Tag Archives: heroic couplets

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

 

 

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

“C—-s.” “In Ridicule of the Prevailing Rage for Air Balloons”

“C—-s.” 

“In Ridicule of the Prevailing Rage for Air Balloons”

Men have long built castles in the air: how to reach them
Montgolfier has now first the honour to teach them.

How odd this whim to mount on air-stuft pillions!
‘Twill ruin all our coachmen and postillions,
Who, if men travel in these strange sky-rockets,
Will quickly feel the loss in — empty pockets.
And most of them, I fear, must quite despair,                                            5
Like new philosophers, to live — on air.
The scheme’s not novel, ‘faith, for by the bye
I long have thought our gentry meant to fly,
Tho’ hitherto content, instead of wings,
With four stout horses, and four easy springs;                                         10
But now the case is alter’d, for, depend on’t,
If flying once comes up — there’ll be no end on’t.
Our grandfathers were pleas’d, poor tender souls!
“To waft a sigh from Indus to the Poles;”
Whilst our enlighten’d age a way discovers,                                               15
Instead of sighs to waft — substantial lovers:
Montgolfier’s silk shall Cupid’s wings supply,
And swift as thought convey them thro’ the sky.
Nor will their travels be to earth confin’d,
They’ll quickly leave this tardy globe behind.                                              20
Posting towards Gretna formerly you’ve seen us;
The ton will soon be to elope — to Venus:
Hot-headed rivals now shall steer their cars,
To fight their desperate duels — snug — in Mars,
Whilst gentler daemons, in the rhiming fit,                                                  25
Shall fly to little Mercury for — wit.
“John, fill the large balloon,” my lady cries,
“I want to take an airing — in the skies.”
Nimbly she mounts her light machine, and in it
To Jupiter’s convey’d in half a minute,                                                          30
Views his broad belt, and steals a pattern from it —
Then stops to warm her fingers — at a comet.
The concert of the spheres she next attends,
Hears half an overture — and then descends.
Trade too, as well as love and dissipation,                                          35
Shall profit by this airy navigation:
Herschell may now with telescopes provide us,
Just fresh imported from — his Georgium Sidus.
Smart milleners shall crowd the stage-balloon,
To bring new fashions weekly — from the moon:                                      40
Gardeners in shoals from Battersea will run,
To raise their kindlier hot-beds — in the sun:
And all our city fruitshops in a trice
From Saturn daily be supplied with ice.
Albion once more her drooping head shall rear,                                 45
And roll her thunders through each distant sphere;
Whilst, led by future Rodneys, British tars
Shall pluck bright honor — from the twinkling stars.

NOTES:

Subtitle Montgolfier One of the Montgolfier brothers; Joseph-Michel (1740-1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier(1745-1799) were pioneer developers of the hot-air balloon and they conducted the first untethered flights (Britannica).

1 pillions “A type of saddle” (OED).

2 postillions “A person who rides the (leading) nearside (left-hand side) horse drawing a coach or carriage, especially when one pair only is used and there is no coachmen” (OED).

14 A slight variation of line 58 from Alexander Pope’s “Eloisa to Abelard.”

21 Gretna Gretna Green, a Scottish town very close to the border with England, and famously the goal for young English couples seeking a quick marriage without their parents’ permission, due to the difference in Scottish marriage laws (Britannica).

22 ton “Fashion; the vogue” (OED).

37 Herschell William Herschel (1738-1822), a German-British astronomer who, in 1781, discovered the planet Uranus (Britannica).

38 Georgium Sidus Latin for “George’s Star,” Herschel’s initial name for planet Uranus, named for then King of England, George III (Britannica).

39 milleners “A person who designs, makes, or sells women’s hats” (OED).

41 shoal “A place where the water is of little depth; a shallow; a sandbank or bar” (OED); Battersea A neighborhood in south London, much of which extends directly along the River Thames.

43 in a trice “Instantly, forthwith; without delay” (OED).

45 Albion “The nation of Britain or England, often with references to past times, or to a romanticized concept of the nation” (OED).

