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[Charlotte Lennox], “The Language of the Eyes to Lady J—- F—-“

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[CHARLOTTE LENNOX]

“THE LANGUAGE of the EYES to LADY J—– F——”

I.

IF forc’d by Tyrant Custom, we
The Anguish of our Souls conceal,
Our Eyes yet boast their Liberty;
Let them the tender Truths reveal;
In soft persuasive Glances speak our Grief,                                                                     5
And from that silent Language find Relief.

II.

Those sweet Betrayers of the Mind,
Can always lend their welcome Aid,
The Thoughts by harsh Restraint confin’d,
By them are all to View betray’d;                                                                                   10
The doubtful War, which Hope and Fear maintain’d,
Are by those charming Orators explain’d.

III.

See Anger in that sparkling Eye,
This in soft Shades of Sorrow drest;
Love, smiling Hope, and tender Joy,                                                                               15
In those inchanting Looks exprest;
The conqu’ring Eyes correct the Lover’s Heart,
And as they Smile or Frown, their Hopes and Fears impart.

IV.

Ye Fair, who strive with Darts to arm,
The languid Beauties of your Eyes,                                                                                 20
Of Isabellas learn to charm,
Like hers the ravish’d Soul surprize ;
Her Mind does all their glorious Beams dispense,
Bright as they are they owe their Rays to Sense.

NOTES:

1 Tyrant Custom Custom, defined as “a habitual or usual practice; common way of acting;…(either of an individual or of a community),” is often personified and blamed for certain forms of gendered oppression in eighteenth-century women’s writing (OED).

14 drest Pre-standardization spelling of “dressed.”

16 inchanting, exprest Pre-standardization spellings of “enchanting” and “expressed.”

20 Darts A word commonly used to refer to the arrows of Cupid, the Roman God of desire and attraction, which caused their targets to fall in love (Britannica.com).

22 Isabellas At age 15 Lennox became companion to Lady Isabella Finch, to whom this volume of poems is dedicated (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).

Source: Poems on Several Occasions. Written by a Young Lady. London: S. Patterson, 1747. pp 26-27. [Google Books]

Edited by Hailey J. Scandrette

“I.O.,” “Reason’s Expostulation with Love”

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“I. O.”

 “REASON’S Expostulation with LOVE”

 FOND, feverish boy, why madly feed
A restless love, without an end?
Say, to what good those wishes lead,
Or whither does thy passion tend.
The flame you nurse, that very flame                                                                               5
Shall prove a serpent in your breast;
Of strength shall rob your sickly frame,
Your days of work, your nights of rest.
Say that thy love can’t injure thee,
Yet, for her sake, oh! quench the fire;                                                                       10
Think how you’d wrong the maid and me,
If once you kindled soft desire!
Thou know’st the nymph can ne’er be thine,
Then why thus every art essay?
How canst thou first her hand resign,                                                                               15
Then try to steal her heart away?
Grant that heart be all thine own,
Grant that her love thy love exceed —
‘Twere better far t’ endure alone,
Than teach the maid like thee to bleed.                                                                    20
Would’st thou for this her heart obtain?
E’en like a wanton puling boy,
Who first a play-thing cries to gain,
And, when he’s gain’d it, breaks the toy.
Would love, did love do her no harm,                                                                                 25
From passion’s ills thy soul release?
Would that which made her bosom warm,
Restore thy long-forgotten peace?
Thou canst not bear th’ averted cheek,
Thou canst not bear her silent eye:                                                                             30
How could’st thou bear those eyes that speak,
How could’st thou bear th’ impassion’d sigh?
Nought that she does thy soul can please:
Tho’ Scorn may make thy fetters grind,
No smiles can make them fit with ease,                                                                              35
And Scorn itself can ne’er unbind.
The cold indifference of her looks
Thy love-sick heart can ill endure;
And if her frown thy flame rebukes,
The pain it gives admits no cure.                                                                                  40
If she be kind, what boots it more?
It tells how Fate thy doom has fixt,
And wider sets the distant shore,
And clearer shews the gulf betwixt.
Why wilt thou rush to certain pain?                                                                                      45
To her thy foot why madly flies?
So seeks the silly moth her bane,
And courts the blaze by which she dies.
Say, can the bliss her presence brings
Reward an absent lover’s woe?                                                                                    50
Oft hast thou felt how parting stings,
And curst the cause that bade thee go.
And wilt thou seek her mansion yet?
Back shalt thou still return to Care;
To waste thine hours in vain regret;                                                                                   55
To wish thou ne’er hadst enter’d there.

