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 THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS GRAY; 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE POEMS, 
 
 ■■i 
 
 WITH CRITICAL NOTES; 
 
 m 
 A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR; 
 
 AND AN 
 
 ESSAY ON HIS POETRY; 
 BY THE REV. JOHN MITFORD. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR J. MAWMAN, S9, LUDGATE-STREET, 
 
 BY S. HAMILTON, WEVBRIDGE, SURTiFi'. 
 
 1810.
 
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 TIIE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS GRAY, ESQ. 
 
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 t 
 
 
 Thomas Gray, the subject of the present narrative, was the 
 fifth child of Mr. Philip Gray, a respectable citizen and money- 
 scrivener in London. His grandfather was also a considerable 
 merchant in that place. The maiden name of his mother was 
 Dorothy Antrobus. Thomas* was born in Cornhill, the 26th of 
 December 1716; and was the only one of twelve children who 
 
 * In the Onomasticon Literarium of Saxius, vol. vii. p. loG, is an account of 
 Gray, full of singular mistakes : " Johannes Gray, Carminum Sciiptor, et Historicus 
 Cantabriclgiensis, (lui socialis Gulielmi Guthrie, et aliorum operis, Historite Universce 
 Corpus, (in Tlieotiscum postca Sermonem versum, animadversionibusque Ciirist. 
 Gotll. Heynii locupletatuiii) adornavit." Gray was not likely either to compose an 
 Universal History, or to select such a coadjutor at Guthrie; concerning whom, he 
 once wrote the following sentence : " Guthrie, you see, has vented himself in the 
 Critical Review ; his History I never saw, nor is it here, nor do 1 know any one that 
 ever saw it. He is a rascal, but rai,cali may chance to meet with cuiious records," 
 8ic. See Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 380. 
 
 VOL. I. a 
 
 .1 c
 
 n TIIF. LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 survived. Tlie rest died in their infancy, iVotn suffocation, pro- 
 duced by a fullness of blood : and he owed his life to a me- 
 morable instance of the love and courage of his mother, who re- 
 moved the paroxysm, which attacked him, by opening a vein with 
 her own hand : an instance of affection that seems to have been 
 most tenderly preserved by him through his after-life, repaid with 
 care and attention, and remembered when the object of his filial 
 solicitudes could no longer claim them. Mr. Mason informs us, 
 " that Gray seldom mentioned his mother without a sigh." 
 
 He was educated at Eton, under the protection of Mr. Antrobus, 
 his maternal uncle, who was at that time one of the assistant mas- 
 ters at that school, and also a fellow of St. Peter's college at Cam- 
 bridge, where Gray was admitted as a pensioner in 1734, in his 
 nineteenth year. I should be unwilling to pass over this period of 
 his life, without mentioning that while at Eton, as well as at Cam- 
 bridge, he depended, for his entire support, on the affection and 
 firmness of his mother; who, when his father had refused all assist- 
 ance, cheerfully maintained him on the scanty produce of her se- 
 parate industry. At Eton his friendship with Horace Walpole, and 
 more particularly with Richard West,* commenced. In him he met 
 
 * Richard West was the son of the right honourable Richard West, esq., lord 
 chancellor of Ireland; who died in 1728, aged 36; and his grandfather, by the 
 mother's side, was Bishop Burnet. His father was the maternal uncle of Glover 
 the poet, and is supposed to be the author of a tragedy called ' Hecuba,' published 
 in 1726. Mr. Mason says, that, when at school. West's genius was thought to be 
 more brilliant than his friend's.
 
 XHR LIFE OF GRAY. 111 
 
 with one, who, from tlie goodness of his heart, the sincerity of his 
 friendship, and the excellent cultivation of his mind, was worthy 
 of his warmest attachment. The purity of taste, indeed, as well 
 as the proficiency in literature which the letters of West display, 
 were remarkable at his age ; and his studious and pensive habits 
 of mind, his uncertain health, and his early and untimely death, 
 have all contributed to throw " a melancholy' grace" over the short 
 and interesting narrative of his life. With him, for the period of 
 eight years. Gray enjoyed, what the moralist calls " the most 
 virtuous as well as the happiest of all attachments — the wise 
 security of friendship: ' Par studiis, aevique modis.'" Latterly, 
 when West's health was declining, and his prospects in life seemed 
 clouded and uncertain, Gray's friendship was affectionate and 
 anxious, and only terminated by the early death of his friend in 
 his twenty-sixth year. 
 
 When Gray removed to Peter-house, Horace Wal pole* went to 
 King's-college in the same university, and West to Christ-church 
 at Oxford. From this period, the life of Gray is conducted by 
 his friend and biographer Mr. Mason, through the medium of his 
 
 * In H. Walpolc's Works arc some letters between West and Walpole at College 
 (vol. iv. p. 411). 1 he intiniaey between Gray, Walpole, West, anil Asheton, was 
 called the quadruple alliance ; and they passed by the names of Tydeus, Orosmadcs, 
 Almanzor, and Plato. Thomas Asheton was afterwards fellow of Eton College, 
 rector of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate-street, and preacher to the Society of Lincoln'*- 
 Inn. He wrote an answer to a work of Dr. Conyers Middleton. Walpole address- 
 ed a poetical epistle from Florence to him. See Gray's Letters ; and A\'ali)ole's 
 Works, vol. V. p. 386.
 
 IV THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 Letters ; concerning whicli, it may be said, that from tlie humour, 
 the elegance, and the classical taste displayed in them ; from the 
 alternate mixture of serious argument, animated description, just 
 criticism, and playful expression, notwithstanding the incidents 
 of his life were peculiarly few in number, nor any of them re- 
 markable, yet a more interesting publication of the kind never 
 appeared in English literature. 
 
 Gray's Letters commence, as I have said, from the time when 
 he left Eton for Cambridge ; but from them it is difficult to trace 
 the line of study which he pursued at College. His letters treat 
 chiefly of his poetry, and other private pursuits ; and he seems to 
 have withdrawn himself entirely from the severity of mathe- 
 matical studies, and to have confined his inquiries to classical 
 literature, to the acquisition of modern languages, to histor}', and 
 other branches of what is called polite learning. West describes 
 himself and his friend as walking hand in hand, 
 
 " Through many a flow'ry path and shelly grot, 
 Where Learning lull'd us in her private maze." 
 
 During Gray's residence at College, from 1734 to September 
 3738, his poetical productions were — 'A Copy of Latin Verses,' 
 inserted in the ^ Musce Etouenses ;' another 'On the Marriage of 
 the Prince of Wales ;' and ' A Sapphic Ode to West.' A small 
 part of his ' Translation from Statins,' Mr. Mason has given; but 
 has withheld a Latin Version of the ^ Care Selve beate' of the 
 Pastor Fido, and an English Translation of part of the fourth 
 canto of Tasso's ' Gerusalemma Liberata.' From September till
 
 THE LIFE OP GRAY. V 
 
 the following March, Gray resided at his father's house: but his 
 correspondence with West, who was then with his mother at 
 Epsom, his biographer has thought it unnecessary to insert. 
 
 At the request of Horace Walpole, Gray now accompanied him 
 in his travels through France and Italy, and deferred his intended 
 study of the law. From letters to his friend West, and to his own 
 family, we have an account of his pursuits while abroad. He 
 seems to have been, as we might have expected, a very studious 
 and diligent traveller. His attention was directed to all the works 
 of art that were curious and instructive. Architecture both of 
 Gothic and Grecian origin, painting, and music, were all studied 
 by him. He appears to have aj)plied diligently to the lan- 
 guage; nor did the manners and customs of the inhabitants 
 escape his attention. Like Addison, he compared with the 
 descriptions of ancient authors the modern appearance of 
 the countries through which he passed. There are, indeed, 
 few gratifications more excjuisite than those which we ex- 
 perience in being able to identify the scenes, and realize 
 the descriptions, which have been long consecrated in the 
 mind by genius and by virtue ; which have supplied the fancy 
 with its earliest images, and are connected in the memory with 
 its most lasting associations. In such moments as these, Ave ap- 
 pear to be able suddenly to arrest the progress and lessen the 
 devastations of time. We hardly contemplate with regret the 
 ages that have passed in silence and oblivion ; and we behold, 
 for the first time, the fading and faint descriptions of language, 
 stamped with the fresh impressions of reality and truth. The
 
 Vl THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 letters which Gray wrote from Italy were not intended for publi- 
 cation, and do not contain a regular account of the observations 
 which he made : but are rather detached and entertaining descrip- 
 tions, intended for the amusement of his friends at home. Every 
 thing which he thought of importance was committed to his 
 journal. " He catalogued," says Mr. Mason, " and made occa- 
 sional short remarks on the pictures which he saw. lie wrote a 
 minute description of every thing which he saw in his tour fiom 
 Rome to Naples ; as also of the environs of Rome, Florence, &c. 
 They abound with many uncommon remarks, and pertinent clas- 
 sical quotations." 
 
 The route chosen by the travellers was one usually taken : — from 
 Paris, through Rheinis (where they stayed three months, princi- 
 pally to accustom themselves to the French language) to Lyons, 
 whence they took a short excursion to Geneva, over the moun- 
 tains of Savoy ; and by Turin, Genoa, and Bologna to Florence. 
 There they passed the winter in the company of Mr. Horace 
 Mann, the envoy at that court.* In March 1740, Clement the 
 Twelfth, then Pope, died ; and they hastened their journey to Rome, 
 in the hope of seeing the installation of his successor.f That 
 Gray would have wished to have extended his travels, and en- 
 larged his prospect, beyond these narrow limits, if he had pos- 
 sessed the power, we know from his subsequent advice to a friend 
 
 * See Walpole's Works, vol. iv. p. 423. Sir Horace Mann died in 1786 at Flo- 
 rence, where he had resided forty-six years as his Britannic Majesty's minister, 
 at the Court of the Grand Duke. f Ibid. p. 440.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. vii 
 
 who was commencing his travels ; " Tritum viatorum compitum 
 calca, et, cum poteris, desere." And the following passage 
 sketches the outline of an Italian tour, which I believe, few of our 
 travellers have ever completed : — " I conclude, when the winter is 
 over, and you have seen Rome and Naples, you will strike out of 
 the beaten path of English travellers, and see a little of the coun- 
 try. Throw yourselves into the bosom of the Apennine ; survey 
 the horrid lake of Amsanctus ; catch the breezes on the coast of 
 Taranto and Salerno ; expatiate to the very toe of the continent; 
 perhaps strike over the faro of Messina; and having measured the 
 gigantic columns of Girgenti and the tremendous cavern of S^'ra- 
 cusa, refresh yourselves amidst the fragrant vale of Enna. — Oh ! 
 che hel riposo !" 
 
 In Ma}', after a visit to the Frascati and the Cascades of Tivoli, 
 Gray sent his beautiful ' Alcaic Ode' to West. In June he made 
 a short excursion to Naples ; and was charmed with the scenery 
 that presented itself in that most delightful climate. He describes 
 the large old fig-trees, the oranges in bloom, the myrtles in every 
 hedge, and the vines hanging in festoons from tree to tree. He 
 must have been among the first English travellers who visited the 
 remains of Herculaneum,* as it was discovered only the preceding 
 
 * Some excavations were made in Herculaneum in 1709, by the Prince D'Elbeuf: 
 but thirty years elapsed alter the orders given tu the Princi' to dig no farther, before 
 any more notice was taken of them. In December 1738, the King of the two Sieilieu 
 was at Portici, and gave orders for a prosecution of the subterraneous labours- 
 There was an excavation in the time of the Romans: and another in ItiSy In a
 
 VUl THE LIFE OF GRAV. 
 
 year ; and he pointed out to his companion, the description in 
 Statins that pictured the latent city : 
 
 " Hasc ego Chalcidicis ad te, Marcelle, sonabam 
 Litoribus, fractas ubi Vesbius egerit iras, 
 iEinula Trinacriis volvcns incendia flammis. 
 Mira fides! credetne virum ventura propago, 
 Cum segetes iteruni, cum jam haec deserta virebunt. 
 Infra urbes, populosque premi?" 
 
 Statii Sylv. IV. iv. 78. 
 
 At Naples the travellers stayed ten days ; and Gray's next letter 
 to his father, in which he talks of his return to England, is dated 
 again from Florence ; and whence he sent, soon after, his Poem on 
 the ' Gaurus' to West. He remained, however, at that place about 
 eleven months; and during this time commenced his Latin poem 
 'De Principiis Cogitandi.' He then set off with Walj)ole, on the 
 24th of April, for Bologna and Reggio,* at the latter of which towns 
 an unfortunate ditrcrence took place between them, and they 
 parted. The exact cause of this quarrel has been passed over by 
 the delicacy of his biographer, because H. Walpolc was alive, when 
 the Memoirs of Gray were written. The former, however, charged 
 
 letter from H. Walpole to West on this subject (see Walpole's Works, vol.iv. 
 p.448), dated Naples, June 14, 1740, is a passage which shows Mr. Mason's conjec- 
 ture, that the travellers did not recognise the ancient town of Herculaneum by 
 name, to be unfounded. 11. Walpole calls it by that name in his letter. 
 
 * Dr. Johnson has two slight mistakes in his * Life of Gray.' He says that they 
 quarrelled at Florence and parted, instead of Reggio. He says also, that Gray 
 began his poem ' De Principiis Cogitandi' after his return : but it was commenced 
 in the winter of 1740, at Florence.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. ix 
 
 himself with the chief blame; and lamented that he had not paid 
 more attention and deference to Gray's superior judgment and 
 prudence. In the '■WalpoUana {vo\.\. p. 95. art. ex.) is the fol- 
 lowing passage: "The quarrel between Gray and me arose from 
 his being too serious a companion. I had just broke loose from 
 the restraint of the University, with as much money as I could 
 spend; and I was willing to -indulge myself. Gray was for anti- 
 quities, &c.; whilst I was for perpetual balls and plays; — the 
 fault was mine." Perhaps the freedom of friendship spoke too 
 openly to please: for in a letter from Walpole to Mr. Bentley, 
 some years afterwards, he says : *' I was accustomed to flattery 
 enough when my father was minister : at his fall, I lost it all at 
 once : and since that, I have lived with Mr. Chute, who is all vehe- 
 mence ; with Mr. Fox, who is all disputation ; with Sir C. Williams, 
 who has no time from flattery, himself; and nitk Gray, who does 
 not hute to find fault with me" * Whatever Avas the cause of this 
 quarrel, it must have been very serious, if the information is cor- 
 rect, which is given in the manuscript of the Rev. W. Cole, a person 
 who appears to have lived in terms of intimacy with Gray during 
 the latter part of his life. " When matters (he says) were made 
 up between Gray and Walpole, and the latter asked Gray to 
 
 * See Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 334. Jn a letter from Gray to Walpole in 
 
 1731, is a sentence which seems to point towards this quarrel : " It is a tenet with 
 mc, (lie says) — a simple one, you will periiaps say, — that if over two people who love 
 one auotlny- come to breaking, it is for wa«t of a timely €f/tf/;c<SM77ie?i/, a full and 
 precibe one, without witnesses or mediators, and without reserving one disagreeable 
 circumstance for the mind to brood upon in silence." See Walpole's Works, 
 vol. V. p. 389. 
 
 VOL. I. b
 
 X THE LIFE Of GKAY. 
 
 Strawberry-Hill, when he came, lie without any ceremony told 
 Walpole, that he came to wait on him as civihty required, hut by 
 no means would he ever be there on the terms of his former friend- 
 ship, which he had totally cancelled." Such is the account given 
 by INIr. Cole, and which I suppose is worthy of credit : at any rate, 
 it does not seem at all inconsistent with the independence, and 
 manly freedom which alwa^'s accompanied the actions and opi- 
 nions of Gray.* 
 
 Having thus lost his companion, and, with the separation of 
 friendship, all inducement to remain abroad. Gray went imme- 
 diately to Venice, and returned through Padua and Milan, folio w- 
 ino- almost the same road through France, which he had travelled 
 before. If he sent any letters to West on his return,-!' it Avas not 
 thought requisite to publish them : those to his father were only 
 accounts of his health and safety. Though he returned to Eng- 
 land as speedily and directly as he could, yet he once diverged 
 from his way, between Turin and Lyons, again to contemplate the 
 wild and magnificent scenery that surrounded the Grande Char- 
 treuse ; and in the Album of the Fathers he wrote his beautiful 
 
 * For a further elucidation of this subject, the reader is referred to tlie second 
 volume of this Work, where I have stated what are the supposed causes of the 
 quarrel ; and the terms of the reconciliation will be best learned, from the expres- 
 sions which Gray uses in liis letter to Mr. \\ harton, on this subject. 
 
 « 
 
 t Some letters from Walpole to West, while the former was on his travels with 
 Gray, are in Walpole's Works, vol.iv. p. 419 — 463. There is one letter from 
 Keggio, May lOth, but not mentioning any quarrel, nor even Gray by name.
 
 THE LlfL OF GRAY. Xl 
 
 * Alcaic Ode,' which bears strong marks of proceeding from a mind 
 deeply impressed with the solemnity of the situation; where "every 
 precipice and cliff was pregnant with Religion and Poetry."* 
 
 In two months after the return of Gray in 1741, his father died,-f- 
 his constitution being worn out by repeated attacks of the gout; 
 and Gray's filial duty was now solely directed to his mother. To 
 the friend who condoled with Pope on his father's death, he an- 
 swered in the pious language of Euryalus, — " Genitrix est mihi," 
 — and Gray, in the like circumstances, assuredly felt no less, the 
 pleasure that arose from contributing to preserve the life, and hap- 
 piness of a parent. With a small fortune, which her husband's im-. 
 prudence had materially imj)aired, Mrs. Gray and a maiden sister 
 retired to the house of Mrs. Rogers, another sister, at Stoke, near 
 Windsor: and Grav, thinking his fortune not sufficient to enable 
 him to prosecute the study of the law, and yet unwilling to hurt 
 the feelings of his mother, by appearing entirely to forsake his pro- 
 fession, changed or pretended to change the line of study, and 
 went to Cambridge to take his degree in civil law. That in his 
 own mind, however, he had entirely given up all thoughts of his 
 profession, seems to appear from a letter to West : " Alas, for one 
 (he says) who has nothing to do, but to amuse himself! I believe 
 my amusements are as little amusing as most folks ; but no matter, 
 
 * See Letter XI., ilatLil I'urin, November l6, 1739. 
 
 t Gray came to town about the Isl of September 1741. His lather died on the 
 6ih of November following, at the agt of 6.5. Mason. 
 
 b 2
 
 Xn THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 it makes the hours pass, and is better than iv dfjuaDnx. xa.) afjuovtrta, 
 
 " But the narrowness of his circumstances," says Mr. Mason, 
 " was not the only thing that distressed him at this period. He 
 had, as we have seen, lost the friendship of Mr. Walpolo abroad. 
 He had also lost nuich time in his travels ; a loss which application 
 could not easily retrieve, when so severe and laborious a study as 
 that of the Common Law was to be the object of it ; and he well 
 knew that, whatever improvement he might have made in this in- 
 terval, either in taste or science, such improvement would stand 
 him in little stead with regard to his present situation and exigen- 
 cies. This was not all: his other friend, Mr. West, he found on 
 his return, oppressed by sickness and a load of family misfortunes. 
 These the sympathising heart of Mr. Gray made his own. He did 
 all in his power (for he was now with him in London) to soothe 
 the sorrows of his friend, and try to alleviate them by every office 
 of the purest and most perfect affection : but his cares were vain. 
 The distresses of Mr. West's mind had already too far affected a 
 body, from the first weak and delicate." 
 
 West was indeed at this time rapidly declining in health, and had 
 gone into Hertfordshire for the benefit of the air. To him, Gray sent 
 part of his Tragedy of ' Agrippina,' then commenced ; and which, 
 Mr. Mason thinks, was suggested by a favourable impression left 
 on his mind, from a representation of the Bvitaniikits of Racine. 
 His friend objected to the length of Agrippina's speech ; and the 
 Fragment is now published, not exactly as Gray left it, but altered
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xiii 
 
 by Mr. Mason from the suggestions of West. The plan of this 
 pla}' seems to have been drawn after the model of the plays of 
 Racine ; though it displays perhaps more spirit and genius, than 
 ever informed the works of that eleo-ant and correct tragedian. 
 Mr. Mason, in a letter to Dr. Beattie, mentions among the Poetry 
 left by Gray, " the opening scene of a tragedy called Agrippina, 
 with the first speech of the second, written much in Racine's man- 
 ner, and with many masterly strokes."* The language resembles 
 rather that of Rowe or Addison, than of Shakspeare ; though it is 
 more highly wrought, and more closely compacted. If finished, it 
 would, 1 think, have delighted the scholar in the closet ; but it is 
 too descriptive to have pleased upon the stage. B«<rra(^oyTa( ^s ol 
 clvuyv&xrTtKoi Kai TuouCuX7.of/^siioi, ol f/,iv raJv ypacpiKuv, Iv role ayuci 
 
 (TTiVOi (pXlVOVTUI,']' 
 
 Gray now employed himself in the perusal of the ancient authors. 
 He mentions that he was reading Thucydides, Theocritus, and 
 Anacreon. He translated some parts of Propertius,:[. and selected 
 
 * I have said that Gray kept an attentive eye upon Racine during the composition 
 of his tragedy ; an assertion, 1 think, that the notes will serve to prove: but the 
 learned Mr. Twining, in his notes on Aristotle's Poetics, (p. 385, 4to.) says : " I liave 
 often wondered what it was that could attach Mr. Gray so strongly to a poet whose 
 genius was so Ihtle analogous to his own. I must confess I cannot, even in the 
 Drainntic Fragment given us by Mr. Mason, discover any otlier resemblance to 
 llacine, tiian in tlie length of the speeches. The fault, indeed, is Racine's; its 
 beauties are surely of a higher order," &c. 
 
 t Aristotelis Rhetorica, lib. -/. cap. xii. 
 
 t Extracts from these translations of Propertius, have been published in the 
 edition of Mr. Mathias : see vol. ii. p. 85.
 
 XIV THK LIFE OF GUAV. 
 
 for his Italian studies the poetry of Petrarcli. He wrote an Heroic 
 Epistle in Latin, in imitation of the manner of Ovid ; and a Greek 
 E|iii!;rani, which he coniniunicated to West: to whom also in the 
 summer, when he retired to his family at Stoke, he sent his ' Ode 
 to Spring,' which was written there, i)ut which did not arrive in 
 Hertfordshire till after the death of his beloved friend.* \\'est died 
 only twenty days after he had written the Letter to Gray, which 
 concludes with " Vale, ef vive pau/isper cum ihis." So little (says 
 Mr. Mason) was the amiable youth then aware of the short time 
 that he himself would be numbered amongst the living. 
 
 In the autumn of 1742, Gray composed the ode on ' A distant 
 Prospect of Eton College,' and the ' Hymn to Adversity.' The 
 
 * West was buried in the chancel of Hatfield church, beneath a stone, wath the 
 following epitaph : " Here lieth the body of Richard West, esq., only son of the 
 right honourable Richard West, esq., lord chancellor of Ireland, who died the 1st of 
 June 1742, in the 2fith year of his age." — West's poems have never been fully col- 
 lected. Tliere is one, 'An Ode to Mary Magdalene,' in AValpole's Works, vol. iv. 
 p. 419: another in Dalrymple's Songs, p. 142. In the European Magazine for 
 January 1798, p. 45, is a poem said to be written by him, called ' Damon to Philo- 
 mel;' and a Copy of Verses on his Death, supposed to be written by his uncle. 
 Judge Burnet. In Walpole's ^^'orks, vol. i. p. 204, is a well-known epigram which 
 was written by West, 'Time and Thomas Hcarne,' which was printed by Mr. 
 Walpole in a paper intended for the ' World,' but not sent, and which is commonly 
 attributed to Swift. It appears also, that part of the tragedy of Pausanias is extant 
 in MS. See the editor's note in Walpole's Works, vol. iv. p. 458 ; also his transla- 
 tion of TibuUus. See Mason's Gray, vol. i. p. 22. The collection of his poems by 
 Dr. Anderson, in the edition of the British Poets, is very incomplete : and Mr. 
 Alexander Chalmers, in his subsequent edition, has omitted them entirely.
 
 THE LIFK OF GRAY. XV 
 
 ' Elegy in a Country Cliurcli-yard' was commenced. An affec- 
 tionate Sonnet in English, and an Apostrophe which opens the 
 fourth book of his poem ' De Principiis Cogitimdi,' (his last com- 
 position in Latin verse,) bear strong marks of the sorrow left on 
 his mind from the death of West ; and of the real affection, with 
 which he honoured the memory of his worth, and of his talents. 
 
 Mr. Mason thinks that Gray tiid not linish this poem, on ac- 
 count of the unfavourable reception, or rather neglect, of the Anti- 
 Lucretius* of the Cardinal Melchior dc J\)lignac ; a poem which 
 had been long expected, and appeared about that time. The 
 failure, however, of M. de Polignac's poem may be attributed 
 partly to its length, (for it contains above thirteen thousand 
 verses,) and to a want of suflicient variety and digression in the 
 composition. The versification is not always finished and com- 
 pact, and the language has lost much of its elegance in the en- 
 deavour to accommodate it with precision to the subject. 
 
 Gray's residence at Cambridge was now continued not from 
 any partiality to the j)Iace where he received his education, but 
 partly liom the scantiness of his income, and in a great measure, 
 
 * Tliis poem liad tlu' honour of being correcU'd by Boilcau, and altered bv Louis 
 tlie .\l\ til. The autlior was so long employed on it, and recited it so often, tliat 
 many parts were stolen, and inserted in the works of other authors. Le Clerc got a 
 tragnient l)y heart, and published it in one of his literary journals. The cardinal 
 died wliile his work was unfinished, and before he could add two more boojvs to it 
 against the Deists.
 
 XVI THE tlKB OF GRAY. 
 
 no doubt, for the convenience which its Hbraries aftbrded.* 
 Original composition he ahnost entirely neglected ; but his time 
 was so assiduously occupied in a regular and studious perusal of 
 the i)est Greek authors, that in six years he had read all the 
 writers of eminence in that language, digesting and arranging 
 their contents, remarking their peculiarities, and noting their 
 corrupt and difficult passages with great accuracy and diligence. 
 In the winter of 1742, he was admitted a bachelor of civil law; 
 and a short recreation of his studies appears in a ' Fragment of 
 an Address to Ignorance,' which contains a satire on the Univer- 
 sity where he resided,-}- whose system of education he always 
 disliked and ridiculed, and against which he used to speak so 
 
 * In a note to the Spital Sermon, p. 1 17, Dr. Parr says : " After the opportuni- 
 ties which Mr. Gray enjoyed, and of which he doubtless had availed himself, for 
 observing the state of literature and the characters of literary men upon the Con- 
 tinent, he did not merely visit the University, but fixed his chief residence there. 
 And of a choice to which he adhered so steadily and so long, the scantiness of his 
 fortune, the Ipve of books, and the easy access he had to them in many libraries, 
 will hardly be considered as the sole motives." Dr. Parr, however, does not assign 
 an)' other motives that influenced Gray, in his choice of the University for a resi- 
 dence. 
 
 + In p. 1 17 of the Spital Sermon, Dr. Parr says : "At that very time in which 
 Mr. Gray spoke so contemptuously of Cambridge, that very University abounded in 
 men of erudition and science, with whom the first scholars would have not dis- 
 dained to converse: And who shall convict me of exaggeration, when I bring for- 
 ward the names of Bentley, Danes, Asheton — of Jesus : Provost Snapc, Middlcton, 
 Tunstall the public orator, Baker — of St. John's: Edmund Law, John Taylor, 
 Thomas Johnson, Waterland, Whaley (afterwards regius professor of divinity), 
 Smith (the nephew of G)tes), afterwards master of Trinity, Roger Long, Colson, the 
 correspondent of sir Isaac Newton, and Professor Saunderson : "
 
 THE LIFE OP GRAY. Xvii 
 
 openly, as to create many enemies. It is plain, from his Letters, 
 that he thought the attention and time bestowed there on mathe- 
 matical and metaphysical pursuits, would have been more profit- 
 ably spent in classical studies. There is some resemblance in the 
 style of this Fragment, to part of Pope's Dunciad ; the fourth 
 book of which had appeared but a year or two before : and Gray, 
 I should think, had that poem in his mind, when he wrote these 
 lines, to ridicule what he calls " that ineffable Octogrammaton, 
 the power of laziness." 
 