47 Rodneys George Bridges Rodney (1718-1792), a famous British naval officer (Britannica); tars Sailors (OED).

 SOURCE: The Gentleman’s Magazine (May 1784), p. 367. [J. Paul Leonard Library]

 Edited by Gregory McCulloh

Mary Alcock, “Instructions, Supposed to be Written in Paris, for the Mob in England”

MARY ALCOCK

“Instructions, Supposed to be Written in Paris, for the Mob in England”

Of Liberty, Reform, and Rights I sing,
Freedom I mean, without or Church or King;
Freedom to seize and keep whate’er I can,
And boldly claim my right–The Rights of Man:
Such is the blessed liberty in vogue,                                                  5
The envied liberty to be a rogue;
The right to pay no taxes, tithes, or dues;
The liberty to do whate’er I chuse;
The right to take by violence and strife
My neighbour’s goods, and, if I please, his life;                                10
The liberty to raise a mob or riot,
For spoil and plunder ne’er were got by quiet;
The right to level and reform the great;
The liberty to overturn the state;
The right to break through all the nation’s laws,                             15
And boldly dare to take rebellion’s cause:
Let all be equal, every man my brother;
Why one have property, and not another?
Why suffer titles to give awe and fear?
There shall not long remain one British peer;                                  20
Nor shall the criminal appalled stand
Before the mighty judges of the land;
Nor judge, nor jury shall there longer be,
Nor any jail, but every pris’ner free;
All law abolish’d, and with sword in hand                                          25
We’ll seize the property of all the land,
Then hail to Liberty, Reform, and Riot!
Adieu Contentment, Safety, Peace, and Quiet!

NOTES:

1 Liberty Article 4 of “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” defined “liberté” as “being able to do anything that does not harm others;” Reform “The action or process of making changes in an institution, organization, or aspect of social or political life, so as to remove errors, abuses, or other hindrances to proper performance” (OED).

4 Rights of Man The guiding document of the French Revolution was “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” (1789).  Alcock may also be thinking of Thomas Paine’s two-part book, The Rights of Man (1791/2), written in support of the French Revolution.

5  vogue “Popularity; general acceptance or currency” (OED).

6  rogue “A dishonest, unprincipled person” (OED).

7  tithes “A tenth of annual produce or earnings, taken as a tax (originally in kind) for the support of the church and clergy;…now chiefly historical” (OED).

12 plunder “The action of plundering or taking something as spoil in time of war or civil disorder” (OED).

17 equal Article 6 of “The Declaration” stipulated that “all citizens were equal before the law and were to have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly” (Britannica).

20 peer “A member of a rank of hereditary nobility in Britain” (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems, & c. &c. By the Late Mrs. Mary Alcock (London, 1799), pp. 48-49. [Google Books]

Edited by Nadine French

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lines on a Friend Who Died of a Frenzy Fever Induced by Calumnious Reports”

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SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
“Lines on a Friend Who Died of a Frenzy Fever Induced by Calumnious Reports”

 

EDMUND! thy grave with aking eye I scan,
And inly groan for Heaven’s poor outcast, Man!
‘Tis tempest all or gloom: in early youth
If gifted with the Ithuriel lance of Truth
He force to start amid her feign’d caress                                             5
VICE, siren-hag! in native ugliness,
A Brother’s fate will haply rouse the tear,
And on he goes in heaviness and fear!
But if his fond heart call to PLEASURE’S bower
Some pigmy FOLLY in a careless hour,                                                 10
The faithless guest shall stamp th’ inchanted ground
And mingled forms of Mis’ry rise around:
Heart-fretting FEAR, with pallid look aghast,
That courts the future woe to hide the past;
REMORSE, the poison’d arrow in his side;                                            15
And loud lewd MIRTH, to Anguish close allied:
Till FRENZY, fierce-ey’d child of moping pain,
Darts her hot lightning flash athwart the brain.

Rest,injur’d shade! Shall SLANDER squatting near
Spit her cold venom in a DEAD MAN’S ear?                                          20
‘Twas thine to feel the sympathetic glow
In Merit’s joy, and Poverty’s meek woe;
Thine all, that cheer the moment as it flies,
The zoneless CARES, and smiling COURTESIES.
Nurs’d in thy heart the firmer Virtues grew,                                          25
And in thy heart they wither’d! Such chill dew
Wan INDOLENCE on each young blossom shed;
And VANITY her filmy net-work spread,
With eye that roll’d around in asking gaze,
And tongue that traffick’d in the trade of praise.                                 30
Thy follies such! the hard world mark’d them well—
Were they more wise, the PROUD who never fell?
Rest, injur’d shade! the poor man’s prayer of praise
On heaven-ward wing thy wounded soul shall raise.

