Neither night nor dawn of day
Puts a period to thy play:

Sing, then-and extend thy span
Far beyond the date of man;

Wretched man, whose years are spent
In repining discontent,

Lives not, aged though he be,

Half a span, compared with thee.

IV. THE PARROT.

N painted plumes superbly dressed,
A native of the gorgeous east,
By many a billow tossed;

Poll gains at length the British shore,

Part of the captain's precious store,

A present to his toast.

Belinda's maids are soon preferred,

To teach him now and then a word,
As Poll can master it;

But 'tis her own important charge,
To qualify him more at large,

And make him quite a wit.

"Sweet Poll!" his doting mistress cries, "Sweet Poll!" the mimic bird replies,

And calls aloud for sack.

She next instructs him in the kiss; "Tis now a little one, like Miss,

And now a hearty smack.

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At first he aims at what he hears;

And, listening close with both his ears,
Just catches at the sound;

But soon articulates aloud,

Much to the amusement of the crowd,
And stuns the neighbours round.

A querulous old woman's voice
His humorous talent next employs,
He scolds, and gives the lie.

And now he sings, and now is sick,

Here, Sally, Susan, come, come quick! "Poor Poll is like to die!"

Belinda and her bird! 'tis rare

To meet with such a well-matched pair,
The language and the tone,

Each character in every part
Sustained with so much grace and art,

And both in unison.

When children first begin to spell,
And stammer out a syllable,

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25

30

35

We think them tedious creatures;

But difficulties soon abate,

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When birds are to be taught to prate,
And women are the teachers.

Lene sonat liquidumque meis Euphelia chordis,
At solam exoptant te, mea vota, Chlöe.

Ad speculum ornabat nitidos Euphelia crines,

Cum dixit mea lux, Heus, cane, sume lyram. Namque lyram juxtà positam cum carmine vidit, Suave quidem carmen dulcisonamque lyram.

5

Poems, Ed. 1782, p. 353. The original, under the title of "An Ode," will be found in Prior's Poems, vol. I., p. 49. Ed. 1725. A manuscript of the translation, in Cowper's handwriting, is now in the British Museum (Add. MS. 24, 154, fol. 8), and has been collated with our impression. On sending this manuscript to Unwin, Cowper accompanied it with the following explanation::—“ Not having the poem, and not having seen it these twenty years, I had much ado to recollect it, which has obliged me to tear off the first copy, and write another. [Here follow the lines]. Your mother joins me in all you can wish us to say to yourself and all your family, by no means forgetting great John and little Marianne. May 1, -79."

Fila lyræ vocemque paro. Suspiria surgunt,
Et miscent numeris murmura mæsta meis,
Dumque tuæ memoro laudes, Euphelia, formæ,
Tota anima intereà pendet ab ore Chlöes.

Subrubet illa pudore, et contrahit altera frontem,
Me torquet mea mens conscia, psallo, tremo;
Atque Cupidineâ dixit Dea cincta coronâ,

Heu! fallendi artem quam didicere parum.

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15

INSCRIPTION

FOR THE TOMB OF MR. T. A. HAMILTON.

AUSE here, and think: a monitory rhyme

Demands one moment of thy fleeting time.

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Consult Life's silent clock, thy bounding vein;
Seems it to say "Health here has long to reign?"
Hast thou the vigour of thy youth? an eye
That beams delight? a heart untaught to sigh?
Yet fear. Youth ofttimes, healthful and at ease,
Anticipates a day it never sees;

And many a tomb, like Hamilton's, aloud
Exclaims "Prepare thee for an early shroud!"+ 10

* Inscribed on a tombstone in the churchyard of Newport Pagnel. It is to be hoped that it still remains there, legible. Mr. Thomas Abbot Hamilton, a lace dealer in that town, of Cowper's acquaintance, was connected with several families at Olney. This inscription was printed in the collected Poems, Ed. 1800, vol. II., p. 352.

† Mr. Hamilton died on the 7th July, 1788, in the 32nd year of his age.

EPITAPH ON A HARE.*

ERE lies, whom hound did ne'er pursue,
Nor swifter greyhound follow,
Whose foot ne'er tainted morning dew,
Nor ear heard huntsman's halloo;

Old Tiny, surliest of his kind,t
Who, nursed with tender care,
And to domestic bounds confined,
Was still a wild Jack hare.

Though duly from my hand he took
His pittance every night,

He did it with a jealous look,

And, when he could, would bite.

His diet was of wheaten bread,

And milk, and oats, and straw;
Thistles, or lettuces instead,

With sand to scour his maw.

On twigs of hawthorn he regaled,
On pippins' russet peel,

And when his juicy salads failed,

Sliced carrot pleased him well.

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Poems, Ed. 1800, vol. m., p. 355. A manuscript copy which was sent by Cowper to Unwin on 30th March, 1783, is now in Addit. MS. Brit. Mus. No. 24,155, fol. 44. Another copy was sent to Bull, on the 7th March, 1783; see letter of that date.

"Tiny, the surliest of his kind," is the reading of the Brit. Mus. manuscript.