecropium. Rapt. Pmscrp. lib. I.
3 See, for the echoes in the pyramids, Plutarch, de
PlacUis Philosoph.
4 " Ce moment heureux (de PAutnpsie) etoit pre-
pare par des scenes eflVayanies. par des allernaiives de
cr.iinle et de joie de luiiiiere el de (enebres, par la
lueui des eclairs, par le bruit terrible de la foudre,
qu'oii imiloit, el par des apparitions i e spectres, des
illusions magiques, qui frappoient Us >eux et ie<
oreilles tout ensemble." Dupuis,
THE EPICUREAN
475
Vou, who would try
Yon terrible track,
To live, orlodie,
But ne'er lo look batk—
To be inirifivU there,
By the terrors of Fue,
or Water, sod Air —
If dangt-r, nnd pain,
AikI d.-«ih you desfise,
iQtD light you shall rise;
liy the Veilaof Itie Sbrio
But if
Hdre the letters faded away into n dead blank, more
awfully inlellig.ble than ilie moat eloquent wurds.
A new hope now fli^htd across me. 'I he dream
of the Gardtti. which li .d been for some lime almost
forgotten, re urnrd freshly In my mind. *-Ani I
then," 1 exclaimed, "in the p-ith lo the [Toniiatd
mystery? and ^l)all the great secret of Eleroal Life
indted be mine ?"
'* Yes ;" seemed to answer out of ihe air, thai
spirit-voice, which still was heard at a diifaiice
crownirift the choir wi h jis ».in«;le sweetness. I hail-
ed Ihe omen wiih Ira(^^^^■>^t. Love and Immnrlatity,
both beckoning me onuaid— ivho would give even
a thought (o fear, wi'h two such hrighi hopes in
pros; eci ? HaviJig invoked and blessed that unknown
enchaiific's, whose sieps had led me lo this abode of
mvster%- and knowledge,! iosiantly plunged into the
Instead of Iha* vigue, spectrd twilight which had
at first niet my eje, I now found, as I entered, a
thick darkness, which, though far less horrible, w-s.
at this monieiit, still more disconcerting, as my lamp,
which had been, for some time, alnjost useless, was
now fast expiring. Resolved, howe\er, to make the
most of ila last gleani, I haslent^d, with rapid sep,
through this gb»umy rtgion, wi.ich appeared to be
wider and more open lo the air ihau any 1 h d yet
pas-ed. Nor was it long before the sudden appear-
ance of a bright blaze in the distance announced to
me that my hrst great T.ial wsat hand. As I drew
nearer, the A^imes before me burst high aod wide on
all aidts J— and the auful i-pectatle that then present-
ed itself was such as might have daunted hearts far
more accuslomnd to dangers than mine.
There lay before me, exieiiding complelely across
my pa h, a thicket, or grove, of the most combustible
trees of Egypt — tamarind, pine, and Arabi in bnim ;
while ar und their jlem* and branches « ere coiled
serpents of hre.i which, twisting themselves rapidly
from bough to bough, spread ihe c 'u'agion of their
own Wild fire as they «ent, and involved tree ?fter
tree in one general blaze. It was, indeed, rapid as
the burning of those reed-beds of Eihiopii,* vvhose
light is ofien seen brightening, a( night, the dislaat
ca'arac's of ilie Nile.
Through the middle of this blazing grove, I could
now perceive, my only p.i'hway liy. 1 here was not
a moment, therefore, lo be lost— for ihe conflazraiinn
riined rapidly on either side, and already the narrow-
ing path be'ween was sirewed with vivid fire. Cast-
ing away my now useless lamp, and holding my robe
as some slight protection over my head, I ventured,
wiih ireutbling limbs, into the olazc.
Instanlh, as if my presence had given new life to
the flames, a fresh oulbre.<k of combustion arose on
all sides. The tiees cli.slered into a bower of fiie
above mv head, while Ihe serpents 'hat hung hi-sing
from the' red branches shol showers of sp.irkles doi% n
upon me as 1 pa-scd. Never weie decision and
actix iiy of more avail : — One miiiu'e ta er. ai d i must
have pel i^hed. I he i.arrow opening, of which I had
so promptly availed m>5elf, closed msianily behind
mei and .is I looked liack, l^ C()ntem[)lale Ihe ordeal
wh ch 1 had passed, I saw ihat Ihe whole grove was
already -nema^sot (ue.
Rej' iced to have ei'caped this first trial, I instantly
plucked from one of Ihe pine-irees a b'lugh 'hat was
but jusi kindleJ, and. with Ibis for my only guide,
hastened breathlessly fo( ward. I had advanced bul a
few p.ices, when the path turned suddenly nfi", lead-
ing dov% nwards, as 1 could [«;rceive by the glimmer
of my brand, into a more confined vgion, through
which a chilliijg air. as if from y ii..r neighbouring
wateis, blew over my biow. Nor had 1 pniceeded
far in ihis course, when the sound of toirents3 —
mixed, a^ I ihoi.^h', fr tn time u, lime. «ith shrill
Mailings, rtsenbling ihe tries of persons in danger or
disireas— fell mournfully upon my ear. At every
slep me noi-e ot ifae d.ishing waters increased, and I
now perceived lhat I had entered an immense rocky
cavein, through the middle of winch, headlong as a
wmter-iorrent, Ihe d.uk flood, to whose roar I had
been lis'enmg, poured jis waters ; wliile upin its sur-
face floated grim spectre-like shapes, w hich, as they
went hy. sent (onh those dismal shrieks 1 had heard
—as if ill fe.ir of some awful piecipice towards whose
brink they were hurrying.
I saw plainly that across that torrent must be my
course, il was, indeed, fe.irful; but in courage and
persevetaiice now lay my only hope. VVhal awaited
me on the opposite -hore, I ki.ew not; for all there
Ma-i immersed in im| eoetraHe gloom, nor could the
feeble lighi » hich I ca. ried send its glimmer half so
far, Dismisiiig, however, all thoughts but that of
pressing onward, I sprung fiom the rock on which 1
stood into Ihe flood, trustiiiff that, with my right
hand, I should be able to butlet the current, while,
with the other, as loi.g as a gleam of my biand re-
mained. I might hold it aloft to guide me safely to
the shore.
Long, formidable, and almost hopeless was the
strug>;le 1 had now to maintain; aid moie than once
oveipowered by the rush of the »ateis, I had given
myself up,* as destined to follow those pale, death-
like ap|)aritions, that still went past me, hurrying
onward, with ninurnful cries, to find iheir doom in
some invisible gulf beyond.
At leiigih, just as iny strength wa-- nearly exhaust-
ed, and ihe last remains of the pine branch were
pping from my hand, 1 saw. outstretching towards
into he water, a light double balustrade, with a
flight of steps between, ascending, almost perpen-
dicularly, from the wave, till Ihey seemed lost in a
dense n.ass of clouds above. Ibis glimpse— for it
was nolhing more, as my light expiied in giving il —
lent new spiing to my c'>i.rage. Having now both
hands a' liberly, so des[)erale were my elibrts, that,
after a few minutes' struggle, I felt my brow strike
« "Ces considerations me portei't a penser q
dans les mysteres, ces phenomeiies eioient beauc
mieux executees, et sans comparais m pli b terribh
I'aide de quelque composi'ioi^ pyrique qui est
C^chee, comme celle du feu Gregeois.'-^De Pauw.
2**11 n'y a point d'aure moyen que de porter h
feu dans ces forets de roseaux, qui repandent alor
dans tout le pais une lumiere aussi considerable que
celle du ;our memc "— ^atZic/, lorn. i. p. b3.
3 The Nile, Pltny tells us, was admitled into the
Pyran.id.
* ** On exercoit," says Dupt/is, *' les recipiendaires,
pendant plusieurs jours, a traverser, a la nage, une
grande etendue d'eau. On lesyjelloil el ce n'eioil
qu'avec peine qu'ils s'cn retiroienf. On apphquoit le
ler el le feo sur leurs membres. On les iaisuil passer 1
I irav
ifla
ften in considerable danger,
and Pylhagoras. we are told, nearly lost his life in
the trials.— Vide Recluirchts iur les Initiatioju, par
HubllK
476
THE EPICUR EAN.
ay, and, i
inst.mt, my feet ^
against the st;
on ihe steps.
Rejoiced at my escape from thai perilous flood,
though i knew not whither Ihe stairway led, I ptonipt-
ly ascended the steps. But ilus Ceeling of confidence
was of short duralion. 1 had not niuunltd far, when,
to my horror, 1 perceived, thai each successive step,
as my foot left it, broke away from beneath me,
leaving; me in mid-air, with no other alternative than
that of still mountiii!; by the same monteu'ary footing,
and with the appalling doubt ^\heilier il would even
endure n)y tiead.
And thus did I, for a few seconds, continue to
ascend, with nothing beneath me but that awful
river, in which — so tranquil had it now become— ]
could hear the plash of the faliinjs; fruexnenis, as every
step in succession gave way from under niy feet. It
was a most fearful moment — but even still worse re-
niained. 1 now found the bAlu^trade, by wtiich I had
held during my ascent, and which ihad iiitherlo ap-
peared to be him, growing treniulous in my hand,
while the step, lo which i was about to trust myself,
tottered under mv foot. Just then, a momentary
flash, as if of lightning, broke around me, and I saw,
hanging out of the clouds, so as to be barely within
my reach, a huge biazen ring. Insiinciively I
stretched forth my arm to seize it, and, at the s-ame
instant, both balustrade and steps gave way beneath
me, and I was left swinging by my hands in the d>)rk
void. As if, too, this Tiias>-y ring, which I grasped.
was by some magic power linked with all the winds
in heaven, no soi'iier had 1 seized it than, like the
touching of a spring, it seemed to give loose to e\ery
variety o( gusts and temjies's, that ever strewed Ihe
sea-shnre \n ith \vrecks or dead; and, as I swung
about, the sport of this elemental strife, every new
burst "f it.'i fury threatened to shiver nic, like a storm-
sail, to atoms!
Nor was even this flie worst ;— for still holding, I
know not how. by 'he ring, 1 felt myself caught up,
as if by a thousand whirlwinds, and then lound and
rrmnd, like a stone-shot in a sling, continued to be
whiiled in Ihe midst of all this deafening chao^ till
my brain grew dizzy, my recoliecuon became con-
fused, and I almost fancied myself on that wheel of
the infernal world, whose rotations Eternity alone
can nuniber !
Human s'renglh could no longer sustain such a
trial. I was on the point, at last, of lousing my hold,
when suddenly ihe violence of the storm moderated ;
—my whirl through the air gr-iduaily censed, and I
felt the ring slowly descend wiih me, till — hap[.y as
a ^hip wrecked mariner at the first touch of land — I
found my feet once mnre upon firm ground.
At Ihe same ninment, alight of the most delicious
softness filled the whole air. Music, such as is heard
in dreims, came floating at a distance; a^ d as my
eyes gradually recovered their powers of vision, a
!-cene of glory was revealed to them, almost too bright
for imagination, and yet living and real. As far
as the sight could reach, enchanting gardens were
seen, opening away through long trada of light and
verdure, and sparkling everywhere wiih fountains,
thai ciiculated. like streamii of life, among the flower.^.
Not a charm was here wanting, Ihit the fancy of poet
or prophet, in Iheir v\arniebt pictures of Elysium,
have ever yet dreamed or premised. Vistas, opening
into scenes of indistinct grandeur — streams, shining
out at intervals, in their shadowy course — and laby-
rimhs of flowers, leading, by my-terious winding-:, to
green, spacious glades fuU of splendour and repose.
Over all this, 'oo, there fell a light, from some unseen
source, resembling nothing that illumines our upper
woild — a sort of giilden moonlight, mingling the
warm radiance of day with the calm and melancholy
lus-re of night.
Nor were there wanting inhabi'ants for this sunless
Paradise. 'I'hrough all the bright gardens were seen
uandering, with the serene air and step of hapjiy
spirits, ginnps both of young and old, of veneiahle
and nf loxely foims, bearins:, mo t of thum, the Nile's
while flowers on their heads, and branches of th«
eternal palm in tlieir hands ; while, over the verdant
turf, fair childien and maidens wentdancing to aerial
mu ic. v^ hose source was, like that of the light, invi-
sible, lilt \\hich hlled the whole air with its mystic
Kxliausled as I was by Ihe painful trials I had
undergone, no sooner did 1 perceive those fair groups
in the (litftance, than my weariness, b(»th of frame and
spirit, was forgotten. A thought crossed me tliat she,
whom I sought, might haply be among them; and
notwilhbl..ndi"ng Ihe feeling of awe, with which that
unearthly scene inspired me, I was about to fly, on the
insiaiil, I'oaiceriain niy hope. But while in the act
of making the eflort, 1 felt my robe gently pulled, and
turning nund, beheld an aged man before me, whom,
by the sacred hue of his garb, 1 knew at once lo he a
Hiernphant. flacing a bianch of the consecraied
palm in my hand, he said, ''Aspirant of ihe Mysteries,
uelcoine : ' — then, regaiding me for a few seconds
with giave attention, added, in a toneof courteousness
and inierest, "The victory over the body hath been
g.iined ! — KoUow me, young Greek, to thy resting-
place."
I obeyed the command in silence — and the Priest,
turning away Irom this scene of splendour, into a se-
cluded pathway, v\here the light giadnally faded as
we advanced, ltd me lo a small pavilion, by the side
of a whispeiiiig streani, where the very spirit of slum-
ber seemed lo preside, and, pointing silently lo a bed
of dried poppy-leaves, left nie to repose.
CHAPTER VIII.
Though the sight of that splendid scene whose
glories opened upon me, like a momentary glimpse
into another world, had, for an instant, re-auinialed
my strength and spirit, yet, so completely was my
whole frame subdued by fatigue, thai, even had Ihe
form of Ihe young Priestess herself then stood before
me, my limbs would have sunk in the effort lo reach
her. No sooner had 1 fallen on my leafy couch,
than sleep, like a sudden death, came over me; and
1 lay, for hours, in that deep and motionless rest,
which not even a shadow of life disturbs.
On awaking I saw, beside me, the same venerable
personage, who had welcmed me to this subterranean
woild on the preceding night. At the fr>ot of my
C'ueh stood a statue, of Grecian workmanship, repre-
senting a boy, with wings, seated gracefully on a
lotus-flower, and having the forefinger of his right
hand piessed lo his lips. This action, together with
the glory round his brows, denoted, as 1 already
knew, theOfd of Silence and Light.*
Impatient to know what further trials awaited me,
I was about to speak, when the Priest exclaimed,
anxiously, "Hush!'' — and, pointing lo the statue at
the font of the couch, said,— " Let the spell of (hat
Spirit be upon thy lips, yuung stranger, till the wis-
dom of thy instruclors shall think fit to remove it.
Not unaptly doth the same deity preside over Silence
and Ligh'; since it is only out of the depth of con-
templative silence, that ihe great light of Ihe soul,
■1-rulh, can arise!"
Little used lo the language of dictation or instruc-
tion, I was now preparing to rise, when the Priest
again restrained me; and, at (he same moment, two
boys, beautiful as the young Genii of the stars, entered
the pavilion. They were h "bited in long garments of
the purest white, and bore each a small golden chalice
i " Enfin Harpocrates represenloit aussi le Soleil.
II est vrai que c'etuil aussi le Dieu du Silence; il met-
toit le doigt sur la boiiche parcequ^on adorojt le Soleil
avec un respec'ueux silence ; et c'est de la qu'est venu
le Sige des Basilidiens, qui lirnient leur origine de 1»
Europe Y.ufin Harpocrates eloit assis sur Id
lotus, qui est la planle du Soleil."— //w(, 'i£s Juyf$.
THE EPICUREAN
477
in his hand.» Advancing towards me, tliey slopped
on opposile sides ot the couch, and one of them, pre-
renting to me liis chalice of gold, said, in a (one be-
tween singing and speaking,--
"Dfiiik of this cup— OBirisasira
The aamu it; hi>> hall» below ;
And tlie same he giveH, to cool the lips
Uf the UeaiJ3 who downward go.
"Drink of this cup — the wnter witbia
If. fresh from LeUie'8 Blfeiim;
'T will make the (uiiit, with all its sin,
AtiU all Us pain and 6orr»wst seem
Like B long-forgotleu dream !
The pleasure, whose charms
Are BteepM in woe;
The kiiowleiJ^e, that barms
The Boul to know ;
"The love that himis
Il8 iiinoceut wreath,
Where the uerpLUt winds.
Id veuom, beneatli; —
"All that, of evil or false, by the3
Ilalh ever been known or weeTi,
Bhull melt away in this cup, and be
Forgot, as it never had been '."
Unwilling to throw a slight on this stnnge cere-
mony, I leaned for^vard, wjih all due gravity, and
tasied the cup ; which I had no snouer done than the
young cup-beaier, on Ihe otlier side,-* invited my at-
tenti(»n ; and. in his turn, presenting the ch ijice which
he held, sung, with a voice >till sweeter than that of
his comiiaiiiun, the following strain : —
Drink of thin cup— when Isis led
tier buy. of old to the beaming sky.
She luiiigled a draii^iht divine, 6 and »aiU—
•Driukof IhiB cup, thou 'It never die I'
" Thus do I say and sing to thee.
Heir of that boundless heaVn on high,
Thongh frail, and fall'u, aixl h>st thou be,
Dnuk of thid cup, ttiuu 'It never die !'*
Well as I had hi'herto kept my philosophy on its
guard, against the illusions with which, 1 knew, this
1 For the two cups used in the mysteries, see
DHistoirc des Juifs, liv. ix. c. 16.
^ Osiris, under Ihe name of Serapis, was supposed
to rule over the subierranean world ; and performed
the ofTice of I'lulo, in the mythology of Ihe Kgyp-
tians. "They believed," says Dr. Pritchard, 'Mhat
Sera()i8 presided over the region of departed souls,
during the period of their absence, when 1 mgnishing
without bodies, and that ihe dead were depu>ited in
his palace."— ^7ta/(/4iJ' of the Egyptian Mythology.
3'*Frigidam ilhni aquam post mortem, lanqnam
Hebes p.^culum, expeli'am." Zoega.— 'Ihe Leihe
of the Kgypiians was called Ameles. Hec Dupuis^
torn. viii. p> 631.
* " Knfin on disoit qu'il y avoit deux coupes, Pune
en haul et Pautre en has. Celui qui beuvoit de la
coupe d'en has, avoit tuujours soif, ses desirs s'aug-
nienioit au lien de s'etemdre, mais celui qui beuvoit
de la coupe en haul etoit reni|ili et content. Cette
premiere coupe etoit la coiuu-iMance de la nature,
(|ui ne satisfait jamais pleinemeii! ceux qui en son-
dent Its mysteres ; et la secnde c upe, dans laquelle
on devoit boire pour n'avoir jamais soif, etoit la con-
naissance des myslerus du Cml." — JJitt. des Juifs
liv. ix. chap. 16. '' '
8 The TTji aSavacrias (fiagfiaKov^ which, accord-
ing lo liiodoir.s Siculus, his prepared for her son
Orus. — Lib. i.
region abounded, the young cup-bearer h?-d here :
touched a spring of itnigination, over which my ]
phdosophy, as has been seen, had but lillle control.
No sooner had the words, "thou shiilt never die," :
struck on my ear, than the dreatn of the Garden !
came fuMy to my mind, and, starling half-way from \
the couch, I t-Iretched fortli my hands to (he cup.
Hu', rccollec iiig ni)-e]f inslanly. and fearing tlnd I j
hAd betra\ed to others a weakness htonly furmy own
secrel indutgence, I sunk bick again, wiih a snjile of
atfecled ind^Uerence, on luy couch — white the young
minstrel, bui little interrupted by my movement,
still continued his strain, of which 1 heard but the
concludmg words; —
** And Memory, too, with her dreams ehall come,
Urenms of a former, happier day,
When Heaven was btill the Spirit's home,
And her wmga bud nut yet fallen awuy ;
"Olimpaes of glory, ne'er forgot,
That tell, like gl^-amN oil a sunset sea.
What uijce hath been, what now is not,
But, oh, what u^aiu shall brightly be."
Though the assurances of immortality contained
in these verses would at any other inunient — vain and
visionary as I thought them— have sent my fancy
wandering into reveries of the future, ihe etlort of
self-control I had just made enabled me (o hear them
wilh indiflerfnce.
Having goiiK through the form of t.xsling his second
cup, 1 again looked anxiously to the Ilien.phant, lo
ascerlaiii uhttlur 1 nnghl bu peniiJled to rise. His
assent liavii::^ lit-, ri given, the yuunt: pages brought lo
my c.urh a H'b^ mhI lunic, which, like their own,
were of linen of the puiest white i and having as-
sisted to clothe me in tliis sacred gtib, ihey then
placed upon my he.id a chaplet of myrtle, in which
tlie symbol ol Initiation, a golden gra5bhopj)er,t» was
seen shining out from among the dark leaves.
'1 hougli sleep had done much to refresh my frame,
something more was still wanting to restore ita
strength; and it was not without a smile at my own
reveries 1 reflec ed, how much more welcome than
even tlie young page's cnp of immortality was the un-
pretending, bui real, repast now set before me — fresh
fruits from ihe Isle of Gardens i in the Nile, Ihe deli-
cate llesh of the ile-eit antelope, and wine from Ihe
Vineyard of the Queens at Anthylla,8 which one of
the pige fanned «ith a pa!ni-Ieaf, to keep it cool.
H.ivingdone justice to these dainties, it was with
pleasure I heard the proposal of ihe Priest, that we
sliould walk forth togeiher and meditate among the
scenes wi:hou'. I had not forgotten Ihe splendid
Klysiuiu that last night welcomed me — those rich
ttaidens. that soft unearthly music and light, and,
above all, those fair foims I h.id seen wandering
about — as if, in the veiy midst of happiness, slill
seeking it. The hope, which had Ihen occurred to
me, iha', among those bright groups niight haply be
found the y<>ung maiden I sought, now returned wilh
increased strength. 1 had little doubt that my guide
was leading me to the same Elysian scene, and that
the form, bO tit to inhabit jl, would again ai)pear
before my e\es.
Bui farditU-rent, I f.und, was the region to which
he now conducted me; — nor could Ihe whole world
have produced a scene more gloomy, or more straige.
it wore the appe.irance of a small, solitary valley,
enclosed, on every side, by rocks, which seemed lo
rise, almost perpemlicularly, till they reached the
very sky ;— for it was, indeed, Ihe blue sky tiiat 1
saw shining belween their summits, and whose light,
dimmed thus and nearly lost in lis long descent, form-
6 Hor. Jlfoll. — The grasshopper was also conse-
cra'ed to the tun as being musical.
1 The isle Antirrhodus, near Alexandria.-A/aiiUr.
8 Vide.^f/«7J. Dcipnox.
478
THE EPICUREAN.
ed lie melancholy daylicht of this nether world. i
Dowu the side of ihesc rocky walU descended a cata-
rac!, whose source was upon earlh, and oti whose
waters, as ihev rolled elassilv over Ihe edt;e abnve, a
gleam of radiance rested, showinij ht-w hrilliaiit and
pure wa3 Ihe sunshine Ihey had left Lehitul. From
thence, Kradually growing daiker and frequently
broken by allernate chasms and projections, the
stream fell, at last, in a pale and thin niist — Ihr phan-
tom of what It had been on eailh— inio a small lake
that lay at the base of the rock to receive it.
NoihiN^ was ever so bleak and saddening as the
appearance of this lake. 'J'he usual ornaments of the
wafers of Eerypt were not wanting to it : tlie tall
lotus here uplifted her silvery Unwers, and the crim-
son rtaiiiirigo floated over the fide. But Ihey looked
not the same as in the world above ;— the flower had
exchanged its whiteness for a livid hue, and the
wings of the bird hung heavy and cf-lourless. Every
thing wore the same halMivina aspect; and the only |
sounds (hat disturbed the mournful stillness were the
wailing cry of a heiou among the sedges, and that
din of (he failing waters, in their midway struggle,
above. |
There was, indeed, an unearthly sadness in the
whole scene, of which no he:irt, however light,
could resist the influence. Perceiving how much 1
was aflVcted by it, "Such scenes," remarked the
Priest, are best suited to that solemn coniplexion of ,
mind, which becomes him who a|)proaches the Great I
Mystery of fu^uiity. "Rehold" — and, in saying j
thus, he pointed to the opening over our heads, }
through which, though the sun had but just passed |
his meridian, I could perceive a star or two twink-
ling in the heavens — "in the same manner as from
this gloomy depth we can see those fixed stars,*
which are invisible now to Ihe dwellers on the bright
earth, even so, to the sad and self-hunibled spirit,
doth many a mystery of heaven reveal itself, of
which they, who walk in the light of the proud
world, know not!"
He now led me towards a rustic seat or alcove,
beside which stood an image of that dark Ueity,3
that God Without a smile, who presides over the
silent kingdom of the I)ead.4 The same livid and
lifeless hue was upon his features, that hung over
every thing in this dim valley ; and, with his right
hand, he jtninted directly downwards, to denote that
his melancholy kingdoni l^y there. A plantain 5 —
that favourite tree of Ihe genii of Death —stood be-
biad the statue, and spread its branches over the
1 " On s'etait meme avise, depuis la premiere con*
structinn de ces demeures, de percer en plusieurs en-
droits jusqu'au haul les terresqui les couvroient ; non
pas a la verite, pour tirer un jour qui n'auroit j.imais
ete suffisant, niais pour recevoir un air saluiaire,"
kc.—Sethos,
* *' On voyoit en plein jour par ces ouvertures les
etoiles, et memequelquesplanetesen leur plus grande
latitude septentrionale ; et les pre'res avoient bientot
profile de ce phenoniene, pour observer a diverses
heures le passage desetoiles."—5ei/iai.—.Srraio men-
tions certain caves or pits, constructed forlhe purpose
of astronomical observations, v\ hich lay io Ihe
Heliopolitan prefecture, beyond Heliopolis.
^ Sernpis, Sol Inferus. — Athenodorus, scriptor
vetustus, apuJ Clemenlem Alexandrinum in Protrep-
tico, ait *' simulacra Serapidis conspicua esse colore
caeruleo et nigricante." Macrobius, in verbis de-
scriplis, § 6. docet nos apud .(Egyptios "simulacra
solis iiifera fingi colore caeru'.eo."— yai/onsAi.
4 Osiris.
5 This tree was dedicated to the Genii of the
Shades, from its being an emlilem of repose and cool-
ing airs. " Cui imminef niusx folium, quod ab Iside
infera geniisque ei addictis manu geri solitum, um-
bram requiemque et auras frigidas subindigitare vide-
tur."— Zoeffo.
alcove, in which the Priett now seated himself, and
made a sign that I should take my place by his side.
After a Inng pause, as if of thought and prepara-
tion,—" Noblv,' said he, "ynuiit; Greek, hast ttiou
sustained the l.rst trials of Initiation. What still re-
n.ains, though ot vital import to the soul, brings with
it neither p^iin nor peril to the body. Having now
proved and chastened thy mortal frame, by the three
ordeals of Fire, of Water, and of Air ; the nest task
to uhich we are called is the purification of thy
spirit— the effectual cleansing of that inward and ia-
mortal jiart, so as to render it fit for the reception cf
the last luminous revealinent, when Ihe Veils of the
Sanctuary shall be thrown aside, and the Great
Secret of Secrets unfolded lo thy view ! — Towards
this object, the primary and most inq)ortant step is,
instruction. What the three purifying elements thou
hast passed through have done for thy body, instruc-
tion will ellecl for "
"But that lovely maiden !" I exclaimed, bursting
from my silence, having fallen, during his speech,
into a deep reverie, in which i had forgotten hini,
myself, the Great Secret, every thing— but her.
Startled by this profane interruption, he cast a look
of alarm tovvards Ihe statue, as il fearful lest the God
should have heard niy w ords. Then, turning to me,
in a tone of mild solemnity, *' It is but loo plain,"
said he, " tliat thoughts of the upper world, and of
its vain, shadowy delights, still engross thte far too '
much, to allow the lessons of Truth to sink profitably ]
into thy heart. A few hours of meditation amid this |
solemn scenery — of that wholesome meditation,;
which purifies, by saddening — may haply dispose
; to receive, witli due feelings of reverence, the I
holy and imperishable knowledge we have in store
for thee. With this hope 1 now leave thee lo thy
own thoughts, and to that God, before whose calm
and mournful eye all the vanities of the world, from ■
which thou comest, wither 1"
Thus sa>ing, he turned slowly away, and passing [
behind the statue, towards which he had pointed I
during the last sentence, suddenly, and as if by en-
chantment, disappeared from my sight.
CHAPTER IX.
Being now left to my own solitary thoughts, I was
fully at leisure to reflect, with scnie degree of cool-
ness, upon the inconveniences, if not dangers, of the
situation into which my love of adventure had hurri-
ed HJe. However prompt my imagination was al-
ways to kindle, in iis own ideal sphere, I have ever
found that, when brought into contact with reality, it
as suddenly cooled ;— like those meteors, that appear
lo be stars, while in the air, but, the moment they
touch earth, are extinguished. And such was the
feeling of disenchantment that now succeeded lo the
wild dreams in which 1 had been indulging. As
long as Fancy had the field of the future to herself,
even immortality did not seem loo distant a race
her. Dut when human instruments interposed, the
illusion ail vanished. From mortal lips the promise
of immortality seemed a mockery, and even imagi-
nation had no wings that could carry beyond the
Nor was this disappointment the only feeling that
pained and haunted me ; — the imprudence of the
step, on which I had ventured, now appeared in its
full extent before my eyes. I had here thrown my-
self in'o the power of the most artful priesthood in
the world, without even a chance of beins able to
escape from their toils, or to resist any machinations
with which they might beset me. It appeared evi-
dent, from the state of preparation in which I had
found all that wonderful apparatus, by which the
terrors and splendours of Iniliatioo are produced,
; that my descent into the pyramid was not unexpect-
' ed. Numerous, indeed, and active as were Ihe spien
THE EPICUREAN.
479
of Ihe Sacred College of Memphis, it could litlle be
dnuliifd Illat all my nioveiiicnts, since my anival,
had been walchiully ir.icked; anil Ihe iiiajiy hours 1
had etnpl pjed in wandering aid ejiplDni.g around
the [lyiauiul, be rayed a curinMly and -['iril ol iulven-
lure tthltll iiiishi well sn)!se^l 10 ihehe wily priesls
Ihe hope of inveiglln^an Kpicuieaii mm llicir loils,
I wa> well aware ol Ihcir halieJ to liie seel of
which 1 was Chief; - thai lliey considereil Ihe Epi-
cureans as, next to the Clirisljaus, Ihe most foniii-
dable enemies of tlieir craft and power. *' How
thoughtless, then," 1 exchilnjcd, '■ to hive i^laced my-
self in a situation, wheie lam equally liel|ile,s against
fraud and viidence, and must eiher pretend lo he Ihe
dupe of their impobtures, or else submit to become
the victim of their vengeance !" Of these alter-
natives, bitter as they both were, the lal'er appeared
by far Ihe more welcome. It was ^vilh a blush thai
1 even looUed kick upon the ninckeries 1 had already
yielded 10 ; and Ihe prospect of being pui tlirounh
still further ceremnmals, ai>d of being luloied and
preached to by hypncriles I so niuch iU-^])ised, ap-
peared lo me, in iiiy preseni mood ol mind, a irial of
patience, compared to which the tlauits and whirl-
winds I had already encounleied were p.islime.
Ufleii and impatiently did 1 look up, between those
rocky walls, lo ihe bright sky Ihat appeared to rest
upon their suiiimits, as, pacing round and round,
through everv part of the valley, I endeavoured lo
hud some outlet from its gloomy piecincts. llui vain
were all my endeavours ;-llial rocky barrier, which
seemed lo end but in he.iven, inIeipo,td ilself every-
where. Meither did Ihe innige of ihe young ma den,
though constantly in my mind, now bring wi:h il itui
least consolation or hope. Of wlial avail w;is il lh.it
she, perhaps, was an inhabitant of Ibis fegl. n, if 1
could neither behold her smile, nor calch Ihe s.und
of her voice — if, while among pre.ching priests I
wasted away my hours, her presence was, al.is, dif-
fusing lis encliantnient elsev\ here ?
At length exhausted, I lay down by Ihe brink of
Ihe lake, and gave myself up to all Ihe melancholy
of my fancy. *J he pale semblance of d.iylighl, which
liiid hilheito glimmered around, grew, every mo-
ment, more dim and dismal. £ven Ihe rich gleam,
at Ihe summit of the cascide, h.id faded; ai.d the
sunshine, like the water, exhausted in its descent,
had now dwindled into a ghoslly glimmer, f,u worse
than darkness. 'I he birds upon the lake, as if about
lo die wi h Ihe dying light. Slink down their heads;
and as I looked to tiie statue, the deepening shadows
gave such an expression to its mournful features as
chilled my very soul.
The thought of death, ever ready to present itself
lo my imagination, now came, with a disheartening
weight, such as I had never before fell. I almost
fancied myself already in Ihe dark vestibule of the
grave — removed, for ever, from the woild above,
and with nothing but the blank of an eternal sleep
liefore me. It had happened, I knew, frequemlv,
that the visitants of this mysierious realm were, after
their descent from earth, never seen or heard nf;^
being condemned, for sonie failure in their iniliatory
trials, to pine away their lives in those d.iik dun-
geons, with which, "as well as with altars, this legion
abounded. Such, I shuddered to think, might pro.
bably be my own destiny ; and so appalling was the
thought, that e\en the courage by winch 1 h.id been
hitherto sustained died within me. nnd 1 was already
giving myself up to helplessness and despair.
At length, after sc me hours of this gloomy musing,
1 heard a rustling in Ihe sacred grove behind the
statue; and, sonn after, the sound of the I'ricst's
voice — more welcome than 1 had ever thought such
voice could be— brought the assurance that 1 was not
yet wholly abandoned. Finding liis way to me
through the gloom, he now led me lo Ihe same spot,
on which we had parted so many ho'.rs before ;
addressing me in a voice that retained no trace of dis-
pleasure, bespoke my at'enlion, while he shouU
veal to me some of lliose divine truths, by w
infusion, he said, into the soul of man, its purification
can alone be cllccted.
The valley had now liecome so dark, that we could
no longer, as we sate, discern each olher's faces.
tor ihal well aecordid with the gloom around us:
and, s.iddened and subdued, I now liblened with re-
slgn.ilion, if nol with inteltst, to tin se sublime, but,
alas, I tlioushl, vain lends, wliiili, with all the
waimth of a true believer, tliis llierupbant expound-
ed 10 me.
He spoke of the pre-existence of the soul > — of its
abode, from all eletnily, in a place of splendour and
bliss, of which whatever we have most beautiful ill
our conceptions here is but a dim transcript, a cloud-
ed remembrance. In the blue depths of ether, he
said, lay that "Country of the Soul"— its boundary
alone visible in Ihe line of milky light, which, as by
a barrier of stars, separates it from Ihe dark earth.
"Uh, realm of puriry! Home of Ihe yet unfallen
Spirit 1 — where, in the days of her hrst innocence,
she wandered ; ere jet her beauty was soiled by the
touch of eailh, or her res[tleiident wings had wiiher-
ed away. Methinks I see," he cried, "at this nio-
ineiil, those lields of radiance 'i— I look back, through
Ihe mists of life, into thai luminous world, wheie
the souls that have never lost llieir high, heavenly
k, still soar, w ilboul a st,iin, above the shadowless
■5, and there dwell bigethcr in infinite |ierlection
and bliss 1"
As he 5|ioke these words, a burst of pure, brilliant
light, 3 like a sudden opening of heaven, broke thiough
Ihe valley; and, as soon as my eyes were able lo
endure the splendour, such a vision of gloiy and
loveliness i pcncd upon them, as took even my .scepti-
cal s{iirit by suipnse, and made it yield, at once, (o
Ihe potency of the spell.
Suspended, as I thought, in air, and occupying the
whole of the opposite region of Ihe valley, there ap-
pealed an immense orb of light, vvilhin which,
through a haze of radiance, I could see distinctly fair
groups of young female spirits, who, in silent, but
luarmonious movement, like Ihal of the stars, wound
slowly through a variety of fanciful evolutions;
seeming, as they linked and unlinked each other's
arms, to form a living labyrinth of beauty and grace.
Though their feet a|ipeared to glide along a field of
light, they had also wings, of Die most brilliant hue,
which, like rainbows over waterfalls, when played
with by Ihe breeze, reflected, every inomeiit, a new
variety of glory.
As 1 stood, gazing with wonder, Ihe orb, wilh all
its ethereal inmates, began gradually to recede into
the dark void, lessening, as il went, and becoming
more brighi, as il lessened ; — till, at length, distant,
1 For a full account of the doctrines which are
here represented as having been taught to the initiat-
ed in the Kg\|ilian mys eiies, the le der may consult
Dvpvis, Pritchayd's Analysis of Ihe Egyptian My-
tlwlogy, &c. &c. " L'on deconvroil i'origine ie
Tame, sa chute sur la terie, a travers les spheres et
les eleniens, et son relour au lieu de son origine ....
c'etoit ici la partie la plus melaplnsique, et que lie
pourroil guere entendre le coninnin des Inilies, niais
dont on lui doiinoil le spectacle par des figures et dea
spectres allegoriques." — /iuj/uii.
5 See Heaus'ilre, lib. iii. c. 4., for the "lerre bien-
heiireuse et lumineuse," which Ihe Matiicheans sup-
posed God to inhabit. Plato, too, speaks (in fhaed.)
of a pure land lying in Ihe pure sky (ttjj/ y7iv
KaOapav tv KaOapift Kuafiut ovpavtft)^ the abode of
divinity, of innoceiice, and of life."
3 The power of producing a sudden and dazzling
effusion of light, which was one of the arts employ-
ed by Ihe contrivers of the ancient Mysteries, is thus
described in a few words by Apuleius, who was him-
self admitted to witness Ihe Isiac ceremonies at
Corinlh : — " Nocte media vidi solem candido corua-
c.intem luniine."
480
THE EPICUREAN
to all appearance, as a retirine cnmet, this lime
world of Spirits, in one small p rint nf intense radi- !
ance, shnr.e ils l,isl and vaiii^lied. " Gn," exclaimed j
the rapi Priest, "ye happy souls, of whose dwelling
i.pse
thus 6"
let
Kh the lioundless heavei
a thought of this perishable world come to mingle its
dross wuh your divuie nature, or allure you down
e.irihward to that mortal tall hy which spirits, no
less bnsht .md ado.irahle, have been ruined I"
A pause ensued, duiinj which, still und^r the in-
fluence of wonder, 1 sent my fincy wandering afler
the inhabilants of that orh — almost wishing myself
credi;|-us enough to believe in a heaven, of which
creatures, so imich like those I had worshipped on
tar h, were inmales.