 In 1744 the difference between Walpole and Gray was adjusted 
 by the interference of a lady who wished well to both parties. 
 The lapse of three years had probably been sufficient, in some de- 
 gree, to soften down, though not entirely obliterate, the remem- 
 brance of supposed injuries on either side ; natural kindness of 
 temper had reassumed its place, and we find their correspondence 
 again proceeding on friendly and familiar terms. About this 
 time Gray became acquainted with Mr. Mason, then a scholar of 
 St. John's-college, whose poetical talents he had noticed ; and 
 some of wliose poems he revised at the request of a friend. He 
 maintained a correspondence M'ith his intimate and respectable 
 friend Dr. Wharton, of Durham ; and he seems to have hved on 
 terms of familiarity with the celebrated Dr. Middleton,* whose 
 loss he afterwards laments. " I find a friend (he says) so uncom- 
 
 * Dr. MiddlL'ton died the 'J8tli of July 17J(*, in the sixty-sevcntU year of his atrc, 
 at Hihlcrshani in Cambridgeshire. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 XVIU THE LIFK OF GRAY. 
 
 mon thing, that I cannot help regretting even an old acquaint- 
 ance, which is an indifterent likeness of it." 
 
 In the year 1747, the ' Ode to Eton College,' the first produc- 
 tion of Gray that appeared in print, was published in folio, by 
 Dodsley. Dr. Warton, in his Essay on Pope, informs us, that 
 " little notice was taken of it, on its first publication." 
 
 Walpole wished him to print his own poems with those of his 
 deceased friend. West. This, however, he declined, thinking the 
 materials not sufficient: but he complied with another wish of 
 Walpole, in commemorating in an Ode the death of his favourite 
 eat. To this little poem I may be permitted to apply the words 
 of Cicero, when speaking of a work of his own : " Non est enim 
 tale, ut in arte poni possit, quasi ilia Minerva Phidite ; sed tamen, 
 ut ex e^dem officinfi, exisse appareat."* Soon after this, he sent 
 to Dr. Wharton a part of his poem ' On the Alliance of Educa- 
 tion and Government.' He never pursued this subject much fur- 
 ther. About a hundred lines remain ; and the commentary pro- 
 ceeds a little beyond the poem. Mr. Mason thinks that he 
 dropped it, from finding some of his best thoughts forestalled by 
 M. de Montesquieu's L'Esprit des Loix,-!* which appeared at that 
 time : and other reasons, which I have elsewhere stated, probably 
 concurred in inducing him to leave unfinished, a very fine specimen 
 
 * Vide Ciceronis Praef. Paradoxa. ed. Olivet, vol. iii. p. 356. Paris, 
 t Compare Montesquieu, L'Esprit des Loix, liv. xiv. chap. ii.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xix 
 
 of a philosophical poem. Some time after, says Mr. Mason, he 
 had thoughts of resuming his plan, and of dedicating his poem 
 by an introductory Ode, to M. de Montesquieu; but that great 
 man's death, which happened in 1755, made him drop his 
 design finally. 
 
 Gray was now forming for his own instruction a Table of Greek 
 Chronology, which extended from the 30th to the 113th Olym- 
 piad, a period of 332 years ; and which, while it did not exclude 
 public events, was chiefly designed to compare the time of all 
 great men, their writings and transactions. Mr. Mason, who saw 
 this work, says, " that every page was in nine columns : one for 
 the Olympiad, the next for the Archons, the third for the Public 
 Affairs of Greece, the three next for the Philosophers, and the 
 three last for Poets, Historians, and Orators."* 
 
 Greek literature about this time seems to have been his con- 
 stant study. He says in a letter ; " I have read Pausanias and 
 Athena?us all through ; and iEschylus again. I am now in Pindar, 
 and Lysias ; for I take verse and prose together, like bread and 
 cheese." 
 
 In the year 1749, on the death of ]\Irs. Antrobus, his mother 
 was deprived of a sister and affectionate companion ; which loss, 
 
 * A plan similar to this has been executed by Edv, Corsinus, in his ' Fasti Aitici,' 
 four volumes 4io. I'lorenee, 17G4. 
 
 c 2
 
 XX THE LIFE OP GllAV. 
 
 if we may judge by a letter of Gray, was a most severe affliction. 
 It is not improbable that this circumstance may have turned his 
 thoughts towards finishing his ' Elegy,'* which was commenced 
 some time before. Whether that were the case or not, it now 
 however received his last corrections, was communicated to Wal- 
 pole, and handed about in manuscript with great applause, among 
 the higher circles of society. It was so popular, that when it was 
 printed. Gray expressed his surprise at the rapidity of the sale ; 
 which Mr. Mason attributed, and, I think, justly, to the affecting 
 and pensive cast of the subject. Of all qualities, the pathetic, 
 which acts upon so many of the kinder affections of the mind, is 
 that on which most readers dwell with pleasure. Didactic poetry 
 can please only a certain class, because all do not like the trouble 
 of being taught: to relish sublimity in writing requires considera- 
 ble judgement, as well as some portion of genius, and some vigor 
 of imao-ination. Works of wit and humour are most uncertain 
 in their effect, and depend upon such slight circumstances, upon 
 such accidental variations, that it is often impossible to account 
 for the causes of their failure or success. But pathetic compo- 
 
 * The thought of that fine stanza in the Elegy, especially of the latter lines— 
 " Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast 
 The little tyrant of his fields withstood ; 
 Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, 
 
 Some Cromwell guiltless of his coimtry's blood" — 
 is expressed more briefly, in the following passage of Plautns : 
 " Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent, 
 Hie qualis imperator, nunc privatus est." 
 
 Captiv. act. iv. sc. Q.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. Xxi 
 
 sition, which is employed in describing to us our own griefs, or the 
 sufferings of others, makes its wa)' to the heart at once ; it always 
 finds some disposition of the mind favourable to receive it, some 
 passion which cannot resist its power, some human feelings which 
 participate in its sorrows. Much time elapses, before works of 
 elaborate structure, of lofty flight, and of learned allusion, gain 
 possession of the public mind, and are placed in their proper rank 
 in literature. While the ' Bard' and the 'Progress of Poetry' 
 were but little read on their first appearance, Gray received at 
 once the full measure of praise from the ' Elegy :' and perhaps 
 even at this time, the Elegy* is the most popular of all his poems. 
 Dr. Gregory, in a letter to Beattie, says : " It is a sentiment that 
 very universally prevails, that Poetry is a light kind of reading, 
 which one takes up only for a little amusement ; and that there- 
 fore it should be so perspicuous as not to require a second readino-. 
 This sentiment would bear hard on some of your best things, and 
 on all Gray's except his ' Church-yard Elegy,' which, he told me, 
 ■with a good deal of acrimony, owed its popularity entirely to the 
 subject, and that the public would have received it as Avell if it 
 had been written in prose." And Dr. Beattie, writing to Sir Wil- 
 
 * This Elegy was translated into Latin verse by Messrs. Anstey and Roberts, and 
 not so successfully by Mr. Lloyd. It has been translated also into Greek, by Dr. 
 Cooke of King's-college, and published at the end of a very indifferent edition of 
 Aristotle's I'oetics. Since that time, it has been translated into the same lano-uafc 
 by Dr. Norbury, and Mr. Tew of Eton, Mr. Stephen Weston, and Dr. Coote. Its 
 imitators also have been very numerous. The Bard was translated into Latin verse, 
 iu 1775.
 
 XXn THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 liam Forbes, says : " Of all the English poets of this age, Mr. Gray 
 is most admired, and I think with justice; yet there are compa- 
 ratively speaking, but a few who know any thing of his, but his 
 ' Church-yard Elegy,' which is by no means the best of his works.'' 
 This production Avas the occasion of the author's acquaintance 
 with Lady Cobham, who lived in the manor-house at Stoke ; 
 and the Avay in Avhich it commenced, was described by hira 
 in a poem called the ' Long Story.' The Elegy iiaving now 
 appeared in some of the periodical publications and maga- 
 zines, and having been published with great inaccuracies, Gray 
 requested AValpole to have it printed in a more respectable and 
 accurate manner, by Dodsley, but without the apparent know- 
 ledge or approbation of the author. It is to be observed, that 
 in the early editions, the Elegy is not printed in stanzas of four 
 lines, but continuously. It is also Avritten in the same manner 
 by Gray in the Pembroke and Wharton manuscripts. By this 
 connected system of metre, the harmony of the poem acquires 
 a fuller compass. Mason adopted it in his four Elegies ; and it 
 has been lately used by Mr. Roscoe in his translation of the 
 Greek poem of Musurus, which Aldus prefixed to his edition 
 ©f Plato. 
 
 His thoughts, however, Avere for a short time called off from 
 poetry, by the illness of his mother ; and he hastened from Cam- 
 bridge to attend upon her. Finding her better than he expected, 
 he employed himself, during his stay, in superintending an edition 
 of his poems, which was soon after published, with designs by
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXIU 
 
 Mr. Bentley,* the only sou of the learned Dr. Bentley, and the 
 friend of Walpole ; who seems to have been a person of various 
 and elegant acquirements, as well as of very considerable talents. 
 To him Gray addressed a Copy of Verses, highly extolling his 
 powers as a painter. The original drawings in Wal pole's pos- 
 session, Mr. Mason says, are infinitely superior to the prints : but 
 even with this allowance, the praise must be considered rather 
 friendly than just ; since their merit consists in the grotesque and 
 quaint fancy which marks the designs; in the whimsical manner in 
 which the painter has embellished the images of the poet ; and 
 which, if it were intended to correspond to the style of the ' Long 
 Story,' would not be an unsuccessful effort of the sister-art. The 
 tributes, however, which are paid by Friendship to Genius, ought 
 not to be sparing or scanty : and Gray might remember the ex- 
 ample of Dryden and of Pope, in their complimentary eulogies 
 on Kneller. 
 
 In March 1753, he lost the mother, whom he had so long and 
 so affectionately loved ; and he placed over her remains an in- 
 scription which strongly marks his piety and sorrow : 
 
 * Bentley's original drawings are in the library of Strawberry-llili. See Wal- 
 pole's Works, vol. ii. p. 447. Mr. Cumberland, in the Memoirs of his Life, vol. i. 
 p. 33, thinks that he sees " a satire in copper-plate in the etchings of Bentley ; and 
 that his uncle has completely libelled both his poet and his patron without intend- 
 ing to do so." Mr. Cumberland says, at p. 2l6 of the same volume, that Gray 
 wrote an elaborate critique on a play of Bentley's writing, called ' Plulodamu*/ 
 nliieii was acted at Covent Garden.
 
 XXIV THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 Beside her Friend and Sister, 
 
 Here sleep the Remains of 
 
 Dorothy Gray, 
 
 ^\"ido\v ; the careful tender Mother 
 
 Of many Children ; one of whom alone 
 
 Had the Misfortune to survive her. 
 
 She died Marcli xi. .mdccliii. 
 
 Aged i.xxii.* 
 
 It is usually supposed that Gray's ' Ode on the Progress of 
 Poetry' was written in 1755. From a letter to Walpole it appears 
 that it was then finished, excepting a few lines at the end. He 
 mentions his being so unfortunate as to come too late for Mr. 
 Bentley's edition, and talks of inserting it in Dodsley's Collection. 
 In 1754, it is supposed that he Avrotc the Fragment of ' An Ode 
 to Vicissitude,' as it is now called. The idea and some of the 
 lines are taken from Gresset's ' Epitre sw ma Convalescence^ 
 Another Ode was also sketched, which might be called ' The 
 Libert}' of Genius,' though some of Gray's biographers, for what 
 reasons I am ignorant, have called it ' The Connection between 
 Genius and Grandeur.' The argument of it, the only part which 
 was ever written, is as follows: " All that men of power can da 
 for men of genius is to leave them at their liberty ; compared to 
 
 * The latter part of Gray's epitaph has a strong resemblance to an inscription oa 
 a sepulchral cippus found near the Villa Pelluchi, at Rome, now (I believe) in the 
 
 British Museum. D. M. Dasumiae. Soteridi. Libertae. Optims. et. Conjugi, 
 
 Sanctissimae. bene. mcr. fee. L. Dasumius. Callistus. cum. qua. vi.xit. An xxxv, 
 sine. uUa. querella. optans. ut. ipsa, sibi potius. superstes. fuisset. quam. se. sibi. 
 superstitem. reliquisset.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXV 
 
 birds that, when confiiiecl to a cage, ilo hut regret the loss of their 
 freedom in melanclioly strains, and lose the luscious wildness and 
 happy luxuriance of their notes, which used to make the woods 
 resound." Gray, as Walpole remarked, was indeed " in flower" 
 these last three years. The 'liard' was commenced, and part of 
 it communicated to Mr. Stonchewer and Dr. Wharton, 1755. In 
 these letters he for the first time complains of listlessness and de- 
 pression of spirits, which prevented his application to poetry : 
 and from this period we may trace the course of that hereditary 
 disease in his constitution, which embittered in a considerable 
 degree the remainder of his days ; and the fatal strength of which, 
 not even the temperance and regularity of a whole life could 
 subdue In his pocket journal for this year, besides a diarj^ of 
 the weather, and a very accurate calendar of observations on 
 natural history, he kept a regular account of his health in Latin. 
 By this it appears that his constitution was much enfeebled and 
 impaired, that alarming attacks of the gout were perpetually re- 
 curring and disordering his frame. He speaks constantly of the 
 sleepless night, and the feverish morning; and seems hardly ever 
 to have been free from pain, debilit}, and disease. Expressions 
 similar to the following, are in almost every page: 'Insomnia 
 c'rebra, atque cxpergiscenti surdusquidam doloris sensus ; frequcns 
 etiam in regione sterni oppressio, et cardialgia gravis, fere sem- 
 pitcrna.' 
 
 The Bard was for some time left unfinished ; but " the accident 
 of seeing a blind harper (Mr. Parry) perform on a ^V'clch harp, 
 again (he says) put his Ode in motion, and brought it at last to a 
 
 VOL. I. d
 
 XXvi THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 conclusion."* This poem appears to have been submitted to the 
 critical opinion of his friends. He mentions a remark upon it by 
 Dr. Hurd ; and he had recourse to the judgement of Mr. Mason, 
 *' whose cavils (Wal pole says) almost induced him to destroy his 
 two beautiful and sublime Odes." 
 
 Some time previous to this, Dodsley had published his Collection 
 of Poems, in three volumes, f which Walpole sent to Gray. The 
 observations made by the latter, as they were not published in 
 Mr. Mason's Life, and as it is interesting to read the opinions 
 which he entertained of his poetical contemporaries, 1 shall extract 
 froni the letter to his friend, in as short a compass as I can. 
 
 " To begin, (he says,) with Mr. Tickell : — This is not only a 
 state poem (my ancient aversion), but a state poem on the Peace 
 of Utrecht. If Mr. Pope had wrote a panegyric on it, one could 
 hardly have read him with patience. But this is only a poor short- 
 winded imitator of Addison, who had himself not above three or 
 four notes in poetry ; sweet enough indeed, like those of a Ger- 
 man flute, but such as soon tire and satiate the ear with their fre- 
 quent return. Tickell has added to this a great poverty of sense, 
 and a string of transitions that hardly become a school-boy. 
 However, I forgive him for the sake of his Ballad, which 
 
 * See WnlpoUana, vol. i. p. 46. 
 
 t Dodsley published three volumes of this Collection, in 1732 : the fourth volume 
 was published in \ld5 ; and the fifth and sixth volumes, which completed the Col- 
 lection, in 1758.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXVll 
 
 I al\va3's tliouglit the prettiest in the world. All there is of 
 Mr. Green here, has been printed before ; (here is a profusion of 
 wit every where. Reading would have formed his judgement, 
 and harmonized his verse ; for even iiis wood-notes often break out 
 into strains of real poetry and music. The ' School-Mistress'* is 
 excellent in its kind, and masterly : and ' London' is one of those 
 few imitations that have all the ease and all the spirit of the 
 original. The same man's -t- Verses at the Opening of Garrick's 
 Theatre are far from bad. Mr. Dyer has more of poetry in his 
 imagination, than almost any of our number; but rough, and in- 
 judicious. I should range Mr. Bramston only a step or two above 
 Dr. King, who is as low in my estimation as in yours. Dr. Evans 
 is a furious madman ; and ' Pre-existence' is nonsense in all her 
 altitudes. Mr. Lyttleton is a gentle elegiac person. Mr. Nugent 
 sure did not write his own Ode. I like Mr. Whitehead's little 
 poems, (I mean The Ode on a Tent, The Verses to Garrick, and 
 particularly those to Charles Townshend,) better than any thing I 
 had ever seen before of him. I gladly pass over H. Brown and 
 the rest, to come at you. You know I was of the publishing side, 
 and thought your reasons against it — none : for though, as Mr. 
 
 * The School-Mistress is by far tlie best of Shentone's poems. His writings in 
 prose abound with sound reflection, and knowledge of human nature; and arc 
 written in a neat and unaffected manner, displaying great benevolence of mind, and 
 gentleness of disposition. Mr. Graves (the author of the Spiritual Quixote) wrote 
 a pamphlet, called * Recollections of some Particulars in the Life of William Shen- 
 stone, esii.&c' to vindicate his friend from the censure of Dr. Johnson, Gray, and 
 Mason. 
 
 t Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
 
 d 2
 
 XXVm THE LIFK OF GRAY. 
 
 Chute said extremely well, ' the still small voice' of Poetry was 
 not made to be heard in a crowd, yet Satire will be heard, for all 
 
 the audience are by nature her friends What shall I say 
 
 to Mr.Lowth, Mr. Ridley, Mr. Rolle, the Rev. Mr. Brown, Seward, 
 
 &c If I say, ' Messieurs ! this is not the thing : write prose, 
 
 write sermons, write nothing at all,' they will disdain me and ni}- 
 advice. Mr. S. Jenyns now and then can write a good line or two, 
 such as these : 
 
 ' Snatch u^i rmiii all our little sorrows here, 
 Calm every griet", and dry each childish tear.' 
 
 I like Mr. Aston Ilcrvey's Fable; and an Ode the last of all, by 
 Mr. Mason ; a new acquaintance of mine, whose MuscBtis too 
 seems to carry with it the promise at least of something good to 
 come. I was glad to see you distinguished who poor West was 
 before his charming Ode, and called it any thing rather than a 
 Pindaric. The Town is an owl, if it don't like Lady Mary ; and 
 I am surprised at it. We here are owls enough to think her 
 Eclogues very bad : but that, I did not wonder at. Our present 
 taste is Sir Thomas Fitzosborne's Letters," &c.* 
 
 In 1756 Gray left Peter-house, where he had resided above 
 twenty years, on account of some incivilities he met with, which 
 are slightly mentioned in his correspondence. He removed to 
 Pemlnoke-hall, where his most intimate friends resided ; and this 
 he describes, " as an aera in a life so barren of events as his." 
 
 * See Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 593.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. JXIX 
 
 In July 1757, he took his Odes to London, to be published. 
 " I found Gray (says H, Walpole) in Town, last week. He brought 
 his two Odes* to be printed. I snatched them out of Dodsley's 
 liands, and they are to be the first-fruits of my press." Although the 
 genius of Gray was now " in its firm and mature age," and though 
 his poetical reputation was deservedly celebrated ; it is plain tliat 
 these Odes were not favourably received. " His friends (he says) 
 write to hin), that they do not succeed," and several amusing cri- 
 ticisms on them are mentioned in the Letters. Yet there were 
 not wanting some better judges who admired them. They had 
 received the judicious and valuable approbation of iVIason and of 
 Hurd •,']■ and if Gray felt any pleasure in the poem which Gar- 
 rick wrote in their praise, he must have been yet more gratified, 
 when Warburton, while he bestowed on them his honest applause, 
 shewed his indignation at those who condemned, without being 
 able to understand them.lj: 
 
 * Of these Odes, a thousand copies were printed at Strawberry-Hill. 
 
 t It is, I believe, to Grai/ that Hurd alludes in the Essay on the Marks of Imita- 
 tion, as to the "common friend of Mason and himself," who had suggested an 
 imitation of Spenser, by Milton : see vol. iii. p. 48. 
 
 J Gray's Odes were reviewed in the Monthly Review for 175", p. 239. The\- were 
 also reviewed in the Crilial lu:viuw, vol. iv. p. 167; in which the critic mistook the 
 Ai-jXrJx fAoX*^ (the ^olian lyre), for the iEolian harp, the instrument invented by 
 Kircher about 1649; and, after being forgotten for a century, discovered by Mr. 
 Oswald. A passage in this Review suggested to Dr. Johnson an objection of which 
 he made uso, ii) liis criiici-in 011 Gray ; viz. " Is there not (says the Critical Review) 
 a trilling impropriety in this line, ' V\'eave the warp, and weave the woof;'— Is not 
 the warp laid, and the woof afterwanls woven? Suppose he had written 'Stretch 
 the warp, and weave the woof.'" Compare Johnson's Life of Gray, vol. \i. p. 377, ed^ 
 Murphy.
 
 XXX THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 About ten years before this time, the Odes of Collins* were 
 puhlishetl, and received with the most unmerited neglect. The 
 j)ublic had been so long delighted with the wit and satire of Pope, 
 had formed their taste so much on his manner of versification, and 
 had been so accustomed to dwell upon the neat and pointed style 
 of that finished writer ; that they were but ill prepared to admire 
 the beauties of the lofty and magnificent language, in which 
 Collins arrayed his sublime conceptions ; and which was tasteless 
 to those, who, but a few years before, had received the last book of 
 the Dunciad, from the dying hands of their favourite poet ; and 
 who could not pass from wit, and epigram, and satire, to the bold 
 conceptions, the animated descriptions, and the wild grandeur of 
 lyric poetry. The very works which have now raised Gray and 
 Collins to the rank of our two greatest lyric poets, were either 
 neglected, or ridiculed by their contemporaries ; while, to appre- 
 ciate the justness of their thoughts, the harmony of their numbers, 
 and the splendid creations of their genius, was left for the mature 
 and unerring decisions of time- 
 
 The neglect of the present age, undoubtedly gives no necessary 
 promise of the admiration of the succeeding; nor, on the other 
 hand, does present applause of itself afford any proof that it will 
 not be continued by the generations that follow. Those who are 
 really competent judges of the merit of poetry, in any age, are 
 necessarily but few ; the great and general mass of poetical readers 
 
 * The Odes of Collins were published in 1746.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXxi 
 
 are constantly varying among the favourites of the time ; raising 
 with their breath the bubble of that reputation to-day, which they 
 take the same pains to destroy to-morrow. But a poet who 
 receives the praise of an enlightened age, may with confidence ex- 
 pect its continuance ; if he write, not for the fluctuation of taste, 
 nor the caprice of fashion ; but on his own extended views of na- 
 ture, on his own confirmed knowledge and experience, and on the 
 solid principles of the art. He who acquires the admiration of the 
 present time, by addressing himself to their taste, by following 
 their judgment, and by soliciting their applause, may be sure that 
 his productions will be superseded by the favourite rivals of the 
 age to come. lUj civ o f^ir ifA Trui axoixnnv cum, was the sensible 
 advice of Longiaus,* to those, who " with a noble ambition aim 
 at immortality." 
 
 There is a passage in the Life of Thomson written by his 
 friend, in which he mentions the reason of the discouragement 
 shewn by some critics of that day, to the poetry of that interest- 
 ing writer ; and which applies equally in the case of Collins and 
 of Gray; as the same cause that impeded the favourable recep- 
 tion of the Seasons, still continued to exert its powerful influence. 
 " The Poem of Winter, (says Mr, Murdoch, who speaks from his 
 own observation,) was no sooner read, than universally admired ; 
 those only excepted, who had not been used to feel, or to look for 
 
 * Vide Longinum ■'tip\ 'T^cvs. Sect. XIV. iii. p. 57.
 
 xxxu THE tiri: of gray. 
 
 any thing in poetry be3'ond a point of satirical or opisramtnatic 
 Avit ; a smart antithesis richly trimmed with rhyme ; or the soft- 
 ness of an elegiac complaint. To such his manly classical spirit 
 could not readily recommend itself; till after a more attentive 
 perusal, they had got the belter of their prejudices, and either ac- 
 quired, or affected a truer taste. A few others stood aloof, merely 
 because they had long before fixed the articles of their poetical 
 creed, and resigned themselves to an absolute despair of ever 
 seeing any thing new and original." From that time, till after the 
 death of Gray, the strong and almost exclusive influence of 
 Pope's versification was felt on English poetry. Mason, speaking 
 of Gray's Hymn or Address to Ignorance, says, — " Many of the 
 lines are so strons, and the general cast of the versification so 
 musical, that I believe it will give the generahty of readers a 
 higher opinion of his poetical talents, than many of his lyrical 
 productions would have done. 1 speak of the generality ; for it 
 is a certain fact, that their taste is founded upon the ten syllable 
 couplet of Dryden and Pope, and of these only." 
 
 In this year Gibber died at an advanced age, and the Laureat- 
 ship was offered by the Duke of Devonshire, then Lord Cham- 
 berlain, to Gray ; with a remarkable and honourable privilege, to 
 hold it as a mere sinecure. This he respectfully declined ; and 
 some of his reasons for refusing it, he gives in a letter to Mr. 
 Mason : "The office itself (he says) has always humbled the pos- 
 sessor hitherto : — if he were a poor writer, by making him more 
 conspicuous ; and if he were a good one, by setting him at war
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXXlll 
 
 with the Httle fry of his own profession ; for there are poets little 
 enough, even to envy a poet-laureat.* 
 
 Upon Gray's refusal, the laurel was accepted by Mr. White- 
 head, who joined to very competent talents, what made those 
 talents respectable — modesty and worth. To Gibber, indeed, he 
 was in every respect infinitely superior : but it is no disgrace to 
 Mr. Whitehead to afHrm, that to the genius of that poet who suc- 
 ceeded him, we are indebted for the finest productions that have 
 ever ennobled an office, in itself not most friendly to the Muses. 
 Mr. Mason was not quite overlooked on this occasion. " Lord 
 John Gavendish (he says) made an apology to him, ' that being 
 in orders, he was thought less eligible than a layman.' " A little 
 tinge of satire is now visible in Mr. Mason's narrative,-}- when he 
 adds, " that he wonders the salTie privilege, of holding the office 
 as a sinecure, was not oflered to Mr. Whitehead ; as the king 
 would readily have dispensed with hearing poetry, for which he 
 had no taste, and music, for which he had no ear." 
 
 In 1758, Gray describes himself as composing, for his own 
 amusement, the little book which he calls ' A Gatalogue of the 
 Antiquities, Houses, &c., in England and Wales;' and which he 
 drew up on the bUink pages of Kitchen's English Atlas. After his 
 death it was printed and distributed by Mr. Mason to his friends^^ 
 
 • See Mason's Life of Whitehead, vol.i. p. 92. t Ibid. p. 87. 
 
 X A new edition was printed in 1787 for sale. Mr. Mason's was only intended 
 for presents. 
 
 VOL. I. e
 
 XXXIV THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 About this period, much of his time seems to have been em- 
 ployed in the study of architecture ; in which his proficiency, as 
 indeed in all other branches of learning which he pursued, was 
 accurate and deep. Some of his observations on this subject 
 afterwards appeared in Mr.Bentham's History of Ely. In the 
 Gentleman's Magazine for April 1784, a letter from Gray to Mr. 
 Bentham is published, which contains all the information afforded 
 to the latter. It was printed in consequence of the circulation of 
 a report, that the whole of the Treatise on Saxon, Norman, and 
 Gothic Architecture, published in the History of Ely, was written 
 by Gray.* On the 15th of January 1759, the British Museum 
 was opened to the public ; and Gray went to London to read and 
 transcribe the manuscripts which were collected there from the 
 Harleian and Cottonian libraries. A folio volume of his trans- 
 scripts w^as in Mr. Mason's hands : out of which, one paper alone 
 — The Speech of Sir Thomas AVyatt-j- — was published in the 
 second number of Lord Orford's Miscellaneous Antiquities. 
 
 He was, as Dr. Johnson observed, but little affected by two 
 Odes of Obsurity and Oblivion:]: written by ^Messrs. Colman and 
 Lloyd, which then appeared in ridicule of him, and Mr. Mason. 
 
 * See Benthain's preface to the History of Ely, (new edit.) p.lo; Selections from 
 the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. ii. p. '249 ; and Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. 
 p.489; and Gentleman's Magazine, vol. liii. p. 37, 138,301,375: vol. liv. p.243. 
 
 t See Chalmers's Life of Sir Thomas Wyatt in the British Poets, vol. ii. p. 363. 
 