As oft at twilight gloom thy grave I pass,                                                35
And sit me down upon its recent grass,
With introverted eye I contemplate
Similitude of soul, perhaps of — Fate!
To me hath Heaven with bounteous hand assign’d
Energic Reason and a shaping mind,                                                      40
The daring ken of Truth, the Patriot’s part,
And Pity’s sigh, that breathes the gentle heart—
Sloth-jaundic’d all! and from my graspless hand
Drop Friendship’s precious pearls, like hour glass sand.
I weep, yet stoop not! the faint anguish flows,                                     45
A dreamy pang in Morning’s fev’rish doze.

Is this pil’d Earth our Being’s passless mound?
Tell me, cold grave! is Death with poppies crown’d?
Tir’d Centinel! mid fitful starts I nod,
And fain would sleep, though pillow’d on a clod!                                 50

NOTES:

Title  Frenzy  “Mental derangement; delirium” (OED); Calumnious  “Slanderous, defamatory” (OED).

1  aking  Aching.

2  inly  Inwardly.

4  Ithuriel  Angel from John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667); associated with truth.

9  bower  “A vague poetic word for an idealized abode” (OED).

13  pallid  “Pale, esp. from illness, shock, etc.” (OED).

18  athwart  “Across in various directions” (OED).

27  Wan  “Faded, sickly… unhealthily pale” (OED); INDOLENCE  “Love of ease… slothfulness” (OED).

41  ken  “Mental perception, recognition” (OED).

49  Centinel  “Sentinel; one who or something which keeps guard” (OED).

50  clod  “A lump of earth or clay adhering together” (OED).

Source: Poems on Various Subjects (London, 1796), pp. 32-35.  [Google Books]

Edited by M. Seydel

 

John Gay, “Panthea. An Elegy”

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JOHN GAY

“Panthea. An Elegy”

 

Long had Panthea felt Love’s secret smart,
And hope and fear alternate rul’d her heart;
Consenting glances had her flame confest.
(In woman’s eyes her very soul’s exprest)
Perjur’d Alexis saw the blushing maid,                                             5
He saw, he swore, he conquer’d and betray’d:
Another love now calls him from her arms,
His fickle heart another beauty warms;
Those oaths oft’whisper’d in Panthea’s ears,
He now again to Galatea swears.                                                     10
Beneath a beech th’ abandon’d virgin laid,
In grateful solitude enjoys the shade;
There with faint voice she breath’d these moving strains,
While sighing Zephyrs shar’d her am’rous pains.

Pale settled sorrow hangs on upon my brow,                       15
Dead are my charms; Alexis, breaks his vow!
Think, think, dear shepherd, on the days you knew,
When I was happy, when my swain was true;
Think how thy looks and tongue are form’d to move,
And think yet more—that all my fault was love.                           20
Ah, could you view me in this wretched state!
You might not love me, but you could not hate.
Could you behold me in this conscious shade,
Where first thy vows, where first my love was paid,
Worn out with watching, sullen with despair,                              25
And see each eye swell with a gushing tear?
Could you behold me on this mossy bed,
From my pale cheek the lively crimson fled,
Which in my softer hours you oft’ have sworn,
With rosie beauty far out-blush’d the morn;                                30
Could you untouch’d this wretched object bear,
And would not lost Panthea claim a tear?
You could not sure—tears from your eyes would steal,
And unawares thy tender soul reveal.
Ah, no!—thy soul with cruelty is fraught,                                      35
No tenderness disturbs thy savage thought;
Sooner shall tigers spare the trembling lambs,
And wolves with pity hear with their bleating dams;
Sooner shall vultures from their quarry fly,
Than false Alexis for Panthea sigh.                                                  40
Thy bosom ne’er a tender thought confest,
Sure stubborn flint had arm’d thy cruel breast;
But hardest flints are worn by frequent rains,
And the soft drops dissolve their solid veins;
While thy relentless heart more hard appears,                            45
And is not soften’d by a flood of tears.

Ah, what is love! Panthea’s joys are gone,
Her liberty, her peace, her reason flown!
And when I view me in the watry glass,
I find Panthea now, not what she was.                                           50
As northern winds the new-blown roses blast,
And on the ground their fading ruins cast;
As sudden blights corrupts the ripen’d grain,
And of its verdure spoil the mournful plain;
So hapless love on blooming features preys,                               55
So hapless love destroys our peaceful days.

