No More Learning

5S6
Around my ivied porch, shall spring
Each fragrant flow'r that drinks the dew*
And Lucy at her wheel shall sing,
In russet gown and apron blue.
537
Contending hosts, in mute surprise,
Drdpfrtim their grasp the brandish'd blade,
Forget th' affray, and turn their eyes,
Transported, on th' angelic maid.
538
The thrush begins his sprightly song,
High #n the thorn, at op'ning day ;
and, where the streamlet winds along,
The blackbird tunes his varied lay.
539. -- To Friendship.
Men call thee changing, sordid, vain,
On earth scarce known, and rare to sec :
and, when they feel base treach'ry's pain,
They lay the heavy blame on tbee.
540
As late along the flow'ry side
Of Derwent's murm'ring stream I stray'd,
A rosy sweet-\-briar bush | I spy'd,
Full blooming m the sunny glade.
Its blossoms glow'd with crimson die,
As o'er the glassy wave they spread;
and on the gales, that sported by.
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? 86 Key. to English Prosody.
Their delicate perfume was shed.
This day, retaining V6 the spot,
To view the bush so richly blown,
With tearful eye 1 tnark'd its lot;
For all its crimson bloom was gone.
541. -- To the Nightingale.
Why, plaintive warbler, tell me, why
For ever sighs thy troubled heart?
Cannot these groves, that glowing sky,
A solace to thy woes impart ?
See, Nature, at thy wish'd retur. n,
Renews her robe of gayest green :
And can thy wayward bosom mourn,
When Nature wakes the rural scene ?
. For thee, Aurora steeps in dews
The new-born flow'refs of the dale;
Tor thee, with lib'ral hand she strews
Her fragrance on the western gale.
542
Come, gentle Sleep ! with drowsy charms,
upon my senses softly steal;
Infold me in thy downy arms,
and my eye-lids set thy seal.
543
The dreams that own thy soft controul,
Come, Fancy,for thy vot'ry weave.
Lift high thy wand : my willing soul
Shall bless thy fictions, and believe.
The with'ring blast, the louring sky,
The cheerless path, I long have known.
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? Key to English Prosody.
Come^ aid me, Fancy ! we'll descry
A woild far hap-\-pier of | our own.
Fine forms alone shall visit there,
With gentle voice and soften'd mien :
Nor cold Distrust, nor Pride severe,
Nor Selfishness, shall there be seen.
And Hope shall, with her sunshine gay,
Light up our landscapes and our skies;
And Sensibi/i(y there stray,
With swelling heart and dewy eyes.
The sentient plant, whose feeling frame
Turns from the stranger's touch away,
Exists but in the soften'd beam,
Which art around it can convey.
By ev'ry passing gale distress'd,
By coarser steins that near it rise,
Bj ev'ry impulse rude oppress'd--
Expose it, and, like me, it dies.
544
Thus nature, with indulgent care,
Propitious grac'd my natal hour,
and, with supe-l-nor soref-l-ness, gave
The gale, the sunshine, and the flow'r.
545
He went, and, with a parent's voice,
He spake sweet mercy's accents mild.
His love return'd, within his arms
He long'd to strain his sor-! -rfe7<<? child. \
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? 88 Key to English Prosody.
Iambics of five feet, or ten syllables, with alternate
rhime.
546
Around the grave of her I still adore,
Mark how the frequent gale delights to play,
Forsakes the spicy grove and rosy bow'r,
To wave the grass that clothes this hallow'd clay.
547
The heav'nly guardian of the British isles,
Immortal Liberty, triumphant stood,
And view'd her gallant sons with fav'ring smiles,
Undaunted heroes of the field or flood.
548
False,fleeting hopes, and vain desires, farewell!
Fond anxious wishes, that within my breast
With sighs and un-availing anguish dwell,
heave me', oh! leave niH to my wonted rest.
