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 Tickell 
 The wreath of fashion
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 WREATH of FASHION, 
 
 o r; T F1 E 
 
 Art of Sentimental Poetry. 
 
 •Demetri, teq. TigeUl, 
 
 Difctpularum inter jubeo plonire cathedras. 
 
 Horace. 
 
 THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. B e c k e t, Adelphi, in the Strand. 
 
 M DCC LXXVJII. 
 
 [PR.ICE ONE SHILLIN-G. 3
 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 TH E following lines were occajGioned by the 
 Author's having lately ftudied, with infinite 
 attention, feveral fafliionable produftions in the 
 Sen^tme?ital ftile ; in moft of which, a mifapplica- 
 tion, not a defeft, of talents feems to have betrayed . 
 their Authors into fome degree of falfe Tafle. For 
 example. A Noble Author has lately publifhed his 
 works, which confift of three compofitions. One^ 
 an Ode upon the death of Mr. Gray : the two others, 
 upon the death of his Lordfhip's Spaniel. 
 
 But the reigning fafhion in modern poejy is Senti- 
 fnentai Panegyric on Married Beauties. This ap- 
 pears in a thoufand various Shapes j from Bouts 
 Rlmnees on the woud-be Sappho of Bath, up to 
 Doggerel Epijlles to tjie lovely Atnoret. 
 
 In attempting to ridicule this modifh folly, it is 
 fcarcely neceffary to apologize to the feveral Perfon - 
 ages of the Senti?nenlal train^ for introducing their 
 names. When a Poet announces himfelf, and 
 
 publicly 
 
 87G654
 
 ■ C !^ ] 
 
 publicly wears his Laurels, He is lawful game for 
 the Critics : And it makes no difference, whether 
 his works come from the Prefs, or, according to Sir 
 Benjamin Backbit e\ fyftem, " circulate vi Ma?iu~ 
 Jcript.^^ Beiides, to canvafs xhtjlighter irnpei'feBions^ 
 either of flile or of condudl, feems to be the limit 
 of poetical cenfure. It is only the defperate Saty- 
 rift, whofe invenomed pen ftrikes at the character 
 and honour of Individuals, that perverts and dif- 
 graces Poetry : — Such afperfions, if well founded, 
 arc too grofs for the tribunal ot the Mufes ; and if-, 
 (as is generally the cafe) they are utterly falfe, they 
 recoil not only on the Author, but on the very art 
 itfelt, which can fo eafiily be perverted to fo bad a 
 
 Purpofe. But who can be hurt by a Critique 
 
 on his Charades and Rehujjes f — An imputation of 
 falfe Tafte may not be very pleafant, but it never 
 can ferioufly offend Men of fenfe and good-breeding : 
 Both which qualities, as the Author agrees with all 
 the world in acknowledging his Perfonages to poffefs 
 in the higheft degree, fo he requefts that not only 
 they, but the few others who may happen to read 
 his Poem, will acquit him of any intention to give 
 the flighteft offence. 
 
 THE
 
 THE 
 
 WREATH of FASHION. 
 
 w- 
 
 HEN firft the Mufe recorded Beauty's praife 
 In glowing numbers, and enraptur'd lays, 
 Sweet was the Poet's fong ; undeck'd by art ; 
 For Love was Nature, and his theme the heart. 
 At Beauty's fhrine how brightly Genius glow'd ! 5 
 There, her wild wreaths luxuriant fancy ftrew'd ; 
 V/hofe flowrets, wak'd by Love's enliv'ning ray, 
 Scatter'd with native fvveets the artlefs lay. 
 Such were the ftrains th' enamour'd Ovid fung ; 
 Such the fond lays that flow'd from Prio7^\ tongue : ro 
 
 B Nor
 
 r » ] 
 
 Kor of its befl reward was verfe bcguil'd, 
 When yulia own'd its pov/'r, and Chloe fmil'da 
 
 Far other lays denote the modern Bard — 
 Nor love his theme — nor Beauty his reward : 
 His temp'rate verfe a gentler homage pays, ij; 
 
 And {jghs ferenely for unfeeling praife. 
 
