Tag Archives: Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior, “To a Gentleman in Love. A Tale”

   MATTHEW PRIOR

“To a Young Gentleman in Love.  A Tale”

 

From publick Noise and factious Strife,
From all the busie Ills of Life,
Take me, My CELIA, to Thy Breast;
And lull my wearied Soul to Rest:
For ever, in this humble Cell,                                                       5
Let Thee and I, my Fair One, dwell;
None enter else, but LOVE——and He
Shall bar the Door, and keep the Key.

To painted Roofs, and shining Spires
(Uneasie Seats of high Desires)                                                   10
Let the unthinking Many croud,
That dare be Covetous and Proud:
In golden Bondage let Them wait,
And barter Happiness for State:
But Oh! My CELIA, when Thy Swain                                            15
Desires to see a Court again;
May Heav’n around This destin’d Head
The choicest of its Curses shed:
To sum up all the Rage of Fate,
In the Two Things I dread and hate;                                          20
May’st Thou be False, and I be Great.

Thus, on his CELIA’s panting Breast,
Fond CELADON his Soul exprest;
While with Delight the lovely Maid
Receiv’d the Vows, She thus repaid:                                           25

Hope of my Age, Joy of my Youth,
Blest Miracle of Love and Truth!
All that cou’d e’er be counted Mine,
My Love and Life long since are Thine:
A real Joy I never knew;                                                                30
‘Till I believ’d Thy Passion true:
A real Grief I ne’er can find;
‘Till Thou prov’st Perjur’d or Unkind.
Contempt, and Poverty, and Care,
All we abhor, and all we fear,                                                      35
Blest with Thy Presence, I can bear.
Thro’ Waters, and thro’ Flames I’ll go,
Suff’rer and Solace of Thy Woe:
Trace Me some yet unheard-of Way,
That I Thy Ardour may repay;                                                     40
And make My constant Passion known,
By more than Woman yet has done.

Had I a Wish that did not bear
The Stamp and Image of my Dear;
I’d pierce my Heart thro’ ev’ry Vein,                                           45
And Die to let it out again.
No: VENUS shall my Witness be,
(If VENUS ever lov’d like Me)
That for one Hour I wou’d not quit
My Shepherd’s Arms, and this Retreat,                                    50
To be the PERSIAN Monarch’s Bride,
Part’ner of all his Pow’r and Pride;
Or Rule in Regal State above,
Mother of Gods, and Wife of JOVE.

O happy these of Human Race!                                             55
But soon, alas! our Pleasures pass.
He thank’d her on his bended Knee;
Then drank a Quart of Milk and Tea;
And leaving her ador’d Embrace,
Hasten’d to Court, to beg a Place.                                             60
While She, his Absence to bemoan,
The very Moment He was gone,
Call’d THYRSIS from beneath the Bed;
Where all this time He had been hid.

MORAL

WHILE Men have these Ambitious Fancies;                              65
And wanton Wenches read Romances;
Our Sex will——What? Out with it. Lye;
And Their’s in equal Strains reply.
The Moral of the Tale I sing
(A Posy for a Wedding Ring)                                                        70
In this short Verse will be confin’d:
Love is a Jest; and Vows are Wind.

NOTES:

15 Swain A shepherd, here figured as a young lover or suitor.

23 CELADON A pastoral name for a shepherd.

33 prov’st Have proved to be; Perjur’d “A person that has committed or is guilty of perjury; that has deliberately broken an oath, promise, etc.” (OED).

47 VENUS “The ancient Roman goddess of beauty and love” (OED).

54 Wife of JOVE “Jove, a poetical equivalent of Jupiter, name of the highest deity of the ancient Romans; Jove’s wife is Juno, a woman of stately beauty” (OED).

63 THYRSIS A pastoral name for a shepherd; used by Virgil in his Seventh Eclogue.

70 Posy “A small bunch of flowers…a nosegay or small bouquet” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1718), p. 99-101. [Google Books]

Edited by Kaori Okamoto

Matthew Prior, “The Wandering Pilgrim”

MATTHEW PRIOR

“The Wandering Pilgrim, or, Will Piggot’s Merry Petition to be Sir Thomas Frankland’s Porter”

Humbly address’d to Sir THOMAS FRANKLAND, Bart. Post-Master, and Pay-Master-General to Queen ANNE.

