Tag Archives: verse epistle

Henry Norris, “Friendship”

HENRY NORRIS

“Friendship”

Addressed to Mr. J. C. WESTCOTT, of Exeter College, Oxon.

Solem enim e mundo tollere videntur, qui Amicitiam e
vita tollunt; qua a diis immortalibus nihil melius ha-
bemus, nihil jucundius.
                                                                      Cic[ero].

Whether reclin’d on Charwell’s flow’ry side,
Or where fair Isis rolls her watry pride;
Arise, my PYLADES; to thee I sing,
To thee and Friendship wake the slumb’ring string.

Cement of souls, celestial child of JOVE,                                         5
Pure emanation of immortal love,
Great Friendship, come; enlarge my op’ning mind,
Refine my soul with love of good and kind,
Nor leave one sordid grain of self behind.
So let me taste thy joys, uncumber’d, free,                                           10
And future heav’n anticipate in thee.
What, without thee, were life, were glory, fame?
A morning shadow, and an empty name.
The black’ning horrors of tempestuous fate,
‘Tis thine to brighten, thine to dissipate:                                                15
Whate’er of bliss we know, ’tis thine to give,
And without thee to live, were not to live.

When Heav’n first rais’d the great creative plan,
And into being spake the fav’rite, man;
Around he saw celestial blessings show’r,                                              20
Proud of his world, his essence, and his pow’r;
But, in his breast, still felt a painful void
Of something yet unknown, yet unenjoy’d.
JOVE view’d his work; the great design to mend,
He gave him bliss, and call’d that bliss a friend.                                      25
“Friendship, arise;” thus spake the eternal Sire;
“With glowing sentiment the breast inspire.
Go, soften sorrow, blunt the stings of care,
And teach mankind the ills of life to bear.
The task, how glorious! to dilate the soul,                                                30
And breathe soft sympathy throughout the whole;
To give the mind to taste of joys divine;
From baser dregs ideas to refine;
The task, how glorious! my son, be thine.”

All nature felt the gift; new joys to prove,                                         35
Kind mix’d with kind, and waken’d into love:
All seek their friend, in sweet communion join,
And mingle souls, with ecstasy divine.
’Tis Heav’n has fix’d, soft feelings to suggest,
This sympathetic load-stone in the breast.                                               40
Thus souls their kindred souls magnetic draw,
And all maintain this universal law:
That still, whatever nature steers the mind,
Like to her sister like will be inclin’d.
Virtue with pleasure views, impress’d on youth,                                    45
The lively semblance of her native truth:
While Vice, with grin of joy, exults to see
The growing marks of shame and infamy.
Hence, e’en the vicious catch the friendly flame;
(If Friendship knows with them that sacred name;)                               50
Indulge the blaze, ‘midst riotry and noise,
And feast with rapture, on adult’rate joys;
Tho’ vitiated sense the gust destroys.

Congenial souls with equal passions move,
The same their hatred, the same their love:                                            55
By force of sympathy, they cool, or burn,
And smile for smile, or sigh for sigh return:
Lords of each others heart, supreme they reign,
Taste all their bliss, or die beneath their pain.
See, in their breasts enthron’d, one common mind,                              60
Tho’ Heav’n distinct apartments has assign’d:
Tho’, fetter’d, each endures his sep’rate frame,
Yet is their soul, their ev’ry will the same.
Thus clog’d, their spirits fain would wing their flight,
Pant to get free, and, what they can, unite.                                             65
But though their bodies fate forbids to join,
Tho’ walls of flesh the fever’d soul confine;
Yet still their streams of life united run,
One, in their will, and in their friendship, one.
Should distant realms their mutual hopes divide,                                  70
From the Thames’ fair banks, to Ganges’ fertile tide;
Still would the soul, impatient to embrace,
Scornful o’er-shoot the narrow pale of space;
On wings ideal, from her prison start,
And fly to meet her correspondent part.                                                 75
So two fair lucid streams their courses bend,
In fond embrace their wedded waves to blend;
With fervid haste the silver surges roll,
To join in love, and form one friendly whole.

When works the soul, with joy’s glad burthen press’d,                   80
When pants, with strangling care, the heaving breast;
How sweet to give the struggling load relief,
To share our hoarded joys, our treasur’d grief;
Unlock the secret casket of the heart,
And ev’ry pleasure, ev’ry pain impart!                                                       85
How sweet to hang on Friendship’s tuneful tongue,
To drink, with thirsty ear, the love-fraught song!
Catch the young accents, as they swell to birth,
Heralds of grief, or harbingers of mirth!
To mingle tear with tear, meet smile with smile,                                    90
Enhance the bliss, or sorrow thus beguile!
These are thy joys, O Friendship, joys that spring
Beneath thy eye, and claim they parent wing.
Joys, great as these, may lavish fate decree,
To bless profuse my PYLADES and me.                                                    95
Nor wealth I beg, no ermin’d pomp implore;
Grant but my friend, and, Heav’n, I’ll ask no more.

