He sunk expiring; by their friendly care Once more reviv'd, he thrice assay'd to speak, And thrice the rising sobs his voice subdu`d: Till thus at last his wretched plight he mourn'd. "Sweet instrument of mirth! sole comfort left To my declining years! whose sprightly notes Restor'd my vigour, and renew'd my bloom, Soft healing balm to every wounded heart! Despairing, dying swains, from the cold ground Uprais'd by thee, at thy melodious call, With ravish'd ears receiv'd the flowing joy. Gay pleasantry, and care-beguiling joke, Thy sure attendants were, and at thy voice All nature smil'd. But, oh, this hand no more Shall touch thy wanton strings, no more with lays Alternate, from oblivion dark redeem
The mighty dead, and vindicate their fame. Vain are thy toils, O Hobbinol! and all Thy triumphs vain. Who shall record, brave man! Thy bold exploits? who shell thy grandeur tell, Supreme of Kiftsgate? See thy faithful bard, Despoir'd, undone. O cover me, ye hill ‹ ! Whose vocal clifts were taught my joyous song. Or thou, fair nymph, Avona, on whose banks The frolic crowd, led by my numerous strains, Their orgies kept, and frisk'd it o'er the green, Joound ani gay, while thy remurmuring streams Dane'd by, weli pleas'd. Oh! let thy friendly waves O'erwhelm a wretch, and hide this head accurs'd !" So plains the restless Philomel, her nest, And callow young, the tender growing hope Offuture harmony, and frail return
For all her cares, to barbarous churls a prey; Darkling she sings, the woods repeat her moan.
Good eating expedient for heroes. Homer praised to, keping a table. Hobbinol triumphant. Can- der ita's bill of fare. Panegyric upon ale. Cos- sping over a bottle. Compliment to Mr. John Philys. Gandevetti's perplexity discovered by Hobbino!; his consolatory speech; compares haself to Guy earl of Warwick. Ganderetta, encouraged, strips for the re; her amiable f. ure. Fusea the gipsey, her dirty figure. Ta- ba, her treat repalation r sped; hired to the dissenting academy at Tewkesbury. short account of Gamaliel the master, and his hoge fal scholars. Tabitha carries weight. The samock race. Tabitha's fall. Fusca's short tri- un, her humiliation. Ganderetta's matchless Hobbinol lays the prize at Sped. her teet. Their mutual triph. The vicissitude of hu- moon affairs, experienced by Hobbins'. Hopsa, ¦ formerly his servant, with her two childr, ap- pears to ha. Mopsi's speech; assaults Gande- beta; her 4. Hobbmol's prodigious fright; Italon into custody by constables, and dragged to or Rhadam with s.
THOUCH Some of old, and some of modern date, Peurons, their y torios heroes ted With barren prae alone; yet thou, my Muse! Benevolent, wito more indulgent eyes Lebo
th' mortal flobnd; rev ud Wan due regalement his triumphant to.ls.
Let Quixote's hardy courage, With Sancho's prudent care be meetly join'd. O thou of bards supreme, Mæonides! What well-fed heroes grace thy hallow'd page Laden with glorious spoils, and gay with blood Of slaughter'd hosts, the victor chief returns. Whole Troy before him fled, and men and gods Oppos'd in vain: for the brave man, whose arm Repell'd his country's wrongs, ev'n he, the great Atrides, king of kings, ev'n he prepares With his own royal hand the sumptuous feast. Full to the brim, the brazen cauldrons smoke, Through all the busy camp the rising blaze Attest their joy; heroes and kings forego Their state and pride, and at his elbow wait Obsequious. On a polish'd charger plac'd, The bulky chine with plenteous fat inlaid, Of golden hue, magnificently shines. The choicest morsels sever'd to the gods, The hero next, well paid for all his wounds, The rich repast divides with Jove; from out The sparkling bowl he draws the generous wine Unmix'd, unmeasur'd; with unstinted joy His heart o'erflows. In like triumphant port Sat the victorious Hobbinol; the crowd Transported view, and bless their glorious chief: All Kiftsgate sounds his praise with joint acclaim, Him every voice, him every knee confess, In merit, as in right, their king. Upon Their flowery turf, Earth's painted lap, are spread The rural dainties; such as Nature boon Presents with lavish hand, or such as owe To Ganderetta's care their grateful taste, Delicious. For she long since prepar'd To celebrate this day, and with good cheer To grace his triumphs. Crystal gooseberries Are pil'd on heaps; in vain the parent tree Defends her luscious fruit with pointed spears. The ruby tinctur'd corinth clustering hangs, And emulates the grape; green codlings float In dulcet creams; nor wants the last year's store; The hardy nut, in solid mail secure, Impregnable to winter frosts, repays
Its hoarder's care. The custard's jellied flood Impatient youth, with greedy joy, devours. Cheesecakes and pies, in various forms uprais'd, In well-built pyramids, aspiring stand. Black hams, and tongues that speechless can persuade To ply the brisk carouse, and cheer the soul With jovial draughts. Nor does the jolly god Deny his precious gifts; here jocund swains, In uncouth mirth delighted, sporting quaff Their native beverage; in the brimming glass The liquid ainber smiles. Britons, no more Dread your invading foes; let the false Gaul, Of rule insatiate, potent to deceive, Pour forth his mumerous hosts; Iberia! join And great by subtile wiles, from the adverse shore Thy towering fleets, once more aloft display Ty consecrated bannes, fill thy sails With prayers and voys, most formidably strong In holy trumpery, let old Ocean groan Beneath the proud Armada, vainly deem'd Iovineible; yet fruitless all their toils, Vain every rash effort, while our fat glebe, barley-grain productive, still supplies Tflowing treasure, and with sums immense
With native honour, and resistless rage. Thus vaunt the crowd, each freeborn heart o'erflows With Britain's glory, and his country's love.