 

I.
WILL PIGGOT must to Coxwould go,
To live, alas! in Want,
Unless Sir THOMAS say No, no,
Th’ Allowance is too scant.

II.
The gracious Knight full well does weet,                  5
Ten Farthings ne’er will do
To keep a Man each Day in Meat,
Some Bread to Meat is due.

III.
A Rechabite poor WILL must live,
And drink of ADAM’s Ale,                                      10
Pure Element, no Life can give,
Or mortal Soul regale.

IV.
Spare Diet, and Spring-water clear,
Physicians hold are good;
Who diets thus need never fear                                 15
A Fever in the Blood.

V.
Gra’mercy, Sirs, y’ are in the right,
Prescriptions All can sell,
But he that does not eat can’t sh***
Or piss, if good Drink fail.                                       20

VI.
But pass —— The AEsculapian Crew,
Who eat and quaff the best,
They seldom miss to bake and brew,
Or lin to break their Fast.

VII.
Cou’d Yorkshire-Tyke but do the same,                         25
Then He like Them might thrive;
But, FORTUNE, FORTUNE, cruel DAME,
To starve Thou do’st Him drive.

VIII.
In WILL’s Old Master’s plenteous Days,
His Mem’ry e’er be blest;                                          30
What need of speaking in his Praise?
His Goodness stands confest.

IX.
At his fame’d Gate stood Charity,
In lovely sweet Array;
CERES, and Hospitality,                                                    35
Dwelt there both Night and Day.

X.
But to conclude, and be concise,
Truth must WILL’s Voucher be;
Truth never yet went in Disguise,
For naked still is She.                                                 40

XI.
There is but One, but One alone,
Can set the PILGRIM free,
And make him cease to pine and moan;
O FRANKLAND it is THEE.

XII.
Oh! save him from a dreary Way,                                     45
To Coxwould he must hye,
Bereft of thee he wends astray,
At Coxwould he must die.

XIII.
Oh! let him in thy Hall but stand,
And wear a Porter’s Gown,                                           50
Duteous to what Thou may’st command,
Thus WILLIAM’s Wishes crown.

NOTES:

Subtitle Porter “A gatekeeper or doorkeeper,” in this case for the building which houses the Postmaster General’s offices.

Dedication Sir Thomas Frankland  2nd Baronet (1665-1726), politician, served as joint Postmaster General from 1691-1715; Queen Anne Reigned 1702-1714.

1 Will Piggot “This merry Petition was written by Mr. Prior, for Will Piggot to obtain the Porter’s Place” [Author’s Note]; Coxwould Coxwold, “Twelve Miles, North, beyond the City of York” [Author’s Note].

4 scant “Existing or available in inadequate or barely sufficient amount, quantity, or degree; stinted in measure, not abundant” (OED).

5 weet “To know, to know of something” (OED).

6 Farthing “The quarter of a penny” (OED).

9 Rechabite “According to the Old Testament and Hebrew scriptures:  A member of an Israelite family descended from Rehab, which refused to drink wine, live in houses or cultivate fields and vineyards (see Jeremiah 35)” (OED).

10 ADAM’s Ale “Water, (as a drink)” (OED).

17 Gra’mercy “The salutation ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you.’ Hence in phrases, as worth gramercy, worth giving thanks for, of some value or importance” (OED).

21 Aesculapian “Relating to medicine or doctors” (OED).

22 quaff  “To drink (a liquid) copiously or in a large draught” (OED).

24 lin “To cease, leave off” (OED).

25 Yorkshire-Tyke “A person from Yorkshire” (OED).

27 FORTUNE “Chance, hap, or luck, regarded as a cause of events and changes in men’s affairs. Often…personified as a goddess, ‘the power supposed to distribute the lots of life according to her own humour’ (Johnson)” (OED).

35 CERES Roman Goddess of agriculture.

43 pine “Physical pain, discomfort, or suffering” (OED).