549
Alas! the consolafitfrt i would grant
To others, 1 myself must never know :
But, if the means, the pow'r to bless, I want,
i can commiserate, though not bestow.
550
. . . Fair is the rising morn, when o'er the sky
The v -\-rient sun | expands his tos-l-e&te ray ;
Ami loxtly Iti the bard's enraptur'd eye
Fades the. meek radiUnce bfldeparting day,
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? Key to English Prosody. 89
551
Thus fades the flow'r, ulpp'd by the frozen gale,
Though once so sweet, so love/y OS the eye:
TAils the tall oaks, when boist'rous storms assail,
TornfrSm the earth, a mighty ruin lie.
$52
Far, far beyond the hated billow's reach,
The shipwreck'd stranger's weary bones should lie:
But blest the hands, that, on the wave-worn beach,
With pious care this hasty grave supply.
553
oh ! could I hide from mem'ry's steadfast eye
The pencil'd story of my early years !
tfer the" sad view she heaves the lingering sigh,
And drops, at ev'ry glance, her fruitless tears.
554
With mellow tints the lucid orb of day
Wow gilds the verdant beauftes tif the lawn :
Unclouded smiles his slowly-setting ray,
Sure presage of a. mild succeeding dawn.
555
Her meek submission to her maker's will
Heav'n sazo, and view'd the maid with pi-l-tt/ingeyes,
and her pure soul, from ev'ry future ill,
Caught to the blissful mansions of the skies.
556
For hiui no more shall pon;p display her charms,
Nor ceremony greet litm with a smile.
? In flatt'ry veil'd, no more shall servile swarms
Of sycophants attend hirn, to beguile.
i3
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? 90 Key to English Prosody.
Iambics of ten syllables; the first line rkiming with
the fourth; the second, with the third,
. 557
Descend, 5 Mercy! ft&m thy bright abode ;
And bid Ambition's direful contests cease.
oh! haste! and, with thee, bring stteetsmiYmg Peace,
' And all the blessfrigs by her hand bestow'd.
558
ah! once I thought, this bosSm, that so much
Had throbb'd with varied pangs, at length wassteel'd
By sullen ap&thy, nor more would yield
To seusibi/jrjir's impressive touch.
559
Romdfrtim his dream, a sound the shepherd hears
Of rustling plumes, that seek a distant clime. ;
and, Us he marks them steer their course sublime,
At intervals their clamors strike his ears.
500
The vivid lightning, glancing o'er the plain
With awe-inspiring glare, I do not dread ;
Nor all the horrors, now around me spread,
Cnve tH my aching breast one moment's pain.
561. -- To the Owl.
I woo thee, cheerless, melancholy bird !
Soothing to me Us thy fane-\-real cry. |
Here build thy lonely nest, and ever, nigh
My dwelling, be thy sullen wailings heard.
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? Key to English Prosody. 91
Iambics of eight syllables, with the omitted Epithets
supplied.
562
Through yon dark grove of mournful yews,
With solitary steps I muse.
563
Tli' insidious sland'ring thief is worse
Than the poor rogue who steals your purse.
564
One night, when balmy slumbers shed
Their peaceful poppies oer my head
565
Does ntit the ox obedient bow
His patieut neck, to draw the plough ?
566
Now Cam-\-bria's rb~ck-\-y wilds appear,
Her mountains rude, and valleys drear.
567
Now fancy dreads, in ev'iy shade,
The midnight robber's inurd'rous blade.
568
Releas'd from Winter's icy aims,
Now Spring unfolds her early charms.
569
is thSre in nature no kind pow'r
To sooth affliction's lonely hour,
To blunt the edge of dire disease,
And teach these wint'ry shades to please ?
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? 92 * Key to English Prosody.
570
When, sunk by guilt in deep despair,
Repentance breathes, her humble pray'r,
Thy voice the shudd'ring sup-\-pliaflt cheers; |
And Mercy calms her tort'ring fears.