NOTES:

Subtitle Mr. J. C. Westcott Unable to trace; Oxon. An abbreviation for Oxford University.

Epigraph Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE-43 BCE), Roman statesman, lawyer, and writer, known for his oratory and rhetorical skills. “They might as well steal the sun from the heavens as remove friendship from life! For nothing we have from the gods is better or more enjoyable than friendship.” From Laelius de Amicitia, a treatise on friendship published in 44 BCE.

1 Charwell Northernmost tributary of the River Thames (Britannica).

2 Isis Alternative name for the River Thames (Britannica).

3 PYLADES Cousin and closest friend of Orestes, a hero of ancient Greek mythology (Britannica).

5 JOVE Jupiter, the king of the Roman gods.

71 Thames River in southern England that flows through London; Ganges River in India and Bangladesh.

96 ermin’d Clothed with fur of the ermine; a species of weasel whose pelt was used historically in royal robes in Europe (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems on Various Subjects (Taunton, 1774), pp. 18-24. [Google Books]

Edited by Aydin Jang

Anonymous, “To Mr. C–T–BY”

ANONYMOUS

“To Mr. C – T – BY”

Ne sit ancilla tibi amor pudori, &c.
Horace, Book II. Ode IV. Imitated

 

Smit with a spider-brusher’s face,
Think not thy passion a disgrace,
Nor look to d—’d dejected;
Where is thy ancient valour fled?
Nay – never blush, and hang thy head,                           5
Like Bobadil detected.

When Cupid wills his darts to fly,
From corner of a cookmaid’s eye,
The stoutest may be taken;
And whilst she stirs the kitchen fire,                               10
Kindling her cheeks, and his desire,
His heart may melt like bacon.

Then blush not at th’ ignoble flame,
Heroes of old have done the same,
Tho’ great within the trenches;                                 15
Achilles, Ajax, and the Czar,
Soften’d the rugged brow of war
In private with their wenches.

Courage, dear boy, return once more,
Leave not Cindrilla to deplore,                                          20
Whom thy sweet air bewitches;
Her mop, her brush, neglected lie—
She can nor make or bake a pie—
Scarce see to wash her dishes.

Wilt thou no more frequent the green?                             25
With folded arms no more be seen,
Thy own sweet person viewing?
O how she longs to see thee there,
With wrinkled boot, and turn’d-up hair,
Tho’ to her own undoing!                                              30

And then to hear thee talk so fine,
Of horses, w—s, and where to dine,
In neat set phrase so charming—
Cindrilla swears her heart is won,
That she’s resolv’d to be undone,                                        35
And give her mistress warning.

The misses may be pert and sneer,
But servants, tho’ in common geer,
Stuff gowns, and coarser jacket,
May yet conceal as fair a skin,                                               40
Be as provocative to sin,
And make not half the racket.

Besides, who knows, thy love may be
Of noble blood, in low degree,
Tho’ now with scarce a rag on;                                45
Some fairy, envious of her worth,
Doom’d her to labour from her birth,
Sprung from renown’d Pendragon.

Come then to thy Cindrilla’s arms,
Bedizen’d in her Sunday charms,                                           50
No gaudy silks and sattins;
But new-starch’d cap, and tuck’d-up gown,
With red and white that’s all her own,
Stuff petticoat, and pattins.

Pardon, if in these lyric lays                                                     55
I trumpet forth Cindrilla’s praise,
Her beauty tho’ uncommon;
With fourscore years upon my head,
Thou hast but little cause to dread
A poor infirm old woman.                                                 60

NOTES:

Title Unable to identify addressee.  This poem is preceded by a letter to Mr. Urban recommending publication, dated “Bristol, Aug. 20” and signed “Z.”

Epigraph Ne sit ancilla tibi amor pudori “Do not let love for a maidservant be your shame;” Horace, Book II. Ode IV“To Xanthias Phoceus,” in which Horace consoles his friend for falling in love with his servant girl.

1 spider-brusher A servant.

3 dejected “Depressed in spirits, downcast, disheartened, low spirited” (OED).

4 valour “Bravery” (OED).

