Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

One comfort yet shall cheer thine aged heart,
Howe'er he slight thee, thou hast done thy part.

Oh, barb'rous! wouldst thou with a Gothick hand Pull down the schools-what!--all the schools i' th'

land;

Or throw them up to liv'ry-nags and grooms,
Or turn them into shops and auction-rooms?-
A captious question, sir (and yours is one,)
Deserves an answer similar, or none.
Woulds thou, possessor of a flock, employ
(Appris❜d that he is such) a careless boy,
And feed him well, and give him handsome pay,
Merely to sleep, and let them run astray?
Survey our schools and colleges, and see

A sight not much unlike my simile.
From education, as the leading cause,
The publick character its colour draws;
Thence the prevailing manners take their cast,
Extravagant or sober, loose or chaste.

And, though I would not advertise them yet
Nor write on each-This building to be let,
Unless the world were all prepar❜d t'embrace
A plan well worthy to supply their place;
Yet, backward as they are, and long have been,
To cultivate and keep the morals clean,
(Forgive the crime) I wish them, I confess,
Or better manag'd, or encourag'd less.

TO THE

REVEREND MR. NEWTON.

An Invitation into the Country.

I.

THE swallows in their torpid state
Compose their useless wing,
And bees in hives as idly wait

The call of early Spring

II.

The keenest frost that binds the stream,
The wildest wind that blows,
Are neither felt nor fear'd by them,

Secure of their repose.

II.

But man, all feeling and awake,

The gloomy scene surveys;
With present ills his heart must ake,
And pant for brighter days.

IV.

Old Winter, halting o'er the mead,

Bids me and Mary mourn;

But lovely Spring peeps o'er his head,
And whispers your return.

[ocr errors]

V.

Then April, with her sister May, Shall chase him from the bow'rs, And weave fresh garlands ev'ry day, To crown the smiling hours.

VI.

And if a tear, that speaks regret
Of happier times, appear,

A glimpse of joy, that we have met,
Shall shine and dry the tear.

[graphic]

CATHARINA.

ADDRESSED TO MISS STAPLETON,

(NOW MRS, COURTNEY.)

SHE came-she is gone-we have met→→
And meet perhaps never again;
The sun of that moment is set,

And seems to have risen in vain.
Catharina has fled like a dream-
(So vanishes pleasure, alas!)
But has left a regret and esteem,
That will not so suddenly pass.

The last ev'ning ramble we made,
Catharina, Maria, and I,
Our progress was often delay'd

By the nightingale warbling nigh.

We paus❜d under many a tree,

And much she was charm'd with a tone

Less sweet to Maria and me,

Who so lately had witness'd her own.

My numbers that day she had sung,
And gave them a grace so divine,

As only her musical tongue

Could infuse into numbers of mine.

The longer I heard, I esteem'd
The work of my fancy the more,
And e'en to myself never seem'd
So tuneful a poet before.

Though the pleasures of London exceed In number the days of the year, Catharina, did nothing impede,

Would feel herself happier here; For the close-woven arches of limes On the banks of our riv e, I know, Are sweeter to her many times

Than aught that the city can show.

So it is, when the mind is endu'd
With a well-judging taste from above;
Then, whether embellish'd or rude,
"I is nature alone that we love.
The achievements of art may amuse,
May even our wonder excite,
But groves, hills, and valleys, diffuse
A lasting, a sacred delight.

Since then in the rural recess
Catharina alone can rejoice,

May it still be her lot to possess

The scene of her sensible choice!

To inhabit a mansion remote

From the clatter of street-pacing steeds,

And by Philomel's annual note

To measure the life that she leads.

« ForrigeFortsett »