Tag Archives: verse epistle

Anonynmous, “On the Art of Writing: Sent to MIRA”

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ANONYMOUS

“On the Art of Writing : Sent to MIRA”

 

Hail sacred art! by Gods above
Design’d the messenger of love,
In pity to th’ immortal mind,
In earthly prison close confin’d.
Without thee, what were Mira’s grace?                              5
Or beauteous Helen’s fatal face?
Like sparks that glitt’ring upward fly,
Scarce known to live before they dye.
Thalia too, celestial maid,
Implor’d by bards, implores thy aid.                                          10
If you refuse, how vain her song!
The numbers perish on her tongue.
Fly hence! on light’ning’s wings away,
And to my lovely Mira say,
That London’s wealth, and mirth, and pride,                             15
With all things apt to charm beside,
Enamel’d lawns, and waving trees,
From Mira take their power to please.
For when my Fair is out of sight,
These are but shadows of delight.                                               20
Away! thou love-relieving art!
To dearest Mira bear my heart,
Bid her, in Cupid’s name, return
That heart, for which I rave, I burn.
But shou’d she scorn the archer’s skill,                                       25
Great Pallas, guardian of her will,
Bid her dismiss her needless fears,
For lo! Sincerity appears.
Say, Hymen waits with ardent care,
To give the World a happy pair:                                                    30
And Cupid too stands armed by,
To wound the first that dares to fly.
Thus Love and Reason shall combine,
And like twin-stars alternate shine;
Whatever Reason shall approve,                                                   35
Shall seem th’ effects of yielding Love:
Whatever Love shall deign to name,
Applauding Reason shall proclaim.
Reason, like Sol to Tellus kind,
Ripens the products of the mind,                                                  40
Dispells the anxious cares of life,
Those mists of sorrow and of strife:
And when old Time shall envious prove,
In this is Beauty, Youth, and Love.
But Love, if Reason’s out of sight,                                           45
Is all opaque and void of light,
Like the dull Moon, which oft resigns
Those borrow’d beams by which she shines:
The pleasure then it brags of most,
Is but what brutes themselves can boast.                                    50
Once more, thou heav’n-born art, away!
My soul’s impatient of delay:
As quick as thought again return,
And bring that heart for which I burn.

NOTES:

6  Helen  Helen of Troy or Helen of Sparta, mortal daughter of Zeus and Leda, recognized for her perfect beauty, which was also considered as it led her to be abducted by Theseus as a young girl. Helen wed with Menelaus of Sparta but eventually fled to Troy from his kingdom with Paris, effectively starting the Trojan war. Helen was returned to Sparta with Menelaus once Troy was captured and is now memorialized in Greek mythology for the conflict and death that her beauty caused (Britannica).

9  Thalia  One of the nine Muses that acted as goddesses of the arts; Thalia was patron of comedy and pastoral poetry; frequently depicted with a comic mask and shepherd’s staff (Britannica).

23  Cupid  “In Roman Mythology, the god of love, son of Mercury and Venus, identified with the Greek Eros” (OED).

26  Pallas  Epithet for Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and war.

29  Hymen  Greek god of marriage.

39  Sol  Roman god of the sun; Tellus  “Ancient Roman earth goddess” (Britannica).

SOURCE:  The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 8 (October 1738), p. 544.  [HathiTrust]

 Edited by Shyla Jackson

Mary Masters, “To Clemene”

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MARY MASTERS

“To Clemene”

To the same, early in the Spring, occasioned by
her taking a journey, and my retiring into
the Country soon after.

Wheree’er I go, or whatsoe’er I do,
How pleasing ’tis to tell it all to you!
Hear then, auspicious Mistress of my Theme,
What now I dictate by a purling Stream.
The Grief, by your Departure first imprest,                                            5
Encreasing grew a Burden at my Breast:
Depriv’d of you, I sought no new Delight,
Nothing could please but Solitude and Night:
These suited best my melancholy Mind,
Which no Redress in length of time could find:                                     10
Pensive and sad, in secret still I griev’d,
Till soothing Scenes my anxious Pain reliev’d.