6 Bobadil A reference to a character in Ben Jonson’s play, Every Man in his Humour (1598); “a blustering braggart who pretends prowess” (OED).

16 Achilles “Briseis” [Author’s note]. A figure in Homer’s Illiad. She was captured by Achilles during the Trojan War and became his lover; Ajax “Tecmessa” [Author’s note]. Ajax killed Tecmessa’s father during the Trojan War and took her captive.  Their union produced a son, Eurysaces; Czar “Catherine, the wife of a Swedish serjeant” [Author’s note]. Czar Peter III (1728-1762) was emperor of Russia from January to July of 1762.  He was overthrown by his wife, who became Catherine the Great (1729-1796), reigned from 1762-1796 (Britannica).

20 Cindrilla Variant of Cinderella; the most popular version of the Cinderella story in the eighteenth century was the English translation of Charles Perrault’s Histoires ou contes du temps passe (1697).

37 pert “Impertinent, cheeky” (OED).

38 geer Clothing.

48 Pendragon Probably a reference to Uther Pendragon, legendary King of the Britons and supposed father of King Arthur; here a reference to the theme of illegitimate conception.

50 Bedizen’d “To dress out especially in vulgar or gaudy fashion” (OED).

SOURCE: The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 54, part II (September 1784), p. 694. [J. Paul Leonard Library]

Edited by Jhadeeja Shahida Vaz

John Hughes, “A Letter to a Friend in the Country”

JOHN HUGHES

“A Letter to a Friend in the Country”

Whilst thou art happy in a blest Retreat,
And free from Care dost rural Songs repeat,
Whilst fragrant Air fans thy Poetick Fire,
And pleasant Groves with sprightly Notes inspire,
(Groves, whose Recesses and refreshing Shade                                 5
Indulge th’ Invention, and the Judgment aid)
I, ‘midst the Smoke and Clamours of the Town,
That choke my Muse and weigh my Fancy down,
Pass my unactive Hours; ——
In such an Air, how can soft Numbers flow,                                         10
Or in such Soil the sacred Laurel grow?
All we can boast of the Poetick Fire,
Are but some Sparks that soon as born expire.
Hail happy Woods! Harbours of Peace and Joy!
Where no black Cares the Mind’s Repose destroy!                             15
Where grateful Silence unmolested reigns,
Assists the Muse and quickens all her Strains.
Such were the Scenes of our first Parents Love,
In Eden’s Groves with equal Flames they strove,
While warbling Birds, soft whisp’ring Breaths of Wind,                       20
And murmuring Streams, to grace their Nuptials join’d.
All Nature smil’d; the Plains were fresh and green,
Unstain’d the Fountains, and the Heav’ns serene.
Ye blest Remains of that illustrious Age!
Delightful Springs and Woods! ——                                                         25
Might I with You my peaceful Days live o’er,
You, and my Friend, whose Absence I deplore,
Calm as a gentle Brook’s unruffled Tide
Shou’d the delicious flowing Minutes glide;
Discharg’d of Care, on unfrequented Plains,                                           30
We’d sing of rural Joys in rural Strains.
No false corrupt Delights our Thoughts shou’d move,
But Joys of Friendship, Poetry and Love.
While others fondly feed Ambition’s Fire,
And to the Top of human State aspire,                                                     35
That from their Airy Eminence they may
With Pride and Scorn th’ inferior World survey,
Here we shou’d dwell obscure, yet happier far than they.

NOTES:

4 sprightly “Bright, clear, cheerful; lively, energetic” (OED).

8 Fancy That is, poetic imagination.

10 Numbers Poetry.

11 sacred Laurel Associated with Apollo, Greek god of poetry. Wreathes of laurel were crowned upon renowned poets, meant to symbolize divine inspiration.

15 black “Full of gloom, melancholy, misery, or sadness” (OED); Repose “State… of being free from care, anxiety, or other disturbances; ease, serenity” (OED).

18 first Parents Adam and Eve. In Christian theology, created as the first humans, meant to dwell in harmony with the idyllic Garden of Eden.

20 warbling “Of birds: To sing clearly and sweetly” (OED).

31 Strains “A musical sequence of sounds; a melody, tune” (OED).

35 State “A person’s social, professional, or legal status or condition” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems upon Several Occasions (London, 1735), pp. 111-113. [Google Books]

Edited by Joy Seydel

Elizabeth Carter, “Written at Midnight in a Thunderstorm. To——“

ELIZABETH CARTER

“Written at Midnight in a Thunderstorm. To ——–“

 

Let coward Guilt with pallid Fear,
To shelt’ring Caverns fly,
And justly dread the vengeful Fate,
That thunders thro’ the Sky.