NOTES:

Title REASON’S Expostulation with LOVE. A companion poem answering this one titled “LOVE’S Answer to REASON” was published on the same page in this issue.

22 puling “Crying querulously or weakly, as a child; whining, feebly wailing” (OED).

41 boots To boot: old English for use, profit, to be of advantage (Online Etymology Dictionary).

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine (July, 1788), p. 640. [Hathi Trust]

 Edited by Annika Thiem

“I.O.,” “Love’s Answer to Reason”

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“I.O.”

“LOVE’S Answer to REASON”

INTRUDER bold, whose impious tongue
Presumes to chide my hallow’d flame,
Art thou of earthly parents sprung?
Whence dost thou come? or what thy name?
Not earthly thou: some Hell-born foe,                                                                   5
Or sure some stranger from above:
Its nature well thou seem’st to know,
But ne’er did’st feel what ‘tis to love.
Give me a breast as cold as thine,
Or teach the maid to frown like thee;                                                              10
Then shall this soul no longer pine,
And thou alone shalt govern me.
But, whilst I view that eye so sweet,
And in that eye a sweeter mind,
Still may’st thou ever idly prate,                                                                               15
And preach thy lessons to the wind.
Go, tell the Sun to hide his fire,
And tell the stars to shine no more;
Go, bid the surges back retire,
Nor dare to lash the bellowing shore.                                                               20
Seek Bedlam’s din and mingled yells;
There, if thou canst, resume thy reign;
Bid Madness leave her iron cells,
And drag no more the clanking chain.
Go call her wand’ring senses home,                                                                          25
Her frantic rage and storms allay;
Or teach her fixt and sullen gloom
To laugh and dance the hours away.
Could’st thou but view my charmer’s form,
Or hear the music of her tongue,                                                                        30
Thine icy soul might then grow warm,
And Age itself once more be young.
Alas! I fear that hoary hair
Is not the badge of creeping Time;
Those locks from endless days you wear,                                                                  35
And never felt youth’s glowing prime.
That lifted eye, whose sharp rebuke
Still points to yonder starry pole —
It never knew the down-cast look,
Which marks the Lover’s pensive soul.                                                                40
The front sublime, whose angry lour
Would kill the flame I nourish here —
It never stoopt to Beauty’s pow’r,
Or fondly smooth’d the frown severe.
That trumpet tongue, whose harsher noise                                                              45
Would from this breast her image scare —
It never us’d the dulcet voice
Which Love employs to woo the Fair.
Till Grace itself can please no more,
Shall I not feel those charms divine?                                                                     50
How can I learn thy rigid lore,
Or leave her face to gaze on thine?
Oh! had my love that ugly frame,
Thy furrow’d brow, thine haggard eye,
This heart had never known a flame,                                                                           55
This breast had never learnt to sigh!

NOTES:

 Title: LOVE’S Answer to REASON This poem is the answer to “REASON’S Expostulation with LOVE,” which was published on the same page in this issue.

21 Bedlam Place or state of confusion or madness; reference to the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London which was an asylum from the 1400s through the eighteenth century (Online Etymology Dictionary).

 33 hoary Old, grey-haired (Online Etymology Dictionary).

41 lour Form of lower, a frown, scowl, dark and threatening appearance (Online Etymology Dictionary).

 48 dulcet Soothing, pleasant, sweet (OED).

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine (July, 1788), p. 640. [Hathi Trust]

 Edited by Annika Thiem

Anonymous, “All in Vanity!”

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Anonymous

“All is Vanity!”

Whilst happy youths lead up the merry dance,
And musick’s charms invade the silent air,
Whilst sprightly nymphs spontaneously advance,
Lo! Here I sit, sad victim to despair.