571
As he who travels Li-\-byas plains, |
Whe"re the"fierce Itdn lawless reigns,
Is seis'd with fear and wild dismay,
When th2 grim foe obstructs his way
572
Methought, a spacious road I spy'd,
(And stalely trees adorn'tl its side)
TrequentecZ by a giddy crowd
Of thoughtless mortals, vain and loud.
573
A barren heath before us lay,
And gath'ring clouds obscur'd the day ;
The darkness rose in smoky spires : .
The lightnings flash'd their livid flies.
574
o Wisdom! y thy soft contioul
Can sootffthe sickn&s of the soul,
Can bid the waning passions cease,
And breathe the calm of tender peace,
Wisdom! I bless thy gentle sway,
And ever, ever will obey.
575
Soft flow the hours, whene'er we meet;
And conscious \htue is our treat.
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? Key to English Prosody. 93
Our harmless breasts no envy know;
And hence we fear no secret foe.
Our walks ambition ne'er attends;
And hence we ask no pow'rful friends.
Ten-syllable Iambics, with the omitted Epithets sup-
plied.
576
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs;
What mighty contests rise from tri-|-ri8/ things. . . . |
577
Say, what strange motive, goddess, could impel
A well-bred lord t' assault a gentle belle ?
578. -- The hunted Stag.
So fast he flies, that his reviewing eye
Has lost the chasers, and his ear the cry.
579
I claim supe-l-rior U-l-neage by | my sire,
Who warm'd th' unthinking clod with heav'nly fire.
580. -- The Mariner.
His labors cease ri&t with declining day;
But toils and perils mark his nightly way.
581
Now mem'ty wakes me' to the sad review
Of joys that fadZd tike the morning dew.
582
as the' grave Muse awakes the warbling strings,
The Graces round you dance in airy rings.
583
In anguish worn, the joyless years lag slow,
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? 94 Key to English Prosody.
And these proud conqu'rors mock their captives' woe.
584
A happy offspring bless'd his plen-|-feoj/s board;
His fields were fruitful, and his barns well stor'd.
585
There, rearm with toil, his panting horses browse
Their shelt'ring canopy of pendent boughs.
586
Him stagg'ring so when hell's dire agent found,
While fainting virtue scarce maintain'd her ground. . .
587
Not that your father's mildn&s i contemn :
But manly force becomes the diadem.
588
Nor hap-1 they, \ where sandy wastes extend,
Where fainting Arabs their parch'd cattle tend.
589
And Fame's loud trumpet t8 the world shall tell,
In Vict'ry's arms ill us-|-ftioms Nll-\-son fell.
590
The le-\-nient hand of Time perchance may heal
The guilty pangs, the deep remorse, I feel.
591
We bid thee welcome to this peaceful shore,
Where adverse winds shall thwart thy course no more.
592
'Twas night.
The chiefs beside their vessel lie,
Till rosy morn had purpled o'er the sky ;
Then launch, and hoist the mast: indulgent gales,
Supplied by Phtebus, fill the swelling sails.
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? Key to English Prosody. 95
593
The wretched qimrrSls of the mortal state
Are far unworthy, Gods, of your debate.
Let men their days in senseless strife employ,
We hi eternal peace, and constant joy.
594
Hire bions the woodbine, faintly streak'd with red,
And rests on ev'ry bough its tender head :
Round the'young ash its twining branches meet,
Or crown the huvithom with its odors sweet.
595
The prophet spoke, and, with a gloomy frown,
The monarch stalled from his shining throne:
Black cho\er fill'd his breast, that boil'd with ire;
and from his eye-balls flash'd the living fire.
596
Thine, tu each conquest, ts the wealthy prey ;
Though mine the sweat and danger of the day.
SomeXri-\-vi9. lprS-\-sent to my ships I bear;
Or barren praises pay the wounds of war.
597
Let not Britannia's sons ignoble deem
The task that sows the corn or guides the team,
That watches anxious o'er the rising grain,
And clothes with fertile crops the barren plain.
