Then when dark arts obscured each fierce debate,

How long shall Sloth usurp thy useless hours, Unnerve thy vigour, and enchain thy powers:

This task perforni'd-he sought no gainful
post,

Nor wish'd to glitter at his country's cost;
Strict on the right he kept his steadfast eye,
With temperate zeal and wise anxiety;
Nor e'er from Virtue's paths was lured aside,
To pluck the flowers of pleasure or of pride.
Her gifts despised, Corruption blush'd and fled,
And Fame pursued him where Conviction led.
Age call'd, at length, his active mind to rest,
With honour sated, and with cares opprest;
To letter'd ease retired, and honest mirth,
To rural grandeur and domestic worth:
Delighted still to please mankind, or mend,
The patriot's fire yet sparkled in the friend.
Calm Conscience, then, his former life sur-
vey'd,

And recollected toils endear'd the shade,
Till Nature call'd him to the general doom,
And Virtue's sorrow dignified his tomb.

TO MISS HICKMAN.*

PLAYING ON THE SPINNET.

BRIGHT Stella, form'd for universal reign,
Too well you know to keep the slaves you gain;
When in your eyes resistless lightnings play,
Awed into love, our conquer'd hearts obey,
And yield reluctant to despotic sway:
But when your music sooths the raging pain,
We bid propitious Heaven prolong your reign,
We bless the tyrant, and we hug the chain.

When old Timotheus struck the vocal string,
Ambition's fury fired the Grecian king:
Unbounded projects labouring in his mind,
He pants for room, in one poor world confined.
Thus waked to rage, by music's dreadful power,
He bids the sword destroy, the flame devour.
Had Stella's gentle touches moved the lyre,
Soon had the monarch felt a nobler fire;
No more delighted with destructive war,
Ambitious only now to please the fair;
Resign'd his thirst of empire to her charms,
And found a thousand worlds in Stella's arms.

PARAPHRASE OF PROVERBS.

CHAP. VI. Verses 6-11.

"Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard." TURN on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes, Observe her labours, sluggard, and be wise: No stern command, no monitory voice, Prescribes her duties, or directs her choice; Yet, timely provident, she hastes away, To snatch the blessings of the plenteous day; When fruitful summer loads the teeming plain, She crops the harvest, and she stores the grain.

These lines, which have been communicated by Dr. Turton, son to Mrs. Turton, the lady to whom they are addressed by her maiden name of Hickman, must have been written at least as early as the year 1734, as that was the year of her marriage: at how much earlier a period of Dr. Johnson's life they may have been written, is not known.

In Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, but now printed from the original in Dr. Johnson's own hand-writing.

And soft solicitation courts repose?
Amidst the drowsy charms of dull delight,
Year chases year with unremitted flight,
Till Want, now following, fraudulent and slow,
Shall spring to seize thee like an ambush'd foe.

HORACE, LIB. IV. ODE VII.

TRANSLATED.

THE Snow dissolved, no more is seen,
The fields and woods, behold! are green;
The changing year renews the plain,
The rivers know their banks again;
The sprightly nymph and naked grace;
The mazy dance together trace;
The changing year's successive plan,
Proclaims mortality to man;

Rough winter's blasts to spring give way,
Spring yields to summer's sovereign ray;
Then summer sinks in autumn's reign,
And winter chills the world again;
Her losses soon the moon supplies,
But wretched man, when once he lies
Where Priam and his sons are laid,
Is nought but ashes and a shade.
Who knows if Jove, who counts our score
Will toss us in a morning more?
What with your friend you nobly share,
At least you rescue from your heir.
Not you, Torquatus, boast of Rome,
When Minos once has fix'd your doom,
Or eloquence, or splendid birth,
Or virtue, shall restore to earth.
Hippolytus, unjustly slain,
Diana calls to life in vain;

Nor can the might of Theseus rend
The chains of Hell that hold his friend.
Nov. 1784.

The following TRANSLATIONS, PARODIES, and BURLESQUE VERSES, most of them extem pore, are taken from ANECDOTES of Dr. JOHN SON, published by Mrs. Piozzi.