But why should I complain? My day is o’er:                                            5
I’ve bid adieu to pleasure’s flow’ry stream;
My steady heart shall be enslav’d no more;
Such transient joys are like an empty dream.

Forgive, ye fair, this rude, unpolish’d verse,
Dread destiny has deeply pierc’d my heart;                                  10
Too certain truths unwilling I rehearse,
Ye, lovely maids, shall feel the vengeful dart.

Beauty and youth in which ye now delight,
Shall leave precipitate life’s giddy stage;
There charms shall sink in everlasting night,                                        15
And leave behind vexation and old age.

To day ye triumph with despotic power,
But Oh! to-morrow all your power is lost;
Like you to day appears the blushing flower,
Like you to-morrow nipt by death’s cold frost.                                20

O say, can dancing stop the hand of death,
Or musick’s charms extend life’s narrow page?
Can courtly balls recall the fleeting breath,
Or sooth the burning fever’s glowing rage?

If not, ye fair ones, listen to a friend,                                                        25
Exalt each thought to pure and endless joys;
With caution due to Damon’s muse attend,
None can be happy, but the good and wise.

NOTES:

3 nymphs A mythological spirit imagined as a beautiful maiden (Oxford Classical Dictionary).

23 courtly balls Political and social events attended by European nobility in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Later evolves into ballroom dancing. (DeMello, Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia, p. 89).

27 Damon Earliest reference to this name was found in a Greek story of Damon and Pythias. The myth exhibited the idea of a perfect friendship (Osborn, What’s in a Name?, p. 174).

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 33 (London, 1763), p. 40.

Edited by Lok Yi Lo

Ann Yearsley, “Thoughts on the Author’s Own Death. Written when very Young”

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ANN YEARSLEY

“Thoughts on the Author’s Own Death. Written when very Young”

 

Thus, when the fatal stroke of Death’s design’d,
On oozy banks th’ expiring swan reclin’d,
Her own sad requiem sings in languid note,
While o’er the stream the dying echoes float.

But, ah! can youth dwell on the tragic part?                                  5
Can I describe the trembling, panting heart?
In Fancy’s frolic age can I relate
The pangs, the terrors of a dying state?
Yes—tho’ unskill’d, I’ll the grim shade pursue,
And bring the distant terror to my view;                                               10
Dwell on the horrors of that gloomy hour;
Death, made familiar, loses half his power.
Peace then, ye passions of ungovern’d youth,
Foes to reflection, enemies to the truth!
Let me, unruffled by your clamorous voice,                                          15
Make the drear regions of the tomb my choice;
And while sad Fancy paints the dismal scene,
Where reflects ghosts by midnight moons are seen
Stalk o’er the gloomy grave, Muse! be it thine
To rouse the vain, the giddy, and supine,                                              20
Who Pleasure’s rounds pursue; while young Desire
Wakes the gay dream, and feeds the dangerous fire:
From these I fly—and now, my pensive soul
Mark the harsh scream of yon death-bonding owl;
Perhaps she calls some lingering, tardy ghost                                     25
To smell the world, ere the dread hour be loft
That parts the night from morn. Come, restless souls,
Relax from torture; you whom Fate controuls
To purge your earthly crimes in liquid fire,
In anguish plung’d, till ages shall expire;                                               30
(This, ROME’S grand tenet) sin thus wash’d away,
Pure, bright, and cleans’d, you’ll wing to endless day.
Presumption, hold! Lo, o’er yon misty tomb
Leans a sad spectre, and bemoans the doom
Of never-erring Justice; heavenly power!                                               35
Support and guard me in this gloomy hour
Of dread inquiry!—”Say, thou wretched soul,
O teach a young, rash, inexperienced fool,
What ‘tis to die, and where thou wing’dst thy way,
When turn’d a wanderer from thy house of clay?                                40
Did’st tread soft lawns, or seek Elysian groves,
Where Poets feign lover’s spirit roves?
Or, on light pinions cut the closing air,
And to each planetary world repair?
Or, guideless, stray where dismal groans rebound,                             45
And forked lightnings quiver on the ground?
Or did sad fiends thy unhous’d spirit meet,
And with shrill yellings the poor trembler greet
To the dark world? Describe that scene of woe
Which thou hast felt, and may I ever know!”                                         50
“Thou’lt know, indeed,” it answers with a groan,
“The pangs of death too sure shall by thy own;
Pains yet unfelt must seize thy every part,
And Death’s cold horrors hover round thy heart;
Thy dying eyes fix’d on some darling friend,                                          55
While strong convulsions their wild orbs extend;
One gasp, and deep eternity in view,
The soul shoots forth, and groans a last adieu.
I dare no more—but Oh! too curious maid,
Seek not to pierce th’impenetrable shade                                             60
Which wraps futurity; thou‘rt sure to die;
Rest there, nor farther search, nor question why;
Scan not Omnipotence—of that beware;
Oft the too curious eye is dimm’d by blank despair.”