At length, the Friest, with a mournful sigh at tlie
sad contrast he was about to draw' between the
happy spirits we had just seen and the fallen ones
of earth, resumed again his melancholy History of
the Soul. Tracing it gndually fioni the firsi mo-
ment of eirlhwanl desire' to it's final eclipse in the
shadows of this world, lie dwelt upon every st-.ge of
ils iJarkening descent, willi a pathos th^.t sent sadness
into the very depths of ihe he.rt. 'Ihe first down-
ward look of tlie Spirit towards earth — Ihe tremble
of her wings on the edge of Heaven— tlie giddy slide,
at leng h, down that f.tal de-c-nt, and the Leiliean
cup, midway in the sky, of which when she ha- once
tasled. Heaven is forgol— through all these grarialions
he traced mournfully her fall, to Ihil lasf stage of
darkness, when, wholly immersed in this world, her
celestial nalure becomes changed, she no longer can
rise above earth, nor even lemenibcr her former
home, except by glimpses so vague, that, at length,
mistaking for hope what is only, alas, recollect
.he believes those gl.
Future, not the Past.
"To retrieve this rii
to clear away from ai
and, restoring her lost
to He iven — such," said the
creat task of our religi
Myste ■
to be a light frui
the
of the once blessed Soul —
lid her the clourls of earth,
ngs,^ facilitate their return
rend man, "is the
ch Ihe rnumph of
most depths the
ured.
life and essence of that holy reliitioii I
However sunk and ch inged and clouded may be the
Spirit, yet as long as a single trace of her original
light remiins, there is still hope itia' "
Here the voice of the Priest was interrupted by a
strain of mournful music, of which the low, distant
breathings had been, for some minutes, audible, but
which now g.iiiied upon the ear too thrilliiigly to let
it listen to any niore earlhly sound. A f.iiol light,
too, at that insf.int broke through the valley — and I
could [lerceive, not far from the spot where we sat, a
female ftguie, veiled, and crouching lo earth, as if
subdued liy sorrow, or under Ihe influence of shame.
The feeble light, by which I saw her, came from a
pale, nioonlike meteor which had gradually formed
itself in the air as the music a] prnached, and now
shed over the rocks and Ihe lake a glimmer as cold
as that by which Ihe De.id, in Iheir own kingdom,
gaze upon each other. 'I he music, loo, which ap-
P3ared to rise from out of the lake, full of the breaih
3f its dark waters, spoke a despondency in evei y note
which no langtnge could express ; — and, as I listened
to ils tones, and looked upon that fallen Spirit, (for
such, the holy man whisiiered, was Ihe form before
us,) so eiitiiely did Ihe illusion of the scene take pos-
session of me,a ih.al. with almost painlul anxiety,!
now awailed ihe rcsull.
Nor had 1 gazed Inig before that form rose slowly
from i's drooping po-i ion ;— the air around il grew
brighr, and Ihe |iale rneleor ovprhead assumed a more
cheerful and livins light. The veil, which had be-
fore shrouded the face of the figure, became every
minute n.ore transparent, and the features, one by
one, gradually disclosed themselves. Having treni-
Miiigiy watched the progres.** of the apparition, I now
started from my seat, and half exclilmed, "It is she !"
In another nnnule, this thin veil li.ad, like a Ihin mist,
melted away and the young Piiestess of the Moon
stood, for the third time, revealed before my eyes !
To rush instantly towards her was my hist impulse
—but the arm of the Priest held me firmly back. The
fresh lishi, which had beifun lo flow in from all sides,
collected itself in a flood of glory around the spot
re she s'ood. Instead of melaocholy music, strains
of the most exalted rapture were heard ; and the
young maiden, buovani as the inhibitants nf the fairy
orb, amid a blaze of light like that which fell upon
ler in Ihe Teniple, ascended slowly into the air.
"S'ay, beautiful vision, stav I" I exclaimed, as, break-
ng from the hold of the Priest, 1 tiung myself pros-
trate on the ground— the only mode by which I could
press the admiration, even to worship, with which
vas filled. But the vanishing spirit heard me not :
— receding into the darkness, like that orb, whose
heavenward track she seemed to follow, her form
lessened by degrees awav, till she was seen no more ;
while, gaz'mj, lill the last luminous speck had disap-
peared, I allowed myself unconsciously to be led
away by my reverend guide, who, placing me once
more on nty bed of poppy-leaves, left me there to such
repose as it was possible, after such a scene, to enjoy.
CHAPTER X.
The apparition with which I had been blessed in
that Valley of Visions— for so Ihe place where I had
witnessed these wondeis was c.rlled — hrougt back to
my heart all the hopes and fancies, in which during
my descent from earth I had indulged. 1 had now
seen once morethai malchless creature, who had been
my euiding-star into this mysterious realm ; and that
she was destined to he, in some way, connected with
the further revelations that awailed me, 1 saw no
reason to doubt. There was a sublimity, too, in the
doc:rines of my reverend teacher, and even a hope in
the iironiises of immortality lield out by him, which,
ill spite of reasoii, won insensibly both upon my fancy
and my piide.
'Ihe Future, however, was now but of secondary
consideration j— Ihe Present, and that deity of the
1 In the original consi ruction of this work, theri
was an episode inlroduced here (which I have sinct
published in a more extended form), irustralinj the
dociriiieof Ihe fall of the soul by the Oriental fable
of the Loves of the Angels.
» In the lansuage of Plato, Hierocles, Sic , lo "re-
store to the soul Its wings," is llie main object both
of religion and phil sopliy.
Damasdus, in his Lite of Isidorus. says, " Ex
aniiquissimis Phil-sophis Pvtha!orani et Pla'onem
Isidorus ul Deos coluit. et curvm animas alatas esse
dixit quas in locum superctrles'ein inque caiiipuin
veritatis et pratiini elev das, divinis pulavit ideis
fwc\."—Jij)ud. Pilot, lliblioihcc.
3 In tracing the early connexion of spectacles with
the ceremonies of religion. Voltaire says, "11 y a bien
plus ; les ventables grandes tragedies, les representa-
tions imposantes et terribles, eloient les mysleres
s.icres, qii'on celebroit dans les plus vasles temples du
mnnde, en pre-ence des seuls Inilies; c'etoit la que
les h:ibits, les decorations, les machines eloient pro-
pres an sujet ; et le sujet etoit la vie presente el la
vie future." — Des divers Changeiiteiis ajrivet a
Ijirt tragiqve.
To these scenic representations in the F.gyptian
mysteries, there is evidently an allusion in the vision
of Ezckiel, where IheSpiiit shows him the atiinii-
nainns which the Israelites learned in Eii>pt. —
"Then said he unto me, 'Son of man, hast thtni seen
what the ancients of the house of Israel do in Ihe
dark, every man in Iht chambers of his imagery V "
Chap. viii.
THE EPICUREAN,
481
Present, womin, were the objects thai engrossed my
wliole soul. It was, indeed, for the sake of such
being's alone that I con idered inimortalily uesirable,
nor, wittinut them, would e:ern.-\l life have appeared
ti» me woiMi a single praytr. 'J'o every further trial
of my patience and faiih, I now ninde up uiy mind to
sub;hit wiliiiiula murmur. Some kiiid chance, 1 fo[jUly
persuaded myse'f, niighr yel b'ins me nearer lo the
object of my adoration, and enable me to address, as
nntrlal woman, one who had hilher:o been to me but
j as a vision, a shade.
'J'lie period of my probation, however, was nearly
I at an end Both Irime and spiril had now stood liic
I irial : and, a^ the crowning tesl of the punficatinn of
It.e laller was iliat power of seeing into ihe world of
I spirils. wilh which I had proved myself, in Ihe Valley
, of Virions, to be endowed, there now reniained, lo
cm pleleniy Initiation, but this one night mo e, when,
in t.'ie Temple of Isis, and in Ihe presence of lier un-
velkd image, Ihe lasl grand revelation of Ihe Secret of
Secri-ls w ,8 to be laid open lo me.
I i)assed the morning of this day in company with
the same venerable personage, who had, Irom the firl,
presided over the ceremonies of my insTuclion; and
who, to inspire me with due reverence for the power
aird magnificence of his religion, now conduced me
Ihnnigh Ihe long range of illumin.ded g.lleries and
shrines, that extend under the si'e upon which .Mem-
phrs and Ihe Hjramids s'and, and f ,rnr a counlerp.irl
under ground lo that mighty ciiy of lemples upon
He Ihen descended wilh me, still lower, inio those
winding crypis, where lay Ihe Seven 'I'ables of stone,'
found by Hermes in Ihe valley of Hebron. "On these
tables," said he, " is wriilen all the knowledge of Ihe
aniLdiluvian race— Ihe decrees of the stars from the
beginniirg of lime, tlie annals of a slill earlier world,
and all the marvellous secrets, both of heaven and
earth, which would have been
• bvt for ttiis key.
Lost In the Universal Sea.' *•
Re'urning to Itie region, from wliicli we had de-
scended, we next visited, in succes ion, a series of
small shrines representing Ihe various objects of ado-
raliorr tliriush KgypI, and lhn« furni hing to ihe
I'lrcsl an occisinn for explaining the mysterious na-
ttire of animal worship, and (he rehned doclrines of
theology Uial lay veiled under its forms. Every shrine
was consecrated to a patlicular faith, and cnniained a
living image nf the deity which it adored, iieside Ihe
goal of Mendes,2 wilh his refulgent star upon his
l,rea-t, I saw Ihe crocoJile, as presented to Ihe eyes
of ils idolaters at Arsinne, wilh costly genisS in its
Inathsome ears, and rich bracelet" of gold encircling
ils feet. Here, Honing Ihrnugli a lank in Ihe centre
of a temple, the sacred carp of Lepidoium showed ils
silven scales; while, Itieie. the Isiac serpents'! trailed
languidly over Ihe allar, with thai sort of movement
which is thought most favourable to the aspir.-itions of
Iheir votaries. In one of Ihe small chapels we found
a beautiful child, employed in feeding and watching
over those golden beetles, which are .adored for Iheir
brrghlness, .as emblems of the sun : while, irr another,
stood a sacred ibrs upon ils pedestal, so like, in plum-
' " Bernard, Comte de la Marcho Trevisane, in-
ilruit par la lecture des livres aneiens, dii, nu> Hermes
trouva sept tables dans la vallee d'Hebron, sur les-
quelles eioienl graves les principes des arls liberaux.''
— . aWct Eimi'tiennes. See JablonsU de slelis lierm.
a For an account of llie animal woishinof IheEg) p.
Iiaris, see /.te fonto, torn. ii.
3 Her' dolus (Eutay ) lell-; us that the people abnut
Thebes and L,ke Mojris kepi a number of tame cro-
co,lrles, which they worshipped, and dressed them out
n ilh gems and golden ornanieiils in Iheir eas.
* "Un auguroil bien de serpens Isiaques, lorsqu'ils
gouloie- I I'oUVande et se Irainoicnl ientenieul aulour
de I'autel."— Dn J'auw.
age and attitude, to ihe bird of the young Priestess,
that most gladly would 1 liave knelt down and wor-
shipped It loi her sake.
At er visiting ail these various shrines, and hearing
Ihe rellecti. lis w Inch Ihey suggested, I was neii led by
my guide 10 llie Ureal Hall of the Zodiac, on whose
ceiling was delineated, in biiglit aid und>iiig colours,
the niap of the liimaineot, as it ap|ieaied at the tiist
dawn of lime. Here, in poioiing out llie liack of the
51111 anions Hie spheres, he sp, ke of the analogy that
exists belwcen moral and phvsical daikness — of Ihe
sjnipa'hy «ith which all spiiilual creatures re£ard
Ihe sun, so as lo sadden and decline « lien he sinks'inlo
his wintry hemisphere, and lo rejoice when he re-
sumes disown empire of light. Hence, Ihe festivals
and hymns, with which most of Ihe nations of Hie
earth are wont to welcome the resurrection of his oi u
in spring, as an emblem and pledge of Ihe re-ascent of
the soul to heaven. Hence, Ihe s'lings of sorrow, Ihe
mouroful ceremonies ' — like those Mjsteiies of Ihe
Niglit,6 upon Ihe Ijke of Sais— m which Ihey brood
over his aiilumiial de-cenl into the shade,, as a type of
the Spirit's fall into tins w«ld of death.
in discourses such as Ihese ihe h -urs passed away ;
and though ihere »a, nothing in the light of this sun-
less region to ma'k to the e>e Ihe decline r,f day, my
own feelings told me that Ihe night drew near j — nor,
in spile of my incedulily, could 1 refrain from a slight
butler of hope, as that prohii ed momenl of revelation
drew nigh, »hen ihe Myste.y of iMiS'-eries was to be
made all my o«n. 'Ibis consummation, however,
was less near than I expected. My patience had still
furllier trials lo encumer. It was necesiry, I now
found, that, during the greater part of the night, I
should keep wa cli in the Sanctuary of the 'leni|ile,
alone and in ufer dirkness — Ihus preparing myself,
by meditation, for the av\ful niomen', when Ihe irra-
diation from behind Ihe sacred Veils was to burst ujion
At Ihe appointed hour, we left the Hall of Ihe Zo-
diac, and proceeded through a long line of niaible gal-
leries, ivhere Ihe lamps were more lliinly scattered as
we advanced, till, al length, we found ourselves in
total daikness. Here Ihe Priest, taking me by Ihe
hand, mild leiJing n.e down a liighl of steps, into a
place where the same deep gloom prevailed, said, wilh
a voice trembling, as if from excess of awe, — "Thou
art wilhin Ihe Sanctuary of our goddess, Isis, and Ihe
veil.s, that conceit her sacred image, are before lliee!"
After exhorting nieearnes'ly lo thai Iraiii of ihouglit
which best accorded "ilh the, -pint of ihe place where
1 stood, and, above all, lo Ihal full and unhesitating
failh, with which alone, he siid, Ihe manileslation of
such nivsleiies should be approached, the holy man
took leave of me, and reascei ded the steps ; — while,
so siiell-bound did I feel by that deep darkness, that
Ihe last sound of hit foois'eps died upon my e^T, before
I ventured lo slira limb from Ihe position in which he
had left me.
'Ihe prospect of Ihe long wa'ch I had now lo look
forward In, was dreadful. Even danger if»ell', if in an
aclive form, wiiuld have been far preferable to Ibis
sort of safe, but dull, probation, by «hicli p.alieuco
was the only virlue jiut lo ihe proof. Having ascer-
tained how lar the space around me was free from
obslacles, 1 endeavoured lo beguile Ihe time by pacing
up and down wilhin those liiniis. till I became tired
ol Ihe monotonous echoes of my own tread. Finding
mv way, then, lo wliat I felt to be a massive pillar,
and leaning wearily against it, I surrende ed myself
to a Irain of though s and feelings, far ditt'erent from
those wilh which Ihe good Hicioiiliant hail h ped lo
mspire me,
"If these priests," thought I, "possess really the
scciel of life, why are they ihemselves the victims of
death? why sink into Ihe graie with the cup of im-
' For an account of the various feslivals at Ihe dif-
ferenl periods of the sun's progrew, in the spring aai
111 the autumn, see Dujniis and Pittchard.
« VideMhenng. Leg. pro Christ, p. 13^
41
2f
482
-^1
THE EPICUREAN.
niorlality in their hands ? But no, safe boasters, the
eternity they so lavbhly jinmiise is leserved fur
anotfitTj a fu'ure world — thai ready resource of all
pri^^stly prnniiaes — that dej-Ohitory ol the airy pledges
of alt creeds. Anoiher world 1 — alas, where doth it
lie? or, whalspiiit halh ever come to say that Life is
there ?»*
The conclusion at which, half sadly, half passion-
ately, I arrived, was that, lite being but a dream of
the nionient uever to conie -gain, every bliss so
va^uKly premised for hercafier ougliE to be secuied by
the wjse man here. And, as no heaven I had ever
heard if fmin Iheje visionary p: iesis opened half such
ceriainiy uf happiness as ihai smile which 1 beheld
last iii^ht — *'Let me," I exclaimed, inipa'iently,
striking the massy pillar till it rung, ** let me b'ui
m^ke that beautiful Priestess my own, and i here wil-
lingly exchange for tier every chance of imnioitaliiy,
that the combined wisdom of Egypt's Twelve Temples
can ofier me 1"
No sooner had 1 uliered thfse words, than a tre-
mendous peal, like that of ihnmler,^ rolled over the
Saiiciuary, and seemed to >hike its very walls. On
every side, too, a succea-lou of blue, vivid flashes
pierced, like lances of light, th ough the ginoni, re-
vealing to me, at interval., the mi-hty dome in uhich
I stood —its ceiling of az re, s'uddi-d with s'ars— its
colnsaal columns, lowenn< aluft, and those dark, awful
veils, whose massy drapery hung from ihe niof to the
floor, covering the lich glories of ihe Shrine beneath
their folds.
So weary had I grown of my tedious wateh, that
this stoimy and filfut illumina:iun, duiiug which the
Sanctuary seemed 10 lock to its basf, was by no means
an unwelcnnie interruption of the monotonous trial
my patience had to suffer. After a bhort inteival,
however, the (lashes ceased ; — the sounds died auay,
like exhausted thunder, through ilie abyss, and dark-
ness and Silence, like that of the grave, succeeded.
Resting my back once more luain^t the pillar, and
fixing my eyes upon that side of ihe Sanctuary, from
which the promised irr.idialioii wr»s to bursf, I now
resolved to await the awful nioment iu patience.
Rebigned and almost immov.ible, I had remained I bus,
for ne rly another hour, u ben suddenly, along the
edges of the mighty Veils, 1 perceived a" thin rim of
li^ht, as if from some brilliant ('bject under them ; —
resembling that border which enciicles a cloud at
sunset, when the rich ladiance fium behind is escaping
at its edsies.
'J'liis indication of concealed glories grew every
instant more strong; fill, at last, vividly marked as it
was upon the darkness, the narrow tringe of lustre
aliiiosf pained the eye — giving pr^mibe of a fulne-s
of splendour loo bright to be enduied. My expecta-
tions were now wound to the highest pilch, and all
the bcepiicism, into which 1 hnd been cooling down
my miu;f, was forgnfen. 'Ihe wonders that had been
presented to me since my decent fiom earth — that
glimpse in o Elysium on the first night of my comit.g
— those visitants from ihe Land of Si-inls in the niys-
lerioiis valley— all led me to expect, in this fast and
brightest revelation, such visions of glory and know-
ledge as might tran'-cend even fancy ilself, nor leave
a donbl iha' ihey belonged les-^ to earth than heaven.
While, wiih an nnagimtion thus excited. 1 -tood
waiting ttie re5ult,an increased gu^li of Ii;i;ht still more
awnkened my alteniinn ; and I saw, with an intense-
ness of interest, which made mv heart beat aloud, one
of the Corners of the mighty Veil raised slowly from
the floor. I now felt Itiat the Great Seciet, whiiever
it ntighi be, was af hand. A vagne hope e\e;i crossed
my mind— so wivllv had ima^mit.on now resumed
her empire — that the splendid promise of my dieam
was on ttiC very point of being realized !
With surprise, however, and, for the moment, with
some disappointment, I perceived, that the massy cor-
ner of the Veil was but lifted sulllcienlly from the
ground to allow a female heure to emerge from under
it — and then fell overits mystic splendours as utterly
dark as betore. By Ihe strong light Ko, that issued
when Ihe dranery v\a3 raised, and illnn.ina'ed the pro-
file of the emerging figure, i either saw, or fancied
that 1 saw, the same bright fealuies, that had already
so often mocked me with their momentary charm, and
seemed destined, indted, (o haunt my fancy as uu-
availinglyas even the fond, vain dream of Imuioilaliiy
iUe.U
Dazzled as I had been by that short gush of splen-
dour, and distrusting even my senses, when under the
influence of so much excitement, 1 had but just begun
to questiou mybtlf as to Ihe retlity of my impression,
when I heard the sounds of lighi fooslepsappio-icbing
me tlirough the gloom. In a second or (wo more, the
tiguie 9:o| ped before me, and, placing Ihe end of a
riband gently in niy hand, said, iu a tremulous whis-
per, *• Follow, and be silent."
So sudden and strange was the adventure, that, for
a momen', 1 hesitated — feaiing that my eyes might
possibly have been deceived as to the object they had
seen. Casting a look towards the Veil, which seemed
buisting Willi I 9 luminous seciet, 1 was alniost doubt-
ing to which of the two chances 1 should commii my-
seir, when I fell Ihe riband in my hand pulled softly
at the o'her extremity. '1 his movement, like a touch
of niagic, at i>nce decided me. VVilliouI any further
deliberation, I yielded to the silent summons, and fol-
lou ing my guide, who was already at some distance
betoien.e. found my>elf led up the suie flight of mar-
ble -teps by which ibe driest had conducted me into
the Sanctuary. Ani^eJ at their summit, I fell ihe pace
of my conduciress quicken, and giving one more look
10 the Veiled Shrine, whose glories we lett burning
usele>-ly bi^hind us, hastened onwaid into the gloom,
full of confidence in the belief, that she, who now held
Ihe other end of ihal clue, was oue whom i was ready
to follow devo:edly through the world.
CHAPTER XI.
With such rapidity was I hurried along by my un-
seen guide, lull uf wonder at the speed wiih which
she ventured through these labyiinths, that I had but
little lime left for teflec ion upon tlie strangeness of
the adventure to which 1 had committed myself. My
knowledge of tlie cbarac er of the Memphian priests,
as well as some fearful rumours that had leaclied me,
concerning the fate that often attended unbelievers in
their hands, awakened a momentary suspicion of
treache-y iu my mind. Bu', when I recalUd Ihe face
of my guide, as I had :een i in the small chapel, wi.h
that divine look, the very memory of which brought
purity into the heart, I found my suspicions all vanish,
and lelt shamc at having harboured them but an
in!^«:<».
In Ihe meanwhile, our rapid course continued wjih-
ovil any inter' uption, through windings even more
capriciously intricate^ than any 1 liad yet passed, and
« See, for some curious remarks on the mode of
imil.iting thunder and lightning m iheaocient myste-
ries, De Pnuw, tpm. i., p. 323. The machine with
which these effects were produced on the stage was
Cilled a ceraunnsqope.
^ In addition to the accounts which the ancients
have left us of the jirodigions excavations in all parts
of Egypt — Ihe fitteen hundied chambers under the
labyiinih — the subterranean stables of ihe 'Jhehaid,
coij'.aining a thousand horses— ihe crypts of Upper
Egypt p'ss'ng under ihe bed of the Nile, &c. &c. — he
stories and traditions cnrrenl among the Arabs still
preserve the memory of those wonderful substiuc-
lions. *' Un Arabe.''£ays Paul Lucas, "qui e:oit nvec
nous, m'ahsuia qu'etant enlie autrefois dans le Laby-
rinthe, il avojt maiche dans les chambres sou erruuiB
jusqn'en un lieu on il y avoii une grande place envi-
ronnee de plusieurs niches qui lessembloit a de petites
b<:u:iques, d'ou Ton entroit dans d^aulres .illeeset dans
THE EPICUREAN,
;rTl
483
whose Uick glonm seemed never lo have been broken
by a^inslei^linmierof light. My unseen c..nJi,c ress
\\ai slill at sciiiie distance before me, and the slight
clue, lo which 1 clung as it' it were Destiny's own
thread, was still kt\i\ by the speed of her course, ;it
full streich between us. At leiigih. suddenly stopping,
;,.id. ill a breathless whisper. •' .Seat ibvseU here ;'»
and, al the same moment, leJ me by the r.^nd in a sort
of low cir. in uhich, obeying her brief command, I
lost notamomeni in placing myself, while the maiden,
no lesi promptly, took her seat by my Side.
A sudden click, like the touching of a spring, was
then heard, and the car— which, as I had fell in enler-
int; it, leaned half-way over a steep desceni— on being
let loose from its station, shot down, almost perpendi-
cularly, into the darkness, with a rapidity which, at
fitst, liearly deprived me of breath. 1 he wheels slid
smoothly and noiselessly in giooves, and the impetus,
which the car acquired in descending, was sufficient,
I perceived, to cany il up an eminence that succeeded
—from tlie summit of which it again rushed down :in-
other declivity, even still more long and precipitous
than the former. In this manner we proceeded, by
alternate tulls and rise^, till, at length, from the last
and steepest elevation, the car descended upon a level
of deep sand, where, after running fur a few yards, it
by degrees lost its motion and s:oppeil.
Here, the maiden alighting again placed the riband
in n.y hands— and again I Idlowed her, though vvi h
more slowness and difficulty thui belore. as uur w ly
now led up a flight of damp and time-worn s'eps,
whose ascent seemed to the wearied and insecure foot
interminable. Perceiving with what languor my
guide advanced, I was on the point of making an
etrort to assist her progress, when the creak of an
opening door above, and a faint gleam nf light which,
at the same moment, shone upon her figure, apprised
me that we were at last arrived within reach of sun-
shine.
Joyfully I followed through this opening, and, by
the dim light, could discern, (hat we were now in 'he
sanciuary of a vast, ruined temple— ha\ iiig entert-d by
a secret passage under the pedestal, upon which an
image of the idol of the place once stood. The first
movement of the young maiden, after closing again
the portal under the pedestal, was, without even a
single look towards me, to cast herself down upon her
ktiees, with her hands clasped and uplifted, as if in
thanksgiving or prayer. But she was unable, evi-
dently, to sustain herself in this po^i(il>n ; — her
strength could bold out no longer. Overcome by agi-
tation and faligue, she sunk senseless upon the pave-
ment.
Hewildered as I was myself, by the strange events
of the night, I stood for some minutes looking upon
her in a state of helplessness and alarm. Buf, leniind-
ed, by my own feveiish st-nsations, of the reviving
eifecis of the air, I raised her gently in my arms, and
crossing the corridor that surrounded the sanctuary,
found my way to the outer vestibule of the temple.
chambres, sans pouvoir en trouver la fin." In speak-
ing, ton, of the arcades along the Nile, near Cosseir,
" lis n-e diient menie que ces Eouferraines etoient si
profondes qu'il y en avoient qui ailoient a Irois j'>ur-
nees de la, et quMs conduisrtient dans un pays ou l'»in
voycit de beau jardins, qu'on y trouvoii de be'Ies
maisons,'* &c. &c.
S.ie also in M. Quatrcmere's Memoires surl Ezypte,
fom. i., p. 142, an account of a suhterruipan reservoir,
said to have been discovered by Kai-, and of the expe-
dition undertaken by a party of persons, in a long,
narrow boat, for the purpose of exploring i!. '* Leur
voyage avoii eie<ie six jours, dont les qnatre premiers
furent employes a pendrer les liords ; les deux aulreg
a revcnir au lieu d"ou ils etoient pirtis. Pendant tout
cet intcrvalle ils ne purent alteindre I'extremite du
bas^in. L'omir Ala-eddin-Tamboga, gouverneur de
Behnesa, ecrivit ces details au sultan, qui en fut extre-
menient surpris."
Here, shading her eyes from the sun, I placed her,
reclining, u[)0n the steps, where the cool north-wind,
then blowing freshly beiween the pillars, might play,
with fiee draught, over her brow.
It wa-, indeed— as I now saw, with certainty— the
same beautiful aid nnsteriou girl, who had been the
ciuse 'if my descent into that sublerranean world, and
who now, under such strange and unaccountable cir-
cuinstarices. vas my guide back again to the reatnis of
day. I looked a ound lo discover where we were,
and beheld s^ ch a -ceiie of giaideur, as, could my eves
have been then attracted lu any object but the pale
fiirm reclining a' my side, miglil well have induced
them to dwelt on its splendid beau its.
1 was now standing, I found, on the small island in
the cenre of Lake Morris ; > and thit sanctuary,
where wc had just emerged from daikncss, formed
part of the ruins of an ancient temple, which was (as
I have since lear< ed), in the grander days of Mem.
phis, a place of pilgriniage for worshippers from all
p^ns of Kgypt. The fair Lake, il.self, out of whose
water* once rose pavilions, palaces, and even lofty
pyiamids, was still, though divested of many of thf:se
wonders, a 'cene of in'erest and splendour such as the
whole world could not equal. While the shores still
>parkled v\iih mansions and temples, that bore testi-
mony to the luxury of a living lace, the voice of ;i.e
Fast, speaking out of unnumbered ruins, whose sum-
mits, liere and there, rose Idackly above the wave,^
told of times long fled, and generations long swept
away, before whose giant remains all the glory of the
pieseiit stood humbled. Over the southern bank of
the Lake hung the dark relics of the l-abvrinth ;— its
twelve Royal Palaces representing the mansions of
the Zodiac— ils thundering porlals3 and constellated
halls, having left nothing now behind but a few frown-
ing ruins, which, contrasted with the soft groves of
acacia and olive around them, seemed to rebuke the
luxuriant smiles of nature, and threw a melancholy
gtandeur over the whole scene.
The effect? of the air, in re-animating the young
Prieste-s, were lei^s speedy than I had expected;—
her eyes were still closed, and she remained pale and
insensible. Aiartned. I now rested her head (which
had been, for some time, supported by my arm)
against the base of one of the columns, with niy cloak
for Its pillow, while I hastened to procure some water
from, the l^ake. T he temple stood high, and the de-
scent to the shore was precipitous. But, my Kpcu-
rean habits having but little intpaired my activity, I
soon descended, w^ith the lightness of a desert deer, to
the bolloin. Here, plucking from a lofty beau-tree,
whose flowers stood, shining like gold, above the
water, one of those large hf>llowed leaves that serve
as ci.ps4 for the Hebes of the Nile, I filled it fiom
the Lake, and hurried back with the cool draught
towards the temple. It was not, however, without
> The position here given to Lake Mceris, in mak-
ing it the immediate boundary of the ci'y of Memphis
to"the south, corresponds exactly with the site as-
signed to it by Maiilet : — "Memphis avoit encore a
son midi un vaste reservoir, par ou tout ce qui pent
servira la cnmmodite et a Tagrement de la vie lui
etoit voiture abondamment de toutes le^ parties del'
Egyp'e. Ce lac qui la lerminuit de ce cole-la, &c.
&c.— Tom. ii. p. 7.
^ " On voit sur la rive orienfale des aniiquiles qui
Bonl presque entieremenl sous les e3.ux."~Selzoiii.
3 " Quorundam autem domorum fin Labyrintho)
talis est situs, ut adaperientibus fores tonitruum intus
teriibileexis'ai."-/*/iny.
* Strabo- According to the French translator of
Stnbo. it was liie fruit of the faba ^^yptiaca, not
the leaf, that was used for this purpose. " Le ki6o-
(1101'," lie says, "devoit s'enteiidre de la capsule ou
fruit de ccite plante, dont les Kgypttens se servoient
comme d'un vase, imaginant que I'eau du Nil y deve-
I noitdelicieuse,"
4el
THE EPICUR EAN.
some difTiciiK; that I at last succeeded in bearing my
rustic chalice aieadily up the sleep ; more than once
did an unlucky slip uaste all its coiiieots, and as often
did I reiuni impatiently to rehll it.
During this liine, the young maiden was fist re-
covering her amrnalioii and con-ciousness ; and, at
(he momeol when I appeared above (he edge ot ihe
Bteep, wa-i just rising from ihe sieps, with her hand
pressed to her foiehcad, as if c-^nfubcdly recalling the
recolleciiou of what hadoccuiieJ. Nu s oner did
she obsei ve rue, ihan a short cry ot aUrni bioke from
her lips. Looking anxiously lound, as thoi.gh btie
sought for protection, and lialf-audibly uttering Ihe
words, '■ Where is her'* she made an eflurl, as I
approached, to retteat into the temple.
Already, however, I was by her side, and taking
her hand, as she turned away fioin me, gently in
mine, asked, '■ Whom dost ihou seek, fair Priestess ?"
—thus, for the first time, Itreaking the silence she liad
enjoined, and in a tone thai might have reassured
the most timid spirit. But my uord» had no effect
in calming her apprehension. I'rembling, and with
her eyes alill averted towards the Temple, she con-
tinued in a voice of suppressed alarm, — " Where can
be be? — that venerable Alheuian, that philosopher,
who -— ^
*' flere, here," I exclaimed, anxiously, interrupting
her — "behold hmi still by -iiy side— the same, the
very same, who saw thee steal fnmi under Ihe Veils
of the banc uary, whom ihou hast guided by a clue
through those labyrinths below, and who now only
waits his command from those lips, to devote himself
through lite and death to thy service." As I spoke
these words, she turned slovvly round, and looking
timidly in my face, while her own burned wiih
blushes, said, in a tone of doubt and wonder, ''Thou!"
and then hid her eyes in her hands.
I knew not how to in:eipret a reception so unex-
pected. That some mistake or disappointment had
occurred was evident; but so inexplicable did the
whole adventure appear to me, that it was in vain to
think of unravelling any pirt of it. Weak and
agitated, she now tottered lo the steps of ihe 'i'emple,
and there seating herself, with her forehead against
the cold marble, seemed for some moments absoibed
in the most anxious thought ; while silent and watch*
ful I awaited her decision, thoueih, at the sirne time,
with a feeling vvhich the result proved to be pru.
phetic— that my des'iny was, from thenceforth, link-
ed insepanbly with heis.
The inward struggle by which she was agitated,
though violent, was not of long continuance. Start-
ing suddenly from her seat, wiih a louk of terror
towards the Temple, as if the fear of immediate pur-
suit had alone decided her, she pointed eagerly
towards the East, and exclaimed, " 'I'o the Nile,
wiihout delay I" — clasfiing her hands, after the had
thus spoken, with the most suppliant fervour, a^ if to
soften the abruptness of the inaiulate she had given,
and appealing lo me at the same time, with a look
that would have taught Stoics themselves tender-
ness.
1 lost not a moment in obeying the welcome com-
mand. With a thousand wild hopes naturally crowd-
ing upon my fancy, at the thoughts of a voyage under
such auspices, I de-ceiided ra[>idly to the shore, and
hailing one of those boats that ply upon the Lake for
hire, arranged speedily for a passage down the canal
to the Nile. Having learned, too. from the bnalmen,
a more easy path up the rock, I hastened back to the
Temple for my fair charge; and wiihout a word or
look, that could alarm, even bv its kindness, or dis-
turb the innocent confidence which she now evident-
ly reposed in me, led her down by the winding path
to the boat.
Every thing around looked sunny and smiling as
we embarked. The morning uas in its first fresh-
ness a"d the path of Ihe breeze might clearly be
traced over the Lake, as it went wakening up Ihe
waters from their sleep of the night. The giy,
golden-winged birds that haunt these shores, were^Iu
every direction, skimming aloi g the Lake; while,
with a giaiei consciousness of beauty, the swan and
the peilcui were seen dressing their white plumage
in the miiror of its wave. To add to the liveliness
of the scene, there came, at tniervals, on ihe bieeze,
a sueei liiikling of muMc.il instruments from bo-Us at
a dis aice, employed tfius early in pursuing the fish
of these waters,* that allow themselves to be decoved
into Ihe nes by music.
The ves-el 1 had selected for our voyage was one of
those suialt pleasure-boats or ^acllts^ — so niucli in
u-e ..mong ttie luxurious na\ ig'aiors of the Nile- in
the centre of which rises a pavilion of cedar or
c> press wood, adorned lichly on the outside, with
religious emblems, and gaily fitted up, within, for
fe. sling and repose. To the door of (his pavilion I
now led my companion, and, after a few words of
kindness — tempered cautiously with as much reserve
as the deep tenderness of mv feeling towaids her
would admit — left her to court that restoring rest,
which ihe agitation of her spirits so much required.
For myself, though repose v^as hardly less neces-
sary 10 me, the s ate of ferment in which I had been
so long kept appeared to render it hopeless. Having
thrown myself on ihe deck of the vessel, under an
awning which the sailors had raised for me, I con-
tinued, for some hours, in a sort of vague day-dream
— sometimes passing In review the scenes of that sub-
terranean drama, and sometimes, with my eyes fixed
in drowsy vacancy, receiving pas>ively the impres-
sions of the bright scenery Ihrougli which we
passed.
'1 he banks of the canal were then luxuriantly
woiided. Under the tufts of the light and towering
palm were seen the orange and the citron, interlacing
their boughs; while, here and there, huge tamarisks
thickened the shade, and, at Ihe very edge of the
bank, the willow of Rabylon stiod bending ita grace-
ful branches into the ualer. Occasionally, out of the
depth of these groves, there shone a small temple or
pleasure-house ;— while, now and then, an opening in
their line of f diage allowed the eye to wander over
extensive fields, all covered with beds of those pale,
swi-et roses,3 for which this district of Egypt is so
celebraieJ.
The activity of the morning hour was visible in
every direction, flights of doves and lapwings were
fluttering among the leaves, and the white heron,
which had been roosting all night in some date-tree,
now sood sunning its wings upon the green bank, or
floated, like living silver, over the flood. The
flowers, too, both of land and water, looked all just
fleshly awakened J — and, most of all, the superb
lotus, which, having risen along with the sun from
the wave, was now holding up her chalice for a full
draught of his light.
Such were the scenes that now successively pre-
sented themselves, and mingled with Ihe vague
reveiies that floated through my mind, as our boat,
with its high, capacious sail, swept along the flood.
Though the occurrences of the last few days could
not but appear to me one continued series of wonders,
yet by far the greatest marvel of all was, that she,
whose first look had sent wild-fire into niy heart —
whom I had thought of ever since u iih a restlessness
of passion, that would have d^red all danger and
wrong to obain its object — she was now at lliis mo-
ment resting sacredly within that pavilion, while
guarding her, even from myself, I lay motionless at
its threshold.
> Julian, lib. vi. 32.
2 Called Thalameges, from Ihe pavilion oa the
deck. Vide Strabo.
3 As April is the season for gathering these roses
(see Malte-Brun's EcoiiorAtcal Caltnidar)^ Ihe Epi-
curean could not, of course, meau to say that he saw
them actually in flower.
THE EPICUREAN
465
^
Meanwliile, the sun h»d reached his meridian
height. The busy hum of the inort.ing h:id died
f;r,.diially away, and all aroi nd "as Aeepine; in the
lot slilhiess of nnoii. The Nile-pno-e. haviiigr folded
up her splendid \\in§s, \^a^ lyiu^ mntionless on (he
shadow of the sycanlure^ in the water. Even the
nimble liZ'trds upon the bank^ appealed lo move less
nimbtyf as the lit;ht fell on their gold and azure hues.
Overcome as I was with watching, and weary wih
thought, it wa<i not hm^ before 1 yielded In the
becalming intluence of tlie hour. Looking fixedly at
the pavilion — as if once more to assure myself thai I
was in no dream or trance, but thai the young Egyi»-
tian was really there — I felt my eyes close as I gazed,
and in a few minutes sunk into a profound sleep.
CHAPTER XII.
It was by the canal Ihroush which we now saiJed,'^
that, m the more prosperous d-ys of Memphis, the
conimerce of Upper Eeypi and Nubia was transported
to her magniticent Lake, and from Ihence, liavini; paid
tribute to the queen of ciiies, was poured forth again,
through the Nile, into the ocean. The enure of this
canal lo the river was not direct, but ascending in a
soutli-eastcrly direction low.irds the Said; and in
calms, or with adverse winds, the pass 'ge was ledious.
But as the breeze was now blowing freshly from the
north, there was every prospect of our reaching the
river before nightfall. Rapidly, too, as our g;.lley
swept along the Hood, its motifn was -^o ^maolh as to
be hardly fell ; and the quiet gurgle uf the waters and
the drousy song of the boatman at the prow, were
the only sounds Iha' disturbed ihe deep silence which
prevailed.