 This purer tafte, this philofophic art,. 
 (If thou, O Sentiment ! thy aid impart) 
 The Mufe fhall iing — attend ye glitt'ring train 
 Of fio^hine BeauXy nor fcorn. tlie votive ftrain ; 20 
 Tho' harfh the verfe, tho' rude the unpolifn'd lay,. 
 Soft is the tender fcience they difplay* 
 
 Firft, for true grounds of Sentimental lore, 
 The fcenes of modern Comedy explore ; 
 Dramatic Homilies ! devout and fage, 35 
 
 Stor'd with wife maxims, " both for youth and age." 
 
 Maxims
 
 r 3 ] 
 
 Maxims, that fcorning their old homely drefs, 
 Shift from plain proverbs to fpruce fentences, 
 But chief, let Cumht^hmd thy Mufe diredl : 
 High Prielt of all the Tragic-comic fe6l ! 30 
 
 Mid darts and flames his Lover cooly waits ; 
 Calm as a Hero, cas'd in Hartley s. plates ; 
 'Till damp'd, and chill d, by fentimental fighs,. 
 Each ftifled paflion in a vapour dies.. 
 
 Hence form thy tafte, hence jRirevvthy temperate lays 
 With nioral raptures, and fententious praife. 
 
 Thus {kill'd, with critic care, thy fubjedl choofe ;• 
 
 A kindred theme, congenial to thy Mufe. 
 
 No giddy Nymph, of youth and beauty vain, 
 
 But fome fair Stoic, link'd in Hymen's chain : 40 
 
 Serene and cold ; by wife IndifF'rence led. 
 
 To a rich Title, and a— -fep'rate bed. 
 
 Now5'
 
 EE 4 ] 
 Now, Tick of vanity, with grandeur cloyM, 
 
 She leans on Sentiment, to footh the void ; 
 
 Deep inRouffeau, her purer thoughts approve 45 
 
 The Metaphyfics of Platonic Love. 
 
 Thine be the tafk, with quaint, fantaftic phrafe, 
 
 To variegate her unimpafTion'd praife. 
 
 Poetic Compliments from Sonnets cull — 
 Harmonious quibbles, logically dull ! 50* 
 
 True to their age of Paradox, they chime 
 Problems in verfe, and fophiflry in rhyme — 
 Yet, thro' thefe lymhech^ Cowley's patient Mufe 
 Fiom mimic lighs diiliU'd Caftalian dews ; 
 So Spencer toil'd, to footh the Royal Maid ; 55 
 
 So haplefs Petrarch wept his Laura's fhade. 
 
 But hence, tame Precept !— let example lead 
 
 The modifli Poet to his glorious meed : 
 
 Haflc
 
 [ s ] 
 Hafte, to the radiant flirine of Fafliion, hafte ! 
 
 There, form thy genius, there, corre6l thy taflc. 60 
 
 And lo !' the glitt'ring Altar Hands confeft ! 
 Loofe o'er the Goddefs floats her motley veil : 
 As Flora, gay, as Iris, wildly bright, 
 Its varying luftre ftrikes the dazzled flght. 
 Here, Vanity, with fl^ow'rs and feathers crown'd, 65 
 Sports with the Seafons thro' their airy round. 
 Here, fpurious Art and mimic Science pour 
 Whims of a day, and theories of an hour. 
 The Goddefs fmiles ; for, lo ! even Poets trace 
 Her local charms, her temporary grace — 70 
 
 Above the reft, how fondly fhe regards 
 Her fav'rite train, the Sentimental Bards 1 
 
 On a fpruce pedeftal of Wedgwood laarei. 
 Where motley forms, and tawdry emblems glare, 
 
 C Behold
 
 [ 6 ] 
 
 Behold fhe confecrates tp cold applaufe, 
 
 A Petrcfadion, vvork'd into a Vafe : 
 
 The Vafe of Sentiment !— to this impart 
 
 Thy kindred coldnefs, and congenial art. 
 