By a kind Friend oft courted, I repair
To breathe the Fragrance of the Country Air:
Here oft in Silence by myself I rove,                                                         15
In Paths perplex’d thro’ all the naked Grove,
Yet find a Pleasure in the sylvan Scene,
Void as it is of ornamental Green.
The Primrose oft I see, scented and pale
Adorn the rising Hill, or sinking Vale:                                                        20
Near it (for Nature stains with various Dies)
The Violet does in purple Odours rise,
Which with descending Hand I strait arrest,
Pluck the young Flow’rs, and plant them in my Breast:
And then reflect, were my CLEMENE here,                                              25
How soon would I the Vernal Pride transfer?
Pleas’d, if I could the early Buds convey
To Thee more sweet, to Thee more fair than they.
The Charms of Nature, wheresoe’er I go,
In lovely Negligence her Beauties show.                                                   30
A Flood transparent in Meanders glides,
The silver Swan upon its Surface slides.
Within its Current sports the scaly Breed,
And on its Bank up shoots the bending Reed:
Around, the verd’rous Meads extended lye,                                            35
And with new Graces catch my wand’ring Eye.

Sometimes I mark th’ Inclosures wooded Rows,
Whose swelling Banks luxurious growth disclose:
And on their sloping sides display to view,
A thousand Shrubs of diff’rent size and hue.                                            40
A Mind contemplative has Joy in these,
Whose various Figures can so justly please.
For while I view the Products of the Spring,
I find a GOD in the minutest Thing.
I grow inspir’d, and hardly can restrain                                                      45
The struggling Muse, that would begin again,
Prompts me again to view the Wonders round,
The genial Springs and ornamented Ground.
Bids me behold but with astonish’d Eyes
The bright Expansion of the vaulted Skies;                                               50
The radiant Planet, that enkindles Day,
And warms the World with his benignant Ray:
From Causes numberless I might explore
The CAUSE SUPREME, and as I write, adore.

Oh! had I Time and Judgment to indite,                                             55
The pious Muse should not in vain excite:
Her noble Dictates gladly I’d rehearse,
And dress my Theme in the sublimest Verse,
Expatiate on the Miracles I see,
And dedicate the finish’d Piece to Thee.                                                   60

NOTES:

 Title  Clemene  Although “Clemene” has not been identified, this name appears, either in title or text or both, in at least nine of Masters’ poems in this volume, which suggests that Clemene must have been an important friend.

10  Redress  “A remedy for or relief from troubles or loss” (now obsolete) (OED).

13  repair  “To return to or from a specified place or person; to come back again” (OED).

33  scaly Breed  Fish.

35  verd’rous Meads  Green fields.

44  I find a GOD in the minutest Thing  Possibly an allusion to Ephesians 4:6: “God…who is over all and through all and in all.”

54  The CAUSE SUPREME  An indirect allusion to God.

SOURCE:  Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1733), pp. 34-38.  [Google Books]

 Edited by Tyrone C. Ellingberg

Phillis Wheatley, “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth”

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PHILLIS WHEATLEY

“To the Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of DARTMOUTH, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North-America, &c.”

 

Hail, happy day, when, smiling like the morn,
Fair Freedom rose New-England to adorn:
The northern clime beneath her genial ray,
Dartmouth, congratulates thy blissful sway:
Elate with hope her race no longer mourns,                                                              5
Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns,
While in thine hand with pleasure we behold
The silken reins, and Freedom’s charms unfold.
Long lost to realms beneath the northern skies
She shines supreme, while hated faction dies:                                                           10
Soon as appear’d the Goddess long desir’d,
Sick at the view, she languish’d and expir’d;
Thus from the splendors of the morning light
The owl in sadness seeks the caves of night.

No more, America, in mournful strain                                                                    15
Of wrongs, and grievance unredress’d complain,
No longer shall thou dread the iron chain,
Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand
Had made, and with it meant t’ enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,                                                 20
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat:                                                                25
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast?
Steel’d was that soul and by no misery mov’d
That from a father seiz’d his babe belov’d:
Such, such my case. And can I then but pray                                                                 30
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?