ANACREON, ODE IX.

Lovely courier of the sky,
Whence and whither dost thou fly?
Scattering, as thy pinions play,
Liquid fragrance all the way:

Is

business? is it love?

Tell me, tell me, gentle dove.
Soft Anacreon's vows I bear,
Vows to Myrtale the fair;
Graced with all that charms the heart,
Blushing nature, smiling art.
Venus, courted by an ode,
On the bard her dove bestow'd;
Vested with a master's right,
Now Anacreon rules my flight;
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 liberal 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 generous 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.

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,

Announced the dinner to the regions round, Summon'd the singer blithe and harper gay,

And aided wine with dulcet-streaming sound. The better use of notes, or sweet or shrill,

By quivering 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.

Then 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 power.

TRANSLATION

Of the two first Stanzas of the Song "Rio Verde, Rio Verde," printed in Bishop Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

AN IMPROMPTU. GLASSY water, glassy water,

Down whose current, clear and strong,

Chiefs confused in mutual slaughter, Moor and Christian, roll along.

IMITATION

OF

THE STYLE OF **

HERMIT hoar, in solemn cell
Wearing out life's evening gray,
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!

BURLESQUE

Of the following Lines of Lopez de Vega.

AN IMPROMPTU.

Se acquien los leones vence
Vence una muger hermosa
O ei de flaco averguence

O ella di ser mais furiosa.
Ir the man who turnips cries,
Cry not when his father dies,
'Tis a proof that he had rather
Have a turnip than his father.

TRANSLATION

Of the following Lines at the end of Baretti's Easy Phraseology.

AN IMPROMPTU.

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!

T

EPITAPH FOR MR. HOGARTH. THE hand of him here torpid lies,

That drew th' essential form of grace; Here closed in death th' attentive eyes, That saw the manners in the face.

TRANSLATION

Of the following Lines written under a Print representing Persons Skating.

SUR un mince crystal l'hyver conduit leurs pas, Le précipice est sous la glace:

Telle est de nos plaisirs la lég re surface: Glissez, mortels; n'appuyez pas.

O'ER ice the rapid skater flies,

With sport above, and death below; Where mischief lurks in gay disguise, Thus lightly touch and quickly go.

IMPROMPTU TRANSLATION

Of the same.

O'ER crackling ice, o'er gulfs profound,
With nimble glide the skaters play;
O'er treacherous Pleasure's flowery ground
Thus lightly skim and haste away.

TO MRS. THRALE

On her completing her thirty-fifth year.

AN IMPROMPTU.

OFT in danger, yet alive
We are come to thirty-five;
Long may better years arrive,
Better years than thirty-five!
Could philosophers contrive
Life to stop at thirty-five,

Time his hours should never drive
O'er the bounds of thirty-five.
High to soar, and deep to dive,
Nature gives at thirty-five.
Ladies, stock and tend your hive,
Trifle not at thirty-five;

For, howe'er we boast and strive,
Life declines from thirty-five.
He that ever hopes to thrive
Must begin by thirty-five;
And all who wisely wish to wive
Must look on Thrale at thirty-five.

Thou know'st those arts which blast with envious praise,

Which aggravate a fault with feign'd excuses, And drive discountenanced virtue from the throne;

That leave the blame of rigour to the prince,
And of his every gift usurp the merit;
That hide in seeming zeal a wicked purpose,
And only build upon another's ruin.

FRIENDSHIP,

AN ODE.

[This originally appeared in the Gentleman's Maga. zine, for the year 1743. See Boswell's Life of Johnson under that year. It was afterwards printed in Mrs. Wil. liams's Miscellanies, in 1766, with several variations, which are pointed out below. J. B.]