The sun, indeed, hid nearly sunk beliind Ihe Libyan
hills, before the slet p, intn which these sounds had
contributed to lull nie, uas broken; and the hr t
object on which my eyes res'ed, in waking, was that
fair young Triestess — seated within a porch which
shaded the door of the pavilion, and bending intently
over a small vlume thai lay unrolled on her lip.
Her fnce was but half-Iumed towards me; and as
slie, once or iwice, raided her eyes to the warm sky,
"h<ise light fell, softened through the trellis, over her
chet-k, 1 found all those feelinss of reverence, which
she had inspired me with in the chapel, return. There
was even a puterand holier charm around her coun-
tenance, thus seen by Ihe natu al ligh' of day, than in
those dim and unhallowed regions below, 'she uas
now lookiue, loo, direct to Ihe glorious sky. and her
pure eyes and that heaven, so worthy of each other,
met.
After contemplating her for a few momenls, with
little less than adoration, 1 rose gently from my rest-
ing-place, and approached the pavilion. Rut the
mere movement had startled her (mm her devotion,
and, blu'hing and confused, she covered the volume
wi h the folds of her robe.
In Ihe art of winning upon female confidence, I had
long, of course, been schooled ; and. now that to the
lessons of gallantry the inspiration of love was added,
my ambitmn to please and to in'eiest cnuld hardly
fail, It mav be supposed, of success. I soon found,
h'lwever, how much less fluent is the heart than
the fancv-j and how very ditferent may be ihe ope-
rations of making love and feeling it. In the few
words of Kteeting now exchanged between us, it was
evident that llie gay, the enle<prising Eprcure^n was
little lea. en.ba^las^ed than the secluded Priestess: —
and, after one or two inefiVc'ual eflbrts to converse,
the eyes of both turned bashfully awsy, and we
relapsed into silence.
From thissituation — the result of tmiidity on ODe
side, and of a feeling alo^ether new, on the other—
we were, at lenuth, relieved, after an inlc-rv..! of
estrangement, by the b aimen annoi.ucing thit thfl
Nile was in sight. The counfenance of the young
Egyptian brightened at this inrelligence ; and the
smile with which I coni^ratulated her upon Ihe speed
of our voyage was responded lo by another from her,
so full of gratitude, that already an instinctive sym-
pathy seemed eslabli>hed between us.
We weie now on the point of entering that sacred
river, of whose sweet waters the exile drinks in his
dreims— for a draught of whose flfod the royal daugh-
ters of the Piolemies,3 when far away, on foreigc
thr- nes, have been known to sigh in ihe midst of their
splendour. As our boat, with slackened sail, was
gliding into the current an inquiry from ilie boatmen,
whether they ^hou!d anchor for the nifjht in the Nile,
fi^st reminded me of the ignorance in which I still
remained, with ^e^pecI lo the motive or destination of
ourvoy;ige. Embanassed by their question, I direced
my eyes towards Ihe Priestess, whom I saw wailing
for my answer with a look of anxitty, which this silent
reference lo her wi>hes al once dispelled. Unfolding
eagerly the volume with which 1 lad seen her so
much occupied, she lo k from between its folds a
smalt leaf of papyrus, on which there appeared to be
fome faint lines of drawing, and after looking upon it
thouiihtfuUy for a few moments, placed it, with an
agitated hand, in mine.
In ihe mean lime, Ihe boatmen liad taken in their
sail, and the y;»chl dro\e slowly down the river with
the current, while, by a light which had been kin-
dled al sunset on the deck, 1 stood examining Ihe leaf
Ihit the Priestess hid given me— her dark eyes fixed
anxiously on mv countenance all the while. The
lines tared upon Ihe papyrus were so faint as to be
almost invisible, and I was for sonie time wholly un-
able to form a ci>njecture as to their imiiort. At
length, however, I succeeded in making our that they
were a sort of map, or outlines — traced slightly and
unsteadily wiih a Menipliian reed — of a part of that
mountainous ridge by which Upper Egypt is bounded
to the east, together with the names, or rather em-
blems, of the chief towns in its immediate neighbour-
hood.
It was thither, I now saw clearly, that Ihe young
Priestess wished to pursue her couise. Without fur-
ther delay, Iherefore, I ordered the boatmen to set our
yacht before the wind, and ascend the current. My
comniaiid was prnni|)ily obeyed : the white sail again
rose into Ihe region of the breeze, and the satisfac'ion
thai beamed in every feature of the fair Egyptian
showed th.it Ihe quickness with which I had aifended
to her wishes was not unfell by her. 'J he moon had
now risen; and though the current was against us,
the Etesian wind of the season blew strongly up the
river, and we were soon floating before it, through
the rich plain- and groves of the Said.
The love with w hich this simple girl had inspired
me, was partly, perhaps, from the mystic scenes and
situations in which I had seen her, not unmingled
with a tinge of superstitious awe, under the influence
"hi felt the na'ural buoyancy of my s| "
ised.
the
I leit the na'ural Imovancy ot my s|urit re-
Tlie few words ihat had passed betyveen us
Libject of our route had somewhat loosened
- -I. or VI lazur oriiieni en bandes longitudinales
surieur corps entier, et l,;ur queue est du plus beau
bleu celes'e."— 5o»ini7n,
a"Un Canal.*' says Maillet, **tre8 pr fond et trea
!;.rge y voituroit les eaux du Nil."
3 *' Anciennement on portoit les eaux du Nil jusqu'a
des contrees fort ehngnees, el surloul chez les prin-
cesses d>i sangde> Piolomees, niariees dansdes families
etrangeres,"— /)c Pauw.
The water thus conveyed to other lands was, as we
may collect from Juvenal, chiefly intended for th<; use
of ihe Teniple of Isis, established in those couuili»8.
Si Candida jusserit In,
Ibit ad Aegypli flnem, ralidtujue pelitas
A Mcrof [loiliibit nquas, ut siturga' in nede
Iiiidis, antiquu quau proxima surt;it ovili.
41 «
486
THE EPICUREAN
this Spell ; and what I wanted of vivacity and confi-
dence was more than cnrnpeusaled by llie tone of deep
sensibility which love had awakened in their place.
We had not proceeded far before the glitterine; of
lights at a distance, and the shooting up ot fireworks,
at intervals, into the air, apprized us that we were
then approaching one of th'&e night-fairs, or in;trls,
which it IS the custom, at this season, to hold upon the
Nile. To me itie scene was familiar; but to my
young C(im|)atiifin it was evidently a new woild ; and
the mixiure of alaim and delight wi... which she
gazed, troni under her veil, upnn the busy scene into
which we now sailed, gave an air of innncence lo her
beauty, which slill moie heigh'ened its every charm.
It was one of the widest parts of Ihe river'; and the
whole suiface, from one bank to Ihe other, was
coveied with boais. Along the banks of a green
island, in the middle of Ihe slie.m. Jay anchored tlie
galleys of ihe priiici])al traders— larj^e flfta'ing bazars,
bearing each ihe name of its owner,i emblazoned in
letters of flame, up"n tl.e stern. Over their decks
weie spread out, in gay coiifusi<in, the products of ihe
loom and needie ot Egvpt— rich caipets of Memphis,
atid likewise those varieeiaied veils, for which ilie
femde embroiderers «f the"^Nile are so celebialed, and
to which the name of Clenpatra lends a Iradilional
charm. In each of the other galleys was exhibited
some branch of Egyptian worknianship — vases of Ihe
fragrant porcelain of On — cups of that frail crystal,^
whose hues change like those of the pigeon's plumage
—enamelled amulets graven with the head of Anubis,
and necklaces and br.icelels of the black beans of
Abyssinia.3
While Commerce was thus displaying her various
luxuries in one quarter, in evf-ry other, Ihe spirit of
pleasure, in all its countless sh.pcs, swarmed over the
waters. Nr^r was the feslivi'y conlined lo ihe river
alone; as along the banks of the island and on ihe
shores, illuminated mansions were seen glittering
througli the trees, from whence sounds of music and
niernment came. In some of Ihe b(.as were bands of
minstrels, who. from lime to time, answered each
other, like echoes, across the wave; and Ihe u'ltes
of the lyre, (he Hageolet, and Ihe sweet lolus-wood
fluie,* were tieard, in the pau-ses of revelry, dying
along the waters.
Meanvvhile, fiom o her boals stationed in Ihe least
li-hied places, Ihe workers of fire sent ff-rth their
wonders into the air. Hurstiiig out suddenly from
time to time, as if in the very exuberance of joy, Ihese
sallies of flame appeared lo reach the sky, and there,
breaking into a shower of sparkles, shed such a spleii-
<■ " Lp nom du maitre y etoit ecrit, pendant la null,
en lettres de feu.'' — Maillct.
* Called Alassontes, Fpr their brittleness Martial
is an authority: —
ToMe, puer, caiicen. tepidique toreumata Nili,
Et mthi Kt-cura piK-ula trade nmnu.
•' Sans parler ici des coupes d'un verre porta jusqu'a
la purele du crystal, ni de celles qu'on ap[ielloi't Alas-
sonles, et qu'on suppose avoir represenfe des figures
dont les couleurs changeoient suivant 1 'aspect s-^us
lequel on les regardoit, a peu pres conime ce qu'on
ncninie vulgairement Goj'ge de pigeon,^* kc. — JDe
Pauw.
3 The bean of Ihe Glycyne, which is so beautiful as
to be slruns into necklaces and bracelets is generally
known by the name of Ihe black bean of Abyssinia.—
Niehuhr.
4 See M. l^illoteaxi oti the musical instruments of
the E^ilftians.
t SoHnus speaks of ihe snowy summit of Mount
Atlas gliitering «i'h flames at night. In the account
of Ihe reripliis of Hanno, as v\ell as in that of Eu-
doxus, we read Ihat as those navtgalors were coasting
this par' of Africa, toneuts of light were seen to fall
on the sea.
dour around, as brightened even the white Arabian
hills— making Ihenj shine as doth Ihe brow of Mount
Atlas a( n)t;ht,& when the fiie from his own bosom is
playing nrnund its snows.
'1 he opportuni y this mart afforded us, of providing
our-elves ui h some less rcmaik.<ble liabiliments than
those in which we had escaped from that nelher
world, wa^ too seasonable not to be gladly taken ad-
vantage of by both for myself, the strange mystic
earb uhich 1 wore was suthciently concealed by my
Grecian manlle, which I had fortunately thrown
round me on Ihe night of my wa ch. Bui the thin
veil of my companion was a far less efficient disguise.
She had, n deed, flung av/ay the golden beetles from
her l,3ir ; hut the sacred robe of her order was siill loo
visible, ^"iid the slai-s of the bandelet shone brighily
thmn-hht-rveil.
Most gl.idly, therefore, did she avail her-elf of this
opp(>rtunity of a change ; and, as she look from out a
ca^-kel— uhich, »iih the volume I had seen her read-
iiig. .'ippeared to be her only treasure— a small jewel,
lo give in exchange for Ihe simple garments she had
cliosen, there fell out, at the same 'inie, the verycioss
of silver which 1 had seen her kiss, -s niay be remem-
bered, in Ihe monumeiiial chapel, and which was
aflerv^ards jiressed to my own tips. This link be-
tween us (for such it now appealed lo my inia^^iiia-
lion) called up again in niy lieart alt the burning
feelings of ihit moment; and, had 1 not :ibrupily
turned away, myagilalion would have but too plainly
betrayed itself.
The objeci, for which we had delayed in this gay
scene, having been accomplished, the >i.iil vvas again
spread, and we proceeded on our course up the river.
The sounds and the lights we left behind died
gradually auay, and we now floated along in Dioon-
liihi and silence once more. Sweet dews, worthy of
|pei;ig c.illed '■ the tears of Isis," 6 fell refreshingly
through ihe air. and every plant and flower sent its
fragrance to meet them. The wind, just strong
eiu'ueti to bear us smonihly against the current, scarce
siirred Ihe shadow of Ihe tam;iii&ks on the waier.
As Ihe inhibilans fmni all quarters were collected at
the nitiht fair, the Nile was more than usually slill
and snliiary. Such a siJence, indeed, prev.4iled, that,
as we glided near the shore, we could hear the rust-
ling of ihe acacias,'! as Ihe chameleons lan up their
slenis. it was, allngelher, such a nitiht as only Ihe
climite of Ksypt can boast, when Ihe whole scene
around lies lulled in that sort of bright tranquillity,
which may he jnugined to light Ihe slumbers of those
happy s[iiriis, who are said to tesi in the Valley of
Ihe Moon, 8 on their way lo heaven.
By such a light, and at such an hour, seated, side
by side, on the deck nf that bark, did we jjursue our
course up the lonely Nile — each a mystery to Ihe
other — our thoughts, our objects, ^lur very names a
secret ; — separated, too, till now, by destinies so dif-
ferent; the one. a gay vfdupluary of the Garden of
Alliens, Ihe other, a secluded Priestess of the Tem-
ples of Memphis ;— and Ihe only relation yet eslablish-
eJ between us being that dangerous one of love, j>aa-
sionate love, on one side, and Ihe most feminine and
confiding defiendence en the olher.
'Ihe pasfMig adventure of ttie night-fair had not
only dispelled a little our mutual reserve, but had
luckily furnished us with a subject on wtiich we
could converse without embarrassment. From this
topic I took care to lead her, without any interrup-
G " Per lacrymas, vero, Isidis intelligo efllnvia
qujedaoi l.ui ai, quibus taiiTam vim videnlur tribuisse
^gypli " JaLlv7tski.— iie is of opinion that the
supeisli ion of ihe Nucta, or miraculous drop is a
rehc of the veneration paid to the dews, as the tears
of Isis.
1 Travels of Cnptai7i Mangles,
« Plutarch. Dupuisy torn. x. The Mmiclioain
held Ihe same belief. See Beausobrey p, 565.
THE EPICUREAN.
487
tinn, to o'hers — being fearful lest our former silence
should reluin, and the music of her voice a^aiii be
Inst to me. It was only, indeed, by thus indiiectly
unburdening my he.irl tlial I was en.ibltd to av' id the
disclosuicoV alt I thoiieht ai.d felt; and the leslless
r.?[.iJity with which 1 tlew from subject to subject
was but an eifurt to escape from the only one iu
which mv heart was re:\IIy n.terested.
'* How'bnght and happy," asid I — pointine: up to
Snlhis, the (aW Star of the \Vater?,i v\hich was jusi
then shining brilliiiifly over our head'—" How bright
and happy this world ought to be, if. as your Kgyp-
tian sases assert, ynn pure and beautiful luminary
was its bTthstarl** 'Ihen, t'till leaning back, and
letting my eyes wander over the firmament, as if
seeking to di>engage iheni from the fascina'i-n which
they dretded — " To the study," I exclaimed, "for
ages, if skies like this, may the pensive and mystic t
character of your na ion be traced. That mixture of i
pride and me. ancholy which na'ur^lly arisen, at the
sight of those eietnal liahts shining nut of darkness ; —
that sublime, but 8>ddened, anticipati-in of .t Future,
which steals iometimes over the soul in the silence of
sncli ati t)Our, when, though Death appears to reign in
the deep stillness of earth, there are jet those beacons
of Immortality burning in the ^ky."
Pausing, as I ut'ered the word " immortality/' with
a sigh to think how liMle my heirt echoed to my lips,
I In-ked in the face <)f my c nipanion, and saw (hat it
had lighted up, as I spoke, inio a glow of holy anima-
tion, such .18 Faith alone gives;— such as Hnpe herself
wears, when she is dreaming of heaven. Tnucheri bv
the cntrast, and gazing upon her with niournful
tenderntss, I lound my arnl^ half npened, to clasp her
to my heart, while the words died away inaudibly
upon my lips. — "Thou, too, beautiful maiden I must
ihou, loo. die for ever?''
My self-command, I felt, hid neitly deserted me.
Rising abruptly fri>m my seat, I walked to the middle
of the deck, and stood, fnr sonie moments, uncnn-
sciously gazing upon one of ttiose fires, which — ac-
cnr.liiig to the cus'om of all wh . travel by night on
the Nile— our boa men had kindled, lo -care away the
crocodile^ from the vessel. Hut it w?s rn vain that I
endeavoured lo cmpose my spirit. Every ellort I
mule but more deeply convinced me, that, till the
my>tery which hung round tliat m.-iiden should be
«olved — till ihe secret, with which my own bosom
Ubovired, should be disclo-ed — it was fruitless to at-
tempt even a semblance of ttanqulllity.
My resolutinn w.is therefore taken; — to lay open,
at once, the feelings cf niv own he.irt, as far '■•s ^uch
revealment might be tiazirded. wiihout startling the
timid innocence of my comp-inioii. 'ihus resolved, 1
resumed my sear, wiih more composure, by her side,
and taking from n<y b.>snni the small minor which
she had dropped in the Temple, and which I had ever
since worn suspended round my neck, presented it
with a trembling hand to her view. 'I he boatmen
had just kindled one of their night-fires ne:*r us, and
its lieht, as she leaned forw.trd to look at the mirror,
fell upon her face.
The quick blush of surprise with which she recog.
Dised it to be hers, and her lonk of bashful yet eager
irquiry, in raising her eyes to mine, were appeals to
which I was not, nf course, tardy in answering. Be-
ginning with ibe first momeni when I saw her in the
Temple, and passing haslilv, but with words (hai
burned as they went, over the impression which >he
h.id then left upon my he.irl and f-mcy, I proceeded lo
describe ti.e parricnlirs of mv de-cent inio rhe pyra-
mid — my suipiise and adf>ration at the dnor <if the
chipel— my encounter with ihe Trials of Iniliatinn, so
mysteriously j.repared for me, and all the \arious
visionary wonders I had witnessed in that legion, till
''II Ewflcwj avoTO>»j y£Vta-Ew^ Karap^'ot'cra
I ^^S ftJ Tov KOtrfiov. Por%hyr. tie AiHro Nymph.
the moment when I had seen her stealing from under
the Veils to approach me.
Though, in detailing these everts, I had said but
little ot the feelings they had awakened in me —
though mv lips had sent b.tck many a sentence, un-
uttered, there was still enough thai could neither be
subdued or disguised, and which, like that light from
under the veils of her own Isis, glow ed Ihrjugh every
word that I spoke. When I told of the scene in the
cha] el— of the silent interview which I had witnesed
between the dead and the living— the maiden leaned
down her head and wepf, as from a heart full of tears.
It seemed a pleasure to her, however, to listen ; and,
when >he looked al me again, there was an earnest
and affectionate cordiality in her eyes, as if the
knowledge of my having bien present al ihat mourn-
ful tcene had opensd a new source of sympathy and
intelligence betw-een us. So neighbouring are the
fountains of Love and of Sorrow, and so impercepti-
bly do Ihey often mingle their s'reams.
Little, indeed, as I was guided by art or design, in
ny manner and conduct towards this innocent girl,
ot all the most experienced gallatitry of the Garden
could have dictated a policy half so seductive as that
v^hich my new master. Love, now taught me. The
same ardour which, if shown at once, and Without
reserve, might probably have startled a heart so liKle
prepared for it, being now checked and softened by
the timidi'y of real love, won i!s way without alarm,
and, when most dilTident of success, was then most
surely on its way to triumph. Like one whose slum-
bers are gradually broken by sweet mus'c, the miid-
en's heart was awakened without being disturbed.
She followed the course of the charni, unconscious
wlither il led, nor was even aware of Ihe flanie she
had lighted in another's bosnm, till startled by the
redection of it glimmering in her own.
Impatient as 1 was to appeal to her generosity and
sympathy, for a similar jiroof of conhdence to Ihat
which I had just given, Ihe night was now too far
advanced for me lo impose upon her such a task.
After exch .nging a few words, iu which, though little
met the ear, there wa^, on both sides, a tone and man-
ner that spoke far more than language, we took a lin-
gering leave of each other for the night, with every
prospect, 1 fondly hoped, <tf being still together io our
dreams.
CHAPTER XIII.
It was so near the dawn of day when we parted,
that we found the sun sinking westward when we re-
joined each other. Ihe smile, so frankly cordial,
with which she met me. might have been taken for
Ihe greeting of a long-mellowed fricndshif, d d not
the blush and the cast-down eyelid that fnlbwed he-
trav svmptoms of a feeling newer and less calm. For
myself, Iiglitened as I w.is, in some degree, by the
avowal which I had made, I was yet t(»o conscious of
the new aspect thus given lo our intercourse, not to
feel some little alarm al the prospect of returning lo
the theme. We were boih, therefore, alike willing
to allow our aiten'ion to bu diver ed, by the variety of
strange objects that presented themselves on the way,
froniasnl-iectthatevidently both were alike unwilling
to appr ach.
'I he liver was now all stirring with comnicrce and
life. Every insl.int we met willi bo.ts descending Ihe
curtent, so wholly independent of aid from sail or oar,
that the mariners s.t idly on the deck as they shot
along, eiiher ein^ing or playing upon their donble-
reedeJ pipts. The greattr nun.ber of these lnJal^
came laden with thoi^e large emeralds, from »he mine
in the desert, w hose colours, it is said, are brightest at
the full of the inoo»; while some brought cargoes of
frankincense from the acacia groves near the Red Sea.
Oh the decks of others, that had been, as we learned,
488
THE EPICUREAN.
to the Golden Mountainst beyond Syene, were heaped
blocks and fra-^nieiits of that sweet-smelling wo. d,2
which is yearly w.tshed dmvn, by the Greeu Nile of
Wubia, at the se.ison of the floods.
Uur companions up Ihe stream were far lesa nu-
merous. Occabionallya bnat, returning lightened from
the fair of last night, shot r.ipi<1Iy past us, wiih those
high sails that catch every breeze from over tlie
hill3 ; — while, now and then, we overtook one of ihose
barges full uf bees,3 'hat are sent al Ihis season to
colonise the gardens of the south, and take advan'age
of the lirst flowers after the inunda ion h.^s passed
away.
For a short time, this constant variety of objects
enabled us to divert so far our conversaion as to keep
it from lighing upon the one, Si-le subject, round
wl ich It consianily hovered. But the effod, as might
be expected, was not long sucotsful. As evening ad-
vaQceti, the whole scene became more solitary. We
less frequently ventured to lonk upon each other, and
our intervals uf silence grew more long.
It "as near suu>et, wtien, in passing a *irrall temple
on the shore, whose porticoes were now full of Ihe
evening ligh', we taw issuing from a thicket of acan-
thus tie^rit^a train of young maidens gracefully linked
togeiher in the dance by stems of the lotus'held at
arms' lengih between them. Their tresse? were also
wreathed with this gay emblem of the season, and in
such profusion were its white flowers twilled around
their waists and arms, 4 ihat they mit;ht have been
taken, as they lightly bounded along Ihe buik, tor
Nymphs of the Nile, then freshly risen from their
bright gardens under the wave.
After looking for a few minutes at this sacred
dance, the maiden turned aw.iy her eyes, wi1h a lonk
of pain, as if the remenibrances it recalled were of no
welcome nature. 'I his momentary retrospect, this
gliritpse inlo the past, appeared lo olFer a sort of clue
to the secret for which 1 panted; — and accordingly, 1
proceeded, as gradually and delicately as my impa-
tience would allow, to avail myself of the opening.
Her own frankness, however, relieved me from the
embarrassment of much quesimning. She appeared
even to feel that the conlidence I sought was ilue to
nie; and beyond the natural hesitation of maidenly
modesty, not a shade of reserve or evasion api eared.
To attempt to repeat, in her own inucliing words,
Ihe simple ^tory which she now related to me. would
he like endeavouring lo note down some unpremedi-
tated strain of music, « ith all those fugitive graces,
those felicities of the moment, which no art can re-
store, as they first met the ear. From a feeling, too,
of humility, she had omitted in her short nairauve,
several particulars relating to herself, which I afier-
wards le:irned ;— while others, not less importanl, she
but slightly passed over, from a fearot ottending Ihe
prejudices of her heaihen hearer.
1 shall, therefore, give her sioty, not as she, herself,
sketched it, but as it was afteiwards filled up by a
pious and venerable hand — far, far more worthy than
mine of being associated with Ihe mcDiory of such
purity.
STORY OF ALETHE.
"The mother of this maiden was the beautiful
Theora of Alexandria, who, though a native of that
t Vide Vilford on Egypt and ihe Nile^ Asialic
Researches.
» *'A Pepoque de la crue de Nil Vert charie les
planches d'un bnis qui a une odeur semblable a celle
de I'eiiceiis " — QuatrGmtre.
3 Maillet.
* "On les voit commejadis cueillirdans les champB
des tigesdu lnlu«, siiines du dehoi dement et presages
de I'abondance ; ils s*eiivel!oppent le^ bras et le corps !
avec les longues tiges (leuiies. et parcnurent les rues," ,
&c. De^oiftioii des Tombcaux dcs Hois, par M.
Costaz.
city, was descended from Grecian parent*. Whec
very young. I heora was one of the seven maidens
selected to note down the discnurses of the eloquent
Urigen, who, at that period, presided over l^e Schcol
of Alexandria, and was in all ihe fulness of his famt
bo!h among Pagans and Christians. Endowed nthly
wilh the learningof both creeds, he hi ought the natu-
ral light of philosophy to illustrate the mystene; '
faiih, and was then only proud of his knowledge of
the wisdom of this world, when he found it mini ■ -
usefully to the triumph of divine truth.
''Although he liad courted in vain the crown of
mar'yrdom, it v\as held, through his whole life,
pended over his head, and, in more than one persecu-
tion, he had shown himself cheerlully ready to die lor
that holy faith which he lived but to testify and up-
hold. On one of the--e occasions, his tormentor;
having habited him like an Egyptian priest, place
him upon Ihe steps of the 'Jeinple of Serapis, and
comnianded that he should, in the manner of the
Pagan ministers, present palm-branches lo the multi-
tude who went up into the shrine. Kut the coura-
geous Chrislian disappointed their views. Holding
foilh the bf.tnches with an unshrinking hand, he cried
aloud, • Come hither and take the branch, not of au
Idol Temple, but of Christ.'
"So indefatigable was ibis learned Father in his
slud'ieo, that while composing his Commentary on the
Scriptures 5 he was attended by seven scubes or nota-
ries, who relieved each other in recording the dictates
of his eloquent tongue; while the same number of
young temales, selected for the beauty of their pen-
manship, were employed in arranging and transcrib-
ing the precious leaves.
"Among the scribes so selected, was Ihe fair young
Thenra, whose jiaren's, though attached lo the Fagaii
woiship, "ere not unwilling to profit by the accnm-
plishnients of their daugtitei, thua occupied m a task,
which they looked on as puiely mechanical. To the
maid herself, however, her eniploymeni brought far
other feelings and consequences. She read anxiously
as she wro:e, and Ihe divine tniihs, so eloquently
illustrated, found their way, by degrees, from Ihe
page to her heart. Dee} ly, too, as the written words
atiected her, Ihe discouises from the hps of Ihe great
teacher himself, which she had frequent opportuni-
ties of heiring, sunk st>ll more deeply imo her mind.
There was, at once, a sublimity and gentleness in his
views of religion, which, lo the lender hearts and
lively imaginations of women, never failed to appeal
wi!h convincing power. Accordingly, the iiat of his
female pupils was numerous^ and the names of Bar-
bara, Juliana, Herais, and others, bear honoural
testimony lo his influence over th;il sex.
" Vo iheora the feeling, with which his discnur!
inspired her, was like a new soul— a consciousness
spinual existence, never before felt. By Ihe elo-
t,uence of Ihe comment she was awakened inlo admi
rrition of the text; and when, by the kindness of i
Catechumen of the school, who had been struck by
her innocent zeal, she, for Ihe first time, became pos-
sessor of a copy of the Scriptures, she could not sleep
for thinking of her sacred treasure. Wilh a mixtur
of pleasure and fear slie hid it from all eyes, and wa
like one who had received a divine guest under he:
roof, and felt fearful of betraying is divinity to Ihe
world.
"A heart so awake would have been with ea'-e
secured to the faith, had her oppi>rIuniiies of hearing
the s.icred word continued. IJut circunistances arose
lo deprive her of Ihis advantage. The mild Origen,
long har.issed anri thwarted in his labours by the
tyranny of Demetrius fiishop of Alexandria, >
obliged to relinquish his school and ny from Egypt,
The occupation of the fair scribe was therefore at an
$nd: her intercourse with the followers of the new
5 It was during tlie composition of his great criti-
cal work Ihe Hexapla, that Oiigen employed these
female scribes.
THE EPICUREAN.
460
I of her heart
faith ceased ; and the growing ei
gave way to more wi-rldly impr
"Amnnjc oilier eaittily fetlhtgs, love conduced not
a lit'le lo ueau her thoughts liom tlie true religi.ui.
While sl)ll very joung, .-he becau.e (he v\ifu of a
Grt-ek adveii urer, who had come to Etiypt as a \ur-
chiserol ihat rich fai.est.v.i in which ilie needles of
Persia are rivalled by (he hionis ol the Nile, Having
taken his youi^ bride to Men>phi^, which was slill
the great mart of this mercliaiidise, lie there, in the
niidst of his speculatitins. died — leaving his widow on
the point of beciiniing a mother, while, as yet, hut in
her nineteenih ye^r.
"For swingle and unprotected females, it has been,
at all times, a favoun'e resource, to seek for einploy-
ni2nt in the service of sonie of Ihose gieat temples by
which so large a portion of the weal h and power of
Kgypi is absorbed. In nirst of these insiiiuiions there
exists an order of Priesie>8e3, which, though not here-
ditary, hkethil of the Fnesis, is provided for by am-
ple endowments, and confers ihai dl^niiy »iid station,
with which, in a government jo theocratic, Ueligion
is sure to invest even her humblest handmaids. From
(he general policy v( the Sacred Colleije of Meiiiphis,
we may Inke foi granted, that an accompli-hed fe-
male, likeTheora, found but liule diillculiy in being
elected one of ihc i'riesle>se8 of Isis ; and it was in llie
service (if the sublerraueau thrines that her ciini&try
chiffly la>.
"Here, a month or two after her admission, she
gave birlli to Aleihe, who first opened hei eyes among
the unholy pumps and specious miiacles of this mys-
lt-riou8 region. Though "Iheora, as wp have seen,
hnd been diverted by o'her feelings from her liis' en-
thusiasm for ihe Chfisli.in faiih she hnd neverwholly
forgot the impession then made upon her. The
^acred volume, which 'he pious Ca'echumen h.id given
her was still treasured «i!h care; and, though slie
seldom opened its pages, Iheie was always an idea of
sancliiy associited Willi it in her memory, and often
would she hit lo look ujion ,t with Vfvereulial plea-
sure, recalling the happiness she had fell when it was
firs' made her own.
ire of her new retreat and the lone mel-
idowhood, led hei slill moie frequently
such thr.u^hls, and to recur to ihi'se con-
'hich she had heard in the school of
he now began lo peruse eigerly the
sacred volume, di inking deep of the foun'ain of which
she tiefore hut lasted, and ferling— ^^ hat itiousand-. ol
monrners, since her, have felt-ihu Christianity is the
trui nnd only religion of the snrri.wful.
"Thissudyof her secret hours became still more
dear lo her, a> well from the peril with which at thai
period, it was attended, aa from the necessi y she felt
herself under of concealing from llio-e around her the
precious light that had been thus kindled in her own
heart. Too timid to encounter Ihe fierce persecution,
which awaited all who weie su-^pec'ed of a leaning to
Chns'iaiiilv, she cominned lo ofliciate in the pomps
and ceremonies of the Temple;— though, otieii, w ■
such remorse of soul, tint she would pa'se, in I
mid^l of the rites, and pr-iy inwaid y to God, [hat he
would forgive this prcfanalion 1
" In the mean time her dauglrer, the yrung Alelhe,
grew up stiil lovelier than herself, and added, every
hour, both to her happiness and her fe-rs. When
arrived at a sufficient age, she w.ts taught, like the
other ch Idren of the pries'esses, 'o lake a Onre in the
service and ceremonies of ihe shrines. Tht; lUity of
some of these young hCi vitors** was to look after the
The le
ancholy of i
to indulge ins
soling tiuihs '
Alexandria.
' Non ego piaetulerim Hal>ylonica picta supetbe
Texta, Semiramia quae variant or acu. Martial.
1 De Pauw, « ho differs in opinion from those who
supposed women to be eligible to ihe hi<her>acerd(ital
offices in Egypt, thus enumeraieB the ta^ks lo which
their huperiiitendence «asas he tl.inks. conhned ;—
•'Lesfeinmesn'ont pu lout au plusdans loidre ^econd-
lir^ s'acquilter que de quelques emplnis saus conse-
flowers for the altar ;— of others to take care that the
sacred vases were filled everyday with fresh water
from the Nile The task of some was to preserve, in
peifect polish, Ihose silver images of ihe Moon which
the pnesl- carried in process. ons ; while ollieis were,
as ue have seen, employed in let-din^ t lie consecrated
aninMls, and m keeping'iheir pluims and scales brigbl
for the admimg eyes ol their worshippers.
*' I he I lllcealloi;ed to Alettie— the most honourable
of these minor ministriis— »as lo w.iit upon ifie sa-
cred birds of the Moon, to feed them daily with tho=e
eggs from the Nile uhich they loved, and provide for l
their use that purest waier, which al'ne these delica n
birds will touch. 'I'his emplnymcni was the delight
i)f her childish hours ; and thai ibis, which Alcipliron
('he Epicurean^ saw her dance round in ihe Temple,
was, of all thesicied flnck. he- especial favourite, and
had been daily fondled and fed by her from infancy.
" Music, as being one of ihe cliief speMs of this en-
chaned region, was an arconi|ili>hment required of all
Its ininistrants; and the harp, the lyre, and the sacred
flute, sounded nowhere .'■o sweetly as ihiough Ihe.-'C
subleiranean gardens. The chrel object, indeed, in
Ihe education of iheyouihof ihe Temple, was to fit
them, by every grace <if art and na ure, lo give etiect
to the illusion of ibuse thousand phan'asms, in which
the entire charm and secret of Iniiitiiun lay.
•'Among the means employed to support the old
system of supeislilion, ag-unst the infidelity, and, still
more, the new Faith ihal menaced it, was an in-
creased display of splendour and maivcis in those
Mysteries for which Kgypt has so long been cele-
br-ited. Of these ceremonies, so many imitations h 'd,
under various names, multiplied Ihroughoul Kurope,
ihat at length the parent superstition ran a risk of
being eclipsed by is piogeny; and, in order still to
rank as the first Frie'ihood in the world, it bec;ime
necessary for those of iigypt lo remain still the btat
impostors.
•' Accoidingly, every con'rivince that art cnuld de-
vise, or labour execute— every resource that the won-
derful know ledge ol* ihe Priest ^, in pyiolet hoy. mechan-
ics, and di'ipincs, could comniand — was brought info
action lo heighten the efi'ect of iheir M>sleries, and
give an air of enchanimenl to everything connected
wiih them.
"The final scene of beatification— Ihe Elysium, into
which the Ini'iae was icceived — formed, of course,
the letding attraction of these ceremonies; and lo
render ii caj tivating alike to the senses of the ni-m of
|)leasuie, and the im.igina'ion of the spiritualist, was
Ihe great object to which the attention of the Sacred
College w;is devoted, lly ihe inlluence of the Piiesis
of Memphis over Ihose of Ihe other Temples, they had
succeeded in exiending their subterranean frontier,
both lo the nor h and sou h, so as to include, wiihin
their ever-lighted Paradise, some of Ihe gardens exca-
vated for the u-e of ihe other Twelve Shrines.
"The beauty of the young Alethe, the touching
swee oess of her voice, and the sensibility thit breathed
ihroughout her every look and movement, rendered
her a powerful auxiliary in such appeals to the im-
aginaiioii. She had been, accordingly, in her very
childhood, selected from among her fair conipanion-,
as the most wor by representative of spiritual loveli-
ness, in those pictures of Kl>sium — ihose scenes of
another world — by which not only Ihe fancy, but the
reason, of the excited Aspirants u,as dazzled.
"To the innocent child herself, the^e shows were
pistinie. But to Tlieora, who knew loo well the im-
l)osiIion 10 which they were subserwent, Ihis pmfana-
tijii of ;ill that she loved was a perpetual source ot
horror and remotse Often would she — when Ale'ht
stood smiiii g before her, arra\ed. perhaps, a- a spirit
of Ihe Kljsian world — lum avxa>, wiih a shudder,
from the happy child, almost fancying she saw already
quence ; comme de nourrir dcs scarahees, des niusa-
raigiies et d^auties pelits aniniaux sacres,'' — Tom. i.,
490
THE EPICUREAN
the Bhadowg of sin descending over dial innocent
brow, as she gazed upon it.
' As the in eilect of the ynuti^ maid became more
ive an I inquiring, the appreheiisi ns:<nddiffi:ul ies
of the in'iher incrt-aspd. Afraid lo comniunicile her
i\vn preci 'US secret, lest ^he should involve her child
in !he -laii-ers ttiat enconipascd it, she yet felt i' to
be no less a cruelty than a crime lo leave her wliolly
immer-ed in ihc dtrkness •( Taganism. In this di-
letnina, the onl\ resource Ihal remained to her was to
fueled, and disengage from Ihe drnss :hat surroundtd
them, Ih 'se pure part cles of Irmh which lie at the
I Lo't.ni <.f all religions; — those feeling . rather than
I doctrines, of which Gnd has never iefl his c-ea'uies
des'itii'e, and whch, in all agep, ha\e lurnished, lo
•e who sought after it, some clue to his glory.
'The unity and perfeci g-todne s of the Creator;
the fall of the liunnn s'.ul nt^i corruption; its strug-
le^ with the darkness uf this world, and its final re-
emption and te-asce:d to ihe source of all spirit ;—
he e na'nral s;)lutinrs of ihe problem of our exist-
nce. ihese elementary grounds of all religion and
iriue, which 'J'heoia had heard illuslra'ed by her
Chn-tnn leicher, lay also, she knew, veiled under
the theology of Egypi ; and to impress ihem, in their
abs'ractpuiity, upon the miiid of her su cep ible pupil,
. in def lull of ruore heavenly lights, her sole ain-
311 and care.
It was generally Iheir habit, afier devo'ing their
mornitgs lo 'he -^ervice of the 'lenij)ie, to pass their
evenings and night-, in one of those small man-ious
;.bove gfoimd, allotted, within Ihe precincts of tlie
Sacted College, to son.e of ihe most fivnured Pries'-
i-^ses. Here, out of the reach of those gro-s supersli-
inns, wh:ch pursued them, ai every step, below^ she
endeavoured to inform, as far as >he could venture,
mind of he- beloved girl; and found it lem as
naturalty and ii.s'inctively to tru'h. as plants long
shut up in darkness will, when lii^hl is let in upon
Ihem, incline themselves to its rays.
'* Frequently, as they sat together rn the terrace nt
night, admiring that glorious assenddv of stars, whose
beauty lirst misled mankind into idoj^itry. she would
xplain to the young lis'ener by v^haI g'adations of
rror it was that the worship, ihus Iran feired from
the Creator to the cealure, sunk slitl lower and
hiwer ill the scale of l)^iiig, till man, at lenglh, pie-
sumed to deify man, and by ;he m:'st mm slrous of in-
versions, he.iven was made fhe mere rnirrnr of earth,
reflec ing back all its most earihly fe.itures.
