Part I

Who figured much about the town,
Had pass’d, with general approbation,
The modish forms of education;
Knew what was proper to be known,
The establish’d jargon of Bon-ton;
Had learnt, with very moderate reading,
The whole new system of good breeding:
He studied to be cold and rude,
Though native feeling would intrude.
Unlucky sense and sympathy,
Spoilt the vain thing he strove to be:
For Florio was not meant by nature,
A silly, or a worthless creature:
He had a heart disposed to feel,
Had life and spirit, taste and zeal;
Was handsome, generous; but, by fate,
Predestined to a large estate!
Hence, all that graced his opening days,
Was marr’d by pleasure, spoilt by praise.
The Destiny, who wove the thread
Of Florio’s being, sigh’d, and said,
‘Poor Youth! this cumbrous twist of gold,
More than my shuttle well can hold,
For which thy anxious fathers toil’d,
Thy white and even thread has spoil’d:
‘Tis this shall warp thy pliant youth
From sense, simplicity, and truth,
Thy erring sire, by wealth misled,
Shall scatter pleasures round thy head,
When wholesome discipline’s control,
Should brace the sinews of thy soul;
Coldly thou’lt toil for learning’s prize,
For why should he that’s rich be wise?’
The gracious Master of womankind,
Who knew us vain, corrupt, and blind,
In mercy, tho’ in anger said,
That man should earn his daily bread;
His lot inaction renders worse,
While labour mitigates the curse.
The idle, life’s worst burthens bear,
And meet, what toil escapes, despair.
Forgive, nor lay the fault on me,
This mixture of mythology;
The Muse of Paradise has deign’d
With truth to mingle fables feign’d;
And tho’ the Bard who would attain
The glories, Milton, of thy strain,
Will never reach thy style or thoughts,
He may be like thee — in thy faults.
Exhausted Florio, at the age
When youth should rush on glory’s stage;
When life should open fresh and new,
And ardent hope her schemes pursue;
Of youthful gayety bereft,
Had scarce an unbroach’d pleasure left;
He found already to his cost,
The shining gloss of life was lost;
And pleasure was so coy a prude,
She fled the more, the more pursued;
Or if, o’ertaken and caress’d
He loath’d and left her when possess’d.
But Florio knew the World; that science
Sets sense and learning at defiance;
He thought the World to him was known,
Whereas he only knew the Town
In men this blunder still you find,
All think their little set — Mankind.
Tho’ high renown the youth had gain’d,
No flagrant crimes his life had stain’d;
No tool of falsehood, slave of passion,
But spoilt by Custom and the Fashion.
Tho’ known among a certain set;
He did not like to be in debt!
He shudder’d at the dicer’s box,
Nor thought it very heterodox,
That tradesmen should be sometimes paid,
And bargains kept as well as made.
His growing credit, as a sinner,
Was that he liked to spoil a dinner;
Made pleasure and made business wait,
And still, by system, came too late;
Yet ’twas a hopeful indication,
On which to be found a reputation:
Small habits, well pursued betimes,
May reach the dignity of crimes.
And who a juster claim preferr’d,
Than one who always broke his word?
His mornings were not spent in vice,
‘Twas lounging, sauntering, eating ice:
Walk up and down St. James’s-Street,
Full fifty times the youth you’d meet:
He hated cards, detested drinking,
But stroll’d to shun the toil of thinking;
‘Twas doing nothing was his curse,
Is there a vice can plague us worse?
The wretch who digs the mine for bread,
Or ploughs, that others may be fed,
Feels less fatigue than that decreed
To him who cannot think, or read.
Not all the peril of temptations,
Not all the conflict of the passions,
Can quench the spark of glory’s flame,
Or quite extinguish Virtue’s name;
Like the true taste for genuine saunter,
Like sloth, the soul’s most dire enchanter.
The active fires that stir the breast,
Her poppies charm to fatal rest;
They rule in short and quick succession,
But Sloth keeps one long, fast possession;
Ambition’s reign is quickly clos’d,
Th’ usurper Rage is soon depos’d;
Intemperance, where there’s no temptation,
Makes voluntary abdication;
Of other tyrants short the strife,
But Indolence is king for life.
The despot twists with soft control,
Eternal fetters round the soul.
Yet tho’ so polish’d Florio’s breeding,
Think him not ignorant of reading;
For he to keep him from the vapours,
Subscrib’d at Hookham’s, saw the papers;
Was deep in poet’s-corner wit;
Knew what was in Italics writ;
Explain’d fictitious names at will,
Each gutted syllable could fill;
There oft, in paragraphs, his name
Gave symptom sweet of growing fame;
Tho’ yet they only serv’d to hint
That Florio lov’d to see in print,
His ample buckles’ alter’d shape,
His buttons chang’d, his varying cape.
And many a standard phrase was his
Might rival bore, or banish quiz;
The man who grasps this young renown,
And early starts for fashion’s crown;
In time that glorious prize may wield.
Which clubs, and ev’n Newmarket yield.
He studied while he dress’d, for true ’tis,
He read Compendiums, Extracts, Beauties,
Abreges, Dictionaires, Recueils,
Mercures, Journaux, Extraits, and Feuilles:
No work in substance now is follow’d,
The Chemic Extract only ‘s swallow’d.
He lik’d those literary cooks
Who skim the cream of others’ books;
And ruin half an Author’s graces,
By plucking bon-mots from their places;
He wonders any writing sells,
But these spic’d mushrooms and morells;
His palate these alone can touch,
Where every mouthful is bonne bouche.
Some phrase, that with the public took,
Was all he read of any book;
For plan, detail, arrangement, system,
He let them go, and never miss’d ’em.
Of each new Play he saw a part,
And all the Anas had my heart;
He found whatever they produce
Is fit for conversation-use;
Learning so ready for display,
A page would prime him for a day:
They cram not with a mass of knowledge,
Which smacks of toil, and smells of college,
Which in the memory useless lies,
Or only makes men — good and wise.
This might have merit once indeed,
But now for other ends we read.
A friend he had, Bellario hight,
A reasoning, reading, learned wight;
At least, with men of Florio’s breeding,
He was a prodigy of reading.
He knew each stale and vapid lie
In tomes of French Philosophy;
And then, we fairly may presume,
From Pyrrho down to David Hume,
‘Twere difficult to single out
A man more full of shallow doubt;
He knew the little sceptic prattle,
The sophist’s paltry arts of battle;
Talk’d gravely of the Atomic dance,
Of moral fitness, fate, and chance;
Admired the system of Lucretius,
Whose matchless verse makes nonsense specious!
To this his doctrine owes its merits,
Like poisonous reptiles kept in spirits.
Though sceptics dull his schemes rehearse,
Who have not souls to taste his verse.