For favours past, great Sir, our thanks are due,
And thee we ask thy favours to renew,
Since in thy pow’r, as in thy will before,
To sooth the griefs, which thou did’st once deplore.                                                     35
May heav’nly grace the sacred sanction give
To all thy works, and thou for ever live
Not only on the wings of fleeting Fame,
Though praise immortal crowns the patriot’s name,
But to conduct to heav’ns refulgent fane,                                                                         40
May fiery coursers sweep th’ ethereal plain,
And bear thee upwards to that blest abode,
Where, like the prophet, thou shalt find thy God.

NOTES:

 Title  Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of DARTMOUTH William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801), played a significant role in the events leading to the American Revolution by opposing the Stamp Act (which imposed direct taxation on the colonies). As Secretary of State for North America (1772-1775) he initially took a conciliatory approach, but following the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 he attempted to regain control of the colonies, eventually calling for overwhelming use of force to quell the rebellion. However, he was against calling for an all-out war and resigned in 1775 (Britannica).

2 Freedom  Allusion to the goddess “Libertas, in Roman religion, female personification of liberty and personal freedom” (Britannica); New-England In this period New England comprised four colonies: Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Providence, and Connecticut (World History Encyclopedia).

15 America  Colonial America or the thirteen colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia (Britannica).

18 Tyranny  “Oppressive or unjustly severe government” (OED).

25 Afric  Archaic or obsolete name for Africa (OED). Wheatley was born in West Africa and at the age of seven was kidnapped and transported to Boston aboard the slave ship The Phillis (Jeffers, Age of Phillis, p. 41).

38 Fame  Frequently figured as a winged goddess, “Fama, Greek Pheme, in Greco-Roman mythology, the personification of popular rumour” (Britannica).

40 refulgent  “Bright; shining; glittering; splendid” (Johnson); fane “A temple; a place consecrated to religion” (Johnson).

41 coursers  “A swift horse; a war horse: a word not used in prose” (Johnson).

43 the prophet  Lines 41-43 allude to the prophet Elijah who in 2 Kings “went up by a whirlwind into  heaven” by “chariot of fire and horses of fire” (2 Kings 2:11).

 Source: Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral, (London, 1773), pp. 73-75. [Hathi Trust]

 Edited by Kristine Van Dusen

 

 

Mary Barber, “To Dr. Richard Helsham. Upon my Recovery from a dangerous Fit of Sickness”

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[MARY BARBER]

“To Dr. Richard Helsham. Upon my Recovery from a dangerous Fit of Sickness”

For fleeting Life recall’d, for Health restor’d,
Be first the God of Life and Health ador’d;
Whose boundless Mercy claims this Tribute due:
And next to Heav’n, I owe my Thanks to you;
To you, who feel the Ease your Med’cines give,                                 5
And, in reviving Patients, doubly live;
You, who from Nature’s Dictates never stray;
But wisely wait, till she points out the Way:
Where-e’er she leads, unerring, you pursue
Her mazy System, op’ning to your View.                                             10

In you reviv’d we RATCLIFF’S Genius see,
Heighten’d by Learning and Humanity.
With Ease all Nature’s Secrets you explore,
And to the noblest Heights of Science soar.
Your Thoughts, unbounded, travel with the Sun;                               15
And see attendant Worlds around him run;
Which trace their distant Courses thro’ the Sky,
Nor fly his Throne too far, nor press too nigh.
The wise and wond’rous Laws you clearly know,
Which rule those Worlds above, and this below.                                 20
The World of Life, which we obscurely see,
In all its Wonders, is survey’d by thee:
And thou in ev’ry Part canst something find,
To praise thy Maker, and to bless thy Kind:
Quick to discern, judicious to apply,                                                        25
Your Judgment clear, and piercing, as your Eye:
Ev’n Med’cines, in your wise Prescriptions, please;
And are no more the Patient’s worst Disease.
Goodness, and Skill, and Learning less than thine,
Rais’d AESCULAPIUS to the Realms divine.                                              30

NOTES:

Title Dr. Richard Helsham (1683-1738), Irish physician and natural philosopher; like Barber, he was also a member of Jonathan Swift’s Dublin circle.

11 RATCLIFF John Radcliffe (1650-1714), physician and politician, served as royal physician to William and Mary.

18 nigh “Close at hand, nearby” (OED).

25 judicious “Proceeding from or showing sound judgement; done with or marked by discretion, wisdom, or good sense” (OED).