 Here, (as in humbler fcenes, from Cards and Gout, 
 
 Millar convenes her literary Rout) 
 
 With votive Tong, and tributary verfe, 
 
 Failiion'sgay train her gentle rites rehcarfe. 
 
 What foft poetic incenfe breathes around 1 
 
 What foothing hymns from Adulation found 1 
 
 Here, placid C^W^//^ breathes his gentle line, g5 
 Or haply, gen'rous Hare^ re-echoes thine : 
 Soft flows the lay ; as when, with tears, He paid 
 The laft fad honours to his-— Spaniel's fliade ! 
 And lo ! he grafps the badge of wit, a wand ; 
 He waves it thrice, and Storer is at hand ; 90 
 
 Famifh'd
 
 C 7 J 
 
 Famifli'd as penance, as devotion pale, 
 Plaintive, and pert, He murmurs a Love-tale. 
 Fitzpatrick\ Mufe waits for fome lucky hit ; 
 For, ftill the /lave of Chance, He throws at wit. 
 While Toiimjhend his pathetic bow difplays, 95 
 
 And Princely Boothby filcnt homage pays. 
 
 With chips of wit, and mutilated lays, 
 See PalmerJio?i fineer his Bout\ Rhimces. . 
 Fav'rite of ev'ry Mufe, eleft of Phoebus, 
 To firing Charades, or fabricate a Rebus, 100 
 
 Bereft of fuch a guide, old Ocean, mourn 
 Thy fading glories, and thy laurels torn ! * 
 'Twas Pahurjlon repell'd each hoftile wrong, 
 i>ike Ariel, wrecking Navies with — a Song ; 
 
 * Upon Lord Palmerflon's appointment to the Treafury, Lord 
 Mialgrave fucCL-edcd to his Place at the Admiralty Board. — " Mha ca- 
 
 nam ; Sol occul/uit, nox r.tiUa fecuta ejl."- • 
 
 But
 
 . C 8 ] 
 But fee, by pitying Fate his lofs fupplied-; 105: 
 
 For Mulgrave joins where fenfe and Sandwich guide. 
 
 Mulgravel whofe Mufe norwinds nor waves controu],. 
 
 Could bravely pen Acroftics — on th^ Pole-, 
 
 Warm with poetic fire the Northern air, 
 
 And footh with tuneful x?ir^\.ViTt%—the gj'eat Bear-^ no- 
 
 Join but his poetry to Bnrgoyne\ profe, 
 
 Armies (^^aWfall afleep, and Pyrates d6:^e. 
 
 So when the rebe! -winds on Neptune fell, 
 
 They funk to reft, at found of Triton's {hell., 
 
 " If Placemen thus poetic honours prize, 1 15 
 
 " Shall I be mute ?" (the laureat Whitehead cries.) 
 " What if fome rival Bard my empire fhare ! 
 ** Yet, yet, I tremble at the name of Clare. * 
 
 " Pindar 
 
 * Whoever has read his Lordfliip's verfes, prefented to her Ma- 
 jefty, with a gift oi Irijh Poplin^ and that too on a ISlew Tear's Day^ 
 will not wonder at the jcalouly and apprehenfion the Laureat exprefles 
 
 of
 
 [ 9 ] 
 " Pindar to Clare had yielded— fo did I — 
 
 " Alas, can Poetry wth Poplin vie 1 i2o 
 
 "Ah me ! if Poets barter for applaufe, 
 
 " How Jerjiingham will thrive on flimfy gaufe I 
 
 '' What tatter'd tinfel Luttrelw'AX difplay ! 
 
 " Carmarthtfi fattin — Carlijle paduifoy ! 
 
 «' Garrick will follow his old remnant trade ; 125 
 
 " He'll buy my place with Jubike brocade. 
 
 «f While Anjley^ the reveriion to obtain, 
 
 *' Vamps his Bath drugget, till he fpoils the grain^ 
 
 " Perifh the thought ! hence vifionary fear ! 
 
