Tag Archives: heroic couplets

John Dryden, “To Henry Hidden, Esq; On his Translation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal”

JOHN DRYDEN

“To Henry Higden, Esq; On his Translation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal”

 

The Grecian wits, who satire first began,
Were pleasant pasquins on the life of man;
At mighty villains, who the state opprest,
They durst not rail, perhaps; they lash’d, at least,
And turn’d them out of office with a jest.                                             5
No fool could peep abroad, but ready stand
The drolls to clap a bauble in his hand.
Wise legislators never yet could draw
A fop within the of reach of common law;
For posture, dress, grimace and affectation,                                       10
Tho’ foes to sense, are harmless to the nation.
Our last redress is dint of verse to try,
And satire is our Court of Chancery.
This way took Horace to reform an age,
Not bad enough to need an author’s rage.                                           15
But yours, who liv’d in more degenerate times,
Was forc’d to fasten deep, and worry crimes.
Yet you, my friend, have temper’d him so well,
You make him smile in spite of all his zeal:
An art peculiar to yourself alone,                                                            20
To join the virtues of two styles in one.
Oh! were your author’s principle receiv’d,
Half of the lab’ring world would be reliev’d:
For not to wish is not to be deceiv’d.
Revenge wou’d into charity be chang’d,                                                   25
Because it costs too dear to be reveng’d:
It costs our quiet and content of mind,
And when ’tis compass’d, leaves a sting behind.
Suppose I had the better end o’ th’ staff,
Why should I help th’ ill-natur’d world to laugh?                                   30
‘Tis all alike to them, who get the day;
They love the spite and mischief of the fray.
No; I have cur’d myself of that disease;
Nor will I be provok’d, but when I please:
But let me half that cure to you restore;                                                 35
You give the salve, I laid it to the sore.
Our kind relief against a rainy day,
Beyond a tavern, or a tedious play,
We take your book, and laugh our spleen away.
If all your tribe, too studious of debate,                                                    40
Would cease false hopes and titles to create,
Led by the rare example you begun,
Clients would fail, and Lawyers be undone.

NOTES:

Title Henry Higden (fl. 1686-1693), poet, dramatist, translator; as a member of Middle Temple, he was also a barrister.  Dryden’s poem was one of three celebratory verses published in the front matter of Higden’s A Modern Essay on the Tenth Satyr of Juvenal (London, 1687); Juvenal (b. 55-60? CE, d. in or after 127 CE), the “most powerful of all Roma satiric poets” (Britannica).

1 Grecian wits The most well-known early Greek satirists included Aristophanes (446 BC-386 BC), and Lucian (c. 125-after 180).

2 pasquins Composers of “lampoons,” satirists (OED).

4 durst not That is, “dared” not (OED).

7 drolls “A funny or waggish fellow; a merry-andrew, buffoon, jester, humorist” (OED).

9 fop “A foolish person, a fool” (OED).

13 Court of Chancery  “Court of equity to provide remedies not obtainable in the courts of common law” (Britannica).

14 Horace (65 BC-8BC), “Latin lyric poet and satirist” (Britannica).

16 yours “Juvenal” [Publisher’s note].

32 fray “A disturbance, esp. one caused by fighting; a noisy quarrel, a brawl” (OED).

SOURCE: Original Poems, and Translations, in Two Volumes, vol. II (Edinburgh, 1776), pp. 215-16 [Google Books]

Edited by Ilya Varga

[John Scott], “Verses occasioned by the Description of the Eolian Harp”

[JOHN SCOTT]

“Verses occasioned by the Description of the EOLIAN HARP”

Untaught o’er strings to draw the rosin’d bow,
Or melting strains on the soft flute to blow,
With others long I mourn’d the want of skill,
Resounding roofs with harmony to fill;
Till happy ! now the Eolian lyre is known,                                        5
And all the pow’rs of musick are my own.
Swell all thy notes, delightful harp , O swell!
Inflame thy poet to describe thee well,
When the full chorus rises with the breeze,
Or slowly sinking lessens by degrees,                                              10
To sounds more soft than am’rous gales disclose,
At evening panting on the blushing rose;
More sweet than all the notes that organs breathe,
Or tuneful echoes, when they die, bequeathe.
Oft where some sylvan temple decks the grove,                          15
The slave of easy indolence I rove;
There the wing’d breeze the lifted sash pervades,
Each breath is musick, vocal all the shades;
Charm’d with the soothing sound at ease reclin’d,
To fancy’s pleasing pow’r I yield my mind:                                     20
And now enchanted scenes around me rise,
And some kind Ariel the soft air supplies:
Now lofty Pindus through the shades I view,
Where all the nine their tuneful art persue,
To me the sound the parting gale conveys,                                  25
And all my heart is extasy and praise:
Now to Arcadian plains at once convey’d,
Some shepherd’s pipe delights his fav’rite maid;
Mix’d with the murmurs of a neighb’ring stream,
I hear soft notes that suit an am’rous theme;                              30
Ah! then a victim to the fond deceit,
My heart begins with fierce desires to beat;
To fancy’d sighs I real sighs return,
By turns I languish, and by turns I burn.
Ah Delia haste! and here attentive prove,                                      35
Like me that ‘music is the voice of love,’
So shall I mourn my rustic strains no more,
While pleas’d you listen who could frown before.
Hertfordshire, Nov. 15, 1754.

NOTES:

 Author This poem is signed “R.S”; identified by Emily Lorraine de Montluzin as John Scott of Amwell (1731-1783), a Quaker poet who published a number of poems in the GM between 1753-1758 (“The Poetry of the Gentleman’s Magazine, 1731-1800”).