30 AESCULAPIUS Greek god of medicine.

Source: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1735), pp. 30-31. [Google Books]

Edited by Ivan Li

Mary Barber, “Written for a Gentlewoman in Distress. To her Grace ADELIDA, Dutchess of Shrewsbury”

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[MARY BARBER]

“Written for a Gentlewoman in Distress. To her Grace ADELIDA, Dutchess of Shrewsbury”

Might I inquire the Reasons of my Fate,
Or with my Maker dare expostulate;
Did I, in prosp’rous Days, despise the Poor,
Or drive the friendless Stranger from my Door?
Was not my Soul pour’d out for the Distress’d?                          5
Did I not vindicate the Poor oppress’d?
Did not the Orphan’s Cry with me prevail?
Did I not weep the Woes I could not heal?
Why then, Thou gracious, Thou all-pow’rful God,
Why do I feel th’ Oppressor’s Iron Rod?                                         10
Why thus the Scorners cruel Taunts endure,
Who basely fret the Wounds, they will not cure?
O Thou, whose Mercy does to All extend,
Say, shall my Sorrows never, never, end?
Let not my Tears for ever, fruitless, flow;                                     15
Commiserate a Wretch, o’erwhelm’d with Woe;
No longer let Distress my Bosom tear:
O shield me from the Horrors of Despair!

Forgive me, Madam, that I thus impart
The Throbs, the Anguish, of a breaking Heart.                            20
Oft, when my weary’d Eyes can weep no more,
To sooth my Woes, I read your Letters o’er.
Goodness, and Wit, and Humour, there I find;
And view with Joy those Pictures of your Mind;
With Pleasure on the lov’d Resemblance gaze,                            25
Till peaceful Slumbers on my Eye-lids seize.
Then, then, Imagination glads my Sight
With transient Images of past Delight;
My aking Heart of ev’ry Care beguiles;
Then TALBOT lives, and ADELIDA smiles.                                       30

Delightful Forms! why will you fleet away,
And leave me to the Terrors of the Day?
In vain from Reason I expect Relief;
For sad Reflection doubles ev’ry Grief.
Some of my Friends in Death’s cold Arms I see;                            35
Others, tho, living, yet are dead to me?
Of Friends, and Children both, I am bereft,
And soon must lose the only Blessing left;
A Husband form’d for Tenderness and Truth,
The lov’d, the kind Companion of my Youth;                                  40
With him, thro’ various Storms of Fate I pass’d;
Relentless Fate!—And must we part at last?
O King of Terrors, I invoke thy Pow’r;
Oh! stand between me and that dreadful Hour;
From that sad Hour thy wretched Suppliant save;                         45
Oh! shield me from it!—Hide me in the Grave!

NOTES:

Title ADELIDA, Dutchess of Shrewsbury Adelhilda Talbot (née Palleotti) (1660-1726), married Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, in 1705.

2 expostulate “To argue or debate” (OED).

10 Iron Rod “A symbol of power or tyranny” (OED).

16 Wretch “A miserable, unhappy, or unfortunate person” (OED).

30 TALBOT Charles Talbot, Duke and twelfth Earl of Shrewsbury (1660-1718). English statesman and leading figure in the Glorious Revolution, in support of William and Mary.  Also played a key role in the “peaceful succession” of George I in 1714 (Britannica).

43 King of Terrors “Death personified” (OED).

45 Suppliant “A person who makes a humble or earnest plea to another, especially to a person in power or authority” (OED).

SOURCE: Mary Barber, Poems on Several Occasions (London,1735), pp. 51-53. [Google Books]

Edited by Madelyn Yukich

Mary Masters, “To the Sun, in a cold dry Season”

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MARY MASTERS

“To the Sun, in a cold dry Season”

 

