Author Archives: admin

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

 

“L.R.,” “Ode to Venus”

“L.R.”

“Ode to Venus”

On seeing the Estate of Gretna-Green advertised for Sale in the News-papers of the Day.

 

When Horace pray’d thee, Queen of Love,
To quit in haste thy Cyprian grove,
And seek his Fair-one’s roof,
The paltry smoke her incense threw,
And message trite to all thy crew,                                          5
Had kept thee well aloof.

A juster plea, a menac’d wrong,
Unvarnish’d by the Poet’s song,
Demands thy instant aid;
Quick let the doves their wings prepare,                              10
Cupid alone attend thy car,
And speed to Gretna’s shade.

To Gretna speed; your strongest hold
Plutus attacks with arms of gold,
And thinks the fortress won;                                            15
But Hymen your approach will meet,
For only there he’s wont to meet
The Mother and her Son.

Fear not yon dotard’s sooty face,
His blacken’d hands, his hobbling pace,                                 20
‘Tis not thy spouse, sweet dame!
From nets of steel our smith abstains;
Fetters of silk, and rosy chains,
His gentler labours frame.

But Christie lifts his hammer high;                                            25
Oh!  swiftly, swiftly, Goddess, fly,
And vindicate your claim!
So Gretna’s priest shall chaunt your praise,
And frequent pairs enraptur’d raise
A column to your fame.                                                        30

NOTES:

Title Venus Roman goddess of beauty and love (OED).

Subtitle Gretna Green  A Scottish village that became a popular destination for English couples looking to elope after Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act (1753) was brought into force in England. The Newcastle Courant, for example, carried an advertisement for the “Sale of Gretna” by auction (No. 6354, 21 July 1798).

1 Horace Roman lyric poet (65-8 BCE), whose ode addressed to Venus (Odes, IV.1) is being paraphrased in this stanza.

2 Cyprian Of Cyprus, “an island in the eastern Mediterranean, famous in ancient times for the worship of Aphrodite or Venus” (OED).

4 paltry “Very small or meagre” (OED).

5 trite “Worn out by constant use or repetition” (OED).

7 juster “Well-founded; justifiable” (OED); menac’d “Threatened” (OED).

8 Unvarnish’d  “Not covered” (OED).

11 Cupid Roman god of love, son of Mercury and Venus (OED).

14 Plutus Greek God of abundance or wealth (Britannica).

16 Hymen God of marriage in Greek and Roman mythology (OED).

19 dotard “An old person” (OED); sooty face “At Gretna Green the marriage ceremony was usually  performed by the blacksmith” (Britannica).

23 Fetters Figuratively, a restraint (OED).

25 Christie James Christie (1730-1803), a Scottish auctioneer who founded the auction house Christie’s in London, England.

28 chaunt “A repeated rhythmic phrase” (OED).

SOURCE: The Gentleman’s Magazine (August 1798), p. 707. [J. Paul Leonard Library]

Edited by Jhadeeja Shahida Vaz

 

 

 

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

 

 

Mary Masters, “On Beauty”

MARY MASTERS

“On Beauty”

Sure, Beauty is a Light Divine,
That does with awful Lustre shine;
Rises more strong at ev’ry View,
And does the proudest Hearts subdue.
Where is the Man, that durst defy                                            5
The blooming Cheek and dazling Eye;
The lovely Shape, the winning Air,
And graceful Motions of the Fair?
Stoicks themselves could find no Arms
’Gainst Beauty’s bright tremendous Charms:                          10
This CATO by Example prov’d,
A rigid Stoick, yet he lov’d:
And both his am’rous Sons display’d
Their rival Flames for one fair Maid.
Beauty still triumphs o’er the Schools,                                       15
With all their Philosophick Rules;
She breaks their surest best Defence,
Reason, the feeble Guard of Sense.

All feel her Force, her Laws obey,
Compell’d to own her potent Sway.                                             20
But ’tis th’ unblemish’d Form I praise,
Where VIRTUE shines with equal Rays!
For Beauty, stain’d, has lost her Pow’r,
And, VIRTUE gone, she charms no more.

NOTES:

2 Lustre “The quality or condition of shining by reflected light; sheen, refulgence; gloss” (OED).

4 subdue “To bring (an enemy, people, territory, etc.) into subjection by conquest or physical force” (OED).

5 durst Past tense of “dare.”

9 Stoicks “One who practices repression of emotion, indifference to pleasure or pain, and patient endurance” (OED).

11 CATO Cato the Younger (95-46BCE), Roman statesman and famous follower of stoicism.  Cato’s intended first marriage to Aemilia Lepida was possibly motivated by love, though she ended up marrying Scipio, to whom she was previously betrothed (Britannica).