Title EOLIAN HARP “A stringed instrument producing musical sounds on exposure to a current of air” (OED).  Named after Aeolus, the Greek god of wind.  The “description” Scott is responding to appeared in the GM, vol. 24 (February 1754), p. 74.

15 sylvan Of the woods (OED).

23 Pindus Grecian mountain range that includes Mount Parnassus, home of the nine muses.

27 Arcadian Belonging to Arcadia; ideally rural or rustic (OED).

36 ‘music is the voice of love’ Quoted from James Thomson, Spring (1735), line 569.

SOURCE: The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 24 (November, 1754), p. 525. [Internet Archive]

Edited by Neil Donovan

 

Mary Leapor, “The Death of Abel”

MARY LEAPOR

“The Death of Abel”

When from the Shade of Eden’s blissful Bow’rs,
Its Fruit ambrosial and immortal Flow’rs,
Our gen’ral Mother (who too soon rebell’d,)
Was, with the Partner of her Crime, expell’d
To Fields less fruitful — where the rugged Soil                                            5
With Thorns and Thistles often paid their Toil;
Where the pale Flow’rs soon lost their chearful Hue,
And rushing Tempests o’er the Mountains flew:
Two Sons the Matron in her Exile bore,
Unlike in Feature but their Natures more;                                                  10
The eldest Youth for Husbandry renown’d,
Tore up the Surface of the steril Ground;
His nervous Arms for rugged Tasks were form’d;
His Cheek but seldom with a Smile adorn’d;
Drops rais’d by Labour down his Temples run,                                          15
His Temples tarnish’d by the mid-day Sun,
Robust of Body, and of Soul severe,
Unknown to Pity, and the like to Fear.

Not so his brother, cast in fairer Mold
Was he — and softer than his fleecy Fold;                                                   20
Fair were his Cheeks that blush’d with rosy Dye,
Peace dwelt for ever in his chearful Eye,
Nor Guilt, nor Rage his gentle Spirit knew;
Sweet were his Slumbers, for his Cares were few;
Those were to feed and watch the tender Lamb,                                      25
And seek fresh Pasture for its bleating Dam,
From burning Suns his thirsty Flocks to hide,
And seek the Vales where limpid Rivers glide.

‘Twas ere rude Hands had reap’d the waving Grain,
When Plenty triumph’d on the fertile Plain,                                               30
That to the Centre of a pleasant Down,
Where half was Pasture, half a plenteous Brown:
These Youths repair’d both emulous of Fame,
And rais’d an Altar to Jehovah’s Name,
With Heart elate and self-presuming Eye,                                                 35
First to the Pile unhappy Cain drew nigh.
Choice was his Off’ring, yet no Sign appear’d,
No Flame was seen, nor Voice celestial heard:
Astonish’d stood the late presumptuous Man,
Then came his Brother with a trembling Lamb;                                       40
His God accepts the Sacrifice sincere;
The Flames propitious round the Slain appear;
The curling Smoke ascended to the Skies:
This Cain beheld, and roll’d his glowing Eyes.
Stung to the Soul, he with his frantick Hand                                              45
A Stone up-rooted from the yielding Sand,
Nor spoke — for Rage had stop’d his failing Tongue;
This heavy Death impetuous whirl’d along:
This Abel met — his Heart receiv’d the Wound;
Amaz’d he fell, and grasp’d the bloody Ground.                                        50
The gentle Spirit sprung to endless Day,
And left behind her Case of beauteous Clay;
Pale stood the Brother — to a Statue chill’d,
A conscious Horror through his Bosom thrill’d:
His frighted Eyes abhorr’d the Beams of Light,                                         55
And long’d to find a never-ceasing Night.

      Shock’d at the Sight of Murder first begun,
Down the steep Heavens roll’d the radiant Sun,
Old Night assuming her appointed Sway,
Stretch’d her black Mantle o’er the Face of Day:                                      60
Now for their Leader mourn’d the bleating Lambs,
That rov’d neglected by their pensive Dams;
The careful Parents search the Fields around;
They call — the Woods roll back an empty Sound.

Within a Forest’s solitary Gloom,                                                            65
Slept gentle Abel in a secret Tomb,
And there (beneath a Cypress’ Shade reclin’d)
Cain breath’d his Sorrows to the rushing Wind:
That in the Branches made a doleful Sound;
‘Twas Silence else, and horrid Darkness round,                                        70
When lo ! a sudden and a piercing Ray
O’er-spread the Forest with a Blaze of Day,
And then descended on the hallow’d Ground,
A Seraph with empyreal Glory crown’d:
Afflicted Cain (that knew not where to fly)                                                  75
Gaz’d on the Vision with distracted Eye:
When thus the Angel — Why these mournful Cries,
These loud Complaints that pierce the nightly Skies.
Lye not to Heaven, but directly say,
Where roves thy Brother, where does Abel stray.                                      80
He said — and thus the guilty Wretch return’d;
O sacred Guardian, I for Abel mourn’d:
I ne’er beheld him since the Day began, —-
But why this Visit to a simple Man?
Thus the Celestial —- Wretch, canst thou presume,                                   85
Thy Brother’s Blood may slumber in its Tomb:
Or thou may’st ward off Vengeance with a Lye,
And dare attempt deceiving God most high;
But now thy Doom, O wretched Mortal hear;
The fleeting Hours nor the rolling Year,                                                        90
To thee nor Joy, nor chearful Ease shall bring:
Alike to thee the Winter and the Spring,
Still vex’d with Woe, thy heavy Days shall fly
Beneath a radiant or a gloomy Sky:
Curs’d shalt thou be amidst thy vagrant Band,                                            95
And curs’d the Labours of thy guilty Hand:
He ceas’d — But Cain all prostrate on the Ground,
Still in his Ears retain’d the dreadful Sound:
At length he rose, and trembling thus began;
This is too much — too much for Mortal Man:                                              100
The mighty Debt, O let me quickly pay,
And sweep me instant from the Beams of Day:
The yet unborn, that I am curs’d, shall know,
And all shall hate me to augment the Blow:
Ev’n my own Sons, if such are giv’n to be                                                      105
The Death of Abel, shall revenge on me:
Thus he to change the dreadful Sentence try’d,
Thus the seraphick Messenger reply’d;
This Mark, O Cain, I fix upon thy Brow:
And thus by Heav’n’s mighty Monarch vow,                                                 110
Who sheds thy Blood, that Criminal shall be
Curs’d – Sev’n times curs’d, and wretched more than thee.
Thus be that Mortal who shall tear the Rod
Of scorching Vengeance from the Hand of God;
That Man may learn to fear the King of Kings:                                              115
He said – and waving his immortal Wings,
That instant mingled with the starry Train,
And Darkness wrap’d the silent Shades again.