PARENT of Light, whose ever-shining Ray,
Quickens the Globe, and kindles up the Day:
Collect thy Force, the Ardors all prepare,
To mitigate and warm the frigid Air:
Send forth, bright Prince, a more extensive Glow,                                      5
And let us feel thy chearing Pow’rs below.
Let humid Vapours leave their native Streams,
Exhal’d from thence by thy attracting Beams;
In rising Mists our Ev’ning Walks attend,
And kindly on the soft’ning Earth descend.                                                  10
Or else, invisibly expanding, rise
Mix into Clouds, and float along the Skies;
There all the Day in bright Suspension stay’d,
And beautiful by thy Reflection made;
Border’d with Gold, or ting’d with purple Hue,                                            15
Like rich Embossings on a Ground of Blue,
To the pleas’d Eye present a gaudy Scene,
Whilst the pure AEther heav’nly looks between.
Let nightly Show’rs refresh the thirsty Earth,
And daily Fervors give her Plants a Birth:                                                       20
Beneath our Feet the flow’ry Buds shall spring,
And on each side the wing’d Musicians sing:
Th’ indulgent Skies shall bless the Peasant’s Toil,
Call forth rich Crops, and make all Nature smile.

Then shall MECENAS grace his rural Seat,                                                     25
Healthful and happy in a warm Retreat:
The neighbouring Towns by his dear Presence blest,
Shall hail and welcome the illustrious Guest:
MARIA too the general Joy will share,
Applaud his Merit, and divide his Care:                                                         30
For like thy Beams, his gen’rous Virtues spread,
And shine benignant on the humble Head.

NOTES:

3 Ardors “Fierce or burning heat” (OED).

16 Embossings “To adorn with figures or other ornamentation in relief” (OED).

18 AEther “The clear sky; the upper regions of space beyond the clouds” (OED).

20 Fervors “Glowing condition, intense heat” (OED).

25 MECENAS Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (c.70 BC-c. 8 BC), Roman politician, counselor to the emperor Augustus, and wealthy patron of such poets as Virgil and Horace. His name became synonymous with ideal literary patronage by the eighteenth century (Encyclopedia Britannica).

29 MARIA Masters’s poetic name for herself.

32 benignant “Cherishing or exhibiting kindly feeling towards inferiors or dependants; gracious, benevolent (with some suggestion of condescension or patronage)” (OED).

 Source:  Poems on Several Occasions, (London 1733), pp. 52-54.  [Hathi Trust]

 Edited by Veronica Jardeleza

Elizabeth Singer Rowe, “To one that persuades me to leave the Muses”

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[ELIZABETH SINGER ROWE]

“To one that perswades me to leave the Muses”

 

Forgo the charming Muses! No, in spight
Of your ill-natur’d Prophecy I’ll write,
And for the future paint my thoughts at large,
I waste no paper at the Hundreds charge:
I rob no Neighbouring Geese of Quills, nor slink                                             5
For a collection to the Church for ink:
Besides my Muse is the most gentle thing
That ever yet made an attempt to sing:
I call no Lady Punk, nor Gallants Fops,
Nor set the married world an edge for Ropes;                                                  10
Yet I’m so scurvily inclin’d to Rhiming,
That undesign’d my thoughts burst out a chiming;
My active Genius will by no means sleep,
And let it then its proper channel keep.
I’ve told you, and you may believe me too,                                                     15
That I must this, or greater mischiefe do;
And let the world think me inspir’d, or mad,
I’le surely write whilst paper’s to be had;
Since Heaven to me has a Retreat assign’d,
That would inspire a less harmonious mind.                                                     20
All that a Poet loves I have in view,
Delight some Hills, refreshing Shades, and pleasant Valleys too,
Fair spreading Valleys cloath’d with lasting green,
And Sunny Banks with gilded streams between,
Gay as Elisium, in a Lovers Dream,                                                                       25
Or Flora’s Mansion, seated by a stream,
Where free from sullen cares I live at ease,
Indulge my Muse, and wishes, as I please,
Exempt from all that looks like want or strife,
I smoothly glide along the Plains of Life,                                                                 30
Thus Fate conspires, and what can I do to’t?
Besides, I’m veh’mently in love to boot,
And that there’s not a Willow Sprig but knows,
In whose sad shade I breathe my direful woes.
But why for these dull Reasons do I pause,                                                         35
When I’ve at hand my genuine one, because!
And that my Muse may take no counter Spell,
I fairly bid the Boarding Schools farewel:
No Young Impertinent, shall here intrude,
And vex me from this blisful solitude.                                                                   40
Spite of her heart, Old Puss shall damn no more
Great Sedley’s Plays, and never look ’em o’re;
Affront my Novels, no, nor in a Rage,
Force Drydens lofty Products from the Stage,
Whilst all the rest of the melodious crew,                                                               45
With the whole System of Athenians too,
For Study’s sake out of the Window flew.
But I’to Church, shall fill her Train no more,
And walk as if I sojurn’d by the hour.
To Stepwel and his Kit I bid adieu,                                                                    50
Fall off, and on, be hang’d and Coopee too
Thy self for me, my dancing days are o’re;
I’le act th’ inspired Bachannels no more.
Eight Notes must for another Treble look,
In Burlesque to make Faces by the book.                                                               55
Japan, and my esteemed Pencil too,
And pretty Cupid, in the Glass adieu,
And since the dearest friends that be must part,
Old Governess farewell with all my heart.
Now welcome all ye peaceful Shades and Springs,                                                60
And welcome all the inspiring tender things;
That please my genius, suit my make and years,
Unburden’d yet with all but lovers cares.