Bellario founds his reputation
On dry, stale jokes, about Creation;
Would prove, by argument circuitous,
The combination was fortuitous.
Swore Priests’ whole trade was to deceive,
And prey on bigots who believe;
With bitter ridicule could jeer,
And had the true free-thinking jeer.
Grave arguments he had in store,
Which have been answer’d o’er and o’er;
And used, with wondrous penetration
The trite old trick of false citation;
From ancient Authors fond to quote
A phrase or thought they never wrote.
Upon his highest shelf there stood
The Classics neatly cut in wood;
And in a more commodious station,
You’d found them in a French translation:
He swears, ’tis from the Greek he quotes,
But keeps the French — just for the notes.
He worshipp’d certain modern names
Who History write in Epigrams,
In pointed periods, shining phrases,
And all the small poetic daisies,
Which crowd the pert and florid style,
Where fact is dropt to raise a smile;
Where notes indecent or profane
Serve to raise doubts, but not explain:
Where all is spangle, glitter, show,
And truth is overlaid below:
Arts scorn’d by History’s sober muse
Arts Clarendon disdain’d to use.
Whate’er the subject of debate,
‘Twas larded still with sceptic prate;
Begin whatever theme you will,
In unbelief he lands you still;
The good, with shame I speak it, feel
Not half this proselyting zeal;
While cold their Master’s cause to own
Content to go to Heaven alone;
The infidel in liberal trim,
Would carry all the World with him;
Would treat his wife, friend, kindred, nation,
Mankind — with what? — Annihilation.
Though Florio did not quite believe him,
He thought, why should a friend deceive him?
Much as he prized Bellario’s wit,
He liked not all his notions yet;
He thought him charming, pleasant, odd,
But hoped one might believe in God;
Yet such the charms that graced his tongue,
He knew not how to think him wrong.
Though Florio tried a thousand ways,
Truth’s insuppressive torch would blaze;
Where once her flame was burnt, I doubt
If ever it go fairly out.
Yet, under great Bellario’s care,
He gain’d each day a better air;
With many a leader of renown,
Deep in the learning of the Town,
Who never other science knew,
But what from that prime source they drew;
Pleased to the Opera, they repair,
To get recruits of knowledge there,
Mythology gain at a glance,
And learn the Classics from a dance:
In Ovid they ne’er cared a groat,
How fared the venturous Argonaut;
Yet charm’d they see Medea rise
On fiery dragons to the skies.
For Dido, though they never knew her
As Maro’s magic pencil drew her,
Faithful and fond, and broken-hearted,
Her pious vagabond departed;
Yet, for Didone how they roar!
And Cara! Cara! loud encore.
One taste, Bellario’s soul possess’d,
The master passion of his breast;
It was not one of those frail joys,
Which, by possession, quickly cloys;
This bliss was solid, constant, true;
‘Twas action, and ’twas passion too;
For though the business might be finish’d,
The pleasure scarcely was diminish’d;
Did he ride out, or sit, or walk?
He lived it o’er again in talk;
Prolong’d the fugitive delight,
In words by day, in dreams by night.
‘Twas eating did his soul allure,
A deep, keen, modish Epicure;
Though once his name, as I opine,
Meant not such men as live to dine.
Yet all our modern Wits assure us,
That’s all they know of Epicurus:
They fondly fancy, that repletion
Was the chief good of that famed Grecian.
To live in gardens full of flowers,
And talk philosophy in bowers.
Or, in the covert of a wood,
To descant on the sovereign good,
Might be the notion of their founder,
But they have notions vastly sounder;
Their bolder standards they erect,
To form a more substantial sect;
Old Epicurus would not own ’em,
A dinner is their summum bonum.
More like you’ll find such sparks as these
To Epicurus’ deities;
Like them they mix not with affairs,
But loll and laugh at human cares,
To beaux this difference is allow’d,
They choose a sofa for a cloud;
Bellario had embraced with glee,
This practical philosophy.
Young Florio’s father had a friend,
And ne’er did Heaven a worthier send;
A cheerful knight of good estate,
Whose heart was warm, whose bounty great.
Where’er his wide protection spread,
The sick were cheer’d the hungry fed;
Resentment vanish’d where he came,
And law-suits fled before his name:
The old esteem’d, the young caress’d him,
And all the smiling village bless’d him.
Within his castle’s Gothic gate,
Sate plenty, and old-fashion’d State:
Scarce Prudence could his bounties stint;
Such characters are out of print;
O! would kind Heaven, the age to mend,
A new edition of them send,
Before our tottering Castles fall,
And swarming Nabobs seize on all!
Some little whims he had, ’tis true,
But they were harmless, and were few;
He dreaded nought like alteration,
Improvement still was innovation;
He said, when any change was brewing,
Reform was a fine name for ruin;
This maxim firmly he would hold,
‘That always must be good that’s old.’
The acts which dignify the day
He thought portended its decay:
And fear’d ‘twould show a falling State,
If Sternhold should give way to Tate:
The Church’s downfal he predicted,
Were modern tunes not interdicted;
He scorn’d them all, but crown’d with palm
The man who set the hundredth Psalm.
Of moderate parts, of moderate wit,
But parts for life and business fit,
Whate’er the theme, he did not fail,
At Popery and the French to rail;
And started wide, with fond digression,
To praise the Protestant succession;
Of Blackstone he had read a part,
And all Burns’ Justice knew by heart.
He thought man’s life too short to waste
On idle things call’d wit and taste.
In books that he might lose no minute,
His very verse had business in it.
He ne’er had heard of Bards of Greece,
But had read half of Dyer’s Fleece.
His sphere of knowledge still was wider,
His Georgics, ‘Philips upon Cyder;’
He could produce in proper place,
Three apt quotations from the ‘Chace,’
Ad in the hall from day to day,
Old Isaac Walton’s Angler lay.
This good and venerable knight,
One daughter had, his soul’s delight;
For face, no mortal could resist her,
She smiled like Hebe’s youngest sister;
Her life, as lovely as her face,
Each duty mark’d with every grace;
Her native sense improved by reading,
Her native sweetness by good-breeding:
She had perused each choicer sage
Of ancient date, or later age;
But her best knowledge still she found
On sacred, not on Classic ground;
‘Twas thence her noblest stores she drew,
And well she practised what she knew.
Let by Simplicity divine,
She pleased, and never tried to shine;
She gave to chance each unschool’d feature,
And left her cause to sense and Nature.
The Sire of Florio, ere he died,
Decreed fair Celia Florio’s bride;
Bade him his latest wish attend,
And win the daughter of his friend;
When the last rites to him were paid,
He charged him to address the maid;
Sir Gilbert’s heart the wish approved,
For much his ancient friend he loved.