Protected by that Hand, whose Law                                    5
The threat’ning Storms obey,
Intrepid Virtue smiles secure,
As in the Blaze of Day.

In the thick Clouds tremendous Gloom,
The Light’nings lurid Glare,                                            10
It views the same all-gracious Pow’r,
That breathes the vernal Air.

Thro’ Nature’s ever varying Scene,
By diff’rent Ways pursu’d,
The one eternal End of Heav’n                                               15
Is universal Good.

The same unchanging Mercy rules
When flaming AEther glows,
As when it tunes the Linnet’s Voice,
Or blushes in the Rose.                                                     20

By Reason taught to scorn those Fears
That vulgar Minds molest;
Let no fantastic Terrors break
My dear Narcissa‘s Rest.

Thy Life may all the tend’rest Care                                          25
Of Providence defend;
And delegated Angels round
Their guardian Wings extend.

When, thro’ Creation’s vast Expanse,
The last dread Thunders roll,                                             30
Untune the Concord of the Spheres,
And shake the rising Soul:

Unmov’d mayst thou the final Storm,
Of jarring Worlds survey,
That ushers in the glad Serene                                                  35
Of everlasting Day.

NOTES:

1 pallid “Lacking depth or intensity” (OED).

18 Aether In ancient cosmological speculation: an element conceived as filling all space beyond the sphere of the moon, and being the constituent substance of the stars and planets and of their spheres (OED).

19 Linnet “A common and well-known songbird” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions. Second Edition (London, 1766), pp. 36-37. [Google Books]

 Edited by Wyatt Forsyth

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

JOHN DRYDEN

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

 

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

NOTES:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Edited by Ilya Varga

Priscilla Pointon, “Address to a Bachelor, On a delicate Occasion”

PRISCILLA POINTON

“Address to a Bachelor, On a delicate Occasion”

Inserted by Desire.

You bid me write, Sir, I comply,
Since I my grave airs can’t deny.
But say, how can my Muse declare
The situation of the Fair,
That full six hours had sat, or more,                                       5
And never once been out of door?
Tea, wine, and punch, Sir, to be free,
Excellent diuretics be:
I made it so appear, it’s true,
When at your House, last night, with you:                            10
Blushing, I own, to you I said,
“I should be glad you’d call a maid.”
“The girls,” you answer’d “are from home,
Nor can I guess when they’ll return.”
Then in contempt you came to me,                                        15
And sneering cry’d, “Dear Miss, make free;
“Let me conduct you—don’t be nice—
Or if a bason is your choice,
To fetch you one I’ll instant fly.”
I blush’d, but could not make reply;                                       20
Confus’d, to find myself the joke,
I silent sat till TRUEWORTH spoke:
“To go with me, Miss, don’t refuse,
Your loss this freedom will excuse.”
To him my hand reluctant gave,                                              25
And out he led me very grave;
Whilst you and CHATFREE laugh’d aloud,
As if to dash a Maid seem’d proud.
But I the silly jest despise,
Since well I know each man that’s wise;                                30
All affectation does disdain,
Since it in Prudes and Coxcombs reign:
So I repent not what I’ve done;
Adieu—enjoy your empty fun.

NOTES: 

8 diuretics “Having the quality of exciting (excessive) excretion or discharge of urine” (OED).

17 nice “Precise or particular in matters of reputation or conduct” (OED).

18 bason Variation of “basin,” “a circular vessel of greater width than depth, with sloping or curving sides, used for holding water and other liquids, especially for washing purposes” (OED).

22 TRUEWORTH An allusion to Mr. Trueworth, a character in Eliza Haywood’s novel The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751) who represents the ideal gentleman.

27 CHATFREE An allusion to Mr. Chatfree, a character in the same novel who represents a less-than-ideal gentlemanly figure.

28 dash “To destroy, ruin, confound, bring to nothing, frustrate, spoil” (OED).

32 Coxcombs “A vain, conceited, or pretentious man; a man of ostentatiously affected mannerisms or appearance; a fop. In later use usually in form coxcomb” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (1770), pp. 31-34. [Google Books]

Edited by Michelle Yu

Elizabeth Carter, “To —-.”

ELIZABETH CARTER

“To ——.”

Say, dear Emilia, what untry’d Delight
Has Earth, or Air, or Ocean to bestow,
That checks thy active Spirit’s nobler Flight,
And bounds its narrow View to Scenes below?