 J The Ode to Ob^curittf was directed chiefly against Gray ; that to Oblivion 
 against Mason. Sec Lloyd's Poems, vol. i. p. 120.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXXV 
 
 The humour of these poems, in my opinion, has been much over- 
 praised. Like all other productions of a personal and satirical 
 nature, their subject ensured to them a short period of popularity. 
 We know with what avidity those works are perused, which hold 
 up to the derision of the public the peculiarities of genius and 
 learning. Almost every author of talent, at some time or other, 
 becomes the mark at which ridicule is aimed. In this particular 
 case, the most modest and retired habits, as well as the most ex- 
 alted talents, were dragged out with circumstances of laughter 
 and contempt, by men very inferior to Gray, either in the strict- 
 ness of their moral character, or in the depth and extent of their 
 literary attainments. Yet, while I think their ridicule Avas not 
 happy or successful, I do not see those marks of rancour and 
 malevolence in their design, which so often imbitter and disgrace 
 the Satires of Churchill ;* which the intemperance of youth, I am 
 afraid, can hardly excuse ; and which must raise constant disgust 
 in those, who read the works of that powerful, though unfinished 
 writer. Dr. Warton, in his notes on Pope,-)- says, "The Odes of 
 Gray were burlesqued by two men of wit and genius ; who, how- 
 ever, once owned to i/ie, that thei/ repented of the attempt." 
 
 * Churchill mentions Gray in a poem called 'The Journey,' and particularly 
 Armstrong: tlie latter, in languag<' of unbecoming and inexcusable asperity. Mrs. 
 Chapone in a Letter dated 17()4, says, — " You keep my genius down continually by 
 throwing cold water on its dying embers ; and terrifying my poor muse, as much 
 as Churchill does that of Gray." Chapone's Letters, vol. ii. p. 164. 
 
 t See Wartoa's Pope, vol.i. p.23G. 
 
 n o.
 
 XXXVl THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 During Gray's residence in London, he became slightly ac- 
 quainted with the amiable naturalist Mr. Stillingtleet, whose death 
 took place a few months after his own.* At the request of Mr. 
 Montagu, he wrote an ' Epitaph on Sir William Williams,' who 
 was killed at the siege of Belleisle. In 1762 the professorship of 
 modern history became vacant by the death of Mr. Turner. By 
 the advice of his friends, he applied to Lord Bute for the place, 
 through the medium of Sir Henry Erskine. He was refused ; and 
 the professorship was given to Mr. Brocket, the tutor of Sir James 
 Lowther. " And so (says Gray, humorousl}-^ passing over his dis- 
 appointment) I have made my fortune like Sir Francis Wrong- 
 head." 
 
 In the summer of 1765, he took a journey into Scotland, to im- 
 prove his health, which Avas becoming more weak and uncertain, 
 as well as to gratify his curiosity with the natural beauties and 
 anti(iuities of that wild and romantic country. He went through 
 Edinburgh and Perth to Glames-Castle, the residence of Lord 
 Strathmore, where he stayed some time. Thence he took a short 
 excursion into the Highlands, crossing Perthshire by Loch-Tay, 
 and pursuing the road from Dunkeld to Inverness, as far as the 
 pass of Gillikrankie. Then returning to Dunkeld, he travelled on 
 the Stirling road to Edinburgh. " His account of his journey. 
 
 * Mr.Bcnjamin Stillingfleet died December 15, 1771, aged 6y. A very pleasing 
 tribute to his memory bas lately been paid by the Rev. Mr. Coxe ; by a careful 
 selection from his unpublished Works, and a Life of him, and his literary friends, 
 in three volumes 8vo. 1811.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXXVll 
 
 (says Dr. Johnson,) so far as it extends, is curious and elegant: 
 for as his comprehension was ample, his curiosity extended to all 
 the works of art, all the appearances of nature, and all the monu- 
 ments of past events." In Scotland he formed an acquaintance 
 with Dr. Beattie ; who had been the first to welcome him on his 
 arrival in the North, with a testimony of the high admiration in 
 which he held his genius and his character ; and which was truly 
 valuable, because it was the voluntary praise of one, who himself 
 possessed the feeling, and power of a poet. 1 transcribe Dr. 
 Bcattie's Letter, from his Life, published by Sir William Forbes : — 
 
 " Marischal College of Aberdeen, 30th of August, 1765. 
 
 " If I thought it necessary to offer an apology for venturing to 
 address you in this abrupt manner, I should be very much at a 
 loss how to begin. I might plead my admiration of your genius, 
 and my attachment to your character ; but who is he that could 
 not with truth urge the same excuse for intruding upon your 
 retirement ? I might plead my earnest desire to be personally ac- 
 quainted with a man, whom I have so long and so passionately 
 admired in his writings; but thousands, of greater consequence 
 than I, are ambitious of the same honour. I, indeed, must either 
 flatter myself that no apology is necessary, or otherwise, I must 
 despair of obtaining what has long been the object of my most 
 ardent wishes. 1 must for ever forfeit all hopes of seeing you, and 
 conversing with you. 
 
 " It was yesterday I received the agreeable news of your being 
 in Scotland, and of your intending to visit some parts of it. N\ ill
 
 xxxvm THE life of gray. 
 
 you permit us to hope, that we shall have an opportunity at 
 Aberdeen, of thanking you in person, for the honour you have 
 done to Britain, and to the poetic art, by your inestimable com- 
 positions, and of offering you all that we have that deserves your 
 acceptance ; namely, hearts full of esteem, respect, and affec- 
 tion ? If you cannot come so far northward, let me at least be 
 acquainted with the place of your residence, and permitted to 
 wait on you. Forgive, sir, this request : forgive me, if I urge it 
 with earnestness, for indeed it concerns me nearly : and do me the 
 justice to believe, that I am with the most sincere attachment, 
 and most respectful esteem," &c. 
 
 Gray declined the honour which the University of Aberdeen 
 was disposed to confer on him, (of the degree of doctor of laws,) 
 lest it might appear a slight and contempt of his own University, 
 " where (he says) he passed so many easy and happy hours of his 
 life, where he had once lived from choice, and continued to do so 
 from obligation." In one of his conversations with Dr. Beattie,* 
 who expressed himself with less admiration of Dryden than Gray 
 thought his due ; he told him, " that if there was any excellence 
 in his own numbers, he had learned it wholly from that great 
 poet ; and pressed him Avith great earnestness to study him, as his 
 choice of words and versification was singularly happy and har- 
 monious." — " Remember Dryden, (he also wrote,) and be blind to 
 all his faults." t 
 
 * See Beattie's Essay on Poetry and Music, 4to., p. 360 (note). 
 
 t Mr. Mason, in liis Lite of Whitehead, p. 17, says, "that Gray, who admired
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. XXxix 
 
 Part of the summer of 1766 Gray passed in a tour in Kent, and 
 at the house of his friend Mr. Robinson, on the skirts of Barham 
 Down. In 1767 he again left Cambridge, and went to the North 
 of England, on a visit to Dr. Wharton. He had intended a second 
 tour to Scotland, but returned to London without accomplishing 
 his design. At Dr. Beattie's desire, a new edition of his Poems 
 was published b}-^ Foulis at Glasgow; and at the same time 
 Dodsley was also printing them in London. In both these edi- 
 tions, the ' Long Story' was omitted, as the plates from Bentley's 
 designs Avere worn out : and Gray said, " that its only use, which 
 was to explain the prints, Avas gone." Some pieces of Welch and 
 Norwegian Poetry, written in a bold and original manner, were 
 inserted in its place : of Avhich the ' Descent of Odin' is un- 
 doubtedly the most valuable, though in many places it is exceed- 
 ingly obscure. I have mentioned, in the notes to this poem, that 
 Gray translated only that part of it which he found in the Latin 
 
 Dryden almost beyond bounds, used to say of a very juvenile poem of his, in Ton- 
 son's Miscellany, written on tlie Death of Lord Halifax, that it gave not so much 
 as the slightest promise of his future excellency, and seemed to indicate a bad 
 natural ear for versification. I believe Derrick reprinted this poem in his edition of 
 Drydeii." There is no poem that I can discover by Dryden on the Death of Lord 
 Halifax ; but I suppose Mr. Mason meant a Poem on the Death of Lord Hastings, 
 written when Urydc-n was only eighteen, and at Westminster school, and which 
 is the first poem in Derrick's Collection ; and is also in p.ll6 of the first volume of 
 Tonson's Miscellany. These lines arc certainly most singularly inharmonious, 
 with much of the strained allusion and rough style of Donne. At the end of 
 * Halifax's Miscellanies,' there is an anonymous poem to his memory, of consider- 
 able merit; but I am not able to say by whom it is written.
 
 Xl THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 version of Bartholinus ; and to this cause much of the obscurity 
 is owing. In a letter to Walpole* he says, " As to what you say 
 to me civilly, — that I ought to write more, — I reply in your own 
 words, like the pamphleteer who is going to confute you out of 
 your own mouth: ' What has one to do, when turned of fifty, but 
 really to think of finishing?' However, I will be candid, for you 
 seem to be so with me, and avow to vou, that till fourscore and 
 upward, whenever the humour takes me, I will write ; because I 
 like it, and because I like myself better when I do so. If I do 
 not write nmch, it it because I cannot." — To his Odes, Gray now 
 found it necessary to add some notes, " Partly (he says) from jus- 
 tice, to acknowledge a debt when I had borrowed any thing: 
 partly from ill-temper, just to tell the gentle reader, that Edward 
 the First was not Oliver Cromwell, nor Queen Elizabeth the Witcli 
 of Endor." 
 
 In 1768 the professorship of modern history again became 
 vacant by the accidental death of Mr. Brocket ; and the Duke of 
 Grafton, then in power, at the request of Mr. Stonehewer, imme- 
 diately bestowed it upon Gray.-j^ In I769, on the death of the 
 Duke of Newcastle,! the Duke of Grafton was elected to the 
 chancellorship of the University. His installation took place in 
 
 * See Walpolc's Works, vol. v. p. 374, Letter viii. 
 
 •|- The professorship became vacant on Sunday, and the Duke of Grafton wrote to 
 Gray on the following Wednesday : see Walpole's Letters, vol. v. p. 137- 
 
 J The Duke of Newcastle died in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the 17th of November 
 1768, in the 77th year of his age.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xU 
 
 the summer; and Gray wrote the Ode that was set to music on 
 tlic occasion : " He thought it better that Gratitnde should sing, 
 than Expectation." He told Dr. Beattie, " that he considered 
 himself bound in gratitude to the Duke of Grafton, to write this 
 Ode ; and that he foresaw the abuse that would be thrown on 
 him for it, but did not think it worth his while to avoid it." He 
 did not appear to set much value on the poem, for he says, " it 
 cannot last above a single day, or if its existence be prolonged 
 beyond that period, it must be by means of newspaper-parodies, 
 and witless criticism." 
 
 When this ceremony was past, he went on a tour to the Lakes 
 of Cumberland and Westmoreland. His friend Dr. AVharton, who 
 was to be his companion on the journe}', was seized with the 
 return of an asthmatic attack on the first da}^ and went home. 
 To this accident we are indebted for a most elegant and lively 
 journal of his tour, intended for his friend's amusement. The style 
 in which these letters are written, is evidently the production of a 
 person thoroughly accustomed to the contemplation of his subject; 
 it is peculiarly clear, simple and elegant ; and abounds with those 
 picturesque descriptions, which, though they can never enable 
 language totally to supply, can at least make it much assist, the 
 local powers of the pencil. " He that reads his epistolary' narrative 
 (says Dr. Johnson) wishes, that to travel, and to tell his travels, 
 had been more of his employment: but it is by staying at home, 
 that we must obtain the ability of travelling with intelligence and 
 improvement." 
 
 VOL. I. f
 
 Xlii THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 In April 1770 he complains much of ii depression of spirits, 
 talks of an intended tour into Wales in the summer, and of meet- 
 ino- his friend Dr. Wharton at Mr. Mason's. In .Inly, however, he 
 was still at Cambridge, and wrote to Dr. Beattic, complaining of 
 illness and pain in his head ; and in this letter, he sent him some 
 criticisms on the first book of the Minstrel, which have since been 
 published.* His tour took place in the autumn : but not a single 
 letter is preserved in Mr. Mason's book on this journey, to any of 
 his correspondents. He wrote no journal, and travelled with 
 Mr. Nicholls,f of Blundeston, in Suftblk, a gentleman lately 
 deceased. 
 
 In May 1771 he wrote to Dr. Wharton, just sketching the out- 
 lines of his Tour in Wales and some of the adjacent Counties. 
 This is the last letter that remains in Mr. Mason's Collection. He 
 there complains of an incurable cough, of s[)irits habitually low. 
 
 * See Forbes's Life of Beattie, vol. i. p. 197, 4to. lett. xlv. 
 
 f The taste of Mr. Nicholls enabled him to adorn, in the midst of a flat and 
 an'ricultural county, and on the bleak eastern shore of England, a little valley, near 
 Lowestofl", with beauties of no ordinary kind. " La villa (says Mr. Mathias) del 
 Sig. Nicholls, detta Blundeston, alia spiaggia Orientate della contea de Suffolk, due 
 miglia lontana dal mare, disposta, ed ornata da lui con singolare fantasia, e con 
 giudizio squisito. II Sig. Gray, de' Lirici Britanni Sovrano, vide gia con ammira- 
 zione e molto ancora attendea dal genio del disegnatore." See a note in the first 
 volume of ' Aggiuntaai Coinponimenti Lirici,' &c. p. ii. and xi. But alas! instead 
 of the " i mobili cristalli d'un limpidissimo lago," are we not reminded of 
 
 " Questi valli 
 
 Circondati di stagnant! fiumi 
 Quando cade dal ciel, pivi lenta pioggia — "
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xlui 
 
 and of the uneasiness wliich the thought of the duties of his pro- 
 fessorship gave him, Avhich, after having held nearly three years, 
 Mr. Mason says he had now a determined resolution to resign. 
 He mentions also difterent plans of amusement and travel, that 
 he had projected ; but which unfortunately were not to be accom- 
 plished. Within a few days after the date of this last letter, he 
 removed to London, where his health more and more declined. 
 His physician, Dr. Gisborne, advised freer air, and he went to 
 Kensington. There he in some degree revived, and returned to 
 Cambridge, intending to go from that place to Old Park, near 
 Durham, the residence of his friend Dr. AVharton. In the spring 
 of 1769 or 1770, his friend INIr. Robinson saw Gray for the last 
 time, in his lodgings in Jcrmyn Street. He was then ill, and in 
 a state of apparent decay, and low spirits. He expressed regret 
 that he had done so little in literature ; and began to lament, that 
 at last, when lie had become easy in his circumstances, he had lost 
 his health. But in this he checked himself, feeling that it was wrong 
 to repine at the decrees of Providence. On the 24th of Jul v, 
 while at dinner in the College hall, he was seized with an attack 
 of the gout* in his stomach. The violence of the disease resisted 
 all the powers of medicine : on the 29th he was seized with con- 
 vulsions, which returned more violently on the 30th; and he ex- 
 pired in the evening of that day, in the fifty-fifth year of his age ; 
 
 • Jn a leUer from I'ari;:, August 11, 1771, 11. Walpolc says, on hoariiig the re- 
 port of Gray's death, — " He called on me, but two or three days before I came 
 hither : he complained of beine; ill, and talked of the gout in his stomach ; luii 1 
 expected his deatli no more than my own." 
 
 f2
 
 Xliv THE LIFE OF GKAY. 
 
 sensible almost to tiic last : aware of his danger, and expressing, 
 says his friend Dr. Brow n, no visible concern at the thought of his 
 approaching death. The care of his funeral devolved on one of 
 his executors Dr. Brown, the president of Pembroke-hail ; who 
 saw him buried, as he desired in his will, by the side of his mo- 
 ther, in the church-yard of Stoke. His other executor and friend 
 Mr. Mason was at that time absent in a distant part of Yorkshire, 
 and when Dr. Brown wrote to him during Gray's short illness, he 
 says, " as 1 felt strongly' at the time what Tacitus has so well ex- 
 pressed on a similar occasion, I may with propriety use his words : 
 ' Mihi, praeter acerbitatem amici erepti, auget moestitiam, quod 
 adsidere valetudini, fovere deficientem, satiari vultu, complexu 
 non contigit.'"* 
 
 Such was the life of Gray, Avho, however few his works, -f- 
 must still hold a very distinguished rank among the English poets, 
 for the excellence of his compositions, and for the splendour of 
 his genius. Though the events of his life which I have briefly 
 
 * In 1778 Mason erected a monument for Gray in Westminster Abbey, with the 
 following inscription : 
 
 " No more the Grecian muse unrivail'd reigns, 
 To Britain let the nations homage pay ; 
 She felt a Homer's fire, in Milton's strains, 
 A Pindar's rapture, in the lyre of Gray." 
 t " Gray joins to the sublimity of Milton, the elegance and harmony of Pope ; 
 and nothing is wanting, to render him, perhaps, thcjirst poet in the English language, 
 but to have written a little wore."— A. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. i. 
 p. 255.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xlv 
 
 sketched, are of common occurrence, and offer nothing in them- 
 selves to excite great interest in the reader ; yet there is surel}-^ 
 some pleasure in contemplating the progress of a virtuous and 
 enlightened mind, early withdrawn from public life to the stillness 
 of the academic cloister; and confining its pleasures and prospects 
 within the serenity of a studious retirement. Nor is it, 1 think, 
 without some feelings of admiration, that we reflect on the liistor}' 
 of a life so constantl}', and unremitting!}', devoted to the pursuit 
 of knowledge, and the general improvement of the mind, for its 
 own sake, and as a final purpose. Motives, which have no ho- 
 nourable connection with literature, are yet often instrumental in 
 increasing it. The desire of wealth, of station, or of rank in a 
 profession, is the constant and common incentive to mental ex- 
 ertion ; and is dignified, perhaps not improperly, by the name of 
 honest ambition. Even among those of a nobler nature, the desire 
 of being distinguished in their own, and after-ages, for the en- 
 dowments of their mind, and the energies of their genius, acts as a 
 perpetual spur towards the increase of their exertions. Much of 
 this feeling docs not appear to have existed in the mind of Gray. 
 To him, study seemed to bring all the reward he asl^ed, in its own 
 gratification ; and his progress in learning was constant ; even in 
 the absence of those quickening motives, which, in almost all cases, 
 are necessary to preserve men, either from Mcariness in the toil 
 of original composition, or from indolence in the acquisition, and 
 arrangement, of the materials of collected knowledge. That the 
 publications of Gray, however, were so few, is to be attributed, I 
 think, to several causes : — to the natural modesty and reservedness 
 of his disposition; to the situation of life in which he was placed,
 
 Xlvi THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 without any profession or public duty that might lead his thoughts, 
 and studies in a particular direction ; to his iiabit of submitting 
 nothing to publication, without bestowing on it that polisli and 
 correctness, which demands long and patient attention, and which 
 indeed seems incompatible with works of any magnitude or num- 
 ber: to the extent and variety of his research ; and to the great 
 temptations to read,* in a place which ati'orded a ready and 
 almost boundless supply of materials to satisfy him in any branch 
 of knowledge ; and which would constantly induce him, to make 
 fresh accessions to his information, and to open new channels of 
 inquiry. " 1 shall be happy (says Mr. Mason in a letter to Dr. 
 Beattie) to know that the remaining books ol your ' Minstrel' are 
 likewise to be published soon. The next best thing, after instruct- 
 ing the world profitabl}^ is to amuse it innocently. Enghmd has 
 lost that man (Gray) who, of all others in it, was best qualified for 
 both these purposes ; but Avho, from early chagrin and disappoint- 
 ment, had imbibed a disinclination to employ his talents beyond 
 the sphere of self-satisfaction and improvement." 
 
 Of Gray's person, his biographer has given no account : and 
 Lord Orford-j- has but just mentioned it. The earliest picture of 
 him, is that which was taken when he was fifteen years of age, by 
 Richardson. It is now in the possession of Mr. Robinson of Cam- 
 bridge, and by his permission has been engraved for this edition. 
 
 * Mr. Mason says, that Graj' often mentioned to him, that reading was much 
 more agreeable to him than writing. 
 + See Walpoliana, vol. i. p. 93-
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. xlvii 
 
 The other portrait in this volume, was painted by Eckardt, and 
 engraved in the Works of Lord Orford.* It is at Strawberry- 
 Hill, and the design was taken from the Portrait of a Musician, 
 by Vandyck, at the Duke of Grafton's. This print was intended 
 to be prefixed to Bentiey's edition of Gray's Odes, with a motto 
 from Lucan, (x. 2.96',) 
 
 " Nee licuit populis, parvum te, Nile, vidcre :"f 
 
 but Gray's extreme repugnance to the proposal, obliged his friends 
 to drop it after the engraving was commenced. The print Avhich 
 Mr. Mason placed before his edition of the Life of Gray in quarto, 
 was from a picture b}' Wilson, drawn after the death of Gray, 
 from his own and Mr. Mason's recollection ; and which is now in 
 the possession of Pembroke-College, by the bequest of Mr. Stone- 
 hewer. The engraving, however, has not j)reserved the character 
 of the countenance, and is, on the whole, an unfavourable likeness. 
 It is from this same picture, I understand, that the print prefixed 
 to Mr. Mathias's edition is taken. To the edition of the Life in 
 octavo, is prefixed a better resemblance, etched by W. Doughty, 
 from a drawing by Mr. Mason : and from this outline, two other 
 portraits have proceeded : one by a Mr. Sharpe of Cambridge ; 
 and the other, which is now extremely rare, by the late Mr. Hen- 
 
 • See Walpole's Works, vol.ii. p. 431,436; and vol. v. p. 332. 
 + Dr. Warton, in his Notes on Pope (vol. i. p. 082), remarks that Fontenelle had 
 applied the very same line to Newton : and he adds : — " A motto to Mr. Gray's 
 tew, but exquisite poems might be From Lucretius, lib. iv. ver. 181 and y07 : 
 " ' Snavidicis potin*; quam multis versibus t-dam, 
 Parvus ut est cycni melior canor " "
 
 xlviii THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 sliaw, a |iupil of Bartolozzi's.* In this latter print, a very cor- 
 rect and spirited likeness is preserved. A portrait of Gray, 
 bearino; a resemblance to Mr. Mason's etching, and probably 
 painted by him, I have seen in the library of Lord Harcourt, at 
 Nuneham. 
 
 The Political opinions of Gray, II. Walpole says he never rightly 
 understood : " sometimes he seemed inclined to the side of autho- 
 rity, and sometimes to that of the people." -f Mr. Mason has 
 mentioned nothing concerning any singularity in his sentiments 
 about Religion ; and there is, I believe, no passage in his published 
 Letters, either to support, or absolutely to oppose, the assertion 
 made on this subject in the Walpoliana.| I must confess myself 
 disinclined to believe it, in any degree, upon the authority of a 
 few Avords, apparently used in conversation, and which afterwards 
 appeared, without proof or comment, in an anonymous publica- 
 tion. The personal friends of Gray, who could have cleared up 
 this point, are, I believe all dead : but I cannot find, that, in the 
 place where he so constantly resided, or among those who have 
 enjoyed the best opportunities of hearing about his opinions, the 
 slightest suspicions existed, which could at all confirm the assertion 
 of Walpole. I shall merely mention, that in a letter to Mr. 
 
 * Dr. Turner, the Master of Pembroke-Hall, and Dean of Norwich, has two 
 profile shades of Gray, taken with an instrument for that purpose, by a Mr. Maple- 
 toft, formerly a fellow of that college, one of which conveys a strong resemblance. 
 
 t See Walpoliana, vol. i. p. 29. published by Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 X Ibid, vol.i. p. 95.
 
 THE LIFE OF CRAY. xlix 
 
 Mason,* speaking of Rousseau's ' Lettres de la Montagne/ he 
 says : " It is a weak attempt to separate miracles from the mora- 
 lity of the Gospel ; the latter he would think, he believes was sent 
 from God, and the former he very explicitly takes for an impos- 
 ture." In a letter to H. Walpole,'j- he gives an account of some 
 manuscript writings of Middleton against Waterland, on the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity ; but he expresses an approbation of no other 
 part of them than of the style. He tells Dr. Wharton, % — " Thouo-h 
 I do not approve the spirit of his (Middleton's) books ; methinks 
 'tis pity the world should lose so rare a thing as a good writer." 
 Whenever Gray writes to his friends on religious subjects, it is 
 with uncommon seriousness, warmth, and piety. Even Walpole 
 calls him " a violent enemy of atheists, such as he took Voltaire 
 and Hume to be." His sentiments on Shaftesbury and Boling- 
 broke are well known: and Mr. Mason § has very properly 
 pointed out to the attention of his readers, the scorn and con- 
 tempt with which he invariably mentions the works of those 
 writers who endeavoured to disseminate the baneful doctrines of 
 infidelity. 
 
 • — " In conversation, H. Walpole || mentions, that Gray was so 
 circumspect in his usual language, that it seemed unnatural, though 
 
 * See Mason's Memoirs, vol.iv. p. 95. 
 + See Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 391. 
 % See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ill. \>. l'24. 
 
 ^ See Mason's Memoirs, vol.iv. |). '210: ami Walpoliana, vol.i. p. 95. 
 H See Walpole's Thouglits on Comedy, p. ,132. 
 VOL. I. g
 
 1 THE LIVE OV GRAY. 
 
 it was only pure English :" — Dr. Beattie writes,* " Graj's letters 
 verv niucii resemble what his conversation was. He had none of 
 the airs of either a scholar or a poet ; and though on those and 
 all other subjects he spoke to me with the utmost freedom, and 
 without any reserve, he was, in general company, much more 
 silent than one could have wished." And in a letter to Sir Wil- 
 liam Forbes, he says, — " I am sorry you did not see Mr. Gray on 
 his return : you would have been much pleased with him. Setting 
 aside his merit as a poet, which however, in my opinion, is greater 
 than any of his contemporaries can boast, in this or any other 
 nation ; I found him possest of the most exact taste, the soundest 
 judgment, and the most extensive learning. He is happy in a sin- 
 gular facility of expression. His conversation abounds in original 
 observations, delivered with no appearance of sententious forma- 
 lity, and seeming to arise spontaneously, without study or preme- 
 ditation. I passed two very agreeable days with him at Glammis, 
 and found him as easy in his manners, and as communicative and 
 frank, as I could have wished." 
 
 To record the trifling and minute peculiarities of manners, un- 
 less they reflect considerable light upon tlio character which is de- 
 lineated, does not seem to be a necessary part of the duty of a bio- 
 grapher. The little and singular habits of behaviour which are gra- 
 dually formed in the seclusion of a studious life, are not always 
 
 * See Beattie's Letters to Sir W. Forbes, in the ' Life of Dr. Beattie,' vol. ii. 4to. 
 p. 321.
 
 THE tIFF. OF GRAY. U 
 
 viewed in a just light, and without prejudice, b}' our contemporaries; 
 and at a distance of time the}' are necessarily represented without 
 those nice, but discriminating touches that belong to them ; and are 
 stripped of that connection of circumstances, with which they can 
 alone be painted with justness and precision. Some few observa- 
 tions, however, of this nature, made by the friends of Gray, I have 
 placed in this edition,* without presuming myself to make any 
 remarks on their correctness : but I have great pleasure in adding 
 a slight sketch of his character, drawn by a contemporary poet, 
 the late translator of /Eschylus.-f- — " If there is a writer (says Mr. 
 Potter) who more than others has a claim to be exempted from his 
 [Dr. Johnson's] petulance, Mr. Gray has that claim. His own 
 polished manners restrained him from ever giving offence to any 
 good man ; his warm and cheerful benevolence endeared him to 
 all his friends ; though he lived long in a college, he lived not 
 auUenly there, but in a liberal intercourse with the wisest and most 
 virtuous men of his time. lie was perhaps the most learned man 
 of the age, but his mind never contracted the rust of pedantry. 
 He had too good an understanding to neglect that urbanity which 
 renders society pleasing: his conversation was instructing, elegant, 
 and agreeable. Superior knowledge, an exquisite taste in the 
 fmc arts, and, above all, purity of morals, and an unaffected reve- 
 
 * .Sec Appendix C. 
 
 + Sec Inquiry into some Pa.Nsn!;i's in Dr. Johnson's Lives of ilic Poets, parti- 
 cularly his Observations on Lyric Poetry, and the Odes of Gray; by R. Potter, 
 Ho. 1783. 
 
 g 2
 
 lii THE LIFK OF GRAY. 
 
 rence for religion, made this excellent person an ornament to 
 society, and an honour to human nature." 
 