"Even in (he 'leniple itself, the anxious niother
would endeavour to inerpose her purer less-ns i-mting
the idnjaiious ceremonies in which they u ere engaged.
When Ihe favourite ibis of Alethe took its station
upon the shrine, and Ihe young maiden was Fcen ap-
proaching, with all the gravity of worsliip, Ihe very
bird which she had played wi'h but an hi>ur bf-fore—
when theac.icia-bough, which she heisell had plucked,
seemed to acquire a sudden sncrediiess in her eyes, as
soon as the priest had b eathed upon it — on all such
occasions Theora, Ihough with fear and trembling,
would venture to suggest to the youthful worshippe
the distinction thai should be drawn between the sen
sible object of adnralion. and tint spiritual, unseei
Deity, of which i' wis but :he remembranceror tvpe
'* With sorrow, however, she soon discovered that,
'd thus but pnrtially letiing in light upon a mmd far
too ardent to rest satisfied u i h such glimmerings, she
but bewildered the heart which she meani to guide,
i cut down Ihe feeble hope around which i's faith
twined. Without ^ubsii'uting ai y other supp'-rt in its
place. As the beauty, too, of Alelhe begui to aitiac!
11 eves, new Icafs crowded upon the mo-het's heait ;
-fears in which she was bu t-'o much justilied by
the characters of some of those around her.
' In this sacred abode, as max easily be conceived,
moraliiy did not always go hand in huid with reli-
gioF. The hypocritical and ambitious Orcus, who
was, at Ibis period. High piit-st of Memphis, was a
nian, in every res|iec(, qualified to preside dver a sys-
tem of such splendid fraud. He had reached Ihai
ffeclive time of life, when enough of the warmth
tid vigour of youlh reniiins to give animation to Ihe
counsels of age. But, in his ius'ance, youth had left
only Ihe b^ser passions behind, while age but broueht
with it a more refined maturitv of mischief. The
advantages of a fsilh appealing almr si wholly to the
senses, %vere well understood bv him; nor had he
faded eirher to discover th.if, in order to render reli-
gion subservienl tn his own interests, he mu^t shape
it adroitlv to llie interests and passions of othere.
"The 'stale of anxieiy and remorse in winch thf
mind of the hapless 'I lieora was kept by the scenes.
howeviT arifully \eiled, which she daily witnessed
around ler, beca'nie at length intoler.ible. No perils
that Ihe cau^e of Itulh cnidd bring with it would be
half ^o dreadful as this endurance of sinfulLCss and
deceit. Her child was, as \et, pure and innocent;
but, without (hat sentinel of Ihe soul, Religion, how
loi g might she cnnitiue so ?
*' 1 his thousht at once decided her : all other fears
vanished before it. She reolved instantly to lay open
•o Ale'he the whole secret of her soul ; lo make thi.s
child, who wa' her only hope on earih, the sharer of
all htr h"pes in heaven, and ihen fly with her, as soon
;<s pr.s-ible, from thi^ unhallowed spot, to the far
desert — lo the mountains — to any place, however
de-olafe, where God and the consciousness of inno-
cence might be with them.
•*The promp'iiude wi'h which her young pupil
caught fiom her Ihe divine truhs was even beyond
what she expeced. It was like the lighting of one
torch at another, so prejared was Aleihe's mind for
Ihe illuminalinn. Amply, indeed, was Ihe anxious
mother now rej.aid for all her misery, by this perfeci
cnmmunion of love and failh, and by ihe delight, with
which she saw her beloved child — like the young
antelope, when first led by her dam to Ihe well —
drink ihirslily by her side, at Ihe source of all life
and truth.
"but such happine s was not long lo last. The
anxieties that '1 heora had sutfered began to prey upon
her health. She felt her strength daily decline ; znd
the Ihtiughls of leaving, alone and unguarded in the
world, Ihat treasure '-ihich she had just devoted lo
Heaven, gave her a feeling of despair which but
hasened Ihe ebb of life. H.ad she pul in practice her
res'ilution of flying fmm Ibis place, her child might
have been now beyond Ihe reach of all she dreaded,
and in Ihe solitude of Ihe desert would have found at
least safety from wrong. But the veiy happiness she
had felt in her new task diverted her trnm this pro-
ject ; — and it was now too lale, for she was already
dying.
"Shes'ill conliiiued, however, to conceal the state
of her health from the lender and sanguine girl, w ho,
though obserung the traces of disease on her inolher^s
clieek, little knew that ihey were Ihe hastening foot-
steps of death, nor even thought of Ihe possibility of
ever losing what was so dear lo her. Too soon,
however, the moment of separation arrived ; and
while the anguish and dismay of Alelhe were in pro-
portion lo tlie security in which she had indulged,
Ihenia, loo, felt, with bitter regret, ihat she had
sacrificed to her fond consideration much precious
lime, and that theie now remained but a few brief
and painful moments, for the comniunication of all
those wishes and instruction-- on which the future
destiny of the young orphan depended.
" She had, indeed, time for little more tlian to place
Ihe sacred volume solemiilv in her hanJs, to implore
that she would, al all lisks.'fiv fi'n. Ibis unholy place,
and pointing in Ihe dirictinn'of the mountains of ihe
Said, to nnine, with her last bieath, the venerable
man, to w hom, under Heaven, she looked for Ihe pro-
lection and s-tlvation of her child.
"'J'he t'ir=t violence of feeling to which Alelhe
gave way was succeeded t)y a fixed and tearless grief,
which rendered her insensible, for some time, to the
dangers of her silualion. Her sole comfort consisted
in visiting thai monunient .1 cha| el where the beauti-
ful remains of Theora lay. Therp, night after nighl,
THE EPIC UREAN.
401
in coDtemplalion of thntie placid features, and id
prayers fi>r I tie pi:»ce of the departed spirit, did she
pass her lonely, ind — however sad tliey were — hap-
piest hours, rhough the mystic emblems that deco-
rated thil chapel were but il. -suited lo ihe slumber of
a Christian, Itiere was one :\tnong Ihetii, the Cross,
which, by a reiiiarkabit; coincidence, is an cinbleiii
alike cninnioa lo the Cten'iie and ilie Christian —
being, to the furmer, a shadowy lype of that iinmnr-
talilv. of which, to the latter, it is a subslaiilial and
assuring pledge.
*' Nightly, upon this cross, which she had often
seen her h'st molher kiss, did she ^'—'"j forth a
solemn and heartfelt vow, never to aoindon the faith
which that departed spirit had bequealhed to her.
To such enthusiasm, indeed, did her heart at such
niomeiilsnse, that, but for the last injunctions fiom
(hose pallid lips, she would, at once, have avowed
her perilous secret, and boldly pronnunced the
words, * 1 am a Chriettati,' among those benighted
shr.
ved mor
But the will of her, lo whnn
than life, was lo be obeyed. To esc:ipe from this
haunt of superstition must now, she fell, be her firsi
object; and, in planning ihe means of etIVcling it, her
iniiid, day and iii;h<, » as employed. It was with a
loathmg not to be concealed, tliai she now found her-
self cnipclled to resume her idohilmus services at
the shrine. To some of the otfices of Theora slie suc-
ceeded, as is the custom, by inhetiiance ; and in the
performance of these tasks — sanctified as they were
ill her eyes by ihe pure spirit she had seen engaged in
them — 'here was a sort ol melancholy pleasure in
which her sorrow found relief. But the pari >he was
again lorced to take, in the scenic shows of Ihe Mys-
teries, br ught wiih i' a sense of degradation and
wrong which she could no longer ei dure.
"Already had she fhrmed, in her <.wn mind, a
plan of escape, in which her acquaintance \vith all
the windings of thrs Iny^•'ic realm gave her confi-
dence, when the solemn reception of Alciphiou, as
an Initiate, tonk place.
"From Ihe hist moment nf the landing of (hat
philosopher at Alexandria, he had btcome an object
of suspicion and u atchlulneAS to the inquisiloiial
t)rcu3, "horn philosnpliy. in any shape, n.thirally
alarmed, hut In whom the .ect over winch the young
A'henian presided was particularlv obnoxious. 'Ihe
acconiplishmenls t,f Alciphr<ui, his' po|)ulaiily, wher-
ever he wi:nl, and the boKI liefd<<m wiili which he
indulged his wil at the expense of religmn, were ait
faithfully rcporled ;n the High Priest by his spies, and
awakened in his mind no kindl\ feelings towards Ihe
stranger. In dealing with an infidel, such a person-
age asOreus could know no other allemative but that
of either converting or destroying him; and though
his spite, as a man, would have been more gratitied
by Ihe latter proceedn g, his prtde, as a priest, ted
him to prefer the tnumpli of Ihe former.
**The fust descent d 'lie Kpicurean into the pyra-
mid became speedily known, and ihe alarm was im-
mediately given lo the pries's below. As soon as
they had discovered ihat the voimg philosnpher of
Aihens whs Ihe inlruder. and 'that he not only still
I continu3d to linger round the pyiamid. but was
observed to look often and wilfully towards the por-
tal, it was concluded thai his curiosity would impel
him to try a second descent ; and Urciis. blessing the
I good chance which had thus h'oughl the wild bird
I inio his net, res dved not to sulfier an oppor unity so
precious lo he wasted.
" Instantly, the wlmle of that wonderful machinery,
1 by wh.ch ihe phantasms and illnsi ns of Ininatioii
I are produced were pnl in active prepar.aii >n throuih-
] <.ut Ihat snb'errane.iii lealin . ai.d the increased stir
I and vigiliiKe aw.tki-ned anumg its iniiMies, hy ihis
I n.ore than ordinary dibp ay oHhe resouices .,f pi ies -
1 craft, rendered Ihe accomplishment of Alethe ^ p.,r-
jjose, at such a moment i*eculurly diflknll. Wh IK
; Ignorant of (he important shaie which it had been her
I own fonune to take in atlracling the young pliiioso-
pher down to this region, she but heard of him
\aguely, as the Chief of a great Grecian sect, who
had been led, by either curiosity or accident, to e*-
pose himself lo Ihe first trials of Initiation; and
whom thcpriesis, she could see, were endeavouring
to insnare in their [oils, by every arl and lure wilh
which their dark science had gifted them.
•• Id her iniud. the image of a philosopher, such as
Alciphron had been represened to her, came a^so-
cia'ed with ideas of age and reverence; and, niore
than once, (he possibility of his being made instru-
mental lo her deliverance (lashed a hope acrosf her
heart in which she could not retrain from indulging,
(»Hen had she been told by Theora of the many lien-
tile sages, who had laid their vMsdoni down humbly
at the foot of Ihe Cross ; and though Ihis Iniiiale, she
feared, could hardly be among Ihe numlter, yet Ihe
rumours which she had gathered from Ihe servants of
the Temple, of his undisguised contempt for the
errors of heathenism, led her lo hope she might find
tolerance, if not sympalliy, in tier appeal to him.
** Nor was it solely with a view to her own ctiance
of deliverance Ihat she thus connected him in her
thoughts with Ihe plan which she meditated. The
look of proud and selt-gratu'aliiig malice, with which
the High Piiest had menlioned ihis * iiihdel,' as he
styled him, w hen giving her instructions in the scene
she was to act behire the philosopher in the valley, too
plainly iiifuimed her of the dark dcsiiny (hat hung
over him. Siie knew how many were the hapless
cai didates fir Initiilton, who had been doonied to a
durance wor^e than thai ot ihe grave, for but a word,
a whisper breathed against the sacred absurdities Ihey
wilne>sed ; and it was evident to her that Ihe vener-
able Greek ifnr such her fancy represenled Alciphron)
was no less m'eresled in escaping from the snares and
perils of this region than herself.
'*Her own resolutiiin was, at all events, fixed.
That visionary scene, in which she had appealed
before Alciphron — little knowing how ardcnl were
Ihe heart and iniagination, over u hich her beauty, at
that moment, exercised its iniluence — was, she
solemnly resolved, Ihe very last unholy service, tliat
superstition or imposture should ever command of
*'(hi the following night the Aspirant was to wa'ch
in the Great Temple of Isis. Such an opportunity of
appii aching and addressing him might never conie
again. Should he, from compassion for her sitnalion,
or a eenseof (he danger of his own, consent to lend his
aid lo her llighl, most gladly would »ihe accepi it —
well assured that no daiigei or treachery she niight
risk could be half so odious and fearful as those which
she left behind. Should he, on the contrary, reject
Ihe proposal, her detemiination was equally fixed— to
tj us( lo that God u hose eye watches over the innocent,
and go forth alone.
" To reach the island in Lake Mocris was her first
great object ; and there occurred fortunately, at this
lime, a mode of eilecting her purpose, by which both
the dithculiy and dangers of the attempt would be
much diminished. The day of the annual visiia'ion
of the High l»iiest to the Place of VVeeping»-as that
island in the cenire of the Lake is called — was now
fast approaching; and Alethe knew that the self-
n.ovingcar, by which the High PnesI and one of (he
Hierophani&aieconveye<i down to the chanibers under
the Lake, stood then waiting in readiness. By avail-
ing herself o( this expedient, she would yain "he double
ftdvu.iage b .th of facilitaiimr lier own llighl, and
retarding Ihe speed of her pur^ue^s.
*' Having paid a last visii to Ihe lomb of her beloved
rnoiljer, and «epl there, long and passionately, till her
heaitalim.t filled in Ihe s rugale - h -ving pau-ed,
too, to^ive a kis- to her favouriieibis, which, although
too much a Christian to worship, she was siill child
enough to love — she went eaiiy. with a tiemhling
step, to ihe Sanctuary, and theie hid herself in one of
f the Shrine. Her intention was to
t Vide lVilf(/rdt Asiatic Researches^ vol, iji., p. 340,
492
THE EPIC U REAN,
Bteal out from thence to Alciphron, while it was yet
dark, and before the illuniuialicii of the great Stalue
behind the Veils h:id beiiun. But her fears delayed
her till it was almost toi) late ;— alieady was the iiuase
ligliled lip, and still she remained trembling in her
hiding-place.
"hi a few minutes more the mighty Veils would
have been withdrawn, and the gl'Tie^ of that &cene of
enchantment I 'id open— when, at length, summoning
all her courage, and taking advantage of a mnmenlary
absence of ttiose employed in peparing this splendid
mocktiy, she stole from under the Veil, and found her
way, through the gloom, to the Epicurean. There
was then no time for explanation ;— she had but to
trust to the simple woiJs, * Follow, and be silent;'
and the implicit readiness with which she found tliem
ibeyed, hlled her «i h no less surprise than the phi-
losO|iher himself had felt in hearing Ihem.
"In a second or two they weie on their way through
the subteiranean windings, leaving the ministers of
his to waste their splendours on vacancy, through a
long series of miracles and visions which they now
exhibited — unconscious ili-it he, whom they were
taking such pains to dazzle, was already, under the
guidance of the young Christian, far removed beyond
the reach of their deceiving spells."
CHAPTER XIV.
Such was the singular story, of which this innocent
girl now gave nie, in her own touching language, the
Tlie sun was just rising as she finished her narra'tve.
Fearful "f encountering the expression of those feel-
ings with which, she could not but observe, I was
atlected by her reci'al, scarcely h^d she concluded the
last sentence, when, rising abruptly from her seat, she
hurried into the pavilion, leaving me with words fast
crowding for utterance to my lijps.
Oppressed by the \arious emotions thus sent back
upon my heart, I lay down on the deck in a state of
agitation, that defied even the most distant approaches
of sleep. While every word she had u"tered, every
feeling she expressed, but mims'ered new fuel to that
flame which consumed me, and to describe which,
passion is far too weak a word, tlieie was also much
of her reciial that disheartened and al.trmed me. To
find a Christian ihus under the gaib of a Memphian
Priestess, was a discovery that, had my heait been
less deeply interested, would but ha^e more power-
fully stinmlated my imigination and pride. But,
when I recollected the ausierily of the faith she had
embr.tced— the lender and sacred tic, associated with
it m her memory, and the dev -tion of woman's heart
to objects thus consecated— her very perfections but
widened the distance between us, and all that most
kindled my passion ai the same lime chilled my hopes.
Were we to be left to each other, as on this silent
river, in such undisturbed communion of thoughts and
feelings, 1 knew too well, I thought, both her sexN
nature and my own, tn feel a doub' that love would
uliimattly triumph. Put the severi'y of the guardian-
ship to which I must resign her— that of some monk
of the desert, s-ime stern 8olt(..ry—tlie influence such
a monitor would gain over h^r mind— atid the horror
with which, ere long, he might teach her to regard
the reproliate infidel upon \\ hom she now smiled— in
all this prospect, 1 saw nothmsi but despair. After^
few short hours, my dream of happiness would beat
an end, and such a da'k chasm must then open be-
tueen our fates, as would dissever them, wideascirih
from heaven, asunder.
It was true, she was now wholly in my power, I
feared no witnesses but those of earth, and the solitude
of the desert was at hand. Piut though I acknow-
ledged not a heaven. I worship[ied her who was, to
me, its type and substitute If, at any moment, a
singU thought of wrong or deceit, towards one so
sacred arose in my mind, one look from her innocent
eyes averted the sacrilege. Even passion itself fella
h dy fear in her presence — like the liame trembling
in the breeze of the sanctuary — anJ Love, pure Love,
stood in place of Keligion,
As Ions as I knew not her storv, I could indulge, at
least, in dreams of the future. But, now— what ex-
pecta ion. what pre tp* ct remained ? My single chance
of happiness lay vn ihe hope, however delusive, of
being able to divert her thoughts from the fatal pro-
ject fhe meditated ; of weaning her, by persuasion
and argument, from that austeie faith, which I had
before haled and now feared, and of attaching her,
perhaps, alone and unlinked as she was in (he world,
1 form
ifor
In the agiiation of these thoughts, I had started from
my resting-place, and continued to pace up and dow n,
under a burumg sun, till, exhausted both by thuughl
and feeling, 1 sunk do^vn, amid that blaze of light,
into a sleep, which, to my fevered brain, seemed a
sleep of hre.
On awaking, I found the veil of Alethe laid carefully
over my brow, while she, herself, sat near me, under
the shadow of the sail, looking axiously upon that
leaf, which her mother had given her, and employed
apparently in comparing i's outlines with the course
of the river, as well as with the forms of the rocky
hills by which we were parsing. She looked pale
and troubled, and rose eagerly to meet me, aa if she
had long and impatiently v\aited for my waking.
Her liearl, it was plain, had been disturbed from its
security, and wa> beginning to take alarm at its own
feelings. But, though vaguely conscious of the peril
to which she was exp' sed, her reliance, as is usual
in such cases, increased with her danger, and upon
me, far more than on herself, did she seem to depend
for saving her. To reach, as soon as possible, her
asylum in the deser', was now the urgent object of her
entreaties and wishes a"d the self-reproach which
she expressed at h.ving. for a single moment, suflered
her thoughts to be diverted from this sacred purpose,
not only revealed the truth, that she had forgotten it,
but betrayed even a gtimmeriug consciousness of the
cause.
Her sleep, she said, had been broken by ill-omened
dreams. Every moment the shade of her inolher had
sto» d be ore her, rebuking, with mournful looks, her
delay, and pointing, as she hid done m death, to the
ea-tC-rn hills. Bursting into tears at this accusing
recollection, she hastily placed the leaf, which she
had been examining, in my hands, and implored that
1 would ascerain, without a moment's delay, what
portion of our voyage was still unperformed, and in
what space of time ue mi ht hope to accomplish it,
I had, still less than herself, taken note of either
place or distance; iind, cnuld we have been left to
glide on in this dream of happiness, should never have
thought of pausing to ask where it would end. But
such confidence was far too sacred to be deceived;
and, reluctant as I naturally felt, to enter on an in-
quiry, which might soon dissipate even my last hope,
her wish was sufficient to supersede even the selfish-
ness of love, and on the instant I proceeded to obey
her will.
There stands on the eastern bank of the Nile, to the
north of Aminoe, a high and steep rock, impending
over the flood, which has borne, for ages, from a pro-
digy connec'ed with it, the name of the Mountain of
theBirds. Yearly, it is said, at a certain season and
hour, large fincks of birds assemble in the ravine, of
which this rocky mountain forms (jne of the sides, and
are there observed to go through the mysteiious cere-
mony of in'^eriii g eich its beak in'o a particular cleft
of the rock, till the cleft closes upon one of their num-
ber, when all the rest of the IJrds take wing, and
leave the selected victim to die.
Through the ravine, rendered famous by this charm
— for such the multitude consider it — there ran, in
ancient limes, a canal from tho Nile, to some great
and forgotten city, now buried in the desert. To a
F=
THE EPICUREAN.
493
short dUtance from the river this c^inal slill exists,
but, after havitig passed t))roiia;h the defile, iis hcaxiy
Wftters di^ai-pcar, and ate wholly il'^t under the sands.
It was ill ihe iici^libxurhood of (his place, a^ I cuuld
colttM:! frnin the delinratiotie un the leat — u here a
flight of hi ids represenied rhe name of tlie mountain-
thai the ab'.de of the Solitary, tn whom Alelhe was
^t)Oul to consign herself, was &i!uated. Little as I
knew of the e;eoer.iphy of E;yp', it at once struck
aie, that ue had loii^ since left this mountain be-
hind ; I and, im inquinns rif our bna'mfn, I found my
conjeciure cuiifirnicd. We had, indeed, passed it, on
the precedini< night ; and, as the wind had been, ever
since, blowmt; strongly from the norih. and (he sun
was already sinking towards the horizon, we must be
DOW, at least, a day's 5.iit lo the southward of the
apol.
This discovery, I confess, filled my heart with a
feeling of joy which I found it difficult to conceal. It
seenifd as if fortune was conspiring with love in my
behalf, and, by thus delaying the moment of our
separation, atforded me a cliance at least of hapi)inesx.
Her look and mannei, tio, when informed of our mis-
take, rather eiiconragfd than chilled this secret hope.
In the first monieni of asI^llli^ilnlent, her eyes opened
u[H>n me uiili a suddenness uf splendour, under which
I felt my own wink as though lithlnins had crossed
them. Rut »he again, as suddenly, let their lids fall.
and, after a quiver of her Up, which showed the con-
flict of feeling then going on within, cros>ed her arms
upon her bosom, and looked down silently upon ihe
deck ; her whole countenance sinking into an expres-
sion, sad, but resigned, as if hhe now felt that fate was
on the side of wrong, and saw Love already stealing
between her soul and heaven.
I was not slow, of course, in availing myself of
what I fancied to be the irresoluii^n of her mind.
But, still, fearful of exciting alarm by :iny appeal to
feelings of regard or tenderness, I but addressed my-
self to her imagination, and to that love of novelty
and wonders, which is ever ready to be awakened
v^ithin the youthful breisl. We were now appro.ich-
ing that region of miracles, Thebes. *' In a day or
two," said I, ** \^e shall see, lowering above the
wafers, the colossal Avenue of Sphinxe?, and the
bright Obelisks of the Sun. We shall visit the plain
of Memnun, and behold those mighty sia'ues that
fling their shadows 'i at sunrise over the Libyan hi'ls.
We shall bear the image of Ihe Son uf the jMorning
responding to ihe first touch of light. From thence,
in a few hours, a breeze like this will Irmsport us to
those sunny ii^lands near the cat iracts ; there, to wan-
der, among the sacted palm-groves of Fhilae, or sit, at
noontide hour, in those cool alcoves,^ which the
wateifall of S)ene shadows under its arch. Oh, who
is there that, with scenes of such loveliness within
reach, would turn coldly away to the bleak desert,
und leave this fair world, with all its enchantments,
•hilling unseen and unenjoyed ? At least' — I added,
taking tenderly her hand in mine — *' let a few more
Jays be stolen from the dreary fate to which thou hast
devoted thyself, and then "
She had heard but the last few words— the rest had
I I The voyages on the Nile are, under favourable
circumstances, performed with considerable rapidity.
"En ciitq ou six jours." s^iys MatUtit, "on pourroit
ftisenient remonter de I'cmbouchure du Nil a ses cati-
ractes, ou descendre des catarac'es ju^qu'a la mer "
The great uncertainly of the navigation is proved by
I what Be/zomi tells us: — " Nou^ ne mimes cctte fi'is
que deux jours et demi pour faire le tr-ijet du Caire a
i tVlelawi, auquel. dans nnlre second voyage, nous
\ avion* employes div-huit jours.
! 1 Elles ont pres de vingt me'res (61 pieds) d'eleva-
- tinns ; ef au lever du soleil, leurs nmbrt-s immenses s'
etendent au loin sur la chaire Lrbyenne." — Dcscrip-
I tion generaie de T^bcs, pay Messrs. Jollois tt Dts^
< vitliers,
\ s Paid Lvcas.
been lost upon her. Startled by the tone of tender-
ness into which, in desnite of all my re^-olves, 1 had
sufl'ered my voice to sof en. she looked for an instant
wiih pa»^i'■na'e earnestne.-'S into my face; — then,
dr< ppii.5 upon her knees wilh her c asped hands up-
raised, exclaimed,— " Tempt me not, in Ihe name of
God I implore thee, tempt n,e not ios«er\e fiom my
s-icred d..ly. Oh I take me in>t.inily to that desert
nii.unla.n, and 1 will bIcs^ thee for ever."
'ihis appeal, I felt, could not Le resisted — even
though my heart were lo b<eak for it. Having silent-
ly intimaled mv assent in her | nyer, by a sligh' pres-
sure of her hind as 1 raised her from the deck, I pro-
ceeded imniediatelv, as we were still in full career
forthesou:h, to give orders that our sail should be
ins'antly lowered, and not a moment lost iu retracing
In givrn^ these directions, however, it, for the first
time, occurred to me, tha', as I had hired this yacht
IU llie neighbourhood of Memphis, where it \\a^ pro-
babte the Hight of the young I'riestess would be most
vigilantly tracked, ue should run the risk of betray-
ing lo the b'latmen the place of her retreat ; — and
there was now a most favourable opportunity for
taking precautions against this danger. Desiring,
Iherelure, thai we should be landed at a small village
on the shore, under pretence of paying a visit Iu some
shrine in the neiglibourhood, I Uiere disniissed our
barge, arid was relieved from fear of further observa-
tion, by seeing it again set sail, and resume iig course
fleetly up t|ie current.
From the boats of all descriplinns that Ia\ idle
beside the bank, I now selected nne. in every re-) cct,
suited to my purpose— being, in iis shape and acctmi-
the sinie lime, so light and small as to be inanage-
able by myself al^ne, and requiring, wilh the advan-
tage of the current, linlemoie llian a hmd to sleer it.
This boat I succeeded, wiihout nmch difficuhy, in
purchasing, and, after a short delay, we were again
afloat down the cunent ; — Ihe sun just then sinking,
in consciiius glory, over his own golden shrines in the
Libyan waste.
The evening was calmer ai.d more lovely than any
that liad yet smiled upon our voyage; and, as we left
the shore, a strain of sweet melody came soolhmgly
over our ears. It was the voice of a young Nubian
girl, whom we saw kneeling before an acacia, upon
the bank, and singing, while her companions flood
around, the wild song of invocation, which, in her
country, they address to that enchanted tree : —
•'Oh! Ahyasininn tree,
We pray, wt? pray to thee;
By tlie glow or thy golden fiuit,
Acjd the violet hue of thy flower,
And the greeting mule
or lliy bough's nalnle
To the Htranger who t^eeka thy bower. -4
"Oh! AbysslniflD tree.
How the- inveller blessps thee,
When the night no mnnn nllowt;.
And the sunset hniir it. near,
And tliuu bfnil'Bt thy bou^hb
To kiss bin brows,
Saying, 'Come rest thee here.*
Oh! Abyfsinian tree,
Thus bow thy head lo me !"
In the burden of this song the companions of the
young Nubian joined; and wc heard the words,
"Oh! Abyssinian tree," dying awav on Ihe breeze,
long after the whole group had beea lost to our
eye^.
Whether, in the new arrangement which I had
made for our voyage, any motive, be>ides those
which I professed, had a share, I can scarcely, even
4 See an account of this sensitive tree, which bends
down its branches to those who approach it, in M
Jomard's Description of Syene and ihe Cataracts,
43
4^4
THE EPICUREAN.
myself SD Ijewildered were Ihen my feeli„gs-deter-
lie. Bui no sot.iier had the curreiil borne us awav
from all |,„n,an dwellings, and we were alune on Ihe
waters with nol a soul near, than 1 fell how cl selv
such solitude diaws hea.ls lojelher, and how ,„uch
...ore we seen.ed <; belong to each other, than when
re were eyes around us.
he sauic feeliiig, but williout the same sense of its
danger, was Inaoilesl in every look and word of
Alethe. i he coiisciousuess ol'the one g,ea. ellor ,
hen t ,„?!,' "■»'J''/I>["'"c<i to have satisfied her
hea t ou the score of duly -while the devotedness '
-h vvhicli she saw 1 attended to her every wish
w,n, n'-'^n" '," "l«'.lf">l">S gratitude wlifch. I
wouLin, IS the day-s|.nns of love. She was, there-
fore, happy, innocently happy ; and Ihe confiding,
vhile ...f '■■""""'^' "'"""ve of her manne?
'l,r LW'!i "^ '"^ "■"" """■' ""«''. '"■•"ie " also
ar more diiticult.
It was only, however, upon subjects unconnected
V Ih our situation or late, that she yielded lo such
interchange ol thought, or that her voice ventured to
fiT^L "',"?• '''If, """""" ' »""'"'«' "> 'l'" ''"tiny
that awaited us, all her cheerfulness fled, and she be-
e saddened and silent. When 1 desciibed to her
aeauly ol n,y own native land - its Ir.unls of in-
sjinpalhj, and soiheli.neseven softened into fondness
ivhen I ventuied lo whisper, that, in thai glorious
country, a lile lull of love and libei'y awa.ted her
when I jirocecded to contrast the .adoration and blisJ
she niight coi„„,a,.d, wilh the gloomy austerities of
the life lo which she w.a5 hastening- ,t was like I'e
coming of a >u.lden cloud over a summer sky He?
head sunk, as ...e listened ; - 1 wailed in vain for an
forThi's'sHen ""■'"' ''^'f l^'^^f"")' reproaching her
feel tie «ZT'Jr T'.'fu" """= ''" >""'^' ' ""W
leci ine warm ears last falling over it.
HuI eyeu lhi,-leeble as was the hope it held out-
.>as loved. Like that lake, in the land of Roses l
.vhose waters are half sweet, half hitler,! 1 fell „,v
fa'e to be a compound of bliss and pain-lbut Us verv
pain well worth all ordinary bliss ^
wWre'elertrlilleiVr"? '"'.""" ",'«•" ^^'' ^'™Si
While every moment shoileiied our hap|>y dre.im, and
Ihe ciirrent seemed lo flow with a swi ter pace thin
any that ever yet hurried to the sea. No, L eatu e of
»;: me'i'orr"";,""! 'T' "' ""' """'""'• f-* "jin
my meiiory;-lhe broken star-light o,i the water--
the rippling sound „f the boat, as, wilhoul oar or s.lil
it went, like a Ihing of enchantment, down Ihe
v^aLrli't ■; ^t,m"irsome'^e "%'"'' '^"' ^'■
blush ,1r look m'ore .."r^l'-fuT't'iraii'Tb; hstT' " """
I CO, while 1 sal gazing, forgellul of all else, in
n Its course, and, hearing us awav to the bank eel
ingled 1,1, Ihe water-flowers, or be caught in so.^fe
wbJ; f," ' ,'""';■''=' »■•"="= we were.^ 0,"J, Z,
.:;arnLd'"awa nif,: ^ul Z^'ZH 'vl'ndTf? ""'
that had stolen, a. Ill" stm hou';! I^ dliifk" ofTe
^?i;hrj^sir^;::i;i^i4;rt,;it:!'u:;:'^
Ihrrsreeli-^'ss'^ev^r"' >'"."• "^ --" ^om
CHAPTER XV.
™Ji!' ?'^''' T'' P"", ''?'' '■'v^'we'i-the bend of our
coanM! towards Ihe left, »nd the closing in of the
« The province of Arsinoe, now Finum.
s Paul Lucas.
r, gave warninj; of our «p
.. ...^. ..c.ii.us unelliiig. Every minute Dotr
appeared like the las, of existence; and I fell a siok-
j nig of despair at my hea 1, winch would have beeo
I inlolerabh', li„l „ni , ,..,„|,„io„ that suddenly, and M
i '',''>■ """ '' ' "" " •' I" i"<', presented a glimpse
0M,ope>,|, ,,,,,,,;,, l.iiff, c.iliiied my feelings.
I JMuch .IS I l,.,,l, ,,,1 on jiie, despised hypocrisy- the
vei) set, i j,.,J eo.lirited being chictiy recommended
j to me by Ihe war Ihcy continued to w,-ige upon Ihe
I cant of all olhers— il was, nevertheless, in hypocrisy
llial I now scrupi<'d no, lo lake refuge from Ihil
cal.i„,i,y which 10 me was far woise than ei'her
shame or death, my separation from Alethe. In my
despair, 1 adop'ed Ihe humilialing plan — deeply hi-
milialing as I felt i! |o be, even amid Ihe joy wi,h
which I welcomed it— of otlenng myself lo this her-
mil, asa conven to his faith, and ,hus becoming Ihe
fellow-discple of Alelhe under his care!
From Ihe moment 1 resolved upon this plan my
spill, lell lightened. Though having fully before my
eyes the mean labyrinlh of imposture into which it
would lead me, 1 ihoughl of nothing but Ihe chance
01 our continuir;g still together. In this hope, all
pride, all philosophy was forgotten, and everything
seemed Iirlerable, but the prospect of losing her.
I bus re-olved, il was with somewha' lew reluctant
feelings, that I now undertook, at Ihe anxious desire
ol my companion, toasceilain the site of that well-
known mi'Ui.tain, in the neighbouihood of which the
anchoret's dwelling lay. We had already passed one
or two stupendous rocks, which stood, detached, like
lortresses, over Ihe river's biink, and which, in some
degree, corresponded with the descrip'ion on Ihe leaf.
S.O litllew as there of life now stirring along the shorw,
thai I had begun almost lo despair of any assistance
Irom inquiry, when, on looking to the weslern bank, I
1 saw a boatman among the sedges, towing his small I
boat, wi h some diflicully, up Ihe current. Hailing '
him as we passed, 1 asked, " Where stands the Moun-
tam of the ii^rds ;-"3-ai.d lie had hardly time, as he
pointed above us, lo answ er ■• There," when we per-
ceived Iha, we were just then emerging into the
ww^^V ,'^^'5'' i'"' '"'«'''>' "'"^'^ ""'B* ^"°^ ""e
whole ot Ihe liood.
In a few moments we had reached Ihe mouth of the
r.lvi„e, of which the Mountain of the Birds forms one
?u ^ ^, VI' ^"'^ ""fough which Ihe seamy canal from
the Nile flows. At the sigh, of ihis awful chasm,
wilhin some of whose dreary recesses (if we had
nghlly interpreted the leaf) the dwelling of Ihe Soli-
tary was to be found, our voices sunk a, once ino a
ow whisper, while Alethe turned inuiid to me wilh a
look of awe and eagerness, as if doubtful whether 1
had no, already disappeared from her side. A quick
, however, cf her hand towards the ravine
told too plainly that her purpose was s:ill unchnneed
niely checking, Iheicfore, wi.h my oars, lh<
career of our boat, I succeeded, after no small exer
tion, m turning i, ou, of the current of Ihe river, and
steering into Ihis bleak a. d slagnan, canal.
( ur irans.lion from life and bloom lo the very depth
of desolil.on w.,6 immediate. While the water or"
one side (if Ihe ravine lay buried in shadow, the white
skeleton.like crags of Ihe other stood aloft in the pale
glaie of nioonligh'. 'Ihe sluggish strtam th.ough
which we moved yielded sullenly lo the o.ir, and the
shriek of a few water-birds, which we had rou.ed
from Iheir fastnesses, was succeeiled hv a sileoce so
dead and awful, that our lips seemed afraid to disturb
it by a breath; and hall-whi-pered exclanialions
"How dreary!"— 'How dismal!" were almost Ihe
only words excliangt-d between os.
We had proceeded for some time through this
gloomy defile, when, at a short distance before us
imongthe rocks upon which Ihe mooMlighi fell, we
3 There has been much controversy among Ihe
Arabian wriiers, wi'h respect lo the sito of this ninun.
I tain, for which see Quatremere, tom. i,, art. Jmoun.
THE EPICUREAN
49i
could perceive, on a Ie(J?e elevated but a little above
the canal, a siitall hut or cave, wtiich, from a Ifl-c or
Iwo panned around il, bad soiiie apfien ranee (.f being
liie abode of a huinan being;. "' 1 his, then," thought
I, " i> the borne tu which ^he is dtslined !" A chill
of despair came a^ain over my hert. and the oars, as
1 in\ t;>zin^. lay m* tionless in my hands.
I found Aleihe, loo, whuse eyes h»d caught the ^ame
object, drawing closer to my sid.; hnn she bad yet
veiituieil. Lavint; her baud ;)gila'edly upnn mine,
'* We must liere," she said, "pari br ever." I turned
to her, as she ^poke; Iheie was a lenddness, a de-
sp'iiidency in her ^I'un'enance, thai at once -.riddened
and inflamed my snul. "Pjrt!" 1 exclaimed, pas-
siona'ely — '• No !— ihu same God shall receive us
both. Thy faith, Aleihe, shall, from this hour, be
mine; and I will live and die iu this desert with
thee ;"
Her surprise, her delight at the e words, wag like a
inoment-iry delirium, 'J'he wild, anxious smile, with
which she looked into niy face, as if to :iscertaiu
whether she hnd, indeed, beaul my words ari^iit, be-
spake a hippiness too much for reast-n lo hear. At
length the fulne.^s <>f her he^rt found relief lu tears ;
and. murmuring forth an incoliereni blessing on my
name, she lei her head fall languidly and powerles^iy
nn mv arm. The liyht from vui bo'ai-hre shone u\yon
her tacc. 1 saw her ejes, which she had closed for a
moment, again operiiii>^ upon me ^u'h the sime ten-
derness, and— mercitul Fi-ovidence. how E remember
th^t monient !— was on the point o( bendin? down my
lips towards hers, when, suddenly, in the air above us,
as if coming direct from heaven, there bursi forth a
sir.iin of chdial music, that with itssidemu :>vvti. loess
filled (be whole valley.
Breaking away tnun my caress at these supernatu-
ral sounds, the maiden threw ber elf Irembline: upon
her knees, and. not daring to look up, exclaitned
wildly, '*My mother, oh, my mother 1"
It was the Christians* morning hymn thai we beard ;
the same, as I learned afterwards, ibat, on their high
terrace at Memphis, she had been taught by her
mother to sing tu the rising sun.
Scarcely less startled than my companion, I looked
up, and saw, at the very summit of ihe rock above us,
a light, appeiriMff to come fiom a sntall opening or
window, ihr'iugh whicli those sounds likewise, that
had appeared to me so supernatural, is-ued. 'I here
could be no doub', ibai we lud now fnund— if not the
dwelling (if the anchoret — at least, the hauni of some
of Ihe Christian brotherhood of these rocks, by whose
assistance we couid uot fail to find (he place of tiis
retreat.
