Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curæ
Intus habent dulces Risus, et Gratiæ sedem,
Et roseis resupina toris, roseo ore Voluptas:
Regibus huc faciles aditus; communia spernunt
Ostia, jamque expers duris custodibus istis
Panditur accessus, penetraliaque intima Templi.
Tuque Oh! Angliacis, Princeps, spes optima regnis,
Ne tantum, ne finge metum; quid imagine captus
Hæres, et mentem pictura pascis inani?
Umbram miraris: nec longum tempus, et ipsa
Ibit in amplexus, thalamosque ornabit ovantes.
Ille tamen tabulis inhians longum haurit amorem,
Affatu fruitur tacito, auscultatque tacentem
Immemor artificis calami, risumque, ruboremque
Aspicit in fucis, pictæque in virginis ore:
Tanta Venus potuit; tantus tenet error amantes.
Nascere, magna Dies, qua sese Augusta Britanno
Committat Pelago, patriamque relinquat amœnam;
Cujus in adventum jam nunc tria regna secundos
Attolli in plausus, dulcique accensa furore
Incipiunt agitare modos, et carmina dicunt:
Ipse animo sedenim juvenis comitatur euntem
Explorat ventos, atque auribus aëra captat,
Atque auras, atque astra vocat crudelia; pectus
Intentum exultat, surgitque arrecta cupido;
Incusat spes ægra fretum, solitoque videtur
Latior effundi pontus, fructusque morantes.
Nascere, Lux major, qua sese Augusta Britanno
Committat juveni totam, propriamque dicabit;
At citius (precor) Oh! cedas melioribus astris :
Nox finem pompæ, finemque imponere curis
Possit, et in thalamos furtim deducere nuptam;
Sufficiat requiemque viris, et amantibus umbras;
Adsit Hymen, et subridens cum matre Cupido Accedant, sternantque toros, ignemque ministrent; Ilicet haud pictæ incandescit imaginæ formæ Ulterius juvenis, verumque agnoscit amcrem.
Sculptile sicut ebur, faciemque arsisse venustam
Pygmaliona canunt; ante hanc suspiria ducit,
Alloquiturque amens, flammamque et vulnera narrat
Implorata Venus jussit cum vivere signum,
Fœminæam inspirans animam ; quæ gaudia surgunt,
Audiit ut primæ nascentia murmura linguæ,
Luctari in vitam, et paulatim volvere ocellos
Sedulus, aspexitque novâ splendescere flammâ;
Corripit amplexu vivam, jamque oscula jungit
Acria confestim, recipitque rapitque; prioris
Immemor ardoris, Nymphæque oblitus eburnæ.
THYRSIS, when he left me, swore
In the Spring he would return.
Ah! what means the op'ning flower?
And the bud that decks the thorn?
"Twas the nightingale that sung!
"Twas the lark that upward sprung!
Idle notes! untimely green!
Why such unavailing haste?
Gentle gales and sky serene
Prove not always Winter past.
Cease, my doubts, my fears to move-
Spare the honour of my love.
* At the request of Miss Speed.
•WITH Beauty,with Pleasure surrounded, to languishTo weep without knowing the cause of my anguish; To start from short slumbers, and wish for the morningTo close my dull eyes when I see it returning; Sighs sudden and frequent, looks ever dejectedWords that steal from my tongue, by no meaning connected!
fellow-swains, how these symptoms befel me They smile, but reply not-Sure Delia cau tell me!
[Mr. Etough,t of Cambridge University, was remarkable for his eccentricities and personal appearance. A Mr. Tyson of Bene't College, made an etching of his head, and presented it to Mr. Gray, who wrote under it the following lines.}
THUS Tophet look'd; so grinn'd the brawling fiend,
Whilst frighted prelates bow'd, and call'd him friend.
Our mother-church, with half-averted sight,
Blush'd as she bless'd her grisly proselyte;
Hosannas rung through Hell's tremendous borders,
And Satan's self had thoughts of taking orders.
Suggested by a View, in 1766, of the Seat and Ruins of a deceased Nobleman, at Kingsgate, Keni.
OLD, and abandon'd by each venal friend,
Here Hd form'd the pious resolution -d
To smuggle a few years, and strive to mend
A broken character and constitution.
These lines will be found in a note in the second volume of
Warton's Edition of Pope's Works.
+ Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. LVI. p. 25. 281.
On this congenial spot he fix'd his choice;
Earl Goodwin trembled for his neighb'ring sand ; Here sea-gulls scream, and cormorants rejoice,
And mariners, though shipwreck'd, dread to land.
Here reign the blust'ring North and blighting East,
No tree is heard to whisper, bird to sing;
Yet Nature could not furnish out the feast,
Art he invokes new horrors still to bring.
Here mould'ring fanes and battlements arise,
Turrets and arches nodding to their fall;
Unpeopled monastʼries delude our eyes,
And mimic desolation covers all.
'Ah!' said the sighing peer, 'had B―te been true,
Nor M-'s, R-'s, B-'s friendship vain,
Far better scenes than these had blest our view,
And realized the beauties which we feign.
Purged by the sword, and purified by fire,
Then had we seen proud London's hated walls;
Owls would have hooted in St. Peter's choir,
And foxes stunk and litter'd in St. Paul's.'
OR, THE CAMBRIDGE COURTSHIP.
Written a short time previous to the election of a
High Steward.
WHEN sly Jemmy Twitcher had smugg'd up his face,
With a lick of court white-wash, and pious grimace,
A wooing he went, where three sisters of old
In harmless society guttle and scold.
Lord! sister,' says Physic to Law, ́ I declare,
Such a sheep-biting look, such a pick-pocket air.
Not I for the Indies!—You know I'm no prude,-
But his name is a shame,-and his eyes are so lewd!
Then he shambles and straddles so oddly-I fear—
No—at our time of life 'twould be silly, my dear.'
'I don't know,' says Law, but methinks for his look
"Tis just like the picture in Rochester's book;
Then his character, Phizzy,-his morals-his life-
When she died, I can't tell, but he once had a wife.
They say he's no Christian, loves drinking and w—g,
And all the town rings of his swearing and roaring!
His lying and filching, and Newgate-bird tricks ;—
Not I-for a coronet, chariot and six.”
Divinity heard, between waking and dozing,
Her sisters denying, and Jemmy proposing:
From table she rose, and with bumper in hand,
She stroked up her belly, and stroked down her band-
What a pother is here about wenching and roaring!
Why, David loved catches, and Solomon w-g:
Did not Israel filch from th' Egyptians of old
Their jewels of silver and jewels of gold?
The prophet of Bethel, we read, told a lie :
He drinks-so did Noah;-he swears-so do I:
To reject him for such peccadillos, were odd;
Besides, he repents—for he talks about G**;—
Never hang down your head, you poor penitent elf; Come, buss me—I'll be Mrs. Twitcher myself.
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