Six rapid months like lightning fly,
And the last gray was now thrown by;
Florio, reluctant, calls to mind
The orders of a Sire too kind;
Yet go he must; he must fulfil
The hard conditions of the will:
Go, at that precious hour of prime,
Go, at that swarming, bustling time,
When the full town to joy invites,
Distracted with its own delights;
When pleasure pours from her full urn,
Each tiresome transport in its turn;
When Dissipation’s altars blaze,
And men run mad a thousand ways;
When, on his tablets, there were found
Engagements for full six weeks round;
Must leave, with grief and desperation,
Three packs of cards of invitation,
And all the ravishing delights
Of slavish days, and sleepless nights.
Ye nymphs, whom tyrant Power drags down,
With hand despotic, from the town,
When Almack’s doors wide open stand,
And the gay partner’s offer’d hand
Courts to the dance; when steaming rooms
Fetid with unguents and perfumes,
Invite you to the mobs polite
Of three sure balls in one short night;
You may conceive what Florio felt,
And sympathetically melt;
You may conceive the hardship dire,
To lawns and woodlands to retire,
When freed from Winter’s icy chain,
Glad Nature revels on the plain;
When blushing Spring leads on the hours,
And May is prodigal of flowers;
When Passion warbles through the grove,
And all is song, and all is love;
When new-born breezes sweep the vale,
And health adds fragrance to the vale.
PART II.
Six boys, unconscious of their weight,
Soon lodged him at Sir Gilbert’s gate;
His trusty Swiss, who flew still faster,
Announced the arrival of his Master:
So loud the rap which shook the door,
The hall re-echoed to the roar;
Since first the castle walls were rear’d,
So dread a sound had ne’er been heard;
The din alarm’d the frighten’d deer
Who in a corner slunk for fear,
The Butler thought ’twas beat of drum,
The Steward swore the French were come;
It ting’d with red Poor Florio’s face,
He thought himself in Portland-Place.
Short joy! he enter’d, and the gate
Closed on him with its ponderous weight.
Who, like Sir Gilbert, now was blest?
With rapture he embraced his guest.
Fair Celia blush’d, and Florio utter’d
Half sentences, or rather mutter’d
Disjointed words — as, ‘honour! pleasure!
‘Kind! — vastly good, Ma’am! — beyond measure:’
Tame expletives, with which dull Fashion
Fills vacancies of sense and passion.
Yet, though disciple of cold Art,
Florio soon found he had a heart,
He saw; and but that Admiration
Had been too active, too like passion;
Or had he been to Ton less true,
Cupid had shot him through and through;
But, vainly speeds the surest dart,
Where Fashion’s mail defends the heart
The shaft her cold repulsion found,
And fell, without the power to wound;
For fashion, with a mother’s joy,
Dipp’d in her lake the darling boy;
That lake whose chilling waves impart
The gift to freeze the warmest heart:
Yet guarded as he was with phlegm,
With such delight he eyed the dame,
Found his cold heart so melt before her,
And felt so ready to adore her;
That fashion fear’d her son would yield,
And flew to snatch him from the field;
O’er his touch’d heart her AEgis threw,
The Goddess Mother straight he knew;
Her power he own’d, she saw and smiled,
And claim’d the triumph of her child.
Celia a table still supplied,
Which modish luxury might deride;
A modest feast the hope conveys,
The Master eats on other days;
While gorgeous banquets oft bespeak
A hungry household all the week;
And decent elegance was there,
And Plenty with her liberal air.
But vulgar Plenty gave offence,
And shock’d poor Florio’s nicer sense.
Patient he yielded to his fate,
When good Sir Gilbert piled his plate;
He bow’d submissive, made no question,
But that ’twas sovereign for digestion;
But, such was his unlucky whim,
Plain meats would ne’er agree with him;
Yet feign’d to praise the gothic treat,
And, if he ate not, seem’d to eat.
In sleep sad Florio hoped to find,
The pleasures he had left behind,
He dreamt, and, lo! to charm his eyes,
The form of Weltje seem’d to rise;
The gracious vision waved his wand,
And banquets sprung to Florio’s hand;
Th’ imaginary savours rose
In tempting odours to his nose.
A bell, not Fancy’s false creation,
Gives joyful ‘note of preparation;’
He starts, he wakes, the bell he hears;
Alas! it rings for morning prayers.
But how to spend next tedious morning,
Was past his possible discerning;
Unable to amuse himself,
He tumbled every well-ranged shelf;
This book was dull, and that was wise,
And this was monstrous as to size.
With eager joy he gobbled down
Whate’er related to the town;
Whate’er look’d small, whate’er look’d new,
Half-bound, or stitch’d in pink or blue;
Old play-bills, Astley’s last year’s feats,
And Opera disputes in sheets,
As these dear records meet his eyes,
Ghosts of departed pleasures rise;
He lays the book upon the shelf,
And leaves the day to spend itself.
To cheat the tedious hours, whene’er
He sallied forth to take the air,
His sympathetic ponies knew
Which way their Lord’s affections drew;
And, every time he went abroad,
Sought of themselves the London road:
He ask’d each mile of every clown,
How far they reckon’d it to town?
And still his nimble spirits rise,
Whilst thither he directs his eyes;
But when his coursers back he guides,
The sinking Mercury quick subsides.
A week he had resolved to stay,
But found a week in every day;
Yet if the gentle maid was by,
Faint pleasure glisten’d in his eye;
Whene’er she spoke, attention hung
On the mild accents of her tongue;
But when no more the room she graced,
The slight impression was effaced.
Whene’er Sir Gilbert’s sporting guests
Retail’d old news, or older jests,
Florio, quite calm, and debonair,
Still humm’d a new Italian air;
He did not even feign to hear them,
But plainly show’d he could not bear them.
Celia perceived his secret thoughts,
But liked the youth with all his thoughts,
Yet ’twas unlike, she softly said,
The tales of love which she had read,
Where heroes vow’d, and sigh’d, and knelt;
Nay, ’twas unlike the love she felt;
Though when her Sire the youth would blame,
She clear’d his but suspected fame,
Ventured to hope, with faultering tongue,
‘He would reform, he was but young;’
Confess’d his manners wrong in part,
‘But then — he had so good a heart!’
She sunk each fault, each virtue raised,
And still, where truth permitted, praised;
His interest farther to secure,
She praised his bounty to the poor;
For, votary as his he was of art,
He had a kind and melting heart;
Though, with a smile, he used to own
He had not time to feel in town;
Not that he blush’d to show compassion,–
It chanced that year to be the fashion.
And equally the modish tribe,
To Clubs or Hospitals subscribe.