 Soon after the death of Gra}^ a sketch of his character was 
 drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Temple.* This account has been 
 adopted both by Mr. Mason and Dr. Johnson : it was considered 
 by the former to be an impartial summary of his character, and it 
 seems therefore not improper to introduce it into this narrative ; 
 though I must confess that, in my own opinion, it appears to be 
 defective in several material points ; nor is it sketched in that 
 masterly and decisive manner, that leaves a fuller likeness scarcely 
 to be desired. Its prominent defect however is', that it has thrown 
 into the back-ground the peculiar and distinguishing features of 
 the mind of Gray ; — I mean his poetical invention, and his rich 
 and splendid imagination ; — while it is too exclusively confined in 
 detailing the produce of his studies, and the extent of his acquired 
 knowledge. Nor is any mention made in this portrait of his 
 mental character, of that talent of humour f which he possessed in 
 
 * William Johnson Temple, LL. B., of Trinity-Hall, Cambridge, 1766, formerly 
 rector of Mamhead, Devon, to which he was presented by the Earl of Lisburne ; 
 and exchanged it for St. Gluvias. He published an Essay on the Clergy, their 
 Studies, Recreations, Doctrines, Influence, &c., 1774, 8vo. See Annual Register, 
 179G, p. 64. He also published 'Historical and Political Memoirs,' 8vo.; and 
 ' On the Abuses of Unrestrained Power, an Historical Essay,' 1778, 8vo. He died 
 August 8, 1796. This character of Gray originally appeared in the London Maga- 
 zine for March 1772. 
 
 f See some observations on this subject in Mason's Memoirs of Gray, vol. iii- 
 p. 127.
 
 THK LIFE OF GRAY- liii 
 
 a very considerable degree; and which was displayed, both in his 
 conversation, and correspondence. Lord Orford used to assert, 
 " that Gray never wrote any thing easily, but things of humour ;" 
 and added, " that humour was his natural and original turn/' A 
 late writer (Dr. Campbell) has remarked " the transcendent ex- 
 cellence of Shakspeare in the province of humour^ as well as 
 in the pathetic :"* and I have elsewhere had occasion to ob- 
 serye, how strongly the bent of Gray's mind inclined towards this 
 latter quality of composition ; and with what distinguishing fea- 
 tures it appears in his poetry. The examples of these two emi- 
 nent writers whom I have mentioned, appear sufficiently to 
 strengthen the excellent observation made by Mr. D. Stewart, in 
 a note to his Philosophical Essays (p. 584) : " that a talent for the 
 pathetic, and a talent for humour, are generally united in the same 
 person : wit," he observes, " is more nearly allied to a taste for 
 the sublime." 
 
 To return, liowever, to the observations of Mr. Temple : — " Per- 
 haps (he writes) Mr. Gray was the most learned man in Europe : 
 he was equally acquainted with the elegant and profound parts of 
 science, and that, not superficially, but thoroughly. He knew 
 every branch of history both natural and civil ; had read all the 
 original historians of England, France, and Italy ; and was a great 
 anticpiarian. Criticism, metaphysics, morals, politics,f made a 
 
 * See ' Philosophy of Rhetoric,' vol. i. p. 37- 
 
 + How comprehensive the account is, which Mr. Temple gives of tlie studies of 
 Gray, which embraced criticism, metaphysics, morals, and politics, may be seen by
 
 Il\ THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 principal part of his study. Voyages and Travels of all sorts were 
 his favourite amusements; and he had a fine taste in painting, 
 prints, architecture, and gardening.* With such a fund of know- 
 ledge, his conversation must have been equally instructing and 
 entertaining. But he was also a good man, a man of virtue and 
 humanity. There is no character without some speck, some im- 
 perfection ; and I think the greatest defect in his, was an affecta- 
 tion in delicacyj' or rather effeminacy, and a visible fastidiousness 
 or contempt and disdain of his inferiors in science. He also had 
 
 cf)iin);iring it with the following passage of Hume, as quoted by Mr. D.Stewart in 
 his Life of Roid, p. Iviii. " In these four sciences, of logic, (which is here meant, 
 says Mr. Stewart, as that science wliich explains the principles and operations of 
 our reasoning faculty, and the nature of our ideas,) morals, criticism, and politics, 
 is comprehended almost every thing which it can any way import us to be ac- 
 quainted with ; or which can tend to the improvement or ornament of the human 
 mind." 
 
 * Mr. Mason says that Cuay disclaiiiKd any skill in gardening, and held it in 
 little estimation ; declaring himself to be only charmed with the bolder features of 
 unadorned nature. See also in Mason's English Garden, book iii.25, the speech 
 which he puts into^the mouth of Gray, as agreeable to his sentiments : 
 
 " Sovereign queen ! — 
 
 Behold, and tremble, while thou vicw'st her state 
 
 Throned on the heights of Skiddaw: call thy art 
 
 To build her such a throne; that an will feel 
 
 How vain her best pretensions ! trace her march 
 
 Amid the purple crags of Borrow-dale; 
 
 And try like those, to pile thy range of rock. 
 
 In rude tumultuous chaos !" 
 f Shenstonc, in his Essays, (p. 248,) remarks " the delicncif of Gray's manrters:" 
 and the editor of the Censura Literaria says, " I have learned from several who 
 knew him intimately, that the sensibility of Gray was even morbid ; and often very
 
 TllJi LIFE Of GRAY. Iv 
 
 in some degree that weakness which disgusted V'oltaiie so much 
 in Congreve. Though he seemed to value others chiefly accord- 
 ing to the progress they had made in knowledge, yet he could not 
 bear to be considered merely as a man of letters: and though 
 without birth, or fortune, or station, his desire was to be looked 
 upon as a private independent gentleman, who read fur his amuse- 
 ment. Perhaps it may be said. What signifies so much knowledge, 
 when it produced so little? Is it worth taking so much pains, to 
 leave no memorials but a few poems ? But let it be considered, 
 that Mr. Gray was to others at least innocently employed ; to 
 himself, certainly beneficially. His time passed agreeably ; he 
 was every day making some new accjuisition in science. His mind 
 was enlarged, his heart softened, his virtue strengthened. The 
 world and mankind were shown to him without a mask ; and he was 
 taught to consider every thing as trifling, and unworthy the atten- 
 tion of a wise man, except the pursuit of knowledge, and practice 
 of virtue, in that state, wherein God has placed us." 
 
 To this account Mr. Mason has added more particularly, from 
 the information of Mr. Tyson,* of Bene't College, that Gray's 
 skill in zoology was extremely accurate. He had not only 
 
 fastidious, and troiiblcs^ome to iiis friends, lie seemed iVequeutly overwhelmed by 
 the ordinary intercourse, and ordinary afTairs of life. Coarse manners, aiid vulgar, 
 or unrefined sentiments overset hiui." \ Dl. v. p. 406. — But Mr.Mason says, "it was 
 rather an affectation in delicacy and effeminacy, than the things themselves: ami 
 he chose to put on this appearance chiefly before persons whom he did not wish lo 
 please." See Memoirs, vol. iv. p. G.17. 
 
 * This appears by a note in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. vii.
 
 ivi THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 concentrated in his Linnaeus, all that other writers had said, but 
 had altered the style of the Swedish naturalist, to classical and 
 elegant Latin. From modern writers he had also illustrated many 
 difficult passages in the zoological treatises of Aristotle. His ac- 
 count of English Insects was more perfect than any that had then 
 appeared ; and it has lately been mentioned,* " as a circumstance 
 not generally known, that he translated the Linnaean Genera, or 
 Characters of Insects, into elegant Latin hexameters ; some speci- 
 mens of which have been preserved by his friends, though they 
 were never intended for publication." 
 
 Botany, which he studied in early life, under the direction of 
 his uncle, Mr. Antrobus, formed also the amusement and pursuit 
 of his later years. He made frequent experiments on flowers, to 
 mark the mode and progress of their vegetation. " For many of 
 the latter years of his life (says Mr. Cole), Gray dedicated his 
 hours to the study of Botany ; in which he was eminentl}' conspi- 
 cuous. He had Linnaeus's Works interleaved, always before 
 him, Avhen I have accidentally called upon him." His knowledge 
 
 * See Shaw's Zoological Lectures, vol. i. p. 3. In the library of the late Rev. 
 George Ashby, of Barrow, was a copy of Linnaeus, IGth edit. 1/66, interleaved, in 
 three vols. 4to. with MS. notes and additions by Gray: with drawings of shells, &.c. 
 Another copy of Linnaeus, in the same library, possessed a few Ornithological 
 papers in the hand-writing of Gray, which I now j-ossess ; and which I mention, 
 only because they serve as an additional proof of the accuracy and minuteness with 
 which he prosecuted that branch of his studies in natural history. — Since this note 
 was originalh' written, extracts from these works have been published in the 
 edition of Mr. Mathias. See vol. ii. 548 to 580.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. Ivii 
 
 of architecture has been mentioned before. Mr. Mason says, that 
 while Gray was abroad, he studied the Roman proportions both 
 in ancient ruins, and in the works of Palladio. In his later 
 years, he applied himself to Gothic and Saxon architecture, with 
 such industry and sagacity, that he could, at first sight, pronounce 
 on the precise time when any particular part of our cathedrals was 
 erected. For this purpose he trusted less to written accounts and 
 books, than to the internal evidence of the buildings themselves. 
 He invented also several terms of art, the better to explain his 
 meaning on this subject. Of heraldry, to which he applied as a 
 preparatory science, he was a complete master, and left behind 
 hnn many curious genealogical papers. " After what I have said 
 of Gray, (I use the words of the Rev. Mr. Cole,) in respect to the 
 beauty and elegance of his poetical compositions, it will hardly be 
 believed, that he condescended to look into the study of antiqui- 
 ties. Yet he told me that he was deeply read in Dugdale, Hearne, 
 Spelman, and others of that class; and that he took as much 
 delight in that study, as ever he did in any other. Indeed, I 
 myself saw many specimens of his industry in his collections 
 from various manuscripts in the British Museum. His collec- 
 tions related chiefly to English history little known, or falsified 
 by our historians, and some pedigrees." His taste in music was 
 excellent, and formed on the study of the great Italian masters 
 who flourished about the time of Pcrgolesi;* he himself per- 
 
 * Gray was not partial to the music of Handel : but Mr. Price (from whom 1 
 derive this information) adds, " that he used to speak with wonder of that Chorus 
 in the Oratorio of Jephtha, beginning, — 'No more to Ammon's God and King.'" — 
 See 'Essays on the Picturesque,' vol. ii. p. 191, note; ed. 1794- 
 VOL. I. h
 
 Iviii THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 formed upon the harpsichord. And it is said that he sung to 
 his own accompaniment on that instrument, with great taste, and 
 feehng. Vocal music, and that only, was what he chiefly re- 
 garded. Gray acquired also great facility and accuracy in the 
 knowledge of painting. When he was in Ital}^ he drew up a 
 paper containing several subjects proper for painting, which he had 
 never seen executed ; and affixed the names* of different masters 
 to each piece, to show which of their pencils he thought would 
 be most proper to treat it. A curious List of Painters, from the 
 Revival of the Art, to the Beginning of the last Century, was also 
 formed by him, with great accuracy and attention. It was pub- 
 lished for the first time, in Mr. Malone's edition of the AVorks of 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds ;-)• and has been lately reprinted among the 
 collected productions of Mr. Mason. In his Anecdotes of Paint- 
 ing, H. Walpole owns himself much indebted to Gra^^ for informa- 
 tion both in architecture and painting.}: " He condescended to 
 correct (he says) what he never would have condescended to 
 write :" and to him was OAving the discovery of a valuable artist 
 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, whose name was Theodore 
 Haveus, for some time employed at Caius-College,§ at Cam- 
 
 * See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 98. 
 
 t See Sir J. Reynolds's Works, vol. iii. p. 293 ; and Mr. Mason's Works, vol. iii. 
 p. 227. 
 
 :[: See Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, p. 99 and 141. 
 
 ^ " In Caius-College, is a good portrait on board of Dr. Ke3's (not in profile), 
 undoubtedly original, and dated 1563, aetatissuae 53 ; with Latin verses and mottos: 
 and in the same room hangs an old picture, (bad at first, and now almost effaced by
 
 THE LIFE OF GUAY. llX 
 
 bridge ; who Avas at once an architect, sculptor, and painter ; and 
 who possessed that diversity, as well as depth of talent in the arts, 
 which appeared in such extraordinary splendour at the revival of 
 literature, but of which, I believe, we have no instance recorded, 
 in the history of ancient times.* 
 
 To the papers of Gray, the late Mr. Pennant owned himself 
 much indebted for many corrections and observations on the anti- 
 quities of London.-j- Indeed, the variety and extreme accuracy 
 of his studies, even considering the leisure which he possessed, is 
 not a little surprising ; and though he published little or nothing, 
 his reputation for extensive learning was thoroughly established^ 
 Retinicit famam, sine experimento. " Excepting pure mathematics, 
 
 cleaning,) of a man in a slashed doublet, dark curled hair, and beard, looking like 
 a foreigner, and holding a pair of compasses, and by his side a polywlron, com- 
 posed of twelve pentagons. This is undoubtedly Theodore Havens himself, who, 
 from all these circumstances, seems to hav€ been an architect, sculptor, and painter; 
 and having worked many years for Dr. Caius and the College, in gratitude left be- 
 liind him his own picture." Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, p. 143, 4to. 
 
 * llaphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Julio Romano were architects and I believe 
 sculptors, as well as painters ; but it was reserved for the genius of Michael Angelo, 
 to add to the most profound knowledge of those arts, the mind and the expres- 
 sion of the j oet. When Dr. Warton, in his Essay on Pope (vol. i. p. 157), said 
 that he could not recollect any painters that were good poets, excejit Salvator Rosa, 
 and Charles Vermander, of Mulbrac in Flanders; he surely did not mean to except 
 the poetry of this most extraordinary man. Pliny, in his Natural History, mentions 
 lh€ nauics of some ancient aitists who were phJloiiophers : sec lib. xxxv. c. 10, 11. 
 
 i' See Pennant's ' London,' p. C2, 4to. Mr.Peimant had the use of an inter- 
 leaved copy of ' London aud its Environs,' with jiotcs by Mr. Gray, which is in 
 Lord Harcourt's possession. 
 
 h 2
 
 lie THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 (says Mr. Mason,) and the studies dependent on tliat science, 
 there was hardly any part of human learning in which he had not 
 acquired a competent skill; in most of them, a consummate 
 mastery." He followed most implicitly the rule, which he so often 
 inculcated to his friends,* that happiness consists in employment. 
 "To find one's self business (he writes) I am persuaded is the 
 great art of life. I am never so angry as when I hear my ac- 
 quaintance wishing they had been bred to some poking profes- 
 sion, or employed in some office of drudgery ; as if it were plea- 
 santer to be at the command of other people, than at one's own ; 
 and as if they could not go, unless they were wound up : yet I 
 know and feel what they mean by this complaint ; it proves that 
 some spirit, something of genius (more than common) is required 
 to teach a man how to employ himself." 
 
 With regard to Classical learning, there seems every reason to 
 suppose that he was a profound, as well as an elegant scholar. 
 He thought once, it is said, of publishing an edition of Strabo, and 
 left behind him many copious notes, and curious geographical 
 disquisitions, particularly with respect to Persia, and India. He 
 bestowed uncommon labour on the Anthologia Graeca, inserting 
 critical emendations and additional epigrams, besides a copious 
 index. On Plato (Mr. Mason says) he bestowed indefatigable 
 pains; leaving a quantity of critical and explanatory notes on al- 
 
 * See Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 398, LeU. XI. And Mason's Memoirs, vol. iv. 
 p. 17, Lett. XXV. ; and p. 53, Lett. XXXVL, to Dr. Wharton.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. Ixi 
 
 most every part of his works. These notes have now been pub- 
 lished* in the edition of Mr. Mathias, and they are fully sufficient 
 to show the respect and attention, with which he studied the 
 writings of that great philosopher. They relate chiefly' to anti- 
 quity and history ; Avhether he attended much to verbal criticism, 
 either in the Greek or Latin language, does not appear. I should 
 be inclined to think, that he read the ancient writers, not so much as 
 a critic, but with the more extended, and ampler views of the histo- 
 rian, and the philosopher: all that was in any way connected with 
 the fine arts, with the poetry, the philosophy, and the history of 
 Greece and Rome, he studied with attention ; and some of the 
 authors whom he perused, could only be relished by one, who 
 possessed an intimate, and copious knowledge, of the language in 
 which they wrote. How far Mr. Mathias may have consulted the 
 reputation of Gray, in the extracts which he has lately made from 
 
 * Some notes on the Iwv of Plato, by Thomas Gray, were published in the 
 'Mussel Oxoniensis Literarii Conspectus,' Fasc.ii. p. 39— 48; a publication which 
 was conducted by the present Bishop of St. David's, and which consists of three 
 numbers. "Grayii(says the editor) poetas celeberrimi, observationes in Platonis 
 lonem, pro liberalitate sua, mihi dcscribendas benignissime permisit poeta cele- 
 berrimus, Gulielmus Mason. Exccrpta; sunt e spisso volumine Grayii observa- 
 tionum ineditarum in univcrsa Platonis Opera, in Strabonem, ct Geographos anti- 
 ques, in vctustissimos Poetas Anglicos, in Ecclesias Cathedrales Angliie, &c. scrip- 
 tarum magna eruditione, sumnia diligcntia, raro ingenio et judicio acri, ita ut poeta 
 illc cultissinius in vatum cruditonnii nuniero, una cum Miltono, merito censcri 
 (jucat. Observationes in lonem quanquam paucae sint, doctrina? ubertateni pro- 
 dunt, et judicii acumen. Ex his, quidem nonnulise de rebus baud obscuris dictae 
 videantur; pauci taincn homines de aliqua re admoneri dedignabuntur, qnam sui 
 gratia notatu dignam putavit Grayius."
 
 Ixii THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 the manuscripts at Peml)rokc, the voice of the pubhc will in time 
 decide. In the mean while, I cannot but observe, that so far as 
 regards the observations on English metre, the remarks on Lyd- 
 gate, the excellent, and highly entertaining analysis of the Aves 
 of Aristophanes, and the English and Latin translations, there 
 surely can be but one sentiment of approbation and gratitude. I 
 confess, that if I had been placed in the situation of the editor, I 
 should have hesitated most, as to the propriety of publishing the 
 notes on Aristophanes, and the geographical disquisitions on 
 India. 
 
 It is not, I believe, generally known, that Gray assisted Ross* 
 (the editor of the Epistolaj Familiares of Cicero, with English 
 notes) in an anonymous pamphlet-f- which he published against 
 
 * See the Selections from the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. iv. p. 392. In the 
 Miscellaneous Tracts of Bowyer, 4to. are many letters of Marklanil, shewing great 
 contempt for a person, whose name is not mentioned. — This was Ro^s. See p. 573, 
 574, 576, Sic. The letters at p. 575, 518, dated June 20, 1749, and .June 14th, 1750', 
 which speak in severe terms of a book then published, relate, I believe, to Hurd's 
 Horace. 
 
 f The title of this pamphlet is, ' A Dissertation in which the Defence of P. Sylla, 
 ascribed to M.Tullius Cicero, is clearly proved to be spurious, after the Manner of 
 Mr. Markland ; with some introductory Remarks on other Writings of the Ancients, 
 never before suspected.' It is written in a sarcastic style, against Markland ; but 
 with a display of learning very inferior to that of the excellent scholar against whom 
 it was directed, and in a disposition very dissimilar to the candour and fairness 
 which accompanied the writings of Markland. In a IMS. note in the first leaf of 
 his copy of Markland, Gray writes: — "This book is answered in an ingenious way, 
 but the irony not quite transparent."
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. Ixiii 
 
 the Criticisms of Markland, on some of the Epistles, and Orations 
 of Cicero. Gray's own copy of Markland's Treatise is now before 
 me. The notes which he has written in it, dispkiy a familiar 
 knowledije of the structure of the Latin lano-uao-e, and answer 
 some of the objections of that it)genious critic ; who had not then 
 learnt the caution, in verbal criticism and conjectural emendation, 
 which he well knew how to value, when an editor of Euripides.* 
 
 In the Latin poems of Gra}',-^- some errors have been pointed 
 
 * 111 1741, Orator Tunstall (witli some assistance from Markland) published his 
 doubts of the authenticity of the letters between Cicero and Brutus, (which Mid- 
 dlcton had considered as genuine in his Life of Cicero,) in a Latin Dissertation. 
 This Middleton callid, " a frivoUnis, captious, disingenuous piece of criticism;" 
 answered it in English, and published the disputed epistles with a translation. Upon 
 this. Orator Tunstall in 1744 published his 'Observations on the Epistles, repre- 
 senting several evident marks of forgery in them, in answer to the late pretences of 
 the Rev. Dr. Conyers Middleton.' Markland, in 1745, published his arguments on 
 the same side of the question, adding a Dissertation on four Orations ascribed to 
 Cicero, viz. 1. Ad Quirites post reditum. 2. Post reditum in Senatu. 3. Pro Dome 
 sua, ad Ponlifices. 4. De Haruspicum Responsis. Tliis called forth the pamphlet 
 from Ross, I believe, in the following year, but the book lias no date. This con- 
 troversy was continued by ' A Dissertation in which the Observations of a late Pam- 
 phlet on the A\ ritings of the Ancients, after the Manner of Mr. IVLirkland, are 
 clearly answered ; those Passages in Tully corrected, on wliicli some of the Objec- 
 tions are founded ; with Amendments of a few Pieces of Criticism in Air. ^L'lrk- 
 land's Epistola Critica. London, 1746, 8vo.' Gesner published some Strictures on 
 Markland in the Comm. Acad. Reg. Giitting. t. iii. 223 — 284 : which \\'olf wonders 
 Markland did not answer; as he had bhmn his pipes louder than Tunstall. Sax ins 
 mistakes Ross's pamphlet for a serious one: and says tliat he-attacks Cicero's Ora- 
 tion pro Sulla, " ilarduinina pa?ne licentia." 
 
 i In the Gentleuum's Magazijie, 1801, vol.lxxi. p. 591, is a letter from a Mr.
 
 Ixiv THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 out in the notes. One or two of them arc evidently mistakes 
 arising from haste ; and the others do not at all derogate from the 
 reputation which he has acquired for his classical attainments, and 
 the elegance and purity of his compositions. Heinsius discovered 
 some mistakes in quantity, among the poems of Milton, when 
 they first appeared ; and Vavassor* detected many inaccuracies 
 in metre and grammar, in the poetical volume published by Beza. 
 The Latin poems of Buchanan, beautiful and classical as they are 
 in their spirit, and language, are not without defects both of gram- 
 mar, and of prosody. Indeed some faults -j- of this kind are cer- 
 
 Edmund C. Mason, Sheffield, relating an anecdote of Gray, and containing a Latin 
 poem, which he says, is the production of the poet ; and a Greek translation of it, 
 by West. This gentleman, however, has not given any account of the authenticity 
 of his manuscript. 
 
 * Vavassor was as modest a judge of his own merits, as he was a severe censor 
 of the imperfections of others. He prophesied, that while Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, 
 TibuUus, &c. were destroyed in the conflagration of the last day, his poetry should 
 survive the ruins of the universe. Thus, while the Heathen Poet was to be trans- 
 formed only into a swan; the Holy Father was to rise a phoenix. The prophecy 
 concludes in these lines : 
 
 " Sola tot ex Scriptis, leto indignante, superstes 
 
 Sternum (scio, materies sic te tua poscit, 
 
 Atque extrema sibi haec Christus miracula debet) 
 
 Musa Vavassori servabere, tempore, et igni. 
 
 Major, et ipsa tuum raox servatura poetam." 
 
 + Mr. Mason says, " A learned and ingenious person, to whom I communicated 
 the Latin poems after they were printed off, was of opinion that they contain some 
 few expressions not warranted by any good authority ; and that there are one or two 
 false quantities to be found in them. I had once an intention to cancel the pages, 
 and correct the passages objected to, according to my friend's criticisms; but, on
 
 THE LIFE OF ORAT. IxV 
 
 tainly not inexcusable, when composing in a language not our 
 own. Gray's Latin poetry, however, appears to me to be pecu- 
 liarly forcible and correct ; and formed attentively after the best 
 models — Virgil and Lucretius. Dr. Johnson, who was a good 
 judge of the purity of Latin composition (although he did not al- 
 ways himself compose with that classical exactness which may be 
 desired), allowed, " that it were reasonable to wish Gray had pro- 
 secuted his design of excelHng in Latin poetry ; for though there 
 is at present some embarrassment in his phrase, and some harsh- 
 ness in his lyric numbers, his copiousness of language is such as 
 very few possess ; and his lines, even when imperfect, discover a 
 writer whom practice would have made skilful." If Gray, how- 
 ever, should need any further defence, it must be observed, that 
 his Latin poems were never intended by him for publication, if we 
 except the two that he wrote at College ; that they were found 
 by his executors among his own papers, or those of his friends, 
 and that they did not receive his last corrections.* 
 
 I have never understood that his knowledge of modern lan- 
 guages extended beyond the French and Italian : these, however, 
 he studied when he was abroad with considerable diligence, and 
 
 second thoughts, I deemed it best to let them stand exactly as I found them in the 
 manuscripts. The accurate classical reader will perhaps be best pleased with find- 
 ing out the faulty passages himself; and his candour will easily make the proper 
 allowances for any little mistakes in verses, which, he will consider, never had the 
 nut/tor's last hand." Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 234. 
 
 • The ode written at the Grande Chartreuse perhaps ought also to be excepted. 
 VOL. I. i
 
 Ixvi THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 cultivated afterwards, in the leisure which he enjoyed at home. 
 Indeed his acquaintance with the beautiful works of the Tuscan 
 barils, has contributed in no small degree, to enrich and adorn 
 many passages of his English poetry: 
 
 " Duiii vagus, Ausonias nunc per umbras, 
 Nunc Britannica per vireta lusit." 
 
 It remains now only to speak of an intended publication in 
 English literature, which Gray mentioned in an advertisement to 
 the Imitation of the Welsh Odes, and which was an ' Plistory of 
 Eno-lish Poetry.' It appears that Warburton had communicated 
 to ISIr. i\Iason, a paper of Pope's, which contained the first sketch 
 of a plan for a work of that nature, and which was printed in the 
 Life of Poj)e by Rufl'head, and subsequently in many other works. 
 
 *' Milton (says Drydcn in the preface to his Fables) was the 
 poetical son of Spenser, and Mr. Waller of Fairfax ; for we have 
 our lineal descents and clans as well as other families." Upon 
 this principle, Pope* drew up his little catalogue of the English 
 
 * Pope observed to Speiice that " Michael Drayton was one of the imitators of 
 Spenser, and Fairfax another. Milton, iii his first pieces, is an evident follower of 
 Spenser too, in his famous Allegro and Penseroso, and some others. Carew (a bad 
 \\'aller), A\'aller himself, and Lord Lansdown, are all of one school; as Sir John 
 Sucking, Sir John Minnes and Prior, are of another. Crashaw is a coarse sort of 
 Cowlc)-; lie was a follower too of Petrarch and Marino, but most of Marino. He 
 and Cowlcv were good friends; and the latter has a good copy of verses on his 
 death. About this pitch were Stanley (the author of the Opinions of Philoso- 
 phers); Randolph, liiough rather superior; and Sylvester, though rather of a lower 
 form. Cartw right and Bishop Corbet are of this class of poets; and Ruggle, the
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 IXVll 
 
 poets ;* and Gray was so much pleased Avith the method of ar- 
 rangement which Pope had struck out, that on Mr. Mason's agree- 
 ing to assist him, he examined and considerably enlarged the plan. 
 He meant in the introduction, to ascertain the Origin of Rhyme ; 
 to give specimens of the Provenfal Scaldic, British, and Saxon 
 poetry : and when the different sources of English poetry were as- 
 certained, the history was to commence with the school of Chaucer. 
 Mr. Mason collected but few materials for this purpose ; but Gray, 
 besides writing his imitations of Norse and Welsh poetry, made 
 many curious and elaborate disquisitions into the origin of rhyme, 
 and the variety of metre to be found in the ancient poets. He 
 transcribed many passages from Lidgate, from the manuscripts 
 which he found at Cambridge, remarking the beauties and defects, 
 of this immediate scholar of Chaucer, 
 
 About this time, however, T. Warton was engaged in a work of 
 the same nature ; and Gray, fatigued with the extent of his plan, 
 
 author of the Counter-Scuffle, might be admitted among them. Herbert is lower 
 than Crashaw, Sir .John Beaumont higher, and Donne a good deal so." [Spencc's 
 Anecdotes, quoted in] Malone's Dryden, vol. iv. p. 389. 
 
