Man aspires to
forbidden
joy?
Carey - Practice English Prosody Exercises
net/2027/hvd.
hxg8hz Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
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? Vcrsification.
202
Ask, of heav'n, virtue, health, wisdom ;
But never let wealth be thy pray'r.
203
Still there remains one more labor,
A greater perhaps than before.
204
Fear precludes the light, like a fog,
And swells the object to the sight.
205
Honorio turns from side to side,
And now burns with insatiate thirst.
206
This frightful monster came from hell i
Guilt was his name, and Sin'his sire.
207
Let virtue be ever my guide,
And preside o'er my secret thoughts.
208
The lucid waves roll along, soft,
And gently break among the rocks;
Explore the strand in playful lapse,
And waft to shore a pallid corse.
, 209
To foreign climes why do you roam,
To study modes, times, and nations--.
A science often bought dearly,
And often what nought avails you ?
210
if heav'n, wise in ev'ry purpose,
I3
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? 102 Versification.
Denies the envied lot of wealth,. ,. . .
Still true to thee, Humanity,
The good 1 cannot do, I'll wish.
211
Our pleasures must decay shortly,
And vanish away with ourselves;
But virtue shall sustain the soul,
And soothe each agonising pain.
212
See terrific Mars advance next,
Who joys in wars, uproar, ruin. --
Fear, Flight, Fury, stand beside him,
Prompt to fulfill his dread command.
213
The summer past thus in plenty;
At last revolving winter came.
The trees no more yield a shelter:
The verdure withers from the field.
214
Array'd in white, plain Innocence
Lifts her fearless head before thee :
Religion's beams shine around thee,
And cheer thy glooms with divine light.
215
The flow'rs, that deck the field, are sweet* :
The smell, the blossoms yield, is sweet:
The summer gale, that blows, is sweet;
And the rose sweet, though sweeter you.
* N. B. Sweet,,. . swut, will net be allowable rhiaae.
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? Versification.
216
When Zephyrs stray o'er the blossom,
And convey sweets along the air,
Sha'n't I inhale the fragrant breeze,
Because you breathe a sweeter gale ?
217
The much-admiring crowd, awe-struck,
Bow'd before the virgin vision ;
Gaz'd with an ever new delight,
And, at the sight, caught fresh virtue.
218
A fearful, profound, and black gulf
Appears, the bound of either world,
Leading up to light, through darkness.
Sense shuns the sight, and shrinks backward.
219
With silent tread fate steals along,
Oft'nest found in what we dread least,
Frowns with angry brow in the storm,
But strikes the blow in the sunshine.
220
All external things combine now
To make thy days shine unclouded ;
And kindly has providence shed
On thy head its choicest blessings.
221
Near him stood his fav'rite spaniel,
And shar'd his food with his master,.
Till, sated, he now lay supine,
And snoi'd away the rising fumes.
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? 104 Versification.
222
The noblest minds prove their virtue
By love, sympathy, and pity.
These, these are truly fine feelings,
And prove their owner half divine.
223
I reach my native plain once more,
Where reign all the peaceful pleasures
My longing eye devours once more
Her shady bow'rs and crystal stream.
224
Grown restive by long indulgence,
She minded no will but her own.
She'd oft scold and fret at trifles,
Then take a seat in a comer,
And, moping all the day sourly,
Disdain alike to play or work.
225
Divines confess that life's a game ;
This says, at cards, and that, at chess.
But, if we centre our views here,
I fear 'tis all a losing game.
226
The furious god of war too long
With his iron car has crush'd us,
Along our ruin'd plains has rag'd,
With his cruel stains has soil'd them,
In endless sleep has sunk our youth,
And made the widow'd virgin weep.
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? Versification. 105
227. --Virtue.
I tell unwelcome truths, indeed:
But mark well my sacred lesson:
Whoever lives at strife with me,
Loses, for life, his better friend :
Who lives in friendship's ties with me,
Finds all that's sought for by the wise,
228
I keep, with watchful diligence,
His fleecy sheep from prowling wolves ;
Secure his midnight hours at home,
And drive from his door the robber.
His breast glows with kindness for this* :
His hand bestows the food for this.
229 ?
A long farewell to Britain's isle,
Where pleasures dwell, and plenty smiles !
Ye woods all waving wide, farewell,
Ye vales attir'd in summer's pride,
Ye tow'rs, that rise in air proudly,
Ye cots, so fair and-so cleanly 1
230
But, if thou com'st with austere frown,
To nurse the brood of fear and care,,. . .
Wisdom, I disclaim thine empire,
Thou empty boast of pompous name !
Dwell in gloomy shade of cloisters ;
But never haunt my cheerful cell.
* Thii. . . this, cannot be admitted as proper rhime.
-
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? 106 Versification.
231
Let me but hope content from wealth,
Still rememb'ring it was but lent;
Spread my store to modest merit,
My hospitable door unbar,
Nor feed an idle train for pomp,
While unpitied want sues in vain.
232
A prowling cat spies the sparrow,
And expands her amber eyes wide.
Grimalkin draws near and more near;
She protends her claws, wags her tail;
Then, springing on her thoughtless prey
She hears away the shrieking bird,
233
No costly paintings grace my rooms:
The humbler print supplies their place.
My garden lies behind the house,
And opens to the southern skies. ' '
The distant hills yield gay prospects,
And, in ev'iy field, plenty'smiles.
234 ?