The agitation into which Aleihe had been thrown
by the first burst of that p-almody, soon yielded to the
softening recollections which it biought back ; and a
calm came over her brow, such as it had never before
worn, since we met. She seemed to feel as if she
had now reached her destined haven, and hailed, as
the voice of heaven it^elf, those solemn sounds by
which she was vvelconied to it.
In her tranquillily, however, I was very far from
yet sympathising. Full of impatience to learn alt
that awaited her as well as myself, I pushed our boat
close to Ihe base I'f Ihe rock, so a? to bring it directly
under that lighted window on the suniniit, to explore
my way up to which was now my immediate object.
Having hastily received my ins'ructions from Aleihe,
and made ber repeat again the name of the Chiistian
whom we snuglit, I spiang uptm the bank, and was
nol long in discovering a soit of palh, or stairway, cut
rudely out of the rock, and leading, a^ 1 found, by easy
windings, up the steep.
After ascendiiiff fFT some time, 1 arrived at a level
Fpice or ledge, which the hand nf labour ha.l suc-
ceeded in converting Into a garden,* and which was
1 The monks of Mount Sinai {fihaw says) have
covered over near four acres of the naked rocks with
fruitful gaideiis and orchards.
platjted, here and there, with tig-trees ai:.i ■nalms.
Ar und it, loo. I could jcrceive, througli fh» ^lim-
mciing lighi. a nuini^er nf snull c:»vei oigroitns, into
some nl* which. Inn. .an beings mi£ht hnd an ei.trince ;
Willie ohers appeared v.f iin laisier dimeiiM.Mis than |
Ui'se tombs of ihe Sacied liirds which are seen ranged
aroun I Lake Mocris.
I was sijll, I found, but half-way up the ascen', aor
was there visible .my fmther means of c>n(inuing my
cou;se, as ihe mountain from hence rose, almost per-
pendicularly, like a wall. At length, howeve-, on
exploring more closely, I discovered beliind the shade
of a iiic-iree a large ladder of wnod, lesling firmly
against the rock, and att'ordiiig an easy and sate ascent
up Ihe steep.
Having ascertained thus far, I agiin descended tc
the boat for Alehe, whom 1 found tiembling already at
her short soliiude ; and having led her up Ibesiair^
lo this quiet garden, left her lodged there securely,
amid its holy silence, while I pui-sued my way up-
ward to the light upon the rock.
A' the top of the long ladder I found myself on an-
oiher lediTe or plalfo'm, somewhat sni'ller than the
tiist, bin |>iau'ed in Ihe same manner, w ith trees, and,
as I c uld perceive bv the mingled light of morning
and the mo u. embellished wiih flowers. I was i
near the summit ;— iheie remained but ano'her short
accent, and, as a ladder aj.ilnst the rock supplied, :
before, Ihe means of scaling it, I was in a few minutes
at Ihe opening from which the light is-ued.
I had ascended gently. as well from a feeling of awe
at the whole scene, as from an unwillingness lo dis-
turb rndeiy the rite< on ^Wiich I itilru(led. My ap-
proach, Iberefiire, being unheard, an opporlunil) was,
for Boine mnnienis, afforded me of obseiviog the group
within, before my appearance at the wind -w was dis-
covered,
lo the middle of Ihe apar'meni, which seemed to
have been once a Pagan oratory, there was collected
an assembly of about seven or eight persons, sr
male, some feniale, kneeling in silence round a small
altar ; — w hile. aoiong Iheni, as if presiding over Uteii
solemn ceremony, stood ao aged man, who, at the
moment of mv arrival, was presenting to one of the
female wt)rshippers an alabaster cup, which she ap-
plied, with profound reverence, to her lips. Ihe
venerable countenance of the minis'er, as he pro-
nounced a short prayer tiver her liead, wore an ex-
pression of profound feeling that showed how wholly
he was absorbed in that rite; and when she had drunk
of the cup- which I ^aw had engraven on its side Hit
image of a head ,1 with a glory rourd il — the holy
man bent down and kissed her forehead. 3
After Ibis parting salutation, Ihe whole group rost
filently from Iheir knees; and it was then, fir the
first lime, that, by a cry of terror from one nf the
wonien, the appearance of a stranger a' the windo
was discovered. The w hole assembly seemed startled
and alarmed, except him, that superior person, who,
advancing from Ihe allar, with an unmoved look,
raised (he latch of the door adjoining to the window,
and admitted me.
Theie was, in this old man's features, a mix'ure of
elevation and sweetnes'?, of simplicity and ener
whicli commanded af once atlachmenl and homage ;
and half hoping, half fearing, to fi.-d in him the des
lined guardian of Aletlie, 1 looked anxiously in hi
face, as 1 entered, and pronounced the name " Mela-
nius !"— " Melanius is my name, young stranger.'*
answered ; "and wheiher in friendship nr in enmity
thou comest, Melanius blesses thee." Thus saying, he
2 There w^u-ually, TVrrMZ/iau lells us, the in)ag(
of Christ on the communion-cups.
3 " We are rather di^po^ed to infer," says the lalt
Bishop of Lincoln^ in his very sensible woik oi
Tertullian, '■ that, at the conclusiun of all their meet
ings for the purpose of devotion, the early Christians
were accustomed lo give Ihe kiss of peace, 'n token of]
(he brotherly love subsisting belween thea." n
496
THE EPICUR EAN,
made a si^n ivilh hU rijht hand above mj' head,
while, wiih involuntary respMt, 1 bowed beneath tiie
benediction.
'Let this volume," I replied, '-answer for the
peacetuluessof i:iy mission'" — at the same time, piecing
iti his haiiiis tile C')py of the Scriptures which had
been his own gift to the mother of Aielhe, and ii hich
her own child now brought as the credenlial of liei
claims oil his protection. At the si^ht of this sacred
pledge, which he instantly rec gnised, the solemnity
thai liad at first marked his reception of me softened
into tenderness. Thoughts of other times appeared
lo pass through his miiid ; and as, wilh a sigh of re-
collection, he look the book from my hands, some
words DO the ou er leaf caught his eye. They were
few— hut contained, most probably, the last wishes of
the dying 'Mieora ; for as he read them over eagerly,
I saw tears in his aged eyes. "The trust," he said,
with a f.iltering voice, *' is precious and sacred, and
God will enable, I hope, his servant lo guaid it faith-
ful y."
During this short di ilogue, the other persons of the
assembly had departed — being, as 1 alterwards
learned, brethren from the neighbouring bank of the
Nile, who came thus secretly before dajbreak," to
join in worshipping iheir God. Fearful lest their
de-cent down the rock might alarm Aielhe, 1 hurried
briefly over the few words of explanation that re-
mained, and leaving the venerable Ctl^i^tlan to follow
at his leisure, hastened anxiously down to rejoin the
young maiden.
CHAPTER XVI.
Melanius was one of the first of those zealous Chris-
tians of Egypt, who, following the recent example of
the hermit, Paul, bade farewell t.i all the conifnrls ol
social existence, and betook themselves to a life ot
contem|ilation in the desert. Less selfi-h, however,
in his piety, than most of these ascetics Melanius
forgot not the world, in leiving if. He knew that
man was not born to live whollv for himself; that his
relation to human kind was tlial of the link to the
Cham, and that even his solitude should be turned lo
the advantage of others. In flying, therefore from
the din and di-turbance of life, he sought not lo place
himself beyond the reach of its sympathies, but
selected a retreat where he could combine all the
advantages of solitude with tho,e opportunilies of
being useful lo his fellow-men, which a neighbourhood
to their populous haunts would afl'ord.
That taste for the gloom of subterranean recesses,
which the race of Mistaim inherit from their Ethi-
opian ancestors, h^d, by hollowing out all Egypt into
caverns and crypts, supplied these Christian anchore's
with an ample choice of retreats. Accordingly, some
found a shelter in Ihe grottos of Eleihya ;— others,
among the royal tombs of the Thebaid. In the mid-
dle of Ihe Seven Valleys,'! where the sun rarely
shines, a few h ive fixed their dim and melancholy
relreit ; while others have sought the neighbourhood
of Ihe red Lakes of Nitria,3 and there, like those
Pagan solitaries of old, who lixtd their dwelling
among the palm-trees near the Ue.id Sea, pass their
* It was among the accusations of Celsits again-t
Ihe Christians, that they held their assemblies pri-
vately and ;iinlrary to law ; and one of ihe speakers
in the xrlc>u3 work of Mimicius Felix calls Ihe
Christia ?i *L atehrosa et lucifugax natio."
»See Mncrizy'i account of these vallejs, given by
Qtiatre-nitre. toni. i. p. 450.
3 For a striking description of ihis region, see
'•«nme.tcs," a woik which, though in general too
technical and elaborate, shoivs, in many passages, to
what picturesque efiVcts Ihe scenery and mythology
j of Egypt may be made subservient.
whole lives in musing amidst the s'erilityuf nature^
and seem to find, in tier desolation, peace.
It w,is on one of the mountains of the Said, to Ihe
easi of the river, that Melanius, as we have seen,
chose his place of seclu ion — having all the life and
leriihly of Ihe Nile on one side, and the lone, di.mal
barreiine-s of the desert on the other. Hall-v
do\vn ihis mountain, where it impends over
ravine, he found a series of caves or groitos dug out
of Ihe rock, which had, in other times, minislert-d to
some purpose of mystery, but whse use had long
been foriiolten, and llieir recesses abandoned.
'lo this place, after the balli^llmelll of his great
master, Origen, Melanius, with a few faithful follow,
ers, retired, and Ibere, by the example of his inno.
cent life, as v\ell as by his fervid eloquence, succeed-
ed in winning crowds of converts to his faith.
Placed, as he was, in the neighbourhood of the rid
city, Antinoe.4 though he mingled net with ils niulli
tude, his name and his fame were ever among Ihem
and, to all wlio sought after instructi an or consolation,
the cell of Ihe hermit was alv>ays open.
Notwithstanding the ligid abstinence of his own
habits, he was yet caieful to provide for the comfortf
of others. Conlent wiilia rude pallet of stiaw, h,
self, he had always for the stranger a le-s homely
resting-place. From his grotto, Ihe wavfaring and
the indigent never went unrefreshed ; and, w iih the
aid of some of his biethren, he had formed gardens
along the ledges of the moun ain, which gave an ail
of life and clieei fulness to his rocky duelling, and
supplied him with Ihe chief necessaries of such a
climate-fiuit and shade.
Though the acquaintance he had formed with Ihe
mnther of Alethe, during the short periid of het
attend mce at Ihe school of Origen, was soon inter-
rupted, and never afterwards renewed, the interest
which he had then taken in her file was far too live-
ly to be fnrg"tten. He had seen the ze.l with which
her young lieart welcomed ins'rnction ; and the
thought llial so promising a candidate for heaven
should have lelapsed into idolatry, came often, wilh
disquieing apjirehension, over his mind.
It was, iherefoie, with true pleasure, that, but a
year or two before Theora's death, he had learned
by a piivate communication from Iter, transmitted
through a Christian enibalmer of Memphis, tha
'■ not only had her own heart taken rool in the faiih,
but that a new bud had flowered wilh Ihe same
divine hope, and that, ere long, he might see them
both transpl mted to the desert."
The coming, therefore, of Alethe, was far less a
surprise to him, than her c .ming thus alone was a
shock and a sonow ; and the silence of their firs!
meeting showed how painfully bo h remembered that
Ihe lie which had brought them together uas no
longer of this world — that the hand, which should
have been then joined with theirs, was mouldering in
the tomb. I now saw thai even religion like his was
not proof against the sadness of ii.orialily. For, as
the old man put aside the ringlets from her forehead,
and contemplated ill that clear countenance the re-
flection of what her mother had been, there mingled
a mouriifulness with his piety, as he said, •' Heaven 1
rest her soni I" which showed how little even Ihe
certainty of a lieaven for those we love can reconcile
us to Ihe pain of having lost them on earlh.
The full light of day had now risen upon the
desert, and our host, reminded, by the faint looks of
Aielhe, of the many anxious hours we had pas
without sleep, proposed that we should seek, in
chambersof the rock, sich res' as a liermiiV di^elling
could offer. Pointing lo one of the largest of these
4 From the position assigned to Antinoe in thi
work, we should conclude thai it extended much fai
ther to the north, than the few ruins of it tl:at remai
would seem to indicate, and that the dis'ance bctwceu
the ciiy and the Mountain of the Rinls \\as consider-
ably less than what it a|ipeats to be at piesent.
THE EPICUREAN.
49
opening;!, as he addrei'seil me—" Thou wilt find,-' he
said, •• iij tliat grollo a bed iif fresh doiiiii leave-, and
may llie coiisciousuesa uf liaving protected the orphan
aweeleii thy sleep !"
I felt how dearly this praise had been earned, and
aliea.ly almost repented of haviiiR deserved it.
There aas a sadness in Ihe coumenance of Alollie, as
1 lock leave of her, to which Ihe fr)rcbodincs of my
own heart but loo faithfully responded ; nor could I
help fearing:, as her hand parted Ijngeringly from
mine, tliat I liad, by this sacrifice, placed her beyond
my reach for ever.
Having li?hled for me a lamp, which, in these re-
cesses, even at noon, is necessary, ihe holy man led
me 10 Ihe entrance of Ihe erollo. Ami here I blush
to say, njy career of hypocrisy began. With the sole
view of oblaiuiiig another glai.ce al Alelhe, I turned
humbly to silicil the benediciion of the Chrislian,
and, having conveyed lo her, while bending reverenl-
ly down, as much of the deep feeling of my soul as
looks could express, I then, with a desponding spirit,
hurried into Ihe cavern.
A short passage led me to the chamber within— Ihe
walls of which 1 found covered, like lho^e of the
grottos of Lycopolis, with painlings, which, though
executed long ages ago, lonbcd as fre~h a» if their
colours were but laid on yotciday. They were, all
of Ihem, representations nl rural and domestic scei.es ;
and, in the greater number, the melancholy imagi.
nation of the artist had called in, ai usual, the pre-
sence of Death, to throw liis shadow over the pic-
ture. "^
My atlenli' n was particularly drawn lo one series
of subjects, throughout the whole of which ihe same
group— consisting of a youth, a maiden, and two aged
persons, who appeared lo be the father and mother of
Ihe girl — were represented in all the delaih of Ihrir
daily life. The looks and atlit.,des of the young peo-
ple denoted that Ihey were lovers; and, someiiines,
they were seen silling under a cinopy of fl.uiers,
wiih their eyes fixed on each o hei's laces, as though
they could never look away; sometimes, Ihey ap-
peared walking along ihe banks of Ihe Nile,—
no one of those sweet nights
When Isis, llie puie Mlar of lovcra.l liglils
Her liritlal creat-eiil oVr Ihe holy stream —
When wandering youths and niuidelis waleh her beam,
And uumher oVr the nights she halh lo run,
Kre she ai'Sin embrace her brideirimra «un.2
Throi;gh all these scenes of endearment the two
elder peisons stood by ; — their c.ilm countenances
touched wilh a siMre of that bliss, iij whose perfecl
light the young lovers were basking. Thus far, all
was happiness;— but Ihe sad lesson of mortality was
yet lo come. In the last picture . f Ihe series, one of
the figures was missins; II was that of Ihe young
maiden, who had disappeared from among them. On
the brink of a dark lake stood Ihe ihrce who remain-
ed ; while a boai,ju»t depariing for the Cily of Ihe
Dead, told too plainly Ihe end of their dream of hap-
pines..
This mem'Tial of a sorrow of other limes— of a sor-
row, ai.cieni as dealh itself- w.as not wanling to deepen
llie melancholy of my mind, or to add to ihe weighl
of the many bodings that pressed upon it.
After a nishi, as it seemed, of anxious and i.nsleep-
ing th.iughl, I rose from my bed and reurned lo ihe
ganlea. 1 found the Christian alone — sealed, under
the shade of one nf his Irces, at a small Is hle,on which
there lay a volume unrolled, while a Leauliful antelope
was sleeping at his feet. Struck by the contrast
which he presented lo those haughly priests, whom 1
had seen surrounded by tlie p mp and gorgi-nuBiiess
Of temples, " Is this, Ihen," thought 1, "the faith
before which the world now trembles— i's temple the
desert, its treasury a book, and lis High Priest Ihe
Bolitiry dwellerof Ihe rock?"
» Vide Plutarch, dc [sid.
2 "Conjunciio soils cum luna, quod est veluli utrr
utque connul.ium.'— yaWoHsAi.
He had prepared for me a simple, but hospitable
repast, of which fruits from his own girden, the whife
bread of Olyra, and the juice of the honey-cane, fi.rmed
the mist costly luxuries. His manner to me was even
more cord n I and ritheilv than before; but the absence
of Alellie. and, slill more, the ominous reserve, wilh
which he not only, himself, refrained from all men-
tion of her name, bul eluded Ihe few inquiries, by
which I sought III lead to il, seemed lo confirm all Ihe
apprehensions I had fell in parting from her.
SIve had acquain'ed him, il was evident, wilh the
whole history of o ir flight. My reputation as a plii-
I losoplier— niy desire lo become a Christian— all was
already known to the zealous anchoret, and the sub-
jcci of my conversion w.is Ihe very first on which he
entered. Oh. pride of philosophy, how werl thou
then humbled, and wilh what shame did 1 stand in
the piesetice of ihat venerable man, not daring to let
my eyes encounter his, while, wilh unhesitating trust
in Ihe sincerity of my intention, he welcomed nie to a
participation of his holy hope, and imprinted the Kiss
of Charity on my infidel brow !
Knibari'assed as 1 could not but feel by Ihe humil-
iating consciousness of hypocrisy, I was even still
more perplexed by mv almost IoIaI ignorance of the
real lenels of the failii lo w hich 1 professed myself a
convert. Abashed and ccnfused, and with a heart
sick at its own deceit, I lislened lo Ihe animated and
eloquent gia.ulations of the Christian, as though they
were words in a dream, without any link or meaning ;
nor could disguise but by the niockeiy of a reverent
bow, at every pause, the total want of^ self-possession,
and even of speech, under which I laboured.
A few minults more of such trial, and 1 must have
avowed my imposture. But the holy man perceived
my enibanassinent ;— and. whether mistaking it for
awe, or knowing il to be igU' ranee, relieved me from
my perplexity by al once changing Ihe theme. Hav-
ing genlly awakened his anlelope from its sleep,
"You have doublless," he said, *' heird of my brotlier-
anrhorct, Paul, who. from his cave in Ihe marble
uiounfains, near the Ked Sea, sends hourly the blessed
'sacrihce of tlianksgiving' to heaven. Of Ms walks,
they lell me, a lion is the companion ;3 but, for me,"
he added, with a playful and significant smile. " who
try my powers of taming but on the gentler animals,
this feeble child of the desert is a far fitter playmate."
■J'hen, taking his stafT, and putting the time-worn
volume which he had been perusing into a large goat-
skin pouch, Ihat hung by his side, "1 will now,"
said he, • coirdiict thee over my rocky kingdom, that
ihou niavest see in what drear and barren places that
' sweet fruil of the spirit,' Peace, may be gathered."
'I'o speak of peace to a hearl throbbing, as mine did,
at that moment, was like talking of some distant har-
bour to Ihe mariner sinking at sea. In vain did I look
around for some sign of Alelhe ; — in lain make an
eflort even to utter her name. Consciousness of iiiy
invn deceit, as well as a fear of awakening in the
mmd of Melanius any suspicion that might tend to
frustrate my only hope, threw a fetter over my spirit
and checktd my tongue. In humble silence, tferefore,
I followed, while the cheerful old man, wilh slow,
but firm step, ascended Ihe rock, by Ihe same ladders
which I had mounted on lite preceding night.
During the lime when the Decian Persecution was
raging, many Chrisiians, as he told me, of tbe neigh-
bourhood had taken refuge under his protection, in
the-egroths; and the small ch.pel uprui Ihe summit,
where 1 had found his Hock at pr.tyei, was, in ihose
awful times of suflering, Iheir usual place of retreat,
where, by drawing up these ladilers, they were ena-
bled lo secure themselves from pursoil.
The view, from Ihe lop of the rock, extending on
either side, embraced Ihe Iwoexiremes of li-iiliiy and
desolation; nor could the Epicurean and Ihe An
choret, who now stood gazing from that heigl.t, be at
any loss lo indulge their respective asle-. belween the
living luxuriance of Ih's world on one side, and the
3 M. Chateaubriand has introduced Paul »Dd hii
lion into Ihe '• JMuj/i/rs," liv. xi. I
2G ^
49S
THE EPICUREAN.
dead, pulseless repose of the desert on the olher.
When we turned Id the river, what a picture of ani-
niaiioM pre enled itself! Near us lo llie aoulli, ueie
(he graceful c iloiinailes of Autinoe, its pioud, populnus
sireels, and Inuujplial innuunieuts. On llie oppisile
«hc"e rich pl.lML-., all leeuiina «ilh cul ivation to Ihe
water'* edje. seemed to ofler Up, as fiuiii verdaul
alters, their truUs to Ike sun; while, beucalb ua, the
Nile,—
That late between il» bank* wan seen to glide —
W ilh bhnnei* and marble ciliea ou each niile,
Glilteriiig, like jewels atrung along a ehain —
Hji
1 forth i
1 from his bed
rplai
tinci :— 3
Anil vol .
Riauig wiih oulstieUh'd limba, supeibly spread.
Frctn lliis scene, on one side of the ninunlain, we had
but ti turn roui.d our ejes to llie other, and
if Mature herself had become suddenly e,\
wide waste of saials, bleak and inlei inuiabic, wtary-
ing out ihe sun wilh ii» sameness of desolation ;--
black, biirnt-up rocks, thai stood as b men, at which
life slopped ;— while the only signs of animation, pal
or iiresent, were the footprints, here and there, of an
antelo|ie or ostrich, or the bones of dead camels, as
Iliey lay "hiieiniig at a distance, marking out Ihe
track of llie caravans over ihe waste.
Af er listening, while he omliasled, in a few elo-
quent words, the two resions of life and death on
whose contines we stood, 1 again descended wilh my
guide 10 the gjrden we lad left. From ihence. turn-
ing into a path aloi g the mounlain-side, he led me lo
anilherr-w of grotlos, facing the desert, which had
been once, he said, the abode of those lirelliren m
Christ, who had lied wiih him lo this si lilude from
the crowded world — but which dea'h had. within a
few short nioiilhs, rendered teuanilesa. A cnss of
red stone, and a lew laded Irees, were Ihe ouly Ir.ices
these solilaiies had left.
A silence of some niiiiules succeeded, while we
descended to the edge of the canal ; imd I saw oppo-
site, among the rocks, Ihal soiilary cave, which had
so chilled me wilh iH aspect on the preceding nighl.
Beside the bank we louiid one of those ru.lic boa s,
which the Egyirtians coiistn.ci of planks of wild
thorn, bound rudely together with b.iiids of papjrus.
Placing ouiselves in this hi at, and lather impelling
than rowing ii across, we made our way through the
foul and -hallow liood, and landed diieclly under Ihe
sileofthecaie. , ,
'Ihis dwelling was silualed. as I have already men-
tioned, on a ledge of rock; and, being provided with
a sort of window or aperture lo adioil Ihe light of
heaven, was accnunled, 1 found, far nmie cheerful
than the grottos on ihe o her side of the ravine. Bnl
there w.is a dreariness in Ihe whole reiiion around, lo
which light only lent additional horror. 'I'he dead
whiteness of Ihe rocks, as they sUjod, like ghosts, in
Ihe sunshine ;— that melancholy pool, half lost in ihe
sands;— all gave to my mind ihe idea if a wiisting
world. 'I'n dwell in a place so des- l.ile seemed to nie
a living dealh; and when the Christian, as we en-
tered the cave, siid, "Here is lo be thy home." pie-
pared as 1 had been for the worst, all my resolu '
give way ;— every feelii g of disappointed pa-sion
hunihled pride, which had been galhering round my
heart for the last lew hours, found a vent at once,
and I burst inlo tears.
Accustomed lo human weakness, and perhaps guess'
tng at some of Ihe sources of mine, the good Hermit
fiithcut appearing 10 lake any notice of this
pru:*;ded to
ters,' in which alone thou wilt find lasting raheth-
iil or peace I" Thus saying, he descended tbe
...,.k to his boat, and after a few plashes of his oar had
died upon my ear, ihesoliudeand silence Ihal reignod
around me was complete.
CHAPTER XVII.
What a fate w as mine ! — but a few weeks since,
presiding over that gay Festival of the Garden, » ith
all the luxuries of existence tributary in my Irain;
and now — self-humbled inlo a solitary outcast — Ihe
hypocrilical pi pil of a Christian anchoret — withoul
even Ihe excuse of religious fana icisni, or any other
madness, but that of love, wild love, to extenuate my
fall ! Were there a hope that, by this humiliating
waste of exis ence, 1 might purchase now and then a
monienlary gl.mpse of Alellie, even the depths of the
deserl, with such a chance, would be welcome. Rut
to live — and live thus- without her, was a misery
which 1 neither foresaw nor could endure.
Hating even to look upon Ihe den to which 1 was
doomed, 1 hurried oul inlo Ihe air, and found my way,
along the rocks, lo Ihe deserl. The sun was g' ing
down, wilh Ihal blood-icd hue, which he so often
wears, in this climate, at his settiig. I saw Ihe
sands, s retching out, like a sei, 'o the h ■rizrin, as if i
their wa-le extended In the very verge of the world—
and. in the bilteriiess of my feelings, rejoiced to see
l.irge a porimi of cieaiioii rescued, even by this
barren liber y, from llic ei croaching grasp of man.
Ihe thought seemed to relieve my wounded pride,
ind, as I waiideied over Ihe dim a"i.d boundless soli-
tude, lo be Ihns liee, even amidst blight and desola-
tion, appeared to nie a blessing.
•Ihe only living thing 1 saw was n restless swallow,
whose wings were of the same hue wiih the giev |
sands ovei wh cli he llullered i •' Why (thought I)
may not the mind, like this bird. Jiartike of the colour
of the deserl, and sv iniialhise m its auslerily, i's free-
dom, and Its calm ?''— thus vainly ei.deavouring, be
twcen despondence and defiance, to enconiiter with
.some degree of fortitude what yet mv heart sickened
to conlemplate. liut the effort was unavailing.
(Ivercome by that vst soli ude, whose lepose was not
the slumber of peace, but lather the sullen and buin-
ing silence if hale, I fell liiyspiiil give way, and
even Inve i self \ieMed lodespan.
Taking my seat on a fragment of a rock, and cover-
ing my eyes with my hands 1 m^de an effort to shut
out ihe overwhelming pmspecl. Rut all in vain — it
was still liefi re me, w ilh every additional horror that
f.ilicy could suggest ; and w heii, again looking forth, 1
beheld Ihe Inst red ray of the sun, shooiina across the
melancholy and lifeless wasle, it ajipeartd to me like
the light if that comet which once desolated litis
world,''i and thus luridly shone out over Ihe ruin that
it had made !
A| palled by my own gloomy imagi
, u hat
Ih a cheerful air, oi
led, the comforts of my dwelling. Sheltered
from the dry burning wind of the soulh, my porch
would inhale he said, Ihe fresh breeze of the Dog-
star. Fruits from his own mounlain-garden should
furnish my repast. The well of the neighbouring
rock would supply my beverage; and "heie" he
continued— lowering his voice inlo a mi re solemn
tone, as be placed upon the t.ble the volume which
be had brought—" here, mv si ii, is thai • well of living
I turned
nd, nntwithstandtng thed
wilh w hich I had lied from my dwelling, was i
lileased 10 find my way
till approicliiug the cav
At !
1 moment.
nt, I :
1 " Je vis dans le deserl des hirondelles d'un gris
clairconmie le sable sur lequel elles volenl.''—/>noi).
■2 In alluding lo Whislon's idea of a cornel having
c.iused Ihe deluge, lU. Girard, having lemarked that
the word lyphon means a deluge, adds, -'On ne peut
entendre par le terns du regiie de Typhon que celu;
pendant lequel le deluge iuonda la tei re, terns pendant
lequel on dut observer l.i cmiete qui Toccasionna, el
doiil I'apparition fui, iion seulenient pour les peuples
de I'Kgypte, el de I'Ethiopie, niais encore pour Ions
les peuples le presase funesle de leur deslruclion
p-esqiie totale."— ZJcscriftiOT" di la ValUt de I'Egare-
mentt
THE EPI C U REAN,
499
was welcome, and 1 hailed the iinexpec'ed a[>peannce
with ple<8iire. On en eniig, ho^vever, I found the
clMiither »11 »s lonely as 1 had Irfi ii. The li^ht 1 h ul
seen came from a l.iinp ihai burned Lrieli ly on the
table; beside it was nnlnlded he vohime v\hich Me-
laiiius hid biought.aiul up"H he open leiVfS — oh, jny
and surptise-lay the well-known cross of Ale: lie !
VVli:il hand, but her own, couM have prt-pired this
recepiion f^r me ?— The very thought sent a liope into
my heart, before whicli all desi)ni,deiicy fli-d. Even
Ihe gloom of the desert was forgotten, and my rude
cave at once brightened into a bower. She had here
reniindeil nie, bv Ibis s:icred nieniorial, (if the vow
which I had pledged lo her under the Heimii's rock j
and I now scrupled not to reiterate thu same daring
promise, i bough conscious that Ihruugh hypocrisy
alone conld I fulfil it.
Eager lo [ireparc myself for my task of imposture,
I sat down to the volume, "bicb 1 now found lo be
ihe Hebrew Scrrp'ures; and the first fen euce, on
which my eyes fell, was — "The Lord balh com-
in iided the blessing, even Life for evermore ."
startled by 'hose word?, in whicli ii appetred to me
as if Ihe Spiri of my dream h<d again pronounced
his assuring prediciioi),^ I raised my eyes from the
page, and repe*ed Hie sentence over and over, as if
t.t try wheUiei in these sounds there lay any charm
or spell, to re-awiken ihit faded illusion in my soul.
fiut, uo — Ihe rank frauds nf the Memphian priest*
Iiooj had dispelled all my trust in the promises of re-
ligion- My heart hid agiiu relapsed in'o its gloom
of bctpticism, and, 'o Ihe unrd of ''Life," Ihe only
an.su er it sent back was, "Death !"
Bei« g impaiieul, however, to possess myself of the
fclemeiifs of a faitli, up^n which — whaievcr it might
promise for liereafier— I felt (hat all my happli.ess
here depended, I turned over the pages w'lih an earn-
estness and avidi y, such as never e\en the niost
favourite of my sludes had awakei-ed in me.
Though, like all who seek but the surf.ice of learn-
ing, 1 flew desultorily over the leaves, lighting only
on the more prominent and -.hining points, I yet found
myself, even in Ihi-. undisciplined cueer. ariested, ai
every page, by the awful, the supernatural suldimiiy,
the iiltennte melancholy and grandeur of the images
that cr'wded upon me.
1 had, till now, known Hie flebrew theology but
through the platonising rehnemeni of Phito ; — as, In
like manner, for my knowledge of the Clirislian doc-
trine 1 u as indebted to my brother Epicureans, Lucian
and Celsus. Little, therefore, was my mind prepared
for the simple majesty, the high tone of inspiration—
Ihe poetry, in short, of heaven (h:\t bnathed through-
out these oracles. C"uld admiratiNn have kindled
faith, I should, ihat night, have been a believer; so
elevated, so awed "as nvy imaginaliuu by that won-
derlul book — its warnings of woe, its announcenienis
of glory, and its unrivalled strains of adoration and
Hour af'er hour, wiih the same eager and desultory
curiosity, did I turn over the leaves; —an-l uhen, at
le gih, I lay down lo rest, my f;»ncy was still haunt-
ed by the impressions it had received. I vent again
through the Vitriou-t scene- of which 1 had leal ;
again called up. in :>h-ep. the briuhr images that bad
p..9!ied before me, and u hen .luakei.ed at earlv dan n
by the solemn Hymn from the clia^el, imagii^ed 'hat
I was 3:ilt listening to ilie sound of llie winds, sigh-
ing mournfully through the harps of Isael on
WlllOuS.
» ** Many people." -aid Oriyen, "have been brought
over to Chrisiianjiy by ihe Spiit of God giving a
den turn to iheir minds and nfrering visions lo them
either by d,iy or night." On Wu^Jorfin rcmaiks: —
*' Why should if be thnught impr b.ible Ihat Pagans
nf good diipnsiiinns, but not free from prejudice-,
should have been called by divine adnionitinn*, by
dreams or visions, which mighl he a support lo Chris-
tianity in those days nf distress ?"
Starting from my bed, I hurried out upon the mck,
with a hope Iha', among ihe tones of lh;it morning
choir, I might be able to distinguish the sweet voice
of Alelhe. Rut ihe strain had ceased ; — J caught
only the last notes of the Hymn, as, echoing up ihal
h'lie'y valley, I hey died away into the silence of Ihe
de-en.
With the first glimpse nf light I was again eagerly
at my study, and, notwithstanding the frequent dis-
ttaciou both of my houghts and looks towards Ihe
distant, half-seen grottos of the Anchoret, continued
my task with unabating perseverance through the
day. Still alive, however, but to ihe eloquence, the
poetry of what i studied, of its claims to auhorily,
as a history, I never ('nee [a used to consider. My
fancy alone being interested by it. t;) fancy only I re-
ferred all that it containtd; and, passing rajiidly from
annals to prophecy, fiom narration to song, regarded
e whole but as a tissue of oriental allegories, in
hich the deep melancholy of Esypiinn a>sociations
as in'erwoven with the rich and seusuat imagej'y of
Ihe East.
I'owatds sunset I saw the venerable Hermit, on bis
y, acr 'ss Ihe canal, to my cave. Th ugh he w.-»s
acconipatiied only by his graceful antelope, which
ime MmlHng the wild air (f (he desert, as if scent-
g its home 1 lelt his visit, even thus, to be a most
etcome relief. It was the hour, he said, of his even-
g ramble up the ntounlain — of his accustomed visit
to those cisterns of the rock, from which he drew
nishflv his mo>l piecious beverage. W'hile he spoke,
1 observed in his hand i-ne of those earthen cnps,^ in
which it is the cuslnm of the inhabiiaitts of the wil-
derness to C' Meet the fresh dew among the rocks.
H ivmg prop'^sed hat I should accompany him in his
walk, he proceeded lo lead me, in Ihedireciion of the
desert, up the side of (he mountain that rose above my
dwelling, and which formed the souihern wall or
screen of the defile.
Near the summit we found a seat, where the old
mau paused in rest. It commanded a full view over
the desert, and was by the side of one of those hoi
lous in the rock, those na ual reservoirs, in which
are tre-.sured the de«s of nighl for llie refreshment
of Ihe dwellers in the wilderness. Having learned
from me how far I had advanced in nt\ study — •' In
yonder light," said be, pointing lo a small cloud in
the east, w Inch had been formed on the horizon by
the haze of the desert, and was now faintly reflecting
the splendours of suoEei— " in Ihe midst of tha' light
stands Mount Sinai, of whose glory thou liasi read;
upon whose summit was the scene of one of those
awful revelations, in which the Almighty has renew-
ed from time to lime his communication with Man,
and kept alive the remembrance of his own Provi-
dence in this world.»
After a pause, as if absorbed in the immensity of
Ihe subject, the holy man continued his sublime
theme. Looking back to Ihe earliest annals of time,
he showed how consiantly every relapse of ihe
human race inio idolatry has been followed by some
manifestation of Divine power, ch sienJng Ihe strong
and proud by punishment, and winning back the
humble by love. It was to [reserve, he said, un-
extinguished upon earth, that great ai d vital truth —
llie C'ea'ion of the world by one Supreme Being —
th;.t G"d chose, fiom among the na'ions, an huml;ie
and enslaved race— Ihal he brought them out of Iheir
captivity "on eagles' wing ," and, s'ill surrouM.iig
every s'ep of Iheir course wjih miracles, hr,8 placed
ihem btfore the eyes of all succeeding geiiera'ions.
as the depositaries of tiis will, and the ever-dunng
memorials of his power.3
^ Pallndius, who lived some lime in Ktrvpt, de-
scribes Ihe monk Plolema:us, whr> inhabited the
desert of Sce'e, as collecting in earthen cups thb
ibundant dew from the rocks.'*— //it/io/Aec. Pat. torn,
xiii.
^ The brief sketch here given of the Jewish disfjen-
500
THE EPICUR EAN.
Passiner» t^ «, "in review the lon« train of inspired
interprete*» *ho?; pens and whose tonicufS wctb
de th^ e aoes of the Divine vuice,! he traced
throustifu' '. t event-, of successive ages, the gradual
uiifld ne t-^ ne d. irk scheme of Fro\ideiice— darkness
horf.^j'^ i*ll light and glory vviihiii. The glimpses
a crVi"t( redeinplion, visible even thiouih the
I'h o' rieiven ; — the lou^ series of prophecy
throu'-.D t^HiCh this hnpe ruos. burmngand ^live, like
a sp»;^k ?iong a chain ; — the slow and n-ercitul pfepa-
■nil ot llie hearts of mankind f<.r ihegieit trial of
ir raih and obedience thai was at hand.noi only by
"■ides that appealed to the living, but by prophecies
buuclied into the fuiure to carry conviction to Ihe yet
»orn ; — "through all these gloiious and benelicent
gradations we may track,*' s^id he, "the manifest
foot=iep3ofa Creator, aivmcing lo his grand, uluinate
end. the salvaiionof hi^ creatures."
After ai Jiie hours devoted to these holy instructions,
lereturm-d lo the ravine, ;ind Melanius left meal my
cave ; piav osi, as he parted from me— willi a beneio-
L-e which I but ill, alasl deser\ed — thai my sonl
might, under he^e lessmis, be "as a watered garden, ='
and eie h>iig, '* bear fiuit unto life eternal."
Next moiniiig, 1 was again at my study, and even
more eager in the awakening task than beture. With
Ilie commentary of the Hermit tre hly in my mem'Ty,
I again read through, with alieiilion, the B 'ok of ttie
Law. But in vain did 1 seek 'he promise of inimnr-
laliiy in its pages.^ " It tells me," s;iid I, " of a God
coming down to earth, but of the ascent of Man lo
\ieaven it speaks not. 'Jhe rewaids, the punislmients
it ariMurices, lie all on this aide of the grave; nor
iid the Omnipoient oiler lo U'n own chosen servan's a
hope beyond the imiias^abte limits of this w-rld.
Where, then, is the salvation of which Ihe Chri^iaa
spoke? or, if Death be at ihe root of the fai;h, can
Life spring out of it ?"
\g<in, in the bi'ternesa of diappHintment, did I
mock at mv own willing self-delusion — again rail at
the arts ol"th»t traitress, Fancy, ever reidy. like the
Delilah of itiis wondrous book, to seal upnn the slum-
bers of Reason, and deliver him up, shorn and power-
les?, lo his foes. If deception, thouglit i, be neces-ary.
at least Ic( me not practise it on ni>self j — in the do
perale alternative befure me, let me rather be even
hypocrite than dupe.
■■"hese self-accusing reflections, cheerless as they
rendered my la^k, did not abate, for a single moment,
my industry in pursuing it. 1 retd on ai.d on, « iih a
sort of sullen apathy, neiiher charmed by style, nor
tnosported by imagery — ihe fatal blight in niy heart
having communicated itself to mv imiginalion and
laste. The curses and the blessings, the glory and the
ruin, which the historian rec irded and the prophet
had predicted, seemed all (f this wo !d— all tempoial
and earthly. That mortality, iT which the fountain-
head had ta.-^ted, tinged the whole stream; and when
I read the words, "all are of -he dusi. and all turn to
dust agiiii,"a a feeling, like the wind of the desert.