NOTES:

3 Our gen’ral Mother Eve.

4 the Partner of her Crime Adam.

9 Two Sons Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, and Abel, his younger brother (OCB).

34  Jehovah “Name of God” (OCB).

40 Lamb A typical sacrificial animal in Ancient Egypt, often symbolically associated with Jesus (OCB).

74 Seraph A supernatural being associated with the presence of God (OCB).

109 This Mark See Genesis 4:15; the exact nature of Cain’s mark is mysterious, but Leapor follows the tradition that associates the mark with divine protection.

SOURCE: Poems Upon Several Occasions (London, 1748), pp. 232-237. [Google Books]

Edited by Lourdes Alcala-Guerrero

Laetitia Pilkington, “Sorrow”

LAETITIA PILKINGTON

“Sorrow”

 

While sunk in deepest solitude and woe,
My streaming eyes with ceaseless sorrow flow,
While anguish wears the sleepless night away,
And fresher grief awaits returning day;
Encompassed round with ruin, want and shame,                               5
Undone in fortune, blasted in my fame;
Lost to the soft endearing ties of life,
And tender names of daughter, mother, wife;
Can no recess from calumny be found?
And yet can fate inflict a deeper wound!                                              10
As one who, in a dreadful tempest toss’d,
If thrown by chance upon some desert coast,
Calmly awhile surveys the fatal shore,
And hopes that fortune can inflict no more;
Till some fell serpent makes the wretch his prey,                               15
Who ‘scap’d in vain the dangers of the sea;
So I who hardly ‘scap’d domestic rage,
Born with eternal sorrows to engage,
Now feel the pois’nous force of sland’rous tongues,
Who daily wound me with envenom’d wrongs.                                   20
Shed then a ray divine, all gracious heav’n,
Pardon the soul that sues to be forgiven,
Though cruel human-kind relentless prove,
And least resemble thee in acts of love;
Though friends who should administer relief,                                     25
Add pain to woe, and misery to grief,
And oft! too oft! with hypocritic air,
Condemn those faults in which they deeply share:
Yet thou who dost our various frailties know,
And see’st each spring from whence our actions flow,                       30
Shalt, while for mercy to thy throne I fly,
Regard the lifted hand and streaming eye.
Thou didst the jarring elements compose,
When this harmonious universe arose;
O speak the tempest of the soul to peace,                                           35
Bid the tumultuous war of passion cease;
Receive me to thy kind paternal care,
And guard me from the horrors of despair.
And since no more I boast a mother’s name,
Nor in my children can a portion claim,                                                40
The helpless babes to thy protection take,
Nor punish for their hapless mother’s sake.
Thus the poor bird, when frighted from her nest,
With agonizing love, and grief distress’d,
Still fondly hovers o’er the much-lov’d place,                                       45
Through strengthless, to protect her tender race;
In piercing notes she movingly complains,
And tells the unattending woods her pains.
And thou, my soul’s once fondest, dearest part,
Who schem’d my ruin with such cruel art,                                            50
From human laws no longer seek to find
A pow’r to loose that knot which God has join’d,
The props of life are rudely pull’d away,
And the frail building falling to decay,
My death shall give thee thy desir’d release,                                        55
And lay me down in everlasting peace.

NOTES:

9 calumny Slander, “a false statement about a person that is made to damage their reputation” (OED).

16 ‘scap’d Escaped.

25-26 friends… add pain to woe, misery to grief The poet Jonathan Swift, once patron and friend to Pilkington, would after her divorce disavow her and call her “’the most profligate whore in either kingdom.” (History Ireland, vol. 17, no. 2, Mar/April 2009).

39-40 And since no more I boast a mother’s name,/Nor in my children can a portion claim Post divorce Pilkington’s husband assumed all their possessions and disallowed her seeing their children. (History Ireland, vol. 17, no. 2, Mar/April 2009).