Come, gentle sleep, relieve these weary’d eyes,
All sorrow in thy soft embraces dies:
There, spite of all thy perjur’d vows, I find
Faithless Alexis languishingly kind;                                                 60
Sometimes he leads me by the mazy stream,
And pleasingly deludes me in my dream;
Sometimes he guides me to the secret grove,
Where all our looks, and all our talk is love.
Oh, could I thus consume each tedious day,                               65
And in sweet slumbers dream my life away;
But sleep, which now no more relieves these eyes,
To my sad soul the dear deceit denies.

Why does the sun dart forth his cheerful rays?
Why do the woods resound with warbling lays?                          70
Why does the rose her grateful fragrance yield,
And the yellow cowslips paint the smiling field?
Why do the streams with murm’ring musick flow,
And why do groves their friendly shade bestow?
Let sable clouds the cheerful sun deface,                                    75
Let mournful silence seize the feather’d race;
No more, ye roses, grateful fragrance yield,
Droop, droop, ye cowslips, in the blasted field;
No more, ye streams, with murm’ring musick flow,
And let not groves a friendly shade bestow:                                80
With sympathizing grief let nature mourn,
And never know the youthful spring’s return;
And shall I never more Alexis see?
Then what is spring, or grove or stream to me?

Why sport the skipping lambs on yonder plain?                  85
Why do the birds their tuneful voice strain?
Why frisk those heifers in cooling grove?
Their happier life is ignorant of love.

Oh! lead me to some melancholy cave,
To lull my sorrow in a living grave;                                                90
From the dark rock where dashing waters fall,
And creeping ivy hangs the craggy wall,
Where I may waste in tears my hours away,
And never know the seasons or the day.
Die, die, Panthea—fly in this hateful grove,                                 95
For what is life without the Swain I love?

NOTES:

Title  Panthea  This name means “of all gods” in Greek.

1  smart  “Mental suffering, sorrow” (OED).

10  Galatea  “In Greek mythology, a Nereid who was loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Galatea, however, loved the youth Acis” (Britannica).

14  Zephyrs  Greek god of gentle winds.

18  swain  “Lover” (OED).

39  quarry  Here a reference to the vulture’s “prey” or carrion (OED).

42  flint  “Hard stone” (OED).

45  hard  “Unyielding” (OED).

49  watry glass  Water serving as a mirror.

51  northern winds  Refers to Boreas, Greek god of the cold northern winds.

61  mazy  “Twisting” (OED).

70  warbling  “Singing with sweet quavering notes” (OED).

72  cowslips  “Well-known plant in pastures and grassy banks, blossoming in spring” (OED).

87  heifers  “Young cows” (OED).

92  craggy  “Hard and rough” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions: Volume 2 (London, 1737), pp. 109-113. [Google Books]

Edited by Joanna Tran

 

 

 

 

Mary Masters, “The Vanity of Human Life”

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MARY MASTERS

“The Vanity of Human Life”

 

Ah! what is Life? how mutable and vain!
An Hour of Pleasure, and an Age of Pain.
Where changing Seasons are but vary’d Woes,
And with each Morning early Sorrow flows.
The busy Mind, with adverse Passions rent,                                 5
Still searches on, a Stranger to Content.
One Hour in gay and sprightly Mirth is pass’d,
The next with melancholy Shades o’ercast.
Alternate Joy, alternate Grief we know,
Yet scarce can tell, whence these Excesses flow.                         10
Elate to Day, we laugh and play and sing,
To-morrow sees a wretched, abject Thing.
With deep dejecting Cares we lie opprest,
And pensive Thoughts disturb the gloomy Breast.
Till other Thoughts revolve to our Relief,                                       15
And fansy’d Joys elude a real Grief.
Flatt’ring ourselves, we fond Ideas frame
Of Human Happiness, an empty Dream.
Yet Man, whom ev’ry Show of Bliss deceives,
Full Credit to the soothing Image gives.                                          20

We’ve found (at least we think so) what, alone,
Can give the longing Mind a Peace unknown :
Had we but That, ‘twou’d certain Ease restore,
Grant it, ye Pow’rs, and we desire no more.
Yet if kind Fate the wish’d-for Blessing grant,                                25
We’re still dissatisfy’d, and something want :
Then, with repeated Care and anxious Pain,
We seek another Trifle to attain ;
Our wonted Vigilance and Toil renew,
To gain the glorious Thing we have in view.                                   30
And, if we do the mighty Something get,
Again are we deceiv’d, ‘tis all a Cheat.
Nor will this second Disappointment prove
Severe enough, our Folly to remove.
Still with a discontented, restless Mind,                                          35
We search for That, which we can never find.
Erring before, we mourn’d; but, now, are sure
We know, what will a lasting Joy secure.