I came wilheringly over me. Love, Beauty, Glory,
everything most bright and worshipped upon eailh,
appi^ared lo be smking before my eyes, under this
dreadful doom, into one general mass of corruption
I and silence.
I Fosses ul by the image of desolation I bad thus
called up, 1 laid my head upon the book, in a paioxy-^m
jof desp.ir. Death, >n all his mosi glias'ly varieties,
passed before me ; and 1 h^d continued thus for some
lime, as under the inllueiice of a feaiful vibion, when
the touch of a hand upon niy shoulder roused me.
Looking up, 1 saw tlie Anchoret standing by my side ;
his ciiuntenance beaming with 'hat sublime tranquil-
lity, which a hope, beyond iliis earlh, alone can
bestow. How I did envy him !
We again took our way to Ihs seat upon the moun-
tain — the gloom within my own mind making
everything around me nioie gloomy. Forgetting my
hypocri>y in my feehngs, i proceeded a' once lo make
an s.voi«al lo liini of ail the doubts and fears which
my s'udy of the morning had awakened.
*' Tbon art yel, my son," he answered, *'but on the
threshold of our faith, 'ihou hast seen but ihe fiisl
ru'lintei.ts of the Divine plan j — its full and consmn-
maie perieciion hath not )et opened ufrnn thy mind.
However glorious that manifestati n of Divinity on
Mount Sinai, it was but the fnrerunner of snoiher,
shil more glorious, which, in the fulness of time, was
lo burst up in the world j when all, that before had
seemed dim and incomplete, was to be perfected, and
the p onuses, shadowed out by ihe ' spirit of prophecy,*
realised ;— when the seal of'silence, under which Ihe
Future had so long lain, was lo be broken, and the
glad itdmg; of life and immorlatitv proclaimed to the
world :"
Objerving my features brighten at these words, the
pinns man ciiniinued. Anticipating ^nnie of (he holy
knowledge thai was in siore for me, he tjaced, through
all its wonders and mercies, the great work of Re-
demption, dv\elling in detail upon every miraculous
circumstance connected with it— the exalted nature of
the Being, by whose ministry it was accomplished, Ihe
nobles' and first crea'ed of "ihe Sons of God,* inferior
only. lo the one, seT-existeiit Father; — the mysterious
incarnation of this heavenly messenger ;— the miracles
that authentic ited his divine mission; — the example
' taken of it by
eloquent work.
lit are
salion agrees very much with tlie vie
Dr. Sumner, in the fir^t chapters of hi
the " Kecorda of the Crea ion.'»
1 In the original, Ihe discourses of the Hi
given much more at lengb.
^"Il is impossible to deny," says Dr. Sumner,
*Mhat the sanctions f.f the Mosaic Law are alt-gether
'emporai li is, indeed, one of the facts that
can only be explained by acknowledging that he
really acted under a Divine commi sion, promulgating
tempnrary law fur a peculiar pmpo-e''— a much
nnre candid and sensible wayof Iieating this very
difficult pomt, than by either endeavouring, like War-
burton, to e-cape from it iu'o a parid'X. or, still
worse, contriving, like Dr. Graves, to increa-e its dif-
ficulty by explanatinn. Vide -^ On the Psntatench."
See also Home's Introduclifm, &c., vol. i., p. 220.
3 While Voltaire. Volney, Aic, refer to the Eccle-
siastes, as abounding with tenets of materialism and
Epicunain, Mr. Des Vceux and others find in it strong
proofs of belief in a future slate. The cliief difficulty
lies in the chapter from which (h.s text is quoted;
and the mode of cn^tructioii by which some writers
attempt to get rid of it — namely, by putting these
texts into the mouth of a foolish reasoner — appears
forced and gr ituitnus. Vide Dr. HaUs's Analysis.
< This opinion of the Hermit may be supposed to
have been derived from his master, Orige)i; but it is
not easy to ascertain the exact doctrine of Origen on
this subject. In the Treatise on Prayer attributed to
him, he a^ser's Ihat God the Father alone should be
invoked— which, says Bayle, is to "encherir sur lee
HL-resns6 den Socmens.'" Notwithstanding this, how-
ever, and S'me other indicationsof, what v*as after-
wards called, Arianism, (such as the opinion of the
divinity being received by cormnunicationy which
Milner asseris to have been held by this Father,)
Origen was one nf the au horilies quotrd by Alhana-
siu^ m support of his high doctrines of co-eternily and
co-essentiality. What Priestly says is, perhaps, the
best solution of these inconsis!encies : — " Origen, as
well as Clemens Alexandrinus, has been thought to
favour Ihe Arian principles; but he did it only in
words, and not in idea^.*' — £/iWi/ Opinions^ ' 9i.c.
Whatever uncertainty, however, Ihere may exist with
respect to the opinion of Origen himself on Ihii sub-
ject, there is no doubt that Ihe doctrines of his imme-
diate followers were, at least, Anti-Anthanasian. *'So
miny B'shops of Africa," says Priestley, •' were, at
this period (between the year 255 and 25SJ. Unitarians,
that Aihanasius says, • 'Ihe Son of God* — meaning his
divini'y— ' was scarcely any longer jrtached in the
churches.' "
THE EPICUREAN.
501
of Obedience to God and lo\e to man, which he set, as
a>hining light, before (he world forever ;— and, lastly
and cliibtly, his deaih aitd resuneclion, by which the
covenant of ineicy »a». sealed, and *Mife ai;d iinmor-
taliiy brought to li?hl."
*'J>uch, "continued the Hermit, *' was Ihe Mediator,
proihiscd Ihn.u^h ail time, * lu ni.iKe recoiiciliaiion
Lr iniquity,' to change di^ath into life, and briris
Miealmg on his win^^' to a darkened world. Such
was the last crowning di8pen^atlon of that God of
benevtdenct?, in whose hands ^in and death aie hut
iiislrunrtiits of everU>ting good, and who, througl
appaitnt evil and temporary retribution, bringing al'.
thiiijjs >oul of darkness into his marvellous light,'
proceeds watclifuUy and unchangingly to Ihe great,
iioal object of his providence— ihe restor-Uion of Ihe
whole human lace to pur.ty :*nd happiness !''*
With a mind astoniahtd, if not touched, by the*e
disc UTftCs, I leturned to my cave, and found the lamp,
its hefoie, ready lighted to leceive me. The volume
which 1 h.id been hitherto studying, was replaced by
another, v\ hich lay open upon the table, with a brmcti
ot Irt-sh |i,ilni be ween I's leave^. 1 hough 1 could not
d'ubt to whoe gentle and guardian hand 1 uas iudeb!-
ed for this inviMble waiciifulness over my siudies,
there w.is yet a something in it, s'> like spiniual inter-
piisilion, th -t it struck, me with awe ;— and never more
than al this moment, when, on approaching the
volume, 1 saw, as the light glistened over jis silver
letters,* that it was Ihe very Book of Life of which
the Heimit had tpoken !
The midnight hymn of the Christians had sounded
through the valley, before 1 had yet raised my ey
from that sacred volunte ; and the second hour of the
found me ag.iin over iis pages.
CHAPTER XVni.
mode of existence 1 had now passed some
ly mornings devoted to reading, niynighis to
under Ihe wide canopy of heaven, to the
holy eloquence of Melanius. The perseveiance with
Id thi!
days;-;
1 This benevolentdoctrine— which ont onlygoes far
to srdve Ihe problem nf moral and physical evil, but
which would, if received more gener:»lly, tend to
soften the spirit (( uncharilableness, >o fatally preva-
lent among Christian sects— was maintained by ihal
gieat light of the early Church, Origen, and has not
wanted supporters among nioie modern 'Iheologians.
That Tillolson was inclined to (he opinion appears
from his Rcrmon preached before the queen. Paley is
supposed to have held Ihe same aniiable doctrine; and
NevNton (Ihe author of the woikon the Prophecies) is
also among ihe supporters of ii. For a full account
of the arguments in favour of this opinion, derived
both from reason and Ihe express language of Scrip-
ture, see Dr. Sfuthwood Smithes very interesting
work, '* On the Divine Government." See also Ma^ce
on Mnnement, wheie Ihedcc!rine of the advocates
of Universal Kestoiatinn is thus brielly, and, I believe,
fairly explained :— *' Beginning with the existence of
an inhnitety powerful, v\ ise, and good Being, as tlie
fir^t and fundamental pnixiple of ra'innnl 'religion,
they pronounce the essence of this Being to be love,
and fiom this infer, as a demnnslrahle consequence,
that none of the creatures formed by such a Being will
ever be made eternally tni er'ble Since God
(Ihey say) would act unjustly in inflicting eternal
misery for temporary crimes, the svilferinga of ihe
wicked can be but remedial, and will terniii ate
complete puritication from moral di-.order, and in their
ultimate restoration to virtue and happiness."
a The Codex Cotlonianus of the New Testament
written in silver letters on a purple ground. T!
Codtx Cotlonianus of the Septiiagint version of il
Old Testament is supposed to bi the idemical copy
that belonged to Oiigen.
which I inquired, and Ihe quickness with which I '
learned, soon succeeded in deceiving my benevolent I
instructor, who mistook curiosity for zeal, and know,
ledge for behef, Alas ! cold, and barren, and earthly I
was that knowledge— the wnrd without the spirit, the
Ihout the life. Even when, as a relief from
hypocrisy. I persuaded myself that 1 believed, it was
bul a brief delusion, a failh, whose hope crumbled al
e touch — like the fruit of the desert-shrub, 3 shin
d empty 1
But, ihough my soul was still dark, the good Hen
w not into its dep-hs. The very facility of my be-
;f, which might have suggested some doubt of its
iicerity, was but regarded, by his innocent zeal, a
ore signal triumph of Ihe truth. His own ingt
ousness led him to a ready trust in others; and Ihe
examples of such conversion as that of Ihe philOM
pher Jus'in, uho, during a walk by the sea-shor
received the light into liis soul, had prepared hii
for illuminations of Ihe spirit, even more rapid than
mine.
During all this time, I neither saw nor heard of
Aleihe ;— nor could niy jwtience have endured through
so long a privation, hid nol th'Se mute vestiges of her
presence, that welcomed me every night on my re-
turn, niade nie feel thai I \vas still living under her
gentle iiiriuence, and that her sympathy hung round
every step of my p'Ogre-.s. Once, too, when I \
tured to speak her name to Melanin-, though he an-
swered noi niy inquiry, there was a smile, i though',
of promise upon his countenance, which love, ftr
more alive than falih, was re»dy to interpret aa it
desired.
At length — it was on the sixth or seventh evening
of my solitude, when I lay resting al Ihe door of my
cave, afler the study of the day — I was startled by
hearing my name called loudly from the opposite
rocks; and looking up, siw, upon tlie cliff near
deserted groMos, Mel-mius and — oh I I could not
doubl— my Alelhe by his side !
1 hough I had never, smce the first night of my
return from the desert, ceased to flatter myself i
the fancy that 1 was still living in her presence, the
actual sight of her once m'tre made me feel for v "
long ase we had been separated. She was clothed
1 in white, and, as she stood in the last remaii
e sunshine, appeared lo my too prophetic fancy
te a parting spirit, whose last footsteps on earth
that pure glory encircled.
With a delight only to be imagined, I saw them
descend Ihe rocks, and, placing themselves in the
bo4i, prnceed diieclly towards mv ca\e. To dis-
guise from Melanius the mutual delight with which
we again met %vas impossible ; — nor did Alethe even
attempt to make a secret of her joy, Thoogli lilush-
ing at her own happiness, as little could her frank
na ure conceal it, as the clear waters of Ethiopia can
hide their gold. Every look, everv word, hes|)Oke a
fulness of affection, to which, doubtful as I was of
our tenure of happiness, I knew not ho\v to respond.
I was not Jong, however, left ignorant of the
bright fate that awaited me; hut, as we wandered
or rested among Ihe rocks, learned every thing that
had been arranged since our parting. She ha.l ii
the Hermit, 1 found, acquainted with all that had
passed helv\cen us; had told him, without reserve
every incident of our voyage— Ihe avowals, the de
monstrations of afTection on one side, and the deep
sentiment that gratitude had awakened on the other.
Too wise to regard affections so natural with severity
— knowing that they were of heaven, and but made
evil by man — the good Hermit had heard of our
attachment with pleasure; and, fully satisfied, as to
the honour and purity of my views, by the fidelity
wilh wlitch I had delivered my trust into his hands,
saw, in niy affection for the young oiphan, but a
providential resource against that friendless solitude
in which his death mnsl soon leave her.
a Vide Hamilton's ^sryptiac€i.
502
THE EPI C U REAN,
As, IJs'eiiiiig eagerly, I ci'llecled these particulars
from their discourse, 1 could hardly trust my ears.
Il seeiiied a ha[^i|jjnc&b loo great to be true, to be real ;
uor can M-ords convey auy idea of Ihe joy, Ihe ^hame.
the wonder wilh which I hsiened while the holy man
himselt dechircd ihat he awaired but the momen',
when he stiuuld find me woriliy of hccomirjg a mem-
ber of \hc Lhi ibtian Church, to give me also the hand
of Alelhe in that ^^acred i.iiion, which aIo«e sanctities
tove, and makes the faith, which ii pledges, iioly.
Jt was bul yesterday, he added, that hisynung charge,
heisdf, after a preparation of prajer and repentance,
such as even her pure spirit required, had been ad-
niilled, by Ihe sacred ordinance of baptism, into ilie
bosom of the faiihj — and the while garment slie
wore, and the ring of gold on her finger,» '* wtre
symbols," he added, "of iliat New Life into which
she had been initialed "
i raised my eyes to hers as he spoke, but withdrew
them again, dazzled and cunfused. Even her beauty,
to my iniaginaiion, seemed to have undergone some
brighlenuig change j and Ihe conirast between that
open and happy counteiirtnce, and the unblest brow
of the infidel thai siood belbre her, abashed me into
a sense of imworthineits, and aUnos: checked uiy
rapture.
To that night, however, I look back, as an epoch
in my eJi:istence. It proved that soriow is not the
only awakener of devotion, but that joy may some-
times quicken the holy spark into life. Returning to
my cave, with a heart full, even lo oppression, of lis
happiness, I could find uo olher relief to my over-
charged feelings, than that of throwing myself on my
knees, and u:tciing, for the first lime m my life, a
heail-fell prayer, thai if, indeed, there were a Being
who waiched over mankind, he would send down one
ray of his triKh into my darkened soul, and make it
wurihy of Ihe blessings, both here and lieieafler,
proffered to it !
My dajs now rolled on in a perfect drearn of hap-
piness. Kvery hour of the mornius uas welcomed
as bringing nearer and nearer the tiiest time of sun-
set, when the Hermit and Alelhe never failed to visit
my now charmed cave, ulieie her smile lefs at each
parlmg, a light Ihat lasted till her return. 'Jhen,oi,r
rambles, logeiher, hy st.irlighi, over the mounlain ;
our pauses, trom time to iinje. to contemplate ihe
wonders of the bright heaven above us; (jur repose
by liie cistern of the r.'ck. and oi.r silent lisienmg,
through hours Ihat seemed minute-*, to the holy elo.
quence of our teacher ;— all, all »as h.ippiness of Ihe
most heartfelt kind, and such as even ihe doubts, the
cold lingering doubts, that still hung, like a mist,
around my heari, could neuher cloud nor chill.
A& soon as the moonlight nights relumed, we used
to venture into the desert; and those sands, which
had l.itely luoked so desolite, in my eyes, now as-
sumed even a cheeiful and smiling aspect. To the
light, innocent heart of Aletlie, every thing was a
source cf enjoyment. For her, even Ihe desert had
ils jewels and Doweis; and, sometimes, her delight
was to search among the sands for iho'.e be.iuuful
pebbles of jasper^ tlul abound in them ;— sometimes
her eyes would sparkle wilh pleisure on finding,
perhaps, a stunted maitgnld, or one of those biiter,
scarlet flowers.a [hat lend their dry mockery of orna-
ment to the desert, ia all these pursuits and plea-
1 See, for the cu-^lom among the early Christians of
wearing white for a few days after bap'i-m. ^mbros.
de Myst.—WHU respect ti. the ring, the Biah' p of
Lincoln says, in his work on 'I'ertuHian, ••'ihe
natural inference from these words {TatuU. dc Pudi-
citia) appears to be, that ?i ring used to be given in
baptism ; but 1 have f:und no other trace of such a
custom."
4 Vide Clarke.
3 '' Les Me'iemhi-yanlhemum nodijlonim et Zy^c
phythim cncci/teiim, phmtei gra>ses des deserts, re-
! jetees, a cause de leur acrele, par les cliameaux, les
Bures the good Hermit took a share — mingling occa-
sinually with Ihem the reflections of a benevolent
piety, that lent iis own cheerful hue to all the works
of cVea ion. at.d saw the consoling truth, **God is
Love," written legibly every where.
Such was, for a few weeks, my blissful life. Oh,
mornings of hope, oh, nights of hajipiness, with
what n,elanch<>Jy pleasure do I retrace your flight,
and how reluctantly pass to the sad events tliat fol-
lowed !
IJuring this time, in complinnce with Ihe wishes
of Melanius, who seemed unwihing that I should
become wholly estranged frnm the world, I used
occ.isionally lo pay a visit to the neighbouring city,
Antinoe,^ which, being the capital of the 'Ihebaid,
is the centre of all the luxury ot Upper Egypt. But
here, so changed was my every feeling by the all-
absorbing passion which now possessed me, Ihat I
sauntered along, wholly uninterested by ei her the
scenes or the people that surrounded me, and, sigh-
ing for that rockv s^'Iitude where my Alethe breathed,
felt this 10 be the wilderness, and Ifiat the world.
Even the thoughts of my own native Athens, Ihat at
every s'ep were called up, by the light Grecian arclii-
tectuVe of^this imperial city, did not awaken one
single regret in niy heart— one wish to exchange even
an hour of m\ desert for llie best luxuries and honours
that awaitid me in the Garden. I saw the aiches of
triun'phj — I walked under the superb portico, which
encircles the \\hole city vvith its marble shade ;— I
sto d in the Circus of the Sun, by whose rose-coloured
pillars the mysterious movements of Ihe Nile are
Pleasured ; — on all these proud monumenis of glory
and art, as well as oei Ihe gay muliiiude Ihat enlivened
Ihein, 1 looked wilh an utiheeding eye. If they
awakened in me any thought, it \vas Ihe mournful
idea, Ihat, one day, like Thebes and Heliopolis, this
pageant would pass away, leaving nothing behind but
a few mouldering ruins — like sea-.shells found where
the ocean has been— lo tell thai the great tide of Life
was once there 1
But, though indifferent thus to all Ihat had formerly
attracted nie, there were suljec's, once alien to my
heart, on wliich it wis now most tremblingly alive;
and iome rumours which had reached me, in one of
my visits to the city, of an exi)ecied change in Ihe
policy of the Emperor towards ihe Christians, tilled
my mind wiih aiiprehensjons as new as Ihey were
dreadful 'o me.
The toleration and even favour which the Chris-
tiin'i enjoyed, during tbt- first four years of ihe reign
of Valerian, had removed from them all fear of a re-
newal ol th"se hnrroTS, which they had experienced
under ihe rule of h'S predecessor, Decius. <.)f late,
however, some less friendly dis[iosit|nns hid manifesied
themselves. The bigots of the court, taking alarm ai
the rapid spread of Ihe new faith, had succeeded in
filling ihe miitd of Ihe monarch with thai relieinus
jealousy, which is the ever-ready parent of cruelty and
injuslice. Among these counsellois of evil was Ma-
crianus, Ihe Fraelonan Prefect, who was, by birth, an
Eg\ptian, and had long made himself notorious — so
akin is superstition to intolerance— by his addiction to
the dark jiraciices of denion-uorship and magic.
From ihis minister, who was now high in Ihe fa-
vour of Valerian, the new measures of severity against
the Christians were expected to emana'e. Alltongties,
in all quarters, were busy uith the news. In the
streets, in Ihe public ga-deiiS, on the steps of Ihe tem-
ples, I s iw, ever) where, groups of inquirers collec'ed,
and heard ihe name of Maciianus up">Ti every tongue.
It w.ts dreadful, too, to observe, in Ihe ciunlenances
(f those who spoke, the vaiieiy of feeling with which
the rumour was discussed, according as they feared or
de-ired i^s tiuth— acdrding as they were likely to be
among ihe toiiurers or ihe victims,
chevres, et les gazelles."— VJ/. DelUe upon the Plant*
of Egypt-
* Vide Suvary and Qttatremere,
THE EPICUREAN,
303
s[lnu^al pledge, 1
Alarmed, though still ignorant of the whole cxieot
of the danger, 1 hurried hack lu the ravine, and, going
at nnce to the grollu of Mel.iniU9, detailed to hiiii
every particular of the intelligence 1 had collected.
He lis ened to me willi a crimpoaure, which 1 n.i!.luok,
alls ! for confidence iii his own securi'y ; and, naming
the hour tor our evening walk, reiired into his grollo.
At the accusioined time, acc<inip:)ii)ed by Aleihe, he
came to my cave. It was evident that he h^id not
coniniuiiic.ited to her the intelligence which 1 had
brought, for never hith brow «oin such happiness as
that which now played around hers ; — it uas, alas I
?io( of this earth. Melaniu-, himself, though com-
posed, was thoughtful ; and the solemnity, almost ap-
proiching to inel iiicholyj with ivhich he placed the
hand of Aletlie in mine — ID the performance, too. of a
ceremony that ought to have filled my heart wiih joy
— ^iddened and al.irnied me. 'I'l is ceremony was our
beirothment, ihe act if pli,.;hliig our lailh to eacli
olher, winch we now solemnised on the rock before
Ihe door of my cave, in Ihe face of that calm, sunset
heaven, whose one star stood
blessing from the llermil up
Iil.iced Ihe i ing — Ihe earnest
her hnger ; and, in the blush, nun »liicli she su ren-
dered to me her whole heart al that ine'ant, forgot
everything but uiy happiness, and felt secure even
against fate !
We took our accustomed walk, that evening, over
the rocks and on ihe desert, bo bright was the moon
— more like the davliglit, indeed, of o'her climes —
that we could plainly see ihe tracks of Ihe wild ante-
lopes in Ihe sand; and it was not without a sligln
liemble of feeling in his voice, as if soDie melancholy
aiLilogy occurred to htm as he spoke, that Ihe good
llermil said, *' i liave observed ill the course of my
walks,' that wherever the track of that gentle animal
appears, there i>, almost always, found the fool-print
ot a htast of prey near it." Me reg.iined, however,
his usual cheeilulness before we parted, and fixed ihe
following evening for an excursion, on the other side
of the ravine, to a point looking, he said, "towards
that norlheru region of the de>ert, where Ihe hosts of
Ihe Lord encamped in Ibeii drpanure uut of bondage. *
'J'liongh, when Alethe was present, all my fears
even for herself were forgotten in I hat perpetual ele-
ment of happiness, which encircled her like Ihe air
that she breathed, no sooner was 1 alone, than vague
teirors and bodings crowded upon me. In vain did 1
endeavour !c leasoti away my (ears, by dwelling only
on the most clieei ing ciicuii.slances — on Ihe'reve-
rence with which Mclanius was rtgarded, even by
the Pagans, and the invinlale security with which he
had lived through the most perilous periods, not only
safe himself, but atfVirding s.uictuary in the depths of
his grottos to others. 'I'hough somewhat calmed bv
these consider ilions, yet when al length I sunk off to
slee)), diik, horrible dreams took possession of my
niiiid. Scenes of death and of torment passed con-
fusedly before me; and, when 1 awoke, it was with
the fearful imiaession that all these horrors were
real.
CHAPTER .\- 1 X .
Al length, the day dawned — that dreadful day.
Inipa'ieiit to be relieved from my su^pietise, 1 threw
myself inio niy bout— the same in which we had per-
formed our ha] ipy vo\age — and, as fast as oars could
speed me, hurried away to :he city. I fnund the sub.
urbs silent and solil.iiy, bu', as I approached Ihe
Forum, loud yells, like those of barbarians in combat,
struck on my ear, and, when I entered it— grcal God,
what a spectacle presented itself! The imperial edict
, avec une reflexion trisle, qu'un
: ace 'mpagne presque toujours les pas
agiinst the Christians had arrived during the night,
and alreadv the wild fury of bigotry was let loose.
Under acanopy, in the middle of the Forum, was
the tribunal of Ihe Governor. Two statues — one of
Apollo, the other of Osiris— stood at the boiloni of the
rleps that led up lo his judgment-seat. Before these
idols were slirines, to which tlie devoted Christians
weie diagged Ironi all quarters by the soldiers and
mob, and there compelled to recant, by throwing in-
cense into the ti.inie, or, on their refusal, hurried
away to torlure and death. It was an appalling
scene ; — the consternalion, the cries of some of the
viclims — the pale, silent resolution of others ;— Ihe
fierce shouts of laughter that bri.ke from the multi-
tude, when the dropping of the frankincense on the
altar proclaimed some denier of Christ ;2 and the
ficnd-like triumph wilh which the courageous Con-
fessors, who avowed their laith, were led away to llie
dimes, — never could 1 have conceived such an assem-
blage of horrors !
Though I gazed but for a few minutes, in those
minute- I felt and fancied enough foi years. Already
did Ihe fnriii of Aletlie appear Icfiit before me Ihroush
that tumult;- I heard ihem shout her name ;— her
shr iek fell on my ear ; and the very Ihoughl so palsied
me w ith terror, that I stood fixed and slalue-like on
Ihe spot.
Uectdlrcting, however, the fearful preciousness of
every moineiit, and that — perhaps, at this very in-
stant-S'.nie emissaries of blood might be on their way
lo the Grottos, I rushed wildly out of Ihe Forum, and
made my way to the quay.
1 he streeis were n^w crowded j but I ran headlong
through the multitude, and was alieady under the
porlico leading down lo the river — alieady saw the
boat that was to bear me to Alctlie— when a Centurion
stood sternly in my path, and 1 was surrounded and
arrested by soldiers ! It was in vain that i implored,
that I struggled with Ihem as for life, as-uring them
that I was a stranger— that I was an Athenian- thai
1 was — )io( a Christian. The jirecipitaiion of my
flight was sulliclei.t evidence against me, and unre-
lentingly, and by force, Ihey bore nie away to the
qiiarleis of their Chief.
It was enough to drive nie at once lo madness!
Two hours, two frighlful hours, was 1 ke|it waiting
the arrival of the 1 ribnrie of iheir Legion 3— my brain
burning with a thousand fears and imaginations,
which every passing ininule made hut more likely to
be realized. All I could collect, ton, from the con-
veisattniis (if those around ine but added to the agonis-
ing appreliensioiis with which 1 was racked. 'I'roops,
it was said, had been seiii in all directions through the
nei'tibnurhood, to briig in the rebellious Christians,
ai«fniake 'hem bow before the Gods of the Empite.
Wilh horror, ton, 1 heard of llrcus— Drcus, the High
Priest of Memphis — as one of ihe principal inslig.i-
tors of this sanguinary edict, and as here present lu
Antinne, animating and directing ils execulion.
In this sae of torlure 1 remained till ihe arrival of
the Tribune. Absorbed in mv own thouehls, 1 had
not perceived his enlrance;— till, hearing a voice, in
a tone of friendiv surprise, exclaim, "Alciphron !" 1
lo'iked up, and in ihis legi'iiary Chief recognised a
young Roman of rank, who had held a military com-
mand, ihc year befnre. al Alliens, and was one of ihe
most distinguished visiters of ihe Gaiden It was no
lime, however, for courtesies: — he was proceeding
with all CTdialily lo greet me, but, having heard him
order my instant release, I could wail for no nioie.
» " Those Christians who sacrificed lo idols to save
themselves were c .lied by vai ious names, Tliurificnii,
Sncrificati, MilUnles. Ne/iaturcs." he. liaronins
mentions a bishop of this peiiod r253), Marcellinus,
who. yielding lo the threats of ihe Gentiles, ihiew
incense upon Ihe alar. Vide Arnob. contra Omt.
lib. vii.
3 A rank, reseiribUng that of Colonel.
504
THE EPI C U REAN,
Acknowledging his kindness but by a grasp of the
hand, I (tew off. like niie fiantic, rhrongh ihe elreets,
and, in a few mimites, was on the livcr.
My sole hope hid been to reach the Grottos before
any of the detached parties should arrivt;, and, by a
timely flighi across the desert, rescue, at least, Alethe
from their fury. The ill-f.iled delay that had occurred
rendered Ihis hope alninst de>perale ; but thefrmquil-
lity I found evtryuhire f.s 1 pmceeded down ihe
river, and my foi:d confidence in the sacredness of rhe
Hermit's retreat, kept my heart from sinking altoge-
ther under i!s terrors.
Between the cm rent and my oars, the boat fiew,
with the speed of « ind, alung the Maters ; and I was
already near the mcks of Ihe ravine, when I saw,
lurniiigoul of Ihe canal into the river, a barge crowded
wiih people, and glitiering with r.rnis '. How did I
ever survive the shock of that sight? The oars
dropped, 3.$ if struck out of my hand-, into the water,
and I sat, helplessly gazing, as that terrific vision
approached. In a few miuufes, the current brought
us together; — and I saw, on (he deck of the barge,
Alelhe herself and the Hermit surrounded by soldiers !
We were already pas-im^ each other, uhen, wiifi
a desperate effort, I spiang from my boat and lighted
upon the edge of their vessel. 1 knew not whal I did,
for despair was my only prompter. Snatching at Ihe
sword of one of the soldieis, as 1 stood tollering on the
edge, I had succeeded in wresting it out of his hands,
when, at the same moment, J received a thrust of a
lance from one of his comrades, .ind fell b.ickward
into Ihe river. I can just remember rising again and
making a grasp at the side of the vessel ;— but the
shock, and the faintness from my wnund, deprived
me of all consciousness, and a shriek from Alelhe, as
I sunk, is all I can recollect of what followed.
Would I hid then died ! —Yet, no. Almiglify Being
— I should have died in darkness, and I have livtd to
know Thee !
On reluming to my senses, I f.iund myself reclined
on a couch, in a splendid apartment, the whole ap-
pearance of which being Grecian, I, for a moment,
forgot alt that had passed, and imagined myjelf in my
own home at Athens. Hut too soon the whole dread-
ful ceriamty flashed upon me ; and, s'arting wildly —
disabled as I was— from niy couch, I cilled loudly,
and w iih the shriek of a maniac, upon Alelhe.
I was in the house, I ihen f^und, of my friend and
disciple, the young 'Iribune, who had m.ide Ihe Go-
vernor acquainted with niy name and condition, and
had received nie unu'er his roof, when brought, oleed-
ing and insensible, to Antinoe. From him I mnv
learned at once — for I could not wait for details — the
sum of all that had happened in ihat dreadful mte'-val.
Meianius was no more — Alelhe still alive, but in
"Take me to her" — I had but time to say — »' take
me to her instanily, and let me die by her side" —
when, nature again failing under such shocks, I re-
tapbed into insensibility. In this state I continued for
near an hour, ;)nd, on recovering, found the 1 ribune
by my side. The horrors, he said, of ihe Forum
were, for that day, over— but what the morrow might
bring, he shuddered to contemplate. His naluie, it
was plain, revolted from the inhuman duties in which
he was engaged. Touched by the agonies he saw me
suffer, he, in some degree, relieved them, by pro-
mising that I should, at night fall, be conveyed to the
prison, and, if pos^ible, through his influence, gain
access to Alethe. She might yet, he added, be saved,
could I succeed in persuading her to coniply « ilh the
terms of Ihe edict, and make sacrifice to the Gods.—
"Otherwise," said he, "there is no hope ;— Ihe vin-
dictive Orcus, who h^s resisted even this short respite
of mercy, will, to-motrow, Inexorably demand his
prey."
He ihen related to me, at my own request— though
every word was torture— all the harrowinj details of
the proceeding before the Tribunal. "I have seen
courage," said he, *' m its noblest forms, in the held ;
but the calm intrepidity with which that aged Hermit
endured torments— which it was hardly less torment
lo witness— surpassed all that I cou!d have conceived
ofhiinian fortitude!"
My poor Alelhe, too— in describing to me her con-
duct, the brave man wept like a child. Overwhelmed,
he said, at first by her apprehensions fur my safely,
she had given way to a full burst of womanly weak-
ness. But no sooner was she brouaht before ihe in-
bunal.and the dtcl.ira'ion of her faith was demandt-d
of her, than a spirit almost superna'uial seemed to
animate her whole form. 'Stie raised her eyes,"
said he, *' calmly, but with fervour. In heaven, while
a blush was the only sign of mortal feeling on her
features ;— and the clear, sweet, and untiembling
voice, with wliich she pronounced her own doom, in
the words, M am a Christian !' » sent a thrill of ad-
miration and piiy throughout the multitude. Her
youih, Iier loveliness, affected all hearis, ai d a cry of
•Save the young maiden !' was heard in all direction^."
The implacable Orcus, however, would not hear of
mercy. Ke-ei-l.ng, as it appeared, with all his dead-
'iest rincnur, n"t only her own escape from his toils,
but the aid wiih which she had, so faialiy lo his
views, assisted mine, he demanded loudly and in (he
name of ihe insulted sanctuary of Isis, Iier instant
death. It was but by the firm intervention of the
Governor, who shared the general svuipalhy in her
fa'e, Ih.it the delay of another day was' granted to give
a chance to the young maiden of yet recalling her
confession, and thus affording some pretext for saving
her.
Even in yielding, wjth evident reluctance, to this
re'^pite, the inhuman Priest would yet accomi;any il
with some mark of his vengeance. Whether for the
pleaure {observed the Tribune) of mingling mockery
with his cruelly, or as a warning to her of ihe dooni
she must ultimately expect, he gave orders that there
should be tied round her brow one r-f those chaplets of
coral,'^ with which it is the custom of young Christian
maidens to array themselves on the day of their mar-
tyrdom ; — "and, thus fearfully adorntd," said he,
"^he was led away, amidst Ihe gaze of the pitying
multiude, lo prison.*'
With these harrowing details the short interval till
nightfall — every minute of which seemed an age —
was occupied. As sonn as it grew dask, I was placed
upon a litter — my wound, though not dangerous, re-
quiring such a conveyance — and, under the guidance
of my friend, I was conducted lo ihe prison. Through
his interest \vith theguird, we were without difficulty
admitted, and I was borne into the chamber where the
maiden l^y immuied. Even the veleian guatdian of
the place seemed touched with compassion for his
I)risoner, and supposing her to be asleep, had the litter
placed gently near her.
She was half reclining, with her face hid beneath
her hands, upon a couch — at the foot of which stood
an idol, over whose hideous features a lamp of nap-
tha, that hung from the ceiling, shed a wild and
ghastly glare. On a table before the image stood a
center, with a small vessel of incense beside it — one
grain of which, thrown voluntarily into Ihe flame,
would, even now, save that precious life. So strange,
so fearful was the whole scene, that I almost doubted
its reality. Alethe ! my own, happy Alethe i caji il,
1 thought, be thou that I look upon ?
She now, slowly, and with difficulty, raised her
head from the couch, on observing which, the kind
Tribune withdrew, and we were left alone. There
was a paleness, as of death, over her features ; and
those eyes, which, when last I saw them, were but
* The merit of Ihe confession " Christianus sum,"
or "Christiana sum," was considerably enhanced by
the clearness and distinctness with \vhich it was pro-
nounced. EuselAits mentions the nuriyr Vetius as
making it XaitnpoTaTfj <p(iivij,
^ Une *'de ces couronnes de grain de corail, dont
les vierges martyres ornoienl leurs cheveux ei allant
a la mort."— Lts Martyrs.
THE EPICUREAN.
505
too bright, ton lappy for ihis world, looked dim and
sunken In raisiDg herself np, she put her hand, as
if ffoiii pain, lo lier iorehead, whose marble hi^e but
appeared more Jealh-like from those led bands tha!
lay so avvfuiiy across i'.
After wandering for a minute vaguely, her eyes at
length rested upon me —and, with a Bh::ek, halt ter-
ror, h.ilf joy, she sprung frum ihe conch, and sunk
upon her knees by my side. Stie hid believed me
dead ; and, even now, scarcely Irusted her senses.
"My hnsb.indl my love!** she exclainied; "oh, if
thou comesi to call me from ihis wi^rld, behold 1 am
ready 1" In saying thus, she pointed wildly lo that
ominous wreath, and then dropped her head down
upon my knee, as if an arrow had pieiced it,
"Alethe!'» 1 cned — lenified lo Ihe very snul by
(hat mysterious pang— and, as if the nound of my voite
h:id re-animaied her, she looked up, with a far*t
smile, in my face. Her thoughts, which had evidently
been wandering, became cdlected ; and in her ji>y at
my safety, her sormw at my sutiering, she fingot en-
tirely the fate that impended over her>elf. Love,
iimticent love, alone t>ccupied all her thoughts j and
ttie warmth, the afteciion, the devnttdness, with
which she spoke— oh how, at any itber moment, 1
would have blessed, have lingered upon every word !
Hut the lime tlew fast — that dreii-lful morrow was
approai-hihg. Aheady 1 saw her wri'hiiig in the
hands of the torturer — the flames, the racks *be
wheels were before my eyes! Half framic with the
fear that her re>oliition was fixed, I flung myself from
the litter in an agony *>( weeping, and supplicated her,
by the love she bore me, by the happiness hat awaited
us, by her own merciful Gnd, who was Ino good lo
require such a sacrihce — by all that Ihe most passinn-
ate anxitly could dic>ate, I implored that she winild
avert from us the doom that was coming, and — but for
once — comply with the vain ceremony demanded of
her.
Shrinking from me, as I spoke — but with a hok
more of sorrow than reproach — '* What, thnu, too I"
she said mournfulK — " thou, into whn^e inmost spirit
1 had fondly hoped the same hght had entered as into
my own ! No, never be thou leagued with them
who would tempt me to * make shipwreck of niv
faith !» Thou, who could^t alone bind me to life, use
noi, I entreat thee, thy power ; but let me die, as He
1 serve hath commanded— die for the Truth. Hemeni-
ber the holy lessons we heard together on those nights,
those happy nights, when both the present and fuiiire
smiled upon us- when even ihe gifi of eternal life
came more welcome to mys.»ul, from Ihe glad convic-
tion Ihal thou werl to be a sharer in its blessings ;—
shall I forfeit now thai divine privilege? shall 1 deny
the irue tiod, whom we tlien learned to love?
" No, my own betrothed,'' she continued— pointing
to the two rings on her finger—'' behnid these pledges
— they are both sacred. 1 should have heen as true
to ihee as I am now to heaven,— nor in that life 'o
which \ am hastening shall our love be forgotten.
