XVII. Intended to be written at the Beginning of a Collection of Flowers, which Mr. SHENSTONE coloured for Mrs. JAGO.

ELEGANTISSIMAE PVELLAE
DOROTHEAE FANCOVRT,

QVAE PERDILECTI SVI CONDISCIPVLI

RICHARDI IAGO

AMORES MERVIT,

D. D.

GVLIELMVS SHENSTONE;

DEBITAE NYMPHIS OPIFEX CORONAE.

XVIII. Propofed to Mr. GRAVES by Mr. SHENSTONE, as a proper Infcription for himself.

AMICITIAE G. S.

QVI,

NAIADAS PARITER AC MVSAS

EXCOLENDO,

SIMUL ET VILLAM EIVS ELEGANTISSIMAM

NOMENOVE SVVM

ILLVSTRAVIT.

"(FORTVNATVS ET ILLE DEOS QVI NOVIT

"AGRESTES)

"PANAQVE, SYLVANVMQVE, SENEM, NYM"PHASQVE SORORES." VIRG.

V E R S E S

то

MR. SHEN STONE.

Written on a Ferme Ornée, near Birmingham. By the late Lady LUXBOROUGH.

"T

IS Nature here bids pleafing scenes arise,
And wifely gives them Cynthio to revise :
To veil each blemish; brighten every grace;
Yet ftill preferve the lovely parent's face.
How well the Bard obeys, each valley tells;
Thefe lucid treams, gay meads, and lonely cells;
Where modeft Art in filence lurks conceal'd,
While Nature shines fo gracefully reveal'd,
That the triumphant claims the total plan,
And, with fresh pride, adopts the work of man.

TO WILLIAM SHENSTONE, Efq; at the LEASOWES.
By Mr. GRAVES.

"Vellem in amicitia fic erraremus !"

EE! the tall youth, by partial Fate's decree,'

SEE

HOR.

To affluence born, and from restraint fet free.

Eager he feeks the scenes of gay resort,

The mall, the rout, the play-house, and the court:

Soon for fome varnish'd nymph of dubious fame,
Or powder'd peerefs, counterfeits a flame.
Behold him now, enraptur'd, fwear and figh,
Drefs, dance, drink, revel, all he knows not why;
Till, by kind fate reftor'd to country air,

He marks the rofes of fome rural fair:
Smit with her unaffected native charms,
A real paffion foon his bofom warms;
And, wak'd from idle dreams, he takes a wife,
And tastes the genuine happiness of life.

Thus, in the vacant feafon of the year,
Some Templar gay begins his wild career.
From feat to feat o'er pompous fcenes he flies,
Views all with equal wonder and surprize;
Till, fick of domes, arcades, and temples grown,
He hies fatigued, not fatisfied, to town.
Yet if fome kinder Genius point his way
To where the Mufes o'er thy Leafowes ftray,
Charm'd with the fylvan beauties of the place,
Where Art affumes the fweets of Nature's face,
Each hill, each dale, each confecrated grove,
Each lake, and falling ftream, his rapture move.
Like the fage captive in Calypfo's grott,
The cares, the pleasures, of the world forgot,
Of calm content he hails the genuine sphere,
And longs to dwell a blissful hermit here.

1

VERSES received by the poft, from a LADY unknown, 1761.

Η

EALTH to the Bard in Leafowes' happy groves;

Health, and fweet converfe with the Mufe he
loves!

The humbleft votary of the tuneful Nine,
With trembling hand, attempts her artless line,
In numbers fuch as untaught nature brings;
As flow, fpontaneous, like thy native springs.
But ah! what airy forms around me rise ?
The ruffet mountain glows with richer dies;
In circling dance a pigmy crowd appear,
And hark! an infant voice falutes my ear:
Mortal, thy aim we know, thy task approve ;
• His merit honour, and his genius love :
For us what verdant carpets has he spread,
Where nightly we our myftic mazes tread!
For us, each fhady grove and rural seat,
• His falling streams and flowing numbers sweet!
Didft thou not mark, amid the winding dell,
• What tuneful verfe adorns the moffy cell?
There every fairy of our sprightly train
Refort, to blefs the woodland and the plain.
There, as we move, unbidden beauties glow,

• The green turf brightens, and the violets blow; And there with thoughts fublime we blefs the fwain, Nor we infpire, nor he attends, in vain.

• Go, fimple rhymer! bear this message true; The truths that fairies dictate none fhall rue. Say to the Bard in Leafowes' happy grove,

• Whom Dryads honour, and whom Fairies love-
"Content thyfelf no longer that thy lays,

"By others fofter'd, lend to others praise;
"No longer to the favouring world refuse
"The welcome treasures of thy polish'd Mufe;
"The fcatter'd blooms, that boast thy valued name,
"Collect, unite, and give the wreath to fame :
"Ne'er can thy virtues, or thy verfe, engage
"More folid praise than in this happiest age,
"When fenfe and merit 's cherish'd by the throne,
"And each illustrious privilege their own.
"Though modeft be thy gentle Muse, I ween,
"Oh, lead her blushing from the daisy'd green,
"A fit attendant on Britannia's Queen."
Ye fportive elves, as faithful I relate

Th' intrusted mandates of your fairy state,
Visit these wilds again with nightly care;
So shall my kine, of all the herd, repair
In healthful plight to fill the copious pail !
My fheep lie pent with fafety in the dale:
My poultry fear no robber in the rooft,
My linen more than common whiteness boast:
Let order, peace, and housewifry be mine;
Shentone, be fancy, fame, and fortune thine.

}

COTSWOULDIA.

03