FORBURY HILL: A POEM. .J.I III Y :^:'-y\ \ jTotbur? ^ilU A POEM. INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY LATE FRANCIS ANNESLEY, ESQ. < Ut Pictura, Poeds erit. ' . HoRAT. Ars. Pokt. 1 LONDON: Printed f^ Law and Gilbert, ^t.' John's Square, Clerkenwell; FOR F.' c/AND ?..KIVINGT0N, NO. 62, ST. PAUL's CHURCU-YARD. I < 1813. :IIici ' The torrent-driv'n, impetuous wheel, Transforming the ripe germ to meal. Oh, potent Industry ! thy sway The sternest elements obey; By thee the stormy wind is chain'd } The mightiest waves by thee constraiu'd. Subservient to a creature s will. Speed a full bark, or turn a mill ! While awful fire in kiln or cave. Is tam'd to a submissive slave. Yet should they their stern bondage break. What woe ! what ravages ! what wreck ! As the $erce passions of the soul. When bursting from their due controul ; Or other slaves, so doonj'd to be. Torrents, Volcanos, Whirlwinds, when they're free. I love yon plain white cot to see. Sacred to Mediocrity; U FORBURV HILK Half way the hill, aside the woo4'^ - ^ Beneath the storm, above the flood. Methinks amid yon curling sinoke^ '^ EnthronM upon a bench of oak^ ' Snug Comfort sits, and trims her fire For Competence, her aged sire ; And Quiet and Contentment dwell In the deep shade of yonder dell. Oh, say not *tis a poet's strain, Tlie vision of a heated brain t Still let me trust the glowing view. And paint, till I believe it true ! 'Tis pleasing too, to contemplate The thriving Farmer's fair estate ; And turn the roving eye about. Where signs of plenty point him out : The reeking yard where cattle swarm, A spacious bam keeps safe and warm ; Aiul all around is studded thick. With many a trim and golden rick* PORBURY HILL. f^ View not his pride with cynic scowl. Nor murmur if in wealth he roll; The year's increase for us is stor'd ; Tis meet for all, that he should hoard ; He stocks a bank that would avail, Tho' the great national should fail : Wealth to the man who gives us food ! Whose welfare is a public good ! Now Phcfcbus shines with temp'rate ray, Chacing the mist impure away : The toiling Husbandman he cheers. His barn he fills, his field he clears ; And Plenty from her lavish horn. For the low Gleaner scatters com. To the great Master of success. The warm heart swells with thankfulness ! But late Sol shew'd a captious mien ; Was scarcely felt and seldom seen ; Then o'er the verdant mead below. The anxious Fanner sad would go ; c2 20 FORBURY HILL. The gath'ring vapours trembling view. That stain'd of Heav'n the brilliant blue ; In the dark western horizon The hostile armies hurrying on; Black-brow'd allies their force to wield. And fall on his defenceless field. The goodly rows of Mowers blythe^ To equal measures strike the scythe. But the poor hireling of the hour. Watches appall'd the big storm lower ; And trails dejectedly along Her useless tools, her rake and prong. Scarce more solicitous than I, The careful owner mark'd the sky ; Or saw with a more grateful heart. The freighted wain at length depart. Now turning Eastward, we survey The ruin, venerably grey. What mix'd ideas crowd from all. The fragments of each crumbling wall ! rORBURY HILL. 31 Each firm-bound flint with ivy hung. Each chasm has a speaking tongue. That tells of all-censuming age. Of Time's inexorable rage : For ever mining our enjoyments. Stealing our years and their employment ; And proving what so fain we'd hide. The vanity of human pride. But all the morals these relate *Twere endless to enumerate. On one huge mass of shapeless stone The ivy seems a lion grown, Station'd to guard with sternest face The ruins of the hallow'd place. One ugly feature pass we by *, "Tis horror to the feeling eye; What would offend that eye, 'tis said. The cautious painter veils in shade'. Now glancing southward, let's admire. Where beauteous yet and yet entire. 252 FORBURY HILL. The hlgh-arch'd gateway stands sublime. Above the injuries of Time. Ye who discern not in the pile The Gothic or the Saxon style. Pass it ; then turning, you'll descry A scene to charm the coldest eye ; A view tho' bounded, yet so fair. Nor pen can paint, nor picture pair. Ere long each lovely scene shall change its hue. And this faint picture be not even true : For Winter comes with slow but certain pace. Nature's fair form to wither and deface. To strip the grove, to sadden Flora's reign. And desolate and deluge all the plain. And thou, poor Mount ! how shall thou fare th while ? Will no protecting safeguard bid thee smile ? No friendly hand arise to fence thee round ? To heal thy deep distresses none be found ? FORBURY HILL. 23 Sliall not some peer of him so low that lies, Some other Phoenix from his ashes rise ? To bid thee, like the Eagle, bird of day. Thy youth renewing, once again be gay ; Exulting plume thee on thy verdant mound. Lift thy green head, and spread thy winga around ? Reading, September, 1812. NOTES. NOTES. ae x < * And Witenham and Faringdon, And Caversham and Watlington? It is well known that these hills have all had their poets. The merits of the first have been ably cele- brated by the Rev. Mr. Pentycross, the second by Mr. Pye, the third by Mr. Mann, and the last very lately by Miss. Mitford. * Tojbrtiine and to fame unknown, A youth to fortune and to fame unknown. Gray*s Elegy. 28 NOTES. ' From Fauxhourg some, S{c. The following note, from Mr. Coates's History of Reading, settles this point beyond dispute. Had the Author met with it previous to the finishing of this Poem, it might have spared the Reader these prosaic lines ; which, however, it is hoped, may claim indul- gence on account of the unpoetical natiure of the subject. " We bards, so Heav'n and all the Nine decreed, " In fiction better than in truth succeed." " The Forbery, or outer Court of the Abbey, is now separated from the remaining ruins by the hill, the wall of Mr. Jesse's (now Mr. Curtis's) garden, and the remains of the horn-work, erected in the Civil Wars. The name might have been spelt anciently Foreberie, the word Berie signifying any wide, open place ; in which sense it is found in the Corporation Diarj', p. 104. " A' Ed. 4th. XI mo. Mem. The Berie II Stables, and worde grounde, that Edmund NOTES. 