Would'st thou bind the gen'rous lion r
Bribe him to be kind by kindness.
He gives with multiplying hand
The good he receives from others,
Or makes fair return for the bad,
And pays scorn for scorn, with int'rest.
235
The love, that cheers life's latest stage.
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? Versification.
Proof against old age and sickness,,. . .
Is kind, delicate, and gentle,
Compassionate or blind t<> faults,
And will endure with sympathy
Those evils it would cure gladly.
. 236
The prudent nymph, whose cheeks disclose
The blushing rose and the. lily,
Will screen lier charms from public view,
And rarely be seen in the crowd.
237
Oppress'd with heaviness and toil,
Seek not the flow'ry bank for rest,
Though the bow'ring woodbine spread there
O'er thy head its fragrant shelter,
Though Zephyr should long linger there,
To hear the sky-lark's tuneful song.
Heedless youth, thou shalt awake there,
The vengeance of the coiling snake.
238. --To Zimmermann, on Solitude,
Fond enthusiast, cease to obtrude.
The love of solitude on man :
Cease, cease, with faint and gay colors,
To paint that sickly nymph's retreat.
Her slothful ease and silent shades
May please the old and impotent;
But the brisk eye and firm muscle
Shall fly at distance from her haunts.
239
As the maid now grew in stature,
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? 108 Versification.
(A flow'r just op'ning to the view)
She oft stray'd through her native lawns,
And play'd with the lambkins,. wrestling.
Her looks bequeath'd diffusive sweets :
As she breath'd, the breeze grew purer:
The morn assum'd her rosy blush:
The spring bloom'd with earlier fragrance;
And nature took delight yearly
To dress the world in white, like her.
240
The morning blush'd; the shades were fled;
The winds were hush'd in their caverns;
When Hymen, sedate and pensive,
Held his musing gait o'er the fields.
Through the green-wood shade, behind him
The god survey'd Death's meagre form,
Who, with gigantic stride, quickly
Outwent his pace, and join'd his side.
The chat ran on various subjects,
'Till angry Hymen began thus.
241. --To a Redbreast.
From icy sprays and snowy plains,
From sunless days and moonless nights,. . . ,
Helpless, panting guest! thrice welcome !
In my breast I'll fondly warm thee
A captive's doom thou need'st not dread.
No! flutter round my room freely. . . .
At my lonely meal, no longer
I'll feel alone, while thou art by:
For, devoid of all distrust, soon
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? Versification.
Tbou'lt share my humble crust, nibbling. . . .
Heedless of the raving blast, thus,
Till winter's past; thou'l^dwell with me.
242
Friend ! forbear, o'er this sepulcre,
The pitying tear, the plaintive sigh.
My death supplies no just pretence
To dim thine eyes, or heave thy breast.
Grac'd with children's children, one wife
Walk'd down the vale of life with me.
My joyous hands three blooming youths
Entwin'd in Hymen's blissful bands
I shed, through life, no streams of grief
O'er child or grandchild, dead or sick.
To my departed shade, by them,
The rite was paid, the tear was pour'd :
Convoy'd to eternal rest thus,
Supremely blest in life, in death.
243
In triple row, the pine-apples
Were basking hot, and all in blow.
A bee of most discerning taste,
As he pass'd, perceiv'd the fragrance.
The spoiler came on eager wing,
And search'd in the frame for crannies,
Urg'd his attempt on ev'ry side,
Applied his trunk to ev'ry pane,
But still in vain : tight was the-frame,
And pervious to the light only.
Having wasted half the day thus,
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? 110 Versification.
Another way he trimm'd his flight.
Methinks I find in thee, said I,
The madness and sin of mankind.
Man aspires to forbidden joy? ,
With vain desires consumes his soul;
Folly the spring of his pursuit,
And all the fruit, disappointment
Such are often our dear delights,
To view, but not to touch, expos'd.
The sight inflames our foolish heart;
We long for pine-apples in frames.
244
The prophet of the Turk says thus,
" Abstain from pork, good musselman.
In ev'ry swine, there is a part,
No friend of mine or follower
May taste, whate'er his inclination,
On pain of excommunication. "
Such Mahomet's mysterious charge ;
And he left the point at large thus.
Had he express'd the sinful part,
They might eat the rest with safety :
But they thought it hard, for one piece,
To be debarr'd from the whole hog,
And set their wit at work, to find
What joint the prophet had in mind.
Straight arose much controversy :
These chose the back, those the belly.
Tis confidently said by some,
He meant not to forbid the bead;
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? Versification.
While others rail at that doctrine,
And piously prefer the tail.
Thus, conscience freed from ev'ry clog,
Mahometans eat the hog up. .
You laugh ! 'tis well. --The tale, applied,
May make you laugh on t'other side.
The preacher cries, " Renounce the world. "
A multitude replies, " We do;"
While one regards, as innocent,
A friendly and snug game at cards,
And, whatever you may say, one,
In a play, can see no evil.
Some love a race or a concei t,
And others the chase or shooting.
ReviPd and lov'd, follow'd and renounc'd,
The world is thus swallow'd, bit by bit.
245
My course is sped in youth's soft prime ;
Yet many a flow'r has spread my path.
246
If presumptuous foes dare invade,
Our country cries for aid to us :
Our children spread their hand-; to us:
We guard the nuptial bed fr -in wrong.
From us, who feel the joys of home,
The vengeful steel falls like lightning.