49 And thou, my soul’s once fondest, dearest part “Mem. My Husband, who was then suing for a divorce” [Author’s Note].

SOURCE: Poems by Eminent Ladies, vol. II (London, 1755), pp. 255-57. [Hathitrust]

Edited by Carina Thanh-Ngoc DeLorenzo

 

 

Margaret Cavendish, “A Dialogue betwixt Wit and Beauty”

MARGARET CAVENDISH

 “A Dialogue betwixt Wit and Beauty”

Mixt Rose and Lilly, why are you so proud,
Since Fair is not in all Minds like allow’d?
Some do like Black, some Brown, and some like White;
Some Eyes in all Complexions take delight.
Nor doth one Beauty in the World still reign;                                    5
For Beauty is created in the Brain.
But, say there were a Body perfect made,
Complexion pure, by Nature’s Pencil laid;
A Countenance, where all sweet Spirits meet;
A Hair that’s thick, and long, curl’d to the Feet:                                   10
Yet, were it like a Statue made of Stone,
The Eye would weary grow to look upon:
Had it no Wit, the Mind still to delight,
It soon would weary be, as well as Sight.
For, Wit is fresh and new, doth sport and play;                                  15
And runs about the Humour every way.
With all the Passions, Wit can well agree;
Wit tempers them, and makes them pleas’d to be.
Ingenious ‘tis, doth new Inventions find,
To ease the Body, and divert the Mind.                                                 20
When I appear, I strike the Optick Nerve;
I wound the Heart, and make the Passions serve.
Souls are my Pris’ners, yet do love me well:
My Company is Heav’n, my Absence Hell.
Each Knee doth bow to me, as to a Shrine;                                          25
And all the World accounts me as Divine.
      Beauty, you cannot long Devotion keep;
The Mind grows weary, Senses fall asleep:
As those which in the House of God do go,
Are very Zealous in a Pray’r or two;                                                       30
But, if they must an Hour-long kneel to pray,
Their Zeal grows cold, nor know they what they say:
So Admirations are, they do not last;
After Nine days, the greatest Wonder’s past.
The Mind, as th’ Senses all, delights in change;                                      35
They nothing love, but what is new and strange.
But subtil Wit, can please both long, and well:
For, to the Ear, Wit a new Tale can tell.
And, for the Tast, doth dress Meat several ways.
To th’ Eye, it can new Forms and Fashions raise.                                   40
And for the Touch, Wit spins both Silk and Wool,
Invents new ways, to keep Touch warm, and cool.
For Scent, Wit Mixtures and Compounds doth make,
That still the Nose, a fresh new Smell may take.
I, by Discourse, can represent the Mind                                                   45
With several Objects, though the Eyes be blind.
I’th’ Brain I can create Idea’s, and
Those make to th’ Mind seem real, though but feign’d.
The Mind’s a Shop, where sorts of Toys I sell;
With fine Conceits, I fit all Humours well.                                                 50
I can the Work of Nature imitate,
And, in the Brain, each several Shape create.
I Conquer all, am Master of the Field,
And make fair Beauty, in Love’s Warrs to yield.

NOTES:

Title Wit “The faculty of thinking and reasoning in general; mental capacity, understanding, intellect, reason” (OED).

16 Humour “A particular temperamental inclination” (OED).

29 House of God A church or place of worship (OED).

50 Conceits “A fanciful or ingenious expression, metaphor, turn of thought” (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems, Or, Several Fancies in Verse: With the Animal Parliament in Prose, Part II, Third Edition (London, 1668), pp. 117-18. [Google Books]

Edited by Izabella Garcia

Elizabeth Tollet, “To my Brother at St. John’s College in Cambridge”

ELIZABETH TOLLET

“To my Brother at St. John’s College in Cambridge”

 

Blest be the Man, who first the Method found
In Absence to discourse, and paint a Sound!
This Praise old Greece to Tyrian Cadmus gives;
And still the Author by th’ Invention lives:
Still may he live, and justly famous be,                                                          5
Whose Art assists me to converse with thee!
All Day I pensive sit, but not alone;
And have the best Companions when I’ve none:
I read great Tully’s Page, and wond’ring find
The heav’nly Doctrine of th’ immortal Mind;                                               10
An Axiom first by Parent Nature taught,
An inborn Truth, which proves itself by Thought.
But when the Sun declines the Task I change,
And round the Walls and antick Turrets range;
From hence a vary’d Scene delights the Eyes,                                             15
See ! here Augusta’s massive Temples rise,
There Meads extend, and Hills support the Skies;
See ! there the Ships, an anchor’d Forest ride,
And either India’s Wealth enrich the Tide.

Thrice happy you, in Learning’s other Seat!                                           20
No noisy Guards disturb your blest Retreat:
Where, to your Cell retir’d, you know to choose
The wisest Author, or the sweetest Muse.
Let useful Toil employ the busy Light,
And steal a restless Portion from the Night;                                                  25
With Thirst of Knowledge wake before the Day,
Prevent the Sun, and chide his tardy Ray:
When chearful Larks their early Anthem sing,
And op’ning Winds refreshing Odours bring;
When from the Hills you see the Morning rise,                                             30
As fresh as Lansdown’s Cheeks, and bright as Windham’s Eyes.

But when you leave your Books, as all must find
Some Ease requir’d t’indulge the lab’ring Mind;
With such Companions mix, such Friendships make,
As not to choose what you must soon forsake:                                             35
Mark well thy Choice; let Modesty, and Truth,
And constant Industry adorn the Youth.
In Books good Subjects for Discourse are found;
Such be thy Talk when friendly Tea goes round:
Mirth more than Wine the drooping Spirits chears,                                      40
Revives our Hopes, and dissipates our Fears;
From Circe’s Cup, immeasur’d Wine, refrain,
Start backward, and reject th’ untasted Bane.

Perhaps to neighb’ring Shades you now repair,
To look abroad and taste the scented Air:                                                      45
Survey the useful Labours of the Swain,
The tedded Grass, and Sheaves of ripen’d Grain;
The loaded Trees with blushing Apples grac’d,
Or hardy Pears, which scorn the wintry Blast.
Or see the sturdy Hinds from Harvest come,                                                  50
To waste the setting Suns in rural Mirth at Home.
Now on the Banks of silver Cam you stray;
While thro’ the twisted Boughs the Sun-Beams play,
And the clear Stream reflects the trembling Ray.