Here, in a merry knot combin'd, the nymphs Pour out mellifluous streams, the balmy spoils Of the laborious bee. The modest maid But coyly sips, and blushing drinks, abash'd: Each lover with observant eye beholds Her graceful shame, and at her glowing cheeks Rekindles all his fires: but matrons sage, Better experienc'd, and instructed well In midnight mysteries, and feast-rites old, Grasp the capacious bowl; nor cease to draw The spumy nectar. Healths of gay import Fly merrily about; now Scandal sly, Insinuating, gilds the specious tale
With treacherous praise, and with a double face Ambiguous Wantonness demurely sneers, Till circling brimmers every veil withdraw, And dauntless Impudence appears unmask'd. Others apart, in the cool shade retir'd, Silurian cider quaff, by that great bard Ennobled, who first taught my groveling Muse To mount aerial. O! could I but raise My feeble voice to his exalted strains, Or to the height of this great argument, The generous liquid in each line should bound Spirituous, nor oppressive cork subdue Its foaming rage; but, to the lofty theme Unequal, Muse, decline the pleasing task.
Thus they luxurious, on the grassy turf Revell'd at large: while nought around was heard But mirth confus'd, and undistinguish'd joy, And laughter far resounding; serious Care Found here no place, to Ganderetta's breast Retiring; there with hopes and fears perplex'd Her fluctuating mind. Hence the soft sigh Escapes unheeded, spight of all her art; The trembling blushes on her lovely cheeks Alternate ebb and flow; from the full glass She flies absterious, shuns th' untasted feast: But careful Hobbinol, whose amorous eye From her's ne'er wander'd, haunting still the place Where his dear treasure lay, discover'd soon Her secret woe, and bore a lover's part. Compassion melts his soul, her glowing cheeks He kiss'd, enamour'd, and her panting heart He press'd to his; then with these soothing words, Tenderly smiling, her faint hopes reviv'd.
"Courage, my fair! the splended prize is thine. Indulgent Fortune will not damp our joys, Nor blast the glories of this happy day.