 * I have placed Pope's Catalogue of the Poets in the Appendix I), (with Urav's 
 Letter on the same subject), witii some observations upon it. It is singular that 
 this sketch of Pope's should have been so often printed, without any of the editors, 
 except Mr. Malone, pointing out its mistakes and inaccuracies. It disagrees also, 
 in many points, with the account which he gave to Spence; printed in the preceding 
 note. 1 must observe, that this catalogue is printed by Mr. Mathias, in a far more 
 correct manner, than that, in whicii it usually appears. It is published by him from 
 Gray's own hand-wriimg; and many of the inaccuracies pointed out by Mr. 
 Malone, are only the blunders of printers and transcribers. 
 
 i 2
 
 Ixviii THE LIFE OF GRAY. 
 
 relinquished his undertaking, and sent a copy of liis design to 
 Warton ; of whose abilities, from his observations on Spenser, Mr. 
 Mason says, he entertained an high opinion. It is well known, 
 that Warton did not adopt this plan ; and gave his reasons for his 
 departure from it, in the preface to his history. Gray died some 
 years before Warton's publication appeared ;* but Mr. Mason 
 mentions it with praise, in a note in the fourth volume of his 
 Memoirs of Gray, where he calls it, " a work, which, as the author 
 proceeds in it through more enlightened periods, will undoubtedly 
 give the world as high an idea of his critical taste, as the present 
 specimen does of his indefatigable researches into antiquity." 
 
 In the short, and I am afraid, imperfect account which I have 
 now given of the life and character of Gray, I may be permitted, 
 before I close the narrative, to express my own sincere admiration 
 of that splendid genius, that exquisite taste, that profound and 
 extensive erudition, those numerous accomplishments, and those 
 real and unassuming merits, which will preserve for him a very 
 eminent reputation, exclusively of that, which he so justly enjoys 
 in his rank among the English poets. His life, indeed, did not 
 abound with change of incident, or variety of situation; it was 
 not blessed with the happiness of domestic endearments, nor spent 
 in the bosom of social intercourse ; but it was constantly and con- 
 tentedly employed in the improvement of the various talents with 
 which he was so highly gifted; in a sedulous cultivation both of 
 
 * Gra^- died in July 1771, and Warton's first volume appeared in 1774.
 
 THE LIFE OF GRAY. Ixix 
 
 the moral and intellectual powers ; in the study of wisdom, and in 
 the practice of virtue. 
 
 To present his poetry to the public, in a more correct, as well as 
 in a completer form, than it has yet appeared, has been the de- 
 sign of this edition. And I am willing to hope, that I have made 
 no unacceptable present to the literary Avorld, in enabling them 
 for the first time to read the genuine correspondence of Gra}', in 
 an enlarged as well as authentic form. Assuredly, to some, his 
 letters will not be less interesting than his poetry ; and they will 
 be read by all who are desirous of estimating, not only the variety 
 of his learning, and the richness and playfulness of his fancy, but 
 the excellence of his private character, the genuine goodness of his 
 heart, his sound and serious views of life, and his warm and zealous 
 affection towards his friends.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 MR. THOMAS GRAY. 
 
 Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court qfCanterburij. 
 
 In the Name of God. Amen. I Thomas Gray of Pembroke-Hall in the 
 University of Cambridge, being of sound mind and in good health of bodv, 
 yet ignorant how long these blessings may be indulged me, do make this 
 my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following. First, I do 
 desire that my body may be deposited in the vault, made by my late dear 
 mother in the churchyard of Stoke-Pogeis, near Slough in Buckingham- 
 shire, by her remains, in a coffin of seasoned oak, neither lined nor 
 covered, and (unless it be very inconvenient) I could wish that one of 
 my executors may see me laid in the grave, and distribute among such 
 honest and industrious poor persons in the said parish as he thinks fit, the 
 sum often pounds in charity. — Next, I give to George Williamson, esq. 
 my second cousin by the father's side, now of Calcutta in Bengal, the 
 sum of five hundred pounds reduced Bank annuities, now standing in my 
 name. I give to Anna Lady Goring, also my second cousin by the father's 
 side, of the county of Sussex, five hundred pounds reduced Bank annui- 
 ties, and a pair of large blue and white old Japan china jars. Item, I give 
 to Mary Antrobus of Cambridge, spinster, my second cousin by the 
 mother's side, all that my freehold estate and house in the parish of St. 
 Michael, Cornhill, London, now let at the yearly rent of sixty-rive pounds, 
 and in the occupation of Mr. Nortgeth perfumer, provided that she pay, 
 VOL. I. k
 
 Ixxiv APPENDIX A. 
 
 out of the said rent, by half-yearly payments, Mrs. Jane Olliffe, my aunt, of 
 Cambridge, widow, the sum of twenty pounds /Jer annum during her na- 
 tural life ; and after the decease of the said Jane Ollifte I give the said 
 estate to the said Mary Antrobus, to have and to hold to her heirs and 
 assigns for ever. Farther j I bequeath to the said Mary Antrobus tlie 
 sum of six hundred pounds new South-sea annuities, now standing in the 
 joint names of Jane Ollifle and Thomas Gray, but charged with the pay- 
 ment of five pounds j9er annum to Graves Stokeley of Stoke-Pogeis, in the 
 county of Bucks, which sum of six hundred pounds, after the decease of 
 the said annuitant, does (by the will of Anna Rogers my late aunt) belong 
 solely and entirely to me, together with all overplus of interest in the 
 mean-time accruing. Further, if at the time of my decease there shall be 
 any arrear of salary due to me from his Majesty's Treasury, I give all such 
 arrears to the said Mary Antrobus. Item, I give to Mrs. Dorothy Comyns 
 of Cambridge, my other second cousin by the mother's side, the sums of 
 six hundred pounds old South-sea annuities, of three hundred pounds four 
 per cent. Bank annuities consolidated, and of two hundred pounds three 
 ^rce«^. Bank annuities consolidated, all now standing in my name. I 
 give to Richard Stonehewer, esq. one of his Majesty's Commissioners of 
 Excise, the sum of five hundred pounds reduced Bank annuities, and I 
 beg his acceptance of one of my diamond rings. I give to Ur. Thomas 
 Wharton, of Old Park in tl)e Bishoprick of Durham, five hundred pounds 
 reduced Bank annuities, and desire him also to accept of one of my 
 diamond rings. I give to my servant, Stephen Hempstead, the sum of 
 fifty pounds reduced Bank annuities, and if he continues in my service to 
 the time of my death I also give him all my wearing-apparel and linen. I 
 give to my two cousins above-mentioned, Mary Antrobus and Dorothy 
 Comyns, all my plate, watches, rings, china-ware, bed-linen and table-linen, 
 and the furniture of my chambers, at Cambridge, not otherwise bequeathed, 
 to be equally and amicably shared betwen them. I give to the Reverend 
 William Mason, precentor of York, all my books, manuscripts, coins, 
 music printed or written, and papers of all kinds, to preserve or destroy 
 at his own discretion. And after my just debts and the expenses of my 
 funeral are discharged, all the residue of my personal estate, whatsoever, 
 I do hereby give and bequeath to the said Reverend William Mason, and 
 to the Reverend Mr. James Browne, President of Pembroke-Hall, Cam- 
 bridge, to be equally divided between them, desiring them to apply the
 
 APPENDIX A. 1 
 
 XXV 
 
 sum of two liundied pounds to an use of charity concerning which I have 
 already informed them. And I do liereby constitute and appoint them, 
 the said William Mason and James Browne, to be joint executors of this 
 my Last Will and Testament. And if any relation of mine, or other le- 
 gatee, shall go about to molest or commence any suit against my said 
 executors in the execution of their office, I do, as far as the law will per- 
 mit me, hereby revoke and make void all such bequests or legacies as I 
 had given to that person or persons, and give it to be divided between my 
 said executors and residuary legatees, whose integrity and kindness I have 
 so long experienced, and who can best judge of my true intention and 
 meaning. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 
 Sid day of July, 1770, Tho. Gray. 
 
 Signed, scaled, jndiUshed, and declared hy the said Thomas Gray, the testa- 
 tor, as and fur his Last JJ'ill and T'estament, in the presence of us, "who in 
 his presence and at his request, and in the presence of each other, have 
 signed our names as witnesses hereto. kichard baker. 
 
 THOMAS WILSON. 
 JOSEPH TURNER. 
 
 Proved at London the I'ith of August 1771, before the Worshipful 
 Andrew Coltre Ducarel, Doctor of Laws and Surrogate, by the oaths of 
 the Reverend William Mason, Clerk, Master of Arts, and the Reverend 
 James Browne, Clerk, Master of Arts, the executors to whom administra- 
 tion was granted, having been first sworn duly to administer. 
 
 JOHN STEVENS. 
 
 HENRY STEVENS. ^ Dcputij Registers. 
 
 GEO. GOSTLING, ^W?J. 
 
 k2
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 TuF, following curious paper I owe to the kindness of Sir Egerton 
 Brydges and his friend Mr. Haslewood. It was discovered in a volume 
 of manuscript law cases, purchased by the latter gentleman at the sale of 
 the late Isaac Reed's books. It is a case submitted by the mother of Gray 
 to the opinion of an eminent civilian in 1735; and it proves, that to the 
 great and single exertions of this admirable woman, Gray was indebted 
 for his education, and consequently for the happiness of his life. The 
 sorrow and the mournful affection with which lie dwelt on his mother's 
 memory, serves to shew the deep sense he retained of what she suffered, 
 as well as what she did for him. Those who have read the Memoirs of 
 Kirk White in Mr. Southey's Narrative, will recognise the similarity of 
 the situation in which the two poets were placed, in their entrance into 
 life ; and they will see, that if maternal love and courage had not stept in, 
 in both cases, their genius and talents would have been lost in the igno- 
 rance, or stifled by the selfishness, of those about them. 
 
 CASE. 
 
 " Philip Gray, before his marriage with his wife, (then Dorothy Antro- 
 bus, and who was then partner with her sister Mary Antrohus,) entered 
 into articles of agreement with the said Dorothy, and Mary, and their 
 brother Robert Antrobus, that the said Dorothy's stock in trade (which 
 was then 240Z.) should be employed by the said Mary in the said trade» 
 and that the same, and all profits arising thereby, should be for the sole 
 benefit of the said Dorothy, notwithstanding her intended coverture, and 
 her sole receipts alone a sufficient discharge to the said Mary and her 
 brother Robert Antrobus, who was made trustee. But in case either the 
 said Philip or Dorothy dies, then the same to be assigned to the survivor. 
 
 "That in pursuance of the said articles, the said Mary, with the assist- 
 ance of the said Dorothy her sister, hath carried on the said trade for near
 
 APPENDIX B. Ixxvii 
 
 thirty years, with tolerable success for the said Dorothy. That she hath 
 been no charge to the said Philip; and during all the said time, hath not 
 only found herself in all manner of apparel, but also for all her children, 
 to the number of twelve, and most of the furniture of his house ; and 
 paying 40/. a year for his shop, almost providing every thing for her son, 
 xvhilst at Eton school, and noxv he is at Peter-House at Cambridge. 
 
 " Notwithstanding which, almost ever since he hath been married, he 
 hath used lier in the most inhuman manner, by beating, kicking, punch- 
 ing, and with the most vile and abusive language ; that she hath been in 
 the utmost lear and danger of her life, and hath been obliged this last 
 year to quit his bed, and lie with her sister. This s/ie was resolved, if 
 possible, to bear; not to leave her shop of trade for the sake of her son, to 
 be able to assist in the maintenance of him at the University, siiice his father 
 xvon't. 
 
 " Tiicre is no cause for this usage, unless it be an unhappy jealousy of 
 all mankind in general (her own brother not excepted); but no woman 
 deserves, or hath maintained, a more virtuous character : or it is presumed 
 if he can make her sister leave oft" trade, he thinks he can then come into 
 his wife's money, but the articles are too secure for his vile purposes. 
 
 " He daily threatens he will pursue her with all the vengeance pos- 
 sible, and will ruin himself to undo her, and his only son ; in order to which 
 he hath given warning to her sister to quit his shop, where they have 
 carried on their trade so successfully, whitli will be almost their ruin : 
 but he insists she shall go at Midsummer next ; and the said Dorothy, 
 liis wife, in necessity must be forced to go along with her, to some other 
 house and shop, to be assisting to her said sister, in the said trade, iov her 
 own and son's support. 
 
 "■ But if she can be quiet, she neither expects or desires any help from 
 him : but he is really so very vile in his nature, she hath all the reason to 
 expect most troublesome usage from him that can be thought of. 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 " What lie can, or possibly may do to molest his wife in living with her 
 sister, and assisting in her trade, for the purposes in the said articles ; and 
 which will be the best way for her to conduct herself in this unhappy cir-
 
 Ixxviii APPENDIX B. 
 
 ciimstance, if lie should any ways be troublesome, or endeavour to force 
 her to live with him? And wliether the said Dorothy in the lifetime of 
 the said Philij), may not by will, or otherwise, dispose of the interest, or 
 produce, wliifh hath, or may arise, or become due for the said stock as 
 she shall think, tit, it being apprehended as part of her separate estate?" 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 " If Mrs. Gray should leave her husband's house, and go to live with 
 her sister in any other, to assist her in her trade, her husband may, and 
 probably will call her, by process in the Ecclesiastical Court, to return 
 home and cohabit with him, which the court will compel her to do, unless 
 she can shew cause to the contrary. She has no other defence in that 
 case, than to make proof, before the court, of sucli cruelties as may in- 
 duce the judge to think she cannot live in safety with her husband : then 
 the court will decree for a separation. 
 
 " This is a most unhappy case, and such a one, as I think, if possible, 
 should be referred to, and made up by some common friend ; sentences 
 of separation, by reason of cruelty only, being very rarely obtained. 
 
 " What the cruelties are which he has used towards her, and what proof 
 she is able to make of them, I am yet a stranger to. She will, as she has 
 hitherto done, bear what she reasonably can, witliout giving him any pro- 
 vocation to use her ill. If, nevertheless, he forces her out of doors, the 
 most reputable place she can be in, is with her sister. If he will proceed 
 to extremities, and go to law, she will be justified, if she stands upon her 
 defence, rather perhaps than if she was plaintiff in the cause. 
 
 " As no power of making a will is reserved to Mrs. Gray, by lier mar- 
 riage settlement, and not only the original stock, but likewise the produce 
 and interest which shall accrue, and be added to it, are settled upon the 
 husband, if he survives his wife ; it is my opinion she has no power to dis- 
 pose of it by will, or otherwise. 
 
 " JOH. AUDLEY." 
 
 *' Doctors' Commons, 
 Feb. 9th, 1735."
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Miscellaneous Extracts from the Manuscript Papers of the Rev. 
 WilHam Cole, of Milton in Cambridgeshire, relating to Gray; 
 now in the British Museum. 
 
 On Tuesday July 30th, 1771, Mr. Essex calling on me, in his way to 
 Ely, told me that Mr. Gray was thought to he dying of the gout in his 
 stomach. I had not heard before that he was ill, though he had been so 
 for many days. So I sent my servant in the evening to Pembroke-Hall, 
 to enquire after his welfare ; but he was then going off, and no message 
 could he delivered ; and he died that night. He desired to be binied 
 early in the morning at Stoke- Pogeis ;• and accordingly was put in lead, 
 and conveyed from Cambridge on Sunday morning, with a design to rest 
 at Hodtlesdon the first night, and Salt-hill on Monday night, from whence 
 he might bo very early on Tuesday morning at Stoke. He made the 
 Master of Pembroke (his particular friend) his executor; who, with his 
 niece Antrobus, Mr. Cummins a merchant of Cambridge, who had mar- 
 ried her sister, and a young gentleman of Christ's-Collcge with whom he 
 was very intimate, went in a mourning-coach after the hearse, to see him 
 put into his grave. He left all his books and MSS. to his particular friend 
 
 • Gray's tomb is at the end of tlic chancul, of Stokc-Pogcis church. At Str-awberry-Hill, 
 there is a ilrawing by Bacon of Gray's tomb, by moonlight; given to Lord Orford, by Sir 
 Kdward Wnipole. Sec Lord Orford's Works, vol.ii. p. 4'25. Not far from the churchyard is 
 the Cenotaph erected by JNIr. Pcnu to tlie memory of Gray, from a design, 1 believe, by the 
 late Mr. Wyutt.
 
 IXXX APPENDIX C. 
 
 Mr. Mason, with a desire that he would do with the latter what he thought 
 proper, ^V^len he saw all was over with him, he sent an express to his 
 friend Mr. Stonehewer, who immediately came to see him ; and as Dr. 
 Gisborne happened to be with him when the messenger came, he brought 
 him down to Cambridge with him; which was the more lucky, as Pro- 
 fessor P * had refused to get up, being sent to in the night. But it 
 
 was too late to do any good: and indeed he had all the assistance of the 
 faculty t besides at Cambridge. It is said, that he has left all his fortune 
 to his two nieces at Cambridge; and just before his death, about a month, 
 or thereabout, he had done a very generous action, for which he was much 
 commended. 
 
 His aunt Olliffe, an old gentlewoman of Norfolk, had left that county, 
 two or three years, to come and live at Cambridge ; and dying about the 
 time I speak of, left him and Mr. Cummins executors and residuary 
 legatees ; but Mr. Gray generously gave up his part to his nieces, one of 
 whom Mrs. Ollitfe had taken no notice of, and who wanted it sufficiently. 
 * * * * • I was told by Alderman Burleigh, the present mayor of Cam- 
 bridge, that Mr. Gray's father had been an Exchange-broker, but the for- 
 tune he had acquired of about 10,000/., was greatly hurt by the fire in 
 Cornhill ; so that Mr. Gray, many years ago, sunk a good part of what 
 was left and purchased an annuity, in order to have a fuller income. I 
 have often seen at his chambers, in his ink-stand, a neat pyramidal blood- 
 stone seal, with these arms at the base, viz. J a lion rampant, within a bor- 
 dure engrailed, being those of the name of Gray, and belonged, as he told 
 me, to his father. His mother was in the millinery way of business. His 
 person was small, well put together, and latterly tending to plumpness. 
 He was all his life remarkably sober and temperate. I think, I heard 
 him say he never was across a horse's back in his life. He gave me a 
 
 • Dr. P certainly refused to get up to attend Gray in his last illness; but it was to be 
 
 considered, that he was grown old, and had found it necessary to adopt this rule with all his 
 patients. Ed. 
 
 I Dr Glynn was Gray's physician at Cambridge, and likewise a very intimate friend. En. 
 
 t Sir Egerton Brydges informs me, that Gray's arms are the same as those of Lord Gray 
 of Scotland; who claimed a relationship with him, (see Mason's Memoirs, vol.iv. lett. 55.) 
 and as the present Earl Grey's.
 
 APPENDIX C. Ixxxi 
 
 small print or etching of himself by Mr. Mason, which is extremely like 
 him. 
 
 II. 
 
 I am apt to think the characters of Voiture and Mr. Gray were very 
 similar. They were both little men, very nice and exact in their persons 
 and dress, most lively and agreeable in conversation, except that Mr. 
 Gray was apt to be too satirical, and both of them full of affectation. In 
 Gil Bias, the print of Scipio in the arbour, beginning to tell his own ad- 
 ventures to Gil Bias, Antonia, and Beatrix, was so like the countenance 
 of Mr. Gray, that if he sat for it, it could not be more so. It is in a 12mo 
 edition in four volumes, printed at Amsterdam, chez Herman Vytwerf, 
 1735, in the 4th volume, p.54. — p. m. It is ten times more like him than 
 his print before Mason's Life of him, which is horrible, and makes him a 
 fury. That little one done by Mr. Mason is like him ; and placid Mr. 
 Tyson spoilt the other by altering it. 
 
 III. 
 
 It must have been about the year 1770, that Dr. Farmer and Mr. Gray 
 ever met, to be acquainted together, as about that time I met them at 
 Mr. Oldham's chambers, in Peter-House, to dinner. Before, they had 
 been shy of each other; and thougii Mr. Farmer was then esteemed one 
 of the most ingenious men in the University, yet Mr. Gray's singular nice- 
 ncss in the choice of his acquaintance made him aj)pear fastidious to a 
 great degree, to all who were not acquainted with his manner. Indeed, 
 there did not seem to be any probability of any great intimacy from the 
 style and manner of each of them. The one a cheerful, companionable, 
 hearty, open, downright man, of no great regard to dress or common 
 forms of behaviour : the other, of a most fastidious and recluse distance 
 of carriage, rather averse to sociability, but of the graver turn ; nice, and 
 elegant in his person, dress, and behaviour, even to a degree of finicalness 
 and otTeminacy. So that nothing but their extensive learning and abili- 
 ties could ever have coalesced two such different men, and both of great 
 value in their own line and walk. They were ever after great friends; 
 
 vox. I. I
 
 Ixxxii APPENDIX c. 
 
 and Dr. Farmer, and all of his acquaintance, had soon after too much 
 reason to lament his loss, and the shortness of their acquaintance. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Two Latin Epitaphs in the Church of Burnham, in Buckinghamshire, 
 supposed to be from the pen of Mr. Gray, (published from Cole's MSS. 
 in the European Magazine, July 1804.) 
 
 Huic Loco prope adsunt Cineres 
 ROBERTI ANTROBUS. 
 
 Vir fuit, si quis unquam fuit, Amicorum amans, 
 
 Et Amicis amandus. 
 
 Ita Ingenio et Doctrina valuit, 
 
 Ut suis Honori fuerit, et aliis Commodo. 
 
 Si Mores respicis, probus et humanus. 
 
 Si Animum, semper sibi constans. 
 
 Si Fortunam, plura meruit quam tulit. 
 
 In Memoriam defuncti posuit 
 
 Hoc Marmor 
 
 „ f amantissimus 7 ^ ^ . „ 
 
 Frater ^ ,. . )• J. Rogers. A. D. 1731. 
 ) moestissimus j ° 
 
 M.S. 
 
 Jonathani Rogers, 
 
 Qui Juris inter Negotia diu versatus, 
 
 Opibus modicis laudabili Industria partis, 
 
 Extremos Vitae Annos 
 
 Sibi, Amicis, Deo dicavit. 
 
 Humanitati ejus nihil Otium detraxit, 
 
 Nihil Integritati Negotia. 
 
 Quaenam bonae Spei justior Causa, 
 
 Quam perpetua Morum Innocentia, 
 
 Animus erga Deum reverenter affectus, 
 
 Erga omnes Homines benevole ?
 
 APPENDIX c. Ixxxiii 
 
 Vixit Ann. Ixv. Ob. Stoke in Com. Bucks. 
 
 A.D. MDCCXLII. Octob.xxxi. 
 
 Anna, Conjux moestissima, 
 
 per Annos xxxii. 
 NuUA unquam intercedente 
 
 Querimonia 
 
 Omnium Curarum Particeps, 
 
 Hoc Marmor 
 
 (Sub quo et suos Cineres juxta Gondi destinat) 
 
 Pietatis Officium heu! ultimum, 
 
 P.C. 
 
 V. 
 
 Froyn the hifomiation of Sir Egerton Brydges, K. J. M. P. 
 
 Among the friends of Gray, was the Rev. William Robinson, (third bro- 
 ther of Mrs. Montagu,) of Denton Court, near Canterbury, and rector of 
 Burfield, Berks. He was educated at Westminster, and at St. John's 
 College, Cambridge, where he formed a particular intimacy with Gray 
 who twice* visited him at Denton. He died Dec. 1803, aged about 
 seventy-five. Mr. Robinson was an admirable classical scholar, to whose 
 taste Gray paid great deference. He did not consider Mr. Mason as 
 equal to the task of writing Gray's Life ; and on that account when Mason 
 (from his knowledge of Mr. R.'s intimacy with Gray) communicated his 
 intention to him, Mr. Robinson declined returning him an answer, which 
 produced a coolness between them which was never afterwards made up. 
 Mr. Robinson, however, owned that Mason had executed his task better 
 than he had expected. The ' Lines on Lord Holland's House at Kingsgate,' 
 were written when on a visit to Mr. Robinson, and found in the drawer of 
 Gray^s dressing-table after he was gone. They were restored to him ; for 
 he had no other copy, and had forgotten them. What was the real ground 
 of the quarrel between Gray and Walpole when abroad, I do not know; 
 
 * See the beautiful description of Kentish accnery, written on thit tour, in Gray's Letters, 
 by Mason. 
 
 I 2
 
 Ixxxiv APPENDIX C. ' 
 
 but have reason to believe that it was of too deep a nature ever to be era- 
 dicated from Gray's bosom ; which I gather from certain expressions half 
 dropped to Mr. Robinson. Mr. R. thought Gray not only a great poet, 
 but an exemplary, amiable, and virtuous man. Gray's poem on ' Lord 
 Holland' first appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xlvii. p. 624, 
 and vol. xlviii. p. 88 ; that on ' Jemmy Twitcher,' in vol. lii. p. 39. 
 
 When he went to court to kiss the king's hand for his place, he felt a 
 mixture of shyness and pride, which he expressed to one of his intimate 
 friends in terms of strong ill-humour.
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF THE POETS, 
 FORMED BY POPE. 
 
 iERA I. 
 
 Rymer 2d part. p. 65, 66, 67, 77. Petrarch, 78. Catal. of Provencals. 
 
 [Poets.] 
 
 1 . School of C Chaucer's Visions.* Romaunt of the Rose. Pierce Plow- 
 Provence. ^ man. Tales from Boccace. Gower. 
 
 r Lydgate. 
 
 2. School of^T. Occleve. 
 Chaucer, j Walter de Mapes. 
 
 ^Skelton. 
 
 r Earl of Surrey. 
 
 3. School ofjSir Thomas Wyat. 
 Petrarch. Ysir Philip Sydney. 
 
 \JG. Gascoyne. Translator of Ariosto's Comedy. 
 
 r Mirror of Magistrates. 
 
 4. School of 1 j^^j.^, ijuckhurst's Induction. Gorboduck.— [Original of 
 ^^"t^"- i good Tragedy.— Seneca his Model.] 
 
 • Read. Chaucer's Romaunt of the Rose. Visions of Pierce Plowman. [Malone.]
 
 Ixxxvi 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 ^Era II. 
 
 Spenser. Col. Clout, from the School of Ariosto, and Petrarch, trans- 
 lated from Tasso. 
 
 5. School of 
 Spenser, and 
 from Italian 
 Sonnetts. 
 
 W. Brown's Pastorals. 
 
 Ph. Fletcher's Purple Island. Alabaster. 
 
 Piscatory Eclogues. 
 
 S. Daniel. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 Milton's Juvenilia. Heath. Habington. 
 
 Translators 
 from Italian. 
 
 / Harrington. 
 
 Golding. 
 Edw. Fairfax. 
 
 6. School of 
 Donne. 
 
 ( 
 
 Cowley. Davenant. 
 
 Michael Drayton. 
 
 Sir Thomas Overbury, 
 
 Randolph. 
 
 Sir John Davis. 
 
 Sir John Beaumont. 
 
 Cartwright. 
 
 Cleiveland. 
 
 Crashaw. 
 
 Bishop Corbet. 
 
 Lord Falkland. 
 
 
 in matter," 
 
 Carew, 
 
 T. Carey, 
 
 G. Sandys, in his") .^ ^^^^.^V Models to Waller. 
 
 Par. of Job, > .. 
 
 ' r cation. 
 Fairfax, 
 
 (Sir John Mennis,? ^^ of Hudibras. 
 
 (Tho. Baynal, ) ^
 
 APPENDIX D. IxXXVii 
 
 Here are several mistakes. The first paragraph under ^ra II. viz. 
 *' Spenser. Col. Clout, from the School of Ariosto, and Petrarch, trans- 
 lated from Tasso," is unintelligible. We have no English poem by Ala- 
 baster. Golding, I believe, translated nothing from the Italian. Sir John 
 Davies and Drayton wrote nearly as soon as Donne. Carew, and T. Carey, 
 are the same person ; and Thomas Carew, the person meant, had pub- 
 lished nothing when Waller wrote his first poem. There is no poet of the 
 name of Baynal. The person meant, I suspect, was Tho. Randal, in 
 which way the name o^ Randolph the poet was often written in the last 
 century ; and Pope might not have known that Randolph, whom he men- 
 tioned before, and Tho. Randal, were the same person. [Malone.3 
 
 To these observations by Mr. Malone, I shall add, that there does not 
 seem to be any just ground for placing Chaucer in the school of Provence. 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt says : '* As to Chaucer's langitage, I have not observed, in 
 any of his writings, a single phrase or tc'oi-d, which has the least appearance 
 of having been fetched by him from the south of the Loiie. With respect 
 to the manner and matter of his compositions, till some clear instance of 
 imitation be produced, I shall be slow to believe, that in either he ever 
 copied the poets of Provence, with whose works, I apprehend, he had very 
 little, if any, acquaintance." [Cant. Tales, pref. p. xxxv.] Even T. War- 
 ton, in his Emendations and Additions to his second volume [p. 458j, 
 says : " I have never affirmed that Chaucer imitated the Proven9al bards j 
 although it is by no means improbable that he might have known their 
 tales." Secondly, Davenant and Drayton can never be placed in the 
 scliool of Donne. Drayton should be ranked with Spenser; where indeed 
 Pope, in his conversation with Spence, placed him : and Davenant is a 
 poet who approaches nearer to Shakspeare, in the beauty of his descrip- 
 tions, the tenderness of his thoughts, the seriousness of his feeling, and 
 the wildness of his fancy. Cartwright did not imitate Donne : and Cleve- 
 land is a writer of a very peculiar style, which he formed for himself. 
 •' The obtrusiou oi' new words on his hearers (says Dryden) is what the 
 world has blamed in our satirist Cleveland. To express a thing hard, and 
 unnaturally, is his new way of elocution. There is this diHerenco between 
 his Satires and Donne's, That the one gives us deep thoughts in common 
 language, though rough cadence ; the other gives us common thoughts in 
 abstruse words." Essay on Dramatic Poesy, p. 63, 64.
 