At length, to wake Ambition’s flame,
A letter from Bellario came;
Announcing the supreme delight,
Preparing for a certain night,
By Flavia fair, return’d from France,
Who took him captive at a glance:
The invitations all were given!
Five hundred cards! — a little heaven!–
A dinner first — he would present him,
And nothing, nothing must prevent him.
Whosever wish’d a noble air,
Must gain it by an entree there;
Of all the glories of the town,
‘Twas the first passport to renown.
Then ridiculed his rural schemes,
His pastoral shades, and purling streams;
Sneer’d at his present brilliant life,
His polish’d Sire, and high-bred Wife!
Thus doubly to inflame, he tried,
His curiosity, and pride.
The youth, with agitated heart,
Prepared directly to depart;
But, bound in honour to obey
His father, at no distant day,
He promised soon to hasten down,
Though business call’d him now to town;
Then faintly hints a cold proposal–
But leaves it to the Knight’s disposal–
Stammer’d half words of love and duty,
And mutter’d much of — ‘worth and beauty;’
Something of ‘passion’ then he dropt,
‘And hoped his ardour’– Here he stopt;
For some remains of native truth
Flush’d in his face, and check’d the youth;
Yet still the ambiguous suffusion,
Might pass for artless love’s confusion.
The doating father thought ’twas strange,
But fancied men like times might change;
Yet own’d, nor could he check his tongue,
It was not so when he was young.
That was the reign of Love, he swore,
Whose halcyon days are now no more.
In that bless’d age, for honour famed,
Love paid the homage Virtue claim’d;
Not that insipid, daudling Cupid,
With heart so hard, and air so stupid,
Who coldly courts the charms which lie
In Affectation’s half closed eye.
Love then was honest, genuine passion,
And manly gallantry the fashion;
Yet pure as ardent was the flame
Excited by the beauteous dame;
Hope should subsist on slender bounties,
And Suitors gallop’d o’er two counties,
The Ball’s fair partner to behold,
Or humbly hope — she caught no cold.
But mark how much Love’s annals mend!
Should Beauty’s Goddess now descend;
On some adventure should she come,
To grace a modish drawing-room;
Spite of her form and heavenly air,
What Beau would hand her to her chair?
Vain were that grace, which, to her son,
Disclosed what Beauty had not done:
Vain were that motion which betray’d,
The goddess was no earth-born maid;
If noxious Faro’s baleful spright,
With rites infernal ruled the night,
The group absorb’d in play and pelf,
Venus might call her doves herself.
As Florio pass’d the Castle-gate,
His spirits seem to lose their weight;
He feasts his lately vacant mind
With all the joys he hopes to find;
Yet on whate’er his fancy broods,
The form of Celia still intrudes;
Whatever other sounds he hears,
The voice of Celia fills his ears;
Howe’er his random thoughts might fly,
Nor was the obstrusive vision o’er,
Even when he reach’d Bellario’s door;
The friends embraced with warm delight,
And Flavia’s praises crown’d the night.
Soon dawn’d the day which was to show
Glad Florio what was heaven below.
Flavia, admired wherever known,
The acknowledged Empress of bon-ton;
O’er Fashion’s wayward kingdom reigns,
And holds Bellario in her chains:
Various her powers; a wit by day,
By night unmatch’d for lucky play.
The flattering, fashionable tribe,
Each stray bon-mot to her ascribe;
And all her ‘little senate’ own
She made the best Charade in town;
Her midnight suppers always drew
Whate’er was fine, whate’er was new.
There oft the brightest fame you’d see
The victim of a repartee;
For slander’s Priestess still supplies
The Spotless for the sacrifice.
None at her polish’d table sit,
But who aspired to modish wit;
The persiflage, th’ unfeeling jeer,
The civil, grave, ironic sneer;
The laugh, which more than censure wounds,
Which, more than argument, confounds.
There the fair deed, which would engage
The wonder of a nobler age,
With unbelieving scorn is heard,
Or still to selfish ends referr’d;
If in the deed no flaw they find,
To some base motive ’tis assign’d;
When Malice longs to throw her dart,
But finds no vulnerable part,
Because the Virtues all defend,
At every pass, their guarded friend;
Then by one slight insinuation,
One scarce perceived exaggeration;
Sly Ridicule, with half a word,
Can fix her stigma of — absurd;
Nor care, nor skill, extracts the dart,
With which she stabs the feeling heart;
Her cruel caustics inly pain,
And scars indelible remain.
Supreme in wit, supreme in play,
Despotic Flavia all obey;
Small were her natural charms of face,
Till heighten’d with each foreign grace;
But what subdued Bellario’s soul
Beyond Philosophy’s control,
Her constant table was as fine
As if ten Rajahs were to dine;
She every day produced such fish as
Would gratify the nice Apicius,
Or realize what we think fabulous
I’ th’ bill of fare of Heliogabalus.
Yet still the natural taste was cheated,
‘Twas deluged in some sauce one hated.
‘Twas sauce! ’twas sweetmeat! ’twas confection!
All poignancy! and all perfection!
Rich Entrements, whose name none knows,
Ragouts, Tourtes, Tendrons, Fricandeaux,
Might picque the sensuality
O’ th’ hogs of Epicurus’ sty;
Yet all so foreign, and so fine,
‘Twas easier to admire, than dine.
O! if the Muse had power to tell
Each dish, no Muse has power to spell!
Great Goddess of the French Cuisine!
Not with unhallow’d hands I mean
To violate thy secret shade,
Which eyes profane shall ne’er invade;
No! of thy dignity supreme,
I, with ‘mysterious reverence,’ deem!
Or, should I venture with rash hand,
The vulgar would not understand;
None but th’ initiated know
The raptures keen thy rites bestow.
Thus much to tell I lawful deem,
Thy works are never what they seem;
Thy will this general law has past,
That nothing of itself shall taste.
Thy word this high decree enacted,
‘In all be Nature counteracted!’
Conceive, who can, the perfect bliss,
For ’tis not given to all to guess,
The rapturous joy Bellario found,
When thus his every wish was crown’d.
To Florio, as the best of friends,
One dish he secretly commends;
Then hinted, as a special favour,
What gave it that delicious flavour;
A mystery he so much reveres,
He never to unhallow’d ears
Would trust it, but to him would show
How far true Friendship’s power could go.
Florio, though dazzled by the fete,
With far inferior transport eat;
A little warp his taste had gain’d,
Which, unperceived, till now, remain’d;
For, from himself he would conceal
The change he did not choose to feel;
He almost wish’d he could be picking
An unsophisticated chicken;
And when he cast his eyes around,
And not one simple morsel found,
O give me, was his secret wish,
My charming Celia’s plainest dish!