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? 112 Versification.
Iambic verses of ten syllables.
247
As Orpheus* tunes his song in Tbracian wilds,
The raptur'd beasts throng around him in crowds.
* Orpheus,--This word contains only two syllables. In Orpheut,
TAeteus, Proteus, and a very numerous list of Greek names of
similar termination, the EU is a diphthong, as in Europe, ? *.
charist, Eulogy, Euterpe, &c. In the original Greek, it it in-
variably a diphthong: in Latin, likewise, it is almost always s>>;
for the examples of diaeresis in such names are so very Jew, as
not to merit the slightest attention. This I can safely venture
to assert, after the pains which I have bestowed in minutely
searching through the entire collection of the ancient Latin
poets, for authorities and examples of every kind, to be inserted
in my " Latin Prosody:" and let me further observe, that Mil-
ton, Dry den, Pope--in short, every English poet, who had any
pretensions at all to classical knowledge, has paid due regard to
classic propriety in these cases, by making the J517 a diphthong.
I therefore advise my young readers carefully to avoid, in prose
as well as in poetry, the gross impropriety of dividing the EUS
of Orpheus, &c. into two syllables, and always to pronounce it
as a single syllable, nearly like the French verb Eusse, or tha
English noun Use. At the same time be it remembered that
Peneits and Alpheus (the names of two celebrated rivers) are tri-
syllabic words, and have the middle syllable long and accented.
--There are several other Greek names in EUS, which have the
E-V in separate syllables, with the E long and accented in some
instances, and in others bhort and un-accented: but to enume-
rate and discriminate them would be a tedious and laborious
task. Timotheus, however, and Briareus, seem to require parti-
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? Versification. 113
248
The mountain seems to throw a sable gloom,
Shades the glen below, and imbrowns the steep.
cular notice--Timotheus contains four distinct syllables: and,
although Dryden has, by poetic licence, used it as three, in the
following and some other lines of his " Alexander's Feast--
" Revenge ! revenge ! Ttmotheus cries"--
it is clear that he did not consider it as a proper trisyllabic;
because, in such case, he must have accented it on the first syl-
lable, like its English offspring, Timothy; the second being ori-
ginally short, and our usual mode of pronunciation forbidding us
to place an accent on a short penultimate; whereas, in Ti-mo-
the-us, the syllable -MO-, being then the antepenullimate, natu-
rally admits the accent, which he has correctly preserved. In
his lines, therefore, (the EU not being a dipththong) the JEU5
is not to be pronounced like the French Eusse, as in Orpheus,
Proteus, Ike, but like the EOVS in our English Beauteous,
which, though in reality a word of three syllables, is usually pro-
nounced as two, by synaeresis. -- In Briareus, the case is diffe-
rent: the EU is here a proper diphthong: the word contains
only three syllables; and so we find it in Virgil, Ovid, Lucan,
and other Latin poets, who all have its second syllable short, as
it likewise is found in a verse of Homer, which I shall presently
notice. Accordingly, Dryden, in his translation of Virgil, has,
with perfect propriety, used Briareus, as a trisyllabic word, with,
the second syllable short, and the accent on the first, viz.
Before the passage, horrid Hydra stands,
And Briareus with all his hundred hands. (JEn. 0. 401. )
If it be said that Milton has made it four syllables, because, in
the common editions of his "Paradise Lost" (1. 199) we find,
Briareus, or Typhon, whom the deu
By ancient Tarsus held--
I have only to reply, that the passage is falsified and disfigu. cd
K3
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? J14 Vmiftcatian*
249
How long shall man survey creation's boons.
And madly throw away its richest pearls ?
250
The fresh'ning breezes sweep away the clouds,
That hid the golden orb of day awhile.
251
She made a little stand at ev'ry turn,
And thrust her lily hand among the thorns.
by the inaccuracy of cither printers or editors, and that, in bet*
ter edition! , we read Briareos ; the nam* being written in two
ways, viz. Briareus, of three syllables, as in Virgil, Ovid, and
Lucan, above noticed--and Biiare&s, of four, which occurs in
Homer's Iliad, 1. 493, and jn Hesiod, Theog. 149. In Pope's
translation of Homer's line, the common editions make him.
guilty of a gross violation of prosody in lengthening and accent-
ing the short penultima of the trisyllabic BrMreus-- thus--
Whom gods Briareus, men jEgseon name. (v. 523. )
But I doubt not, that, after the example of his author, and of
Milton, he intended Briareos, which, as a word of four syllables,
properly admits the accent on the second -- and that he meant
a synteretis of the third and fourth, such as he had before his
eyes in the very line which he was translating, where the ac-
cusative, Briare&n, is reduced by synaereeis to three --and such
as Shakespear three times exhibits in the name Romeo, in the
following line --
O Romeo . ' Romeo /, wherefore art thou Romeo ?
which is only a common five-foot Iambic, with a redundant
syllable. [%* Part of this note is extracted from a letter of
mine, in reply to a querist in the " Lady't Magaiine," for No-
vember, 180ft]
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? Versification. 115
252
He brought back the beauteous dame in triumph,
"With whom came her sister, fair Emilia.
Iambic Verses of ten syllables, with a mixture of other
feet besides the Iambus.
253
To partake of those sublimer pleasures,
I would forsake the world and all its charms.
254
While the shepherd, free from passion, thus sleeps,,
A monarch might see his state with envy.