 IxXXViii APPENDIX D. 
 
 Letter from T. Grai/, to Thomas JVarton. 
 
 Sir, 
 Our friend, Dr. Hurd, having long ago desired me, in your name, to com- 
 municate any fragments or sketches of a design, I once had, to give a 
 History of English Poetry, you may well think me rude or negligent, 
 when you see me hesitating for so many months, before I comply with 
 j'our request ; and yet, believe me, few of your friends have been better 
 pleased than I, to find this subject, (surely neither unentertaining, nor un- 
 useful,) had fallen into hands so likely to do it justice. Few have felt a 
 higher esteem for your talents, your taste, and industry. In truth, the 
 only cause of my delay, has been a sort of diffidence, that would not let 
 me send you any thing, so short, so slight, and so imperfect as the few 
 materials I had begun to collect, or the observations I had made on tliem. 
 A sketch of the division or arrangement of the subject, however, I venture 
 to transcribe ; and would wish to know, whether it corresponds in any 
 thing with your own plan, for I am told your first volume is in the press. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 On the poetry of the Galic or Celtic nations, as far back as it can be 
 traced. On that of the Goths, its introduction into these islands by the 
 Saxons and Danes, and its duration. On the origin of rhyme among the 
 Franks, the Saxons, and Provengaux. Some account of the Latin rhyming 
 poetry, from its early origin, down to the fifteenth century. 
 
 Part I. 
 On the School of Provence, which rose about the year 1 100, and was 
 soon followed by the French and Italians. Their heroic poetry, or ro- 
 mances in verse, allegories, fabliaux, syrvientes, comedies, farces, canzoni, 
 sonnetts, balades, madrigals, sestines, &c. Of their imitators, the French ;
 
 APPF.XDIX D. Ixxxix 
 
 and of the first Italian School, commonly called the Sicilian, about the 
 year 1200, brought to perfection by Dante, Petrarch, Boccace, and others. 
 State of poetry in England from the Conquest, 1066, or rather from Henry 
 the Second's time, 1154, to the reign of Edward the Third, 1327. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 On Chaucer, who first introduced the manner of the Proven9aux, im- 
 proved by the Italians, into our country. His character, and merits at 
 large. The different kinds in which he excelled. Gower, Occlevc, Lyd- 
 gatc, Hawes, Gawen Douglas, Lyndesay, Bellcnden, Dunbar, &c. 
 
 Part III. 
 
 Second Italian School, of Ariosto, Tasso, &c., an improvement on the 
 first, occasioned by the revival of letters, the end of the fifteenth century. 
 The Lyric Poetry of this and the former age, introduced from Italy by 
 Lord Surrey, Sir T. Wyat, Bryan Lord Vaulx, &c. in the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 Spenser, his character. Subject of his poem, allegoric and romantic, 
 of Proven9al invention: but his manner of tracing it borrowed from the 
 second Italian school. — Drayton, Fairfax, Phineas Fletcher, Golding, 
 Phacr, &c. This school ends in Milton. A third Italian school, full of 
 conceit, began in Queen Elizabeth's reign, continued under James, and 
 Charles the First, by Donne, Crashaw, Cleveland ; carried to its height 
 by Cowley, and ending perhaps in Sprat. 
 
 Part V. 
 
 School of France, introduced after the Restoration. — Waller, Dryden, 
 Addison, Prior, and Pope, — which has continued to our own times. 
 
 VOL. I. in
 
 XC APPENDIX D. 
 
 You will observe that my idea was in some measure taken from a 
 scribbled paper of Pope, of which I believe you have a copy. You will 
 also see, I had excluded Dramatic poetry entirely ; which if you had 
 taken in, it would at least double the bulk and labour of your book. 
 
 1 aui, sir, with great esteem. 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 Thomas Gbay. 
 
 Pembroke-Hall, 
 April 15, 1770.
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 POETRY OF GRAY 
 
 / 
 
 I. On the Manner of Composition attributed to Gray by Mason. II. On the 
 Harmony of his Verse, "with some Remarks on Vej-bal Imitatioji in Poetry. 
 III. On his Language or Poetical Diction. IV. On the Moral and 
 Pathetic Character of his Writings. V. On the prophetic Character of the 
 Bard ; and on the Constriiction of the Pindaric Ode. VI. On the Notes 
 to this Edition. VII. On the Criticisms by Dr. Johnson on the Poetry of 
 Gray. 
 
 I. To ascertain the method of composition adopted by a writer of 
 cstabhshed excellence, and to discover the principles upon which he con- 
 structed his poetry, is not only a subject of reasonable curiosity ; but may 
 prove of no small advantage in enabling us to unfold some of the causes 
 both of his beauties and defects. Mr. Mason observes,* " that Gray's 
 conceptions, as well as his manner of disposing them, were so singularly 
 exact, that he had seldom occasion to make many, except verbal emenda- 
 tions, after he had first committed his lines to paper. It was never his 
 method to sketch his general design in careless verse ; he always finished 
 
 • Sec Mason's Memoirs of Gray, vol. iii. p. 157. 
 
 m 2
 
 XCii ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 US he proceeded : this, though it made his execution slow, made his com- 
 positions more perfect." And in a note to that passage he adds : " I have 
 many of his critical letters by me on my own compositions : letters, which, 
 thou'^h they would not amuse the public in general, contain excellent 
 lessons for young poets, from one of these I extract the following ])assage, 
 which seems to explain this matter more fully : • Extreme conciseness of 
 expression, yet pure, perspicuous, and musical, is one of the grand 
 beauties of lyric poetry : this I have always aimed at, and never could at- 
 tain. The necessity of rhyming is one great obstacle to it : another, and 
 perhaps a stronger, is that way you have chosen, of casting down your 
 first thoughts carelessly and at large, and then clipping them here and 
 there at leisure. This method, after all possible pains, will leave behind 
 it a laxity, a diffuseness. The frame of a thought (otherwise well-in- 
 vented, well-turned, and well-placed) is often weakened by it. Do I talk 
 nonsense ? Or do you understand me ? I am persuaded what I say is true 
 in my head, whatever it may be in prose ; for I do not pretend to write 
 prose.'" It cannot, however, be intended, that this account should be re- 
 ceived without considerable limitations ; as there exist sufficient proofs in 
 the fragments of Gray's poetry to shew that, like other writers, when 
 warmed by his subject, he left one part of his poem unfinished, to arrest 
 tlie images that spontaneously arose for another ; and thus to j)reserve 
 the chain of associations in his mind, unbroken and unimpaired. When 
 any difficulty occurred in the conformation of one stanza, it is not pro- 
 bable that he permitted the fire of his imagination to grow cool, and the 
 strength of his conceptions to be weakened ; but passed on to that which 
 presented itself in a happier and more perfect form. How far indeed the 
 order and connexion in which our first thoughts present themselves, can 
 be restored, if once broken, and the train of ideas recovered, which has 
 been lost by minute exactness, and attention to other parts of the compo- 
 sition, is at least a questionable point ; and deserving the consideration
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. XciH 
 
 of those, who, without possessing that exactness of conception attributed 
 to Gray by his biographer, may endeavour to imitate the example of so 
 successful a writer. But perhaps this method of composition, if taken in 
 its proper sense, cannot be called the peculiar practice of the poet, but 
 rather common to all much accustomed to arrange their thoughts in writ- 
 ing, and whom use lias made skilful and exact. In such a case, the 
 thoughts and language seem to be selected by the minti by an instan- 
 taneous effort ; when, in fact, they arise according to the artificial arrange- 
 ment and combination which have been gradually formed by the mental 
 habits of the poet; and when they not seldom present themselves in that 
 finished order which no future study can improve, but which seems per- 
 fected as soon as produced. This becomes at last the natural eloquence 
 of the mind; the intimate connexion of language and thought: and ac- 
 cording as our conceptions are clear, and our thoughts select, so will the 
 words in which they are clothed, acquire a proportionable correctness. 
 
 I think, however, that this art, or power of the mind, though it is in a 
 great degree to be attributed both to the natural strength, and to the dis- 
 cipline of the poet's mind ; yet will also very much depend upon the 
 effect of the different measures, and even styles, used in the poems, in 
 proportion as they confine or give liberty to the genius of the writer. In 
 a short metre, the images and language will be presented to the mind of a 
 practised writer, by the confinement of the rhyme, and strictness of the 
 measure, condensed, and moulded nearly into their finished form ; or in 
 other words, the mind of the writer will feel by experience, that such 
 thoughts can assume a certain shape in preference to any other: and can 
 appear, with more force and beauty, than could be produced by any dif- 
 ferent arrangement. Whereas in blank verse, and other measures of 
 looser texture and greater length, the same thoughts would have room to 
 expand into various shapes; would be capable of admitting diflLMeiit al-
 
 Xc'lY r.SSAY ON THE POETJIV OF GRAY. 
 
 terations and combinations of language ; and the genius of the poet 
 might, as it were, flower oft" into something of a wild and romantic luxu- 
 riance. Blank verse, and all measures of length equal to that, must derive 
 much of their effect, from the artificial arrangement, and disposition of 
 the style ; by which words of common occurrence, and little elevated 
 abo\ e the level of prose-writing, assume, in the unexpected order in 
 which they are ranged, a new appearance, and a grace and dignity that 
 would not' otherwise belong to them. Accordingly, many parts of the 
 Paradise Lost derive their poetical effect from the disposition of the sen- 
 tences, and arrangement of the words; where the language itself is such 
 as might be used with propriety in the plainest prose. To form this in- 
 verted language, as it may be called, so as to preserve its perspicuity, while 
 it acquires force and elevation, demands the most skilful and the finest art 
 of the poet ; and, in proportion to its difficulty, it is reasonable to expect 
 that alterations, and amendments will be suggested by experience. The 
 shortness of the lyric stanza, prevents it deriving its beauties, from mzich 
 variation in the common structure of language. There is not room to 
 alter in any great degree the usual arrrangement of words, and yet to re- 
 tain that clearness of expression and transparency of thought, which is 
 always required : 
 
 ' No words transpos'd, but in such order all, 
 As wrought with care, yet seem by chance to fall.' 
 
 Its beauties accordingly are derived from other sources, which compen- 
 sate for its deficiency, in one material branch of the poetical art. Though 
 it does not receive its chief beauty from common words skilfully arranged, 
 it is adorned with expressions, selected with taste, and not lowered by 
 familiarity ; and while its structure does not admit the balanced and sus- 
 pended harmony of a long period, it is able to assume another source of 
 pleasure, from the agreeable impression of its rhymes. In this •way, I
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF CRAY. XCV 
 
 think, we may account for the successive changes, as well as improve- 
 ments, which so often take place in poems that afford a wide scope to the 
 language of the writer, and which cannot be always attributed to inex- 
 perience, or want of practice; as in the different editions of the Seasons* 
 
 • The authority of Dr.Johnsoii has given currency to an opinion, that the Seasons of 
 Thomson have not been much improved by the successive alterations of every fresh edition. 
 He says, that they lost that raciness which they at first possessed. This opinion, I may venture 
 to say, is by no means correct. They improved very mucli and very rapidly in the course of 
 the second and third edition ; so much so, that I have often been struck, in reading them in 
 the different stages of their improvement, with the uncommon change which must have taken 
 place in the taste of the author during so short a period. For this change, in some degree, I 
 can now account satisfactorily ; as I possess an interleaved copy of the Seasons (of the edition 
 1736) which belonged to Thomson, with his own alterations; and, with numerous alterations 
 and additions by Pope, in his own writing. Almost all the amendments made by Pope, were 
 adopted by Thomson in the last edition ; and many lines in the Seasons, as they now stand, 
 are Pope's own composition. The last four lines of the tale of P.ilaemon and Lavinia are 
 Pope's entirely : 
 
 " Tlie fields, the master, all, my fair, are thine! 
 If to the various blessings which thy house 
 
 on me lavish'd 
 Has shower'd upon me, thou that bliss wilt add, 
 
 dearest 
 That sweetest bliss, the power of blessing thee !" 
 
 The four lines which Thomson wrote, and which stood in the place of these, in the printed 
 edition of 1736, were : 
 
 " With harvest shining all the fields are thine ! 
 And, if my wishes may presume so far, 
 Their master too, who then indeed were blest. 
 To make the daughter of Acasto so." 
 
 In the same episode, Thomson had printed the following lines : 
 
 *' Thoughtless of beauty, she was Beauty's self, 
 Kecluse among the woods; if city-dames 
 Will deign their faith: and thus she went coinpell'd
 
 XCVl ESSAY OK TUT. POKTRY OF GRAY. 
 
 of Tliomson, the Pleasures of Imagination by Akenside, the English 
 Garden by Mason, and other poems. In these, the reader will observe, 
 that it is not always the error or omission in the subject, but the unex- 
 haustcd fancy of the poet, that leads to the alteration. It is mentioned 
 as a saying of Pope's, by the younger Richardson the painter, " that in 
 Garth's poem of The Dispensary, there was hardly an alteration, of the 
 innumerable ones through every edition, that was not for the better."* 
 
 Bj' strong Nccessitj', with as serene 
 
 Anil plcas'd a look as Patience e'er put on. 
 
 To glean Palaenion's fields." 
 
 These lines Pope erased, and wrote the following in their place, which now gtand iu the 
 subsequent editions : 
 
 " Thoughtless of beauty, she was Beauty's self. 
 Recluse among the close embowering woods, 
 deep 
 
 As in the hollow breast of Apennine, 
 Beneath the shelter of encircling hills 
 A myrtle rises, far from human eyes. 
 And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er tiic wild : 
 So flourish'd blooming, and unseen by all, 
 The sweet Lavinia; till at length, compell'd 
 By strong Necessity's supreme command. 
 With smiling Patience in her looks, she went 
 To glean Palaemon's fields." 
 
 The 239th line of this episode now stands: 
 
 " And as he view'd her ardent, o'er and o'er :" 
 
 But in the edition of 1736, it is somewhat comically expressed : 
 
 " Tlien blaz'd his smother'd flame, avow'd and bold. 
 And as he run her ardent, o'er and o'er," &c. 
 
 This however Thomson himself altered. 
 
 « See Riehardsoniana, p. 195, note. "A work" (says Richardson) " that has had a great
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. XCvil 
 
 But in the didactic poems mentioned above, their looser measures* were 
 opened at intervals to receive, not so much the corrections of the writer's 
 judgement, as the overflowings of his imagination ; and in this respect, 
 they may perliaps be compared to those structures built by Saxon or Sara- 
 cenic architects, wliich may be added to, or diminished, without destroy- 
 ing the integrity of the whole. In such poems there is so little artificial 
 confinement of the verse, that the alterations which may be introduced at 
 tlie will of the poet, are almost endless : and I think something akin to 
 this will be acknowledged by any one, who, being much accustomed to 
 the stricter habits of versification, for the first time begins to devote his 
 attention, to composition in prose. Dryden said, tliat the verse of four 
 fect,t that in which Iludibras, and the Fables of Gay, and many lyrical 
 
 vogue, and which is afterwards altered by the writer himself, is generally thought at first to be 
 altered for the worse ; as was the case with Garth's Dispensary. People had been so accus- 
 tomed to read it over and over, and even to repeat whole passages by heart, of the first edition, 
 that their ear could not bear the change, and tliey tliought it was their judgement. We now 
 see fairly, that every edition was for the better." See Pack's Miscellanies, p. 102. 
 
 • See Dryden's Prolegomena to his Essay on Dramatic Poetry, p 13, ed. Malone. "The 
 great easiness of blank verse, renders the poet too luxuriant. He is tempted to say many 
 things which might better be omitted ; or at least be shut up in fewer words. But when the 
 difficulty of artful rhyming is interposed, when the poet commonly confines his sense to his 
 couplet, and must contrive that sense in such words that the rhyme shall naturally follovr 
 them, not thoy the rhyme ; the fancy then gives leisure to the judgement to come in, which, 
 seeing so heavy a tax imposed, is ready to cut otl' all unnecessary expenses. This last consi- 
 deration has already answered an objection «liicli some have made ; that rhyme is only an 
 embroidery of sense, to make tliat which is ordinary in itself, pass for excellent with less 
 examination. But certainly that which most regulates the fancy, and gives the judgement 
 its busiest emploj'ment, is like to bring forth the richest and clearest thoughts." 
 
 t Almost all the old metrical romances or tales are wriitcn in short metre. Some, like 
 ' Kynge Home,' in verse of three feet only: a form of verse since used by Skclton. The 
 assistance which this short measure, with the fre<iuently recurring rhyme, must have given to 
 the memory, could be no slight inducement for its continuance. The quick return of the 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 XCVlll ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 compositions are written, did not give him room to turn round in. " I 
 would prefer," lie says, " the verse of ten syllables, which wc call the 
 English heroic, to that o( eight. This is truly my opinion, for this sort of 
 number is more roomy ; the thought can turn itself with greater ease in a 
 larger compass. When the rhyme comes too thick upon us, it straitens 
 the expression. We are thinking of the close, when we should be cm- 
 ployed in adorning the thought. It makes a poet giddy with turning in a 
 space too narrow for his imagination ; he loses many beauties, without 
 gaining one advantage." * Certain it is that a short measure, such as has 
 been just described, when once clothed in words, will hardly bear any 
 transposition or alteration : it must be left almost as it was created; or, 
 . if touched, must be modelled entirely anew.f Indeed the difficulty of 
 
 rhyme also supplied the necessity of inverted phrase, and ornamented language ; and was al- 
 most the only distinction, between verse and prose. When this was found tedious from the length 
 of the poems, and when variety was demanded, the stanza with the alternate rhyme (the rime 
 erUrelacee) was introduced. To this cause may be attributed the use of rhyme in the Latin 
 language, in what are called Leonine verses. When the " Bards of those degenerate days" 
 could no longer support the verse by its proper materials of ornamented diction, graceful 
 rythm, and varied caesura, they called in the assistance of rhyme ; and when rhyme was 
 once used, all attention to the other part of the versification, became absorbed, and lost in the 
 importance of the final word. 
 
 * See Dryden's Dissertation on the Origin and Progress of Satire, vol. iv. p. 20S, ed. 
 Malone. One of the most pleasing examples of the harmony and variety of cadence that can 
 be given to the verse of four feet, is " the Death of the Fawn," by Andrew Marvell. Much 
 of this arises from the pause taking place in the middle, and not at the end of the line. 
 Through the whose of this beautiful little poem, the pauses are skilfully varied, and the effect 
 produced is excellent. Milton has varied the cadence of verse in his Penseroso and Allegro 
 by other methods : his pauses almost invariably occur at the end of the line. Dyer intro- 
 duced the triplet very happily indeed into his Grongar Hill for the same purpose. 
 
 f The Italian sonnet has, I believe, been called the touchstone of genius; and it certainly 
 cannot be composed successfully by any one who lias not learned to confine his thoughts in
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. Xcix 
 
 effecting any alteration in tlie lyrical stanza, with its confinement of 
 metre and condensation of language, more especially if we also add the 
 stricter construction by strophe and antistrophe, may be proved by any 
 one who should attempt to vary the Hnes in The Bard, or other poems 
 of Gray. Passages in any part of The Seasons might be introduced with 
 facility ; but how difficult would it be to supply, with any degree of satis- 
 faction, the last stanza of the poem to Mr. Bentley; and how indifferently 
 has even the poetical taste of Mr. Mason succeeded in his supplement to 
 the Ode on Vicissitude ! 
 
 If such had been Gray's habitual mode of composition in his lyrical 
 verses, he would of course carry it to his poems of another form ; and the 
 additional difficulty wiiich it would create in them, may partly account 
 for the unfinished state, in which he left all* those poems that are written 
 
 clear and concise language. " La brevita del soneUo (says Lorenzo de Medici) non com- 
 porte, chc una sola parola sia vana." And so Boileau, in his L'Art Poetique, ii. 89: 
 
 " Sur tout de ce Poemc il bannit la license ; 
 
 Lui-niemc en mesure, le nonibrc, et la cadence: 
 Defcntlit qu'un vers foible y put jamais cntrcr, 
 Ni qu'un mot deja mis, osat s'y remontrer. 
 Du reste il I'enrichit d'une beaute supreme : 
 \jn sonnet sans dcfauts, vaut seul un long potime." 
 
 This was a favourite species of composition with our elder poets, who derived their taste 
 from Italy ; with Spenser, Drayton, Daniel, and Drummond of Hawthornden. Milton was 
 the last, I believe, of our old poets, who practised this species of composition; nor am I 
 aware, that it was revived by any one before Gray wrote his beautiful ' .Sonnet on the Death 
 of West.' It certainly had no charms for Dryden or for Pope. 
 
 * The unfinished poem on the ' Alliance of Education and Government ' Mr. Mason re- 
 marks, "opens with hvo simiks, an uncommon kind of an exordium;" but which he supposes 
 the poet intcntion.iliy chose, to intimate the analogical method he meant to pursue in his sub- 
 sequent reasonings. The younger Racine, in his Reflexions sur la Poesic, p. 79, has touched 
 
 n 2
 
 C ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF CRAY. 
 
 in a lonser and looser measure. Accustomed to the confinement of short 
 metre, he would fluctuate in the choice of his words and expressions, when 
 there appeared no superior reason at once to fix and enforce his decision ; 
 and the preference of language was not swayed by the measure of the 
 poem. One may surely trace in the unusually compact style of his longer 
 verses, that finished, close, and selected manner of composition, which 
 belonged to another species of versification, and was brought from it. 
 Since the first edition of this work was published, the editor has had the 
 satisfaction of finding his opinion on this point corroborated by the autho- 
 rity of Mr. Gray himself When Mr. NichoUs (says Mr. Mathias in his 
 Observations on Mr. Gray's Writings, p. 52) once asked Mr. Gray why 
 he never finished that incomparable fragment on ' The Alliance between 
 good Government and good Education in order to produce the Happiness 
 of Mankind,' he said he could not, and then explained himself in words of 
 this kind, or to this effect : " I have been used to write chiefly lyric poetry, 
 in which the poems being short, I have accustomed myself to polish every 
 part of them with care; and as this has become an habit, I can scarcely 
 write in any other manner. The labour of this, in a long poem, would 
 hardly be tolerable ; and if accomplished, it might possibly be deficient in 
 effect, by wanting the chiaro-oscuro." 
 
 II. Among the distinguishing excellencies of the poetry of Gray, must 
 of course be mentioned the peculiar harmony and variety of his versifica- 
 
 upon this point : " Une ode peut comniencer heureusement par une douhle comparaison, comnie 
 celle d'Horacc: * Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem.' Boileau comniencu une chant dc L'Art 
 Poetique par une comparaison, ' Telle qu'un bergere aux plus beaux jours de fete:' et j'ai 
 vu plusicurs personnes ne pas desapprouver a debut d'un chant d'un autre pocme : 
 
 • Tel, que brille I'eclair, qui touche au meme instant 
 Des portes de I'aurore aux bornes du couchant.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CI 
 
 tion. This forms one of the principal sources of pleasure that we derive 
 from poetry ; in this every ear delights in proportion to the degree of its 
 refinement, and a cultivated taste receives an exquisite gratification. It 
 is impossible, indeed, not to observe the greatest skill in the harmony of 
 his verse, and the adaptation of the measures to the subject ; in the beauty 
 of the metrical transitions, and in the effect which the numbers of one line, 
 or stanza, are made to contribute to the other. The attention of Gray, it 
 must be observed, was not paid to that inferior part of the art of imitation 
 in verse, the resemblance of sounds and motions, or those properties of 
 things which can be imitated by words ; but to that more extended imita- 
 tion produced by the interchange and position of different measures in his 
 poetry ; by the harmony and correspondence of the different parts ; by 
 the variety of melody in arrangement and succession ; and by the move- 
 ment of the metre, rather than the sound of the words. This is peculiarly 
 the province of lyrical poetry ; and by this art, skilfully and properly ap- 
 l)lied, it is able to produce, perhaps, greater effects with language in a 
 shorter compass, than any other species of poetry can do. Milton paid 
 due attention to this point in his Lycidas. Some of the changes in the 
 versification of that poem are admirably suited to the tenderness, and 
 plaintive affection of the language : nor has he shewn less skill, and taste 
 in some of the lyrical parts of the Samson Agonistes. But, generally 
 speaking, this beauty had not received much successful attention from 
 the lyrical poets, before the time of Gray. 
 
 Te), que le trait fend I'air sans y marquer sa trace, 
 Tel, et plus prompt encore parte le coup de la grace.' 
 
 J'en n'ai rapporte cet exempic, que parccque jc ii'en connois point (Tautre d'ltn chant didac^ 
 tique commen^ant par wie double comparaison." lie alludes to his own poem.
 
 Cll ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 It has been observed by an acute critic,* " That, in general, the great 
 defect of Milton's versification, in other respects admirable, is the want of 
 coincidences, between the pauses of the sense and sound." If this ob- 
 servation t be deemed well founded, it may be partly accounted for, by 
 considering the extreme attention paid by that learned poet to the com- 
 position of the ancient writers ; and his endeavour to introduce much of 
 the structure and genius of their languages into his own. In Greek and 
 Latin versification, the singularity pointed out by the critic is very ob- 
 servable ; not only in the hexameter, but in many of the different measures 
 in which the lyrical poems and odes were composed, where tiie dissonance 
 between the subject and melody is very sensibly felt : for as the ode, like 
 all other poems, was originally intended to be sung or chanted, the me- 
 trical pause was of more consequence than the pause of the sense, and 
 was therefore more particularly distinguished in the musical recitation. 
 In the two odes to Saint Cecilia, by Dryden, and Pope ; however superior 
 the former may be in the style and spirit of the composition, yet they both 
 display the utmost attention in the poets, to make the sense correspond to 
 the sound ; to which they were in some degree led, by the poetry being 
 designed to be set to music. In the Ode to the Passions by Collins, I have 
 always thought that a difficulty attended his execution of that subject ; 
 
 * See Lord Karnes's Elements of Criticism, vol. ii. p. 167. Dr. Priestley, in his Lectures 
 on Oratory and Criticism, has made the same remark, and quotes the following lines from 
 Par. Lost, ix. H : 
 
 " Unless an age too late, or cold 
 
 Climate, or years, damp my intended wing." 
 
 t In the preface by Atterbury, to the poems of Waller, (second part, 1690,) he says-. 
 " Mr. Waller bound up his thoughts better, and in a cadence more agreeable to the 
 nature of the verse he wrote in ; so that wherever the natural stops of that were, he contrived 
 the little breakings of his sense, so as to fall in with them."
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CUi 
 
 which was to prevent himself from falling into such an excess on this 
 point, as would destroy, or at least impair very much, the other qualities 
 of the poem, which are essential to the production of pleasure. His taste 
 and judgement, however, have displayed themselves remarkably in this 
 poem ; nor do I think, that there are any passages which the nicest judge 
 could call defective on the account to which I have alluded. He is de- 
 serving the more praise, as his ode was designed for music,* and as the 
 excess to which some writers had pushed this partial beauty, had not been 
 sufficiently censured. How admirably the taste of Gray is shewn, in ad- 
 justing the harmony of his verse, to the subject which he describes, I may 
 be permitted briefly to point out to the observation of his readers. The 
 third stanza in the ' Progress of Poetry,' descriptive of quick and joyous, 
 and then slow and dignified motion, and the change of numbers and of 
 sentiment in the last stanza, may be mentioned as fit instances to corro- 
 
 • It is not unentertaining to compare the description of the imitative powers of the different 
 musical instruments, in the poems of Collins and Pope, as well as the numbers corrcspondinff 
 to the diiferent passions of the mind. There is great beauty, I think, in the former poet's 
 giving the same instrument, " the horn," to the opposite passions of Melancholy and Cheer- 
 fulness, and describing the different tones which each could draw out of it, expressive of her 
 feelings : 
 
 « With eyes uprais'd, as one inspir'd. 
 Pale Melancholy sate retir'd, 
 And from her wild, sequester'd seat, 
 In notes by distance made more sweet, 
 Pour'd through the mellow horn., her pensive soul! 
 