598
Autumn has now assuin'd her with'ring reign,
and the' grey mists upon the hills remain :
o'er the wide heath the rapid whirlwind roars'f
Through rocky vales the foaming torrent pours.
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? 96 Key to English Prosody.
599. -- The lost Child.
Through ev'ry grove th' impatient mother flies,
Each sunless glade, each secret pathway tries,
'Till the light leaves the truant boy disclose,
Long on the wood-moss stretch'd in sweet repose.
600
Close by each other laid, they press'd the ground ;
Their bosoms pierc'd with ma-\-ny a gris-i-ly wound.
Nor well alive, nor wholly dead, they were:
But some/dint signs of feeble life appear.
601
On Missisippi's bank, should sleep surprise
The wearied peasant, close in ambush lies
The crafty alligator, gorg'd with blood:
He lorks conceal'd beneath the troubled flood,
Or ranges fierce the reedy shore around,
Climbs thX steep bank, and crouches on the ground.
602
oft have I seen, beneath the hawthorn shade,
th? green rwr/'reclin'd, a rustic maid,
Watching, with anxious eye, her fav'rite lambs
In playful circles sporting round their dams;
O'ercome with noontide heaf, have heard her hail
The cooling freshness of the rising gale.
603. -- Rooks and Crows.
From field to field the flock increasing goes,
To level crops most formidable foes.
Their danger well the wary plund'rers know,
And pla'qf a watch on some conspi-|-cwows bough. \
Yet oft the skulking gunwer, by surprise,
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? Key to English Prosody. 97
Will scatter death among them, as they rise.
604
oft may the spir&s of the dead descend,
To watch the silent slumbers of a friend;
To hover round his ev'ning walk unseen,
And hold siweet converse on the dusky green ;
To hail the spot where first their friendship grew,
And heav'n and nature open'd to their view.
605
Night her moist wings extends o'er hill aiid dale,
And spreads on sha-\-dowy earth | a misty veil;
The pictur'd forms of vivid nature fade,
And, melting, sink in undistinguish'd shade.
Unheard, the dews descend i unseen, the show'rs
Cool the parch'd earth, revive the fainting flow'rs. . . .
606
Now the' tlr'd /ab'rers bless their sheh'iing home,
When midnight and the frightful tempest come.
The farmer wakes, and sees, with silent dread,
The angry shafts of heav'n gleam round his head.
The bursting cloud re-iterated roars,
Shakes his straw roof and jars his bolted doors.
607
Twilight's soft dews steal o'er the village green,
With magic tints to harmonise the scene.
StilFd ts the hum, that through the hamlet broke,
When round the ruStws . Xf their ancient oak
The peasants flock'd to hear the minstrel play,
And games and carols clos'd the busy day.
K
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? 98 Key to English Prosody.
608. --To Memory.
When Joy's bright sun has shed his ev'ning ray,
And Hope's delusive me-\-tebrs cease | to play ;
When clouds on clouds the smiling prospect close,
Still through the gloom thy star serenely glows :
Like yon fair orb, she gilds the brow of night,
With the mild magic of reflected light.
609
Distracting thoughts by turns his bosom rul'd,
Nowfir'd by wrath, and now by reason cool'd.
That prompts his hand to draw the deadly sword,
Force through the Greeks, and pierce their haughty
This whispers soft, his vengeance to control, [lord;
And calm the rising temp&f of his soul.
610
Not so his loss the fierce Achilles bore:
But, sad, returning to the sounding shore,
o'er the" wild margin of the deep he hung,
That kindred deep, from which his mother sprung;
There, bath'd in tears of anger and disdain,
Thus loud lamented to the stormy main.
611. -- The Farmer's Boy.
From the fire-side, with ma-|-ny a shrug, | he hies,-
Glad if\he full-orb'd moon salute his eyes,
And, through th' unbroken stillness 6f the night,
Shed tin his path her beams of cheering light.
