Turn to the annals of a former day; Bright are the deeds thine earlier sires display. The hour draws nigh, a few brief days will close, Each knell of Time now warns me to resign Shades where Hope, Peace, and Friendship all were mine: And gild their pinions as the moments flew; Since chance has thrown us in the self-same sphere, For me, in future, neither friend nor foe, Or hear, unless in crowds, thy well-known voice: Still, if the wishes of a heart untaught To veil those feelings which perchance it ought, 1805. FRAGMENT, WRITTEN SHORTLY AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF MISS CHAWORTH. HILLS of Annesley! bleak and barren, Where my thoughtless childhood stray'd, Howl above thy tufted shade! Now no more, the hours beguiling, 1805. GRANTA: A MEDLEY. Αργυρέαις λόγχαισι μάχου καὶ πάντα Κρατήσεις. OH! Could Le Sage's demon gift* Be realised at my desire, This night my trembling form he'd lift Then would, unroof'd, old Granta's halls Then would I view each rival wight, Lo! candidates and voters lie All lull'd in sleep, a goodly number: A race renown'd for piety, Whose conscience won't disturb their slumber. Lord H, indeed, may not demur; Fellows are sage reflecting men: They know preferment can occur They know the Chancellor has got Now from the soporific scene I'll turn mine eye, as night grows later, To view, unheeded and unseen, The studious sons of Alma Mater. There, in apartments small and damp, The Diable Boiteux of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places Don Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the houses for inspection. He surely well deserves to gain them, To scan precisely metres Attic; The square of the hypothenuse. ‡ Still, harmless are these occupations, Which bring together the imprudent; Whose daring revels shock the sight, Not so the methodistic crew, And for the sins of others pray: Forgetting that their pride of spirit, "Tis morn :-from these I turn my sight. A numerous crowd, array'd in white, Across the green in numbers fly. Loud rings in air the chapel bell; "Tis hush'd:-what sounds are these I hear? The organ's soft celestial swell Rolls deeply on the list'ning ear. To this is join'd the sacred song, The royal minstrel's hallow'd strain; * Seale's publication on Greek Metres displays considerable talent and ingenuity, but, as might be expected in so difficult a work, is not remarkable for accuracy. The Latin of the schools is of the canine species, and not very intelligible. The discovery of Pythagoras, that the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the squares of the other two sides of a right-angled triangle. Though he who hears the music long To such a set of croaking sinners. If David when his toils were ended, Had heard these blockheads sing before him, In furious mood he would have tore 'em. The luckless Israelites, when taken Oh! had they sung in notes like these, They might have set their hearts at ease, But if I scribble longer now, The deuce a soul will stay to read: My pen is blunt, my ink is low; "Tis almost time to stop, indeed. Therefore, farewell, old Granta's spires : No more thy theme my muse inspires: 1806. ON A DISTANT VIEW OF THE VILLAGE AND SCHOOL OF HARROW-ON-THE-HILL. "Oh! mihi præteritos referat si Jupiter annos."—VIRGIL. YE scenes of my childhood, whose loved recollection Embitters the present, compared with the past; Where science first dawn'd on the powers of reflection, And friendships were form'd, too romantic to last; Where fancy yet joys to trace the resemblance Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied, How welcome to me your ne'er-fading resemblance, Which rests in the bosom, though hope is denied! Again I revisit the hills where we sported, The streams where we swam, and the fields where we The school where, loud warn'd by the bell, we resorted, Again I behold where for hours I have ponder'd, I once more view the room, with spectators surrounded, Or, as Lear, I pour'd forth the deep imprecation, Ye dreams of my boyhood, how much I regret you! To Ida full oft may remembrance restore me, But if, through the course of the years which await me, 1806. TO M―. OH! did those eyes, instead of fire, For thou art form'd so heavenly fair, When Nature stamp'd thy beauteous birth, She fear'd that, too divine for earth, The skies might claim thee for their own: Therefore, to guard her dearest work, These might the boldest sylph appal, Thy beauty must enrapture all; But who can dare thine ardent gaze? "Tis said that Berenice's hair In stars adorns the vault of heaven; But they would ne'er permit thee there, Mossop, a contemporary of Garrick, famous for his performance of Zanga. |