Farewel, poor Ghost! ye horrors of the night,                                 65
Begone, nor more my shudd’ring soul affright;
The question unresolv’d I soon shall know,
Then let me haste from this sad scene of woe.

Henceforth, vain Pleasure, I renounce thy joy,
Enchanting Fair, who tempt’st but to destroy;                                        70
Ye thoughtless maids who transient dreams pursue,
No more my moments must be lost with you;
No more my soul in empty mirth shall share,
Or fondly relish pleasures ting’d with care.

And thou, all-merciful! omniscient Power!                                       75
O teach me to redeem each mis-spent hour;
In youth the mind’s best gifts most strongly shine,
Ah! let them not too suddenly decline!
In mercy add a few remaining years,
The grave shall lose its sting, my soul shall lose its fears.                     80

NOTES:

2 expiring swan reclin’d Greek mythological “swan-song;” “a song like that fabled to be sung by a dying swan; the last work of a poet or musician, composed shortly before death; any final performance, action, or effort” (OED).

20 supine Lying on one’s back (OED).

24 Harsh scream of yon death-bonding owl Roman mythology denotes the owl as an omen of ill-fortune or death; contrarily, the Greeks thought owls to bring imminent good fortune.

31 tenet A doctrine, dogma, principle, or opinion, in religion, philosophy, politics, or the like, held by a school, sect, party, or person (OED).

40 house of clay Colloquially this means, “of the Earth”; see also King James Bible, Job 4:19, “How much more them that dwell in houses of clay….”

41 Elysian Of the nature of, or resembling, what is in Elysium (The supposed state or abode of the blessed after death in Greek mythology.); beatific, glorious (OED).

43 pinions A bird’s wing; esp. the wing of a bird in flight (OED).

61 futurity The quality, state, or fact of being future (OED).

63 Omnipotence As an abstract concept: all-powerfulness, almightiness; force, person, or being representing or embodying this quality; God (OED).

71 transient Passing by or away with time; not durable or permanent; temporary (OED).

73 mirth Pleasurable feeling; enjoyment, gratification; joy, happiness (OED).

Source: Poems, on Several Occasions, 4th edn. (London, 1786), pp. 15-20. [Google Books]

Edited by Abby Bergman

“Posthumous,” “Morning Stanzas in October”

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“POSTHUMOUS”

 “MORNING STANZAS in October”

 The spreading oak and silver poplar tall,
Now feel the approach of winter’s dreary hour;
And from on high their faded honours fall,
In many a silent melancholy shower.

Still is each feather’d songster in the grove,                               5
Unless the Robin swell his little throat;
Still is the Blackbird, still the plaintive dove;
Nor floats aloft the Sky Lark’s bolder note.

Pleas’d with the calmness of the rising morn,
Faint spreading o’er the east it’s milder light;                   10
The healthful huntsman winds his early horn,
And sounds a farewell to the ling’ring night.

The sluggish mist now leaves the low, dank vale,
And slowly climbs the distant mountain’s side;
Whilst the blithe milkmaid sings beneath her pail                   15
And welcomes morn, whatever it betide.

The shepherd’s fleecy charge his fold forsakes;
The nightly-plundering fox, and timorous hare,
The coverts seek: And man once more awakes
To grief, to joy; to pleasure, or to care.                                20

NOTES:

5 feather’d songster Birds that sing.

