No More Learning

How extensively the empire of death spreads round,
Usurping pleasure's | domain.
The sun now ascends slowly over eastern hills,
WhWefogs besiege the vale:
His oblique beams now shine faintly at mid day,
And the valley is only half illuminated.
Clouds sail through the shy in rapid sue'eession,
And obscure all the solemn view round :
The wood murmurs to the gale :
The storm \ rapidly rushes along the ground.
* Compare this piece with No. 822.
T
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? 218 Versification.
699. --To a Candle.
Hail, luminous companion of my solitary hours,
My midnight sun with light faintly glimmering!
Thy master now pours a sonnet to thee: ,
Accept the poetry: it is all the poet can pay.
When darkness veils the earth,
And Night with black sceptre exercises her dominion
over the plain,
When \ Fear gives spectres birth,
And imaged horrors fill the. brain of the vulgar;
Then I withdraw to my chamber,
Where books and solitude invite;
Trim my fire with secret satisfaction,
And light my taper from its flame.
More pleasing to me thy little quivering rays,
Which hardly \ enlighten my study round,
Than the glare, where thousand torches burn,
And Folly and Mirth pour their united sound.
700
Inconstantly seen through dust driven in whirlwinds,
The swords thickly flash : the frequent Yictim^ies;
While, over his mutilated trunk, and ghastly visage,
Armies rush trampling, where fury calte.
Tell me, soldier, grim spectacle of pain, tell me,
What Siren decoyed thee from thy home,
To abandon thy poor, thy small domestic train,
To wander over billowy deeps for labors of arms?
Ho beams of glory cheer thy unfortunate \ destiny;
Thy name does nut descend to future ages--
Forced to fight for thou knowest not what,
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? Versification. 219
And impelled to butchery by the rage of anothtr
person.
Thy widow, thy children weep,
And beg their subsistence from door to door,
While thy limbs, mangled with wounds, sleep with-
out honor,
And waste and rot on the shore of a strange country.
Thefirst line to rhime with thefourth--the 'idwith the 3d.
701
At a distance from the disturbance of the busy multi-
tude,
I court the grove's \ shdde;
And, as I behold the tints of the sun | fading,
1 perceive the hours dragging along heavily.
I ramble onward, and, rapt* in pensive gloom,
Meditate on the various evils of wayward life,
On falsehood's wiles, ambition's contention,
And virtue rapidly going to an early grave.
702
Ah! dear pleasures of youth, forever gone!
Ah! were I once again a child here,
Again this strand, these wood-walks,
And dells, I would trend witti careless step.
The wanderings of more mature years
Would then present no unpleasant retrospect;
Nor regret for time imprudently | muted
Would fill my foreboding \ bosom witn jears.
* See. the nofe en Rapt, No. 651, page 199.
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? 220 Versification.
70S--To a Red-breast.
In autumn's decline, thy lay which sweetly sooths,
Thy querulous warblings, idled ray cares to peace:
When vyinter came, arrayed in horrors,
I beheld thee silent on the spray.
The trees again dressed in gay leaves,
While reflected rays streak the west,
Thy cadence again sooths my uneasy | bosom,
And trills the requiem of day-light departing.
Thefirst and third lines to rhime -- second andfourth --
fifth and eighth -- sixth and seventh.
704
The transitory \ little flower is no sooner born*,
Than, quickly ripening, it hastily proceeds to decay:
Nursed by the beams of morning,
Its little year is terminated at evening.
* Born. -- Although many persons confine this word to the
birth of living creatures, and some even exclusively restrict it
to the human species, there is no impropriety -- none in poetry
at least'--in applying it to irrational creatures, or to inanimate
productions. As a cow bears a calf, and the' earth bean
flowers, the calf is born of the cow, and the flowers born of tilt
earth; which, in reality, means nothiug else than borne by At
cow or the earth; born and borne having been originally the
same identical participle from Bear, though they now happen to
be differently pronounced. But that difference of sound is purely
accidental, and such as we may every day observe in Tom,
Shorn, and Forlorn; some speakers making them to rhime with
Horn, others with Sworn; which latter prounciation, by the way,
is more agreeable to etymology; those words being formed by
syncope from the antique Tdren, Shbren, Forloren, as Born and
Sworn from Bor'en and Sxeorhi; whereas the other sound (rhim-
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? Versification. 281
And thus man's life: -- the child
Speedily enters into youth's spring;
Theu remains a while, 'till Time, with quick wing,
Drive$ him on to Age's dreary wilderness.
The first and fourth lines to rhime --second and third
--fifth and eighth -- sixth and seventh--ninth and
eleventh -- tenth and twelfth.