255
Fair order and rule dwell in her mansion :
What she earns so well, she eats with temp'rance.
256
With more than mortal sound the pavement rang;
Huge stones, uprooted from the ground, flew wide.
257
Fiends incarnate, who, void of shame or fear,
Dare to assume the Christian's sacred name.
258
At length I sink to rest, sad and hopeless,
Oppress'd by solitude, sorrow, silence.
259
Led on by me, bravely dare the danger -y
Share the perils and the glory with me.
260
Thirsting for immortal fame, the hero
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? 116 Versification. *
Had rather* die nobly, than live with shame.
261
We tond to th' appointed place, like pilgrims :
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end.
* Had rather. --Dr. Johnson lias somewhere stigmatised this
phrase ns a vulgar h irbarism ; and many modern writers, influ-
enced, I presume, by his authority, have utterly discarded it, to
adopt Would rather in its place. But, however great the vene-
ration, which I entertain, in other respects, for Dr. Johnson's
transcendent abilities, I cannot,in the present instance, suhscribe
to lii3 opinion, without wilfully shutting my (yes against the
light, Had rather/is genuine English, and a very good expres-
sion, if rightly understood. Had is here in the imperfect tense
subjunctive : and, when a man says, for example, " I had rather
die than submit," the meaning is, " I would rather have [or
take, or choose] to die, than to submit. "-- But, as some modern
grammarians deny the existence of a subjunctive mood in En-
glish, it may be well to recollect that the ground-work of our
language is borrowed from the German. Now the German lan-
guage most evidently and undeniably has a subjunctive mood,
which is more particularly conspicuous in the very numerous
host of irregular verbs, because, in the generality of these, the
present and imperfect of the subjunctive mood are found mate-
rially to difftr from the same tenses of the indicative. I shall
here quote two examples, which we can exactly parallel in En-
glish-- Indicative, " Ich war," I reus -- Subjunctive, " Ich ware"
or " ware" [prounounccd, in cither case, wayrc] I were, i. e. I
would or should be :--Indie. " lch hutte," I hud--,Subj. "Ich
h'dtte, or htttte [pronounced, in either case, haytte\ I would or
should have. Now this Incite, or h'dtte, is the very word used in
our good old English form, " had rather," and in such phrases
as "had I the means, I would do it," --" had I been there,
I would have dono it;"--and its present want of a distinctive
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? Verification. . 117
262
Take what God gives, since to rebel is vain.
. The bad, which we sustain well, grows better.
263
A holy and a happy pair lie here,
They now share in glory, as once in grace.
264
He strove, in Scythia, with the warrior queen,
Whom, first by force, then by love, he conquer'd.
character to discriminate it from had of the indicative, is easily
accounted for. When the hatte of the indicative was changed
to had, the subjunctive hatte naturally underwent a similar me-
tamorphosis, and became had [pronounced hayd\ In process
of time, particularly after the Norman conquest bad banished
the Anglo-Saxon language from the court and the polite circlet,
the distinction between had and had was gradually obhterated,
till at length both words were indiscriminately pronounced had.
-- If Dr. Johnson had looked to the German, be certainly would
not have reprobated, as barbarous, a long-established and per-
fectly grammatical form of expression. But, of hit unfortunate
want of acquaintance with that language (so indispensably re-
quisite to an English lexicographer) a truly ludicrous instance
occurs in his Dictionary, under the word, Booby. At a loss
for its etymology, he quotes the authority of a fanciful prede-
cessor, who derives the word from Butt-beef! ! ! Whether this
was intended as a compliment to Mr. John Bull, as if honest
John and his progeny were the most notable boobies in Europe,
I pretend not to determine. But, be that as it may, the word
Booby is pure German, viz. Bube [pronounced boobe] which
signifies a child, a boy, a great awkward boy, an oaf -- in short, a
booby -- without a single particle of John Bull's beef in his whole
composition.
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? 118 Versification.
265. -- The Planet Saturn.
A wond'rous circle clings round his huge form,
And, with lucid rings, girds his frozen globe.
266. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Four bright satellites* attend his orb,
And lend their borrow'd radiance to his night.
267
My breast labors now with oppressive care ;
And the falling tear descends o'er rriy cheek.
268
Distrust mankind : confer with your own heart;
And dread to find a flatterer e'en there.
* Satellites. -- Although Satellites be commonly pronounced,
in English, as three syllables, and accented on the first, it must,
in the present instance, be pronounced as four, and accented on
the second; the word being here pure Latin, as in Pope's Essay
on Man, t'pist. i. 42 --
"Or ask of yonder argent fields above,
" Why Jose's satellites are less than Jove. "
Pope, it is true, hag been accused of an almost unpardonable
poetic licence in thus accenting the word: but there was not
the slightest ground for such accusation, as there is not even
a shadow of poetic licence in the case. Had he, as a Latin
word, accented it on the first syllable after the English fashion,
he would have shown himself grossly ignorant of what is well
known to every school-boy who has learned the Latin declen-
sions, viz. that the Latin Satellites neither is'nor can be other-
wise accented than on the second syllable: and he would have
been equally ridiculed by every classical scholar, as if he had
accented Themistoeles and Achilles on the first, and curtailed
them to Them'stocks and Ach'/es.
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? Versification. 1 19
269
Lov'd Charity, seraph of earth, appears,
And drops celestial tears on human griefs.