7 plaintive “Afflicted by sorrow; grieving, lamenting” (OED).

8 Sky Lark “The common lark of Europe, Alauda arvensis, so called from its habit of soaring towards the sky while singing” (OED).

18 timorous “Full of or affected by fear (either for the time or habitually)” (OED).

19 coverts “A covering” (OED).

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine (November, 1768), p. 536.

Edited by Jasmine Lopez

“Philotheorus,” “Card Playing Philosophized, Addressed to a Young Lady, with a Pack of Cards”

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“PHILOTHEORUS”

“CARD PLAYING Philosophized, Addressed to a Young Lady, with a Pack of Cards”

 From this little gay playful machine,
As beheld in contention, we view,
How the various departments of men,
Life’s business and pleasures pursue.

Since, while some play the Child, and the Fool,                               5
The Knave others play—in their evil
More advanc’d in iniquities school,
The Deuce others play, and the Devil.

There are the proud King and the vain Queen,
The false Heart, and gay Di’mond who play;                                    10
While with Clubs, and with Spades, there are seen,
Some urging their desperate way.

But, to vary the dark-grounded scene,
As life and experience require:
To Women there are, and to Men,                                                     15
To Christians and Saints, who aspire.

Thus far, my dear Pupil, at large——
Now to vary our prospect and stand:
And, point we, and bring home the charge,
As our “business and bosoms demand.”                                          20

Ask we, Monica, what is the part,
You and I are found playing below?
Is it founded in nature, or art?
Or does it from principle flow?

Does it rise upon virtue and worth?                                                 25
Is honor it’s groundwork and base?
On religion proceeds it, and truth?
How happy, where this is the case!

An acquaintance thus formed, must prove
To fair Friendship a certain advance;                                                 30
Nor terminate here, but to Love,
To the Christian Agapee inhance.

Then come my dear Sister and friend,
Leaving sense and the body behind,
To a purer commixture unbend,                                                         35
To the purer commixture of Mind!

Learn we, Ma’am, the heavenly art,
From the trunk to the head to repair;
And, quitting the animal part,
Display the wing’d cherubim there.                                                   40

What have We, my fair Colleague, to do
With the softer suggestions of sense?
Since God and High heav’n are in view,
Let us banish these blandishments hence.

Away, fond seducers, begone!                                                           45
Give us up our spirit’al pow’rs;
With sense and passions we’ve done;
The sweets of Religion be ours!

Commensurate these, while we live,
Our fastest companions will prove;                                                  50
Not to say latest life they’ll survive,
And join us in the regions above.

There, lost in the visions of Grace,
And swimming in oceans of Love,
We shall see GOD and our Father’s bright face,                              55
As it shines, through our JESUS above!

NOTES:

2 view Corrected from a printer’s error “wiew.”

6 Knave “A dishonest or unprincipled man; a rogue” (OED).

8 iniquities “Unrighteous acts” or “sins” (OED).

21 Monica Name likely derived from St. Monica, known for her Christian piety, prudence and chastity; also recognized for her promotion of Christian values through motherhood (The Original Catholic Encyclopedia).

32 Agapee From the Greek “agape;” the concept of Christian love rather than sexual romantic love (Online Etymology Dictionary).  

40 cherubim Cherubs; angels (OED).

44 blandishments Flattery (OED).

49 commensurate “To define the extent of; to measure” (OED).

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine (September, 1767), pp. 517-518.

Edited by Lee Hammel

[Mrs. Letches], “A Tribute”

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[MRS. LETCHES]

 “A Tribute”

What tho’ in quick succession Stars appear,
The glorious Sun is ever bright and clear!
Those lesser Orbs can ne’er his radiance shade,
For with immortal splendor he’s array’d:
No more can humble merit throw a veil                                                                                  5
On real worth—its lustre will prevail!