705
Man of the grey \ hair, thou must wander
Through [the*] waste destitute of water, and over
[the*] hill destitute of herbs,
Where no blossom blooms, and where no rivulet
rolls,
To cheer thy journey to Death, thy journey | void of joy.
But. youth, whose soul is hope, anticipates no evil;
Trees arch his path; and cAeer/M/landscapes
Smile all round him, while the sun
Shines on shades resounding with the song of birds,
and quiet valleys.
He looks right before him with that eye void of fear,
Which does not discover a sorrow in futurity:
But age, that heaves many sighs over past pleasures,
Shall soon humble his fond aspiring thoughts.
ing with Horn) was originally only a provincialism, such as, to
ibis day, we may pen eive m many of the natives of certain di- '
slant counties, who often pronounce the long O like AW, thus
converting Joe into Jam, Know into Gnuw, Whole into Wall,
sounded exactly like the wall of a nouse,
* " The'' is to be omitted, in both cases.
T3
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? 222 Versification.
Trochaic Verses to be scanned -- some of tlt&n pure
Trocha'ics, as
Quips and | cranks and ) wanton | wiles,
Nods and | becks and | wreathed | smiles--
others having an admixture of different feet, or a super-
numerary un-accented syllable at the end.
706
Laura's eyes, in soft dismay,
Chiding frowns would fain betray.
707
Hail to Pleasure's frolic train !
Hail to Fancy's golden reign !
Festive Mirth, and Laughter wild,
Free and . sportive as the child!
708. --To the Skylark.
Sweetest warbler of the skies,
Soon as morning's purple dies
O'er the eastern mountains float,
Wake me with thy merry note.
709. --Written in a Garden.
Here, amidst this blest retreat,
May each fairy fix her seat:
May they weave their garlands here,
Ever blooming, ever fair. . . .
May the songsters of the vale
Warble here the tender tale,
Pour the thrilling cadence sweet,
Each blest habitant to greet.
May Pomona, ever gay,
Here her smiling gifts display,
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? Versification. 2'23
And with autumn's mellow hoard
Heap the hospitable board.
710
Where the rising forest spreads -
Shelter for the lordly dome,
To their high-built airy beds
See the rooks returning home.
711
Haste, ye sister pow'rs of song !
Hasten from the shady grove,
Where $he river rolls along
Sweetly to the voice of love;
Where, indulging mirthful pleasures, <
Light you press the flow'ry green,
And, from Flora's blooming treasures, i
Cull the wreath for fancy's queen.
Trochaics to be made.
Each line to be one verse; each couplet to rhime;
the Italic zeords requiring alteration or addition, as in
page 196.
712
Now battle glows with fury :
In torrents flows hostile blood.
713
Earth resumes all her verdure :
All its splendor illumes heav'n.
714
The voice, the dance, obey thee,
To thy warbled lay temper'd.
Wherever she directs her welcome step,
715
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? 224 Versification.
Poverty | ceases to grieve:
Where her smiles enliven the prospect,
Anguish dries the tear.
716
Here you will meet with ! intellectual pleasures--
Pleasures that ornament the mind.
The pleasures of sense-are transitory:
They give no solid happiness.
717
Be no longer alarmed, little trembler:
Thou liasi plentiful crops stored up--
Seed, sown by genial sorrows,
More than all thy scorners possess.
718
Rise, | amiable \ repentant;
Come, and lay claim to thy kindred leaven.
Come ! thy sister angels declare
Thou hast wept our thy stains.
719
Charming songster, begin the song,
Ever new and gay.
Bring the wine which inspires joy,
Ever fresh andfine.
Gentle boy, whose feet
Move lighny to melodious cadence,
Quickly fill us the wine,
Ever fresh and fine.
720
Now let ex. pe; ience determine
Between the good aud evil of which you hare made trial,
In the level ground where enchantment reigns,
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? Veradication. 225
'Declare, unfold the treasures that you discovered. . . .
Seas that lie smoothly dimpling,
While the tempest | threatens 1 above.
Exhibiting, in an obrious glass,
Pleasures that vanish in possession ;
Gay, light, fickle, and transitory,
Flattering, only for the purpose of betraying.
721
With prophetic voice, sisters,
Let us pour now the dirge of death.
<<. 722
Will the stork, when she intends rest,
Build her nest on the wave?
723
Listen! among yonder | old trees,
The breeze sighs, wandering.
724
Over Me head of a parent, hast thou
Shed drops of filial affection?
725
Heaven shall conduct thy unbefriended steps,
Enliven thy hours, and protect thy side.
Trochaics with alternate rhime, requiring alteration or
addition, as the preceding.
726
The roar of the battle brayed faintly,
At a distance, down the hollow wind.
Terror fled before :
In the rear were left wounds and Death.
" We will still keep our arms ?
727
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? 226 Versification.