Thus Nature, struggling for her rights,
Lets in some little, casual lights,
And Love combines to war with Fashion,
Though yet ’twas but an infant passion;
The practised Flavia tried each art
Of sly attack to steal his heart;
Her forced civilities oppress,
Fatiguing through mere graciousness;
While many a gay, intrepid dame,
By bold assault essay’d the same.
Fill’d with disgust, he strove to fly
The artful glance and fearless eye;
Their jargon now no more he praises,
Nor echoes back their flimsy phrases.
He felt not Celia’s powers of face,
Till weigh’d against bon-ton grimage;
Nor half her genuine beauties tasted,
Till with factitious charms contrasted.
Th’ industrious harpies hover’d round,
Nor peace nor liberty he found;
By force and flattery circumvented,
To play, reluctant, he consented;
Each Dame her power of pleasing tried,
To fix the novice by her side;
Of Pigeons, he the very best,
Who wealth, with ignorance, possest:
But Flavia’s rhetoric best persuades,
That Sibyl leads him to the shades;
The fatal leaves around the room,
Prophetic, tell th’ approaching doom!
Yet, different from the tale of old,
It was the fair one pluck’d the gold;
Her arts the ponderous purse exhaust;
A thousand borrow’d, staked, and lost,
Wakes him to sense and shame again,
Nor force, nor fraud, could more obtain.
He rose, indignant, to attend
The summons of a ruin’d friend,
Whom keen Bellario’s arts betray
To all the depths of desperate play;
A thoughtless youth who near him sate,
Was plunder’d of his whole estate;
Toll late he call’d for Florio’s aid,
A beggar in a moment made.
And now, with horror, Florio views
The wild confusion which ensues;
Marks how the Dames, of late so fair,
Assume a fierce demoniac air;
Marks where th’ infernal furies hold
Their orgies foul o’er heaps of gold;
And spirits dire appear to rise,
Guarding the horrid mysteries;
Marks how deforming passions tear
The bosoms of the losing fair;
How looks convulsed, and haggar’d faces
Chase the scared Loves and frighten’d Graces!
Touch’d with disdain, with horror fired,
Celia! he murmur’d, and retired.
That night no sleep his eyelids prest,
He thought; and thought ‘s a foe to rest:
Or if, by chance, he closed his eyes,
What hideous spectres round him rise!
Distemper’d Fancy wildly brings
The broken images of things;
His ruin’d friend, with eye-ball fixt,
Swallowing the draught Despair had mixt;
The frantic wife beside him stands,
With bursting heart, and wringing hands;
And every horror dreams bestow,
Of pining Want, or raving Woe.
Next morn, to check, or cherish thought,
His library’s retreat he sought;
He view’d each book, with cold regard,
Of serious sage, or lighter bard;
At length among the motley band,
The Idler fell into his hand;
Th’ alluring title caught his eye,
It promised cold inanity:
He read with rapture and surprise,
And found ’twas pleasant, though ’twas wise;
His tea grew cold, whilst he, unheeding,
Pursued this reasonable reading.
He wonder’d at the change he found,
Th’ elastic spirits nimbly bound;
Time slipt, without disgust, away,
While many a card unanswer’d lay;
Three papers, reeking from the press,
Three Pamphlets thin, in azure dress,
Ephemeral literature well known,
The lie and scandal of the town;
Poison of letters, morals, time!
Assassin of our day’s fresh prime!
These, on his table, half the day,
Unthought of, and neglected lay.
Florio had now full three hours read,
Hours which he used to waste in bed;
His pulse beat Virtue’s vigorous tone,
The reason to himself unknown;
And if he stopp’d to seek the cause,
Fair Celia’s image fill’d the pause.
And now, announced, Bellario’s name
Had almost quench’d the new-born flame:
‘Admit him,’ was the ready word
Which first escaped him not unheard;
When sudden to his mental sight,
Uprose the horrors of last night;
His plunder’d friend before him stands,
And — ‘not at home,’ his firm commands.
He felt the conquest as a joy
The first temptation would destroy.
He knew next day that Hymen’s hand,
Would tack the slight and slippery band,
Which, in loose bondage, would ensnare
Bellario bright and Flavia fair.
Oft had he promised to attend
The Nuptials of his happy friend:
To go — to stay — alike he fears;
At length a bolder flight he dares;
To Celia he resolves to fly,
And catch fresh virtue from her eye;
Though three full weeks did yet remain,
Ere he engaged to come again.
This plan he tremblingly embraced,
With doubtful zeal, and uttering haste;
Nor ventured he one card to read,
Which might his virtuous scheme impede;
Each note, he dreaded might betray him,
And shudder’d lest each rap should stay him.
Behold him seated in his chaise:
With face that self-distrust betrays;
He hazards not a single glance,
Nor through the glasses peeps by chance,
Lest some old friend, or haunt well known,
Should melt his resolution down.
Fast as his foaming coursers fly,
Hyde-Park attracts his half-raised eye;
He steals one fearful, conscious look,
Then drops his eye upon his book.
Triumphant he persists to go;
But gives one sigh to Rotten Row.
Long as he view’d Augusta’s towers
The sight relax’d his thinking powers;
In vain he better plans revolves,
While the soft scene his soul dissolves;
The towers once lost, his view he bends,
Where the receding smoke ascends;
But when nor smoke, nor towers arise,
To charm his heart or cheat his eyes;
When once he got entirely clear
From this enfeebling atmosphere;
His mind was braced, his spirits light,
His heart was gay, his humour bright;
Thus feeling, at his inmost soul,
The sweet reward of self-control.
Impatient now, and all alive,
He thought he never should arrive;
At last he spies Sir Gilbert’s trees;
Now the near battlements he sees;
The gates he enter’d with delight,
And, self-announced, embraced the knight:
The youth his joy unfeign’d express’d,
The knight with joy received his guest,
And own’d, with no unwilling tongue,
‘Twas done like men when he was young.
Three weeks subducted, went to prove,
A feeling like old-fashion’d love.
For Celia, not a word she said,
But blush’d, ‘celestial, rosy red!’
Her modest charms transport the youth,
Who promised everlasting truth.
Celia, in honour of the day,
Unusual splendour would display:
Such was the charm her sweetness gave,
He thought her Wedgwood had been seve;
Her taste diffused a gracious air,
And chaste Simplicity was there,
Whose secret power, though silent, great is,
The loveliest of the sweet Penates.
Florio, now present to the scene,
With spirits light and gracious mien,
Sir Gilbert’s port politely praises,
And carefully avoids French phrases;
Endures the daily dissertation
On Land-tax, and a ruin’d Nation;
Listens to many a tedious tale
Of poachers, who deserved a jail;
Heard of all the business of the Quorum,
Each cause and crime produced before ’em;
Heard them abuse with complaisance
The language, wines, and wits of France;
Nor did he hum a single air,
While good Sir Gilbert fill’d his chair.
