No More Learning

Agave, nurs'd by a length of rolling years, rears her
stately form,
with wise delay, still protracting the beauty follow'd
by decay;
till, org'd by time's resistless date, she braves ap-
proaching fate nobly,
and, conscious of impending doom, bursts forth into
bloom, impatient;
while the golden gems profusely shoot, rich, from all
their curving stems;
then the vegetable martyr, fading 'midst admiring
eyes, dies.
But, at thy command thusflow'ring, her finish'd form,
shall stand unchang'd,
and, through ages yet to come, shall smile, glorying
in perennial bloom.
* See the note on Aloe, No. 333, page 134.
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Versification.
Iambics of ten syllables; each paragraph to make two
tierses, with rhime.
454
The Thracian herdsman so stands full in the gap
with his spear, and hopes the hunted bear.
455
And a temple, sacred to the queen of love, was
rais'd above, o'er its eastern gate.
456
The form of Mars, all sheath'd in arms, stood high
on a chariot; and the god look'd gruffly.
457
The huntress Cynthia pursues the deer, with her
nymphs around: the woods resound with horns.
458
Then she preferr'd her chaste request thus lowly,
kneeling with her hands across her breast.
459
The war, and stern debate, and immortal strife,
shall then be the bus'ness of my life.
460
They were scarce seated, when a promiscuous rude
crowd at once rush'd in with loud clamors.
461
But, whither his soul went, let those, who search
the secrets of the future state, relate.
462
But, alas! why do mortal men in vain complain of
Providence, Fate, or Fortune ?
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463
He snor'd secure till morn, his senses bound in slum-
ber, and drown'd in long oblivion.
464
In days of old, there liv'd a valiant prince, of mighty
fame; and his name was Theseus*.
465
Indulgent Heav'n vouchsafes the sweet vicissitudes
of night and day, for our delight.
466
O thou, with whom, from reason's dawn, my heart
was wont to share each care and each pleasure!
467'
Oh ! from our fate and our example learn, ere too
late, learn repentance and wisdom.
468
Thus, always teas'd, always teasing others, to be dis-
pleas'd is his only pleasure. .
469
The rhet'ric they display, like quicksilver, shines, as
it runs, but, grasi,'d at, slips away.
470
To catch from the sight new rapture, angels had
stopp'd, when Mercy's mandate w ing'd their flight,
471
We pay the tributary tear at learning's tomb, with
sincere grief and due rev'rence.
47 2
How much of learning, how much oi know ledge,
* Theseus, two syllables. -- See the note cm Orpheus, No. 247,
page 113. -
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? 160 Versification.
bade the world farewell, when Horatio fell!
473
The careful housewives make an ample cake for mc
at home, rich with almonds and plums.
474
?
Pride of the land ] you largely share wbate'er of fair
or good celestial bounty gives.
475
The fool, who presumes to utter one opposing word
'gainst his sov'reign lord, is rash.
476
Scotia's queen now rose on her couch, and gaz'd away
her soul, as the day faintly dawn'd.
477
Ever working on a social plan, God attaches man to
man by various ties.
478
Yet depend not much upon your golden dream, al-
though it seem feasible and fair.
479
The sage, who late diffus'd the blessings of Britan-
nia's reign o'er India's wide domain.
480
There was a time, when the light wak'd me at morn
cheerfully, and, at night, peace was mine.
481
Ill-fated Greece saw both her taste and her genius
expire beneath a victor's ire.
482
Lo! lame Tyrtaeus wakes slumb'ring Sparta's half-
extinguish'd fire with his martial lyre.
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483
No tongue can express, no pen describe, and no
thought figure poor Orra's dire distress.
" 484
We thank the hand, that points the wholesome lancet
to some morbid part, with gentle art.
485
Theodosius, a youth endu'd with worth of early
growth, woo'd this beauteous virgin.
486
Darius, tir'd with the toilsome pleasures of the day,
now lay reclin'd on his couch.
487
E'en now, e'en now, pale Despair weeps, and writh-
ing Anguish roars, on ydntler western shares.
E'en now fierce Slav'ry stalks in Afric's groves with
hideous yell, and slips the dogs of hell.
488
The prophet spake well, " Let the desert sing: the
spiry fir shall spring where the thorn sprang;
and the luxuriant yew and myrtle shall grow, where
grew rank and unsightly thistles. "
489
Bat these fond dreams of happiness are not confess'd,
? 'till time lias calm'd the ruffled breast.
Heav'n's sweet smile is not reflected on the wave, 'till
the rushing winds forget to rave.
490
Ye careless and supine, from a voice like mine, take
couusel and caution, if you can.
o3
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I would teach truths, which the theorist could never
reach, and observation taught me.
