Page images
PDF
EPUB

Where wild Ofwego fpreads her fwamps around,
And Niagara fiuns with thund'ring found.

E'en now, perhaps, as there fome pilgrim ftrays,
Thro' tangl'd forefts, and thro' dang'rous ways;
Where beafts with man divided empire claim,
And the brown Indian marks with murd'rous aim;
There, while above the giddy tempest flies
And all around diftrefsful yells arise;
The penfive exile bending with his woe,
To ftop too fearful, and too faint to go;
Cafts a long look where England's glories fhine,
And bids his bofom fympathife with mine.

Vain. very vain, my weary fearch, to find
That blifs which only centers in the mind*!
Why have I flray'd from pleasure and repose,
To feek a good each government bestows?
In ev'ry government, though terrors reign,
Though tyrant kings, or tyrants laws reftrain;
How fmall, of all that human hearts endure,
That part
which laws or kings can cause or curet!
Still to ourselves in ev'ry place confign'd,

Our own felicity we make or find:

[blocks in formation]

Contentment is the only happiness we can enjoy in this world, therefore happinefs is to be fought for only in

the mind.

+ Human laws may refrain the actions of men, but God alone can fway the confcience.

With fecret courfe, which no loud forms annoy,
Glides the fmooth current of domestic joy;
The lifted ax, the agonizing wheel,

Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel*;
To men remote from power but rarely known,
Leave reason, faith, and confcience, all our own.

*The poet here refers to modes of punishment the ingenuity of man has contriv'd, which may be justly filed a difgrace to humanity, in whatever nation or country they are practis'd.

EVE

EVA

EVENING

IN A

CONTEMPLATIONS

COLLEGE:

An Imitation of Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard.

HE curfew tolls the hour of clofing gates,

THE

With jarring found the porter turns the key;
Then in his dreary manfion flumbering waits,
And flowly, flernly, quits it though for me".

Now fhine the fpires beneath the pallid moon,
And through the cloifters peace and filence reign;
Save where fome fidler fcrapes a drowfy tune,
Or copious bowls infpire a jovial firain.

Within those walls, where through the glimmering fhade
Appear the pamphlets in a mouldering heap,

Each in his narrow bed til morning laid,
The peaceful fellows of the college fleep.

The tinkling bell proclaiming early prayers,
The noify fervants rattling o'er their head,

The calls of bufinefs, and domeftic cares,
Ne'er rouse these fleepers from their downy bed.

[blocks in formation]

* Among the many imitations of Gray's celebrated elegy, this fuppos'd to be written by an Oxford fcholar, is truly worthy general admiration.

No chattering females croud their focial fire,

No dread have they of difcord and of Arife,
Unknown the names of hufband and of fire,
Unfelt the plagues of matrimonial life.

Of have they bask'd beneath the funny walk,
Oft have the benches bow'd beneath their weight;
How jocund are their looks when dinner calls!
How fmoke the cutlets on their crowded plate!

Oh! let not temp'rance, too disdainful, hear

How long their feafts, how long their dinners laft:
Nor let the Fair, with a contemptuous fneer,
On thefe unmarried men reflections caft.

The fplendid fortune, and the beauteous face,
(Themfelves confefs it, and their fires bemoan)
Too foon are caught by fcarlet and by lace;
Thefe fons of fcience fhine in black alone.

Forgive, ye fair, th' involuntary fault,
If thefe no feats of gaiety difplay,
Where through proud Ranelagh's wide echoing vault
Melodious Frafi + trills her quavering lay.

Say, is the fword well fuited to the band?
Does 'broider'd coat agree with fable gown?
Can Mechlin laces fhade a churchman's hand?
Or learning's votaries ape the beaux of town?

+ A late celebrated Italian finger.

Perhaps

Perhaps in thefe time tottering walls refide
Some who were once the darling of the fair,
Some who of old could taftes and fashions guide,.
Controul the manager, and awe the play's.

But Science now has fill'd their vacant mind

With Rome's rich spoils, and truth's exalted views;. Fir'd them with transports of a nobler kind,

And bade them flight all females-but the mufe.

Full many a lark, high towering to the fky,

Unheard, unheeded, greets th' approach of light ; Full many a far, unfeen by mortál eye,

With twinkling luftre glimmers through the night.

Some future Herring, who, with dauntless breast,
Rebellion's torrent fhall, like him, oppofe;
Some mute, unconfcious Hardwicke here may refl
Some Pelham, dreadful to his country's foes.

From prince and people to command applauss,
'Midft ermin'd peers to guide the high debate,
To fhield Britannia's and Religion's laws,

And fteer with fteady courfe the helm of flate,

Fate yet forbids; nor circumfcribes alone

Their growing virtues, but their crimes confines, Forbids in Freedom's veilt' infult the throne, Beneath her mafque to hide the worst defigns;

E 3

« PreviousContinue »