 With tender sympathy my bosom glows!
To ease your wrongs, and to relieve your woes!
With Eagle-sight my Soul would scape her bounds,
To pour the balm of comfort o’er your wounds.                                                                   10

Angelic Liberty! thou source divine!
Shall mortals dare to manacle thy power?
Shall the best gift which Heav’n did deign assign
To guilty man when drave from Eden’s bow’r!
Be trampled on by violaters base?                                                                                            15
And Scourge, and Chains, and Food to horses due,
Be long prepar’d for that unhappy race,
Afric’s sad sons! while they their direful task pursue!

Forbid it justice, honesty, and love,
Conspire ye heaven-born souls! and crush the throne                                                 20
Of avarice vile — so shall the blest above
Resound your triumph to the Almighty One:
Who sweetly will approve the glorious deed
Which so congenial to his Orders are;
For smiling mercy came, mild Heaven’s meed,                                                                       25
When justice stern did call for doom severe.

NOTES:

 Author Mrs. Letches This attribution is based on an inscription on the title page in what appears to be a contemporary hand (see ESTC T42632). She published anonymously as “A Lady” in one of the centers of the Atlantic “triangle” trade and her personal history remains unknown. Throughout the eighteenth century, Bristol’s booming port not only transported goods but also enslaved African people to the Americas and West Indies. At this same time, Bristol was known to have a large abolitionist movement that Mrs. Letches clearly contributed to. She dedicated her volume to “the Inhabitants of Bristol” (iii).

13 deign “To think it worthy of oneself (to do something); to think fit, vouchsafe, condescend” (OED).

14 drave That is “driven”; bow’r “Sanctuary.”

16 Scourge “To beat with a scourge; to whip severely, flog” (OED).

18 Afric’s sad sons “A native or inhabitant of Africa, esp. a black African” (OED).

 22 Resound To sing the praises of; Almighty One God.

25 meed “Something given in return for labour or service; recompense” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (Bristol, 1792), pp. 18-19. [Google Books]

 Edited by Sherry Portillo

[Mrs. Letches], “Evening Reflections on Brandon-Hill”

[MRS. LETCHES]

 “Evening Reflections on Brandon-Hill”

Soft pleasing Twilight! welcome is thy glad
Approach to weary man! he, forgetful still
Of all the toils succeeding days present him,
Salutes thee as the grey-clad harbinger
Of solemn sable night. Brutes do thee homage—                                           5
With silent cheerfulness attend thy mild
Inviting. Ev’n the lovely feather’d race,
Whose grateful melody makes groves and vales
Echo, yet cease their warbling, unoppress’d
With Care, repose their feeble frames, unconscious                                       10
Of ill, or snares by artful fowlers spread
To allure their innocence, or rash intent
Of inquisitive boys, invaders rude
Of liberty! on dew-besprinkled bough; —
Press fond the senseless clod with filial love:                                                  15
Than these; what transport must the bosoms swell
Of Afric’s sons, forlorn mal-treated tribe,
When Heav’n’s Majestic emblem they behold
Withdraw his radiance thence, to illuminate
Other worlds! When even their base oppressors                                            20
Content, permit them to recline their tortur’d
Frames on beds, inferior far to those
Prepar’d for pamper’d steeds. So absolute,
O Night! hast thou dominion o’er the
Petty tyrant? Mak’st him forget the                                                                     25
Oblivious draught infused! Men they
Doom—infringing justice and humanity—to
Feel the powerful scourge, and groan beneath
Unnatural tyranny, which God abhors.—
O merciful Disposer of events!                                                                           30
Inspire the breasts of the “Noble few,” foes
To cruelty and avarice, to crush their
Dreadful power! that distant nations may
Learn of Britain’s Senate, Justice and Mercy.

NOTES:

Author Mrs. Letches This attribution is based on an inscription on the title page in what appears to be a contemporary hand (see ESTC T42632). She published anonymously as “A Lady” in Bristol, one of the centers of the Atlantic “triangle” trade, and her personal history remains unknown. Throughout the eighteenth century, Bristol’s booming port not only transported goods but also enslaved African people to the Americas and West Indies. At this same time, Bristol boasted a large abolitionist movement that Mrs. Letches clearly contributed to. She dedicated her volume to “the Inhabitants of Bristol” (iii).

Title Brandon-Hill St. Brandon’s Hill is located close to Bristol city center in southwest England. It is possibly the oldest municipal open space in the country.