Hear me, ye swains! ye men of Kift-gate! hear: Though great the honours by your hands conferr`d, These royal ornaments, though great the force Of this puissant arm, as all must own Who saw this day the bold Gorgonius fall; Yet were I more renown'd for feats of arins, And knightly prowess, than that mighty Guy, So fam'd in antique song, Warwick's great earl, Who slew the giant Colbrand, in fierce fight Maintain'd a summer's day, and freed this realm From Danish vassalage; his ponderous sword, And massy spear, attest the glorious deed; Nor less his hospitable soul is seen
In that capacious cauldron, whose large fright Might feast a province; yet were I like him, The nation's pride, like him I could forego All earthly grandeur, warder through the world
A jocund pilgrim, in the lonesome den, And rocky cave, with these my royal hands Scoop the cold streams, with herbs and roots content, Mean sustenance; could I by this but gain For the dear fair, the prize her heart desires. Believe me, charming maid! I'd be a worm, The meanest insect, and the lowest thing The world despises, to enchance thy fame." So cheer'd he his fair queen, and she was cheer'd. Now with a noble confidence inspir'd, Her looks assure success; now stripp'd of all Her cumbrous vestments, Beauty's vain disguise, She shines unclouded in her native charms. Her plaited hair behind her in a brede Hung careless, with becoming grace each blush Varied her cheeks, than the gay rising dawn More lovely, when the new-born light salutes The joyful Earth, impurpling half the skies. Her heaving breast, through the thin covering view'd. Fix'd each beholder's eye; her taper thighs, And lineaments exact, would mock the skill Of Phidias; Nature alone can form Such due proportion. To compare with her, Oread, or Dryad, or of Delia's train, Fair virgin huntress, for the chase array'd, With painted quiver and unerring bow, Were but to lessen her superior mien, And goddess like deport. The master's hand, Rare artisan! with proper shades improves His lively colouring; so here, to grace Her brighter charms, next her upon the plain Fusca the brown appears, with greedy eye Views the rich prize, her tawny front erects Audacious, and with her legs unclean, Booted with grim, and with her freckled skin, Offends the crowd. She of the Gipsy train Had wander'd long, and the Sun's scorching rays Imbrown'd her visage grim; artful to view The spreading palm, and with vile cant deceive The love-sick maid, who barters all her store For airy visions aud fallacious hope. Corgonius, if the current fame say (rue, lier comrade once, they many a merry prank Together play'd, and many a mile had stroll'd, For him fit mate. Next Tabitha the tall Strode o'er the plain, with huge gigantic pace, And overlook'd the crowd, known far and near For matchless speed; she many a prize had won, Price of first nehbouring mart, for mustard fam'd, Sharp-biting grain, where amicably join The sister thols, and with their liquid arms Greeting cabroce. Here Gamaliel sage,
Or Cameronian brood, with ruling rod Trains up his pa jes of grace, instructed woll In all the gainful discipline of prayer; To point the holy leer, by just degices
To close the twinkling eye, t' expand the palms, T' expose the whites, and with the sightless ball To glare upon the crowd, to rai-e or sink The docile voice, now murmuring soft and low With inward accent enlin, and then again In foaming floods of rapturon, cloquence
Let lose the storm, and thunder through the nose The tincaten'd vengeance: every Muse polane 1- banish'd hence, and, lieli onian streams Deserted, the au'd Leman Lake supples
Tewksbory in the vale of Evesham, where the Avon tuns into the seven.
More plenteous draughts, of more divine import. Hail, happy youths! on whom indulgent Heaven Each grace divine bestows! nor yet denies Carnal beatitudes, sweet privilege Of saints elect! royal prerogative! Here in domestic cares employ'd, and bound To annual servitude, frail Tabitha,
Her pristine vigour lost, now mourns in vain Her sharpen'd visage, and the sickly qualins That grieve her soul; a prey to Love, while Grace Slept heedless by! Yet her undaunted mind Still meditates the prize, and still she hopes, Beneath the unwieldy load, her wonted speed. Others of meaner fame the stately Muse Records not; on more lofty flights intent, She spurns the ground, and mounts her native skies. Room for the master of the ring; ye swains! Divide your crowded ranks. See! there on high The glittering prize, on the tall standard borne, Waving in air; before him march in files The rural minstrelsy, the rattling drum Of solemn sound, and th' animating horn, Each huntsman's joy; the tabor and the pipe, Companion dear at feasts, whose chearful notes Give life and motion to th' unwieldy clown. Ev'n Age revives, and the pole puking maid Feels ruddy health rekindla g on her cheeks, And with new vigour trips it o'er the plain. Counting cach careful step, he paces o'er The allotted ground, and fives at the goal His standard, there himself majestie swells. Stretch'd in a line, the panting rivals wait Th' expected signal, with inpatient cyes Measure the space between, and in conceit Already grasp the warm-contested prize. Now all at once rush forward to the goal, And step by step, and side by side, they ply Their busy feet, and leave the crowd behind. Quick heaves ezebrast, and quick they shoot along, Thro' the divided air, and bound it o'er the plain. To this, to that, capricious Fortune deals Short hops, short feats, and momentary joy. The breathless throng with open throats purse, And broken accents shout imperfect praise. Such noise ci rius'd is heard, such wi'd uproar, When on the main the selling surges rise,
Da ho'er the ice, and, Ferry, & ch ough the flood, Drive on each of ez's backs, and crowd the strand. Before the rest tall Tabitha was seen, Stretching amain, and whirling o'er the field; Swift as the shooting star that gilds the night With rapid transient blaze, she runs, she thes; Sudden she stops, nor long or can endure The painful course, but die ping sinks away, And, like that falling meteor, there she lies A jelly cold on earth. Tusea, with joy, Behold her wretched plight; o'er the pale corse Insulting bounds! Hi pe eave brwigs, and Fxetin all 1er peed, top after step, At Garde, it's dow ured her way, Her shoulder pie sis, and with poisonous brea Tai in her ivory a Loo, whit hadhil
st, but not propition savca,
In wasteful luxury, and wanton joy, Lavish had spilt the cider's frothy flood, And mead with custard mix'd. Surpriz'd, appall'd, And in the treacherous puddle struggling long, She slipp'd, she fell, upon her back supine Extended lay; the laughing multitude With noisy scorn approv'd her just disgrace. As the sleek leveret skims before the pack, So flies the nymph, and so the crowd pursue. Borne on the wings of wind, the dear one flies, Swift as the various goddess, nor less bright In beauty's prine, when through the yielding air She darts along, and with refracted rays Paints the gay clouds; celestial messenger, Charg'd with the high behests of Heaven's great Her at the goal with open arms receiv'd [queen! Fond Hobbinol; with active leap he seiz'd The costly prize, and laid it at her feet. Then pausing stood, dumb with excess of joy, Expressive silence! for cach tender glance Betray'd the raptures that his tongue conceal'd. Less mute the crowd, in echoing shouts, applaud Her speed, her beauty, his obsequious love.