FRIENDSHIP! peculiar boon of heaven,
The noble mind's delight and pride,
To men and angels only given,
To all the lower world denied.
While love, unknown among the blest,
Parent of thousand wild desires,
The savage and the human breast
Torments alike with raging fires;
With bright, but oft destructive, gleam,
Alike, o'er all his lightnings fly;
Thy lambent glories only beam
Around the favourites of the sky.
Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys
On fools and villains ne'er descend,
In vain for thee the tyrant sighs,
And hugs a flatterer for a friend.
Directress of the brave and just,

O guide us through life's darksome way!
And let the tortures of mistrust

On selfish bosoms only prey.

Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow,
When souls to blissful climes remove:
What raised our virtue here below,

Shall aid our happiness above.

Stanza 1. This stanza is omitted in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, and instead of it we have the following, which may be suspected from internal evidence not to have been Johnson's.

When virtues kindred virtues meet,
And sister souls together join,
Thy pleasures, permanent as great,
Are all transporting, all divine.
Parent of rage and hot desires

Stanza 2, line 2d.

line 4th. Stanza 4, line 3d.

Mrs. W.
Inflames alike with equal fires.
In vain for thee the monarch sighs,

Stanza 6, line 1st. O! shall thy flames then cease to glow.

Faith from every generous mind;

He, who still expects deceit,

Only teaches how to cheat.

TRANSLATION

TRANSLATION

FROM THE MEDEA OF EURIPIDES, v. 190.

[This was written by Johnson for his friend, Dr. Bur.

sio, begining "Tu che in corte invechiasti."

GROWN old in courts, thou surely art not one
Who keeps the rigid rules of ancient honour;
Who skill'd to sooth a foe with looks of kind-
To sink the fatal precipice before him,
And then lament his fall by seeming friendship;
Open to all, rue only to thyself,

[ness,

in that gentleman's History of Music, Vol. II. p. 340. It has always been ascribed to Johnson; but to put the mat. ter beyond a doubt, Mr. Malone ascertained the fact by applying to Dr. Burney himself. J. B.]

THE rites derived from ancient days
With thoughtless reverence we praise,
The rites that taught us to combine
The joys of music and of wine,

And bid the feast, and song, and bowl,
O'erfill the saturated soul:

But ne'er the flute or lyre applied
To cheer despair and soften pride,
Nor call them to the gloomy cells,

Where Want repines and Vengeance swells;
Where Hate sits musing to betray,
And Murder meditates his prey,

To dens of guilt and shades of care,
Ye sons of melody repair;
Nor deign the festive dome to cloy,
With superfluities of joy.

Ah! little needs the minstrel's power,
To speed the light convivial hour.
The board with varied plenty crown'd,
May spare the luxuries of sound.

MESSIA.*

Ex alieno ingenio poeta, ex suo tantum versificator.
SCALIG. Poet.

TOLLITE Concentum, Solymææ tollite nymphæ,
Nil mortale loquor; cœlum mihi carminis alta
Materies; poscunt gravius coelestia plectrum.
Muscosi fontes, sylvestria tecta valete,
Aonidesque Dea, et mendacis somnia Pindi:
Tu, mihi qui flammâ movisti pectora sancti
Sidereâ Isaia, dignos accende furores!

Immatura calens rapitur per secula vates Sic orsus-Qualis rerum mihi nascitur ordo! Virgo! virgo parit! felix radicibus arbor Jessæis surgit, mulcentesque æthera flores Cœlestes lambunt animæ, ramisque columba, Nuncia sacra Dei, plaudentibus insidet alis. Nectareos rores, alimentaque mitia cœlum Præbeat, et tacite fœcundos irriget imbres. Huc, foedat quos lepra, urit quos febris, adeste, Dia salutares spirant medicamina rami; Hic requies fessis: non sacra sævit in umbra Vis Boreæ gelida, aut rapidi violentia solis. Irrita vanescent prisca vestigia fraudis, Justitiæque manus pretio intemerata bilancem Attollet reducis; bellis prætendet olivas Compositis pax alma suas, terrasque revisens Sedatas niveo virtus lucebit amictu:

