Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

The matron fate; and fome with rank fhe grac'd,
(The fource of children's and of courtier's pride!)
Redress'd affronts, for vile affronts there pafs'd;
And warn'd them not the fretful to deride,
But love each other dear, whatever them betide.
XVII.

Right well she knew each temper to descry;
To thwart the proud, and the fubmifs to raise;
Some with vile copper prize exalt on high,

1

And fome entice with pittance small of praise;
And other fome with baleful sprig she 'frays;
Ev'n abfent, fhe the reins of pow'r doth hold,
While with quaint arts the giddy crowd she sways;
Forewarn'd, if little bird their pranks behold,
"Twill whisper in her ear, and all the fcene unfold.
XVIII.

Lo now with ftate fhe utters the command!
Eftfoons the urchins to their tasks repair;
Their books of stature small they take in hand,
Which with pellucid horn fecured are,
To fave from finger wet the letters fair:

The work fo gay, that on their backs is seen,

St. George's high atchievements does declare;

[ocr errors]

On which thilk wight that has y-gazing been,

Kens the forth-coming rod, unpleasing fight, I ween! XIX. Ah

XIX.

Ah luckless he, and born beneath the beam
Of evil ftar! it irks me whilft I write !

a

As erft the bard by Mulla's filver stream,'

Oft, as he told of deadly dolorous plight, Sigh'd as he fung, and did in tears indite. For brandishing the rod, fhe doth begin To loose the brogues, the stripling's late delight! And down they drop; appears his dainty skin, Fair as the furry coat of whiteft Ermilin.

XX.

O ruthful scene! when from a nook obscure,
His little fifter doth his peril fee:

All playful as she fate, fhe grows demure;
She finds full foon her wonted fpirits flee;
She meditates a pray'r to fet him free:
Nor gentle pardon could this dame deny,
(If gentle pardon could with dames agree)
To her fad grief that fwells in either eye,
And wrings her fo that all for pity she could dye.
XXI.

Nor longer can fhe now her fhrieks command
And hardly fhe forbears, through aweful fear,
To rufhen forth, and, with prefumptuous hand,
To stay harsh juftice in its mid career.

[blocks in formation]

On thee fhe calls, on thee her parent dear!
(Ah! too remote to ward the shameful blow!)
She fees no kind domestic visage near,

And foon a flood of tears begins to flow;

And gives a loose at last to unavailing woe.
XXII.

But ah! what pen his piteous plight may trace?
Or what device his loud laments explain ?
The form uncouth of his disguised face?

The pallid hue that dyes his looks amain?
The plenteous show'r that does his cheek distain ?
When he, in abject wife, implores the dame,

Ne hopeth ought of sweet reprieve to gain;

Or when from high fhe levels well her aim, [claim. And, thro' the thatch, his cries each falling stroke proXXIII.

The other tribe, aghaft, with fore dismay,

Attend, and conn their tasks with mickle care:

By turns, aftony'd, every twig furvey,

And, from their fellow's hateful wounds, beware ; Knowing, I wift, how each the fame may share; 'Till Fear has taught them a performance meet, And to the well-known cheft the dame repair; Whence oft with fugar'd cates fhe doth 'em greet, And ginger-bread y-rare; now, certes, doubly sweet!

XXIV. See

XXIV.

See to their feats they hye with merry glee,
And in befeemly order fitten there;

All but the wight of bum y-galled, he

Abhorreth bench and stool, and fourm, and chair; (This hand in mouth y-fix'd, that rends his hair;) And eke with fnubs profound, and heaving breaft, Convulfions intermitting! does declare

His grievous wrong; his dame's unjust beheft; And scorns her offer'd love, and fhuns to be carefs'd. XXV.

His face befprent with liquid crystal shines,
His blooming face that seems a purple flow'r,
Which low to earth its drooping head declines,
All smear'd and fully'd by a vernal show'r.
O the hard bofoms of defpotic pow'r !
All, all, but she, the author of his shame,

All, all, but fhe, regret this mournful hour:

Yet hence the youth, and hence the flow'r, fhall claim, If so I deem aright, transcending worth and fame.

XXVI.

Behind fome door, in melancholy thought,

Mindlefs of food, he, dreary caitiff! pines;
Ne for his fellow's joyaunce careth ought,
But to the wind all merriment refigns;
T

VOL. I.

And

And deems it fhame, if he to peace inclines;
And many a fullen look afcance is fent,
Which for his dame's annoyance he defigns;

And still the more to pleasure him fhe's bent,

The more doth he, perverse, her haviour past resent.
XXVII.

Ah me! how much I fear left pride it be!
But if that pride it be, which thus infpires,
Beware, ye dames, with nice difcernment fee,
Ye quench not too the sparks of nobler fires :
Ah! better far than all the Mufes' lyres,

All coward arts, is valour's gen'rous heat;
The firm fixt breast which Fit and Right requires,
Like Vernon's patriot foul; more justly great
Than craft that pimps for ill, or flow'ry falfe deceit.

XXVIII.

Yet nurs'd with skill, what dazling fruits appear

Ev'n now fagacious Forefight points to show

A little bench of heedlefs bishops here,
And there a chancellour in embryo,

Or bard fublime, if bard may e'er be so,

!

As Milton, Shakespeare, names that ne'er fhall dye! Though now he crawl along the ground fo low, Nor weeting how the Muse should foar on high, Wifheth, poor ftarvling elf! his paper-kite may fly. XXIX. And

I

« ПредишнаНапред »