. 491 *' "
Just lleav'n approves the work of gen'rous love and
filial fear, as sincere and honest:
but the omniscient judge scorns, with averted eyes,
the slavish drudge, and the base hireling.
492. -- To Death.
Ah ! why dost thou thus, capricious, still turn aside,
with tyrant pride, from the wretched ?
and why love to stray, an un-invited guest, where
thy presence strikes with wild dismay ?
493. -- The Planet Mercury.
Swift Merc'ry, scorch'd as he moves around the solar
blaze, first displays his vivid orb.
494
Surrender'd, ev'ry hour, to the ruling pow'r of some
ungovern'd passion, the heart
finds the truths that once bore sway, and all their
deep impression, wear away by degrees.
So coin, passM current in traffic, grows smooth, 'till
at last Caesar's image is effae'd. ,
495
I saw thee, thwarted by storms of elemental strife,
cross the troubled sea of life.
I saw thy skiff, on the raging main, maintain unequal
fight with fearful tempests.
I saw the whirlwind's breath heave up the migbtj
billows of the deep, with dreadful sweep.
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496
The Gipsey's faggot blaz'd, at ev'ning, down by yon
hazel copse. -- There we stood, and gaz'd--
gaz'd, with silent awe, on her sun-buin'd face, her
hood of straw, and tier tuttcr'd mantle
As she drew the silver piece o'er my palm, and, with
searching view, trac'd the line of life,
how my flutt'ring pulse throbb'd with fears and hopes,
to learn the color of my future years !
497
Amid the wreck of time, so Tully paus'd, to trace the
sublime truth on the rude stone,
when th' immortal sage of Syracuse, disclos'd in ho-
nor'd dust, repos'd at bis feet.
Iambics of eight and six syllables alternately; each
paragraph to make a line of eight, and one of six--
the first rhiming with the third--the second with the
fourth.
498
Her plaintive strains play'd in mournful accents on
Echo's ear;
and the warbling notes sweetly decay'd on the di-
stant plains.
499
Though my fortune has denied show, pomp, and daz-
zling splendor,
yet content has well supplied more than grandeur
can bestow.
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500
Lo ! impetuous torrents dash down the mountain's
rugged side,
and the tide, with horrid crash, bears down mingled
rocks and trees.
501
Ye verdant groves, adieu! ye plains, where nature
smiles, adieu !
The view no more proves my solace, no more be-
guiles my thought.
502. -- Epitaph on a Child.
With friendly care, Death came, ere sorrow could
fade or sin blight,
convey'd the op'ning bud to heav'n, and there bade
it blossom.
503
Alas! the little victims, regardless of their doom,
play.
They have no care beyond to-day, no sense of ills
to come. ,
504. -- Migratory Birds.
On weary wing, from remote climes, a helpless traia
arrive,
which in vain seek food and rest, low circling in
airy ring.
505
The sons that Britain leads to combat on the main,
are firm,
and firm her hardy race that Ueads the plain in steady
march.
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506
The peaceful eve spread her twilight mantle, with
serene smile;
and Cynthia shed her argent lustre o'er the dewy
green.
507
Fair fountain ! may tufted trees arise on thy greea
margin,
and spreading boughs screen from summer's fervid
skies thy bosom ! *
508
Ah me! what charms the prospect wears to youth's
untutor'd eye!
The op'ning world appears bright as the portals of
the sky.
609
Old chieftains, who knew no refinement, dwelt here
in rude state.
The wants their bosoms felt, were small, and few their
enjoyments.
510
Sure, sacred friendship shall glow, not confiu'd to
life's short span. -
The ardent mind shall know its best delights beyond
the grave.
511
The panting herds repose: the toiling hand of Care
is still:
the busy murmur of iusects glows through the peo-
pled air.
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? lfiG Versification.
512
The swallows compose their useless wing m their
torpid state;
and bees wait the call of early spring as idly in
hives.
513
I ask not, ye great, your repose, laid on swelling
velvet,
while the oak-leaves close their venerable shade o'er
my head.
514
If we saw each inward grief written on man's out-
ward brow,
how many would then draw our pity, whom we
, now envy!
515
In black attire the church was deck'd, the saints ar-
ray'd in black,
and a bloody corpse was laid in the middle of the
choir
and he found the altar stain'd with blood, as he came
nearer;
and there stream'd a crimson flood on the steps, and
all around.
516
O'er the vale I wander'd, while balmy Zephyrs blew
gently.
The blue vi'let and white lily gave fragrance to the
gale.
The feather'd tribes hail'd Sol's refulgent beam with
tuneful song:
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the finny race sail'd down the stream swiftly, in
sportive throng.
In the following stanzas, of the same measure as the
preceding, the rhime is confined to the second and fourth
lines.
517
And they hail'd the bridal day with joy, when it
came at length;
and they went their willing way onward to the house
of God.