Volvantur celeres anni! lux purpuret ortum
Expectata diu! naturæ claustra refringens,
Nascere, magne puer! tibi primas, ecce, corollas
Deproperat tellus, fundit tibi munera quicquid
Carpit Arabs, hortis quicquid frondescit Eois.
Altius, en! Lebanon gaudentia culmina tollit.
En! summo exultant nutantes vertice sylvæ.
Mittit aromaticas vallis Saronica nubes,

Et juga Carmeli recreant fragrantia cœlum.
Deserti lætâ mollescunt aspera voce,
Auditur Deus! ecce Deus! reboantia circum,
Saxa sonant, Deus! ecce Deus! deflectitur
æther,

Demissumque Deum tellus capit; ardua cedrus,
Gloria sylvarum, dominum inclinata salutet.
Surgite convalles, tumidi subsidite montes!
Sternite saxa viam, rapidi discedite fluctus ;
En! quem turba diu cecinerunt enthea, vates,
En! salvator adest; vultus agnoscite cæci

This translation has been severely criticised by Dr. Warton, in his edition of Pope, vol. i. p. 105. Svo. 1797. It certainly contains some expressions that are not classi. cal. Let it be remembered, however, that was a college exercise, performed with great rapidity, and was at first praised beyond all suspicion of defect.-C.

Divinos, surdos sacra vox permulceat aures.
Ille cutim spissam visus hebetare vetabit,
Reclusisque oculis infundet amabile lumen;
Obstrictasque diu linguas in carmina solvet.
Ille vias vocis pandet, flexusque liquentis
Harmoniæ purgata novos mirabitur auris.
Accrescunt teneris tactu nova robora nervis.
Consuetus fulcro innixus reptare bacilli
Nunc saltu capreas; nunc cursu provocat euros.
Non planctus, non mæsta sonant suspiria;
pectus

Singultans mulcet, lachrymantes tergit ocellos.
Vincla coercebunt luctantem adamantina mortem
Eternoque Orci dominator vulnere languens
Invalidi raptos sceptri plorabit honores.
Ut qua dulce strepent scatebræ, qua lata virescunt
Pascua, qua blandum spirat purissimus aer.
Pastor agit pecudes, teneros modo suscipit agnos
Et gremio fotis selectas porrigit herbas,
Amissas modo quærit oves, revocatque vagantes;
Fidus adest custos, seu nox furat horrida nimbis,
Sive dies medius morientia torreat arva.
Postera sic pastor divinus secla beabit,
Et curas felix patrias testabitur orbis.
Non ultra infestis concurrent agmina signis,
Hostiles oculis flammas jaculantia torvis;
Non litui accendent bellum, non campus ahenis
Triste coruscabit radiis; dabit hasta recusa
Vomerem, et in falcem rigidus curvabitur ensis.
Atria, pacis opus, surgent, finemque caduci
Natus ad optatum perducet cœpta parentis.
Qui duxit sulcos, illi teret area messem,
Et seræ texent vites umbracula proli.
Attoniti dumeta vident inculto coloni
Suave rubere rosis, sitientesque inter arenas
Garrula mirantur salientis murmura rivi.
Per saxa, ignivomi nuper spelæa draconis.
Canna viret, juncique tremit variabilis umbra.
Horruit implexo qua vallis sente, figuræ
Surgit amans abies teretis, buxique sequaces
Artificis frondent dextræ; palmisque rubeta
Aspera, odoratæ cedunt mala gramina myrto
Per valles sociata lupo lasciviet agna,
Cumque leone petet tutus præsepe juvencus.
Florea mansuete petulantes vincula tigri
Per ludum pueri injicient, et fessa colubri
Membra viatoris recreabunt frigore linguæ.
Serpentes teneris nil jam lethale micantes
Tractabit palmis infans,motusque trisulcæ
Ridebit linguæ innocuos, squamasque virentes
Aureaque admirans rutilantis fulgura crista.
Indue reginam, turritæ frontis honores
Tolle Salema sacros, quam circum gloria pennas
Explicat, incinctam radiata luce tiara!