Upon a little eminence, whose top O'erlook'd the plain, a steep, but short ascent, Plae'd in a chair of state, with garlands crown'd, An! loaded with the fragrance of the spring, Fair Ganderetta shone, like mother Eve la her gay sylvan lodge: delicious bower! Where Nature's wanten hand, above the reach Of rule, or art, had lavish'd all her store, To deck the flowery roof: and at her side, Ing erial Hobbinol, with front sublime, Great as a Roman consul, just return'd Irom cities sack'd, and provinces laid waste, In his paternal wicker sat, enthron'd. With eager eyes the crowd about them press, Amidons to b hold the happy pair. Each vies, each instrument, proclaims their joy With Telesty chemence; such noise is heard, Seob a tumultuces din, when, at the call
fritain's sover ign, the rustic bands O', on ead the fields; the subtle candidates Disabled he mage pay, and court the fools Whom they depose; each proud majestic clown Look I, and shouts amain, mad with the taste Of; 6 supreme, frail empire of a day! Chat with the setting Sun extinct is lost. Nor is the grandeur, mighty Hobbinol! Of louer date. Short is, alas! the reign Of mortel pride: we play our parts a while Aud Sout noch the stage; the scene is chang'd, Anciers us a dungeon for a throne. Wretched vicissitude! for, after all It's tinsel dreams of empire and renown, Fortea, expricious dame, vithdraws at once e goodly pro pect, to bis eyes presents whom his encions con abhorr'd, and fear'd. through the crowd, a meagre form, Faty stop, and visage incompos'd! she stard; Rage sparkled in her eyes,
d reverty sat shru king on her cheeks, hoh the cloud that hung upon her brows,
Cluste in de, that dimly shone
its bears, the ruins of a face,
y time, and latter'd by ini-fortunes. babe bung at her flabby breast,
ed for life; bit went, with hideous moan, Trustrate hopes, and unavailing paius.
Another o'er her bending shoulder peep'd, Swaddled around with rags of various hue. He kens his comrade-twin with envious eye, As of his share defrauded; then amain He also screams, and to his brother's cries In doleful concert joins his loud laments. O dire effect of lawless love! O sting Of pleasure past! As when a full-freight ship, Blest in a rich return of pearls or gold, Or fragrant spice, or silks of costly dye, Makes to the wish'd-for port with swelling sails, And all her gaudy trim display'd; o'erjoy'd The master smiles; but if from some small creek, A lurking corsair the rich quarry spies, With all her sails bears down upon her prey, And peals of thunder from her hollow sides Check his triumphant course; aghast he stands, Stiffen'd with fear, unable to resist, And impotent to fly; all his fond hopes
Are dash'd at once! nought now, alas! remains But the sad choice of slavery or death! So far'd it with the hapless Hobbinol, In the full blaze of his triumphant joy Surpris'd by her, whose dreadful face alone Could shake his stedfast soul. In vain he turns, And shifts his place averse; she haunts him still And glares upon him, with her haggard eyes, That fiercely spoke her wrongs. Words swell'd with sighs
At length burst forth, and thus she storms enrag'd. "Know'st thou not ine? false man! not to know me Argues thyself unknowing of thyself, Puff'd up with pride, and bloated with success. Is injur'd Mopsa then so soon forgot; Thou knew'st me once, ah! woe is me! thou didst. But if laborious days and sleepless nights, If hunger, cold, contempt, and penury, Inseparable guests, have thus disguis'd Thy once-belov'd, thy handmaid dear; if thine And Fortune's frowns have blasted all my charms; If here no roses grow, no lilies bloom, Nor rear their heads on this neglected face; If through the world I range a slighted shade, The ghost of what I was, forlorn, unknown; At least know these. See; this sweet simpering babe, Dear image of thyself; see! how it sprunts
With joy at thy approach! see, how it gilds Its soft smooth face, with false paternal smiles! Native deceit, from thee, base man, deriv'd! Or view this other elf, in every art