518
The day's last splendors shine bright on the moun-
tain's heathy slope,
and gaily gleam o'er the Rhine, rich with many a
radiant hue.
519
Your strong compassion glows, where Mis'ry spreads
her deepest shade:
the balm, that softens human woes, distils from your
blest lips.
520
While the thoughtless many glide down the summer
stream of vice,
you stem the rushing tide, and steer your steady bark
upward.
521
Never durst the fisher cast his net in the lake be-
low ;
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? 1C8 Certification.
nor would ever swallow wet her passing wing in its
waves.
62*
From beneath, th' unfathom'd lake sudden sent forth
strange music;
and the solemn sounds of death sail'd slowly o'er the
waters.
523
Yet the wishes I disclose, arise not from discon-
tent :
my heart o'erflows with gratitude for blessings I
enjoy.
524. -- The double-blossomed Cherry-tree.
How this tree shone lately, array'd in beauty's fairest
vest!
I fondly said, " Thou shalt henceforward be my
garden's pride:"
But now not a vestige of my late fav'rite tree re-
mains.
Ksee its snowy blossoms in scatter'd heaps all
around
I stand rebuk'd, who could turn my eyes thus from
real worth,
and prefer to that worth a flow'r, which only
blooms and dies*.
The double-blossomed cherry-tree produocs nt, fruit.
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? Vtrsification.
169
Iambics of eight syllables, with alternate rhime --
1. e. the first line rkiming with the third -- the second,
with the fourth.
525
Thou object of my mournful tear! when last we met,
thy smiles were glad.
But thy sun is now set in shades, no more to cheer
mine eyes with smiles.
. 526
In our youthful days, how gaily on the vernal plain
we gambol'd,
where the pure streamlet stravs swiftly to the main,
through woodlands and vales !
. 527
Each sabbath morn, duly is seen, with herbs and
flow'rs, a weeping troop
of virgins and youths, to adorn, within the sacred
green, thy grave.
528
To the subjugated mind fell Despotism shows his
giant form,
as the meteor of the storm, the horror, the dread of
mankind, glares.
529
While, with bare bosom, Jessy rov'd, the boist'rous
blast of heav'n roar'd loud :
the fleecy snow was driv'n in heaps: the black'ning
tempest fill'd the air.
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? 170 Versification.
530
Sorrow's child ! tranquil and serene be thy rest! be
thy slumbers soft!
Thy smiles have oft beguil'd my tears, and sooth'd
my agitated breast.
531
Oh ! sue yon chief go to battle. As he flies, the stroke
arrests him.
He falls; and the husband and the father dies, in
that fatal blow.
532
Too full to speak, Laura's fond heart sigh'd a soft
adieu to Arthur.
As Arthur withdrew mournfully, down her cheek
stole love's gentle tear.
533
Now releas'd from the cares of worldly bus'ness,
impatient Arthur
repairs with ardor to the spot where all his cares
ceas'd in rapture.
534
The moon, with pallid beam, shot temporary light
through louring clouds,
on the rippled scream now glitt'ring, now fading from
the sight slowly.
535
What mournful voice sounds sad along the winding
vale with plaintive sighs?
What piercing shrieks of paiguish rise, and float
upon the passing gale ? . "
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536
Each fragrant flow'r, that drinks the dew, shall spring
around my ivied porch ;
and Lucy, in russet gown and blue apron, shall sing
at her wheel.
537
Contending hosts drop the brandish'd blade from
their grasp, in mute surprise,
forget th' affray, and turn on th' angelic maid their
eyes, transported.
53S
At op'ning day, the thrush, high on the thorn, be-
gins his sprightly song;
r. nd the blackbird tunes his varied lay, where the .
streamlet winds along.
539. -- To Friendship.
Men call thpe vain, c hanging, sordid, scarce known,
an 1 'are to see, on earth ;
and <. n thee tiiey lay the heavy blame, when they
feei L. ise treach'ry's |,ain.
540
As late I stray'd alo. ig the flow'rv side of Derwenl's
murm'ring si ream,
in the sunny glade 1 spied a rosy sweet-briar bush
full blooming.
Its blossoms, as they spread o'er the glass}' wave,
glow'd with crimson die ;
and their delicate perfume was shed on the gales that
sportedby.
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? 172 Versification.
To the spot returning this day, to view the bush so
richly blown, *
I mark'd its lot with tearful eye; for its crimson bloom
was all gone.
541. -- To the Nightingale.
Why, tell me wliy thy troubled heart sighs for ever,
plaintive warbler f
Cannot that glowing sky, these groves, impart to
thy woes a solace ?
See, Nature renews her robe of gayest green, at thy
wish'd return:
and, when Nature wakes the rural scene, can thy
wayward bosom mourn ?