With saunt'ring step, he climbs the distant stile;
Whilst all around him wears a placid smile;
There views the white-rob'd clouds in clusters driv'n,
And all the glo-l-nows pa-\-geantry of heav'n.
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? Key to English Prosody. 99
, , 612
Swift to" the seas profound the goddess flies,
J&ve to his starry mansion in the skies.
The shining synod of th' immortals wait
The coming god, and,frHin their thrones of state,
Arising silent, rapt in holy fear,
Before the Majesty of heav'n appear.
Trembling they stand, while Jove assumes the throne,
all but the god's imperious queen alone.
613
Lo! Faith's bright visions burst upon the sight,
And put the phantom host of Fear to flight.
Terror's gaunt Myrmidons recede afar,
Before the beams of Hope's resplendent star,
That shoots soft rays, for ever sparkling clear,
Through Sorrow's realms, and Doubt's dark heau-
Cheers the faint pilgrim on his dreary way, [sphere;
With finer prospects, and a hap-\-pur day; j
And points the vir-|-*wows sage, | by toils oppress'd,
To lasting pleasures, and a land of rest.
614
From this tall cliff, whose rough impending brow
Frowns o'er the cataract that foams below,
I view the plain, where ma. -\-ny a 6w-|-sy hand
Tills, fSr another's gain, the stubborn land.
Their cheerful song, borne on the ev'ning breeze,
Stamps <ln my soul soft images of ease.
ah! why, to man and social converse dead,
Do I alone the rugged mountain tread,
Where Nature, coy and stubborn, seems to fly
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? 100 Key to English Prosody.
The human race, and all approach defy.
615
On closing flow'rs when genial gales diffuse
The fragrant inbute of refreshing dews,
When chants the mWkmaixd at her balmy pail,
And weary reapers whisf/e o'er the vale,
Charm d by the murmurs of the quiv'ring shade,
Along the river's willow'd banks 1 stray'd,
And, calmly musing through the twilight way,
In pensive mood, I fram'd my rustic lay ;
When, lo ! from op'ning clouds, a golden gleam
Pour'd sudden splendors b"er<he sha-[-dowy stream; |
and from the wave arose its guardian queen,
Known by her sweeping stole of glossy green.
616
o ' say, celestial Muse, whose purer birth
Disdains the low material ties of earth,
By what bright images shall be defin'd
The mystic naJwre o/'th' eternal mind i
Or how shall thought the dazzling height explore,
When all, that reason can, is to adore ? . . *. .
Through the immeasurable tracts of space,
Go, Muse divine, and present Godhead trace
Could thy fondflight beyond the starry sphere
The radiant morning's lucid pinions bear,
There should las brighter presence shine confess'd,
There his almighty arm thy course arrest.
617. --The imprisoned Debtor.
0 stranger] hear the famish'd debtor's pray'r !
Let gentle pity siatch him from despair.
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? Key to English Prosody. 101
Though harden'd guilt and folly revel here,
The guiltless oft shed ma-\-ny a blt-\-ter tear ;
And ina-|-ny a wrong | in silence they devour,
And feel the iron hand of ruthless pow'r.
In vain my woes, my wants, cry loud for aid,
Since laws severe with ixgSr are obey'd.
There ties my wife on damp and sickly bed,
Her peace destroy'd, her youth and spirits fled.
With tearless eye she saw her child expire--
To all indiff'rent--death her sole desire.
fil8
d lasting infamy! o due disgrace
To chiefs of vig'rous youth, and manly race!
I trusted >n the gods and you, to see
Brave Greece victo-|-r<<cws, und | her navy free.
ah no! the glorious combat you disclaim,
And one black day clouds alt her former fame.
Heav'ns! what a prodigy these eyes survey,
Unseen, unthought, 'till this amazing day!
Fly we at length from Troy's oft. conquer'd bands ?