Abroad, with joy and grateful pride
He walks, with Celia by his side:
A thousand cheerful thoughts arise,
Each rural scene enchants his eyes:
With transport he begins to look
On Nature’s all-instructive book;
No objects now seem mean, or low,
Which point to Him from whom they flow.
A berry or a bud excites
A chain of reasoning which delights,
Which, spite of sceptic ebullitions
Proves Atheists not the best Logicians.
A tree, a brook, a blade of grass,
Suggests reflections as they pass,
Till Florio, with a sigh, confest
The simplest pleasures are the best!
Bellario’s systems sink in air,
He feels the perfect, good, and fair.
As pious Celia raised the theme
To holy faith and love supreme;
Enlighten’d Florio learn’d to trace
In Nature’s God the God of Grace.
In wisdom as the convert grew,
The hours on rapid pinions flew;
When call’d to dress, that Titus wore
A wig the alter’d Florio swore;
Or else, in estimating time,
He ne’er had mark’d it as a crime,
That he had lost but one day’s blessing,
When we so many lose, by dressing.
The rest, suffice it now to say,
Was finish’d in the usual way.
Cupid impatient for his hour,
Reviled slow Themis’ tedious power,
Whose parchment legends, signing, sealing,
Are cruel forms for Love to deal in.
At length to Florio’s eager eyes,
Behold the day of bliss arise!
The golden sun illumes the globe,
The burning torch, the saffron robe,
Jus as of old, glad Hymen wears,
And Cupid as of old, appears
In Hymen’s train; so strange the case,
They hardly knew each other’s face;
Yet both confess’d with glowing heart,
They never were design’d to part;
Quoth Hymen, Sure you’re strangely slighted,
At weddings not to be invited;
The reason’s clear enough, quoth Cupid,
My company is thought but stupid,
Where Plutus is the favourite guest,
For he and I scarce speak at best.
The self-same sun which joins the twain
Sees Flavia sever’d from her swain:
Bellario sues for a divorce,
And both pursue their separate course.
Oh wedded love; Thy bliss how rare!
And yet the ill-assorted pair,
The pair who choose at Fashion’s voice,
Or drag the chain of venal choice,
Have little cause to curse the state;
Who make, should never blame their fate;
Such flimsy ties, say where’s the wonder,
If Doctors Commons snap asunder.
In either case, ’tis still the wife,
Gives cast and colour to the life.
Florio escaped from Fashion’s school,
His heart and conduct learns to rule;
Conscience his useful life approves;
He serves his God, his country loves;
Reveres her laws, protects her rights,
And, for her interests, pleads or fights:
Reviews with scorn his former life,
And, for his rescue, thanks his Wife.

Sir Eldred was his name;
And never did a worthier wight
The rank of knighthood claim.
Where gliding Tay, her stream sends forth,
To feed the neighbouring wood,
The ancient glory of the North,
Sir Eldred’s castle stood.
The Knight was rich as Knight might be
In patrimonial wealth;
And rich in nature’s gifts was he,
In youth, and strength, and health.
He did not think, as some have thought,
Whom honour never crown’d,
The fame a father dearly bought,
Could make the son renown’d.
He better thought, a noble sire,
Who gallant deeds had done,
To deeds of hardihood should fire
A brave and gallant son.
The fairest ancestry on earth
Without desert is poor;
And every deed of former worth
Is but a claim for more.
Sir Eldred’s heart was ever kind,
Alive to Pity’s call;
A crowd of virtues grac’d his mind,
He loved, and felt for all.
When merit rais’d the sufferer’s name,
He shower’d his bounty then;
And those who could not prove that claim,
He succour’d still as men.
But sacred truth the Muse compels
His errors to impart;
And yet the Muse reluctant tells
The fault of Eldred’s heart.
The mild and soft as infant love
His fond affections melt;
Tho’ all that kindest spirits prove
Sir Eldred keenly felt:
Yet if the passions storm’d his soul,
By jealousy led on;
The fierce resentment scorn’d control,
And bore his virtues down.
Not Thule’s waves so wildly break
To drown the northern shore;
Not Etna’s entrails fiercer shake,
Or Scythia’s tempests roar.
As when in summer’s sweetest day
To fan the fragrant morn,
The sighing breezes softly stray
O’er fields of ripen’d corn;
Sudden the lightning’s blast descends,
Deforms the ravag’d fields;
At once the various ruin blends,
And all resistless yields.
But when, to clear his stormy breast,
The sun of reason shone,
And ebbing passions sunk to rest,
And show’d what rage had done:
O then what anguish he betray’d!
His shame how deep, how true!
He view’d the waste his rage had made,
And shudder’d at the view.
The meek-ey’d dawn, in saffron robe,
Proclaim’d the opening day,
Up rose the sun to gild the globe,
And hail the new-born May;
The birds their vernal notes repeat,
And glad the thickening grove,
And feather’d partners fondly greet
With many a song of love:
When pious Eldred early rose
The Lord of all to hail;
Who life with all its gifts bestows,
Whose mercies never fail!
That done — he left his woodland glade,
And journey’d far away;
He lov’d to court the distant shade,
And thro’ the lone vale stray.
Within the bosom of a wood,
By circling hills embrac’d,
A little, modest mansion stood,
Built by the hand of taste:
While many a prouder castle fell,
This safely did endure;
The house where guardian virtues dwell
Is sacred and secure.
Of Eglantine an humble fence
Around the mansion stood,
Which serv’d at once to charm the sense,
And screen an infant wood.
The wood receiv’d an added grace,
As pleas’d it bent to look,
And view’d its ever verdant face
Reflected in a brook:
The smallness of the stream did well
The master’s fortunes show;
But little streams may serve to tell
The source from which they flow.
This mansion own’d an aged Knight,
And such a man was he,
As heaven just shows to human sight,
To tell what man should be.
His youth in many a well-fought field
Was train’d betimes to war;
His bosom, like a well-worn shield,
Was grac’d with many a scar.
The vigour of a green old age
His reverend form did bear;
And yet, alas! the warrior-sage
Had drain’d the dregs of care.
And sorrow more than age can break,
And wound its hapless prey,
‘Twas sorrow furrow’d his firm cheek,
And turn’d his bright locks grey.
One darling daughter sooth’d his cares,
A young and beauteous dame,
Sole comfort of his failing years,
And Birtha was her name.
Her heart a little sacred shrine,
Where all the Virtues meet,
And holy Hope and Faith divine
Had claim’d it for their seat.
She lov’d to raise her fragrant bower
Of wild and rustic taste,
And there she screen’d each fav’rite flower
From ev’ry ruder blast:
And not a shrub or plant was there
But did some moral yield,
For wisdom, by a father’s care,
Was found in ev’ry field.
