Tag Archives: children

[Mary Barber], “The Oak and its Branches. A Fable.”

[MARY BARBER]

“The Oak and its Branches. A Fable.”

Ocassion’d by seeing a dead Oak beautifully encompass’d with Ivy.

 

An Oak, with spreading Branches crown’d,
Beheld an Ivy on the Ground,
Expos’d to ev’ry trampling Beast,
That roam’d around the dreary Waste.
The Tree of Jove, in all his State,                                             5
With Pity view’d the Ivy’s Fate;
And kindly told her, She should find
Security around his Rind:
Nor was that only his Intent,
But to bestow some Nourishment.                                       10

The Branches saw, and griev’d to see
Some Juices taken from the Tree.
Parent, say they, in angry Tone,
Your Sap should nourish us alone:
Why should you nurse this Stranger-Plant,                         15
With what your Sons, in time, may want?
May want, to raise us high in Air,
And make us more distinguish’d there.

‘Tis well — the Parent-Tree reply’d;
Must I, to gratify your Pride,                                                   20
Act only with a narrow View
Of doing Good to none but you?
Know, Sons, tho’ JOVE hath made me great,
I am not safe from Storms of Fate.
Is it not prudent then, I pray,                                                   25
To guard against another Day?
Whilst I’m alive, You crown my Head;
This graces me alive, and dead.

NOTES:

 2 Ivy “A well-known climbing evergreen shrub (Hedera Helix), indigenous to Europe and parts of Asia and Africa” (OED).

 5 Tree of Jove The god Jupiter, also known as Jove, is the Romanized Zeus, and a sky god who uses the oak tree as a symbol of worship (Britannica).

 8 Rind Alluding to the bark of the oak tree.

 14 Sap “The vital juice or fluid which circulates in plants” (OED).

 SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1735) pp. 48-49. [Google Books]

 Edited by Nick LoBue

John Hawes, “On Seeing an Infant Boy Seven Years of Age learning to write”

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JOHN HAWES

“On Seeing an Infant Boy of Seven Years of Age learning to write”

 

HIS Infant Fingers, scarce could grasp the Quill
And yet with Ardour, he pursu’d his Skill;
Attention fix’d his Mind, and fill’d his Brain,
His Copy in Perfection to explain;
His Eye pursu’d each Stroke so superfine,                                         5
And strove to improve, each Character and Line;
So far before the common Time of Youth.
Did Art appear in Innocence, and Truth;
He forc’d these Lines, to vindicate his Praise,
And in my Mind did these Ideas raise.                                               10

But when I found Apollo fir’d his Soul,
To Musick’s Charms, and saw his Fingers roll,
I found his Frame with Heavenly Gifts endow’d,
‘Bove vulgar Mortals, blest by mighty Jove.
He joins the sounding Lyre with Infant Voice,                                  15
“By Inclination led, and fix’d by Choice;”
Points full Perfection, in his Time to come,
If Manhood crowns Him, in Time’s fickle Womb.

Thus when Pygmalion strove to carve his Maid,
Each stroke with curious View, his Mind survey’d;                          20
He still pursu’d the chissel, and improv’d
Each Touch Divine, to gain the Art he lov’d.
In Innocence, by his own Skill betray’d,
The Goddess Venus, bless him in his Maid;
Gave Life to Ivory, for his matchless Strife,                                       25
Made his own Genius to become his Wife.

NOTES:

1 Quill  A pen made from the hollow shaft of a bird’s feather (OED).

2 Ardour  Burning with ferocity and intensity (OED).

6 Character  The letters of the alphabet (OED).

9 vindicate  “To clear from censure, criticism, suspicion, or doubt, by means of demonstration; to justify or uphold by evidence or argument” (OED).

11 Apollo  A Greek God of music and poetry, among many things, and known for his youthfulness (OED).

11 fir’d  An archaic contraction of the word “fired”; to ignite (OED).

14 Jove  Refers to Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Zeus (OED).

15 sounding Lyre  The instrument of Apollo, Greek God of Music (OED).

 16 “By Inclination led, and fix’d by Choice”  Quoted From William Congreve’s “Epistle to the Right Honourable Charles Lord Halifax” (Line 4).

19 Pygmalion A sculptor from Cyprus who fell in love with the sculpture that he carved (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book X, ll. 243-297).

24 Venus  The Roman goddess of love, beauty, and desire grants Pygmalion his wish for his sculpture to come to life (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book X, ll. 243-297).

SOURCE:  Poems, Moral and Divine (Norwich, 1754), pp. 21-22. [Google Books]

Edited by Paul Madariaga