And did we err before? so err we now,
If we expect true Happiness below.                                                  40
Should Heav’n, indulgent, lavish all its Store,
And give so largely we could wish no more;
This surely would our wayward Fancy please,
And bring our weary, lab’ring Spirits Ease.
We should indeed be blest, should for a While,                              45
Our Hopes with transitory Rest beguile.
Forgetful of the Pow’r Supreme, that may,
When-e’er he pleases, snatch our Joys away.
Ah foolish Mortals, credulous and vain!
Prepare to meet the quick-returning Pain:                                       50
Still let us keep FUTURITY in View,
The Hand that gave the Gift, can take it too.

But cannot Gold afford a full Delight?
How the rich Metal glitters to the Sight!
O dazling Lustre! what would we not do,                                         55
What Toils not take, what Dangers not pursue,
For much of Thee, thou bright deluding Ill!
And in the warm Pursuit advance unweary’d still?

In search of Toys, we precious Moments waste,
For Wealth has Wings, and often flies in haste.                              60
The mighty Man, with ample Fortunes blest,
Of pond’rous Bags and stately Domes possest;
At Noon replete with all his Soul’s Desire,
At Night impov’rish’d by destructive Fire.
Such things may be, for such have often been,                              65
A thousand fatal Mischiefs lurk unseen.

The busy Merchant trafficks o’er the Main,
And rifles foreign Countries for his Gain.
Nor Earth nor Water from his Spoils are free,
To heap up Gold, he’ll compass Land and Sea.                              70
Behold him, waiting at the Ocean’s side,
While Ships from India break the flashing Tide:
Now one, long wish’d for with impatient Thought,
Is by his friendly Glass in Prospect brought.
Freighted with Gold and Silks of various Dyes,                              75
And in her Womb an Ivory Treasure lies.
See, what calm Seas, and what propitious Gales,
Support her Keel, and swell her flying Sails!
His Thoughts flow quicker, and his Heart beats high,
His Joys increasing as the Barque draws nigh.                               80
When lo! a sudden Change the Air invades,
And the Clouds thicken into sullen Shades:
Fierce Tempests beat, and angry Billows roar,
Distracting Sight to him that stands on shore.
Just ready to cast Anchor near the Coast,                                       85
Sad Terror to his soul! the Ship is lost.

Oh false and slipp’ry State of human Things!
What sad Distress one hapless Moment brings!

So JOB with more than orient Brightness drest,
The Pride and Worship of the wondring East;                               90
Sought by the Old, and honour’d by the Young,
The list’ning Ear paid Homage to his Tongue;
Princes arose, when he appear’d in Sight,
And the charm’d Eye beheld him with Delight.
For, Years he liv’d, with Health and Glory crown’d,                       95
And, like a God, dispens’d his Blessings round.
On either Hand, his Sons and Daughters sate,
And help’d to swell the Fullness of his State.
Yet this consummate Grandeur prov’d in vain,
For all was chang’d to Poverty and Pain,                                       100
His Honour blasted, and his Children slain.
Sprinkled with Dust, and prostrate on the Earth,
In Bitterness of Soul he curs’d his Birth.

Oh Impotence of Wealth! can ought avail,
Where Gold, Magnificence, and Empire fail?                                  105

Yes, something more substantial yet remains,
A Sovereign Med’cine for severest Pains:
When great Afflictions overwhelm the Mind,
When ev’ry Faculty’s to Grief resign’d;
When the whole Soul is sunk in deep Distress,                              110
FRIENDSHIP’S soft Pow’r can make its Sorrows less;
That nearest Emblem of indulgent Heav’n,
To sweeten Life’s predestin’d Ills, was giv’n.
A faithful Friend is our extremest Good,
The richest Gift, that ever Heav’n bestow’d.                                     115
When the prest Bosom heaves with weighty Cares,
This kind Companion half the Burden bears:
With healing Counsel mitigates our Woe,
Or wisely teaches how to bear the Blow.
Our Pleasures too the much-lov’d Friend divides,                          120
Adds Joy to Joy, and swells the happy Tides.