Think, when you tread the venerable Shade,                                           55
Here Cowley sung, and tuneful Prior play’d.
O! would the Muse thy youthful Breast inspire
With charming Raptures and Poetick Fire!
Then thou might’st sing, (who better claims thy Lays?)
A tributary Strain to Oxford’s Praise:                                                                  60
Thy humble Verse from him shall Fame derive,
And grac’d with Harley’s Name for ever live.
First sing the Man in constant Temper found,
Unmov’d when Fortune smil’d, undaunted when she frown’d.
A Mind above Rewards, serenely great,                                                             65
And equal to the Province of the State:
Thence let thy Muse to private Life descend,
Nor in the Patriot’s Labours lose the Friend.

NOTES:

3 Tyrian Cadmus Greek mythological figure who founded the city of Thebes.  According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Cadmus was also responsible for introducing the Phoenician alphabet to the Greeks. Tollet follows the tradition that Cadmus came from Tyre (Britannica).

9 Tully Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), Roman statesman and philosopher. Tollet appears to reference Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations, Book I of which addresses the immortality of the soul.

11 Axiom “A proposition that commends itself to general acceptance” (OED).

14 antick “Grotesque or fantastic ornamental representation of a person, animal, or thing” (OED).

16 Augusta Ancient Roman name for London.

17 Meads Meadows.

31 Lansdown Mary Granville (nee Villiers) (c. 1668-1735), married George Granville, Baron Lansdowne (1666-1735) in 1711; Windham Probably Elizabeth Grenville, (nee Wyndham) (1719-1769), artist and writer, married George Grenville (1712-1770) in 1749.

37 Industry “Intelligent or clever working; skill, ingenuity, or cleverness in the execution of anything” (OED).

42 Circe’s Cup “In Greek and Latin mythology the name of an enchantress who dwelt in the island of Aea, and transformed all who drank of her cup into swine; often used allusively” (OED).

44 repair “To return to or from a specified place” (OED).

46 Swain A shepherd figure in pastoral poetry.

50 Hinds “Agricultural labourers” (OED).

52 Cam The town of Cambridge lies on the River Cam (Britannica).

56 Cowley Abraham Cowley, (1618-1667), poet and essayist “who wrote poetry of a fanciful, decorous nature,”; Prior Matthew Prior, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat (Britannica). Cowley and Prior attended Cambridge colleges, St. John’s and Trinity College respectively.

60, 62 Oxford…Harley Both references are to Robert Harley, 1st earl of Oxford, (1661-1724, London), “British statesman who headed the Tory ministry from 1710 to 1714” (Britannica).

SOURCE: Poems On Several Occasions with Anne Boleyn to King Henry VIII An Epistle, Second Edition (London, 1760), pp. 25-27. [Google Books]

 Edited by Gabriela Torres

Phillis Wheatley, “On Imagination”

PHILLIS WHEATLEY

 “On Imagination”

 

Thy various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp by thee!
Thy wond’rous acts in beauteous order stand,
And all attest how potent is thine hand.

From Helicon’s refulgent heights attend,                                                     5
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend:
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.

Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes,                                          10
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.

Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,                                                 15
Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.                                          20
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul.

Though Winter frowns to Fancy’s raptur’d eyes
The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,                                               25
And bid their waters murmur o’er the sands.
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flow’ry riches deck the plain.
Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round,
And all the forest may with leaves be crown’d:                                              30
Show’rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose,
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.

Such is thy pow’r, nor are thine orders vain,
O thou the leader of the mental train:
In full perfection all thy works are wrought,                                                   35
And thine the sceptre o’er the realms of thought.
Before thy throne the subject-passions bow,
Of subject-passions sov’reign ruler thou;
At thy command joy rushes on the heart,
And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.                                             40

Fancy might now her silken pinions try
To rise from earth, and sweep th’ expanse on high:
From Tithon’s bed now might Aurora rise,
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies,
While a pure stream of light o’erflows the skies.                                           45
The monarch of the day I might behold,
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,
Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse;
Winter austere forbids me to aspire,                                                                50
And northern tempests damp the rising fire;
They chill the tides of Fancy’s flowing sea,
Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.

NOTES:

5 Helicon “Name of a mountain in Boeotia, sacred to the Muses, in which rose the fountains of Aganippe and Hippocrene; by 16th and 17th century writers often confused with these. Hence used allusively in reference to poetic inspiration” (OED).

9 Fancy Poetic imagination.

11 fetters Anything that confines, impedes, or restrains (OED).

17 pinions  “The wings of a bird in flight” (OED).

27 Flora Roman goddess of the flowering of plants (Britannica).

29 Sylvanus Roman god the countryside (Britannica).

36 sceptre “Ornamented rod or staff borne by rulers on ceremonial occasions as an emblem of authority and sovereignty” (Britannica).