NOTES:

1 Muses “The nine goddesses regarded as presiding over and inspiring learning and the arts, esp. poetry and music” (OED).

4 Hundreds Corrected from “Hunderds;” a printer’s error.

9 Lady Punk “Prostitute” (OED); Fop “One who is foolishly attentive to and vain of his appearance, dress, or manners; a dandy, an exquisite” (OED).

25 Elisium Elysium; the paradise where the gods determined a hero’s immortality, a land of perfect happiness (Britannica).

26 Flora’s Mansion The natural world; Flora is the Roman goddess of the flowering plants (Britannica).

32 to boot “In addition” (OED).

33 Sprig “A small branch of a tree” (OED).

41 Old Puss A contemptuous term for a woman.

42 Sedley Sir Charles Sedley, 4th Baronet, (1639-1701), “an English Restoration poet, dramatist, wit, and courtier.” One of his most notable plays was Bellamira (1687) (Britannica).

44 Force Drydens lofty Products from the Stage John Dryden (1631-1700), poet, playwright, and influential critic; the suppression of Rowe’s work was linked to censorship of Dryden’s dramas (John West, Dryden and Enthusiasm: Literature, Religion, and Politics in Restoration England, p. 170).

46 whole system of Athenians A reference to The Athenian Society, founded by John Dunton (1659-1733), bookseller and author, in 1691.  Rowe regularly published poetry in The Athenian Mercury, the society’s periodical published by Dunton, between 1693 and 1696.

50 Stepwel A made up name for a dancing master; Kit “A small fiddle, formerly much used by dancing masters” (OED).

51 Coopee Coupee; “a dance step” typically included in a minuet (OED).

53 Bachannels Bacchanals; “a dance or song in honour of Bacchus,” Roman god of wine and fertility (OED).

54 Eight Notes Eighth notes; “The note separated from any given one above or below by an interval of an eighth” (OED);Treble The G clef, “pertaining to, or suited to the highest part in harmonized musical composition” (OED).

56 Japan A black compound applied to the eye; Pencil “A small brush suitable for delicate work” (OED).

Source: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1696), pp. 6-9.  [Google Books]

Edited by Celina Lopez

Elizabeth Carter, “To Miss Hall. 1746”

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ELIZABETH CARTER

“To Miss Hall. 1746”

 

WHILE soft thro’ water, earth, and air,
The vernal spirits rove,
From noisy joys, and giddy crowds,
To rural scenes remove.

The mountain snows are all dissolv’d,                                    5
And hush’d the blust’ring gale:
While fragrant Zephyrs gently breathe,
Along the flow’ry vale.

The circling planets constant rounds
The wintry wastes repair:                                                  10
And still, from temporary death,
Renew the verdant year.

But ah! when once our transient bloom,
The spring of life is o’er,
That rosy season takes its flight,                                              15
And must return no more.

Yet judge by Reason’s sober rules,
From false opinion free,
And mark how little pilf’ring years
Can steal from you or me.                                                   20

Each moral pleasure of the heart,
Each lasting charm of truth,
Depends not on the giddy aid
Of wild, inconstant youth.

The vain coquet, whose empty pride                                         25
A fading face supplies,
May justly dread the wintry gloom,
Where all its glory dies.