4 harbinger “One that goes before and announces the approach of some one; a forerunner” (OED).

5 sable Black.

9 warbling “Singing or making tuneful melody with sweet quavering notes” (OED).

15 filial “Of or pertaining to a son or daughter” (OED).

18 Heav’n’s Majestic emblem The sun.

 31 Noble few Abolitionists.

 34 Britain’s Senate Parliament.

 

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (Bristol, 1792), pp. 7-8. [Google Books]

 Edited by Sherry Portillo

Anna Seward, “Written by Miss Anna Seward in the blank Leaves of her own Poems presented by her to William Newton…”

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ANNA SEWARD

 “Written by Miss ANNA SEWARD in the blank Leaves of her own Poems, presented by her to WILLIAM NEWTON, Native of a Village upon Tideswell Moor, near Monsaldale in the Peak”

 

Thou gentle Bard, on whose internal sight
Genius has pour’d her many – colour’d light;
With whom the loveliest of the Virtues dwell,
And wave their halcyon plumes around thy cell,
Tho’ wayward Fortune has not deign’d to throw                           5
One gaudy trophy on thy pensive brow,
With conscious dignity thy tree-born soul
Disdains to court her insolent controul;
And tho’ proud Fame no sunny glance has shed
On the low roof that screens thy modest head,                             10
The same exalted spirit scorns to wail
Her echoes silent in thy lonely vale.

Yet, while one votary of the Muses blames
Th’ unjust neglect of the capricious dames,
Still may she stimulate that noble pride,                                          15
Which rather seeks in humblest roof to hide
The shining gifts that lavish Genius gave,
Than, courting Fortune’s smile, commence her slave;
Than climb Parnassus’ steep and thorny ways,
And drop the rose of Peace to grasp the bays.                               20

Thy quiet haunts Reflection loves to trace
Thro’ walks of savage, or of smiling, grace;
And pleas’d she finds the scenes, that gave thee birth,
Types of thy lot, thy talents, and thy worth.

As conscious Memory, with reverted glance,                             25
Roves o’er the wild and mountainous expanse,
Her faithful traces to my sight restore
The long, long tracts of Tideswell’s naked Moor;
Strech’d on vast hills, that far and near prevail,
Bleak, stony, bare, monotonous, and pale.                                       30
Wide o’er the waste, in noon-tide’s sultry rays,
The frequent lime-kiln darts her umber’d blaze;
Her suffocating smoke incessant breathes,
And shrouds the sun in black convolving wreaths;
And here, with pallid ashes heap’d around,                                      35
Oft sinks the mine, and blots the dreary ground.
In vain warm Spring demands her robe of green,
No sheltering hedge-rows vivify the scene;
O’er its grey breast no undulating trees
With lavish foliage court the lively breeze;                                         40
But from the Moor the rude stone walls disjoin,
With angle sharp, and long unvaried line,
The cheerless field, — where slowly wandering feed
The lonely cow, and melancholy steed,
Expos’d abide the summer’s ardent breath,                                      45
And wintry storm that yells along the heath.

At length benigner mountains meet the eyes;
Their shrubby heights in rounder grace arise;
And, from the first steep summit, pleas’d I throw
My eager glances on the depths below,                                             50
As sinks abrupt the sylvan Monsaldale
From the swart sun-beam and the howling gale.

Behold in front the lucid river spread
His bankless waters o’er the sunny mead;
As of his broad and sheety shallows proud,                                     55
Shine the clear mirror of the passing cloud;
Then to the left along the valley glide,
With smooth meander, and with narrower tide,
Thro’ banks, where thick the spreading alders grow,
And deep calm waves reflect their pendent bough.                        60
Refreshing sweets the breathing hay-cocks yield,
That richly tuft the long and narrow field,
As gently to the right it curves away
Round the green cliffs with scatter’d nut-trees gay;
Cliffs, whose smooth breast, above the silver stream,                   65
Swells to the sun, and yellows in his beam,
While on th’ opposing shore dwarf foliage hides,
Sombrous, and soft, the mountain’s lofty sides,
And throws its latest fringe upon the flood,
That laves the concave of the pensile wood;                                    70
Till down the rocks, rude, broken, mossy, steep,
In parted tides the foaming waters leap;
Then thro’ the mazes of the rambling dale
With silent lapse they flow, or rush with tuneful wail.