43 Tithon “In Greek Legend, king of Troy, lover of Aurora. According to the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, when Aurora asked Zeus to grant Tithonus eternal life, the god consented. But Aurora forgot to ask also for eternal youth, so her husband grew old and withered” (Britannica); Aurora “Roman goddess of the dawn, otherwise known as Eos, represented as rising with rosy fingers from the saffron-coloured bed of Tithonus” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (Albany, NY, 1793), pp. 48-50. [Google Books]

Edited by Morgan Stanley

Charlotte Lennox, “The Art of Coquettry”

[CHARLOTTE LENNOX]

“The Art of Coquettry”

 

Ye lovely Maids, whose yet unpractis’d Hearts
Ne’er felt the Force of Love’s resistless Darts;
Who justly set a Value on your Charms,
Power all your Wish, but Beauty all your Arms:
Who o’er Mankind wou’d fain exert your Sway,                                   5
And teach the lordly Tyrant to obey.
Attend my Rules to you alone addrest,
Deep let them sink in every female Breast.
The Queen of Love herself my Bosom fires,
Assists my Numbers, and my Thoughts inspires.                                 10
Me she instructed in each secret Art,
How to enslave, and keep the vanquish’d Heart;
When the stol’n Sigh to heave, or drop the Tear,
The melting Languish, the obliging Fear;
Half-stifled Wishes, broken, kind Replies,                                               15
And all the various Motions of the Eyes.
To teach the Fair by different Ways to move
The soften’d Soul, and bend the Heart to Love.
Proud of her Charms, and conscious of her Face,
The haughty Beauty calls forth every Grace;                                         20
With fierce Defiance throws the killing Dart,
By Force she wins, by Force she keeps the Heart.
The witty Fair on nobler Game pursues,
Aims at the Head, but the rapt Soul subdues.
The languid Nymph enslaves with softer Art,                                         25
With sweet Neglect she steals into the Heart;
Slowly she moves her swimming Eyes around,
Conceals her Shaft, but meditates the Wound:
Her gentle Languishments the Gazers move,
Her Voice is Musick, and her Looks are Love.                                         30
Tho’ not to all Heaven does these Gifts impart,
What’s theirs by Nature may be yours by Art.
But let your Airs be suited to your Face,
Nor to a Languish tack a sprightly Grace.
The short round Face, brisk Eyes, and auburn Hair,                               35
Must smiling Joy in every Motion wear;
Her quick unsettled Glances deal around,
Hide her Design, and seem by Chance to wound.
Dark rolling Eyes a Languish may assume,
And tender Looks and melting Airs become:                                          40
The pensive Head upon the Hand reclin’d,
As if some sweet Disorder fill’d the Mind.
Let the heav’d Breast a struggling Sigh restrain,
And seem to stop the falling Tear with Pain.
The Youth, who all the soft Distress believes,                                        45
Soon wants the kind Compassion which he gives.
But Beauty, Wit, and Youth may sometimes fail,
Nor always o’er the stubborn Soul prevail.
Then let the fair One have recourse to Art,
And, if not vanquish, undermine the Heart.                                             50
First from your artful Looks with studious Care,
From mild to grave, from tender to severe.
Oft on the careless Youth your Glances dart,
A tender Meaning let each Look impart.
Whene’er he meets your Looks with modest Pride,                                55
And soft Confusion turn your Eyes aside,
Let a soft Sigh steal out, as if by Chance,
Then cautious turn, and steal another Glance.
Caught by these Arts, with Pride and Hope elate,
The destin’d Victim rushes on his Fate:                                                       60
Pleas’d, his imagin’d Victory pursues,
And the kind Maid with soften’d Glances views;
Contemplates now her Shape, her Air, her Face,
And thinks each Feature wears an added Grace;
‘Till Gratitude, which first his Bosom proves,                                             65
By slow Degrees is ripen’d into Love.
‘Tis harder still to fix than gain a Heart;
What’s won by Beauty, must be kept by Art.
Too kind a Treatment the blest Lover cloys,
And oft Despair the growing Flame destroys:                                            70
Sometimes with Smiles receive him, sometimes Tears,
And wisely balance both his Hopes and Fears.
Perhaps he mourns his ill-requited Pains,
Condemns your Sway, and strives to break his Chains;
Behaves as if he now your Scorn defy’d,                                                    75
And thinks at least he shall alarm your Pride:
But with Indifference view the seeming Change,
And let your Eyes after new Conquests range;
While his torn Breast with jealous Fury burns,
He hopes, despairs, hates, and adores by Turns;                                      80
With Anguish now repents the weak Deceit,
And powerful Passion bears him to your Feet.
Strive not the jealous Lover to perplex,
Ill suits Suspension with that haughty Sex;
Rashly they judge, and always think the worst,                                         85
And Love is often banish’d by Distrust.
To these an open free Behaviour wear,
Avoid Disguise, and seem at least sincere.
Whene’er you meet affect a glad Surprize,
And give unmelting Softness to your Eyes:                                                 90
By some unguarded Word your Love reveal,
And anxiously the rising Blush conceal.
By Arts like these the Jealous you deceive,
Then most deluded when they most believe.
But while in all you seek to raise Desire,                                                     95
Beware the fatal Passion you inspire:
Each soft intruding Wish in Time reprove,
And guard against the sweet Envader Love.
Not for the tender were these Rules design’d,
Who in their Faces show their yielding Mind:                                            100
Eyes that a native Languishment can wear,
Whose Smiles are artless, and whose Blush sincere;
But the gay Nymph who Liberty can prize,
And vindicate the Triumph of her Eyes:
Who o’er Mankind a haughty Rule maintains,                                           105
Whose Wit can manage what her Beauty gains:
Such by these Arts their Empire may improve,
And what they lost by Nature gain by Love.

NOTES:

Title Coquettry “Playful and insincere flirtation; flirtatious behavior” (OED).

9 Queen of Love Venus in the Roman tradition; Aphrodite in the Greek tradition.

25 Nymph“ Any of a class of semi-divine spirits, imagined as taking the form of a maiden inhabiting the sea, rivers, mountains, woods, trees, etc., and often portrayed in poetry as attendants on a particular god” (OED).

