His the letters that you see,
Weighty charge consign'd to me:
Think not yet my service hard,
Joyless task without reward;
Smiling at my master's gates,
Freedom my return awaits;
But the lib'ral grant in vain
Tempts me to be wild again.
Can a prudent dove decline
Blissful bondage such as mine?
Over hills and fields to roam,
Fortune's guest without a home;
Under leaves to hide one's head,
Slightly shelter'd, coarsely fed:
Now my better lot bestows
Sweet repast, and soft repose;
Now the gen'rous bowl I sip
As it leaves Anacreon's lip:
Void of care, and free from dread,
From his fingers snatch his bread;
Then, with luscious plenty gay,
Round his chamber dance and play ;
Or from wine, as courage springs,
O'er his face extend my wings;
And when feast and frolic tire,
Drop asleep upon his lyre.
This is all, be quick and go,
More than all thou canst not know;
Let me now my pinions ply,
I have chatter'd like a pye.
WRITTEN IN RIDICULE OF CERTAIN POEMS PUBLISHED
IN 1777.
WHERESOE'ER I turn my view,
All is strange, yet nothing new;
Endless labour all along;
Endless labour to be wrong;
Phrase that time hath flung away,
Uncouth words in disarray,
Trick'd in antique ruff and bonnet,
Ode, and elegy, and sonnet.
PARODY OF A TRANSLATION
FROM THE MEDEA OF EURIPIDES.
ERR shall they not, who resolute explore,
Times gloomy backward with judicious eyes;
And scanning right the practices of yore,
Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise.
They to the dome where smoke, with curling
play,
Announc'd the dinner to the regions round,
Summon' the singer blithe, and harper gay,
And aided wine with dulcet-streaming sound.
The better use of notes, or sweet or shrill,
By quiv'ring string or modulated wind;
Trumpet or lyre-to their harsh bosoms chill
Admission ne'er had sought, or could not find.
Oh! send them to the sullen mansions dun,
Her baleful eyes where Sorrow rolls around; Where gloom-enamour'd Mischief loves to dwell, And Murder, all blood-bolter d, schemes the wound.
When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish,
And purple nectar glads the festive hour;
The guest, without a want, without a wish,
Can yield no room to music's soothing pow'r.
OF THE TWO FIRST STANZAS OF THE SONG "RIO VERDE, RIO 66 VERDE," PRINTED IN BISHOP PERCY'S RELIQUES OF AN
GLASSY water, glassy water,
Down whose current, clear and strong, Chiefs confus'd in mutual slaughter,
Moor and Christian, roll along.
IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF ****.
HERMIT hoar, in solemn cell
Wearing out life's evening grey,
Strike thy bosom, sage, and tell,
What is bliss, and which the way ?
Thus I spoke, and speaking sigh'd,
Scarce repress'd the starting tear,
When the hoary sage reply'd,
Come, my lad, and drink some beer !
OF THE FOLLOWING LINES OF LOPEZ DE VEGA.
AN IMPROMTU.
Se acquien los leones vence
Vence una muger hermosa
O ei de flaco averguençe
O ella di ser mais furiosa.
IF the man who turnips cries,
Cry not when his father dies,
'Tis a proof that he had rather
Have a turnip than his father.
OF THE FOLLOWING LINES AT THE END OF BARETTI'S EASY PHRASEOLOGY.
AN IMPROMTU.
VIVA! viva la padrona!
Tutta bella, e tutta buona,
La padrona è un angiolella
Tutta buona e tutta bella ;
Tutta bella e tutta buona;
Viva! viva la padrona !
LONG may live my lovely Hetty!
Always young, and always pretty;
Always pretty, always young,
Live, my lovely Hetty, long!
Always young, and always pretty,
Long may live my lovely Hetty!
OF THE FOLLOWING DISTICH ON THE DUKE OF MODENA'S RUNNING AWAY FROM THE COMET IN 1742 OR 1743.
SE al venir vostro i principi se n' vanno
Ir at your coming princes diappear,
Comets! come ev'ry day
IMPROVISO TRANSLATION.
Of the following Lines of M. Benserade à son Lit.
THEATRE des ris, et des pleurs,
Lit! où je nais, et où je meurs,
Tu nous fais voir comment voisins,
Sont nos plaisirs, et nos chagrins,
In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,
And born in bed, in bed we die;
The near approach a bed may show
Of human bliss to human woe.
THE hand of him here torpid lies,
That drew th' essential form of grace;
Here clos'd in death th' attentive eyes,
That saw the manners in the face.
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