 But, O ! how altcr'd was its sprightlier tone ! 
 When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue. 
 
 Her bow across her shoulders flung, 
 
 Her buskins geram'd with morning dew, 
 Blew an inspiring air, that dale and thicket rung," &c.
 
 CIV ESSAY ON TIIK POETKY OF GKAY. 
 
 borate this assertion : iiulced, I think, with respect to the exquisite har- 
 mony of its movements, this poem is formed upon more dehcate princi- 
 ples, and with more curious attention, than ' The Bard.' 
 
 The verse which is used in all English poetry, is formed either of what 
 is called eve?i cadence,* that is, when the acute accent falls regularly on 
 the second syllable of the foot, as in the common heroic line, 
 
 " As sickly plants betray a niggard earth :" 
 
 or when for the sake of variety and emphasis it is transferred to the first 
 syllable of the foot, as 
 
 " Spread the young thought, and warm the opening heart." 
 
 Or verse may be formed in triple cadence,\ when the acute accent is placed 
 on the third syllable instead of the second, as 
 
 " At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still.'' 
 
 In this verse the accent cannot be varied or transposed, as in verses of 
 even cadence, though the first syllable of the first foot may be omitted, as 
 
 " And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove." 
 
 The march or movement of these two measures is so extremely dissimilar, 
 that they cannot, except in a ^qw cases, with any grace, or beauty, be 
 
 * See some excellent observations on this subject, in the • Harmony of Languages,' by 
 Wm. Mitford, esq. 2d edit. Svo. p. 11. 119. 
 
 f There is a triple cadence exactly opposite to this, when tlie acute accent falls on the first 
 syllable, as in 
 
 " Merrily, merrily shall we live, now 
 Under the blossom that hangs on the bough."
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CV 
 
 joined together. Notwithstanding this, the great variety afforded by the 
 mixture of them in the same poem, has been a strong inducement to some 
 ])()cts to use tiiem ; who wanted more forcibly to express the imitation of 
 sounds ; and who could not resist so tempting a mode of effecting their 
 purpose. By these means they expected to have the command of all 
 movements, slow and solemn, or quick and hurrying, more completely 
 than they could, by confining themselves to verses of one and the same 
 cadence. In none of the lyrical poetry of Gray is this ti'iple cadence usedi 
 at all ; nor has he wished to push the imitative harmony of his numbers 
 further, than the regular even cadence^ with its proper variation, would 
 allow. In the third stanza of the ' Progress of Poetry," where the change 
 is made from quick to slow measure ; it is effected by a change of accent, 
 (throwing the acute accent on the first syllable,) but never by a change of 
 cadence : 
 
 " Thee | the v6ice | the dance | obey, 
 Tem|per'd to | thy warb|led lay, 
 O'er I Ida,lia's v61|vet green." 
 
 These three lines belong to the four-footed verse, with the omission of 
 the first syllable of the first foot; and are the same as the first line in 
 The Bard : 
 
 " Rulin seize | thee ruthjlesa king. | " 
 
 The next verse in the stanza is the entire four-footed, and the verse fol- 
 lowing that, the three-footed : 
 
 " The rolsy crowjned L6ve8 | are seen | 
 On Cyither6,a'8 ddy. | " 
 
 The more equal movement of these two latter lines, forms a strong con- 
 trast with another change of measure, now going to take place, more brisk 
 than the first three lines, in which the supernumerary, or hypercatalcctic 
 VOL. I. o
 
 Cvi ESSAY OS THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 syllable, is found ; and in which six lines there are tliree varieties of 
 measure, the truncated five-footed verse, the truncated four-footed verse, 
 and the four-footed verse complete : 
 
 " With anjtic Sport | and bluc-|eyed Pleajsures, 
 Frisking | light in | frolic | measures ; 
 Now pur]suing, | now re|treating, | 
 
 Now I in circjling troops [ they meet. | 
 To brisk | notes in j cadence 1 beating, | 
 
 Glance [ their malny twinjkling feet. | " 
 
 This quick and hurrying movement is now suddenly clianged to a slow 
 and dignified motion ; the verse is the five-footed, or heroic, with alter- 
 nate rhyme, like the Elegy in a Country Church-yard ; and the syllables 
 abounding with long quantities. 
 
 " Slow melting strains their queen's approach declare : 
 ^Vheree'er she turns, the Graces homage pay ; 
 With arms sublime that float upon the air, 
 in gliding state she wins Iut easy way." 
 
 And the whole stanza is concluded with the full and stately march of the 
 Alexandrine line : 
 
 *' O'er her warm cheek, and rising bosom, move 
 
 The bloom of young desire, and purple light of love." 
 
 How exquisitely beautiful the harmony of this stanza is ; and how finely 
 it has succeeded in its imitative powers, will be felt by all. If we now 
 turn to the Ode to St. Cecilia by Pope, we shall find that his peculiar and 
 express purpose was, to shevv how well he could display the imitative pow ers 
 of his language. To effect this, he has changed the cadence of his verse 
 backwards and forwards, as best suited his design. One cannot but ac- 
 knowledge the disagreeable effect of this change, and indeed, the total 
 failure of the imitation.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CVll 
 
 " In a sadly pleasing strain, 
 
 Let tlic warbling lute complain. 
 
 Let the loud | trumpet sound, | 
 
 Till the roofs | all around | 
 
 The shrill 6c|hos rebound, | 
 While in more lengthen'd notes, and slow. 
 The deep, majestic, solemn organs blow. 
 
 Hark, the numbers soft and clear. 
 
 Gently steal upon the ear, 
 
 Now louder, and now louder rise, 
 
 And fill with spreading sounds the skies ; 
 Exul;ting in triumph now swell i the bold notes, ( 
 In brojken air trem bling the wild | music fl6ats [." 
 
 I have chosen this stanza in preference to others, because the poetical 
 language of it is unexceptionable, and the disagreeable effect can only be 
 attributed to the numbers. In the whole stanza, " He sang, and hell 
 consented," it is difficult to say whether the flow of the numbers, or the 
 choice of the expression, is the most injudicious. Drydcn, though not in 
 so great a degree, has fallen into the same error, in his ode on the same 
 subject. That which led both poets to make use of this unpleasant mix- 
 ture of cadences, was the desire of imitating forcibly the expression of 
 sounds and motions ; on which subject I shall take the liberty of offering 
 a few remarks. The radical error in the design, has produced the failure 
 iu the execution ; the order and arrangement of harmony is lost, and tlie 
 symmetry and proportion of the poem is disfigured. Collins, like Gray, 
 has preserved himself entirely free from this faulty versification. 
 
 The lyrical poems of Gray consist in general of the mixture of the 
 heroic, or five-footed verse, with that of four feet ; and this latter is 
 cither perfect, or else variety is produced by droj)ping the first syllable of 
 the first foot. If we add to them the six-footed, or Alexandrine line, at 
 the end of the stanza, we shall possess all the variety of measure of which 
 
 o 2
 
 CVlil ESSAY ON TUB POETRY OF UKAV. 
 
 ' The Progress of Poetry' is composed. Its metrical beauty it owes to 
 those measures, with a distribution of the acute accent, according to cir- 
 cumstances, and an attentive change of the quantity of the syllables. 
 Another measure, and rather a singidar one, is found in the epodes of 
 The Bard : 
 
 " No more I weep, 
 They do not sleep, 
 
 I see ihem sit, 
 They linger yet." 
 
 This is a very unusual metre in odes of a serious kind ; and would look 
 more strange if the lines were printed as I have now placed them ; and as 
 they are perfect and entire lines, each of two feet, they ought properly to 
 be so arranged. Except in this one variation, the verse of The Bard is of 
 the same kind as that of The Progress of Poetry and The Installation Ode ; 
 the latter of which is the only irregular ode ever written by Gray.* 
 
 The same critic whom I lately had occasion to mention, says, " that in 
 reviewing the examples he had given, it appeared, contrary to expectation, 
 that in passing from the strongest resemblances, to those that urefiihiter, 
 every step affords additional pleasure. Renewing the experiment again 
 and again, he says, I feel no wavering, but the greatest pleasure constantly 
 from the faintest resemblances ; and yet how can this be ? for if the plea- 
 
 * It is well known that Dryden's Ode to St. Cecilia was finely set to music by Handel ; and 
 Mr. Mason says, " Mr. Smith, a worthy pupil of Handel, intended to have set Mr. Gray's 
 ode, ' The Bard,' to music ; and Mr. Gray, whose musical feelings were exquisite, with a 
 knowledge of the art, gave him an idea for the overture, which seemed equally proper and 
 striking." Pope knew nothing of music ; and asked Dr. Arbuthnot, whether Handel really 
 deserved the applause he met with.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GUAY. CIX 
 
 sure lie in the imitation, must not tlie strongest resemblances afford the 
 greatest pleasure ? From this vexing dilemma, I am happily relieved by 
 reflecting on a doctrine established in the chapter of Resemblance and 
 Contrast, that the pleasure of resemblance is the greatest when it is least 
 expected, and when the objects compared are in their capital circum- 
 stances widely different."* It appears to me that Lord Karnes's observa- 
 tion on the different effects produced by the stronger and fainter resem- 
 blances of the sound to the image is correct; but I think that the cause 
 of the inferior pleasure he received in reading such lines as the following, 
 which he quotes from Pope's Homer, Od. xi. 736, is to be attributed to 
 another source : 
 
 " With many a weary step, and many a groan. 
 Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone." 
 
 And, 
 
 " When the tide rushes from her trembling caves, 
 The rough rock roars, tumultuous boil the waves." 
 
 In these, and lines similar to these, I should observe, that the design of 
 producing a direct imitation of sound or motion, which is beyond the 
 power of language to perfect, has betrayed the poet into such a structure 
 of verse, as (if not contrary to that which is common, and which the ear 
 
 • See Lord Karnes's Elements of Criticism, vol. ii. p. 9'i. The observations by Lord Karnes, 
 on the pleasure of resemblance, are rather generally ami loosely laid down. The truth is! 
 that which imitates, may agree too closely with, or differ too widely from the object of imita- 
 tion, to produce the proper degree of pleasure. A painted statue, would resemble real life too 
 closely, and therefore be liable to the first objection. On the other hand, the produce of the 
 needle, and the loom, and also what is called Topiary-work in gardens, is subject to the latter: 
 as the coarseness of their materials, cannot by any art be brought to a sufficient nicety for the 
 purpose of imitation : Painting, or colours spread on a flat surface, seem to occupy the place 
 between the two extremes.
 
 ex ESSAY ON TIIF. POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 has by habit associated with certain metrical rules) is at least strange and 
 unusual ; forming a strong and disagreeable contrast to the general har- 
 mony of" the poem ; and instead of being subservient to tlie melody, and 
 the regular and pleasurable flow of the metre, has in a great measure 
 tended to destroy them. The partial success of the imitation' is too 
 broadly and plainly obtruded on our notice ; and does not endeavour to 
 conceal its art.t but to display its dexterity. That pleasure, which must 
 exist with all other ; the gentle and equal emotion arising from the struc- 
 ture of the verse, and return of the rhyme ; ought to reduce all the stronger 
 features, to harmonize the bold and passionate descriptions, and to beget 
 a temperance even in the very torrent of passion. In fact, the poet, by an 
 error not at all unusual in the arts, has made a partial and very subservient 
 beauty usurp the place of the primary and leading laws in the structure 
 of versification. This cause being overlooked by the critic, is the more 
 remarkable, as he has not been unaware of its power; having mentioned 
 it on another occasion, though not exactly as I have now applied it. The 
 following well-known passage in The Fleece of Dyer, is in many respects 
 beautiful, and conceived in the true spirit of poetry, for which reason I 
 have selected it in preference to other, and more striking examples. The 
 poet here has attempted to paint his image with too bold a relief, to force 
 it too distinctly on the mind of the reader ; and by his anxiety, that not 
 
 * Du Bos, in his Reflexions sur la Poesie, vol. i. c. xi. & xxxv. says, that it is difficult in 
 French verses to imitate the sound which the sense describes, to any great degree ; tlie lan- 
 guage not being copious in its mimetic powers, compared with the Latin and other languages. 
 Accordingly we find this imitation much more practised by the Italian poets, whose copious 
 and sonorous language easily admits it. Instances of it, however, are easily found in the 
 French poets, particularly in the older writers. Dr. Beattie gives an instance from Ronsard : 
 see his Essay on Poetry and Music, p. 571. 
 
 f " Ubicunque ars ostentatur, Veritas abesse videtur," Quintil. Inst. Orat. x. 3. " Desiuit 
 Ars esse, si appareat," Id. iv. 2.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CXI 
 
 the minutest touch should escape the eye, he has sacrificed some of the 
 jjleasurable emotion, arising from the melody of his versification : 
 
 " With easy course 
 
 The vessels glide, unless their speed be stopped 
 
 B}' dead calms, that oft lie on those smooth seas, 
 
 While every zephyr sleeps ; then the shrouds drop ; 
 
 The downy feather on the cordage hung. 
 
 Moves not ; the flat sea shines like yellow gold 
 
 Fused in the fire ; or like the marble floor 
 
 Of some old temple wide ; but where so wide 
 
 In old, or later time, its marble floor 
 
 Did ever temple boast »s this, which here 
 
 Spreads its bright level many a league around." iv. v. 250. 
 
 " Great reserve, (says Adam Smitli,*) great discretion, and a very 
 nice discernment, are requisite in order to introduce such imperfect imi- 
 tations either into poetry or music. Wiien repeated too often, when 
 continued too long, they appear to be, what they really are, mere trifles, 
 in which a very inferior artist, if he will only give himself the trouble to 
 attend to them, can easily equal the greatest. I have seen a Latin trans- 
 lation of Mr. Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, which in this respect very 
 much excelled the original. Both in one art and the other, the difficulty 
 is not in making them as well as they are capable of being made, but in 
 knowing when and how fur to make tlijem at all." The same observation 
 which has been made on poetry, certainly seems to hold good when ap- 
 plied to the sister-art of music. t — " Of all the powers of music, (says 
 
 ♦ See his Discourse on the Imitative Arts, p. 167, 4to. 
 
 f " Handel seldom fails to ascend with the woVd rise, and descend with the y/ord fall. Pur- 
 lell goes still further, and accompanies every idea of roundness with an endless rotation of 
 notes: But what shall we say to that musician, who disgraces the poet by realising his meta- 
 phors, and in downright earnest makes the fields laugi) and the valleys sing. In music, it is
 
 CXn ESSAY ox THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 Mr. Twining,*) this of raising ideas by direct resanblance, is confessed to 
 be the weakest and least important. It is indeed so far from being es- 
 sential to the pleasure of tlie art, tiiat, unless used with great caution, 
 judgment, and delicacy, it will destroy that pleasure, by becoming to 
 every competent judgment offensive and ridicidous."t The truth is, in 
 every art there are primary and leading laws on which it is founded, and 
 which must not give way to partial beauties. All arts have, of necessity, 
 those principles of their own, that distinguish them from the subject of 
 their imitation. But in their infancy, or before these principles are tho- 
 roughly settled and known, men are guided not by the certain rules of 
 their own art, but by some fancied reference to a more distant criterion. 
 Hence in our old poets, and in the early poetry of all nations, we find 
 much of this attempt at direct imitation. A similar fault existed in the 
 older schools of painting ; % namely, the attempt at close and direct 
 
 better to have no ideas at all, than to have false ones ; and it will be safer to trust to the simple 
 effect of impression, than to the idle conceits of a fond imitation," Webb on Poetry and 
 Music, p. 143. 
 
 * See Twining's Translation of Aristotle, p. 45. And Beattie's Essay on Poetry, p. 415, 
 4to. The abuse of this kind of imitation in music, is excellently ridiculed by Swift in his advice 
 to Dr. Ecclin, to compose a Cantata for the purpose. See the passage at length, in Beattie's 
 Bssay. 
 
 •f- In respect to a comparison between poetry and music, as imitative arts, it appears that 
 music has the power of imitation in a closer degree than poetry, in a few instances ; but poef^-y 
 far exceeds music in its power of imitating generally, and in its variety and number. See 
 Harris's Dialogues on Music, Poetry, and Painting, chap. iii. p. 74. When it is said that 
 poetry and music imitate motions as well as sounds, it is evident that they can only imitate 
 motion, by representing the sounds, which accompany it. They can imitate not only the slow- 
 ness, and quickness of motions, in this way, but, as Dr. Campbell observes, vibration, inter- 
 mission, and inequality. See The Philosophy of Rhetoric, vol ii. p. 209. 
 
 X In the description of certain pictures in Shakspeare's Taming of the Shrew, act i. sc. 4, 
 we see that the description rests entirely upon the direct and close imitation, which always 
 pleases those not conversant in its principles and practice. In the apprehension of the ig-
 
 ESSAY ON IHi: POI'.TKV OF GIIAr. CXlll 
 
 imitation, or deception, by giving great relief io the picture, to make it 
 resemble life : and thus some portraits of the older masters are distin- 
 guished, not for expression of character, nor for any successful practice 
 of the dirticult and higher branches of the art ; but for the persevering 
 faithfulness and exactness with which they have transferred the images of 
 nature to their canvass ; a point to which they gave their undivided at- 
 tention ; and which has procured for their productions an accidental value, 
 not as pleasing pictures, but as historical portraits of eminent persons, in 
 whom we are interested. An experiment similar to this in painting, and 
 proceeding from the same principles, was made in the art of statuary 
 among the ancients ; by forming the eyes of their statues of glass, or 
 metal, so as more nearly to resemble life ; the hair also was sometimes 
 coloured ; and even the lips comj)osed of metallic plates, in order to 
 give them additional splendour. " Ad veritatem (says Quinctilian) Lysip- 
 pum et Praxitelem accessisse optimo affirmant. Nam Demetrius tanquam 
 nimius in ea reprehenditur ; ct fuit simiUtudinis, quam pulchritudinis 
 
 norant, the painting which imitates, or rather copies, nature, so as to become a decrptiou, 
 possesses that quality which to them appears the summit of the art ; and therefore this striking 
 feature in the pictures is admirably, and with the finest propriety, brought into prominent 
 notice in this place. 
 
 Second Man. Dost thou love pictures ? We w ill fetch thee strait 
 Adonis painted by a running brook. 
 And Cythercn all in sedges hid, 
 Which seem to move and ivnnton uilh her breath. 
 E'en as the waving sedges play with wind. 
 f.ord. We'll show thee lo, as she was a maid. 
 
 And how she was beguiled, and surprized. 
 As lively painted as the deed was done. 
 Third Man. Or Daphne roaming thro' a thorny wood. 
 
 Scratching her legs, that one shall sucar she bleeds ; 
 And at the sight shall sad Apollo weep, 
 So viorkmanly the blood and tears are dratvn.'' 
 VOL. 1. I)
 
 CMV ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 iunantior," Instit. Orat. xii. c. 10. It was, however, necessarily dis- 
 covered, that all imitative arts are more or less imperfect, and confined 
 in their powers ; that they cannot, nor was it desirable that they should, 
 copy nature with exactness, but are designed to give only a partial imi- 
 tation ; and that they must have principles of their own, adapted to their 
 several powers, by which they are to be judged. Hence it appeared in 
 painting, that this quality of relief, which produced the close imitation, 
 opposed itself directly to one of a much higher nature, that o? fullness (f 
 effect; * and in poetry, as I have said before, if carried to excess, it acts 
 in the same manner precisely, by opposing the general harmony of the 
 metre. " Adeo in illis (says the critic I just quoted) quoque est aliqua 
 vitiosa imitatio, quorum ars omnis constat imitatione." We are to re- 
 collect,t that an imitative is not a deceptive art;1: and if this is not per- 
 mitted in sculpture, painting, and music, it surely cannot be in poetry, 
 
 * See Sir Joshua Reynolds's Discourses on Painting, vol. i. p. 276, ed. Malone ; and Gib- 
 bon's Roman Empire, vol. v. p. 9.5. 
 
 f " The proper pleasure (says A. Sniitli) which we derive from painting and sculpture, 
 (these two imitative arts,) so far from being the effect of deception, is altogether incompatible 
 with it. That pleasure is founded altogetlier upon our wonder, at seeing an object of one 
 kind represent so well an object of a very different kind, and upon our admiration of the art 
 which surmounts so happily that disparity which Nature has establjslicd between them." 
 Essays on the Imitative Arts, p. HS. 
 
 + The effect of deception, is to weary and digust us ; that of imiialion, to delight us more 
 and more. No one would, I should think, attempt to coHiyjnce a fine picture in a room, with 
 a beautiful landscape from tlie windows : or bring together, the strong and bold relief of 
 Nature ; its massive projections, and its deep recesses ; with the flat and feeble perspective 
 of Painting. Hence, I sliould object to that union of natural and ariijicial l.indscape, in the 
 famous room at Norbury House ; and in the villa of Monte Dragone, near Rome, painted by 
 G. Poussin. !Mr. Gilpin has not objected to this room ; though in a few pages afker he has 
 described it, — in mentioning a statue from Otaheite, with real hair, — he says, " The mixture 
 of reality and imitation is indeed very disgusting." See his Observations on the West of 
 l'n;il:md, p. 2K
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETllY 1' GUAY. CXV 
 
 whose medium of imitation is so confined, always more remote than the 
 two former, often more than the hitter, and which, hke music, can only 
 he called an imitative art, in a sense different from that which we apply 
 to painting and to sculpture. 
 
 I shall conclude this branch of the subject with a quotation from the 
 Discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds, which appears to me to be written 
 with the usual sagacity and good sense of that author : " Poetry addresses 
 itself to the same faculties, and the same dispositions, as painting, though 
 by different means. The object of both is, to accommodate itself to all 
 the natural propensities and inclinations of the human mind. The very 
 existence of poetry depends on the license it assumes of deviating frojn 
 actual nature, in order to gratify natural propensities by other means, 
 which are found by experience full as capable of affording such gratifica- 
 tion. It sets out with a language in the highest degree artificial, a con- 
 struction of measured words, such as never is, nor was used by man. 
 Let this measure be what it may, whether hexameter or any other metre 
 used in Latin and Greek, or rhyme, or blank, varied with pauses and 
 accents in modern languages j they are equally removed from nature, and 
 equally a violation of common speech. When this artificial mode has 
 been established as the vehicle of sentiment, there is another principle of 
 the human mind to which the work must be referred, which still renders 
 it more artificial, carries it still further from common nature, and deviates 
 only to render it more perfect. ('That principle is the sense of congruity, 
 coherence, and consistency, which is a real existing ptinciple in man, 
 and it must be gratified. Therefore having once adopted a style and a 
 measure not found in common discourse, it is required that the sentiments 
 also should be in the same proj)ortion elevated above common natine, 
 from the necessity of there being an agreement of the parts among them- 
 selves, that one uniform whole may be produced."
 
 CXVl ESSAY ON THE POETRV OF GKAV. 
 
 III. From the consiileration of the liarniony of numbers, we naturally 
 pass to the language used by Gray in his poems, or, as it is commonly 
 called, his poetical diction. He says, in a letter to West,* " As to mat- 
 ter of style, I have this to say. The language of the age is never the 
 language of poetry, t except among the French, whose verse, wlien the 
 thought or image does not support it, differs in nothing from prose. t 
 Our poetry, on the contrary, lias a language j)cculiar to itself, to which 
 almost every one that has written has added something, by enriching it 
 with foreign idioms and derivations, nay sometimes words of their own 
 composition and invention. Shakspcare and Milton have been great 
 creators in this way ; and none more licentious than Po2)e or Dryden, 
 who perpetually borrow expressions from the former." " Our language, 
 (he also writes,) not being a settled thing, like the French, has an un- 
 doubted right to words of an hundred years old, provided antiquity has 
 not rendered them unintelligible. In truth, Shakspeare's language is one 
 of his principal beauties, and he has no less advantage over Addison's 
 and Rowe's in this respect, than in those other great excellencies you 
 mention ; every word in him is a picture." 
 
 This opinion of Gray may be considered, in som.e degree at least, I 
 sho\iId suppose, as the rule of liis compositions ; with the formation of 
 v>hicli, indeed, it seems to coincide j with tliis sole distinction, that many 
 
 * See Mason's Memoirs of Gray, vol. iii. p. 28. 
 
 f So Quinctilian : " Ut qiiotidiani et semper eodem modo format! sermonis fastidium level, 
 et nos a vulgari dicendi genere defendat," Lib. ix. c. 3, 3. And thus Aristotle, opposing the 
 opinion of the critic Ariphrades, on some forms of expression used by the tragic poets: Aict 
 yas ro u.^ s'vai Jv roTj xucioic, ttoiBi ro jaij 'ihtuTiv.w h ri? A.sfsi airavra ra, roiavra. Ey.s'vos SI 
 royro rj-yvoei. Cap. x/3. 
 
 + Cerceau, in his Reflexions sur la Poesie Frangoise, attributes such power to inversion of 
 language, as to make it the characteristic of French versification, and the single circumstance 
 which in their language divides verse from prose.
 
 ESSAY on: tiif, poetry of gray. CXVll 
 
 of the idioms and expressions in his poetry, instead of reminding us of 
 the language of the older English poets, seem to be drawn from foreign 
 as well as native sources, from the Greek and Latin, as well as modern 
 writers. There are passages in almost every stanza of Gray, which bring 
 into our minds by association, some beautiful turn of expression, some 
 bolder or some more graceful thought, some judicious introduction of 
 foreign and metaphorical language, from the admired writers of Greece 
 or Rome. By these means, the genius of the poet, instead of leading, 
 seems only to accompany us into the regions of his beautiful creation ; 
 while the activity of our imagination multiplies into a thousand forms the 
 solitary image it has received ; and the memory, gathering up the most 
 distant associations, surrounds the poet with a lustre not his own. 
 
 This elevated style seems peculiarly adapted to express the sublimity, 
 force, and grandeur which characterize lyrical poetry ; and Gray has suited 
 the quality of the style with admirable taste to the subject of the poem. 
 In no instance does it appear, that any expression or word which he has 
 selected from English authority, or which he has borrowed analogically 
 from the ancient writers, is obscure from disuse, or on account of the re- 
 mote source from which it came. Nor indeed docs his language ever sug- 
 gest to the reader, that the thought was introduced for the sake of the 
 expression,* or that the subject was subservient to the language ; but as 
 his feeling was correct, and his fancy elevated, so his language, as I before 
 obscrvcil, was forcible, and his words elegant. And it is also not unworthy 
 of observation, that though the expressions of (J ray arc elaborate and 
 adorned, the feeling of the poet is not weakened or obscured, but seen 
 
 » " Tliat for a tricksic Hord 
 
 Defy the matter." Merchant of Venice, Act ili. Scene 6.
 
 CXVlll ESSAY OX THE lOETUV OF CKAV. 
 
 distinctly through the medium of his language ; so that even those readers, 
 of a numerous class, who would have been repelled by the learned air of 
 his expression, as very many have been by that of Milton, are yet attracted 
 by the striking sublimity of the subject, and still more by the peculiar 
 pathos that softens his compositions, and brings them closer to the commdn 
 feelings of mankind. There is indeed great richness and splendor in his 
 ornaments ; but, in the words of the Roman critic,* " Ornatus et virilis, 
 et fortis, et sanctus est ; nee effeminatam Icvitatem, ct fuco omincntcni 
 colorcra amat, sanguine et viribns nitct." 
 
 Gray dei'ives a very great advantage from the sources of his style being 
 widely spread ; whence there is no appearance of his having formed his 
 manner from any one writer, or any particular school of composition. This 
 appears to me to be also the praise of Shakspeare, whose language, founded 
 upon large and collective observation, is not to be imitated like that of 
 Spenser or Milton ; as it is free from the frequent peculiarities in which 
 they abound, and which are easily and anxiously caught by those who do 
 not in the least participate in the genius of their model. In the choice of 
 his words and phrases, Shakspeare appears to be in the least possible 
 degree a mannerist. His thoughts, indeed, were often copied by the dra- 
 matic writers who lived in his days, and who enriched their i)oems with 
 many a splendid fragment taken from his works. But his language was 
 less easily to be imitated : it was the natural result of his taste and genius, 
 entirely unfettered by the destructive rules of system. 
 
 The language of Gray, however, has not escaped without much repre- 
 hension. It has been thought too much laboured, too generally elevated. 
 