28 Shaft “Of an arrow” (OED).

33 Airs “A person’s demeanour, bearing, or appearance” (OED).

65 Bosom “The breast considered as the seat of thoughts and feelings” (OED).

87 Behaviour “External appearance; elegance of manners” (Johnson).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1747), pp. 61-67. [Google Books]

Edited by Lilian Suarez

Mary Leapor, “An Essay on Woman”

MARY LEAPOR

“An Essay on Woman”

 

Woman—a pleasing, but a short-liv’d Flow’r,
Too soft for Business, and too weak for Pow’r:
A Wife in Bondage, or neglected Maid;
Despis’d, if ugly; if she’s fair—betray’d.
‘Tis Wealth alone inspires ev’ry Grace,                                                   5
And calls the Raptures to her plenteous Face.
What Numbers for those charming Features pine,
If blooming Acres round her Temples twine?
Her Lip the Strawberry; and her Eyes more bright
Than sparkling Venus in a frosty Night.                                                  10
Pale Lilies fade; and when the Fair appears,
Snow turns a Negro, and dissolves in Tears.
And where the Charmer treads her magic Toe,
On English Ground Arabian Odours grow;
Till mighty Hymen lists his sceptred Rod,                                               15
And sinks her Glories with a fatal Nod;
Dissolves her Triumphs; sweeps her Charms away,
And turns the Goddess to her native Clay.

But, Artemisia, let your Servant sing
What small Advantage Wealth and Beauties bring.                              20
Who would be wise, that knew Pamphilia’s Fate?
Or who be fair, and join’d to Sylvia’s Mate?
Sylvia, whose Cheeks are fresh as early Day;
As Ev’ning mild, and sweet as spicy May:
And yet That Face her partial Husband tires,                                         25
And those bright Eyes, that all the World admires.
Pamphilia’s Wit who does not strive to shun,
Like Death’s Infection, or a Dog-Day’s Sun?
The Damsels view her with malignant Eyes:
The Men are vex’d to find a Nymph so wise:                                          30
And Wisdom only serves to make her know
The keen Sensation of superior Woe.
The secret Whisper, and the list’ning Ear,
The scornful Eyebrow, and the hated Sneer;
The giddy Censures of her babbling Kind,                                                35
With thousand Ills that grate a gentle Mind,
By her are tasted in the first Degree,
Tho’ overlook’d by Simplicus, and me.
Does Thirst of Gold a Virgin’s Heart inspire,
Instill’d by Nature, or a careful Sire?                                                         40
Then let her quit Extravagance and Play;
The brisk Companion; and expensive Tea;
To feast with Cordia in her filthy Sty
On stew’d Potatoes, or on mouldy Pye;
Whose eager Eyes stare ghastly at the Poor,                                          45
And fright the Beggars from her hated Door:
In greasy Clouts she wraps her smoky Chin,
And holds, that Pride’s a never-pardon’d Sin.

If this be Wealth, no matter where it falls;
But save, ye Muses, save your Mira’s Walls:                                             50
Still give me pleasing Indolence, and Ease;
A Fire to warm me, and a Friend to please.

Since, whether sunk in Avarice, or Pride;
A wanton Virgin, or a starving Bride;
Or, wond’ring Crouds attend her charming Tongue;                             55
Or deem’d an Idiot, ever speaks the Wrong:
Tho’ Nature arm’d us for the growing Ill,
With fraudful Cunning, and a headstrong Will;
Yet, with ten thousand Follies to her Charge,
Unhappy Woman’s but a Slave at large.                                                   60

NOTES:

6 Raptures “A state, condition, or fit of intense delight or enthusiasm” (OED).

10 Venus Here a reference to the evening star.

12 Negro “A member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to sub-Saharan Africa; a person of black African origin or descent. Early use also applied to other dark-skinned peoples” (OED).

15 Hymen The God of marriage in Greek myth.

18 Clay That is, her original human form.

19 Artemisia A pseudonym for Leapor’s friend and patron, Bridget Freemantle.

28 Dog-Day’s “The hottest part of the summer” (OED).

32 Woe “A state or condition of misery, suffering, or emotional distress; misfortune, trouble” (OED).

35 Censures “Expression of disapproval or condemnation” (OED).

36 grate “To affect painfully,…irritate” (OED).

38 Simplicus Conventional name for a rustic or simple man.

43 Sty “A human habitation…no better than a pigsty” (OED).

50 Mira Leapor’s poetic name for herself; Walls Defenses (OED).

53 Avarice “Inordinate desire of acquiring and hoarding wealth” (OED).

54 wanton “Lustful; not chaste, sexually promiscuous” (OED).

59 Follies Foolish actions, ideas, practices (OED).

SOURCE: Poems Upon Several Occasions (London, 1751), pp. 64-67. [Internet Archive]

Edited by Alexis Kleinberg

 

Mary Darwall, “An Epistle to a Friend”

MARY DARWALL

“An Epistle to a Friend”

 

Let us, Monimia, from our bosoms chace
Each sorrow, that afflicts the human race;
And, cheer’d by friendship’s genial warmth, survey
The source whence issues its enliv’ning ray : —
Far hence the lover’s wish, the poet’s dream,                                          5
And female friendship be the pleasing theme.