Leave such a ruin to deplore,
To fading forms confin’d:                                                       30
Nor age, nor wrinkles discompose
One feature of the mind.

Amidst the universal change
Unconscious of decay,
It views, unmov’d, the scythe of Time                                          35
Sweep all besides away.

Fixt on its own eternal frame,
Eternal are its joys:
While, borne on transitory wings,
Each mortal pleasure flies.                                                     40

While ev’ry short-liv’d flower of sense
Destructive years consume,
Thro’ Friendship’s fair enchanting walks
Unfading myrtles bloom.

Nor with the narrow bounds of Time,                                           45
The beauteous prospect ends,
But lengthen’d thro’ the vale of Death,
To Paradise extends.

NOTES:

Title “Afterwards wife of the Rev. John Nairn, of Kingston, near Canterbury” [Author’s Note].

2 vernal “Of the springtime” (OED).

7 Zephyrs “The west wind, frequently personified” (OED).

25 coquet “A woman, who is a flirt for the gratification of vanity and has no intention on responding to the feelings provoked” (OED).

35 scythe of Time Typically a destructive force.

44 myrtles Evergreen shrubs or small trees with fragrant white flowers (OED).

Source: Montagu Pennington, ed., Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, with a New Edition of her Poems (London, 1807), pp. 394-395.  [Google Books]

Edited by Eileen Sosa

Phillis Wheatley, “To Maecenas”

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PHILLIS WHEATLEY

“To Maecenas”

 

MAECENAS, you, beneath the myrtle shade,
Read o’er what poets sung, and shepherds played.
What felt those poets but you feel the same?
Does not your soul possess the sacred flame?
Their noble strains your equal genius shares                                          5
In softer language, and diviner airs.
While Homer paints lo! circumfus’d in air,
Celestial Gods in mortal forms appear;
Swift as they move hear each recess rebound,
Heaven quakes, earth trembles, and the shores resound.                    10
Great Sire of verse, before my mortal eyes,
The lightnings blaze across the vaulted skies;
And, as the thunder shakes the heav’nly plains,
A deep-felt horror thrills thro’ all my veins.
When gentler strains demand thy graceful song,                                    15
The length’ning line moves languishing along.
When great Patroclus courts Achilles’ aid,
The grateful tribute of my tears is paid;
Prone on the shore he feels the pangs of love,
And stern Pelides tenderest passions move.                                            20

Great Maro’s strain in heav’nly numbers flows,
The Nine inspire, and all the bosom glows.
O, could I rival thine and Virgil’s page,
Or claim the Muses with the Mantuan Sage;
Soon the same beauties should my mind adorn,                                    25
And the same ardors in my soul should burn:
Then should my song in bolder notes arise,
And all my numbers pleasingly surprise;
But here I sit and mourn a grov’ling mind,
That fain would mount, and ride upon the wind.                                     30

Not you, my friend, these plaintive strains become,
Not you, whose bosom is the Muses home;
When they from tow’ring Helicon retire,
They fan in you the bright immortal fire,
But I, less happy, cannot raise the song,                                                    35
The falt’ring music dies upon my tongue.

The happier Terence all the choir inspired,
His soul replenish’d, and his bosom fir’d;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric’s sable race;                                                                40
From age to age, transmitting thus his name
With the first glory in the rolls of fame?

Thy virtues, great Maecenas! shall be sung
In praise of him, from whom those virtues sprung:
While blooming wreaths around thy temples spread,                              45
I’ll snatch a laurel from thine honour’d head,
While you indulgent smile upon the deed.

As long as Thames in streams majestic flows,
Or Naiads in their oozy beds repose,
While Phoebus reigns above the starry train,                                              50
While bright Aurora purples o’er the main,
So long, great Sir, the muse thy praise shall sing,
So long thy praise shall make Parnassus ring:
Then grant, Maecenas, thy paternal rays,
Hear me propitious and defend my lays.                                                    55

NOTES :

Title  Maecenas  Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (c.70 BC-c. 8 BC), Roman politician, counselor to the emperor Augustus, and wealthy patron of such poets as Virgil and Horace. His name became synonymous with ideal literary patronage by the eighteenth century (Encyclopedia Britannica). Likely a reference to Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791), to whom Wheatley dedicated her 1773 volume of poems (Vincent Carretta, Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage, p. 106).