En! formosa tibi spatiosa per atria, proles
Ordinibus surgit densis, vitainque requirit
Impatiens, lenteque fluentes increpat annos.
Ecce peregrinis fervent tua limina turbis ;
Barbarus en clarum divino lumine templum
Ingreditur, cultuque tuo mansuescere gaudet
Cinnameos cumulos, Nabathai muncra veris,
Ecce cremant genibus trite regalibus aræ!
Solis Ophyræis crudum tibi montibus aurum
Maturant radii; tibi balsama sudat Idume.
Etheris en portas sacrofulgore micantes
Coelicole pandunt, torrentis aurea lucis
Flumina prorumpunt; non posthac solc rubescet
India nascenti, placideve argentea noctis
Luna vices revehet; radios pater ipse diei
Proferet archetypos; cœlestis gaudia lucis
Ipso fonte bides, quæ circumfusa beatam
Regiam inundabit, nullis cessura tenebris.
Littora deficiens arentia deseret æquor;
Sidera fumabunt, diro labefacta tremore
Saxa cadent, solidique liquescent robora montis:
Tu secura tamen confusa elementa videbis,
Lætaque Messia semper dominabere rege,
Pollicitis firmata Dei, stabilita ruinis.

[Nocti, inter 16 et 17 Junii, 1783.*] SUMME Pater, quodcunque tuumf de corpore Nument [velit: Hoc statuat, precibus Christus adesse Ingenio parcas, nec sit mihi culpa rogâsse, Qua solum potero parte, placere** tibi.

[Cal. Jan. in lecto, ante lucem. 1784.] SUMME dator vitæ, naturæ æterne magister, Causarum series quo moderante fluit, Respice quem subijet senium, morbique seniles, Quem terret vitæ meta propinqua suæ. Respice inutiliter lapsi quem pœnitet ævi; Recte ut poeniteat, respice, magne parens

PATER benigne, summa semper lenitas,
Crimine gravatam plurimo mentem leva:
Concede veram pœnitentiam, precor,
Concede agendam legibus vitam tuis.
Sacri vagantes luminis gressus face
Rege et tuere, quæ nocent pellens procul;
Veniam petenti, summe da veniam, pater;
Veniæque sancta pacis adde gaudia:
Sceleris ut expers, omni et vacuus metu,
Te, mente purâ, mente tranquillâ colam :
Mihi dona morte hæc impetret Christus suâ.

[Jan. 18, 1784.]

SUMME Pater, puro collustra lumine pectus,
Anxietas noceat ne tenebrosa mihi.

In me sparsa manu virtutum semina larga
Sic ale, proveniat messis ut ampla boni.
Noctes atque dies animo spes læta recurset,
Certa mihi sancto flagret amore fides.
Certa vetat dubitare fides, spes læta timere.
Velle vetet cuiquam non bene sanctus amor.
Da, ne sint permissa, Pater, mihi præmia frus-
Et colere, et leges semper amare tuas.
Hæc mihi, quo gentes, quo secula, Christe, piâsti,
Sanguine, precanti promereare tuo!

[Feb. 27, 1784.]

[tra,

MENS mea, quid quereris? veniet tibi mollior hora,

In summo ut videas numine læta patrem,
Divinam insontes iram placavit Jesus;
Nunc est pro pœna pœnituisse reis.

CHRISTIANUS PERFECTUS. Qui cupit in sanctos Christo cogente referri, Abstergat mundi labem, nec gaudia carnis Captans, nec fastu tumidus, semperque futuro Instet, et evellens terroris spicula corde, Suspiciat tandem clementem in numine patrem. Huic quoque, nec genti nec secte noxius ulli,

The night above referred to by Dr. Johnson, was that in which a paralytic stroke had deprived him of his voice, and, in the anxiety he felt lest it should likewise have impaired his understanding, he composed the above lines, and said, concerning them, that he knew at the time that they were not good, but then that he deemed his discerning this to be sufficient for the quieting the anxiety before mentioned, as it showed him that his power of juuging was not diminished.

Al. tuæ. Al. leges.
Al. votis. T Al. precari.

Al. statuant.

Al. litare.