13-14 Masters is using Joseph Addison’s popular play, Cato, a Tragedy (1712) as her source here as Addison exercised “considerable literary license” by creating a plot line in which Cato’s sons, Portius and Marcus, vied for the love of a woman named Lucia.  See Nathan Wolloch, “Cato the Younger in the Enlightenment,” Modern Philology, vol. 106, no. 1 (August 2008), p. 67.

Source: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1733), pp. 60-61. [Google Books]

Edited by Itzel Rodriguez

Mary Alcock, “The Air Balloon”

MARY ALCOCK

“The Air Balloon”

 

No more of Phaeton let poets tell,
I care not where he drove nor where he fell;
No more I’ll wish for fam’d Aurora’s car,
To drive me forth, high as the morning star;
In Air Balloon to distant realms I go,                                              5
“And leave the gazing multitude below.”

No more I’ll hear of Venus and her doves,
Nor Cupid flying with the little loves;
Nor would I now in Juno’s chariot ride
In princely pomp, with peacock by my side;                                10
In higher state, in Air Balloon I go,
I’d have the gods and goddesses to know.

No more in oriental language fair
I’ll read of Genii wafting through the air;
Nor longer will I seek (by Persian wrought)                                  15
A carpet, to transport me by a thought;
Enough for me in Air Balloon to go,
And leave th’ enquiring multitude below.

No more of Pegasus (unruly steed)
To reach Parnassus’ Mount, shall I have need;                             20
Nor will I now the Muses favour court,
To shew me Pindus’ Hill, their chief resort;
To these fair realms in Air Balloon I go,
And leave the grov’ling multitude below.

No more shall Fancy now (betwitching fair!)                                 25
Erect me castles, floating in the air;
Such vague, such feeble structures I despise,
I’ll kick them down as I ascend the skies;
For higher far in Air Balloon I go,
And leave the wond’ring multitude below.                                    30

No longer, now, at distance need I try
To trace each planet with perspective eye;
Nor longer wish, with fairies from afar,
To slide me gently down on falling star;
For up or down with equal ease I steer,                                          35
And view with naked eye the splendid sphere.

Alas poor Newton! late for learning fam’d,
Nor more shall thy researches e’er be nam’d;
For greater Newtons now each day shall soar,
High up to Heaven, and new worlds explore;                                40
Since swift, in Air Balloons, aloft we go,
And leave the stupid multitude below.

No more the terrors of the deep I fear;
Alike to me, if friend be far or near;
This sea-girt isle I distant leave behind,                                          45
Visit each kingdom and survey mankind;
For now with ease in Air Balloon I ride,
No more compell’d to wait for wind or tide.

Hail, happy lovers! late by distance curst,
(Of all the worldly tortures sure the worst)                                    50
No more condemn’d an absence to deplore,
And, sighing, breathe your vows from shore to shore;
For through the air, swift in Balloons ye roll,
“And waft yourselves from India to the pole.”

In vain may party rage assail mine ear;                                           55
If war or peace, alike I’m free from care;
Should plague or pestilence infect the land,
The purest regions are at my command;
Where safe from harm, in Air Balloon I go,
And leave the sickly multitude below.                                             60

No more of judge or jury will I hear,
The laws of land extend not to the air;
Nor bailiff now my spirits can affright,
For up I mount, and soon am out of sight;
Thus, screen’d from justice, in Balloon I go,                                     65
And leave th’ insolvent multitude below.

How few the worldly evils now I dread,
No more confin’d this narrow earth to tread;
Should fire, or water, spread destruction drear,
Or earthquake shake this sublunary sphere,                                    70
In Air Balloon to distant realms I fly,
And leave the creeping world to sink and die.

NOTES:

1 Phaeton “Sun God of Greek myth whom Zeus struck down after nearly scorching the Earth” (Britannica).

3 Aurora “Personification of dawn in Roman mythology” (Britannica).

6 A translated line from Virgil, probably sourced from the title page of a popular periodical, The Adventurer (1788), “On vent’rous wing in quest of praise I go,/And leave the gazing multitude below.”

7 Venus Roman goddess of love and beauty (Britannica).

 8 Cupid Roman god of love who used arrows to inspire passion and love (Britannica).

 9 Juno Roman goddess of birth and marriage (Britannica).

 14 Genii Plural of “Genius,” guardian spirits (Brittanica).

 15 wrought “Created” (OED).