 «•« Phoebus, or Phaedrus, (hall old ^/j//^/j^.W cheer. 130. 
 
 « Behold their nobler gift — be this preferr d 1" 
 
 .—He faid— and proudly brandifh'd the Goat% beardy 
 
 of fo formidable a rival.— The recoUeaion of the Poplin leads to a di- 
 greffion, in the Pindaric ftiif of all Laureats, on the UiA conleqiiences. 
 that might follow from eftabiwliitig Lord Clare's method of tacking a 
 prefcnt to every Poem — but the l.aureat recovers his ipints, by think- 
 ing of the laft produftion of his own Muf — /^^ Goal's Beard— (\^u'Ci. 
 from Ten lines of Phsedrus, to Four Hundred ot Whitehead. 
 
 D —He;
 
 [ 10 H 
 Then dropt it in the Vafe — immers'd it falls 
 
 Mid Sonnets, Odes, Acroftics, Madigrals : 
 
 A motley heap of metaphoric fighs — 135 
 
 Laborious griefs, and ftudied extaiies — 
 
 Yet hence how warm each tuneful Suppliant's claim ! 
 
 What palpitations for his mite of fame ! 
 
 Alas ! regardlefs of their equal toils, 
 
 Fafliion ftill wildly fcatters random fmiles. 14® 
 
 And Colman 7nay (if Billy Woodfall's by 
 
 To prop him up) attrad her vagrant eye. 
 
 Behold, one dunce, by her profound decree, 
 
 Supreme Didator of the Coterie : 
 
 Prim, plaulible, oracular, and fage, *4S 
 
 The native Texier of the wond'ring age ! 
 
 The folemn coxcomb never talks — his frown 
 
 Is conftant obloquy, his fmile renown : 
 
 Words
 
 [ II ] 
 
 Words would degrade this literary God : 
 
 He gives his fiat with a filent nod. 150 
 
 Another's fame more gentle honour, tell ; 
 
 Familiar Critic of each bright Ruelle / 
 
 Soon as the orient beam of Beauty's ray 
 
 Difclofes, jufl at noon, the dawn of day ; 
 
 And Dev'fijhire W2ikes\ — ^^ and Piccadilly s gay \'' 15$ 
 
 Perch'd at her Grace's toilet. Minim fits, 
 
 The little Scholiaft of the Female Wits. 
 
 Tir'd of conjedure, and perplex'd with doubt, 
 
 To him they fly — to make a riddle out ; 
 
 To pierce a paragraph's myfterious vail 5 160 
 
 And eke out Scandal's hefitating talc. 
 
 With confcious pride the flippant Witling {hares 
 
 His motley tafk of mifcellaneous cares ; 
 
 Expounds Charades^ thro' clofe dctradion pryes, 
 
 Conftrues initials^ and the blanks fupplies. 165 
 
 And
 
 C 12 ] 
 
 And oft, with varied art, his thoughts digrefs 
 On deeper themes— the documents of drefs :: 
 With nice difcernmcnt, to each ftile of face 
 Adapt a ribbon, or fiiggeft a lace ; 
 O'er G?'anby\ cap bid loftier feathers flaat, 17^ 
 
 And add new bov/s to Devon % petticoat. — 
 
 Others, refolv'd more ample fame to boaft,, 
 Plant their own Laurels in the Mor?iing Poji,. 
 Soft Evening dews refrefh the tender green :: 
 Pafs but a Month, it fwells each Magazine 'y i7S> 
 
 'Till the luxuriant bows fo wildly fhoot, 
 The Annual Regijler tranfplants the root — 
 But thefe are fpurious honours, not the true , 
 Who fhall obtain Ihe Wreath of FaJJmn—~wh.o ? 
 
 The wily Charles long flourifh'd o'er the reft ; 180 
 
 Expert to argue or to flatter beft : 
 
 For,
 
 For, born a Difputant, a Sophift bred. 
 