Thus answered the noble king:
" Helmet and mail shall remain,
And the sword tinged in btuod. "
728
The shepherd dines beside the rivulet,
From the fierce heat of noon
protected by the pines,
Which hang over his seat.
729
But from river, dell, or mountain,
Not a Zephyr | rises,
Afraid, lest the beam of noon
Should scorch his silken, his delicate wings.
730
With the rose, the plant of love,
Let us tinge our wine;
With the most beautiful flower that blotxeth,
Let us entwine crowns.
731
The sword, in the king's hand,
Cleft brazen | helmets, like water,
While, over \ valiant Macon's head,
Sword and lance pass, without hurting him.
The first and third lines hyper meter,frith double rhimt
the other two of the regular measure.
732
Behold! the spirited band comesformard,
Sabres brandished aloft.
Hope dances in each breast;
In each eye, courage speaks.
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? Versification. 227
733
Amiable, gay, whimsical creature,
Source of every pain and pleasure,
Beautiful, imperfect production of nature,
Vain, tender, and too apt to believe.
734. -- To the Rose.
Thou delicious, sweet flower, hail!
Once more summer bids thee welcome
To my agreeable and neat bower--
Thee, the most sweet of her train.
735
While every | ancient poetic mountain
Breathed inspiration round abont,
Every shade and hallowed spring
Deeply murmured a solemn sound.
736
With declining motion, in the west,
The sun, the monarch of day, goes down,
From the eastern sea early
To emerge with-golden beam.
The first and third lines regular-- the second and
fourth, hypermeter, double-rhimed.
737
Shall the budded rose blow,
Wasting its beauties on the air,
Not cropped by any desiring hand,
None enjoying its early sweets f
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? vi'J8
Vertification.
All of the regular measure ; each couplet rhiming.
' 738
Begone hence, mistaken* woman!
Do not attend to what the Sirens say.
Pleasure, as rapidlyfleeing as the wind, .
Leaves after it pain and repentance.
739. -- To the Cricket.
Diminutive inmate, full of merriness,
Chirping on the hearth of my kitchen,
Wheresoever be thy residence,
Always the forerunner of good !
For thy warm shelter, \ rezeard me
With a softer and sxceeter song.
Thou shalt have, in return,
Such a strain as 1 am able to give. . . .
Neither night nor morning
Puts an end to thy sport.
Sing, therefore, and lengthen out thy span
Far beyond the date of mankind.
Miserable man, whose days are passed
In discontentment,
Does not live, | although he be old,
Haifa span, in comparison with thee.
* Sec the note on Mistaken and Mistaking, page 68.
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? Versification*
229
The second and fourth lines rhiming; the first and
third, without rhinie.
740
First trace her glossy lodes:
Paint them soft, and as black as jet:
And, if thy imitative power be such,
Paint them breathing ev'ry sweetness.
Prom the cheek, luxuriant, full,
Partially appearing through her dark-colored hair,
Lei the forehead rise,
Fair, smooth, and glittering bright.
The first and third lines hypermeter, without rhime; the
second and fourth, regular, and rhiming.
741. -- To Sleep. . -
My eyes have a long time sought thee to no purpose.
Come, and hring the relief which I wish for.
Come, and assuage my tormented | breast,
Sick with care and sorrow \ at the same time.
Stealing over my eye-lids,
Steep my sense in rest,
Shedding from thy wings
Kind forgetful'ness over my sorrows.
Under thy friendly shade, Hope
Shall spread her fairy colors,
And with acceptable, | cheerful illusions,
Dance round my head again.
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? 230
Versification.
Regular, with alternate rhime.
742
Behold! what storms | are gathering round,
Gloomy, and pregnant with England's destiny I
England ! rouse thyself at the sound !
Behold! the Frenchman is at thy door!
Before the arrow of war be sped,
Meet it, and anticipate the stroke.
European powers! lend your assistance,
To exterminate the common enemy.
Anapastic Verses to be scanned. -- -See " Anapastic"
in the Prosody, page 32.
743
The spirit of chivalry reign'd o'er the laws,
When the glances of beauty decided the cause.
744
No arbour, no shade, and no verdure is seen;
For the trees and the turf are all colors but green.
745
My temples with clusters of grapes I'll entwine;
And I'll barter all joys for a goblet of wine.
In search of a Venus, no longer I'll run ;
But I'll stop, and forget her, at Bacchus'es tuu.
740 (See Nos. 755, and 756. )
All bold and erect ev'ry ruffian we meet; [street.
And the coachmen, in tremors, scarce trot through the
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? Versification. ' 231
With a flourishing whip they once gallop'd along,
And crush'd out the souls of the beggarly throng.
To fracture a leg was but reckon'd a joke,
While the chariot was whirling through foam and
through smoke.