46 hye “Go quickly” (OED).

47 Bereft “Deprived of” (OED); wends “To go, proceed…in an unhurried manner or by indirect route” (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems on Several Occasions, Volume the Second, Fourth Edition (London 1742), pp. 95-97.  [Google Books]

Edited by Belinda Ortiz

Matthew Prior, “Hymn to the Sun”

MATTHEW PRIOR

“Hymn to the Sun”

Set by Dr. PURCEL,
And Sung before their Majesties on New-Year’s Day, 1693/4.

 

Light of the World, and Ruler of the Year,
With happy Speed begin thy great Career;
And, as thou dost thy radiant Journeys run,
Through every distant Climate, own,
That in fair Albion thou hast seen                                                      5
The greatest Prince, the brightest Queen,
That ever sav’d a Land, or blest a Throne,
Since first thy Beams were spread, or Genial Power was known.

So may thy Godhead be confest,
So the returning Year be blest,                                                          10
As its Infant Months bestow
Springing Wreaths for William’s Brow;
As its Summers Youth shall shed
Eternal Sweets around Maria’s Head:
From the Blessings they bestow,                                                       15
Our Times are dated, and our AEra’s move;
They govern, and enlighten all below,
As Thou dost all above.

Let our Hero in the War
Active and fierce, like Thee, appear;                                                 20
Like Thee, great Son of Jove, like Thee,
When clad in rising Majesty
Thou marchest down o’er Delos Hills confest,
With all thy Arrows arm’d, in all thy Glory drest.
Like Thee, the Hero does his Arms imploy,                                            25
The raging Python to destroy,
And give the injur’d Nations Peace and Joy.

From fairest Years, and Times more happy Stores,
Gather all the smiling Hours;
Such as with friendly Care have guarded                                           30
Patriots and Kings in rightful Wars;
Such as with Conquest have rewarded
Triumphant Victors happy Cares;
Such as Story has recorded
Sacred to Nassau’s long Renown,                                                          35
For Countries sav’d, and Battels won.

March them again in fair Array,
And bid them form the happy Day,
The happy Day design’d to wait
On William’s Fame, and Europe’s Fate.                                                     40
Let the happy Day be crown’d
With great Event and fair Success;
No brighter in the Year be found,
But that which brings the Victor home in Peace.

Again Thy Godhead we implore,                                                          45
(Great in Wisdom as in Power,)
Again, for good Maria’s Sake, and ours,
Chuse out other smiling Hours;
Such as with joyous Wings have fled,
When happy Counsels were advising;                                            50
Such as have lucky Omens shed
O’er forming Laws, and Empires rising;
Such as many Courses ran,
Hand in Hand a goodly Train,
To bless the great Eliza’s Reign;                                                           55
And in the Typic Glory show,
What fuller Bliss Maria shall bestow.

As the solemn Hours advance,
Mingled send into the Dance,
Many fraught with all the Treasures,                                                 60
Which thy Eastern Travel views;
Many wing’d with all the Pleasures,
Man can ask, or Heav’n diffuse.
That great Maria all those Joys may know,
Which from her Cares upon her Subjects flow.                                  65

For Thy own Glory sing our Sov’raign’s Praise
(God of Verses and of Days,)
Let all Thy tuneful Sons adorn
Their lasting Work with William’s Name;
Let chosen Muses yet unborn                                                           70
Take great Maria for their future Theam:
Eternal Structures let Them raise,
On William’s and Maria’s Praise:
Nor want new Subject for the Song,
Nor fear they can exhaust the Store,                                          75
‘Till Nature’s Musick lyes unstrung;
‘Till thou great God shalt lose thy double Pow’r;
And touch thy Lyre, and shoot thy Beams no more.

NOTES:

 Subtitle Dr. PURCEL Henry Purcell (c.1659-1695), “English composer of the middle Baroque period, most remembered for his more than 100 songs” (Britannica); Their Majesties William and Mary, reigned jointly 1689-1694; after Mary’s death, William reigned alone until 1702 (Britannica).