In dews Aurora steeps the new-born flow'rets of the
dale, for thee;
On the western gale she strews her fragrance with
lib'ral hand, for thee.
542
Gentle Sleep, come! steal softly upon my senses
with drowsy charms:
In thy downy arms infold me, and set thy seal on
my eye-lids.
543
Fancy ! come, weave for thy vot'ry the dreams that
own thy soft control.
Lift thy wand high : my willing soul shall bless and
believe thy fictions.
I long have known the louring sky, the with'ring
blast, the cheerless path.
Fancy ! come, aid me : we'll descry a world of our
own, far happier.
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There fine forms alone, with soften'd mien and gentle
voice, shall visit:
nor cold Distrust, nor Selfishness, nor severe Pride,
shall be seen there.
And Hope shall light up our skies and our landscapes
with her gay sunshine ;
and Sensibility, with dewy eyes and swelling heart,
stray there.
The sentient plant, whose feeling frame turns away
from the stranger's touch,
exists but in the soften'd beam, which art can con-
vey around it.
Distress'd by ev'ry passing gale, by coarser stems
that rise near it,
oppress'd by ev'ry rude impulse -- expose it, and it
dies, like me.
In the following stanzas, of the same measure as the
preceding, the rhime is confined to the second and fourth
lines.
544
Thus propitious Nature grac'd my natal hour, with
indulgent care,
and gave the fiow'r, the sunshine, and the gale, with
superior sweetness.
545
He went, and he spake sweet mercy's mild accents,
with a parent's voice.
His love return'd, he long'd to strain his sorrowing
child within his arm*.
p3
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? . 174 ,. Versification.
'*t '*
Iambics of ten syllables, with alternate rhime.
540 ,
Mark how the frequent gale delights to play around
the grave of her I still adore,
forsakes the rosy how'r and spicy^ grove, to wave the
grass thai clothes this hallow'd clay.
547
Immortal Liberty, the heav'nly guardian of the Bri-
tish isles, stood triumphant,
and, with fav'ring smiles, view'd her gallant sons,
undaunted heroes of the flood or field.
548
Farewell, fleeting, false hopes, and vain desires!
Anxious, fond wishes, that within my breast
dwell with tin-availing anguish and sighs, leave me,
oh ! to my wonted rest leave me.
549
Alas! 1 myself must never know the consolation I
would grant to others ;
but, if I want the means, the pow'r to bless, I can
commiserate, though not bestow.
550
When the orient sun expands his roseate ray o'er the
sky, the rising morn is fair;
and the meek radiance of departing day fades lovely
to the bard's enraptur'd eye.
551
The flow'r, though so sweet once, so lovely to the
eye, thus fades, nipp'd by the frozen gale :
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when boist'rous storms assail, the tall oaks, torn
from the earth, thus lie a mighty ruin.
552
The shipwreek'd stranger's weary bones should he
far, far beyond the haled billow's reach :
but blest the hands, that, with pious rare, supply
this hasiy grave on the wave-worn beach.
553
Oh ! could I hide the pencil'd story of my early
years from Mem'rv's steadfast eye!
She heaves the ling'ring sigh o'er the sad view, and
drops her fruitless tears at ev'ry glance.
554
The lucid orb of day now gilds the verdant beauties
of the lawn with mellow tints: <
his slowly-setting ray smiles unclouded -- sure pre-
sage of a mild dawn succeeding.
555 .
Heav'n saw her meek submission to her maker's will,
and with pitying eyes view'd the maid,
and, from ev'ry future ill, caught her pure soul to
the blissful mansions of the skies.
556
Pomp shall no more display her charms for him, nor
ceremony with a smile greet him.
Servile swarms of sycophants, veil'd in flatt'ry, shall
no more attend him, to beguile.
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? 176 Versification.
Iambics of ten syllables; the first line to rhime with the
fourth -- the second, with the third.
557
From thy bright abode, O Mercy ! descend ; and bid
Ambition's direful contests'cease.
Oh ! haste! and bring sweet smiling Peace with thee,
and all the blessings bestow'd by her hand.
558
Ah ! I thought once, this bosom, that had throbb'tl
so much with varied yangs, was steel'd at length
by sullen apathy, nor would more yield to sensibi-
lity's impressive touch.
569
The shepherd, rous'd from his dream, hears a sound
of rustling plumes, that seek a distant clime ;
and their clamors strike his ears at intervals, as he
marks them steer their sublime course.
560
I do not dread the vivid lightning, glancing, with
awe-inspiring glare, o'er the plain;
nor all the horrors, now spread around me, give one
moment's pain to my aching breast.
561. --To the Owl.
Melancholy, cheerless bird ! I woo thee. Thy fu-
nereal cry is soothing to me.
Build thy lonely nest here ; and be thy sullen wail-
ings ever heard nigh my dwelling.
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Iambics of eight syllables.