A N

APOLOGY TO BRILLANTE,

FOR HAVING

LONG OMITTED WRITING IN VERSE.

In Imitation of a certain Mimic of Anacreon.

CANI matchlefs charms recite ?

Source of ever-fpringing light!

Could I count the vernal flowers,
Count in endless time the hours;
Count the countless stars above,
Count the captive hearts of Love;
Paint the torture of his fire,
Paint the pangs thofe eyes infpire!
(Pleafing torture, thus to fhine,
Purify'd by fires like thine!)

Then I'd strike the founding ftring!

Then I'd thy perfection fing.

Myftic world!-Thou fomething more!

Wonder of th' Almighty's ftore !

Nature's depths we oft defcry,

Oft they're pierc'd by Learning's eye;
Thou, if thought on thee would gain,
Prov'ft (like heaven) enquiry vain.
Charms unequal'd we pursue !
Charms in fhining throngs we view !
Number'd then could nature's be,
Nature's felf were poor to thee.

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AN

E PI

MR S.

AN

STL E

То

OLDFIELD,

OF THE THEATRE ROYAL.

WHILE to your charms unequal verse I raise,

Aw'd, I admire, and tremble as I praise :

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Here Art and Genius new refinement need,
Liftening, they gaze, and, as they gaze, recede!
Can Art or Genius, or their powers combin'd,
But from corporeal organs, sketch the mind?
When found embody'd can with shape surprize,
The Mufe may emulate your voice and eyes.
Mark rival arts perfection's point pursue !
Each rivals each, but to excel in you!
The Buft and Medal bear the meaning face,
And the proud Statue adds the pofture's grace!
Imag'd at length, the bury'd Heroine, known,
Still feems to wound, to smile, or frown in ftone!
As art would art, or metal stone surpass,
Her foul ftrikes, gleaming, through Corinthian brass!
Serene, the faint in fmiling filver fhines,

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And cherubs weep in gold o'er fainted fhrines !
If long-loft forms from Raphael's pencil glow,
Wondrous in warmth the mimic colours flow!
Each look, each attitude, new grace displays;
Your voice and motion life and music raise.
Thus Cleopatra in your charms refines;
She lives, the speaks, with force improv'd she shines!

Fair, and more fair, you every grace transmit;
Love, learning, beauty, elegance, and wit.
Cæfar, the world's unrival'd master, fir'd,
In her imperial foul, his own admir'd!
Philippi's victor wore her winning chain,
And felt not empire's lofs in beauty's gain.
Could the pale heroes your bright influence know,
Or catch the filver accents as they flow,
Drawn from dark reft by your enchanting strain,
Each shade were lur'd to life and love again.

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Say, fweet infpirer! were each annal known, What living greatnefs fhines there not your own! If the griev'd Mufe by fome lov'd emprefs rose, New strength, new grace, it to your influence owes ! If power by war diftinguish'd height reveals, Your nobler pride the wounds of fortune heals! Then could an empire's caufe demand your care, The foul, that juftly thinks, would greatly dare. Long has feign'd Venus mock'd the Mufe's praise, You dart, divine Ophelia ! genuine rays!

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Warm through thofe eyes enlivening raptures roll! 45 Sweet through each ftriking feature ftreams your foul ! The foul's bright meanings heighten beauty's fires: Your looks, your thoughts, your deeds, each grace inspires!

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Know, then, if rank'd with monarchs, here you stand, What Fate declines, you from the Muse demand! Each grace that fhone of old in each fam'd fair, Or may in modern dames refinement wear;

Whate'er

Whate'er juft, emulative thoughts pursue,
Is all confirm'd, is all ador'd in you!
If godlike bofoms pant for power to blefs,
If 'tis a monarch's glory to redress;
In conscious majefty you shine ferene,
In thought a heroine, and in act a queen.

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VERSE S

OCCASIONED BY READING

MR. AARON HILL'S POEM,

L

called GIDEON.

The lines marked thus are taken from GIDEON.

I.

ET other poets poorly fing

Their flatteries to the vulgar great! Her airy flight let wandering fancy wing,

And rival nature's most luxuriant ftore,

To fwell fome monster's pride, who fhames a ftate, 5
Or form a wreath to crown tyrannic power!

Thou, who inform'd'ft this clay with active fire!
Do thou, Supreme of Powers! my thoughts refine,

And with thy pureft heat my foul infpire,

That with Hillarius' worth my verfe may shine! 10 As thy lov'd Gideon once fet Ifrael free,

So he with fweet, feraphic lays

Redeems the ufe of captive poetry,'

Which first was form'd to speak thy glorious praise !

11. Mofes,

II.

Mofes, with an enchanting tongue,

Pharaoh's just overthrow sublimely sung !
When Saul and Jonathan in death were laid,
Surviving David felt the foftening fire!

And, by the Great Almighty's tuneful aid,
Wak'd into endless life his mournful lyre.
Their different thoughts, met in Hillarius' fong,
Roll in one channel more divinely strong!
With Pindar's fire his verfe's spirit flies,
Wafted in charming mufic through the air!'
Unftopt by clouds, it reaches to the skies,
And joins with angels' hallelujahs there,

Flows mix'd, and fweetly strikes th' Almighty's ear!

III.

Rebels fhould blush when they his Gideon fee!
That Gideon born to fet his country free.

O that fuch heroes in each age might rife, Brightening through vapours like the morning-ftar, Generous to triumph, and in council wife ! Gentle in peace, but terrible in war!

IV.

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When Gideon, Oreb, Hyram, Shimron fhine Fierce in the blaze of war as they engage!

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Great bard! what energy, but thine,

Could reach the vast description of their rage?

Or when, to cruel foes betray'd,

Sareph and Hamar call for aid,

Loft