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

8 Genial “Pleasantly warm or temperate” (OED).

21 Son of Jove Mars, the Roman god of war, son of Jupiter and Juno (OCD).

23 Delos Remote Greek island where Leto gave birth to Apollo (OCD).

26 Python A huge serpent in Greek mythology, slain by Apollo at Delphi (Britannica).

35 Nassau’s A reference to William III, whose Dutch title was Prince of Orange-Nassau (Britannica).

55 Eliza’s Reign Queen Elizabeth I, reigned 1558-1603.

60 fraught “Filled; equipped with” (OED).

70 Muses A reference to future poets.

78 Lyre “A musical instrument of ancient Greece” (Britannica).

 SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1709), pp. 39-43. [HathiTrust]

 Edited by Eric Sandoval

 

 

 

Matthew Prior, “An English Padlock”

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MATHEW PRIOR

“An English Padlock”

 

Miss Danae, when Fair and Young,
(As Horace has divinely sung)
Could not be kept from Jove’s Embrace
By Doors of Steel, and Walls of Brass.
The Reason of the Thing is clear,                                                       5
(Would Jove the naked Truth aver,)
Cupid was with him of the Party,
And show’d himself sincere and hearty:
For, give that Whipster but his Errand,
He takes my Lord Chief Justice’ Warrant;                                          10
Dauntless as Death away he walks,
Breaks the Doors open, snaps the Locks,
Searches the Parlour, Chamber, Study,
Nor stops ‘till he has his Culprit’s Body.

Since this has been Authentick Truth,                                         15
By Age deliver’d down to Youth;
Tell us, mistaken Husband, tell us,
Why so Mysterious, why so Jealous?
Does the Restraint, the Bolt, the Bar,
Make us less Curious, her less Fair?                                                    20
The Spy, who does this Treasure keep,
Does she ne’er say her Pray’rs, nor Sleep?
Does she to no Excess incline?
Does she fly Musick, Mirth and Wine?
Or have not Gold and Flatt’ry Pow’r,                                                     25
To purchase One unguarded Hour?

Your Care does further yet extend,
That Spy is guarded by your Friend.——
But has that Friend nor Eye, nor Heart?
May He not feel the cruel Dart                                                               30
Which, soon or late, all Mortals feel?
May He not, with too tender Zeal,
Give the Fair Pris’ner Cause to see,
How much He wishes, she were free?
May He not craftily infer                                                                           35
The Rules of Friendship too severe,
Which chain him to a hated Trust,
Which make him Wretched, to be Just?
And may not She, this Darling She,

Youthful and healthy, Flesh and Blood,                                            40
Easie with Him, ill us’d by Thee,
Allow this Logic to be good?

Sir, Will your Questions never end?
I trust to neither Spy nor Friend.
In short, I keep her from the Sight                                                             45
Of ev’ry Human Face.       —– She’ll write.—–
From Pen and Paper She’s debarr’d.—–
Has she a Bodkin and a Card?
She’ll prick her Mind: —– She will, you say;
But how shall She that Mind convey?                                                         50
I keep her in one Room, I lock it;
The Key, look here, is in this Pocket:
The Key-hole , is that left? Most certain,
She’ll thrust her Letter thro’,—–Sir Martin.

Dear angry Friend, what must be done?                                             55
Is there no Way?—– There is but one.
Send her abroad, and let her see,
That all this mingled Mass, which she
Being forbidden longs to know,
Is a dull Farce, an empty Show,                                                                    60
Powder, and Pocket-Glass, and Beau;
A Staple of Romance and Lies,
False Tears, and real Perjuries;
Where Sighs and Looks are bought and sold,
And Love is made but to be told;                                                                 65
Where the fat Bawd and lavish Heir
The Spoils of ruin’d Beauty share,
And Youth seduc’d from Friends and Fame
Must give up Age to Want and Shame.
Let her behold the Frantick Scene,                                                              70
The Women wretched, false the Men:
And when, these certain Ills to shun,
She would to thy Embraces run;
Receive her with extended Arms,
Seem more delighted with her Charms;                                                     75
Wait on her to the Park and Play,
Put on good Humour, make her gay;
Be to her Virtues very kind,
Be to her Faults a little blind;
Let all her Ways be unconfin’d,                                                                     80
And clap your Padlock —– on her Mind.

