[By WILLIAM SHENSTONE, Efq;]
Auditæ voces, vagitus & ingens,
Infantumque animæ flentes in Limine primo.
What particulars in Spenfer were imagin'd most preper for the Author's imitation on this occafion, are, his language, his fimplicity, his manner of defcription, and a peculiar tenderness of fentiment remarkable throughout his works.
H me! full forely is my heart forlorn,
To think how modeft worth neglected lies! While partial Fame doth with her blasts adorn Such deeds alone, as pride and pomp difguife;
Deeds of ill fort, and mischievous emprize!
Lend me thy clarion, goddess! let me try
To found the praise of merit, ere it dies;
Such as I oft have chaunced to espy,
Loft in the dreary fhades of dull obfcurity.
In ev'ry village mark'd with little fpire,
Embow'r'd in trees, and hardly known to Fame,
There dwells, in lowly fhed, and mean attire,
A matron old, whom we School-mistress name;
Who boasts unruly brats with birch to tame :
They grieven fore, in piteous durance pent,
Aw'd by the pow'r of this relentless dame;
And oft-times, on vagaries idly bent,
For unkempt hair, or tafk unconn'd, are forely fhent.
And all in fight doth rise a birchen tree,
Which Learning near Her little dome did ftowe;
Whilom a twig of fmall regard to fee,
Tho' now fo wide its waving branches flow;
And work the fimple vaffals mickle woe;
For not a wind might curl the leaves that blew,
But their limbs fhudder'd, and their pulfe beat low;
And, as they look'd, they found their horror grew,
And shap'd it into rods, and tingled at the view.
So have I feen (who has not, may conceive,)
A lifeless phantom near a garden plac'd:
So doth it wanton birds of peace bereave,
Of sport, of fong, of pleasure, of repaft;
They start, they ftare, they wheel, they look aghaft:
Sad fervitude! fuch comfortless annoy
May no bold Briton's riper age e'er taste!
Ne Superftition clog his dance of joy,
Ne vifion empty, vain, his native bliss destroy,
Near to this dome is found a patch fo green,
On which the tribe their gambols do display:
And at the door impris'ning board is seen,
Left weakly wights of smaller fize fhou'd stray;
Eager, perdie, to bask in funny day!
The noises intermix'd, which thence refound,
Do Learning's little tenement betray:
Where fits the dame, difguis'd in look profound,
And eyes her fairy-throng, and turns her wheel around.
Her cap, far whiter than the driven snow,
Emblem right meet of decency does yield:
Her apron dy'd in grain, as blue, I trowe,
As is the Hare-bell that adorns the field;
And in her hand, for fceptre, fhe does wield
Tway brichen sprays; with anxious Fear entwin'd,
With dark Diftruft, and fad Repentance fill'd;
And ftedfaft Hate, and fharp Affliction join'd,
And Fury uncontroul'd, and Chaftifement unkind.
VII.
Few but have ken'd, in femblance meet pourtray'd,
The childish faces of old Eol's train;
Libs, Notus, Außer: thefe in frowns array'd,
How then would fare or earth, or sky, or main,
Were the ftern god to give his flaves the rein?
And were not she rebellious breasts to quell,
And were not the her ftatutes to maintain,
The cott no more, I ween, were deem'd the cell,
Where comely peace of mind, and decent order dwell.
A ruffet ftole was o'er her fhoulders thrown;
A ruffet kirtle fenc'd the nipping air;
'Twas fimple ruffet, but it was her own ;
'Iwas her own country bred the flock fo fair;
'Twas her own labour did the fleece prepare ;
And, footh to fay, her pupils, rang'd around,
Thro' pious awe, did term it paffing rare;
For they in gaping wonderment abound,
And think, no doubt, the been the greatest wight on ground.
Albeit ne flatt'ry did corrupt her truth,
title did debauch her ear;
Goody, good-woman, goffip, n'aunt, forfooth,
Or dame, the fole Additions she did hear;
Yet these she challeng'd, these she held right dear:
Ne would efteem him act as mought behove,
Who fhould not honour'd eld with thefe revere :
For never title fo mean could prove,
But there was eke a Mind which did that title love.
One ancient hen she took delight to feed,
The plodding pattern of the bufy dame;
Which, ever and anon, impell'd by need,
Into her school, begirt with chickens, came;
Such favour did her paft deportment claim :
And, if Neglect had lavish'd on the ground
Fragment of bread, fhe would collect the fame ;
For well she knew, and quaintly could expound,
What fin it were to waste the fmalleft crumb fhe found.
XI.
Herbs too fhe knew, and well of each could speak
That in her garden fip'd the filv'ry dew;
Where no vain flow'r difclos'd a gawdy streak;
But herbs for ufe, and phyfick, not a few,
|