270
Tell them, I still hope to live triumphant,
And revive in bliss with them after death.
? Vcrsification.
202
Ask, of heav'n, virtue, health, wisdom ;
But never let wealth be thy pray'r.
203
Still there remains one more labor,
A greater perhaps than before.
204
Fear precludes the light, like a fog,
And swells the object to the sight.
205
Honorio turns from side to side,
And now burns with insatiate thirst.
206
This frightful monster came from hell i
Guilt was his name, and Sin'his sire.
207
Let virtue be ever my guide,
And preside o'er my secret thoughts.
208
The lucid waves roll along, soft,
And gently break among the rocks;
Explore the strand in playful lapse,
And waft to shore a pallid corse.
, 209
To foreign climes why do you roam,
To study modes, times, and nations--.
A science often bought dearly,
And often what nought avails you ?
210
if heav'n, wise in ev'ry purpose,
I3
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? 102 Versification.
Denies the envied lot of wealth,. ,. . .
Still true to thee, Humanity,
The good 1 cannot do, I'll wish.
211
Our pleasures must decay shortly,
And vanish away with ourselves;
But virtue shall sustain the soul,
And soothe each agonising pain.
212
See terrific Mars advance next,
Who joys in wars, uproar, ruin. --
Fear, Flight, Fury, stand beside him,
Prompt to fulfill his dread command.
213
The summer past thus in plenty;
At last revolving winter came.
The trees no more yield a shelter:
The verdure withers from the field.
214
Array'd in white, plain Innocence
Lifts her fearless head before thee :
Religion's beams shine around thee,
And cheer thy glooms with divine light.
215
The flow'rs, that deck the field, are sweet* :
The smell, the blossoms yield, is sweet:
The summer gale, that blows, is sweet;
And the rose sweet, though sweeter you.
* N. B. Sweet,,. . swut, will net be allowable rhiaae.
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? Versification.
216
When Zephyrs stray o'er the blossom,
And convey sweets along the air,
Sha'n't I inhale the fragrant breeze,
Because you breathe a sweeter gale ?
217
The much-admiring crowd, awe-struck,
Bow'd before the virgin vision ;
Gaz'd with an ever new delight,
And, at the sight, caught fresh virtue.
218
A fearful, profound, and black gulf
Appears, the bound of either world,
Leading up to light, through darkness.
Sense shuns the sight, and shrinks backward.
219
With silent tread fate steals along,
Oft'nest found in what we dread least,
Frowns with angry brow in the storm,
But strikes the blow in the sunshine.
220
All external things combine now
To make thy days shine unclouded ;
And kindly has providence shed
On thy head its choicest blessings.
221
Near him stood his fav'rite spaniel,
And shar'd his food with his master,.
Till, sated, he now lay supine,
And snoi'd away the rising fumes.
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? 104 Versification.
222
The noblest minds prove their virtue
By love, sympathy, and pity.
These, these are truly fine feelings,
And prove their owner half divine.
223
I reach my native plain once more,
Where reign all the peaceful pleasures
My longing eye devours once more
Her shady bow'rs and crystal stream.
224
Grown restive by long indulgence,
She minded no will but her own.
She'd oft scold and fret at trifles,
Then take a seat in a comer,
And, moping all the day sourly,
Disdain alike to play or work.
225
Divines confess that life's a game ;
This says, at cards, and that, at chess.
But, if we centre our views here,
I fear 'tis all a losing game.
226
The furious god of war too long
With his iron car has crush'd us,
Along our ruin'd plains has rag'd,
With his cruel stains has soil'd them,
In endless sleep has sunk our youth,
And made the widow'd virgin weep.
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? Versification. 105
227. --Virtue.
I tell unwelcome truths, indeed:
But mark well my sacred lesson:
Whoever lives at strife with me,
Loses, for life, his better friend :
Who lives in friendship's ties with me,
Finds all that's sought for by the wise,
228
I keep, with watchful diligence,
His fleecy sheep from prowling wolves ;
Secure his midnight hours at home,
And drive from his door the robber.
His breast glows with kindness for this* :
His hand bestows the food for this.
229 ?
A long farewell to Britain's isle,
Where pleasures dwell, and plenty smiles !
Ye woods all waving wide, farewell,
Ye vales attir'd in summer's pride,
Ye tow'rs, that rise in air proudly,
Ye cots, so fair and-so cleanly 1
230
But, if thou com'st with austere frown,
To nurse the brood of fear and care,,. . .
Wisdom, I disclaim thine empire,
Thou empty boast of pompous name !
Dwell in gloomy shade of cloisters ;
But never haunt my cheerful cell.
* Thii. . . this, cannot be admitted as proper rhime.
-
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? 106 Versification.
231
Let me but hope content from wealth,
Still rememb'ring it was but lent;
Spread my store to modest merit,
My hospitable door unbar,
Nor feed an idle train for pomp,
While unpitied want sues in vain.
232
A prowling cat spies the sparrow,
And expands her amber eyes wide.
Grimalkin draws near and more near;
She protends her claws, wags her tail;
Then, springing on her thoughtless prey
She hears away the shrieking bird,
233
No costly paintings grace my rooms:
The humbler print supplies their place.
My garden lies behind the house,
And opens to the southern skies. ' '
The distant hills yield gay prospects,
And, in ev'iy field, plenty'smiles.
234 ?
Would'st thou bind the gen'rous lion r
Bribe him to be kind by kindness.