Should the baptism of fire, through which I shall pa.s
to-morrow, nuke me wor hy to be heard before the
throne of Gtace, I will in'ercede for ttiy soul — I will
pray thai it nnyyet shart^ "iih mine that 'inherit-
ance, imnioiial and undefiled,* which Mercy oflVrs,
and thai thou — and my dear mother — and I "
She here dropped her voice ; the momentary ani-
mation, with which devotion and aflection h^d in-
spired her. vanished ;— and theie came a darkiies«
over all her features, a livid darkness— like the ap
preach of deaih— that made me shudder through everj
limb. Seizing iniy hand convulsively, and loo«ing at
me with a fearlul eat^eritess, as if anxious to hear
some consoling assurance from my own lips — "Be-
lieve me," she continued, ''not all (he fonnen's they
are preparing for me— not even this deep, burning
pain in my hrow. to which ihey will hardly hnd an
equal— could be half so dreadful to me, a» the tho'Jgbt
lliat 1 leave thee, wi-houi "
Here lier voice ag:un failed; her head sunk upon
y arm, and — meiciful God, let me forge' what i
en felt— 1 saw (hat she w..s dying! Whether I
lered any cry, I know not ;— but the Tiibune cime
lulling into niy chamber, and, looking on the maiden,
id. with a lace lull of horror, " It is but too true !"
He then told me in a low voice, what he hid just
arned from the guardian of the prison, that the band
round the young Christian^ brow i was— oh hoinhle !
a compound of the most deadly poison- Ihe hellish
venlion of Orcus, lo satiate his vengeance, and make
e fate of his poor victim secure. My first move-
ent was to untie 'hat fal;-.l wreath— but it would not
me away — it would not come away !
Housed by the pain, she again looked in my face;
but, unable to speak, took hastily from her bosom the
U silver cross which she had brought with her
I my cave. Having pressed it to her own lips,
she held it anxiously lo mine, and seeing me kis> ihe
holy symbol with fervour, looked happy and smiled.
The agony of death seemed to have passed away; —
there came suddenly over her features a heavenly
liilhi, some share of which I felt descending into my
own soul, and, in a few oiiuules more, she expired in
llcrc ends fht Mamiscript ; but, on the outer cover
is founds in the handwriting of a much later
period, the folVrwing Notice, extracted, as it ap-
pears, from some Egyptian martyrology : —
"Alciphron- an Epicurean philosopher, converted
to Christianity A- D. 257, by a young Kgyptian mai-
den, who surtered martyrdom in that year. Imme-
diately upon her death he betook hiniself to the desert,
and lived a life, it is said, of much holiness and peni-
tence. During the persecution under Dioclesian, his
sullerings for the faith were most exemplary; and
being at length, at an advanced age, condemned to
hard labour, for refusing lo comply with an Impei ial
edict, he died at the Brass Mines of Falesiine, A. D.
297. —
''As Alciphron held the opinions maintained since
by Arins, his memory h'^s not been spired by Athana*
sian writers, who, among oiher chirges, accuse him
of having been addicted to the snperstitioiMi of Egyp',
For Ihis calumny, however, ihere a|ipears to be no
belter foundation than a circumstance, recorded by
one of his biother monks, that there v^as found, alier
hi' deiih, a small melal mirror, like those used in the
ceremonies ot Isis, suspended around his neck."
t We find pnisontd crowns mentioned by Plijiy,
under the deMgnation of "corons ferales.*' Pascha-
hvs. too, givesthe following account of these " deadly
garland-," as he calls them : — "Sed miium i-st lam
;quitiam reperisse,
rent. Nen:pe, re-
I, quas dixi, lam
quoniodo ad nefarios u-i
perias sunt nefandas coron*; naiun., vju«* ^.-., ...•.
s.ilubriuni per nomen quidem el speciem imiatrices,
at re et etlectu ferales, alque adeo capitis, CUi ioipo-
nuntur, inlerfectrices." — Z)e Coronia,
43
506
ALGIPHRON,
ALCIPHRON: A FRAGMENT.
LETTER I .
FROM ALCIPHRON AT ALEXANDRIA TO
CLEON AT ATHENS.
Wetl may yon w
nder at my llipht
From Ihcee fail
(.iaulena, in whose bowert
XJngt-rs whatcVr
cif wise and bnglit.
Of Dfautv's sinil
or WiHiIiim'a Jii:ht,
Isl^rtlogia.e
his w.irld of ours.
Well may iny cor
nradee, an they roam.
Oh Burh sweet
nvvH BH this, inquire
Whv I have left
hat happv home
Where all is fn
jnd that all detiire,
And Time hath
wingH that never lire;
Where hUHn. in a
11 the countless shapes
That FaiK:y'i(Bt
If to blisB hath given,
Crimes cluareriiig
round, like road-Bide grapci
That wi-o the t
aveller's lip. at even;
Where Wisdom l
iijgs not j(.y away —
As Pallas In Ihe b
ream, Ihey say,
Once Ruhr her flu
le — but ainiling owns
That woman's lip
ran send forth tones
Worth all the
or those sphe
1 of, but
Where Virtue's self puts on eo well
Her sister pleasure's smile that. loth
From either nymph apart to dwell.
We finish by einbrfiiig both.
Vee, such the pla<
all who,
,vhile
i I just
• flo
And by the Nile's dark fluod recline.
Fondly, in thought, I wing my ftiglit
Back to those groves and gardens bright*
And often think, by this sweet light,
Hew lovelily they all must shine
Can see thatgracefu! temple throw
Down the green ulnpe its lengthen'd shade.
While, on the marhle steps betow,
There silH nome fair Athenian maid.
Over some favoiinte vohime bending;
And, by her side, a youthful s.ge
H* Ids bai-k the ringlelK that, desceuding.
Would else rVr.shiidow all the page.
But hence such thoughts I -- nor let me grieve
O'er ecenes of joy that I but leave.
As the bird quilB awhile its nest
To come again with livelier zest.
And now to tell Ihee — what I fear
Thou 'It gravely amile at - why I 'm here.
Though through my life's shoit, sunny dream,
I've flnaled wilhout pain or care.
Like a light leaf, down pleanure's Mtream,
Caught in each spHrkling eddy there;
Though never Mirth awaked s straiu
That my heart ei hoed imt again ;
Yel have I felt, when ev'n most gay,
a.ni ihouf-hls— I knew nut whenc
Suddenly o
IS, th
/ is'." shade thi
Were these strange djrk'mngs of my mind —
While nought hut jry around me beam'd
So causelessly Ihey 've come bd^I flown,
That not of life or earth they seem'd,
B<it shndowB from sume world unknown.
More oft. however, M was the thought
How soon that scene, with all iis pl.^y
Of life and gladneea munt dt-cuy —
Thnee lip^ I pre»t, the hands I taught —
Myself-- the crowd thai mirth had brought
Around me — swept like weeda away 1
This thought it was thai came to shed
0';r ranture's hour ita worst alluys;
ed
■why-
ky.
Ani!, c
Ills
adnrs
8 shaile
s wilh n
ly hap
Il.hiur, w
leBl Jiiya.
Oh, bi
lor
:hi9 ilish
part'n
Ig V.llCU
Stfa
'"IB
mid nur
mirth
IM .ay
That a
1, in
which «
e (ifjH
rej Mcf,
Kre
nie\<
may be
ihfen
Ba( r.
r Ihi
hiller-
-..lily
his —
Full aa
the
world is
biimm
'd with bl
And capable as feels my soul
Of draining to its dregs the whole,
I should turn earth to henv*n, anU be*
if blit)s made G(His, a Deity !
When
the ^
chool held
its feast of luirth
To celt
brale
our founder's b
rth.
And al
thai
He indre
ims b
t saw
V\he
u he
set I'leas-j
re on
;he throne
Of thin
bright world, a
:d wi
le her law
In b
Liman
hearts, w
s felt
and known —
A'ut in
unrt
Bl dreams.
but tr
Ue,
Substa
itial
oy as puis
e e'er
knew —
By hea
rts a
Qd bosoms
that t
a. h felt
Jlself the r
ealm whel
e riea
sure dwelt.
That n
phi,
when all o
ur mi
rth waa o'er,
The
rels eileni
and 1
le feet
or the
g maidens
heard
no more —
So s
illv
*as the tin
le. so
sweet,
And SI
eh a
calm ram
o'er
hat scene,
Where
life
and revel late lia
d been —
»thp
quiel of B
nme b
V,
From
*hich the sea h
ith eb
>M away —
That s
III I
inger'd. In
t in 1
lOUgllt,
Gazi
'8 U|
on the Bla
8 of n
ght,
Sad a
if 1 I
Elit
Some mournful secret in Iheir lighl|
And ask'd them, mid that silence, why
Man, glorious man. alone must die,
While Ihey, less wonderful then he.
Shine on through all eternity.
That night — thou haplv may'st forget
Its loveliness— but 'twas a night
To make earlh's mediiest slave rrgiet
On one side.
in Ihe da
tk bl
ue h
■y.
Lonely and radiant, wa
sihe
eye
Of Jove him
.If. while
, on
he other.
'Mong star
s that cai
le ou
Ion
e by one
The young a
oon— hi
e the
Ko
nau mother
Among he
»elB-
-Bh
one.
"Oh that fro
m yonder
orbs
" I Ihouif'iit
"Fure anil
eternal a
Ihey are
"There coul
(o earlh
p pov
ver be br
ought.
"Some charr
n. wilh t
eir (
ssesce r
auRht,
••To make
man deathless
as i
star,
•'And open
0 his vas
desi
■es
as bouni
ess
nd
ublime
"As that which waits
Ihos
CM
net-flre«,
"That bur
n and roa
m lb
oug
hout all time 1"
How
n-eet. still le;
I behind,
if to shew how
Came lulling o'er me. and I laid
My Iiinbs at that fair statue's base-
That miracle, which Art hath made
Of all thechuice of Nature's grace-
To which so oft I've knelt and sworn.
That, could a living m.id like her
Unto this wondering world be born,
I would, myself, turn woreliipper.
1 the:
rd far
ndle
To a bleak desert plain, where glenm-d
One single, melancholy ray,
Throughout thai darkness dimly fihej
From a small taper in the hand
Of one.
*ho
pale
as are
he dead.
Before
me
lo„k hi. .pe
liul stand.
And sai
, while,
wfullv
a smile
C-jme
o'er
Ihe \
vanne^s
of his cheek —
"Go. and. beside
le .acr
d Nile,
" You
'11 li
id Ih
' Elern
al Life you seek
Soon as
he s
poke
these V
ords. the hue
Ofd ath
o'er
all 1
is (eall
res grew
Like the
pal
mo
ning, w
hen o'er nifht
She gain
s th
vie
ory. fu
lof lighl;
Wh Ic 1
le sr
nail
orcli he held became
A glory
n b
s ha
d. who
se flame
ALCIPHRON.
r)07
Brighten 'd the desert luddenly,
Kv'n totlie far hor.zon's line-
Along whose level I coiiM see
Gardens and f:rnve5, that neeni'd to bhlne,
As if then u'er thera freshly pl&y'd
A venial rainbow's rich caarade ;
And musie lloated everywhere,
Circlin^r, iis 'i weie itself the air,
And 8|iirita, nii whose wings :he hu9'
or tieav'n Btill liiiger'd, round me Hew.
Till from all aides auch Bjil'-iuloiiri* broke.
That with the excess o{ lipht 1 woke !
Such was my dream —Hud, I confeaa.
Though none of ull our crcedleHs Bchool
E'er conn'd, believM, or re\erenc'd leaa
The Tables of (he prieat-Ud fool,
Who trlls us or a soul, a mind,
Sciiarate and pure, wilhin us fihrin'd.
Which is to live-- ah, h-pe too bright! —
For ever in ynn fields of light;
Who fondly thinks the guardian eyes
Of Oudsareon him — as if, blest
And blooming in Ibeir own blue skiea,
Th' ereriial Gods wtrre not Ino wise
To let weak man disturb Iheir rest '. —
Though thinking of such creeds iia thou
Arid all our Cfarden wagea think.
Yet it* ihete something, 1 alkiw,
IndreamHlike this --a sort of link
With worlds unseen, whub. from the hour
I lirst rould lisp my thoughts till now,
Hath masitr'd me with spell-like power.
And who can lell, as we 're combin'd
Of various atoma — some refin'd.
Like those thai scintillate and play
In the fix*d stars — some, gross ns they
Thot frown in clouds or sleep in tlay —
Whu can be bure. but 't is the bet.1
And brightest atoms of nur frame,
Those m-jet akin to stellar flame,
That shine out thus, when we 're at rest ;—
Ev'u 89 the Btats them-elvt-s, v^hose light
Comes out but in thf silent night.
Or is it that there lurks, indeed,
Some truth in Man's prevailing creed.
And thnt our Guardians, from on high.
Come, in that pause from toil and sin.
To put the Denies' curtain by.
And on the wakeful soul look in!
Vain thought ! — but yet, howe'er il be,
Dreams, more than once, have prov'd to me
Ora> lea, truer fur than Ouk,
Or Dove, or Tripod ever spoke.
And 'twas (he words — thou 'It hear and smile —
The words that phantom Beem'd to speak —
*' O", and beside the sacred Nile
•■ You '11 find the Eternal Life you seek—"
That, haunting ine bv night, by day,
At length, ns with the unseen hand
Of Fate itself, urg'd rae away
From Athens to this Holy Land:
Where, *mnng the secrets, still untaught.
The myst'ries that, ns yet, nor siin
Nor eye hnth reach'd -- oh, bleniied thought I —
Miiy sleep this everlasting one.
Farewell — when to our Garden friends
Thou talk'st of the wild tir-am that sendi
Th*- gnyrst of their srhiml thus far,
Wandering beneath Canopus' slar,
Tell them that, wander whtre he will,
Or, howsne'er tht-y now condemn
and ^
1 pun
still
Is worthy of the Suhool and them ;—
Still, a!l their own— nor e'er forgets,
Ev'n while hie he-art and S(.ul pursue
Th' lOternal Light which never sets,
The many meteor ji.ys iha' do.
But seeks them, hails them with delight
Where'er tht-y meet his longiig eight.
And if his life must wanr away,
Like other lives, at leafit the day.
The hour it laxls shall, like a lire
LETTER n.
FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.
Menphit
Are all 'orgott.-n in the new dflipMs.
The siranpe witd joys that till my dajB and clshts.
Instead of dark, dull oracles that i-peak
From subterrau'-an temples, those / aeei
Come from the breathing shrines wberj; Beanty lives.
And Love, ht-r priest, the soft responses gives.
Inst-ad of honouring ]i<is in thuae rites
Al Coplos held, I hull her. when she lights
Hi-rfiiHt young credceni on the holy stream —
When waiideiing youths una maidens walch ber beun
And numbt-r o'er (he nighls she hath to run,
Ere >he again embiace her bridrgroom sun.
WbiU o'er sume my^Ije leaf, that dimly lends
A clue into past times, the student bends.
And by its glimmering guidance hams to tread
Back through the shadowy knowkOge of the dead —
The only skill, alas, / yet (
Lie;
:iphe:
/M-ri
And where — oh where *b the heart that could wUhatand
Th' unnumber'd witcheries of this sun-horn land,
Where first yxung Fleasure'a banner was unfuil'd.
And Love hath temples ancient as the \%oild !
Where mystery. like the veil by Beauty worn,
Hides but to win, and shades but to adorn;
Wht-re thut luxurious melancholy, born
Of ra-.sinn and of genius, alieds a gloom
Mnkii'K J' y holy;— whr re the bower and tomb
btiui.l *;.k- by side, and Pleasure leams fmrn Death
The instant value of each moment's breath.
Couldbt thou but see how like a rort's dream
This I'lVfly land now lookn ! — the gloriouw stream,
Thai l.itr, betwreu its banks was seen to glide
•Mnng shrines and marble cities, on each side
Gilt
; like
i sir
; aloi
chuit
Hath n< w sent forth Hh waters and o'er plaio
And valley, like a giant from his bt-d
Rising with oulHlretch'd limbs, hath grandly spread.
While far as sight can reach, beneath as clear
And blue a hcaVn as ever blest-'d our ai'here,
Gaidi-na. and pillar'd streeis, and porphyry domes.
And high-built temples, fit to be the homes
Of migiiiy Goda, and pyiamids, whose hour
Outlasts all lime, above the waters tower!
Then, loo, the scenes of pomp and joy, that make
One theatre of this vast, peopled hike,
Where ail that I/5ve, Religion, Commerce gives
Of life and motion, ever moves and lives.
Here, up the steps of tt-mples from the wave
Axcending, in procession slow and grave.
Priests in white garm*'iitF« go, with sacred wands
And silver cymbals gleaming in their hands :
While, there, rich barks—fresh from those sunny tracts
F;ir off, beyond the sot nding colaratts —
Glide. Willi their preciouK Lidinc to the sea,
Plumes of blight birds, rhinoceros ivory.
Gems from the IkK* of Meroe, and those grains
Of gold, wiish'd down by Abyssinian rains.
Here, where the wiiteis wind into a bay
Shndowy and cool, some pilgrims, on their way
To Sain or Bubastus, among beds
Of lotus-flowers, that close iibove their h^ads,
Push their light barks, and there, as in a bower»
Sing, talk, or sleep away the sultry hour;
Oft dipping in the Kile, when faint with heat.
That leaf from which its waters drink most sweet^
While haply, not far otT, beneath a bank
Of blossoming acacias, many a prank
Is play'd in the corl current by a tiain
Of laughing nymphs, lovely as she,l whose chalo
Around two conquerors of the woild was cost.
But, Tor a third too feeble, broke at last.
For oh, believe not them, who dare to brand,
As poor in charms, the women of this land.
Though daiken'd by ihnt nun, whose Ppirit flowB
Through every vein, and tinges as it goes
*T is l»iit 1h' embrowning of the fruit that tells
How rich within the soul of ripenet^s dwells--
The hue their own da.k sanctuaries wear.
Announcing heav'n in half-caught glimpses there.
And never yet did tell-tale looks set free
The Beciet of young heiirts more tendt-rly.
Such eyes : — long, shadowy, wKb that languid 5all
Of the fring'd liile, which may be seen in all
Who live beneath the sun's too aidmt rays —
Lending such /ook« as. on their marriage days
Youn^ maids cast down before a bridegroom's gnze !
1 Cler.patra.
508
ALCIPHRON.
T^en for their ;race — mark but thp nymph-like ohapes
or the young vllage fiflu, when cairvwiB grapes
From green Anihylla, or light urni* of flowers —
Wol our own Sculpture, in her happiest hours,
E'er imag'd forih. even at the toueh of him 1
Whose touch was life, more loxury of limb!
Then, ransE Ihou wonder if, mid hienea like theoe,
I 8houM forget all graver mysterifs,
All lure but Love's, all Betrets but that best
Jn beaVn or earth, the art of being blest !
Vet are there limeB — though bnef, 1 own, their stay.
Like eummer clouds thai shine themselves away —
Momenis of glaom, whin even ihftte pleasures pall
Upon my sndd'ning hejtrl, and I reiall
Thai Garden dream— that premise of a power.
Oh, were there such ! — to lengthen out life's hour.
On. oil. aslhrough a vista, far away
Opt;u:ng before u« into endless day 1
And chiefiy oVr my spirit did this thought
Come on thai evening— bright as --ver brought
Light's golden farewell to the woiM — when firat
Th* eternal pyramids of Memphiu burst
Awfully on my eight —standing publime
•Twiit earth and heav'n, the watih-towers of Time,
From whose lone summit, when hia reign hath past
From earth for ever, he will look his last !
There hung a calm and solemn sunshine round
Those mighty monument'', a hushing sound
In the 8l U air that circled them, which stole
Like music of pant times into my soul.
I ihoijght what myriads of the wise and brave
And heaiitifui had sunk into the gmve,
Since earth Grsl saw these wondi-rs — and I said
" Are things eternal only for the dead 7
«' Hath Man nn loflier hope Ihan this, which dooma
*' His only lastinR lrophi<-s lo be tombs?
"But 'lis not BO — earth, heaven, all nature shows
'• He may become immortal— may umlose
"The wings within him wrnpt, and proudly rise
" Redeem'd from earth, a creature of the skies !
•'And who can say, among the written spells
- From Hermes' hand, that, in these ahnnes and cells
" Have, from the Fl'od, lay hid, there may not be
" Some secret clue to immortality,
" Some amulet, whose spell can keep life's fire
"Awake within up, never to expire!
" 'Tis known that, en the Emeraid Table,2 hid
" For agee in yon loftiest pyiomid,
" The Thrice-Great 3 did himself, engrave, of old*
" The chymic mystery that gives endless gold.
"And why may not this mightier Kerret dwell
" Within the same dark chambers 7 who can lell
" But that those kings, who. bv the wrilten 6kill
"Of th' Emerald Tsble, call'd forth gold at will,
"And quarries upou quarries heap'd and hurl'd,
"To build them domes that misht outstand the world—
*• Who knows but that the heavt-nlier art, which sbareB
'« The life of Gods with man, was also theirs —
•' That they themselves, triumphant o'er the power
"Of fate and death, are living at this hour;
" And these, the giact homes they still passcia
" Not tombs, but everlasting palaces,
"Within whose depths, hid from the world above,
"Even now they wander, with the few they love,
"Through subterranean gardens, by a light
"Unknown on earth, which hath nor dawn nor night!
" Else, why those deathless structures? why the giand
" And hidden halls, that undermine this land 7
" Why else hath none of earth e'er dared to go
"Through the dark windings of Ihat realm below,
" Nor aught from heav'n itself, except the G.mI
"Ol S.lence, through those endless labyrinths trod 7"
Thus did I dream — wild, wandering dreams, I own.
But such as haunt me ever, if alone,
Or in that pause 'twixt joy and jov I be.
Like a ship hush'd between two waves at sea.
I'heii do these spirit-whisperings, like the sound
Of ihj Dark Future, come appalling round;
Nor can I break the trance that holds me then.
Till high o'er Pleasure's surge 1 mount again 1
Ev'n now for new adventure, new delight,
My heart is on the wing ;— this very n^ght.
The Temple oc that island, half-way o'er
From Memphis' gardens to the eastern shore.
Sends up its annual rite 4 to her. whose beams
Bring the sweet time of niglit-flovvers and dreams
1 Applies. 3 See No
S The Herm?8Tn9megistu8.
4 The great Festival of the Moon.
0 dips her urn in silent lahet,
very dew each drop J! lakcai—
lof the North, whochaino
; the
I of \
ung 1
Oh. not Ol
In veslfll i
But she who haunts the gay Bubastiiin 5 groT«,
And owns she sees, from her bright hcav'u above.
Nothing on earlh to mntrh that heav'n but Love.
Think then, what bliss will be abioad to-night t —
Beside those s^aiklii.g nymphs, who meet the aigbt
Day after day, familiar as the sun,
Coy buds of brauly, yet nnbreath'd upon,
Ard ail the hidden loveliness, that lies.—
Shut up. as are the beams of sleeping eyes,
W^ilhin these twilight shrines- to-night shall bc
And 1
rk, •
! birds, for this feslii
IS nigh : already the stin bids
■ I'yri
As he hath done, aee after age. till they
Alone on earth seem ancient as his ray ;
While their gre.t shadows, stretchini? from the ligbt.
Look like the first colossal steps of Night,
Stretching arro«B the vsHey, to invade
The distant hills of porphyry with Iheil shade.
Around, as signals of the setting beam,
Gny. gilded flags on every house-top glesrn :
While, hark!
Of I
rich swell
>lhe
LETTER III.
FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME,
There is some star- or it may be '^
That moon we Baw eo near last night —
Which comes athwart my deaiiny
For ever, with misleading light.
If for a moment, pure and wise
Aud calm I feel, there quick dolh fall
A spark from some disturbing eyes.
That through my heart, soul, being flies
And makes a wildfire of it all.
I 've seen — oh, Clenn, that this earth
Should e'er have giv'n such beauty biith!--
That man — but, hold— hear all that paes'd
Since yester-night, from first lo last.
The rising of the Moon, calm, slow,
And beautiful, as if she came
Fresh from the Elysian bowers below.
Was. with a loud and sweet acclaim,
Welcom'd (nm every breezy height.
Where crowds stood waiting for her JifiM.
And well might they who view'd the scene
Then lit up ail around them, say.
That never yet had Nature been
Caught Bleeping in a l.-velier ray.
Or rivall'd her own noon-tide face;
With purer show of moonlight grace
Memphis — still grand, though not the same
Vnrivall'd Memphis, Ihat could seiie
From ancient Thebes the crown of Fame,
And wear it bright through centuries —
Now, in the moonshine, Ihat came down
Like a last smile upnn that crown,
Memphis, still grand, among her lakes.
Her pyramids and shrines of fire.
Rose, like a viaicn, that half breaks
On one who, dreaming stilt, awakes
To music from some midnight choir:
While to the west— where gradual sinks
In the red sands, from Libya roU'd,
Some mighty column, or fair sphynx
That stood in kingly courts, of old —
It seem'd as, mid the" pomps ihat Khone
Thus gaily round him, Time look'd on.
Waiting till all. nnw bright and bleht.
Should sink beneath him like the rest.
No sooner had the setting sun
Froclaim'd the feslal rile b^pun.
And, mid their idol's fullest beams.
The Egyptian world was all aflnat.
Than I, who live upon these stream?,
Like a young Nile-bird, lurn'd my boat
To the fair island, on whose shores.
Through leafy palms and sycamores.
Already shone the moving lights
Of pilgrims, hastening to the rites.
I the Diana of the EgyptliD my
ALCIPHRON,
509
While, far around, like rub)r sparks
"Joon the water, lighlfd baiku,
or f.vfry fitnn Biid kind— from thowe
Thai down Syen«^'s catoract shools.
To tilt- gruiid. gtldt-d baigt; itial rowH
Tu (anibour'tf btrat and bicalh oi tlutrSi
And wearN at niglit, in W(>r0» of tliime.
Oil llie rich prow, tta ma«ler's iiaine;—
All were alivi-, and mndt! this s^a
or citi^H bmy an a liiH
Of (tummer antH, rauglit smldenly
In tlm ovurtlowini: of a rill.
Lnndod upon tli<i is]e, I ionn
Through marble alleys, and small groves
Of that myslerious puJm she Invew,
RearhM (be fair Temple of ihe M.>on;
And there — us slowly throui-li the labt
Dim-lighted veslibuli.' I passM —
Between the porphyrv pillars, twiu'd
Wirh pflUn ami ivy', l could see
A band of yoiithrul maidens wind.
In meahur'd walk, half dancingly.
Round a snnill shnue, tm whu-h was placM
That bird.l whose plumes of bluck and whil
Wear in Iheir hue, by JSalure tracM,
A type uf thu moon's sliadow'd light.
In drapery, liku woven snow,
Ttiebe nympliB were clad ; and each, below
The rounded boKotn, loonely wore
A durk blue zone, or bandelet.
With Utile silver stars all o'er,
As are Ihe likieH at midniL'ht, spt.
While in their ireKses. braided lhro«gh,
Siiurkled that flower of K^ypfs Ir.kea,
The silvery lotus, in who^e hue
As much delight the young Moon tokes.
As doth the Uay-Ood lo behoM
The lofty bean-(lower'« buds of gold.
And, aslhey gratefully went round
Th.? woroliipp'd bird, some lo the beat
Of rastanets, some to the sound
Of the shrill smtrum tirn'd their feet;
While otheiH, at each steii they look,
A tinkling chain of silver shook.
They geem'd all fair— but there was one
On whom the light had not yet shone,
Or ehone but partly — so downciiHt
iShe held her brow, as slow she patsM.
And yet lo me, there seem'd to dwell
A charm about that unseen face —
A snmetbine'. in the shade that fell
Over that brow's imagin'd Rtace,
Which won me more than all the beet
OulMliioing beauties of the rext.
And her alone my eyes could see,
Encliaiu'd by this sweet mystery:
And her alone I watch 'd, as round
She elided o'er that marble i;ronnd,
Stirriog not more th* unconscious air
Thau if a Spirit were moving there.
Till suddenly, wide open Hew
The Temple's folding gales, and threw
A splendour from within, a flood
Of glory where thece maidens stiMxl.
While, with that light — as if the same
Rich source gave birth to both —there came
A swell of harmony, bh grand
Am e'er was born of voice and hand,
Filling the gorgeous aisles around
With luxury of light and sound.
Then WBM it, by the flash that blaz'd
Full o'er her features — oh 't was then.
As Btiirtingly her eyes she rais'd,
Rut quick let fall their lidH again,
I saw— not Psyche's self, when first
lIlHiu the threshold of the skies
She paus'J, while heaven's glory burst
Newly upon her downcast eyes.
Could look more henutiful or blush
With holier shame than did ibis maid,
Whom now I gnw, in all thiit gonh
Of splemliiur frmn ilie aiMle^. display'd.
Never— Iho' well Ihou km.w'Mt how much
I 've felt the swav of Beauty'N (.tar —
Never did her bright infi.ience touch
My soul into its depths so far;
And had that vision liuger'd there
One miuule more. I sbou'd have flown.
Forgetful who I waa and where.
1 The Ibis
I for life, was fiown.
Motion'd me back, while many n file
Of sacred nymphs — but ah, not they
Whom my eyes look'O for — throng'd the way
Perplex'd, impatient, mid this crowd
Of faces, lights— the oVrwhelming cloud
Of incense round me, and my bluod
Full of its new-born lire — I slood,
Wor mov'd. nor brealh'd, but when I caught
A gtiniime of some blue, spangled xoue.
Or wreath of loluf, which, I thought,
Like those she wore at distance shone.
Till my hi'arl's throbbing turn'd to pain
And my hlrain'd eycsiKhl lost its power,
1 sought her thus, but all in vain.
At length, hot — wilder'd — in despair,
I rush'd into the cool ntgbt-air.
And hurrying (though with many a look
Hack to the bu»y Temple) look
My way along the monnlight ^bore.
And sprung into my boat once more*
There is a Lake, that to the north
or Memphis .streteheM grandly forth.
Upon wh<.Re filenthhore Ihe Dead
Have a proud City of their own,2
With shrines and pyramids o'ernpread —
Where many an ancient kingly head
And where, through marble grots beneath.
The lifeless, rang'd like sacred things,
Ni>r wuniing aught of life but breath.
Lie in ibeir painted coverings,
Thiit visit their d:m haunts l)elow
Look with the same unwithering fare.
They wore three thousand years ago.
There, Silence, thoughtful God. who lovei
The neighbourhood of death, in groves
Of asphodel lies hid, and weaves
His hushing spell among Ihe leaves —
Nor ever noise disturbs the air,
Save the low, humming, m<jurnful sound
Of priests, within their Hhrinew, at prayer
r the fresh Dead entomb'd i
und.
»Twaa tow'rd this place of death —In mood
Made up of thoughts, half bright, half dark —
I now across the shining flood
Unconscious turn'd my light-wing'd bark.
The form of that young maid, in all
Its beauty, was before me still ;
And oft I thought, if thu- to call
Her image to my mind at will.
If but the memory of that one
Bright Itiok of hers, for ever gone.
Was to iny heart worth all the rest
Of woman kind, beheld, possest —
What would it be. if wholly mine.
Within these arms, as in a shrine,
Hallow'd by L- ve, I saw her shine —
An idol, woishipp'd by Ihe light
Of her own beanlieB, day and night —
If 'I was a blessing but lo see
And lose again, what would this be?
In thoughts likp these— but often crost
Ry darker thresds — my mind was lost,
Till, near that City of Ihe Dead,
Wak'd from my trance, 1 sawo'erbead —
Ak if by some enchanter bid
St^ddenly from Ihe wave to rise-
Pyramid over pyraiTtid
Tower in. successiot. lo the skies}
' the City of the Dead, lo the aouth of
43*
510
ALCIPHRON.
While one, aspiriii?, as if i
*T would touch the heav.
And, oa its eummit, Ihf w
Rf^sted, as on a pt-dt-ttal !
FOM
>lrd,
) lilt
Of levt^l, ulifit I lale had liteii :
1o rhr.st; Kiy sounds thut Klill came o'er,
lii.inly frum niaLy a dialant nhoie,
AiiJ lii' uiiuumbered lightH, that shone
hiir u'li the flood, from Memi)hison
To the Moou'3 Uie aad Babylon.
My oars were liTled. and my boat
Lay rork'd ijpuii the rippling Btream ;
Willie my vague thnughtJ", alike afloal,
Driftt^d through many an idle drpam,
With all of which, wild and unlix'd
that '
x*d,
That bright nymph of the Temple— now,
With the Hame innocence of brr.w
She wore within the lighted fane —
Now kindling, throufh each pulse and vein.
With paHstoii of such deep-felt lire
A« Gods might glory to inspire ; —
And now— oh Darkness of the lomb,
That must eclipse ev'n hght like here !
Cold, dead, and blackening mtd (he gloom
Of those eternal sepulchres.
Scarce had I turn'd my eyes away
Fram that dark di-alh-place, at the thought,
Whfn by (he sound of dashing spiay
From a light oar my ear was caught.
While past me, through the moouii^jht, Hailed
A 1 ttle gilded bark, that bore
Twu female figureB. cloetly vi-il'd
And mantled, towards that fuiieral ahore.
They landed — and the boat again
Put off across the watery plaiu.
Shall I coi:fc8fl — to thee I may —
'Ihat never yet hath come the chance
Of a
s glaoi
Which — let it find me how it nngh:.
In joy or grief— I did nol blebs,
And wander after, as a light
lA-ading to undreamt happiness.
And chiefly now, when hopes so vain
Were stirring in my heart and braiO*
When Fancy had allur'd my soul
Into a chaee, as vague and far
As would b*- his, who fixed his goal
In the horiz'ju, or eome siar —
Any bewilderment, that brought
More near to earth my high-fl- wo thonght-*
The faintest glimpKe of joy, les»i pure.
Lens high and heavenly, but more sure.
Came welcome — and was then lo me
What the first flowery isle must be
I'o vagrant birds, blown out to sea.
Quick to the shore 1 urg'd my bark.
And. by the bursts of moonlight, shert
Between Ihe lofty torahs, could mark
Those figurep. as with hasty tread
They glided on — Itll in the shade
Of a smell pyramid, which through
Some boughs of palm its peak display'd.
They vsnish'd instant from my view,
I hurried to the spot — no trace
Of life was in that lonely place ;
And. hod the creed I hold by taught
Of other worlds, I might have thought
Si)me mocking spirits had from thence
Come ill this guine to cheat ray sense*
At length, exploring darkly round
The Pyrainid's smor.th aidt-s, I found
An iron portal — opening high
•Twixl pt-ak and base— and, with a pray' r
To the bliss-loving Moon, whose eye
A'one beheld me, spniiiff in there.
Downward Ihe narrow stai rway led
Through many a duct obscure and dread,
A labyrinth for mystery made,
Witn wanderings onward, backward, round.
And gathering &lill, where'er it wound.
But deeper density of shade.
Scarce had I ask'd myscir "Can tufbt
"Thit man delights in sojourn hei si"
When, suddenly, far off. I caught
A shmpse of Iif;hl. remote, hut clear —
Whose welcome glimmer t^eem'd lo pour
Thr
r. fiteeis iiij
t-huhnh
.rble
11. that ended
rndor,
111 hope, descended*
Wiih varier fo.it at midnight glide.
It seernM as echo's self were dead
In this dark place, so mute my iread.
Keacliing, at length, that light, I enw —
Oh listen to the scene, now rais'd
Before my eyes— then guess Ihe awe.
The still, rapt awe wilh which I gaz'd.
•Twas a small chapel, lin'd around
With the f.iir, spangling marble, found
In many a ruin'd shrine that stands
Half seen above the Libyan sands.
The walls were richly scutptur'd o'er
And characler'd with that dark lore
or limes before the Flood, whose key
Was lost in th' "Universal Sea." —
While on the roof was piclur'd bright
The Theban beetle, as he shines.
When the Nile's mighty flow decHoea,
And foilh the creature sptiugs to hght.
With life regenerate in his wings: —
Emblem of vain imaginings!
Of a new world, when this is gone.
In which the spirit still lives on !
Direct beneath this typ^, reclin'd
On a
black
granite z
liar, lay
A rtmi
If for
1, in crystal slirin'd,
And loQkin
g fresh n
B if the ray
Of St
ul had flpd bu
yesterday.
■While
III rrl
ef, of sil
r'ry hue.
Grav
d on
he altar
fi front were seen
A bran
th of
olus. br
k'n in Iwn,
As thai fai
crealur
L*'s life had been
And a
Bmall bird lhat from ila »pray
Was w
iiiging
, like he
r soul, away.
But br
efthe
glimrse
[ now could sparfl
To the
ound;
That held me as by witch'ry bound.
The lampt that through the chamber shed
Its vivid beam, was at Ihe head
Of her who on that altar flept ;
And near it stoiHl, when first I came —
Bending her brow, as if she kept
Sad watch upon its silent flame —
The shadow of hei
Yei did my heart —
Ev'n at that shado'
No
it hing.
• full i
ght
The tignre turn d ; and by the light
That touch'd her features, as she bent
Over the crvslal monument,
I saw 'twas she — Ihe same— the same —
That lately stood tenure me, bright'ning
The holy spot, where she but came
And went again, like summer lightning I
Upon the rry^tal, o*er the breast
Of her who took that silent rest.
There was 8 cioss of silver lying —
An< ihi-r type nf thst blest home,
Whifh hope, and pride, and fear of dying
Build for us in a world to come: —
This silver cross the maiden rais'd
To her pure lips : —then, having paz'd
Some minoteM on that tranquil face,
Sleeping in idl death's mournful grace.
Upward she lurn'd her brow serene,
1 heav
Their own pure orbits and the skies ;
And, though her lips no moliem made.
And th;it fix'd Inok was all her speech,
I saw lhat the rapt spirit pray'd
Deeper within than words could reach.
Strange pow'r of Innoceuce, to turn
To its own hue whate'er comes near,
An'! make ev'n vagr nt Pas-ion burn
With purer warmth within its spheral
J
ALCIPHRON,
5H
She who, but one eliort hour befor".
Had rome, likf ButJ.lei) wiM-fire, ii'er
My heart mid brain — whom gladi]', even
From that brghl Templi-, in ilte 'oce
Of IhoMe proud minietrro of heuv'ii,
I would have borne, in wild emtrace*
And risk'dall punmhmeor, divme
And human, but to make her mine ;—
Bhe. Hhe was now befGre me, Ihiowa
By fate ilNelf iiilo my arum —
There sEaoding, heauiifuUuliHie,
With iiovighl In guard her, but her tharms.
Yet did I, then — did ev'ii a biealh
From my parch'd lips, luo parch'd to move,
Disturb n ticeiie wheie (lius. hruealh
Kiirth'H silent covering, Youth nnd Heath
Held converse through undyiuR luve 7
Jio — smile and luunt me at4 ihoii wiit —
'l'hou{^h hut lo guze ihus waa delight,
Yil ueeinM it like a wrong, a guilt.
To win by «Iealth ^o pure a sighi:
And rather than a look prorane
Khuuld then have met thoiie thnu^htful eyes
Or voice, iir whisj-er bioke tlie chain
That liuk'd her spirit with the (»kies,
I wuuld have gladly, in that jilace,
Frtim which 1 watch'd her heav'nward face
Lei my heart break, without one beat
That could distuib a prayer bo aweet.
Gently, aa if on every tread.
My life» my mort* than li.e depended,
Baek thiouKh the corridor that led
To thi» bletit ^cene 1 iinw ahceuded.