NOTES:

Title Padlock “A detachable lock” (OED).

1 Danae Greek mythological daughter of King Acrius of Argos and Queen Eurydice. Acrius had no sons to give his throne to and as Danae was childless he kept her locked in a tower to keep the prophecy that his grandson would kill him from coming true (“Danae,” greekmythology.com, accessed 7 August 2017).

2 Horace A Roman poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus who wrote about this myth in reference to Danae being locked away (“Horatii Flacci Opera,” books.google.com, accessed 7 August 2017).

3 Jove “A poetical equivalent of Jupiter” Danae was impregnated by Zeus in the tower (OED) (“Danae,” greekmythology.com, accessed 7 August 2017).

9 Whipster “A vague, mischievous, or contemptuous person” (OED).

20 Curious “Careful, attentive, concerned” (OED).

32 Zeal “Ardent love or affection” (OED).

48 Bodkin “A long pin or pin-shaped ornament used by women to fasten up the hair” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (1709), pp. 105-108. [HathiTrust]

Edited by Mimi Willmer

Matthew Prior, “The Cameleon”

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MATTHEW PRIOR

“The Cameleon”

As the Cameleon, who is known
To have no Colours of his own;
But borrows from his Neighbour’s Hue
His White, or Black; his Green, or Blue;
And struts as much in ready Light,                                             5
Which Credit gives him upon Sight,
As if the Rain-bow were in Tail
Settl’d on him, and his Heirs Male.
So the young Squire, when first he comes
From Country School to Will’s or Tom’s;                                     10
And equally (G–d knows) is fit
To be a Statesman, or a Wit:
Without one Notion of his own,
He saunters wildly up and down,
‘Till some Acquaintance, good or bad,                                       15
Takes notice of a staring Lad;
Admits him in amongst the Gang:
They jest, reply, dispute, harangue;
He acts and talks, as they befriend him:
Smear’d with the Colours, which they lend him.                       20

Thus, meerly as his Fortune chances,
His Merit or his Vice advances.

If haply he the Sect pursues,
That read and comment upon News;
He takes up their mysterious Face;                                              25
He drinks his Coffee without Lace:
This Week his mimic Tongue runs o’er
What they have said the Week before;
His Wisdom sets all Europe right,
And teaches Marlb’rough when to fight.                                      30

Or, if it be his Fate to meet
With Folks who have more Wealth than Wit:
He loves cheap Port, and double Bub,
And settles in the Hum Drum Club.
He learns how stocks with fall or rise;                                         35
Holds Poverty the greatest Vice:
Thinks Wit the Bane of Conversation;
And says that Learning spoils a Nation.

But, if at first he minds his Hits,
And drinks Champaine among the Wits:                                      40
Five deep he toasts the tow’ring Lasses;
Repeats you Verses writ on Glasses:
Is in the Chair; prescribes the Law;
And lyes with Those he never saw.

NOTES:

1 Cameleon “An inconstant or variable person” (OED).

9 Squire “A young man of good birth attendant upon a knight” (OED).

10 Will’s or Tom’s Most likely common names of local pubs or coffeehouses.

18 jest “To tell a tale, to recite a romance” (OED); harangue “To make an address or speech to an assembly” (OED).

23 Sect A class “or kind of persons” (OED).

26 Coffee without Lace The epithet applied to tea or coffee that has not been mixed with some kind of spirit; “Mr. Nisby is of opinion that laced coffee is bad for the head” –Spectator No. 317 (Dinsdale, A Glossary of Provincial Words Used in Teesdale, 76).

30 Marlb’rough John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722). He is considered one of England’s greatest generals after leading the British and allied armies to key victories over Louis XIV of France at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), and Oudenaarde (1708) (Konstam, Marlborough, 4).

33 double Bub “A slang word for drink, esp. strong beer” (OED).

34 Hum Drum “Lacking variety; of a routine character” (OED).

Source: Poems on Several Occasions (London 1718) pp. 177-179. [Google Books]

Edited by Jane Matchak