He gives with multiplying hand
The good he receives from others,
Or makes fair return for the bad,
And pays scorn for scorn, with int'rest.
235
The love, that cheers life's latest stage.
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? Versification.
Proof against old age and sickness,,. . .
Is kind, delicate, and gentle,
Compassionate or blind t<> faults,
And will endure with sympathy
Those evils it would cure gladly.
. 236
The prudent nymph, whose cheeks disclose
The blushing rose and the. lily,
Will screen lier charms from public view,
And rarely be seen in the crowd.
237
Oppress'd with heaviness and toil,
Seek not the flow'ry bank for rest,
Though the bow'ring woodbine spread there
O'er thy head its fragrant shelter,
Though Zephyr should long linger there,
To hear the sky-lark's tuneful song.
Heedless youth, thou shalt awake there,
The vengeance of the coiling snake.
238. --To Zimmermann, on Solitude,
Fond enthusiast, cease to obtrude.
The love of solitude on man :
Cease, cease, with faint and gay colors,
To paint that sickly nymph's retreat.
Her slothful ease and silent shades
May please the old and impotent;
But the brisk eye and firm muscle
Shall fly at distance from her haunts.
239
As the maid now grew in stature,
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? 108 Versification.
(A flow'r just op'ning to the view)
She oft stray'd through her native lawns,
And play'd with the lambkins,. wrestling.
Her looks bequeath'd diffusive sweets :
As she breath'd, the breeze grew purer:
The morn assum'd her rosy blush:
The spring bloom'd with earlier fragrance;
And nature took delight yearly
To dress the world in white, like her.
240
The morning blush'd; the shades were fled;
The winds were hush'd in their caverns;
When Hymen, sedate and pensive,
Held his musing gait o'er the fields.
Through the green-wood shade, behind him
The god survey'd Death's meagre form,
Who, with gigantic stride, quickly
Outwent his pace, and join'd his side.
The chat ran on various subjects,
'Till angry Hymen began thus.
241. --To a Redbreast.
From icy sprays and snowy plains,
From sunless days and moonless nights,. . . ,
Helpless, panting guest! thrice welcome !
In my breast I'll fondly warm thee
A captive's doom thou need'st not dread.
No! flutter round my room freely. . . .
At my lonely meal, no longer
I'll feel alone, while thou art by:
For, devoid of all distrust, soon
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? Versification.
Tbou'lt share my humble crust, nibbling. . . .
Heedless of the raving blast, thus,
Till winter's past; thou'l^dwell with me.
242
Friend ! forbear, o'er this sepulcre,
The pitying tear, the plaintive sigh.
My death supplies no just pretence
To dim thine eyes, or heave thy breast.
Grac'd with children's children, one wife
Walk'd down the vale of life with me.
My joyous hands three blooming youths
Entwin'd in Hymen's blissful bands
I shed, through life, no streams of grief
O'er child or grandchild, dead or sick.
To my departed shade, by them,
The rite was paid, the tear was pour'd :
Convoy'd to eternal rest thus,
Supremely blest in life, in death.
243
In triple row, the pine-apples
Were basking hot, and all in blow.
A bee of most discerning taste,
As he pass'd, perceiv'd the fragrance.
The spoiler came on eager wing,
And search'd in the frame for crannies,
Urg'd his attempt on ev'ry side,
Applied his trunk to ev'ry pane,
But still in vain : tight was the-frame,
And pervious to the light only.
Having wasted half the day thus,
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? 110 Versification.
Another way he trimm'd his flight.
Methinks I find in thee, said I,
The madness and sin of mankind.
Man aspires to forbidden joy? ,
With vain desires consumes his soul;
Folly the spring of his pursuit,
And all the fruit, disappointment
Such are often our dear delights,
To view, but not to touch, expos'd.
The sight inflames our foolish heart;
We long for pine-apples in frames.
244
The prophet of the Turk says thus,
" Abstain from pork, good musselman.
In ev'ry swine, there is a part,
No friend of mine or follower
May taste, whate'er his inclination,
On pain of excommunication. "
Such Mahomet's mysterious charge ;
And he left the point at large thus.
Had he express'd the sinful part,
They might eat the rest with safety :
But they thought it hard, for one piece,
To be debarr'd from the whole hog,
And set their wit at work, to find
What joint the prophet had in mind.
Straight arose much controversy :
These chose the back, those the belly.
Tis confidently said by some,
He meant not to forbid the bead;
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? Versification.
While others rail at that doctrine,
And piously prefer the tail.
Thus, conscience freed from ev'ry clog,
Mahometans eat the hog up. .
You laugh ! 'tis well. --The tale, applied,
May make you laugh on t'other side.
The preacher cries, " Renounce the world. "
A multitude replies, " We do;"
While one regards, as innocent,
A friendly and snug game at cards,
And, whatever you may say, one,
In a play, can see no evil.
Some love a race or a concei t,
And others the chase or shooting.
ReviPd and lov'd, follow'd and renounc'd,
The world is thus swallow'd, bit by bit.
245
My course is sped in youth's soft prime ;
Yet many a flow'r has spread my path.
246
If presumptuous foes dare invade,
Our country cries for aid to us :
Our children spread their hand-; to us:
We guard the nuptial bed fr -in wrong.
From us, who feel the joys of home,
The vengeful steel falls like lightning.
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? 112 Versification.
Iambic verses of ten syllables.