29 Dyer held by indenture of the Mayr and burgeys of Reading, is seysed ynto their handes, both for lakke of payement of rent, and also, for takyng out. to ferme the seyd housses." * Would thejleet courser exercise. This Poem was completed before the Author had discovered that the subject had been treated before. It appears by Mr. Coates' History of Reading, already referred to, that a Poem, called Forborough Hilly was published in the year 1755. Of this, it is to be ap- prehended, nothing now remains but the title. In the faint hope, that the present Essay may not be quite so soon consigned to oblivion, the Author adds the following note, which certainly is superfluous just how: viz. That previous to the Races, the horses used to exercise in the King's Mead; and, on the Sunday before, it was usual for company, after Divine Service in the afternoon, to flock to the Forbury, to see them. This custom has hardly been discontinued more than thirty years. 30 NOTES. Yes, Annesley, Francis Annesley, Esq. the late Representative of this Borough, several times made collections for the repairs of Forbury Hill, and directed their application. This was but a small part of his meritorious services, of which the following account appeared in the Read- ing Mercury, at the period of his death. April 20, 1812. " Yesterday morning died, at his house in Curzon-street, London, Francis Annesley, Esq. LL.D. F.A.S. INIaster of Downing College, Cam- bridge, and Representative of this Borough in Parlia- ment from lY?^ to 1806. The mention of his name is sufficient to awaken the feelings of respect, affection, and gratitude, in the hearts of most of our readers. No man was more extensively, or more deservedly, beloved. It is doubtful whether the independent manner in which he was elected by this Borough, was more honourable to the Electors or to him. In his public conduct as Member of Parliament, his views were uniformly directed to the public good, without glance of private advantage to himself or his family. NOTES* 31 Those who differed from him when he opposed one war, or supported another, acknowledged his disin- terestedness, and revered his principles. He wa equally zealous in the service of his Constituents. He exerted his utmost powers in promoting their interests, and relieving their wants. He never denied access, or assistance, to the meanest of his fellow-townsmen. Benevolence was so engrailed on his disposition, that when he had ceased to represent the town, his charity and beneficence to the inhabitants suffered no dimi- nution. The delicate and endearing manner in which he conferred a benefit, increased its value. He never resented an injury, and never forgot a kindness : this moral excellence flowed from a deep sense of religion. He was devout without ostentation, and his zeal was guided by knowledge. His faith was sincere and active ; and " his last thoughts," to use the words of a near relative, who attended him in the hour of death, *' were his dependence on the merits of hi&- Savioiu-." 32 NOTES. * Her three sole traits, so Chambers cried. ** For what is Nature ? ring her changes round, " Her three sole traits are Water, Plants, and Ground r " Prolong the peal, yet 'spite of all your clatter, ** The changes still are ground, and plants, and water. " So when some John his dull invention racks, ** To rival Bootle's dinners or almacks, ** Three uncouth legs of mutton shock our eyes " Three roasted geese, three buttered apple-pies." Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers ; who, ia his Treatise on Oriental Gardening, had said much the same thing in prose. 7 fVhen the good glebe, not stiff" as notVf Two rabbits and a knife might plough. In the Non-pareilf a Selection from the Old Wo- man*s Magazine, published in 1751 and 2, under the head, " Things to be laughed at, or a Collection of Honest Prejudices," is the following article, from Jones's Wonderful Changes, p. 86. Before the Con- quest by the Normans, the land in Norfolk was so light NOTES. 3S and fine, that the Farmer usually ploughed it with ivoo rabbits and a case-knife, * One ugl^ feature pass toe hi/. The County-Prison, built on part of the site of the Abbey. Wlien the foundations of the Prison were digging, a great number of human bones were discovered, at a depth of not more than six feet from the surface : in some skulls the teeth were entire, and hardly dis- coloured. The writer of this recollects to have seen one perfect skeleton, which happened to lie in such a direction, as not to be injured by the spade. The head was awry, as if it had been forced into a coffin too short for it. One leaden coffin was found, in which nothing remained but some fragments of lea- ther. The curious in antiquities were deprived of an opportunity of investigating a specimen so likely to interest them, by the rapacity of the workmen, who immediately knocked it to pieces, and sold it to the plumber for beer. 84 NOTES. Within these ten years, there existed in the wall opposite the entrance to the Wharf, a flint stone, rudely cut in the shape of a Flenr de Lys. It was about a foot long, and bore several dates, of which 1100 and 1300 were just legible. The writer pointed it out to some friends, about nine years ago, and the day after it was no longer to be found: there ap- peared only a vacancy whence it seemed to have been taken. 9 " What fuould offend the eye in a good picture, ** The painter casts discreetly into shade." Blair*s Poem of the Graces. THE END, Law aud Gilbert, Priiitersi St. John's Square, Londuo. ERRATA. Puge 9, Hue 15, for recn read reed Ifi, 11, jor waning rend wandering, or Oft lamenting by tl'.eir side 12, l.j, for Monarch's read Monarch tide j.5, i7 , for thraw read tosi 16, 10, fnr green read hue ll,_/()r neighh'ring r^ud bordering ;0, li, for ther useless looI., read Uselcs<. ;tja^l her rnke and pronj*. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.