747
Let them talk of the beauties, the graces, that dwell
In her shape, in her face, in her air.
I, too, of those beauties, those graces, could tell:
But, ah ! what avails that she's fair?
I could . say, that, in nature, each emblem is faint*
To express all the charms of her face.
Her form--oh ! 'tis all that young Fancy can paint. ;
And her air, the perfection of grace.
But the frost of unkindnesa those blossoms can blight--
Each charm, each perfection, can stain--
Make the sweet-smiling Loves and the Graces
take flight,
And ease the fond fool of his pain.
Come, Mirth, and thy train! Of thy joys letme share--
Those joys that enliven the soul.
With these, I'll forget that my Phyllis is fair. --
Love and care shall be drown'd in the bowl.
748
Ye pow'rs, who make Beauty and Virtue your care;
Let no sorrow my Phyllis molest !
Let no blast of misfortune intrude on the fair,
To ruffle the calm of her breast!
749
I have march'd, trumpets sounding, drums beating,
flags flying,
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? 232 Versification.
Where the music of War drown'd the shrieks of the
dying.
x 750. -- Warranted Rasors.
" You warrant those rasors which now I have
bought
" Yes, truly, I warrant them not worth a groat. "
751. -- Robitison Crusoe*.
I am monarch of all I survey :
My right there is none to dispute.
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
0 solitude ! what are the charms .
That sages have seen in thy face ?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
Than reign in this horrible place.
1 am out of humanity's reach;
X must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech--
* It may be proper to inform some of my young renders that
the fictitious tale of Robinson Crusoe was built on tbe real
story of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who had lived several
years in total solitude on the island of Juan Fernandez. Upon
his return to England, he intrusted his papers to Daniel Dfe Foe,
to prepare them for the press, with the reasonable hope of de-
riving benefit from the publication of his extraordinary adven-
tures. But De Foe, shamefully betraying his trust, stole from
those papers the ground-work of his tale, which he published,
for his own benefit, as an original piece--leaving poor Selkirk to
Jament the confidence which he had unluckily placed in a tnan
who could thus basely and cruelly rob him of all the advantages
which he was entitled to reap from his past sufferings.
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? Versification. 233
I start at the sound of my own
Society, friendship, and love,
Divinely bestow'd upon men !
Oh ! had I the wings of a dove,
How soon would I taste you again!
Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore
Some cordial endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
Anapccstics to be versified.
Anapaslia of four feet. -- Each line to make a
verse, and each couplet to rhime. -- N. B. It is of no
consequence whether the first foot of each verse consist
of two syllables or of three, provided that the last syl-
lable of that foot be accented. -- See page 32.
752
Adieu to the woodlands, where, gay and sportive,
The cattle play so froffcsorne, light bounding.
753
Adieu to the woodlands, where I have rov'd oft,
And, with the friend that I lov'd, convers'd sweetly.
754
Content and joy are now fled from our dwellings;
And, instead, disease and want sir. . our inuiates.
735. -- The French Revolution.
Now chivalry is dead, and Ciallia ru. n'd ;
And the glory of Europe is fled for ever.
V3
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? 2S4 Versification.
7. 56
No distinctions remain : lost is all order :
Grosses, ribbons, and titles, obtain no rev'rence.
757
All ranks, all ages, all natrons, shall combine
In this divine and just war of benevolence.
758
Though, from dunghills, meteors arise with lustre,
Is the filth, left behind, like the flame in the skies?
759
A singular custom prevails at Pavia,
To protect, from jails and bailiffs, the poor debtor.
760 [pale;
In my eye there's no grief, though my cheek may be
And 'tis seldom I give a sigh to sad mem'ry.
761
*t
You'll soon fly afar from country and from friends,
To havoc and to camps, to war and to rage.
. ' ? 6?
His case I remember'd, though scant was my wallet,
Nor, to his pitiful face, refus'd my last crnst.
763
Blind, forsaken, and poor, where shall I now go ?
Can I find one so kind and faithful, to guide me ?
764 [burden;
Her limbs could then no more support their faint
And she sank on the floor breathless and exhausted.
765
The hotter the fight, we still grow the fiercer.
So we conquer the foe, the loss we heed not.
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? Versification. 235
766
Queen of the fairies, so,gay and? rosy ! come !
As the daughter of May, with fl'ow'rs we must crown
you.
767. -- The impressed Sailor.
Because I've ventur'd my life for my country,
From my wife and my home I'm dragg'd, like a thief.
768. -- The Soldier.
After mafching all day, sore and hungry and faint,
Or! the swamps of the moor, at night I have kin down,
Unshelter'd, and by fatigue fure'd to remain,
By the wind all chill'd, and by the rain benumb'd.
769.