247
As Orpheus* tunes his song in Tbracian wilds,
The raptur'd beasts throng around him in crowds.
* Orpheus,--This word contains only two syllables. In Orpheut,
TAeteus, Proteus, and a very numerous list of Greek names of
similar termination, the EU is a diphthong, as in Europe, ? *.
charist, Eulogy, Euterpe, &c. In the original Greek, it it in-
variably a diphthong: in Latin, likewise, it is almost always s>>;
for the examples of diaeresis in such names are so very Jew, as
not to merit the slightest attention. This I can safely venture
to assert, after the pains which I have bestowed in minutely
searching through the entire collection of the ancient Latin
poets, for authorities and examples of every kind, to be inserted
in my " Latin Prosody:" and let me further observe, that Mil-
ton, Dry den, Pope--in short, every English poet, who had any
pretensions at all to classical knowledge, has paid due regard to
classic propriety in these cases, by making the J517 a diphthong.
I therefore advise my young readers carefully to avoid, in prose
as well as in poetry, the gross impropriety of dividing the EUS
of Orpheus, &c. into two syllables, and always to pronounce it
as a single syllable, nearly like the French verb Eusse, or tha
English noun Use. At the same time be it remembered that
Peneits and Alpheus (the names of two celebrated rivers) are tri-
syllabic words, and have the middle syllable long and accented.
--There are several other Greek names in EUS, which have the
E-V in separate syllables, with the E long and accented in some
instances, and in others bhort and un-accented: but to enume-
rate and discriminate them would be a tedious and laborious
task. Timotheus, however, and Briareus, seem to require parti-
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? Versification. 113
248
The mountain seems to throw a sable gloom,
Shades the glen below, and imbrowns the steep.
cular notice--Timotheus contains four distinct syllables: and,
although Dryden has, by poetic licence, used it as three, in the
following and some other lines of his " Alexander's Feast--
" Revenge ! revenge ! Ttmotheus cries"--
it is clear that he did not consider it as a proper trisyllabic;
because, in such case, he must have accented it on the first syl-
lable, like its English offspring, Timothy; the second being ori-
ginally short, and our usual mode of pronunciation forbidding us
to place an accent on a short penultimate; whereas, in Ti-mo-
the-us, the syllable -MO-, being then the antepenullimate, natu-
rally admits the accent, which he has correctly preserved. In
his lines, therefore, (the EU not being a dipththong) the JEU5
is not to be pronounced like the French Eusse, as in Orpheus,
Proteus, Ike, but like the EOVS in our English Beauteous,
which, though in reality a word of three syllables, is usually pro-
nounced as two, by synaeresis. -- In Briareus, the case is diffe-
rent: the EU is here a proper diphthong: the word contains
only three syllables; and so we find it in Virgil, Ovid, Lucan,
and other Latin poets, who all have its second syllable short, as
it likewise is found in a verse of Homer, which I shall presently
notice. Accordingly, Dryden, in his translation of Virgil, has,
with perfect propriety, used Briareus, as a trisyllabic word, with,
the second syllable short, and the accent on the first, viz.
Before the passage, horrid Hydra stands,
And Briareus with all his hundred hands. (JEn. 0. 401. )
If it be said that Milton has made it four syllables, because, in
the common editions of his "Paradise Lost" (1. 199) we find,
Briareus, or Typhon, whom the deu
By ancient Tarsus held--
I have only to reply, that the passage is falsified and disfigu. cd
K3
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? J14 Vmiftcatian*
249
How long shall man survey creation's boons.
And madly throw away its richest pearls ?
250
The fresh'ning breezes sweep away the clouds,
That hid the golden orb of day awhile.
251
She made a little stand at ev'ry turn,
And thrust her lily hand among the thorns.
by the inaccuracy of cither printers or editors, and that, in bet*
ter edition! , we read Briareos ; the nam* being written in two
ways, viz. Briareus, of three syllables, as in Virgil, Ovid, and
Lucan, above noticed--and Biiare&s, of four, which occurs in
Homer's Iliad, 1. 493, and jn Hesiod, Theog. 149. In Pope's
translation of Homer's line, the common editions make him.
guilty of a gross violation of prosody in lengthening and accent-
ing the short penultima of the trisyllabic BrMreus-- thus--
Whom gods Briareus, men jEgseon name. (v. 523. )
But I doubt not, that, after the example of his author, and of
Milton, he intended Briareos, which, as a word of four syllables,
properly admits the accent on the second -- and that he meant
a synteretis of the third and fourth, such as he had before his
eyes in the very line which he was translating, where the ac-
cusative, Briare&n, is reduced by synaereeis to three --and such
as Shakespear three times exhibits in the name Romeo, in the
following line --
O Romeo . ' Romeo /, wherefore art thou Romeo ?
which is only a common five-foot Iambic, with a redundant
syllable. [%* Part of this note is extracted from a letter of
mine, in reply to a querist in the " Lady't Magaiine," for No-
vember, 180ft]
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? Versification. 115
252
He brought back the beauteous dame in triumph,
"With whom came her sister, fair Emilia.
Iambic Verses of ten syllables, with a mixture of other
feet besides the Iambus.
253
To partake of those sublimer pleasures,
I would forsake the world and all its charms.
254
While the shepherd, free from passion, thus sleeps,,
A monarch might see his state with envy.
255
Fair order and rule dwell in her mansion :
What she earns so well, she eats with temp'rance.