And VMlh slow seeking, and b .me pain.
And miiny h winding tried iu Vaiu,
KraergM lo urper air again.
The eun had frealily lis'ii, and down
The maible hills of Araby,
Scatlei'd, aa from a conqueror's crowDi
HiH beams into that living ^la.
There seem'd a glory in hia light.
Newly put on — as if for pride
Of the high himintre paid thitt ni|;ht
To bin own Uif, hi» ymmg hnde,
Now fading f<'minine away
In her proud Lord'd puperior ray.
My mind'w lira) impuNe wua lo fly
At lUii-B frum ihiK enlan^ling net —
New bcenett to range, new lovts to lir,
Ur. in mirth, wine, uud luiury
Of every uenae, that n^ght forget.
But vain the efT-irt — Rpell-bound atill,
1 linserM. without j-nwer or will
T<» turn ray eyes from that dark door
■ 'mong the dend;
Bui wakening, us I hop'd, less a
Thus Keen by mr)rnint,"fi naiutal light.
Than in ihut atrange, dim cell at night.
But no, alua — hhe ne'er return'd :
iNor yet — thcuKh alill I watch— ror yet,
Thoueh the red sun for hnuis hnlh burii'd.
And now, iu his mid course, hath met
The peak of that eternal [Ue
He pauses still at noon to bless.
Standing beneath hix downward smile,
Mke a gieat Spirit. Bhado\ ■
No
Like a gieat Spirit; shadowle:
t hhe enmes— while here, alone,
il'nnB thrmigh this death-peopled plai
■ no heurt b.Bts except my own,
Qlh a palm-tiee's shelter Ihrnwu,
urns 1 wati'h, nnd reel, and trace
My
asti
ight'B wondrous hi
lory.
Un«
thoi
remember, Jn Iha
Me
l>
our
own Sea, where Ih
IU and t
er'(l
so long. BO happy a
11 all iheBummer Howir
by —
"Bar
it wad, when sunset bro
■I'
1 the
cool Well our favo
jrite r
laids —
Htn
e V.C
had won, and some
we
ntight —
To dance wllhin the fraerani shadei ,
And, till the stars went down attune
Their Fountain Hymna 1 t-i ihe young t
B holy tide
Stream.
imiiig bride,
on my nerk she fell,
• cnuld love sn well
ve lhoui;lit that li-
r then,
nine each sweet, nor ever lov'd
iltit Ihe free hearts, Ihat lov'd again
adily as the reed replies
the leant breath that round it
>ho 1
iiid bri
Stood
Of line Epyptia- „.,
Wanders among th
I'ule, watchful, ru<I,
Himself, had
igha-
r who, lawt night,
ithless at Ihe sight
-t: ai
'n from out their dust !
Yet Bo it i«-- nnd the same thirst
Fnr something hiph and pure, nhove
This witheiing world, which, from the first.
Made me drink deep of woman's love —
As the one joy, to henv'n mo*-! near
Of all nur hearts ran meet with here—
Slill hums me up. still keeps awake
A fever nought but deulh can slake.
Farewell:
Or bright.
LETTER IV.
FROM ORCUS, HIGH PRIEST OF MEMPHIS,
TO DECIUS, THE PR;ET0RIAN PREFECT.
Rfjcit-fl, my friend, rejoice:
«'f ihat light Sect which m(
A r.ii, gay atid ^odlesti, miikes the present hcur
Its only heaven, i>* nnw within our power.
Bmonth, impious school ! — nol all Ihe weaponi aiin'd
A I prieblly creeds, since first a « reed Was framM,
E'er struck ►o deep ns that sly dart they wield,
The Bicchant'a pointed t-pearin laughing tlowers conceal'
As any thou canst boast — ev'n when ihe feet
y proud war-nteed jyvade through ChriMlian blooil*
And t
,p thi». BcoHer in Faith's blinding hnod,
ing him, tain 'd ami proNtrate, lo implore
The vilest goda ev'n K.pypt's nciiils adore.
WI.^l ! — do these sngi-B Ihink, to them alone
The key of this world's happiness is known ?
Ti at none but they, who make auch prou'J parade
Of I'hai'iire's smiling favours, win the maid.
Or that Ueligion keeps no secret place,
No nil he. hi her dark rnnes, for Love to grace t
Fools : — did t hey know how keen the Zest thot 'a given
To eaittily joy, when seasim'd well with heaven;
How l'icly"s Krnve mask improves the hue
Of PliMsiire's laughing features, half Mren through,
And how Ihe I'rieNl.Met aptly within rench
Of two ri.h worlds. Iiaffles fir bli^s with each,
Would they nol. D<ci.is-- thou, whom th' ancient tie
r best ally-
Would they nut change their creed, their ciaft. for (
Leave Ihe gross daylight joys Ihat, in their bowers,
Languish with too much sun. like o*er-b!own flowers.
For the veii'd loves, the l>Iis^es uniJiM"ay'd
Thai siily lurk wiihin llie Temple's sha.te 7
And, '^t.-ad of iMiiiihiiE the I, in, (J ,rden'« school —
WhlT.' 1-1. 1 n.il -.., iiv i.-iri. ;, rule.
lioni's pride —
Who, fur loo \vi«e lo th.uriKe on bliss.
Or pleasure's niibs'ance for its hhade to mis!t.
" S'-h other worlds, but liv« for only l/iia: —
Thanks to the well-paid Mystery round us flung.
Which like its type, the gold- n cloud ihal hung
O'er Jupiter's lovccourh ils shade benipn.
Round human frailty wraps a veil divine.
Still less should they presume, weak wits, that they
Alone dewplse the craft of us who ptay ;—
1 by the Hiill less their creidless vanity deet-ive
I With the fond thought, that we who prajr believe.
512
ALGIPHRON,
Believe '. — Apia forbid — forbid it, all
Ye monwlcr G-nld, belore whose shrines we fal
Peiliee, fram'U in jest, as if lu try
How far gross Man can viileari?e the eky ;
Huw farlhe 6ame low fan.y ihat coinbmirs
Into a drove of brutt* ymi z^idiai 's eisus
And liiiiis Ihal Heaven iC-^elf into a place
Of sainted fiu siid deitied disgrnre.
Can brinj; Olympus ev'n In Bhariic more deep,
Sinrk il with thiiics (hat earth itself holds ch
Fish, fiesh, and fowl, the kite hen's sat-red broi
Which Ksypl keejw for worship, nut for food-
Al', worlhy idols of a Faiih that sees
In dogs, cats, owIh, and apes, divinities \
Believe'. — oh, Uecius. thou, who feol'st no ca
For things diviiu;, beyttod the soldier's ^haie,
Who takes
Little caust thou, whose c
Lo>f
thy .-
.'ith wliich a heart,
.'ilh which I wade
if this holy trade —
eiv, where the feet,
in'deciit.
Of loathing and seir-acorn i
Stubborn as mine is. acts t
The deep and dire dii-eust i
Through the foul juggling
This mud profound of my>
At every atep, sink deeper
Oh ! many a time, when, mid the Temple's blaxe,
O'er proKtrale fools the sarred ciat I raise,
Did I ont keep »-till proudly in my mind
The power Ihitt priestcraft t;ive8 me o'er mankind —
A lever, of more might, in skiirul hand.
To move this world, than Archimede e'er plaan'd —
I should, in vengeance of the shame I feel
At my own mockery, crush (he slaves that kneel
B<-sotted round: and— l>ke that kindred breed
Of reverend, well-drest crocodiles they feed.
At Tam'd Arsinuel — lUike my keepers be'^a.
With their last Chrob, my sharp-faiig'd HcliaeM.
Say, If it to be borne, that scofferit, va-ii
Of their own freedom from the allar'ech&in,
Should mock thus oil that thou thy blood hast sold,
And 1 my truth, pride, freedom, lo uphi>ld T
]t mi
Whoi
The
That threats to sweep away our liiinnea of pride —
Thinb'st thou, with all their wondrous spells, ev'n they
Would triumph thus, had not the ronstanl play
Of Wit's refiistle&s archery tlear'd their way 7 —
Thai mocking apirit, worst of all the foes.
Our solemn fraud, our my^tic mummery knows.
Whose wounOing flash thus ever 'niong the fei^os
Of a fast-falling creed, prelusive ehiiiee.
i'hreal'niiig such chai
Of e
riightuii
■ the te
But. to my point — a youth of this vain school,
But one, whom Doubt itself hath fail'd to ccol
D'lwn to that freezing point where PricKts despair
or any spark from th* altar catching there —
Hath, some nights nince — il was, methinks, the night
That follow'd the full Moon's great annual rile —
Through the dark, winding ducts, that downward stray
To these earth-hidden temples, Irack'd hie way.
Just at that hour when, round the £^hrine, and me,
The chuir of blooming nymphs thou langSt to see,
Smg their last night-hyinn in the Sanctuary.
The clangour of the marvel|i>un tiale, that stands
At the Well's lowest depth — which none but hands
Of new, ui»»aughl adventurers, from above,
Who know cct the safe path, e'erdarc to move-
Gave Eign;il that a foot profane wa^ nigh : —
•Twan the Greek youth, who, by that morning'a sky.
Had been observ'd, curiously waod'rinfc round
The mighty fanes of our sepulchral ground.
Instant, th' Initiale'c
The Fire, Air. Wale
Th.it riato. Ihat (he
With treml>Iing hop<
Trials
: all tl
[ OrpheiiB dar'd,
r'd Samian 3 pass'd,
^ to — what, at labt?
1 For the trinkets with which the sacred Crocodilei
sere ornaraenled, tec the Kpicureani chap, x-
7 PythfiRoraa.
Go, ask the dupes of Prieatcrafl; questiOD him
Who. mil lenific sounds end spectres dim.
Walks at Eleusis; a.sk of those, who brave
The dazzling miracles of Mithra's Cave,
With il--* seven starry gateti ; ask all who keep
Those terrible nighl-myst'ries where they weep
And howl s:id dirties to the answering breeze,
Oer their dead Gods, their mortal Deities --
Amphibious, hybrid things, that died as men,
Drowii'd, hiiiig'd, empal'd, to ris-e, as geds, agaiu;^
Ask them, what mighty secret lurk** bel -w
This eev'n-fold niysfiy — can they tell thee? No;
Gravely they keep that only secret, well
And fairly kept — that they have none to tell;
And, dup*d themselves, console their humbled pride
By duping thenceforth all mankind beside.
And such th* advance in fraud since Orpheus' time-
That earliest master of our rrafl snhlime —
So many minor Mysteries, imps of fraud,
Fiom the gieat Orphic Kgg have wing'd abroad,
That, still tu' phold our Temple's ancient boast,
And seem most holy, we must cheat the most ;
Work the best miracles, wrap nonsense rouuil
lu pomp and darkness, till it seems profound:
Piay on the hopes, the terrors of mankind.
With changeful skill; and make the humau miod
Like our own Sanctuary, where no ray,
But by the Priest's permission, wina its way —
Where through the gloom as wave our wizard roda,
Monster*', at wili, are conjured into (iods;
While Reason, like a grave-fac'd mummy, stacda,
With her arms swathed in hieroglyphic banda.
But chiefly in that skill with which we use
Mao's wildest passions for Religion's views.
Yoking them to her car like fiery steeds.
Lies the main art in which our craft succeedt.
And oh be blest ye men of yore, wlioise toil
Hath, for our use, scoop'd out from Egypt's eoil
This hidden Paradise, this mine of fanes.
Gardens, and palaces, where Pleasure reigna
In a ri< h, sunless empire of her own.
With all eaith's luxuries lighting up her throne;—
A realm for mystery made, which undermines
The Nile itself, and, "iiealh the Twelve Great Sbrloea
That keep Initiat on's holy rite,
Spreads its long labyrinths of unearthly light,
A light that knows no change — its brooks that mn
Too deep for day, its gardens without sun.
Where soul and sense, by turns, are charm'd, nurpria'd.
And all that b.ird or prophet e'er devis'd
For man's Klysium, priests have realiz'd.
Here, at this moment — all his trials past.
And heart and nerve unshrinking to the last —
Our new Initiate roves— as yet left free
To wander through this realm of mystery;
Feeding on such illusions as prejiare
The soul, like mist o'er waterfalls, to wear
All shapes and hues, at Fancy's varying wilt,
Through every shifting aepect, vapour still ;—
Vague glimpses of the Future, viMtae shown,
Bv scenic skill, into that world unknown,
Whirh (taints and sinners claim alike their own ;
And all those ou**r witi-hing, wilder! ng arts,
illusions, terrors, chat make human heailK,
Ay, ev'n the wisest and the hardiest, quail
7'o a»v gobUn tbron'd behind a veil.
Yes— such the spells shall haunt his eye, his ear.
Mix With his night-dreams, form his almowphere;
Till, if our Sage be not tam'd down, at lengih.
His wit, his wisdom, shorn of ail Iheir strength.
Like Phrygian prietits, in honour of the shrine ~<
If he become not absolutely mine,
B"dy and soul, and, like the tame decoy
Which wary hunters of wild dovea employ,
Drsw converts also, lure his brother wits
To the dark cage where his own ^piiit flits.
And give us, if not saints, gornl hypocrites —
If 1 effect not this, then be it ^id
The ancient spirit of our craft hath fled.
Gone with that serpent-sod the Crom hath chaa'd
To bias its soul out in the Theban waste.
THE END.
SONGS AND PIECES
WHICH HAVE BEEN OMITTED IN THE NEW LONDON EDITION.
CEASE, OH 1 CEASE TO TEMPT.
Ce«e, oh ! cease to tempt
My tender heart to love 1
It never, never can
So vviKi a fiame approve
All its jnya and pains
To olhcrs I resign ;
But be the vacant heart,
The careless bostiin mine.
Then
My tender heart to lovel
,t never, never can
So wild a flame approve.
It I
Sav. oh ! say no niore
That lovers' pains are sweet J
I never, never can
Relieve the fond deceit.
Weeping day arid mgh\
Consuniiii? life in sighs —
This is (he lover's lot.
And this 1 ne'er could prize.
Then aav, oh ! say no more.
That lovers' pains are Bweotl
I never, never can
Believe the fobd deceit.
HOLY BE THE PILGRIM'S SLEEP.
Holy be the Pilgrim's sleep,
From Uiedre.iDi3 of terror free;
And may all, who wake lo weep,
Rcbi to-night as sweet as he !
Hark ! hark ! did I hear a vespei swell !
No, no, H is my loved Pilgrim's prayer r
No, no, n was but the convent bell.
That tolls upon the midnight air.
Holy be the Pilgrim's sleep!
Now, now again, the voice I hear,
Some holy man is wandering here.
O Pilgrim ! where hast thou been roaming ?
Ibrlt is the way, and mi'lnigh! 's coming.
Stranger, I 've been o'er moor and mountain,
To tell my beads at Agnes' fountain.
And, Pilgrim, say, where ait thou gning?
Dark is the way. the winds are blowing.
Weary with wanderine, weak. 1 falter,
To breathe my vows at Agnes' altar.
S'rew then, oh! strew his bud of rushes;
Here Le shall real till morning blushes.
Peace to them whose days are done,
Death their eyelids closing;
Hark! the burial-rite's beguu —
'T is time for our reposing.
Here, then, n)y Pilgrim's course is o'er:
Tis my master! 'tis my master! Welcome here
once more ;
Come to our shed — all toil is over ;
Pilgrim DO more, but night and lover.
I CAN NO LftNGER STIFLE,
I can no longer stifle
Bow much I long to rifle
That lillle part
They call the heart
Of you, you lovely trifle!
You c^ii uo longer doubt it,
So let me be abont it;
Or on mv woid,
And by the Lord, ^
I'll try to do without it.
This pretty thing's as light. Sir,
As any pa|)er kite, Sir;
And here and there,
And God knows w here,
She lakes her wheeling flight. Sir.
Us lovers, to amuse U5,
Uot.) htr tail <<he nnnses;
There, hung like bobs
Of straw, or nobs,
She wbisks us where she chooses.
JOYS THAT PASS AWAY.
Joys that pass away like this,
Alas ! are purchased dear,
If every beam of bliss
Is followed by a tear.
Fare thee well ! oh, fare thee well !
Soon, too soon, ihuu 'st bnike the spell,
Oh ! I ne'er can hwe a^ain
The girl whose faithless art
Could break so dear a ch^in,
And with it break my heart.
Once, when truth was in those eyes,
How beautiful ihey shone I
But now that lustre fites,
For Iru'h. alas ! is gone.
Fare thee well ! oh, fare thee well!
How 1 loved my hate shall tell.
Oh! how lorn, how lost would prove
Thy wretched viclim*s fate,
If, when deceived in love,
He could not fly to hate !
LOVE, MY MARY, DWELLS WITH THEE.
Love, my Mary, dwells with thee;
On ihy cheek his bed I see
No — that cheek is pale with care;
Love can find no ro-tes there.
'T is nnl on the cheek of lose
Love can find the be>t repose i
In my heart bis home thou 'l(j*e;
There he lives, and lives for fhee.
Love, my Mary, ne'er can roam.
While he makes that eye his home.
No — the eye wi'h sorrou dim
Ne'er can be a home for him.
Yet 'I is not in beaming eyes
Love fi^r ever warmest lies:
In my heart his home fhf-u'lt see;
There he lives and lives fcr liiee.
NOW LET THE WARRIOR.
Now let the warrior plume his sleed,
And wave his sword atir;
For the men of the East this day shall blead,
And the sun shall blush with war
2 II
514
SUPPRESSED MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
Victory sits on Ihe Christians' helm
Topuide her holy band:
The Knishl of the Cross this day shall whein
1 of the Pagan land.
.in thebatiledles!
The
Ohl bleas'c
God will enhrine him i[< Ihe skies 1
Now let the warrior plume Iiis oteed,
And wave lii- s\v(.rd afar;
1^1 this day shall bleed,
iih war.
For the men of ihe _
And itie sun shall blu
OH 1 LADY FAIR!
Oh, Lady fairl where art thou roaming?
The sun has sunk. Ihe night is coming.
Stn
:r, I,
' and inouriiain,
le*' fountain.
Ih his white locks flowing ?
To tell njy beads at
And who n the man
Uh, Lady fair! whe
A waitdering Pilgrim, weak,' I falter,
To tell my beads at Agnes' allar.
Chill falls the rain, night-wiuds are blowing,
Dreary and dark 's the way ue*re going.
Fair Lady ! rest till mnrning blushes —
1 '11 strew for thee a bed of rushes.
Oh, stranger! wheti my beads I 'm counting,
I '!1 bless Ihy name at Agnes' fountain.
Then, Pilgrim, turn, and rest ihy sorrow ;
Thr)u 'It go 10 Agnes' shrine lo-ninrrow.
Good stranger, when my beads I'm telling,
My saint shall bless thy leafy dwelling.
Strew, then, oh ! strew our bed of rushes;
Here we must rest lill morning blushes.
OH! SEE THOSE CHERRIES.
Oh ! see those cherries — (hough once so glowing,
They've bin too long on Ihe sun-bright wall ;
And mark, already their bloom is going;
Too snon they'll wither, too soon they 'II faU.
Once caught by Iheir blushes, the light bird flew
round,
Oft on their ruby lips leaving love's wound;
But now he passes them, ah : ton knowing
To taste withered cherries, when fresh ntay be found.
Old Time thus fleetly his course is running;
If bards were not moral, how maids would go
wrong!
And thus thy beauties, now sunn'd and sunning,
Would Wither if left on the rose-tree too long.
Then love while thou'rt lovely — e'en I should be
glad
weetly to save thee from ruin so sad ;
But, oh I delay not — we bards are too cunning
To sigh for old beauties when young may be had.
SEND THE BOWL ROUND MERRILY.
Send the bowl round merrily,
Laughing, singing, drinking ;
Toast it, toast it cheerily —
Here 's to the devil wuh thinking !
Oh ! for the round of pleasure,
With sweetly-smiling lasses-
Glasses o'erfiowing their measure,
With hearts as full as our glasses.
Send the bowl round merrily,
Laughing singing, drinking;
Tonst it, toast it cheerily —
Here *s to the devil with thinking!
Once I met with a funny lass,
Oh, I loved her dearly!
Left for her my bonny glass —
faith ! I died for her — nearlv.
1:=
But she proved damn'd uncivil,
And thought to peck like a hen, tir ;
So 1 pitched the jade to the devil,
And took to my glass again, sir.
Then send the bowl, &c.
No
Inlo
1 turn'd a rover,
: with every petticat;
Or whether it's Jenny's or Betty'f
And if the girls can pui up
With any ei'od thing in pieces.
My heart I will certainly cut up,
And :
Then send ihe bowl, &c.
Abu
nper round to the pretty ones !
here's 10 'he girl «ith the blue eyes!
Here 's lo her wtth the jetly ones,
Where the languishing dew lies!
Could all buch hours as this is
Be summ'd in one Hiile measure,
I'd live a short life of blisses.
And die in a snrfeit of pleasure !
Then bend ihe bowl, &c.
THE TABLET OF LOVE.
You bid me be happy, and bid me adieu —
Can happiness live when absent from you ?
Will sleep on my eyelids e'er sweetly alight,
When greetoi no more by a tender enod-night?
Oh, never ! for deep is the record enshrined !
Thy look and thy voice will survive in my mind:
Though age may the treasures of memory remove,
Unfading shall flourish the Tablet of Love.
Through life's winding valley— in anguish, in rest;
Exalted in Joy, or by sorrow depress'd —
From i's place in the mirror that lies on my heart,
Thine image shall never one moment depart,
When time, life, and all that poor mortals hold dear
Like visions, like dreams, shall at last disappear;
Though raised among seraphs to realms above^
Unfading shall flourish the Tablet of Love.
WILL YOU COME TO THE BOWER?
Will you come to Ihe bower I have shaded for you ?
Our bed shall be roses all spangled with dew.
Will you, will you, will you, will you
Come to the bower?
There, under the bower, on roses you 'II lie,
With a blnsh on your cheek, but a smile in your eye
Will you, will you, will you, will you
Smile, my beloved ?
But the loses we press shall not rival your Hp,
Nor the dew be so sweet as the kisses we '11 srp.
Will you, will you, will you, will you
Kiss me, my love ?
And oh ! for the joys that are sweeter than dew
From languishing roses, or kisses from you.
Will you, will you, will you, will you,
Won't you, my love?
FAREWELL, BESSY!
Sweetest love! I'll not forget thee,
Time shall only teach my heart
Fonder, warmer, to regret thee,
Lovely, gentle, as thou art.
Farewell, Bessy!
We may meet again.
SUPPRESSED MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
515
Ta, oh yes ! again \vc meet, love,
And rejiose our hearts at last ;
Oh ! sure H will then be sweety love,
Calm to think on sorrows past.
Farewell, Bessy !
We may meet again.
Yet I feel my heart is Lreakiug
When I think I stray from thee,
Round Ilie worlJ that .juiet seeking.
Which 1 fear is not Un me.
Farewell, Bessy !
We may meet again,
('aim to peace thy lover's bosom —
Can it, ilearest I must it be?
Thou witHn an hour shalt lose him,
He for ever loses Iheel
Farewell, Bessy !
Yet oh J not for ever.
SONG.
Pve roamed through many a weary round,
1 've wander'd east and west j
Pleasure in eveiy clime I've found
But sought in v;iiii for rest.
While glory sighs for other spheres,
1 feel ihat one 's loo wide,
And think the home which Io72 endears
Worth all the world beside-
The needle thus too rudely moved,
Wandeia unconscious where;
Till having found the place it loved,
It trembling settles there.
EPITAPH ON A WKLL-KNOWN POET.
Beneath these poppies burled deep,
The bones ot Bob the Bard lie hid ;
Peace to his manes; and may he sleep
As soundly as his readers did !
Through every sort of verse meandering.
Bob went, without a hitch or fall,
Through Epic, Sapphic, Alexandrine
To verse that was no verse at all ;
Till fiction having done enough
To make a bard at least absurd,
And give his readers quantum sttff..
He look to praising George the Third :
And then, in virtue of his crown.
Doomed us, poor Whigs, at once to slaughter;
Like Donellan, of bad renown,
poisoning us all wiih laurel-waler.
And yet at times some awkward qualms he
Felt about leaving honour's track ;
And though h; got a butt of Malmsey,
It could not save him from a sack.
Death, weary of so dull a writer,
put lo his works Ajinis thus.
Oh ! may the eanh on him lie lighter
Than did bis quartos upon usl
EPITAPH ON A LAWYER.
Here lies a lawyer — one whose mind
(Like that of all the lawyer kind)
Resembled, though m grave and stately.
The pupil of a cat's eye greatly ;
Which for the mousing deeds, tranLACted
In holes and corners, is well fitted,
But which in sunshine grows contracted.
As if 't would — rather not admit it;
As it', in short, a man would quite
Throw lime away «ho Iried to let in a
Decent portion of God's light
On lawyer's mind or pussy's retina.
Hence, when he look to politic?,
As a refreshing change of evil,
Until with grand afl'aiis to mix
His little Nisi-Prius tricks.
Like imps at bo-peep, pi 'v'd (he devil ;
And proved ihat when asni.ill law wit
Uf statesmanship attempis the trial,
»Tis like a player on the kit
Put alt at once to a bass viol.
Nay, even when honest (which he could
Be, now and then), still quibbling daily
He served his country as he would
A client thief at the Old Bailey.
But — do him justice — short nnd rare
His wi-h 'hronp;h honest paths to roam;
Bnrn with a laMe for the nnfair,
Where falsehood call'd he Mill was there,
And when least honest, most at honie.
Thus shuffling, bullying, lying, creeping,
He work'd his way up near the throne,
And, long before he look the keeping
Of the king's conscience, lost his own.
ILLUSTRATION OF A BOUE
If ever you 've seen a gay party
Relieved from the pre.'sute of Ned-
How instantly joyous and hearty
They 've grown when the damper was fled-
You m.iy guess what a gay piece of work,
What delight to champagne it must he,
To get rid of us bore of a cork,
And come sparkling to you, love, and mel
FROM THE FRENCH.
Ot all the men one meets about,
There's none like Jack— he 's every whera :
At churcli— park — auction — dinner — roul —
Go when and where you will, he's there.
Try the West End. he 's at your back— •
I.ieets you. like Eurus, in the East—
You 're call'd upon for *' How do, Jack ?'*
One hundred times a-day at least.
A friend of his one evening said,
As home he took his pensive way,
" Upon my soul, I fear Jack 's dead —
I 've seen him but three limes Vday !"
ROMANCE.
I have a story of two lovers, fillM
With all the jture romance, the blissful sadness,
And the sad doubiful bliss, Ihat ever thrill'd
Two young and longing hearts in that sweet inaa-
ness;
But where lo choose the locale of my vision
In ihis wide vulgar world — what real spot
Can be found nut, suflicienlly clysian
For two such perfect lovers, 1 know not.
Oh, for some fair Formosa, such as he,
The young Jevv,i fabled of, in the Indiao 9«a,
1 Faalmanazar.
516
SUPPRESSED MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
Bv DoiMng but its name of Beau'y known.
And "hich Queen Fancv might make all her own,
Her fairy biugdoni-tAke it> i>ei'ple. I.irids,
Ai.d ipneiiieii!s inlo her own bright hnds,
Aud make, at leasl, one earthly cnrnor fit
For love to live iu-puie and exquisiiel
ON
Like a snuffers, this Living old dame,
By a deslnv grievous enough,
Though so oft she ha?* snappd at the flame
Hatli uever Ciughl more than the BUutT.
THE WITCH'S SABBATH.
A FRAGMENT.
* Ay, write their n:
S.iid Bigolry, ope
None but the \
es on my darkest page,'
ig widu her bonk—
iive^, now black with ;
aud Copley look :
*' Write, write them down— as witches, of yore,
The n.in-e of eacli imp of d.xrknes!< knew,
And nightly cali'd their bead-roll o'er,
I *li kuow the name of my servaniB too i"
She Fpnke— and, beho'd I a scribe was near,
Wlioslraishtway takitij; a pen of flame
Frnm behind his ancient ass-like ear.
Wrote down, as she bid, each minion's name.
And never, oh ! never — not even then
In her ynuihfui d lya of murderous tricks-
Was Bigotry half sn ple-ised as when
She counted Two Hundred and Seventy^sixl
With joy, I wi^t, each name she ki=s'd.
Thnugh even in joy a si^h heaved she.
When out of that list' one name she missed,
Her own dear Wilks, of Sudbury,
"' T is welt, 't ii well— sn far our spell
Is a nutcli for even my darkest day? ;—
Now, draw n-e a circle rnund, and tell
What Sprite of ihem all I first shall raise."
The circle is drawn, — She squats ^vjthin.
And " Arise," she cries, some *' imp of flame,
Who will do my biddinj?. through thick and thin !"
She spoke but the word, and Duigenan came I
His torch was ready— his eyes were wild—
Away lo hi. northern hills he flea-,
And 'I was rare tn see how the bel.Iam smiled.
As she track'd his flight by the glare he threw j
As she saw. by her gift of secnnd-si?ht,
The min^rmg fla^h nf ;he pike and sword,
And the burnin' cott.ige's crini'^nn light
On the baleful Orange banner pour'd !
But. see— what spell doth she now prep-»re ?
What strange zijczae^eries rnund her draw.
As she mutters, backward, many a praver ?—
'Tis to call to her aid some imp of law;
Some dusky Gnnme, who shivers at light ;
Who. bred in the dark, his life ha'li piss'd,
In playing, for hire, with Wrong and Right,
Till he knows not one from t'other, at last ;
Who, kept by his masters under cork
Like bnttled-up imps, is but brought out
To help in any imholy work
The wise staio conjurors are about ;—
Who, ready at hand for dingy deeds,
' Not only is bottled, convenient sprite 1
But labell'd and priced, and onty needs
I A :^eal on his cork lo ijx htm quite.
I " Up !" said the hag. with visa^'e stern,
I **My mister imp, who art letrn'J in all
I The wise and good would mo.i alarm :"
She said— and Copley came, at her call ;
C.ime (while the beldam cried *' All haill")
In a shape she loves ilie best of any —
ARal,» who wasn't '■ without a tale,"
As he told of a cock and a " bull"^ full many.
And much he squeak'd of queens and kingSf
Of James the first, and James the latter.
And " bloody Queen Mary," and lots of things
Which, he own'd, had nothing lo do with the
mailer.
Thus, one by one, did the Witch call up
'I he legion of imps that fillM that roll ;
And to each she pledged he venomous cup,
While each ooe pledged lo her his soul :
Till, hark ! in (he midst of all their rites,
While (counting two hundred and seventy-sevM,
The hag mclnded) this band of sprites
Were playing their tricks before high heaven,
There came a loud crash ! * * *
EXTEMPORE.
O , TO WHOSE INTERFERENCE I
CHIEFLY OWE THE VERY LIBERAL PRICE
GIVEN FOR *' LALLA ROOKH."
When they shall tell, in fu'ure times,
Of thousands given for idle rhymes
Like 'hese^lhe pistitne of an hour,
They '11 wonder at the lavish taste
Thai c-^uld, like fulip-fanciers, waste
A little fortune on a flower 1
Yet will not thou, whose friendship set
Such value on the bard's renowi.—
Yet wilt not thou, my friend, regret
The golden shower thy ^pell brought down.
For thou dost love the free-born muse,
Whose flight no curbing chain pursues;
And thou dost think the song that shriaei
That image — so adored by thee,
And spirits iike thee— Libeny,
Of price beyond all India's mines!
A VOICE FROM MARATHON.
0 for a voice, as loud as that of Fame,
Tc breathe the word-Arise I
From Pindiis to Taygetus to proclaim—
Let every Greek arise !
Ye who have hearts to strike a single blow,
Hear my despairing cries !
Ye who have hands to immolate 07ie foe,
Arise ! arise ! arise !
From the dim fields of Asphodel beneath,
U).bnrne bv cloudy sighs
Of thr^se who love their country still in death—
Even I— even /— arise 1
I " And like a rat without a tail."— JtfacirtA.
3Tt<e " Bull" part of the story belongs mora pnk>
pcrly to Mr. Peel.
SUPPRESSED MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
517
These are Dot hands for earthly wringing— these ! —
EInod shi'uld Dol blind 'htst: eves. —
Yet here I aUtid. unloinb'd Miltiades,
Wetpiiig — arise! arise 1
Hear ye ihe {groans that heave (his burial-field } —
(fUi Grseci ^s savitnir-b;ind
Cry troni Uie dust — " Fiahl oii ! nor dare to yield 1
^ave ye our father^land !
"Bluiil with your bosom the barbaric spear!
Break it within yr.iir breast;
Then come, brave Greek ! and join your brothers here
In our imiiioilal rest 1"
Shall modern Datis. swoln with Syrian pride,
Cover ihe land with slaves ! —
Ay— let ihein cover i', both far and wide —
Cover it with their graves /
Much has been done — but more remains to do —
Ye have foug:ht long and well 1
The tiump that, on the JE^ean. etory blew
Seem'd wjth a s'oim to swell !
A^a's e;fim tyrant shudder'd at the sound,
He leauM upon l-.is thmre!
Murmur'd his h"r?e-iaird chieftainry around —
'"AnoUicr Marathon !"'
Dodona, *mid her fanes and forests hoar
Heard it wirh solemn glee;
Aud old I'arnassus, wjih a jnfty roar,
Told it from sea to sea !
High-bosom'd Greece, through her unnumber'd vales,
Broke f-rth in gl-Ticuis sons '•
Her classic streanis that plough the headlong dales
1 hunder'd the notes along !
But there ^s a bloodier wreath to gain, oh friends t
Now rise, or ever fill !
If ye fight now no fiercer than the fiends,
Bet.er not fight at all !
The feverish war-drum mingles with the fife
III dismal syniphony,
And Moslem strikes at liberly and life —
For boih, strike harder yel
Hark I how Cithaeron with his earthquake rolce
Calls to the utmost .chores!
While Flutn bars, agamst the nving noise,
His adaiii tutine doors !
Athene, tiptoe on her cnmiblin? dome,
Cries — *• Youth, ye must be men !'
And Echo 'iliou s within her rocky tomb —
"Greeks, become Greeks again!"
The s'one first brought, his living tomb to close,
Pausanias' mother piled :
Matrons of Greece 1 will ye do le^s for foes
Than she did for her child?
Let hnyhond strike ! — let every rank and age
Do each wini each can do !
Let him wlui*e arm it* mislily as his rage
Strike deep — s'rike home — strike through t
Be wise, be firm, be ciutjous, yet be bold I
Be brolhet-Tiie: be One!
I teach bu' what ihe Phrygian taught of old —
Divide^ and be undone !
Hallowed in life, in death itself, is he
Who for his cnuntry diesj
A light, a star, to alt futurity —
Arise ye, then! arise I
0 countrymen! O countrymen! once more —
By earth — and seas — and skies —
By Heaven — by sacred Hades— t implore-—
Arise! ariee! arieel
CROCKFORDIAN A.
EPIGRAMS.
Mala vicioi pecori$ coutogit laedunt.
1.
What can those workmen be about?
Do. Crockfuid, Itf the fecret ont-
Why thus >ourli^.ues fall —
Quoth he, ' Since f Iks aie not ia towo,
1 find it better to pull dowtiy
Thau have 7io f ui2 at all.
2.
See, passenger, at Crockford's high behest,
Red coats b> Wacft-legs ous'ed from their nest —
The aris o pe'ce o'ermaiching reckless war.
And gallant Rouge undone by wily Nuir.
3.
Impar consregBus — — .
Fate gave the word — the King of dice and cardi
In an unguarded momeni toi k 'he Gua'ds ;
C'ln'rived his neighbours in a trice tn drub.
And did Ihe trick by — turning up a Club,
4.
Nullum simile est idem.
*Tis strange how some will difler— some advance
That the Guards' Club-House was pulled down by
chance ;
While some, wirh juster notions in their rtazard,
Stoutly maintain the deed was dune by hazard.
LINES WRITTEN IN ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL,
AFTER THE DISSOLUTION.
BY A MEMBER OF THE UPPER BENCHES.
The King's speech tnlPd the Commons' knell,
The House is dear'd, the chair vacated,
And gloom and loneliness nnw dwell
Where Britain's wise men congregated.
The gallery is dark and lone,
No longer throng'd with curious folk,
Happv '0 pay their good half-crown
To hear bad speeclies badly spoke*
The Treasury^ eats no placemen show,
Clear'd is each Opposition bench ;
And even never-ending Jne
No longer cries — " Retrench I retrench !" *
Fred. Robinson no more his skill
Employs in weaving speeclies fair,
The Country gentlemen to fill
With promises as thin as air.
Dick Martin now no plan proposes
To aiJ t|.e bru-e part of 'he nation,
While Menibers cough and blow their noses,
I'll diowii his most humane oration.
Good Mr. BrogJen, where art thnu,
Movi wor'hy — Chairman of Committees ?
To strip one laurel from thy brow
Would surely be a thousand pities.
'T wss a e"O.J jnke, forsooth, to think
Thnu shnuldsl eiv? up thy honest winning
And thereby own that thou didst wink.
Pure soul ! at other people's sinningg.^
L:^
I "Really Ihe Hon. Member for Montrose should
lake a little breath ; liis objections are most unfair;
and what is worse, iliey are Heuer-€7idmg.'*~SeB tha
Chancellor of the Exchequer's Soeech in reply to Mr.
Hume, Feb. 23, 1826
> Mr. Rrogden said " he certainly should DOt refand
518
SUPPRESSED MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
Where's Holmes, Corruptions ready back,
Who life and credit both consumes
Id whipping in ihe Trpasury pack,
And Jobbing in coininitiee-rooms M
I look nround •— no well-known face
Along Ihe tienche^ nieels my eye
No Member "rises in his place,"
For all have other tish to try.
Not one is left of Kine and sa^es,
Who iaiely sat debaliiig here;
The crowded hustings now engages
'I'heir every hope and every lear.
Electors, r-illy to the poll,
And Lord Jnlin Russell never heed :
Lei gold alone your choice control —
" The best man 's he who best can bleed "'2
the money, because^ by so doiu^, he should convict
himself .''^ — See the Report of a Meeting of the Pro-
prietors of the Arigna Mining Company.
I The barefaced system of voting at private bill
committees, without having heard an iota of evidence
for or against, forms a distinguished feature in the
history of the late parliameat.
But if, tio timid, vou delay,
(By Bribery Statute held in awe),
Fear not — there is a ready way
To serve yourselves and cheat the law.
In times like these, when things are high,
And candidates must be well fed,
Your cabbages they '11 freely buy,
Kind souls 1 at two pounds ten a head. 3
Thus may we hope for many a law.
And many a measure most discreet,
When — pure as even Ihe last we s^w —
Britain's new Parliament shall meet.
Then haste ye, Candidates, and strive
An M. P. lo your names to tack,
And — alter July twenty-five—*
Collective wisdom— welcome back!
^ A maxim which his been pretty well acted on iu
he present elections.
3 " During the election at Sudbury, four cabbages
f'ld for 10/. and a plate oi' gooseberries fetched 25i.,
he sellers where these articles were so scarce being
oiers.'"— See the Times of Friday, June 20.
* The day on which the writa were returnab e.
IHE END.
5c5o
Eb4
THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW.
3 1205 02043 8006
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A A 001 423 251 6