And falls our fleet by such inglorious hands--
A rout undisciptin'd, a straggling train,
Not born to glorift of the dusty plain;
Like frighted fawns, from hill to hill pursu'd,
A prey to ev'ry swage of the wood?
619
With look erect, I dart my longing eye,
Seem wlng'd lo part, and gain my native sky.
1 strive to mount, but strive, alas! in vain,
Tied tV this massy globe with magic chain.
K3
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? 102 Kty to English Prosody.
Now, with swift thought, I range from pole to pole,
View worldt around their flaming centres roll;
What steady pow'rs their endless motions guide
Through the same trackless paths of boundless void.
I trace the blazing comet's fiery tail,
And weigh the whirling planers hi a scale.
These godlike thoughts while eager i pursue,
Some glitt'ring trifle offZrd to my view,
A gnat, an insecf of the meanest kind,
Erase the new-born image frim my mind :
Some beastly want; craving, importunate,
Vile as the grinning mastiff at my gate,
Culls off from heav'nly trufh this rees'ning me,
And tells me, I'm a brute as much as he.
6S0. --May.
Hail, beauteous May, to nature's vot'ries dear!
Thou love-|-fresr qff-\-spring of the fruitful year!
The sportive Grace's in thy train advance,
Mote their light J set, and form the mazy dance.
To thee fair village maids their garlands bring,
Blush with fresh health, and feel the genial spring--
A little space, ere gloomy years o'ershade,
Like thee to floumA, and like thee to fade.
Hail, choien month of old, when temp'rate show'rs
Enrich'd the meads, and nurs'd the op'ning flow'rs;
When fruits uncropp'd in wild disorder ran,
Peace dwelt on earth, and God convers'd with uian;
"What tune, from Chaos, stormy, dark, and wild,
Creation sprang, and spring perpe-\-tual smtl'd; |
When, shedding health and life, the soft'ning air
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? Key to English Prosody. 103
All darkness chas'd ; at whose mild breath, Despair
Might feel a sullen joy, and cheer'd Disease
Springfrom her couch, to catch th' enliv'ning breeze.
Thus through th' Elysian fields the Zephyrs stray'd,
And munn'iing sooth'd the pensive hero's shade;
Sigh'd, sadly pleasing, through the cypress wood,
Whose gloomy branches wav'd o'er Lethe's flood.
621. --To the Deity.
Thee "potent, let deliver'd Israel praise,
and to thy name their grateful homage raise.
Thee potent God let Egypt's land declare,
That felt thy justice awfully severe.
How did thy frown benight the shadow'd land,
Nature revers'd how own thy high command,
When jarring elements their use forgot,
and the sun felt thy overcasting blot,
When earth produe'd the pestilential brood,
dud the foul stream was crimson'd into blood !
How deep the horrors of that awful night,
How strong the terror, and how wild the fright,
When o'er the hind thy sword vindictive pass'd,
And men and infants breath'd at once their last!
How did thy arm thy favor'd tribes convey,
Thy light conducting point the patent way,
Obedient ocean tt their march divide,
The wat'ry wall distinct on either side,
While through the deep the long procession sped,
And saw the wonders of "its oozy bed !
Nor long they march'd, till, blaclCning tn the rear,
The vengeful tyranf and his host appear,
? ? Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:50 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hnjin7 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 104 Key to English Prosody.
Plunge down the steep--the waves thy nod obey,
And whelm the threat'ning storm beneath the sea.
Iambics of eight syllables; the epithets supplied.
622
Now balmy Zephyrs fan the grove,
And scatter rich perfumes around;
And feather'd songsters, warbling Jove,
In ev'ry verdant bush are found.
623
oh! Is there not, when dewy eve
Spieads her light texture o'er the vale,
Some gentle fay, that loves to leave
Her moonlight pastime in the dale,
And, where the raptur'd poet sits
To view the blue mists spread around,
Across his mental vision flits,
And wraps his thoughts in peace profound ?
Iambics often syllables; the epithets supplied.
624. -- On the Death of a Daughter.