256
With more than mortal sound the pavement rang;
Huge stones, uprooted from the ground, flew wide.
257
Fiends incarnate, who, void of shame or fear,
Dare to assume the Christian's sacred name.
258
At length I sink to rest, sad and hopeless,
Oppress'd by solitude, sorrow, silence.
259
Led on by me, bravely dare the danger -y
Share the perils and the glory with me.
260
Thirsting for immortal fame, the hero
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? 116 Versification. *
Had rather* die nobly, than live with shame.
261
We tond to th' appointed place, like pilgrims :
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end.
* Had rather. --Dr. Johnson lias somewhere stigmatised this
phrase ns a vulgar h irbarism ; and many modern writers, influ-
enced, I presume, by his authority, have utterly discarded it, to
adopt Would rather in its place. But, however great the vene-
ration, which I entertain, in other respects, for Dr. Johnson's
transcendent abilities, I cannot,in the present instance, suhscribe
to lii3 opinion, without wilfully shutting my (yes against the
light, Had rather/is genuine English, and a very good expres-
sion, if rightly understood. Had is here in the imperfect tense
subjunctive : and, when a man says, for example, " I had rather
die than submit," the meaning is, " I would rather have [or
take, or choose] to die, than to submit. "-- But, as some modern
grammarians deny the existence of a subjunctive mood in En-
glish, it may be well to recollect that the ground-work of our
language is borrowed from the German. Now the German lan-
guage most evidently and undeniably has a subjunctive mood,
which is more particularly conspicuous in the very numerous
host of irregular verbs, because, in the generality of these, the
present and imperfect of the subjunctive mood are found mate-
rially to difftr from the same tenses of the indicative. I shall
here quote two examples, which we can exactly parallel in En-
glish-- Indicative, " Ich war," I reus -- Subjunctive, " Ich ware"
or " ware" [prounounccd, in cither case, wayrc] I were, i. e. I
would or should be :--Indie. " lch hutte," I hud--,Subj. "Ich
h'dtte, or htttte [pronounced, in either case, haytte\ I would or
should have. Now this Incite, or h'dtte, is the very word used in
our good old English form, " had rather," and in such phrases
as "had I the means, I would do it," --" had I been there,
I would have dono it;"--and its present want of a distinctive
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? Verification. . 117
262
Take what God gives, since to rebel is vain.
. The bad, which we sustain well, grows better.
263
A holy and a happy pair lie here,
They now share in glory, as once in grace.
264
He strove, in Scythia, with the warrior queen,
Whom, first by force, then by love, he conquer'd.
character to discriminate it from had of the indicative, is easily
accounted for. When the hatte of the indicative was changed
to had, the subjunctive hatte naturally underwent a similar me-
tamorphosis, and became had [pronounced hayd\ In process
of time, particularly after the Norman conquest bad banished
the Anglo-Saxon language from the court and the polite circlet,
the distinction between had and had was gradually obhterated,
till at length both words were indiscriminately pronounced had.
-- If Dr. Johnson had looked to the German, be certainly would
not have reprobated, as barbarous, a long-established and per-
fectly grammatical form of expression. But, of hit unfortunate
want of acquaintance with that language (so indispensably re-
quisite to an English lexicographer) a truly ludicrous instance
occurs in his Dictionary, under the word, Booby. At a loss
for its etymology, he quotes the authority of a fanciful prede-
cessor, who derives the word from Butt-beef! ! ! Whether this
was intended as a compliment to Mr. John Bull, as if honest
John and his progeny were the most notable boobies in Europe,
I pretend not to determine. But, be that as it may, the word
Booby is pure German, viz. Bube [pronounced boobe] which
signifies a child, a boy, a great awkward boy, an oaf -- in short, a
booby -- without a single particle of John Bull's beef in his whole
composition.
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? 118 Versification.
265. -- The Planet Saturn.
A wond'rous circle clings round his huge form,
And, with lucid rings, girds his frozen globe.
266. -- The Planet Jupiter.
Four bright satellites* attend his orb,
And lend their borrow'd radiance to his night.
267
My breast labors now with oppressive care ;
And the falling tear descends o'er rriy cheek.
268
Distrust mankind : confer with your own heart;
And dread to find a flatterer e'en there.
* Satellites. -- Although Satellites be commonly pronounced,
in English, as three syllables, and accented on the first, it must,
in the present instance, be pronounced as four, and accented on
the second; the word being here pure Latin, as in Pope's Essay
on Man, t'pist. i. 42 --
"Or ask of yonder argent fields above,
" Why Jose's satellites are less than Jove. "
Pope, it is true, hag been accused of an almost unpardonable
poetic licence in thus accenting the word: but there was not
the slightest ground for such accusation, as there is not even
a shadow of poetic licence in the case. Had he, as a Latin
word, accented it on the first syllable after the English fashion,
he would have shown himself grossly ignorant of what is well
known to every school-boy who has learned the Latin declen-
sions, viz. that the Latin Satellites neither is'nor can be other-
wise accented than on the second syllable: and he would have
been equally ridiculed by every classical scholar, as if he had
accented Themistoeles and Achilles on the first, and curtailed
them to Them'stocks and Ach'/es.
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? Versification. 1 19
269
Lov'd Charity, seraph of earth, appears,
And drops celestial tears on human griefs.
270
Tell them, I still hope to live triumphant,
And revive in bliss with them after death.
