This movable structure of shelves, For its beauty admired and its use, And charged with octavos and twelves, The gayest I had to produce; Where, flaming in scarlet and gold, My poems enchanted I view, And hope, in due time, to behold My Iliad and Odyssey too : This china, that decks the alcove, Has ne'er been reveal'd to us yet: These curtains, that keep the room warm Or cool, as the season demands, Those stoves that for pattern and form Seem the labour of Mulciber's hands. All these are not half that I owe Benignity, friendship, and truth; Much less could he alter her mind. Thus compass'd about with the goods I indulge my poetical moods In many such fancies as these; And fancies I fear they will seem- 1786. LINES COMPOSED FOR A MEMORIAL OF ASHLEY COWPER, ESQ. IMMEDIATELY AFTER HIS DEATH, BY HIS NEPHEW WILLIAM OF WESTON. FAREWELL! endued with all that could engage All hearts to love thee, both in youth and age! In prime of life, for sprightliness enroll'd Among the gay, yet virtuous as the old; In life's last stage, (O blessings rarely found!) Pleasant as youth with all its blossoms crown'd; Through every period of this changeful state Unchanged thyself-wise, good, affectionate! Marble may flatter, and lest this should seem O'ercharged with praises on so dear a theme, Although thy worth be more than half supprest, Love shall be satisfied, and veil the rest. June, 1788. ON THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO LONDON, THE NIGHT OF THE SEVENTEENTH OF MARCH, 1789. WHEN, long sequester'd from his throne, By right of worth, not blood alone, Then loyalty, with all his lamps 'Twas hard to tell, of streets or squares, Bright shone the roofs, the domes, the spires, To hang their momentary fires Amid the vault of heaven. So, fire with water to compare, Had all the pageants of the world And all the banners been unfurl'd That heralds e'er design'd, For no such sight had England's Queen Forsaken her retreat, Where George, recover'd, made a scene Sweet always doubly sweet. Yet glad she came that night to prove, How much the object of her love Darkness the skies had mantled o'er On borrow'd wheels away she flies, And gratify no curious eyes That night except her own. Arrived, a night like noon she sees, As all by instinct, like the bees, Had known their sovereign come. Pleased she beheld aloft portray'd, Emblems of health and heavenly aid, Unlike the enigmatic line, So difficult to spell, Which shook Belshazzar at his wine The night his city fell. Soon watery grew her eyes and dim, None else, except in prayer for him, It was a scene in every part Like those in fable feign'd, And seem'd by some magician's art But other magic there, she knew, To raise such wonders in her view, That cordial thought her spirit cheer'd, Not else unworthy to be fear'd, So, ancient poets say, serene The sea-maid rides the waves, With more than astronomic eyes One Georgian star adorns the skies, Yet let the glories of a night Like that, once seen, suffice, Heaven grant us no such future sight, Such previous woe the price! |