The self-taught Edwin, in his lowly state,                                   75
Feels this sweet glen an emblem of his fate;
For as it glows with beauty rich and rare,
Near healthy hills, unsightly, bleak, and bare,
So, ‘midst unletter’d hinds as rude as those,
He, pensive minstrel of the mountains, rose;                                   80
Who, like devoted Chatterton, was born
In Nature’s triumph, and in Fortune’s scorn;
With kindred talents, and in happier mind,
By prudence guarded, as by taste refin’d;
Whom industry preserves from woes fevere,                                   85
Which ill the noble spirit knows to bear;
Saves from those pains that Wealth’s mean sons deride,
Dependent hopes, and heart corroding pride,
When, for with’d amity, and ow’d respect,
It meets the chilling air of base neglect;                                             90
The stingy Patron’s contumelious aid;
The taunt of Envy, studious to upbraid;
Those thousand ills, by which the Great are prone
To crush the talents that eclipse their own.

Be thine the blessings, Edwin, that reward                                95
Ev’n manual labour to th’ enlighten’d bard!
Energic health, and, in rare union join’d
The melting heart, and philosophic mind;
Genius is thine — before her solar state,
O fly, ye mists of inauspicious fate!                                                     100
Hers is the flood of cloudless day, that shows
The charms that Nature, and that Art bestows;
And she has given thee wealth, that shames the toys
Which Fortune grants, and Vanity enjoys;
The toys of groveling souls, empower’d to seize                              105
On the soft splendors of luxurious ease;
Whom yet with scorn discerning eyes behold
Pleas’d with life’s tinsel, reckless of her gold;
Gold richer far than India’s mine affords,
Th’ internal wealth of intellectual hoards;                                          110
Which buy, disdaining Fortune’s bounded plain,
Creative Mind’s illimitable reign.

O! if in that wide range my Muse’s powers
May lure thy tarrience in her cypress bowers,
Should’st thou perceive that genuine sweets belong                       115
To the pale flowrets of her pensive song,
The thought, that they have sooth’d thy toils, shall dwell
Warm with the bosom joys that Fame’s bright meed excel.

 

NOTES:

Title WILLIAM NEWTON, Native of a Village upon Tideswell Moor, near Monsaldale in the Peak William Newton (1750–1830), a laboring-class poet often referred to as ‘the Peak Minstrel’ was a friend of Anna Seward, who encouraged him in his writing and corresponded with him until her death. He lived near the village of Tideswell in the valley of Monsal Dale in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England.

3 the loveliest of the Virtues The seven Christian virtues consisting of four cardinal virtues from ancient Greek philosophy which are prudence, justice, temperance (meaning restriction or restraint), and courage (or fortitude) and three theological virtues which are faith, hope, and charity (or love). We do not know which virtues Anna Seward considered “the loveliest.”

4 halcyon Calm, tranquil, prosperous, joyful.

13 Muses In Greek Mythology, nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who are the goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science, and the arts.

19 Parnassus The home of the Muses; a mountain in Greece that became known as the home of poetry, music, and learning.

28 Moor A tract of open uncultivated upland area characterized by low growing vegetation.

32 lime-kiln A furnace, used for making quicklime for making plaster and cement.

43 convolving Rolling or winding together.

61 hay-cocks Conical mounds of hay.

68 Sombrous Gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted, somber.

70 pensile “Situated on a steep downward slope” (OED).

75 Edwin Anna Seward’s poetic epistolary name for William Newton.

81 Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), English poet who came from an underprivileged background, similar to William Newton. Chatterton, who was unable to find a patron for his art, lived in extreme poverty and took his life by drinking arsenic before his eighteenth birthday.

91 contumelious Scornful and insulting.

114 tarrience Delay, lingering.

Source: The Gentleman’s Magazine (March, 1785), p. 213.

Edited by Irina Auerbuch