The trees, whose foliage fell away,
And with the summer died,
He thought an image of decay
Might lecture human pride:
While fair perennial greens that stood,
And brav’d the wintry blast,
As types of the fair mind he view’d,
Which shall for ever last.
He taught her that the gaudiest flowers
Were seldom fragrant found,
But, wasted soon their little powers,
Dropt useless on the ground:
While the sweet-scented rose shall last,
And still retain its power
When life’s imperfect day is past,
And beauty’s shorter hour.
And here the virgin lov’d to lead
Her inoffensive day,
And here she oft retir’d to read,
And oft retir’d to pray.
Embower’d, she grac’d the woodland shades,
From courts and cities far,
The pride of Caledonian maids,
The peerless northern star.
As shines that bright and lucid star,
The glory of the night,
When beaming thro’ the cloudless air,
She sheds her silver light:
So Birtha shone! — But when she spoke
The Muse herself was heard,
As on the ravish’d air she broke,
And thus her prayer preferr’d:
‘O bless thy Birtha, Power Supreme,
In whom I live and move,
And bless me most by blessing him
Whom more than life I love.’
She starts to hear a stranger’s voice,
And with a modest grace,
She lifts her meek eye in surprise,
And sees a stranger’s face:
The stranger lost in transport stood,
Bereft of voice and power,
While she with equal wonder view’d
Sir Eldred of the bower.
The virgin blush which spreads her cheek
With nature’s purest dye,
And all those dazzling beams which break
Like morning from her eye.
He view’d them all, and as he view’d,
Drank deeply of delight;
And still his raptur’d eye pursued,
And feasted on the sight.
With silent wonder long they gaz’d,
And neither silence broke;
At length the smother’d passion blaz’d,
Enamour’d Eldred spoke:
‘O sacred Virtue, heav’nly power!
Thy wondrous force I feel:
I gaze, I tremble, I adore,
Yet die my love to tell.
‘My scorn has oft the dart repell’d
Which guileful beauty threw;
But goodness heard, and grace beheld,
Must every heart subdue.’
Quick on the ground her eyes were cast,
And now as quickly rais’d:–
Just then her father haply past,
On whom she trembling gaz’d.
Good Ardolph’s eye his Birtha meets
With glances of delight;
And thus with courteous speech he greets
The young and graceful Knight:
‘O gallant youth, whoe’er thou art,
Right welcome to this place!
There’s something rises at my heart
Which says I’ve seen that face.’
‘Thou generous Knight,’ the youth rejoin’d,
‘Though little known to fame,
I trust I bear a grateful mind–
Sir Eldred is my name.’
‘Sir Eldred?’ — Ardolph loud exclaim’d,
‘Renown’d for worth and power?
For valour and for virtue famed,
Sir Eldred of the Bower?
‘Now make me grateful, righteous Heaven,
As thou art good to me,
Since to my aged eyes ’tis given
Sir Eldred’s son to see!’
Then Ardolph caught him by the hand,
And gazed upon his face,
And to his aged bosom strain’d,
With many a kind embrace.
Again he view’d him o’er and o’er,
And doubted still the truth,
And ask’d what he had ask’d before,
Then thus addrest the youth:
‘Come now beneath my roof, I pray,
Some needful rest to take,
And with us many a cheerful day
Thy friendly sojourn make.’
He enter’d at the gate straightway
Some needful rest to take;
And with them many a cheerful day
Did friendly sojourn make.
PART II.
Once — in a social summer’s walk,
The gaudy day was fled;
They cheated time with cheerful talk
When thus Sir Ardolph said:
‘Thy father was the firmest friend
That e’er my beign blest;
And every virtue heaven could send,
Fast bound him to my breast.
‘Together did we learn to bear
The casque and ample shield;
Together learn’d in many a war
The deathful spear to wield.
‘To make our union still more dear,
We both were doom’d to prove,
What is most sweet and most severe
In heart-dissolving love.
‘The daughter of a neighbouring Knight
Did my fond heart engage,
And ne’er did Heaven the virtues write
Upon a fairer page.
‘His bosom felt an equal qound,
Nor sigh’d we long in vain;
One summer’s sun beheld us bound
In Hymen’s holy chain.
‘Thou wast Sir Eldred’s only child,
Thy father’s darling joy;
On me a lovely daughter smiled,
On me a blooming boy.
‘But man has woes — has clouds of care,
That dim his star of life —
My arms received the little pair,
The earth’s cold breast my wife.
‘Forgive, thou gentle Knight, forgive,
Fond foolish tears will flow;
One day like mine thy heart may heave,
And mourn its lot of wo.
‘But grant, kind Heaven! thou ne’er may’st know
The pangs I now impart;
Nor ever feel the parting blow
That rives a husband’s heart.
‘Beside the blooming banks of Tay;
My angel’s ashes sleep;
And wherefore should her Ardolph stay
Except to watch and weep?
‘I bore my beauteous babes away
With many a gushing tear;
I left the blooming banks of Tay,
And brought my darlings here.
‘I watch’d my little household cares
And form’d their growing youth,
And fondly train’d their infant years
To piety and truth.’
‘Thy blooming Birtha here I see,’
Sir Eldred straight rejoin’d;
‘But why the son is not with thee,
Resolve my doubting mind.’
When Birtha did the question hear,
She sigh’d, but could not speak:
And many a soft and tender tear
Stray’d down her damask cheek.
Then pass’d o’er good Sir Ardolph’s face
A cast of deadly pale;
But soon composed with manly grace,
He thus renew’d his tale:
‘For him my heart too much has bled;
For him, my darling son,
Has sorrow prest my hoary head,
But Heaven’s high will be done!
‘Scarce eighteen winters had revolved,
To crown the circling year,
Before my valiant boy resolved
The warrior’s lance to bear.
‘For high I prized my native land,
Too dear his fame I held,
T’oppose a parent’s stern command,
And keep him from the field.
‘He left me — left his sister too,
Yet tears bedew’d his face —
What could a feeble old man do?
He burst from my embrace.
‘O thirst of glory, fatal flame!
O laurels dearly bought!
Yet sweet is death when earn’d with fame–
So virtuous Edwy thought.
‘Full manfully the brave boy strove,
Though pressing ranks oppose;
But weak the strongest arm must prove
Against an host of foes.
‘A deadly wound my son receives,
A spear assails his side:
Grief does not kill — for Adolph lives
To tell that Edwy died.
‘His long-loved mother died again
In Edwy’s parting groan;
I wept for her, yet wept in vain–
I wept for both in one.
‘I would have died — I sought to die,
But Heaven restrain’d the thought,
And to my passion-clouded eye
My helpless Birtha brought.
