Yet glad she came that night to prove, A witness undescried, How much the object of her love Was loved by all beside. Darkness the skies had mantled o'er In aid of her design Darkness, O Queen! ne'er called before 35 To veil a deed of thine! On borrowed wheels away she flies, Resolved to be unknown, And gratify no curious eyes That night except her own. Arrived, a night like noon she sees, As all by instinct, like the bees, Pleased she beheld aloft portrayed, On many a splendid wall, Emblems of health and heavenly aid, And George the theme of all. 40 45 Unlike the enigmatic line, So difficult to spell, 50 Which shook Belshazzar at his wine Soon watery grew her eyes and dim, None else, except in prayer for him, 55 ON THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO LONDON. 339 It was a scene in every part Like those* in fable feigned, And seemed by some magician's art But other magic there, she knew, Had been exerted none, To raise such wonders in her view, 60 That cordial thought her spirit cheered, 65 And through the cumbrous throng, Not else unworthy to be feared, Conveyed her calm along. So, ancient poets say, serene The sea-maid rides the waves, And fearless of the billowy scene Her peaceful bosom laves. With more than astronomic eyes She viewed the sparkling show; One Georgian star adorns the skies, She myriads found below. Yet let the glories of a night Like that, once seen, suffice, Heaven grant us no such future sight, Hayley, "that" Johnson" those.” IN MEMORY OF THE LATE JOHN THORNTON, ESQ.* OETS attempt the noblest task they can, man, And, next, commemorating worthies The dead in whom that good abounded most. 10 I mourn; or, since thrice happy thou must be, Sweet as the privilege of healing woe That privilege was thine; Heaven gave thee means * Hayley, 1803, vol. 1. p. 68. 20 IN MEMORY OF JOHN THORNTON, ESQ. 341 Till thy appearance chased the gloom, forlorn Restless as his who toils and sweats for food; Thine had a value in the scales of Heaven Nice in its choice, and of a tempered heat; 25 30 35 And cheers the drooping flowers, unheard, un seen. Such was thy charity; no sudden start, After long sleep, of passion in the heart, But steadfast principle, and, in its kind, Of close alliance* to the Eternal Mind, Traced easily to its true source above, To Him whose works bespeak his nature, Love. Thy bounties all were Christian, and I make This record of thee for the Gospel's sake; That the incredulous themselves may see Its use and power exemplified in thee. Nov. 1790. * Hayley," alliance;" Johnson, “relatiou.” 40 45 50 THE FOUR AGES. (A BRIEF FRAGMENT of an EXTENSIVE PROJECTED POEM.)* COULD be well content, allowed the use Of passed experience, and the wisdom gleaned From worn-out follies, now acknowledged such, To recommence life's trial, in the hope Of fewer errors, on a second proof! 5 Thus, while gray evening lulled the wind and called Fresh odours from the shrubbery at my side, at length This wisdom, and but this, from all the past? * Hayley, 1803, vol. I. p. 173 10 15 |