Pleas’d with my Subject, more than fond of Fame,
I much could say on this delightful Theme.
But ‘tis too copious and sublime a Strain,
More fit for YOUNG, or POPE’S unbounded Vein.                          125
The brightest Numbers that were ever penn’d,
Should celebrate the just and gen’rous Friend.
On me would partial Fortune this bestow,
‘Tis all the Happiness I’d ask below.
Yet, of a Treasure so immense possest,                                           130
Vainly we hope to be for ever blest.
Still are we govern’d by inconstant Fate,
And the first Turn may change our pleasing State:
May force us (tho’ with deep Regret) to part
From the dear, trusted Inmate of our Heart.                                   135

Oh Agony of Thought! what Breast can bear
So vast a Shock, or who the Grief declare?

DAVID alone the great Distress could paint,
And in fit Language form the just Complaint.
To his dear JONATHAN due Rites he paid,                                        140
He lov’d him living, and he mourn’d him dead.
Mourn’d him in such a graceful, moving Strain,
As all admire, and emulate in vain.
His sweet, pathetick Sorrows finely show,
The noblest Heights of Tenderness and Woe.                                  145
While sacred Leaves record the pious Theme,
A lasting Monument to Friendship’s Name.

Sometimes we more exalting Joys pursue,
And Pleasures charm us in a diff’rent View.
One beauteous Form has struck upon the Mind,                             150
A sweet Impression, casual, or design’d.
To one fix’d Centre all our Wishes move,
And the transported Heart rebounds with Love.
In that fond Passion we expect to meet
A full Content, a Happiness complete.                                               155
Then, with glad Toil and with incessant Care,
We strive to gain what seems so wond’rous fair.
Whilst the dear Object, we most highly prize,
Rejects our Vows, and mocks our promis’d Joys.
And sure we can no greater Torment prove,                                    160
Than cold Disdain repaid for constant Love.

But should our Passion meet a just Return,
And either Breast with mutual Ardor burn,
Some unforeseen Misfortune may divide,
Those faithful Hearts, which equal Love has ty’d.                           165
Then, who can dictate, or what Words can show
The agonizing Pain, the pungent Woe?

But we’ll suppose a milder Fortune still,
A present Pleasure and a distant Ill:
Our Wishes crown’d, the Prize obtain’d at last,                               170
The bright Reward of all our Labours past:
The Danger over, and absolv’d the Vow,
O, Joy too great! what can afflict us now?
Yet Time’s frail Glass is fill’d with flitting Sand,
And held too in a paralytick Hand.                                                    175
That soon may break, or That may quickly run,
Which holds a Life more precious than our own,
And then alas the Hour of Joy is done.

So JACOB, after being blest for Years,
Fair RACHEL mourn’d with unavailing Tears.                                   180
She, for whose Sake his Youth and Strength he gave,
And fourteen annual Circles liv’d a Slave;
Breathless and cold before her Lover laid,
Snatch’d from his Arms and number’d with the Dead.

And, thus, we see, ‘tis evidently plain,                                        185
What-e’er depends on Life, is weak and vain.
Gold is too fleeting, Friendship’s healing Pow’r
May be dissolv’d in one destructive Hour.
That Love’s fantastick Bliss is not sincere,
That Human Life is Hope, and Doubt, and Fear,                              190
A little Pleasure and a Load of Care.

NOTES:

1  mutable  “Liable or subject to change or alteration” (OED).

12  abject  “Cast off, rejected” (OED).

29  wonted  “Accustomed, customary, usual” (OED).

41  Store  “Sufficient or abundant supply” (OED).

46  beguile  “Deceive” (OED).

47  Pow’r Supreme  God.

62  Domes  “Stately buildings, mansions” (OED).

80  Barque  “A small ship” (OED).

89  JOB  Masters is paraphrasing chapters 1-3 from the Book of Job.

99  consummate  “Completed, perfected” (OED).

125  YOUNG  Edward Young (1683-1765), whose series of satires, The Universal Passion (1725-28) were much admired; POPE  Alexander Pope (1688-1744), whose Moral Essays began appearing in 1731.

138  DAVID  King of Israel (I Samuel 18:1-3).

140  JONATHAN  Son of Saul; see II Samuel 1:17-27 for David’s lament at the death of his friend.

163  Ardor  “Heat of passion or desire” (OED).

179-80  JACOB…RACHEL  Jacob was tricked by his uncle Laban into working fourteen years to win Rachel in marriage.  Masters is paraphrasing Genesis 29:15-30.

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1733), pp. 193-205.  [Google Books]

Edited by Hailey Franzese