‘When lo! array’d in robes of light,
A nymph celestial came,
She clear’d the mists that dimm’d my sight–
Religion was her name.
‘She proved the chastisement divine,
And bade me kiss the rod:
She taught this rebel heart of mine
Submission to its God.
Religion taught me to sustain
What Nature bade me feel;
And Piety relieved the pain
Which Time can never heal.’
He ceased — with sorrow and delight
The tale Sir Eldred hears;
Then weeping cries — ‘Thou noble Knight,
For thanks accept my tears.
‘O Ardolph, might I dare aspire
To claim so bright a boon!–
Good old Sir Eldred was my sire–
And thou hast lost a son.
‘And though I want a worthier plea
To urge so dear a cause;
Yet let me to thy bosom be
What once thy Edwy was.
‘My trembling tongue its aid denies;
For thou may’st disapprove;
Then read it in my ardent eyes,
Oh! read the tale of love.
‘Thy beauteous Birtha!’ — ‘Gracious Power
How could I e’er repine,
Cries Ardolph, ‘since I see this hour?
Yes — Birtha shall be thine.’
A little transient gleam of red
Shot faintly o’er her face,
And every trembling feature spread
With sweet disorder’d grace.
The tender father kindly smiled
With fulness of content:
And fondly eyed his darling child,
Who, bashful, blush’d consent.
O then to paint the vast delight
That fill’d Sir Eldred’s heart,
To tell the transports of the Knight,
Would mock the Muse’s art.
But every kind and gracious soul,
Where gentle passions dwell,
Will better far conceive the whole,
Than any Muse can tell.
The more the Knight his Birtha knew,
The more he prized the maid;
Some worth each day produced to view,
Some grace each hour betray’d.
The virgin too was fond to charm
The dear accomplish’d youth;
His single breast she strove to warm,
And crown’d, with love, his truth.
Unlike the dames of modern days,
Who general homage claim;
Who court the universal gaze,
And pant for public fame.
Then beauty but on merit smiled,
Nor were her chaste smiles sold;
No venal father gave his child
For grandeur, or for gold.
The ardour of young Eldred’s flame
But ill could brook delay,
And oft he press’d the maid to name
A speedy nuptial day.
The fond impatience of his breast
‘Twas all in vain to hide,
But she his eager suit represt
With modest maiden pride.
When oft Sir Eldred press’d the day
Which was to crown his truth,
The thoughtful Sire would sigh and say,
‘O happy state of youth!
‘It little recks the woes which wait
To scare its dreams of joy;
Nor thinks to-morrow’s alter’d fate
May all those dreams destroy.
‘And though the flatterer Hope deceives,
And painted prospects shows;
Yet man, still cheated, still believes,
Till death the bright scene close.
‘So look’d my bride, so sweetly mild,
On me her beauty’s slave;
But whilst she look’d, and whilst she smiled,
She sunk into the grave.
‘Yet, O forgive an old man’s care
Forgive a father’s zeal:
Who fondly loves, must greatly fear;
Who fears, must greatly feel.
‘Once more in soft and sacred bands
Shall Love and Hymen meet;
To-morrow shall unite your hands,
And — be your bliss complete!’
The rising sun inflamed the sky,
The golden orient blush’d;
But Birtha’s cheeks a sweeter die,
A brighter crimson flush’d.
The Priest, in milk-white vestments clad,
Perform’d the mystic rite;
Love lit the hallow’d torch that led
To Hymen’s chaste delight.
How feeble language were to speak
Th’ immeasurable joy,
That fired Sir Eldred’s ardent cheek,
And triumph’d in his eye!
Sir Ardolph’s pleasure stood confest,
A pleasure all his own;
The guarded pleasure of a breast
Which many a grief had known.
‘Twas such a sober sense of joy
As Angels well might keep;
A joy chastised by piety,
A joy prepared to weep.
To recollect her scatter’d thought,
And shun the noon-tide hour,
The lovely bride in secret sought
The coolness of her Bower.
Long she remain’d — th’ enamour’d Knight,
Impatient at her stay;
And all unfit to taste delight
When Birtha was away;
Betakes him to the secret bower;
His footsteps softly move;
Impell’d by every tender power,
He steals upon his love.
O, horror! horror! blasting sight!
He sees his Birtha’s charms,
Reclined with melting fond delight,
Within a stranger’s arms.
Wild phrenzy fires his frantic hand;
Distracted at the sight,
He flies to where the lovers stand,
And stabs the stranger Knight.
‘Die, traitor, die! thy guilty flames
Demand th’ avenging steel!’–
‘It is my brother,’ she exclaims,
”Tis Edwy — Oh farewell.’
An aged peasant, Edwy’s guide,
The good old Ardolph sought;
He told him that his bosom’s pride,
His Edwy he had brought.
O how the father’s feelings melt!
How faint, and how revive!
Just so the Hebrew Patriarch felt,
To find his son alive.
‘Let me behold my darling’s face,
And bless him ere I die!’
Then with a swift and vigorous pace,
He to the bower did hie:
O sad reverse! — Sunk on the ground;
His slaughter’d son he view’d;
And dying Birtha, close he found,
In brother’s blood imbrued.
Cold, speechless, senseless, Eldred near
Gazed on the deed he had done;
Like the blank statue of Despair,
Or Madness graved in stone.
The father saw — so Jephthah stood,
So turn’d his wo-fraught eye,
When the dear destined child he view’d,
His zeal had doom’d to die.
He look’d the wo he could not speak,
And on the pale corse prest
His wan, discolour’d, dying cheek
And silent, sunk to rest.
Then Birtha faintly rais’d her eye,
Which long had ceased to stream,
On Eldred fix’d, with many a sigh,
Its dim departing beam.
The cold, cold dews of hastening death,
Upon her pale face stand;
And quick and short her failing breath,
And tremulous her hand.
The cold, cold dews of hastening death,
The dim departing eye,
The quivering hand, the short quick breath
He view’d — and did not die.
He saw her spirit mount in air,
Its kindred skies to seek!
His heart its anguish could not bear,
And yet it would not break.
The mournful Muse forbears to tell
How wretched Eldred died;
She draws the Grecian Painter’s veil,
The vast distress to hide.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yet Heaven’s decrees are just and wise,
And man is born to bear:
Joy is the portion of the skies,
Beneath them all is care.
Yet blame not Heaven; ’tis erring man,
Who mars his own best joys;
Whose passions uncontroll’d, the plan
Of promised bliss destroys.
Had Eldred paused, before the blow,
His hand had never err’d;
What guilt, what complicated wo,
His soul had then been spared!
The deadliest wounds with which we bleed,
Our crimes inflict alone;
Man’s mercies from God’s hand proceed,
His miseries from his own.