Alone in Nature's wealth array'd, He ask'd, and had the lovely Maid. Flush'd with mirth and hope they burn; SONNET ON THE DEATH OF MR. RICHARD WEST. In vain to me the smiling Mornings shine, And redd'ning Phoebus lifts his golden fire: The birds in vain their amorous descant join, Or cheerful fields resume their green attire: These ears, alas! for other notes repine, A different object do these eyes require; My lonely anguish melts no heart but mine, And in my breast the imperfect joys expire. Yet Morning smiles the busy race to cheer, And new-born pleasure brings to happier men; To warm their little loves the birds complain : * See Menvoirs, Sect. 3. h EPITAPH I. ON MRS. CLARKE. Lo! where the silent Marble weeps, Sits smiling on a father's woe: Whom what awaits, while yet he strays A sigh; an unavailing tear; Till Time shall ev'ry grief remove, EPITAPH II.t ON SIR WILLIAM WILLIAMS. HERE, foremost in the dangerous paths of fame, Young Williams fought for England's fair renown; His mind each muse, cach grace adorn'd his frame, Nor Envy dared to view him with a frown. This lady, the wife of Dr. Clarke, physician at Epsom, died April 27, 1757; and is buried in the church of Beckenham, Kent. This epitaph was written at the request of Mr. Frederick Montague, who intended to have inscribed ii on a monument at Bellisle, at the siege of which this accomplished youth was killed, 1961; but from some difficulty attending the erection of it, the design was not executed. At Aix his voluntary sword he drew, There first in blood his infant honour seal'd; From fortune, pleasure, science, love he flew, And scorn'd repose when Britain took the field. With eyes of flame, and cool undaunted breast, Victor he stood on Bellisle's rocky steeps→→ Ah! gallant youth! this marble tells the rest, Where melancholy Friendship bends, and weeps. ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD. THE Curfew tolls the knell of parting day, Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bower, Molest her ancient solitary reign. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude Forefathers of the Hamlet sleep. The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twitt'ring from the straw built shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their team afield! How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke! Let not Ambition meck their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Nor you, ye Proud, impute to These the fault, Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; But knowledge to their eyes her ample page Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the soul. Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,` The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear: Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, And read their history in a nation's eyes, Their lot forbade : nor circumscribed alone Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse, And many a holy text around she strews, |