Why does vain man accuse our gentle kind
Of pride, and weak inconstancy of mind?
Why should he deem the female breast the seat
Of rankling envy, and of dark deceit?                                                         10
As tyrant kings their subjects’ rights invade,
As trembling kids to lions yield the shade,
So are we robb’d of friendship’s sacred name,
Because too timid to defend our claim.
What, tho’ no Greek or Latian bard of old                                                  15
Has female friends in deathless strains enroll’d,
Who, like Euryalus and Nisus, dar’d
Whatever fate their heart’s lov’d partner shar’d;
Yet equal faith and fortitude combin’d,
They own, have oft adorn’d the female mind.                                             20

Say, what is love, but friendship’s brightest ray,
Which softens woe, and cheers fate’s darkest day?
What, but this gentle, this exalted flame,
Glow’d in the breast of the Dulichian dame,
When her lov’d lord was sever’d from her arms,                                         25
Whilst twenty vernal suns beheld her charms?
Hopeless of his return, by numbers woo’d,
By ev’ry art, love could devise, pursu’d,
Firm in affection his chaste consort prov’d,
His image cherish’d, and his mem’ry lov’d;                                                    30
‘Till heav’n, to bless her constancy, restor’d
To her despairing arms her long-lost lord.
Cou’d vulgar love, or low desires have made
Alcestis’ hand her tender breast invade?
Dauntless she died; blest, with her life to save                                              35
Her dear Admetus from the threat’ning grave.

But rove not thus, my muse, to distant climes,
Nor think fair faith confin’d to heathen times.
Our isle can boast her Eleanor’s name,
Whose living virtues grace the book of fame.                                                  40
Yes, glorious queen! for Edward’s dearer life
Thy own was stak’d; —heav’n saw the gen’rous strife, —
Preserv’d the heroine, — to her fervent pray’r
Gave her heart’s lord, and crown’d her pious care.
Nor have our noblest bards invidious prov’d,                                                 45
Well have they sung the virtuous flame they lov’d.
In Thompson’s scenes fair Eleanora’s tale
Shall charm each heart, till taste and nature fail.
And well has Shakespeare (ever honour’d name)
To female friendship giv’n immortal fame.                                                      50
So dear was Rosalind to Celia’s breast,
When, by her father’s tyrant power oppress’d,
The fair was banish’d, destitute, to roam,
Celia with her forsook her splendid home,
Left a fond father, bade a court adieu,                                                              55
And with her friend to lonely woods withdrew;
Trod the brown desert, and the forest wild,
And at distress and changeful fortune smil’d.
All-righteous heav’n the gen’rous act approv’d,
And to a crown restor’d the friend she lov’d.                                                     60

And thou, Monimia! (cou’d these humble lays
Transmit thy merit to succeeding days)
In fame’s unfading page shou’d’st be enroll’d,
And all thy virtues fair shou’d there be told.
Thy faithful bosom scorns th’ignoble thought,                                                 65
That love or friendship can with gold be bought.
Pure as the vestal’s holy fire must burn
The flame, that merits such a heart’s return.
Avaunt! ye frail, inconstant, faithless race!
Nor with your lips these noble names disgrace.                                              70
If, with the veering wind of fortune’s change,
Your tutor’d hearts from breast to breast can range,
Fond love’s or friendship’s pow’r you ne’er have try’d,
But devious, rov’d with folly for your guide.
Henceforth her shrine adore, nor dare pretend                                              75
T’assume the name of lover or of friend: —
The heart that to one pow’r has prov’d untrue,
Can never pay the other homage due.
To fair Monimia and her Myra leave
These pleasing passions, nor yourselves deceive :                                          80
Their long try’d hearts no change has pow’r to move,
Alike they beat to friendship and to love.
In each one object has the heart posses’d,
And death alone can tear it from each breast.

NOTES:

1 Monimia Darwall’s poetic name for her friend for whom the poem is written. The name is likely derived from Monimiaceae, an evergreen shrub and a member of the Laurales (Laurel) order (Britannica).

10 rankling “To fester to a degree that causes pain” (OED).

17 Euryalus and Nisus In Greek and Roman mythology, friends and soldiers who fled together after battling in the Trojan War (Britannica).

24 Dulichian dame Penelope, wife of Odysseus.  In the Homeric tradition, Dulichium was an island near Ithaca thought to be under the control of Odysseus.  Over the next several lines, Darwall rehearses the story of Penelope’s love and devotion to her husband during his three-year absence from home (Britannica).

34-36 Alcestis…Admetus In Greek legend, the beautiful daughter of Pelia, king of Iolcos and heroine of the eponymous play by the dramatist Euripides (c. 484–406 BCE). According to legend, the god Apollo helped Admetus, son of the king of Pherae, to win Alcestis’s hand. When Apollo learned that Admetus had not long to live, he persuaded the Fates to prolong his life. The Fates imposed the condition that someone else die in Admetus’s stead, which Alcestis, a loyal wife, consented to do. The warrior Heracles rescued Alcestis by wrestling at her grave with Death (Britannica).

39 Eleanor Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290), queen of England and wife to Edward I (1239-1307). According to English legend, while accompanying him on a crusade (1270-73) Eleanor saved Edward’s life by sucking poison from a dagger wound he had sustained (referenced in line 41) (Britannica).

45 invidious Viewing with displeasure or ill feeling (OED).

47 Thompson James Thomson (1700-1748), Scottish poet and playwright who wrote the tragic play Edward and Eleanora (1739) based on the lives of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile.

51 Rosalind to Celia Principal characters in the Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (1623) who, in Act II, flee together from the court of Celia’s father.

65 ignoble “Not honourable” (OED).

67 vestal Pertaining to, characteristics of, a vestal virgin…marked by purity or chastity (OED).

79 Myra Mary Darwall’s poetic name for herself, an anagram of ‘Mary.’

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London 1794), pp. 19-25.  [Google Books]

 Edited by Poppy Scales