1  Myrtle  “An evergreen shrub” (OED).

7  Homer  Greek poet, famous for epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.

17  Patroclus  Beloved friend of Achilles; Achilles  The hero and main subject of the epic poem The Iliad. Wheatley is alluding to Book 16, ll. 40-45, in which Patroclus asks Achilles to lend him his armour to lead the Myrmidons into battle with the Trojans (OCD).

20  Pelides  Another name for Achilles.

21  Maro  Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC – 19 BC), ancient Roman poet, more commonly known as “Virgil.”

22  the Nine The Muses, nine Greek goddesses who ruled over the arts and sciences.

24  Mantuan Sage  Virgil was born in Andes, a village near Mantua in northern Italy (OCD).

33  Helicon  Mountain sacred to the Muses, “hence used allusively in reference to poetic inspiration” (OED).

37  Terence  “An African by Birth” [Author’s Note], Publius Terentius (c.190 BC – c.159 BC), ancient Roman playwright of North African descent (OCD).

46 Laurel  “Leaves woven into a wreath worn on the head, given to poets as a reward for excellence” (OED).

48  Thames  The river that flows through London.  Wheatley traveled to London with Nathaniel Wheatley in 1773 to support the publication of her poems.

49  Naiads  Water nymphs “thought to inhabit rivers, springs, etc.” (OED).

51  Aurora  Roman goddess of the dawn (OED).

53  Parnassus  A mountain in central Greece, home of the Muses.

Source: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (London, 1773), pp. 9-11 [Google Books] 

Edited by Chrisangel Colon

Juventus, “Address to Evening. Written in June”

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JUVENTUS

“ADDRESS TO EVENING. Written in June”

 

Modest Evening, come, O I breathe
Thy cool zephyrs o’er the heath,
On the craggy mountain’s brow,
Through the watery vale below,
And along the grassy mead,                                             5
Where the kine refuse to feed,
Moving slow towards the gate,
Where the blooming milk-maids wait:
Now, with breath more rudely cool,
Discompose the stagnant pool;                                       10
Where little insects circles make,
Dimpling soft the silent lake:
Now direct thy quickening breeze
Through the sable forest trees:
Then approach the river’s brink,                                       15
Where the cattle bending drink,
Where the painted vessel sails;
There dispense thy pleasant gales:
Westward, up the flow’ry lawn,
Where the sun his shade hath drawn,                              20
Thither bending thy meek blast,
Soon he Aston’s Hillock past:
Where the cuckoo, lonely bird,
Ever with the Spring is heard:
O’er the village-steeple fly,                                                   25
Turn the weather-cock on high,
Glitt’ring like thy fav’rite star,
To the Cestrian Hills afar:
Now descend upon the green,
Where the rustic youths are seen,                                       30
To toss the quoit, or pitch the bar,
Or battle in fictitious war;
While virgins twist the flowers that blow,
To bind the conquering hero’s brow.

Now as the Sun his journey ends,                                        35
And blazing to the Sea descends,
Swiftly o’er the dusky Sea,
Come–and breathe, sweet Eve, on me.

NOTES:

2 zephyrs “The West wind; poetically any calm soft wind” (Johnson).

3 craggy “Rugged; full of prominences; rough to walk on or climb” (Johnson).

6 kine “Plural of cow” (Johnson).

18 gales “A wind not tempestuous, yet stronger than a breeze” (Johnson).

22 Aston’s Hillock A reference to small hills near one of the several “Aston” villages in rural Cheshire, most likely either Aston juxta Mondrum or Aston-on Sutton.

26 weather-cock “An artificial cock set on the top of a spire, which by turning shows the point from which the wind blows” (Johnson).

28 Cestrian Hills “Of or pertaining to the city of Chester or to Cheshire” (OED).

31 toss the quoit “The sport or game of throwing rings of flattened iron, rope, rubber, etc.” (OED); pitch the bar “In various games: to throw or otherwise propel (an object) towards a mark, or so as to fall in or near a specified place” (OED).

Source:  The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 61, part I (January 1791), p. 68.

Edited by Faith Cassidy Swanson