The goddess of prim Piety appears;
And from that page where wit runs riot tears • The snaky hair down sink the languid fires, And the world's last great prodigy expires!
ON THE TOMB OF THE GREEKS WHO FELL IN BATTLE.
FROM THE GREEK OF SIMONIDES.
Ir in the field of death to fall,
In freedom's cause at honour's call,
And nobly die, that friends may live,
Be valour's high prerogative,
To us, the ruling power of heaven,
This noblest proudest fate has given;
To us, who 'mongst the honor'd dead
For our lov'd Grecia's freedom bled.
Hence fame's reward, hence glory's bloom
Unfading flourish on our tomb.
• Nondum illi flavum Proserpina vertice Crinem
Abstulerat, Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.
Ergo Iris croceis per cœlum roscida pennis
Devolat & supra caput astitit: Hunc Ego Diti
Sacrum jussa fero teque isto corpore solvo.
Sic ait & dextra crinem secat: omnis & una
Dilapsus calor atque in ventos vita recessit.
Virgil, Æneid. lib. 4. v. 698.
DAUGHTER of dulness! canting dame !
Thou night-mare on the breast of joy,
Whose drowsy morals, still the same,
The stupid sooth, the gay annoy ;
Soft cradled in thy sluggish arms,
E'en footpads prate of guilt's alarms,
And pig-tail'd sailors sadly queer,
Affect the melting mood, and drop the pitying tear.
When first, to tickle Britain's nose,
HUGH KELLY rais'd his leaden quill,
Thy poppies lent the wish'd repose,
And bade the gaping town be still.
Poor COMEDY! thine opiate lore
With patience many a day she bore,
Till GOLDSMITH all thy hopes dismay'd,
And drove thee from the stage by Tony Lumpkin's aid.
Scar'd by thy lanthorn visage, flee
Thalia's offspring light and merry,
Loud laughter, wit, and repartee,
And leave us moralizing CHERRY.
They fly, and carry in their line,
GRIMALDI, Goose, and Columbine,
To Sadler's Wells, by DIBDIN taken,
With him they vow to dwell, nor find themselves forsaken.
Soliloquy, with clamorous tongue,
That brings the lord knows what to view,
And Affectation pert and young,
Swearing to love-the lord knows who,
Still round the midnight cauldron caper:
Warm Charity, with Newland's paper,
And baby Bounty not unwilling
To give to mother dear, her new King George's shilling. Oh gently o'er the modern stage,
Fair preacher, raise thy deaf'ning din!
Not with the metaphoric rage,
That guides the sword of Harlequin:
(As erst thou did'st the town amuse)
With tender bailiffs, generous Jews,
Socratic hosiers, praying sailors,
Chaste harlots, letter'd clowns, and duel-fighting tailors.
Forbear thy handkerchief of brine,
Some gleams of merriment admit;
Be tears in moderation thine,
To water, not to drown the pit.
But if with streaming eyes askew,
Thou still wilt blubber five acts through,
Have pity on a son of rhyme,
Usurp the play-'tis yours-but spare the pantomime.
HOW TO PUT DOWN SUNDAY PAPERS.-ADDRESSED
WOULD
you take from these papers their poison away,
And induce all the public to slight 'em ;
No need of harsh measures ;-I'll tell you the way,
Engage for one Sunday to write 'em!
HAST thou forsaken, then, my side,
And given to hopeless woe my heart!
The sacred knot our love had tied,
I fondly thought no force could part.
I thought though all the world forsook me,
In sternest mood though fortune frown'd,
Though want, though madness overtook me,
That faithful still would'st thou be found.
Spite of my sorrows I was blest,
To think there surely would remain, One bosom where my head might rest, One voice to calm my throbbing brain. The dear delusion now is ended!
And O what pangs my soul distress, Of deep surprise, and anguish blended, The power of words can ill express. So feels the mariner, who, steering
His tranquil course o'er summer seas, While not a cloud is round appearing, And gently blows the favouring breeze, Perceives with horror, and with wonder, His vessel, wont the storm to brave, His treacherous vessel burst asunder, And plunge him in a watery grave.
MIDWAY the hill of science, after steep
And rugged paths that tire the unpractis'd feet,
A grove extends; in tangled mazes wrought,
And filled with strange enchantment: dubious shapes
Flit through dim glades, and lure the eager foot
Of youthful ardour to eternal chase.
Dreams hang on every leaf: unearthly forms
Glide through the gloom; and mystic visions swim
Before the cheated sense. Athwart the mists,
Far into vacant space, huge shadows stretch
And seem realities; while things of life,
Obvious to sight and touch, all glowing round,
Fade to the hue of shadows-Scruples here,
With filmy net, most like the autumnal webs
Of floating gossamer, arrest the foot
Of generous enterprise; and palsy hope
And fair ambition with the chilling touch
Of sickly hesitation and blank fear.
Nor seldom Indolence, these lawns among,
Fixes her turf-built seat; and wear the garb
Of deep philosophy, and museful sits,
In dreamy twilight of the vacant mind,
Sooth'd by the whispering shade; for soothing soft
The shades; and vistas lengthening into air,
With moon-beam rainbows tinted-here each mind
Of finer mould, acute and delicate,
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