 19 Pegasus Winged horse of Greek mythology (OED).

 20 Parnassus’ Mount Mythical “source of literary, esp. poetic inspiration” (OED).

 21 Muses “The nine goddesses regarded as presiding over and inspiring learning and the arts” (OED).

 22 Pindus’ Hill Principal mountain range of mainland Greece (Britannica).

 37 Newton Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and theologian (Britannica).

 45 sea-girt isle England and Scotland.

54 A slight variation of Alexander Pope’s (1688-1744) line from Eloisa and Abelard (1717), “And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole” (l.58).

 57 pestilence “A fatal epidemic” (OED).

 63 bailiff “An officer of justice” (OED).

 70 sublunary “Earthly; terrestrial” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems, &c. &c. (London, 1799) pp. 107-11.  [Google Books]

Edited by Hailey Franzese

Elizabeth Gooch, “Sonnet. Addressed to–“

ELIZABETH GOOCH

“Sonnet. Addressed to —”

 

Selecting from the sweetest flow’rs, the Bee
Roves, unrestrain’d, the perfum’d walks among;
I cull Parnassus’ giddy heights for thee,
Or sing thy praises in the love-sick song.

Sometimes, mayhap, in melancholy mood,                                                   5
Contemplative, the desert paths I range;
And watch the parting sun-beams o’er the wood,
The leafless branches, and autumnal change.

In my sad heart alone no change appears;
Of ev’ry thought thy image is the end;                                                      10
I wander through a wilderness of tears,
Bereft of thee, and ev’ry earthly friend.
Will then my heavy suff’rings never cease,
But lies in death my only road to peace?

NOTES:

2 Roves  “To wander, roam” (OED).

3 Parnassus “Mount Parnassus, regarded as the source of literary, esp. poetic, inspiration” (OED).

5 mayhap Perhaps.

12 Bereft “Forcibly deprived” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Various Subjects (London, 1793), p. 33. [Google Books] 

Edited by Halsey Williamson

Elizabeth Gooch, “To a Friend”

ELIZABETH GOOCH

“To a Friend”

 

To lose my visionary life
Has been my dearest wish of late;
Tir’d of the world’s eternal strife,
I bow beneath the storms of Fate.

Condemn’d to misery and pain,                                                 5
Long have I wander’d, long suppress’d
The chilling marks of cold disdain
From those in whom I once was blest!

But, ah! the rankling wound can ne’er
Within my bosom’s core be heal’d;                                    10
Those pangs are always most severe
That in the heart remain conceal’d.

Retirement’s haunts at length invite
To promis’d scenes of future peace;
There, if I cannot hope delight,                                                  15
Oppressive tumults yet may cease.

Ah ! strive not then by tender care
To lure me from my fix’d abode,
On Earth my fate is fell despair—
In Heav’n—my Judge will be my God!                                20

NOTES:

9 rankling “To fester, esp. to a degree that causes pain” (OED).

13 Retirement “A secluded or private place; a retreat” (OED).

16 tumults “Great disturbance of mind or feeling” (OED).

19 fell “Intensely painful or destructive” (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems on Various Subjects (London, 1793), pp. 10-11. [Google Books]

Edited by Halsey Williamson

William Collins, “Ode to Peace”

WILLIAM COLLINS
“Ode to Peace”

O Thou who badst thy turtles bear
Swift from his grasp thy golden hair,
And sought’st thy native skies;
When War, by vultures drawn from far,
To Britain bent his iron car,                                                       5
And bade his storms arise!

—–Tir’d of his rude tyrannic sway,
Our youth shall fix some festive day,
His sullen shrines to burn :—
But thou, who hear’st the turning spheres,                            10
What sounds may charm thy partial ears,
And gain thy blest return!

O Peace, thy injur’d robes up-bind!
O rise! and leave not one behind
Of all thy beamy train:                                                        15
The British Lion, Goddess sweet,
Lies stretch’d on earth to kiss thy feet,
And own thy holier reign.

Let others court thy transient smile;
But come to grace thy western isle,                                          20
By warlike Honour led;
And, while, around her ports rejoice,
While all her sons adore thy choice,
With him for ever wed!

NOTES:

1 badst “Commanded” (OED).

3 sought’st “To go in search or quest of” (OED).

4 War Reference to the second Jacobite rebellion (1745-1746), Charles Edward Stuart, the “Young Pretender,” was finally defeated in the Battle of Culloden, in northern Scotland, on 16 April 1746 (Britannica).

6 bade “Bid” (OED).

16 The British Lion “The lion as the national emblem of Great Britain; hence often used figuratively for the British nation (OED).

19 transient “Temporary; fleeting” (OED).

SOURCE: The Poetical Works of Mr. William Collins (Glasgow, 1777), pp. 48-49 [Google Books]
Edited by Montel Mosuela