Is Life thy Passion? Let it not depend                                                      5
On flutt’ring Pulses, and a fleeting Breath:
In sad Despair the fruitless Wish must end,
That seeks it in the gloomy Range of Death.

This World, deceitful Idol of thy Soul,
Is all devoted to his Tyrant Pow’r:                                                    10
To form his Prey the genial Planets roll,
To speed his Conquests flies the rapid Hour.

This verdant Earth, these fair surrounding Skies,
Are all the Triumphs of his wasteful Reign:
‘Tis but to set, the brightest Suns arise;                                                    15
‘Tis but to wither, blooms the flow’ry Plain.

‘Tis but to die, Mortality was born;
Nor struggling Folly breaks the dread Decree:
Then cease the common Destiny to mourn,
Nor wish thy Nature’s Laws revers’d for thee.                                  20

The Sun that sets, again shall gild the Skies;
The faded Plain reviving Flow’rs shall grace:
But hopeless fall, no more on Earth to rise,
The transitory Forms of Human Race.

No more on Earth:  but see, beyond the Gloom,                                     25
Where the short Reign of Time and Death expires,
Victorious o’er the Ravage of the Tomb,
Smiles the fair Object of thy fond Desires.

The seed of Life, below, imperfect lies,
To Virtue’s Hand its Cultivation giv’n:                                                  30
Form’d by her Care, the beauteous Plant shall rise,
And flourish with unfading Bloom in Heav’n.

NOTES:

Title “Of this beautiful Poem Mrs. Carter never chose to say to whom it was addressed, as some degree of censure seems to be implied by it.  It is one of the most highly finished of the collection” [Editor’s note]. (Montagu Pennington, ed., Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, with a New Edition of her Poems, vol. II [London, 1808], p. 85).

11 genial “Jovial; kindly” (OED).

18 Folly “Weakness of intellect” (Johnson).

23 fall “Like leaves– a very ancient metaphor.  See Isaiah xl. 6, &c.  And Homer, Il[iad]. 6. V. 146” [Editor’s note] (Pennington, Memoirs, p. 86). An allusion to Homer’s Iliad:  “Like the generation of leaves, the lives of mortal men. Now the wind scatters the old leaves across the earth, now the living timber bursts with new buds and spring comes round again. And so with men: as one generation comes to life, another dies away” (The Iliad, Book 6, lines 171-175).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions. Second Edition (London, 1766), pp. 83-85.  [Google Books]

Edited by Jizelle Gonzalez 

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

Charlotte Lennox, “To Moneses Singing”

[CHARLOTTE  LENNOX]

“To MONESES Singing”

 

 Be hush’d as Death, Moneses sings,
Moneses strikes the sounding Strings;
Let sacred Silence dwell around,
And nought disturb the Magick Sound;
Let not the softly whisp’ring Breeze                                             5
Sob amidst the rustling Trees;
Murmur, ye plaintive Streams, no more,
But glide in Silence to the Shore:
Even Philomel thy Note suspend,
And to a sweeter Song attend;                                                      10
Ah! soft, ah! dang’rous, pow’rful Charm,
An Angel’s Voice, an Angel’s Form;
Attentive to the heav’nly Lay,
I hear and gaze my Soul away;
Now tender Wishes, melting Fires,                                                15
Infant Pains, and young Desires,
Steal into my softned Soul,
And bend it to the sweet Controul;
Yet, let me fly, e’er ‘tis too late,
The sweet Disease, and shun my Fate.                                          20
But ah! that softly, dying Strain
Arrests my Steps, I strive in vain.
Again I to the Syren turn,
Again with gentle Fires I burn;
Cease lovely Youth th’ inchanting Sound,                                       25
Too deep already is the Wound;
Thro’ all my Veins the Poison steals,
My Heart the dear Infection feels:
I faint, I die, by love opprest,
The Sigh scarce heaves my panting Breast;                                     30
Before my View dim Shadows rise,
And hides Thee from my ravish’d Eyes:
Thy Voice, like distant Sounds, I hear,
It dies in murmurs on my Ear:
In the too pow’rful Transport tost,                                                      35
Ev’n Thought, and ev’ry Sense is lost.

NOTES:

Title MONESES A made up pastoral name for an unidentified addressee.

7 plaintive “Mournful, sad” (OED).

9 Philomel “A poetic or literary name for the nightingale,” known for its sweet song (OED).

23 Syren “One who, or that which, sings sweetly, charms, allures, or deceives like the Sirens” (OED).

SOURCE:  Poems on Several Occasions. Written by a Young Lady (London, 1747), pp. 23-25. [Google Books]

Edited by Tomas E. Raudales-Beleche