Of smiling fraud, in every treacherous leer, The very Hobbinol! Ah! cruel man! Wicked, ingrate! And could'st thou then so soon, So soon forget that pleasing fatal night, When me, beneath the flowery thorn surpriz'd, Thy artful wiles betray'd? was there a star, By which thou didst not swear? was there a curse, A plague on Earth, thou didst not then invoke On that devoted head; if e'er thy heart Prov'd haggard to my love, if e'er thy hand Declin'd the nuptial bond? But, oh! too well,, Too well, alas! my throbbing breast perceiv'd The black impending storm; the conscious Moon Veil'd in a sable cloud her modest face, And boding owls proclaim'd the dire event. And yet I love thee.-Oh! could'st thou behold That image dwelling in my heart! But why, Why waste I here these unavailing tears? On this thy minion, on this tawdry thing, On this gay victim, thus with garlands crown'd, All, all my vengeance fall! ye lightnings, blast That face accurs'd, the source of all my woe! Arm, arm, ye Furies! arm; all Hell break loose! While thus I lead you to my just revenge, And thus '-Up starts th' astonish'd Hobbinol To save his better half. Fly, fly," he cries, "Fly, my dear life, the fiend's malicons rage."
Borne on the wings of far, away she bounds, And in the neighbouring village pants forlorn. So the cours'd hare to the close covert flies, Still trembling, though secure. Poor Hobbinol More grievous ills attend: around him press A multitude, with huge Herculean clubs, Terrific band the royal mandate these Insulting show: arrested, and amaz'd, Half dead he stands; no friends dare interpose, But bow dejected to th' imperial scroll : Such is the force of law. While conscious shame Sits heavy on his brow, they view the wretch To Rhadamanth's august tribunal dragg'd. Good Rhadamanth! to every wanton clown Severe, indulgent to himself alone.
THE several acts of parliament in favour of falconry are an evident proof of that high esteem our ancestors had conceived for this noble diversion. Our neighbours, France, Germany, Italy, and all the rest of Europe, have seemed to vie with one another, who should pay the greatest honours to the courageous falcon. Princes and states were her protectors; and men of the greatest genius, and most accomplished in all sorts of literature, with pleasure carried the hawk on their fists. But the princes of Asia, Turks, Tartars, Persians, Indians, &c. have greatly out-done us Europeans in the splendour and magnificence of their field-parades, both as huntsmen and falconers. For though the description of flying at the stag and other wild beasts with eagles may be thought a little incredible, yet permit me to assure the reader, that it is no fiction, but a real fact. All the ancient books of falconry give us an account of it, and the relations of travellers confirm it. But what I think puts it out of all dispute, is the description the famous Monsieur de Thou has given us in his Latin poem, De Re Accipitrariâ, lately reprinted at Venice in 1755, with an Italian translation and notes.
Hoc studio Hæmonii circum-onat aula tyranni, Tercentum illi equites, quoties venabula poscit, Tot pedites adsunt: longo nomus omne remugit Latrantum occursu, venatorumque repulsis Vocibus; heie gemini, neque enim satis esse ferendo Unus tanto oneri possit, cedente petauro Circum aquilam gestant, aliam totidem inde ministri Impositam subeunt: quarum minor illa volueri Ore canum voces tingit, nemora avia complens Terrore ingenti: latebris tem exeita repentè Infelix fera prorumpit: ruit altera demam Sublimis compar magno stridore per auras; Involat inque oculos & provolat, aique capaces Expandens per inane sinus, caligine densâ, Horribilique supervolcans cœlum obruit umbrâ. Nee minor interea obsistit: sublimis ut illa,
Hæc Lumilis sie terga volans premit & latus urget:
Neve gradum referat retrò, & vestigia vertat,
Seu capica aut cervus sese tulit obvius illis,
Rostro atque ungue minax vetat, & cum compare vires
Alternat socias, aifenque remunerat arte.
Nec mora, nec requics: furus exteriita tantis
Donec in insidias careâ convalle locatas
Precipitet rabidis fera mox lamando molossis.
I am very much obliged to those gentlemen who have read with favour my poem upon hunting: their goodness has ene uraged me to make this short supplement to the Chase, and in this poem to give their some account of all the more polke entertainments of the Held.
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