Thy bounty fhall my pains beguile:
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With fudden greens and herbage crown'd;
And ftreams fhall murmur all around..

We have endeavoured, in the felection which is comprised in this volume, to introduce fuch poems or ex-tracts as contained fituations favourable to the exertions of the reader, and which afforded opportuni- 1ies for his talents to be called forth to the entertain-. ment of his hearers. There are many poetical pro-ductions in our language that, however weighty they may be in the fcale of merit, do not abound. with paffages which, when read with juftness and propriety, produce any confiderable pleasure to the hearer. Thefe we have in general omitted, and in our refearch to find thofe which are propiticus to our purpofe, we could not overlook the well-known Poem of Prior's, entitled HENRY and EMMA; especially when we have impreffed upon our minds the various paffages which the late Mr. Henderson read with uncom-mon feeling and effect. We are not acquainted with a compofition that delights more, if read well; and we should be wanting in that attention which we have with ed to obferve, in finding out productions of fuch a capability, were we to neglect the infertion of it.The

It

The introductory part we fhall omit, and come immediately to that where the dialogue commences. may, perhaps, be neceffary to inform the fcholar, that the reafon (namely his having committed murder) which Henry advances for his immediate flight, is a ftratagem to try the conftancy and affection of Emma. His whole conduct is feigned, in order to fatisfy himself in this particular.

BEGIN the poem rather lowly, and in an affecting and pathetic tone, with which your looks fhould correfpond.

HENRY.

SINCERE, O tell me, haft thou felt a pain,
Emma, beyond what woman knows to feign?
Has thy uncertain bofom ever ftrove.

With the first tumults of a real love?

Keep up your voice at the end of the questions, but do not let a fameness of tone offend the ear.

Haft thou now dreaded, and now bleft his sway,
By turns averfe, and joyful to obey?

Thy virgin foftnefs haft thou e'er bewail'd,.
As reafon yielded, and as love prevail'd?
And wept the potent God's refiftlefs dart,
His killing pleasure, his ecftatic smart,
And heav'nly poifon thrilling thro' thy heart?
If fo, with pity view my wretched ftate;
At leaft deplore, and then forget my fate:

Mark the word "wretched."

I

I

To

To fome more happy knight referve thy charms,
By fortune favour'd, and fuccessful arms:

Now lower your tone a little, but still preserve the pathetic throughout.

And only as the Sun's revolving ray

Brings back each year this melancholy day,

The word "melancholy" long and heavy in the pronumciation. The next line very affecting.

Permit one figh, and fet apart one tear,
To an abandon'd exile's endless care;
For me, alas! outcast of human race,
Love's anger only waits, and dire difgrace;

For lo thefe hands in murther are imbru'd:

Mark "murther" particularly. The fix remaining lines of his fpeech in rather a hurried manner, expreffive of approaching danger..

These trembling feet by justice are purfu'd::
Fate calls aloud, and haftens me away;
A fhameful death attends my longer stay ;-

And I this night muft fly from thee and love,
Condemn'd in lonely woods, a banish'd man to rove.

EMMA..

In the pathetical part of what Emma fays, you must blend a little more of the effeminate delicacy than in that of Henry's. His fhould be affecting, but at the fame. time manly and dignified.

3

What

What is our blifs, that changeth with the moon;
And day of life, that darkens ere 'tis noon?

What is true paffion, if unblest it dies?

The next line in the most tender strain of feeling, with an expreffion of fimple fincerity.

And where is Emma's joy, if Henry flies?
If love, alas! be pain; the pain I bear
No thought can figure, and no tongue declare.
Ne'er faithful woman felt, nor falfe one feign'd

The flames, which long have in my bofom reign'd:
The god of love himself inhabits there,

With all his rage, and dread, and grief, and care,
His complement of ftores and total war.

}

Do not lofe fight of the pathetic throughout the whole.

O ceafe then coldly to fufpect my love;
And let my deed at least my faith approve.
Alas! no youth fhall my endearments fhare;
Nor day nor night fhall interrupt my care;
No future ftory fhall with truth upbraid
The cold indiff'rence of the Nut-brown Maid :*
Nor to hard banishment fhall Henry run;

While careless Emma fleeps on beds of down.

The following two lines in a determined mode of expreffion.

View me refolv'd, where'er thou lead'ft, to go,
Friend to thy pain, and partner of thy woe;

A name given to her when a child.

For

For I atteft fair Venus and her son,

The next line tender and affectionate.

That I, of all mankind, will love but thee alone.

HENRY.

You begin what Henry next fays with a tone of friendly advice againft what Emma declares her refolution to perform.

Let prudence yet obftruct thy vent'rous way;

And take good heed, what men will think and fay;
That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took;
Her father's houfe and civil life forfook;

That full of youthful blood, and fond of man,
She to the woodland with an exile ran.
Reflect, that leffen'd fame is ne'er regain'd;
And virgin honour, once, is always stain❜d..
Timely advis'd, the coming evil shun:
Better not do the deed, than weep it done.
No penance can abfolve our guilty fame;

Nor tears, that wash out fin, can wash out shame.
Then fly the fad effects of defp'rate love;

Here he melts again into the pathetic.

And leave a banish'd man thro' lonely woods to rove

EMMA.

Let Emma's hapless cafe be falfely told
By the rafh young, or the ill-natur'd old::

Let