 His Nurfe He filenc'd, and his Tutor led : 
 
 But hail'd, with filial duty's pions fenfe, 
 
 His Sire's beft gift — delufive Eloquence. 185 
 
 That art to cherifh, with a lavifh pride 
 
 His kindred Genius ev'ry pow'r fupplied : 
 
 Perfuafion's breath — to fwell the Statefman's fail : 
 
 Or, if his fancy veer, retard the gale. 
 
 Soft words — to- mollify the Mifer's breafl, 190 
 
 And lull relenting Ufury to reft. 
 
 Bright beams of wit— to ftill the raging Jew;; 
 
 His black'ning mifts diflblve to golden dew. 
 
 Teach him to dun no more, and lend anew L 
 
 Here, C>6<«r/^j his native eloquence refin'd ; 19 s~ 
 Pleas'd at the Toilet, in the Senate fhin'd : 
 And North approv'd — and Amoret look'd kind, 
 
 S "-'Till
 
 [ 14 ] 
 
 'Till, fond too foon his felfifh pride to trace, 
 He loft at once his laurels and— his place. 
 
 At Fafhion's flirine, behold a gentler Bard, 2o«> 
 Gaze on the myftic Vafe with fond regard — 
 But fee, Thalia checks the doubtful thought. 
 * ' Can'ft thou (flie cries) with fenfe, with genius fraught, 
 " Can ft thou to Fafhion's tyranny fubmit, 
 " Secure in native, independent wit ? . 205 
 
 Or yield to Sentiment's infipid rule. 
 By Tafte, by Fancy, chac'd thro' Sca7idaT s School? 
 ** Ah, no !— be Sheridan s. the comic page ; 
 *' Or let me fly with Garrick from the Stage." 
 
 Hafte then, my Friend, (for let me boaft that name) 
 Hafte to the op'ning path of genuine Fame : 
 Or, if thy Mufe a gentler theme purfue. 
 Ah, 'tis to Love, and thy Eliza, due ! 
 
 For 
 
 cc 
 
 ((
 
 r IS ] 
 
 For fure the fweeteft lay flie well may claim, 
 Whofe foul breathes harmony e'er all her frame 5215 
 While wedded Love, with ray ferenely clear. 
 Beams from her eye, as from its proper fphere. 
 
 —But thou, for whom the Mufe firfl tun'dthe lyre, 
 Vot'ry of Sentiment, do thou afpire. 
 With ftudious toil, to win that bright reward, 22<^ 
 The Wreath of FaJJjton for her chofen Bard. 
 Not rudely wove with Nature's fliort-liv'd ftore, 
 (The Umple meed her humble Poet wore) 
 But fpruce and trim, as fuits thy kindred pow'rs, 
 With mimic buds, and artificial flow'rs. 225 
 
 Bleft Wreath! whofe ilowrets dread no vulgar doom 
 Of fading hues, or tranfltory bloom ; 
 Above the fleeting pride of Flora's day, 
 Thy vivid foliage never can decay ! 
 
 There
 
 C i6 ■] ■ 
 
 There, vi'lets, pinks, and Ijlics of the vale, ' 230 
 
 .Defpife the fultry bsam, or chilly gale ; 
 
 There, iix'd as Archer s rouge, the mimic rofe, 
 
 With perfevering bluili, for ever glows ; 
 
 There, myrtles bloom, that {hame the Cyprian fields j 
 
 There, bays, immortal as Parnaffus yields — 235 
 
 Triumphant art ! Let vanquifh'd nature mourn 
 Her loft fimplicity, o'er She7iJio}ie\ urn : 
 With fympathetic forrows, on his tomb 
 Let the pale primrofe fKed its wild perfume j 
 The cowflip droop its head ; and all around 24^ 
 The with'ring violet ftrew the hallow'd ground — 
 For, mute the fwain, and cold "the hand, that wove 
 Thpir fimple fweets to wreaths of artlefs love- 
 Simplicity with Shenfio7ie died ! — 
 
 THE END.
 
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