 * QuiuctUiani Inst. Orator, viii. ", 7. ed. Gesuer. 4to.
 
 ESSAY OX THE PO£TRV OF GRAY. CXIX 
 
 and too highly adorned. On first hearing this objection, it appears that it 
 does not act peculiarly against our poet, but might with not unequal force 
 be urged against a whole class of writers ; against Milton, perhaps Spensei, 
 and in later times against Akenside and Collins, and Mason and T.Warton, 
 and many other poets, who have selected the beautiful expressions and 
 forcible language of older times, and have united them by a judicious dis- 
 position into an ornamented style of their own. In poetry as well as prose, 
 there are various styles, each of its own peculiar merit, fitted to the genius 
 of him who invented, adopted, or improved it; and it also must be re- 
 marked, that one species of poetry demands a style wholly different from 
 another ; — that Gray's lyrical style, if ornamented, is not to be censured, 
 because Goldsmith's descriptive style is plain ; that the Epic, the Dramatic 
 Poem, the Elegy, the Epistle, and the Ode, are formed in models as re- 
 mote as possible : " On ne songe pas, (says ISI. dc la Motte, in the very 
 sensible preface to his Fables,) qu'il y a plusieurs graces, qui, sans se res- 
 scmbler, peuvent se remplacer les unes les autres, et faire un plaisir, egal, 
 quoiqu'il ne soit pas Ic meme." This objection certainly has a tendency 
 to establish a rule, that poetry possesses but one generic style or manner 
 adapted to it ; and that all other styles are more or less erroneous, in pro- 
 portion as they depart from this imaginary standard of excellence. 
 
 Ill Gray, as it is evident that the most exquisite attention has been paid 
 to the harmony of his numbers and the cadence of his verse, so his language 
 also is generally elevated above that style of which the greater part of 
 poetry consists : or, in other words, it is raised to that point, which is the 
 level of the finer and more elaborate parts of most poems. Upon this 
 ground, I think, the objection is fomided. To which I should observe, 
 that such a species of composition, in my opinion at least, is in no wise mis- 
 placed, but, on the other hand, is productive of the greatest beauty in that 
 species of poetry, to which the chief part of Gray's productions is confined ;
 
 CXX ESSAY ON" TIIR POETRY Ol' OKAY. 
 
 namely, the Ode. In compositions where action is carried on, there is 
 something to assist the language, to supply its defects, 'and conceal its 
 weakness, by an interest of its own. But lyrical poetry is conversant more 
 generally with sentiment and description than action : it does not appeal 
 to the passions, but is adorned with the display of the imagination. In 
 another point of view also, in poems of greater length, the variation of the 
 subject demands a difference of style ; in epic and dramatic compositions, 
 some parts must be subservient ; in poems of great length, as it is said in 
 great compositions in painting, considerable part imtst be common and or- 
 dinary.* Many parts inat/ be of little consequence ; and there may be 
 qualities in the various branches of those compositions, hostile to embel- 
 lishment. Pope, in a letter to Mr. Walsh says, " to bestow heightening 
 on every part, is monstrous. Some parts ought to be lower than the rest: 
 and nothing looks more ridiculous than a work, where the tlioughts, 
 however different in their own nature, seem all on a level." Aristotle 
 recommends the poet to reserve for those parts of the poem that display 
 no action (iv rolg d^yoig fjt.e^Ba-i), the most elaborate and adorned lan- 
 guage, knowing that in these parts, the beauty of the language must 
 supply that interest that cannot be borrowed from the action. — To con- 
 clude this branch of the subject; as 1 observed, that the style or diction 
 of Gray's poems derived an excellence from its being formed upon wide 
 
 * This is agreeable to the opinion of D' Alembert, in his Reflexions sur la Poesie. " En effet, 
 un long ouvrago doit ressembler, proportion gardee, a une longue conversation, qui pour etre 
 agreable, sans etre fatigante, ne doit etre vive et animee, que par intervalles. Ou dans un sujet 
 noble, !es vers cesscnt d'etre agreables, des qu'ils sont negliges; et d'un autre cote Ic plaisir 
 s'emoi.sse par la continuite meme." See also some sensible reflections on this subject in the 
 xviiith Lecture, of Dr. Priestley's Lectures on Oratory and Criticism. And Beattie's Essay 
 on Poetry, p.S60.4to.
 
 ESSAV ON Tin: POF/iJiv or gkay. cxxi 
 
 observation, and from various sources ; so, I should think the diction of 
 his contemporary Warton liable to censure ; insomuch, as he has selected 
 his words, his descriptions, his epithets, and the general character of his 
 style, from the pages of a few authors, from Spenser, Milton, and the less 
 eminent poets, Drayton and Browne, with some others : 
 
 " Iloscc secutus 
 
 Mutatis tantum numcris : — " 
 
 a practice, which has, in my opinion at least, detracted very materially 
 from the flow and ease of his writing, which has given to many of his poems 
 an appearance of intended imitation, of being formed upon some particular 
 and confined system ; instead of the genius of the poet appearing to com- 
 mand, arrange, and adorn all the assistance which he thought it necessary 
 to procure. That poetry is most excellent, where the character of the poet 
 appears with strong and visible features, through the design of the poem. 
 The poetry of Warton does not appear to me to give us any insight into 
 the character of the man. It seems assumed for the occasion; and not 
 poured out from the fullness of the mind. We form no estimate of his real 
 tenderness, elegance, or vigour. It is the artist alone, and not the man, 
 that is visible.* I should almost think it necessary to make some apology 
 for the observations which I have afforded on the poetry of T. Warton, 
 were I not confident that they proceed from the most attentive, and, as far 
 as I am aware, the most impartial consideration of his works : nor is it to 
 be forgotten that his great merits in other branches of the poetic art, may 
 
 * I must remark, in this place, that the observations which I have presumed to make on the 
 poetry of Warton, do not apply to all his poetry. Some of his Sonnets and Odes, are written 
 with real feeling, and true poetic character, At the same time I should not be inclined to 
 rank ' The Suicide' among the happier productions of his fancy. 
 VOL. J. q
 
 CXXll ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 amply compensate for his deficiency in this. I certainly think that the 
 system upon which he formed his phraseology was wrong : that it is not 
 the language of nature ; or of art that constantly keeps nature in view : 
 that it is rather the production of a confined and impaired taste, excited 
 by an unhealtiiy state of association in the mind : that it is not language 
 that can be relished and enjoyed by the generality of readers ; I mean of 
 those who know and feel what true poetry is. If not, to what other crite- 
 rion is it to be referred ? Addison tells us, " that poetry, like all the other 
 fine arts, is to deduce its laws from the general sense and taste of mankind." 
 The poet indeed, and those educated in the same habits of thought, may 
 gaze with delight on the forms of his own partial creation ; but they can- 
 not be expected to produce any effect upon the taste or feeling of society. 
 
 The compositions of all good writers have, of necessity, that difference 
 which arises from the peculiar habits of association formed by them : and 
 in the degree in which those habits unite with or differ from those of the 
 world in general, arises the popularity or neglect of the poet. He who has 
 formed his associations from a narrow system, and from a confined and par- 
 tial acquaintance with general nature, must expect that his admirers will na- 
 turally be but few. As the works of the ancients, the writei-s of Greece 
 and Rome, are almost universally read, are familiar to us from early age, 
 have received the approving sanction of time, and are inferior only to 
 the great book of Nature itself; whoever borrows from them, takes from 
 a source with which his readers are acquainted perhaps equally with him- 
 self; where every image will bring some j)leasing association, and every 
 allusion call up a train of awakened recollections. How great then must 
 the difference be, when we are reading the works of him whose phraseology 
 is brought from the comparatively confined school of Englisii poetry ! To 
 some it may be absolutely strange, and repulsive in a greater degree than 
 the works of the old writers themselves, and that for an obvious reason :
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OK GRAY. CXXllI 
 
 by many others, it will be read, separated from the general mass of their 
 knowledge, and unadorned by all the charms that the mind of tlie reader 
 adds to the expression of the writer. The attention will be dissipated, 
 and drawn from the subject to the style ; a language will be presented, 
 in which we have never been accustomed to think and reflect, and which 
 can never repay what it loses in not being a general vehicle of thought, 
 by appearing to be the fruit of curious and speculative attention, " Every 
 composition (as Mr. Alison* observes) may be considered faulty or de- 
 fective, in which the expression of the art is more striking than the ex- 
 pression of the subject." Moreover, this style separates, as it were, by 
 an artificial contrivance, the connexion of the thought and the language; 
 when instead of being produced together, and joined by the long-estab- 
 lished habits of the mind in the finest and most inseparable connexions, 
 the former seems to wait after its birth, till it is modelled and dressed by 
 the fancy of the poet, in the garb which he most admires. To this fault 
 in his phraseology the same writer adds anotlier, proceeding from the 
 same cause ; namely, the bent of his mind towards a certain species of 
 iniagei-ij and subject-matter, which, however excellent in itself, is con- 
 fessedly injurious to his poetry, by too constant a repetition. Shakspearef 
 
 • See Alison's Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste. Ed. 410. p. 339. 
 
 f I made some remarks before on the language of Shakspeare. Cowper, in his Letters, 
 (vol. i. let. exxix.) observes, " that Milton had taken a long stride forward, left the language 
 
 of his own day far behind hira, and anticipated the expressions of a century yet to come." 
 
 Certain it is, that the style of Milton's poetry is much more easy and graceful, and has a far 
 less antiquated appearance, than that of his prose-writings. Spenser, on the other hand, used 
 an antiquated language by choice. Sir William Davenant, in the preface to Gondibert, re- 
 marks, that " our language did receive from his hand new gr.ifts of old withered words." 
 And Daniel alludes to Spenser in almost the same words, in the sonnet, which begins, 
 
 q '1
 
 CXxiv ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 is more popular than other poets, because his thoughts are more general ; 
 expanding upon a wider theatre, connected with more popular feelings, 
 united with more common impressions, and formed upon more extensive 
 observation. 
 
 With regard to the diction of the tragedy of Agrippina,* as I think 
 that, in lyrical poetry, Gray used the language and style most agreeable 
 to the nature of it; so in his fragment of his tragedy, the manner of his 
 composition, with some little exception, seems suited to the nature of his 
 drama. He has at least avoided, and this is no common praise, mixing 
 the more familiar and less elevated dramatic style, with the bolder lan- 
 
 " Let others sing of knights and palladines, 
 In antique phrases, and old wither'd words ; 
 Paint shadows, in imaginary lines, &c." 
 
 His language, notwithstanding what some critics say, is, I think, assuredly more ancient than 
 that of Drayton, Daniel, or the Fletchers. How much it differed from the current language 
 of that time, may be seen by comparing it with Shakspeare. From the works of the dramatic 
 writers, we may best judge of the poetical language of their days. The nature of their com- 
 positions would not receive an antiquated or obsolete diction, lest they should offend against 
 the golden rule, 
 
 " Populo ut placerent, quas fecisset fabulas." 
 
 A play, whose language was obselete, would be pardoned by neither pit, gallery, nor boxes — 
 " Non Homines, non Di, non concessere Columns." 
 
 * In the Heroic verse of tragedy, the supernumerary, or hypercatalectic syllable, in general 
 denied to the Epic poem, is used, in order to reduce the elevated style nearer to the tone of 
 common life ; to give it ease and famili.irity, " propter similitudinem sermonis." When this 
 syllable is used, our heroic verse is then the same as that used by the Italians, the five-footed, 
 with the additional syllable. Shcnstone remarks the melancholy and tender flow occasioned 
 by this syllable in the plays of Otway : see his Essays, p. 233.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY.* CXXV 
 
 guage, the more elaborate description, the greater variety, and the com- 
 plex machinery of the epic fable. He knew that the tone of tragedy was 
 lower, and nearer to common life, as the power of its deception was less 
 perfect, than that of the epic poem : as it affects tlirough the medium of 
 living action; and as tlie impropriety of that language would immediately 
 be felt, which removed itself as far as it could, from that wliich it designed 
 to represent. Aristotle* remarked, tliat the sentiments and manners 
 were obscured by too s])lendid a diction ; ccjrox^vTrst yu^ 'zai.Di ti xia* 
 Xot,ju,T^a Xs'iii, Tu. Yji^r,, za'i tu.; Itavolag. Acordiiigly, when a dramatic 
 composition is highly adorned with luxuriance of language and pomp of 
 sentiment, as the Comus of Milton; we should pronounce it, as it more 
 and more recedes from the appearance of copying natural life, ratiier 
 adapted to the closet'(" than to the stage ; by which is only meant, that 
 though it does not possess those qualities of interesting action, and a 
 lively representation of tiie manners and character, which by nature are 
 adapted to please all minds ; yet it still possesses merits in language, sen- 
 timent, plot, or other parts of the drama, which can be relished by the in- 
 structed and enlightened reader. It loses indeed its original character ; 
 but by the genius of the poet it is enabled to assume another, which, to 
 a certain extent, will produce pleasure of a different kind. The very short 
 period allowed for the dramatic fable, in comparison with the duration of 
 the epic poem, is also another reason why there is less room for ornament. 
 To restrain, however, the overflowings of their imagination, and to keep 
 the thoughts and language subdued, and subservient to the action of the 
 drama, has always been one of the difficult parts of the poet's task. It 
 
 • See Aristot. Poetic, cap. xJ. p. 95, ed. Cooke. 
 
 ■j- That whicli wc chII a closi't-phiy, addri-sscs itself to tlu> imagination and pas^sions only: 
 a play whicli is represented, both to the eye and the imagination : an opera, to the e;u- and 
 eye ; and little, or not at all, to the imagination.
 
 CXXVI ESSAY ON' TIIK POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 certainly has not been sufficiently observed by many of our dramatic 
 writers, by Congreve in the Mourning Bride, by Kowe, and particularly 
 by Drydcn.* In this tragedy of Agrippina, there is great compactness 
 in the versification, and sufficient ornament in the language. But the 
 cadence of the numbers is, I think, peculiar; the expression has a la- 
 boured appearance, and the character of tiie whole has not that native air, 
 the absence of which, in the dramatic fable, hardly any excellence can 
 sujtply. The eye of the poet was perhaps too constantly fixed upon the 
 unbending and declamatory style of the French drama, which has pre- 
 vented tlie superior beauty, the language of nature, breaking out into that 
 simplicity and freshness of expression, with which Shakspeare abounds, 
 and which is of infinitely more value than the most eloquent pages of 
 French declamation. As regards the subject of this play, from the short- 
 ness of the fragment, it is not easy to judge what beauties might be intro- 
 duced, what difficulties might be overcome ; but it does not appear to me 
 to be happily chosen ; it is of such a nature, as would force a poet to 
 
 * It is just to Dryden to mention a passage which he has written in defence of himself in 
 the parallel between poetry and painting, prefixed to his translation of Du Fresnoy. " The 
 faults (he says) of that drama, The Spanish Fryar, are in the kind of it, which is tragi-comcdy; 
 but it was given to the people ; and I never writ any thing for myself, but Antony and ClcO' 
 patra." — Atterbury attributes both the introduction and subsequent disuse of rhyme upon the 
 stage, to Dryden: " There is a third person (Dryden), the living glory of our English poetry, 
 who has disclaimed the use of rhyme upon the stage, though no man ever employed it there 
 so happily as he. It was the strength of his genius that first brought it into credit in plajiB, 
 and it is the force of his example that has thrown it out again." ( Atterbury's Works, vol.iv. 
 p. 103.) The Earl of Orrery was one of the first who introduced entire tragedies in rhyme. 
 The reign of rhyming-tragedies, which were introduced by the bad taste of Charles the 
 Second, who had heard and admired them in France, lasted about fifteen years, from 1662, to 
 1676. A few Heroic plays afterwards appeared, but they were not long-Jived. See Malone's 
 Dryden, ii. p. 431.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CXXVU 
 
 description, rather than action ; it leaves the gentle, and temperate 
 passions untouched; the characters are almost all wicked or designings 
 remarkable either for their baseness or atrocity ; whose punishment does 
 not excite our terror, whose misfortunes do not move our compassion ; 
 and we turn away from a plot that is laid in a tissue of ingratitude, adul- 
 tery, and murder. Certain it is, that tlie character of this tragedy does 
 not come within the scope of tlie rules laid down by Aristotle, in 
 the eleventh section of his Poetics ; but would rather be excluded by 
 the third proposition, " That the raisfoitunes of a wicked person ought 
 not to be represented ; because, though such a subject may be pleasing 
 from its moral tendency, it will produce neither pity nor terror; lor our 
 pity is excited by misfortunes undeservedly suffered, and our terror by 
 some resemblance between the sufferer and ourselves ; neither of these 
 effects would therefore be produced by such an event."* 
 
 Mr. Mason remarks, " that something which unites the French and 
 English style in drama, would be preferable to either." I should, how- 
 ever, question the possibility of putting this into practice ; as the charac- 
 ter of the poetry, the genius of the language, their merits and defects, are 
 so op])osite, as to prevent their uniting and harmonizing into one system. 
 The standard of excellence is not the same in each, and the rules of their 
 criticism proceed upon different principles. C^orrect imitation of nature, 
 in tiie extent that poetical imitation is justly allowed, boundless variety, 
 anil nice appropriation of character, masterly touches of maimers and 
 sentiments, that just expression which directly conveys the intended 
 thought with force and truth, 'great fancy and flowing words,' are 
 
 • See Twining's Translation of Aristotle's Poetics, p. 87. And Hurd's Dissertation on tlie 
 Provinces of the Drama, vol. ii. p. 179. And Harris's Philological Inquiries, vol. i. p. 168.
 
 CXXVlll ESSAY ON THK POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 among the chief merits of Shakspeare. In the French drama, collectively 
 speaking, the individual is lost in the generalization of character. It is 
 the class, and not the person, that is described; while in the place of 
 natural feeling and character, a certain imaginary standard of excellence 
 is erected ; which, while it excelled the Greek drama in correctness and 
 poetic propriety, left behind its beautiful description, its exquisite expres- 
 sion, and the varied spirit of its lyrical poetry. Rousseau seems to ac- 
 knowledge this defect in the French drama, when he wishes to except 
 one favourite poet from it. " Chez Racine (he says) tout est sentiment. 
 II a su faire paiicr chaain pour .so/, et c'est en cela, qu'il estvraiment uni- 
 que, parmi les auteurs dramatiques de sa nation."* The drama of Gray 
 appears to be founded in a considerable degree upon the latter plan ; but 
 the most complete specimen that we possess of this foreign style, is the 
 Cato of Addison, which sacrificed greater beauties, to moral sentiments, 
 to uncharacteristic imagery, and to cold and lifeless declamation ; copied, 
 as Dr. Warton justly observes, from the writings of Seneca, and the reflec- 
 tions of Tacitus. Good and beautiful compositions may undoubtedly be 
 produced on both systems ; and who would wish to deny the pleasure he 
 receives from the poetry of Racine and Corneille ? but the excellence of 
 
 * On the want of character in the French plays, see Webb on Poetry, p. lO*; who quotes 
 a note from Dacier on the passage in Aristotle's Poetics, where he is censuring the poets of 
 his time, for being weak in the manners. [Ai yip twv vicuv twv irXiia-Tuiv, Irfiac rcayaiilxt eicri.J 
 " Aujourdhui, dans la plus part des pieces de nos poetes, on ne connoit les mceurs des per- 
 sonnages qu'en les voiant agir." — There is a very curious passage in the ' Segresiana,' on 
 this subject, p. 64 : " Autre defaut de Racine, c'est que ses acteurs n'ont pas le caractere 
 qu'ils doivent avoir. Etant une fois pres de Corneille, sur le Theatre a une representation du 
 Bajazet, il me dit, — ^je me garderois biun de le dire a d'autre que vous, parce qu'on diroit, que 
 j'en parlerois par jalousie, mais prenez y garde, il n'y a pas un seul personnage dans le Baja- 
 zet, qui ait les sentimens qu'il doit avoir, et que I'on a a Constantinople ; ils ont tous, sous un 
 habit Turc, le sentiment qu'on a au milieu de la France."
 
 ESSAY ON THK POETRY OF GKAY. CXxix 
 
 the one system over the other, must still remain unquestionable, as long 
 as nature, and genius, and wit, and humour, can instruct and delight the 
 world. 
 
 I must not be supposed to mean, by what I have said on the defects of 
 the French Dramatists, that they have all of them failed in their endeavour 
 to represent character and action with the faithfulness of an accurate 
 copy ; but rather that they never intended to represent it at all, according 
 to our notions of imitation. As I think most will agree in the opinion 
 expressed on this subject by a singularly acute and sensible writer,* I shall 
 beg leave to state it in his own words. " To present a faithful picture of 
 human life, or of human passions, seems not to have been his j" (Corneille's) 
 conception of the intention of tragedy. His object, on the contrary, seems 
 to have been, to exalt and to elevate the imagination, to awaken only the 
 greatest and noblest passions of the human mind, and, by presenting such 
 scenes and such events alone as could most powerfully promote this end, to 
 render the theatre a school of sublime instruction, rather than an imitation 
 of common life. To effect this purpose, he was early led to see the neces- 
 sity, or disposed by the greatness of his own mind, to the observation of 
 an uniform character of dignity ; to disregard whatever of common, of 
 trivial, or even of pathetic, in the originals from which he copied, might 
 serve to interrupt this peculiar flow of emotion ; and instead of giving a 
 simple copy of nature, to adorn the events he represented, with all that 
 
 * Ste Alison's Essay on tlic Nature and Principles of Taste, p. 109, 4-to. 
 
 f As Corneillc introduced into the Drama, that ndmiralion which is the End, of tlie Epic 
 Poem : so, on tlie other hand, Davenant formed the Epic Poem, on the close, and pathetic plot 
 of the Tragedy. It is said, tlwt Corneille preferred the Pharsaliato the/Eneid. Sec Beattie 
 on Poetry, p. 433. 
 
 VOL. I. r
 
 CXXX ESSAY ON THK POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 eloquence and poetry could afford. He maintains, accordingly, in all his 
 best plays, amid mucli exaggeration, and much of the false eloquence of 
 his time, a tone of commanding, and even of fascinating dignity, which 
 disposes us almost to believe, that we are conversing with beings of an high- 
 er order than our own ; and which blinds us, at least for a time, to all the 
 faults and all the imperfections of his composition. I am far from being 
 disposed to defend his opinions of tragedy ; and still less, to excuse his ex- 
 travagance and bombast. But I conceive, that no person can feel his 
 beauties, or do justice to his merits, who does not regard his tragedies in 
 this view ; and I think, that some allowance ought to be made for the faults 
 of a poet, who first shewed to his country the example of regular tragedy, 
 and whose works the great prince of Cond^ called, " The Breviary of 
 Kings." 
 
 When Mr. Mason proposed to join the French and English style in the 
 drama, did he consider how difficult it is, to unite the poetical style, or 
 character, of two distinct people ; with all their separate combinations, 
 their own associated images, and all those hereditary habits of thought, 
 which distinguish not only the individual, but the nation ? Though the 
 poetry of one nation may certainly assimilate to that of another, more 
 nearlv than it does to a third ; yet it always possesses some radical features 
 of its own ; some principles native to it, which do not bear transplanting ; 
 some strong fibrous parts, that will grow in none but their original soil. 
 The nearest approximation perhaps of the genius of any two nations, was 
 that of the Greeks and the Romans; yet, the latter were but imitators and 
 followers of the former : they acknowledged the Greeks always as their 
 masters in taste and genius ; and even with this consideration we well know, 
 how many authors, how much taste, how much genius, how much charac- 
 teristic feeling, among the latter ; never found a parallel, upon the shores 
 of ancient Italy.
 
 ESSAY ON TIIK POETRY OP O R A Y. CXXxi 
 
 IV. Having thus briefly considered the poems of Gray, with regard to 
 the harmony of their numbers, and the beauty of their language, I may 
 now oflfer some remarks concerning the moral, and pathetic character 
 which distinguishes them. I have mentioned, that Gray attributed the 
 peculiar success of his Elegy in a Country Church-yard, not to the just- 
 ness of the sentiment, or the beauty of the expression, but entirely to the 
 captivating pathos of the subject; and this Mr. Mason had in view, when 
 he applied to it the motto from Virgil, previously used by Young — " Sunt 
 lacrymae rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt." — Though the mind of Gray, 
 like that of every real poet, was peculiarly susceptible of the impressions 
 of natural scenery, and though it had a very strong and forcible hold of his 
 feelings ; yet he has never made such descriptions the entire subject- 
 matter of any poem ; but seems rather to hasten from them to the moral 
 which they suggest ; to the excitement of serious feeling, or j)athetic 
 sentiment, or powerful and sublime emotion. 
 
 In a letter which he wrote to Dr. Beattie,* containing some criticisms 
 on part of the Minstrel, he says, — " What weighs most with me, it will 
 throw more of action, pathos, and interest into your design, which already 
 abounds in reflection and sentiment. As to description, I have always 
 thought that it made the most graceful ornament of poetry, but never 
 ought to make the subject." — The practice of Gray seems to mc, to co- 
 incide very correctly with his advice. He appears never to introduce na- 
 tural description! solely for its own sake, but always with some further 
 
 • Sec Mason's Memoirs of Gray, vol. iv. p. 209. 
 
 fin one of Swift's letters, (vol.xii.p. iH, ed. NiclioUs,) he says — " One Thomson has 
 succeeded the best in that way, i. e. blank verse, in four poems he has writ on the four seasons ; 
 yet I am not over-fond of them, because they are all descriptive, and nothing is doing ; whcreaa 
 
 r2
 
 CXXXU ESSAY OX THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 tendency, to draw from it some moral reflection, or to make it an agreeable 
 embellishment of action. Not one of his poems can be called purely de- 
 scriptive : but they generally commence with a view of nature, as of the 
 morning, in the Ode to Vicissitude, or of evening in the Elegy, which 
 suggesting some natural reflections to the mind of the poet, while they 
 pass away themselves, leave forcible impressions of the feelings which they 
 have inspired, and the train of thought which they have generated in the 
 mind. The reason that induced Gray to reject the two stanzas towards the 
 conclusion of the Elegy, 
 
 " Him have we seen the greenwood side along, 
 
 While o'er the heath we hied, our labour done ; 
 Oft as the woodlark pip'd her farewell song, 
 With wistful eyes pursue the setting sun : — " 
 And, 
 
 " There scatter'd oft, the earliest of the year, 
 
 By hands unseen, are showers of violets found : 
 The redbreast loves to build, and warble there. 
 And little footsteps lightly print the ground ! — " 
 
 though almost unobjectionable* in themselves, and indeed very beautiful. 
 
 Milton engages men in actions of tlie highest importance." See some reflections on this 
 subject, as regards painting, in Du Bos, Reflexions sur la Poesie et la Peinture, vol. i. chap. vi. 
 And Beattie on Poetry, p. 375, 4to. 
 
 *I have said, ''almost unobjectionable;" because I have some doubts, whether the third 
 line of the first stanza, 
 
 " Oft as the woodlark pip'd her Jareviell song," 
 
 is, either in the thought or expression, quite suited to the character of the person who is 
 supposed to make the reflection. 1 may also venture to suggest, whether the expression so weU
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETIlY OF GRAY. CXXXill 
 
 as pieces of description, probably was, lest the descriptive part, which re- 
 tarded the action of this latter part of the poem, might offend by its 
 length, and interrupt by unnecessary images, the simplicity and unity of 
 the composition. Dr. Blair observes witli justice, " That it is a great 
 beauty in Milton's L' Allegro, that it is all alive and full of persons :"* 
 and this observation the critic might have extended, with equal justice, to 
 all his poetry. 
 
 I do not mention this feature in the poetry of Gray, as his jiectiliar 
 praise ; because the general effect of natural scenery, or the impression 
 of certain objects related to it, is to suggest to the mind, by their gran- 
 deur, extent, and solemnity ; or by awakening ideas of health, content, 
 and the domestic tranquillity, which we justly associate with such scenes ; 
 a train of moral feelings ; upon which depend many pleasing remem- 
 brances, many powerful affections, many personal hopes, many human 
 fears, and many images of happiness past or to come : 
 
 " Vetustae vitae imago, 
 
 Et specimen venientis sevi " 
 
 Such seems to be the general effect of natural scenery ; however the 
 liveliness, or duration of the impression may depend on the relative 
 
 1 . ■ f ,• 
 
 <lcscril)cd in the following stanza, would be likely to be apparent to the rustic, or could be so 
 clearly explained by him : , 
 
 " Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, 
 
 Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove; 
 Now drooping, woeful-wan, like one forlorn. 
 
 Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love." 
 
 All the other stanzas of the speech arc simple and exquisitely beautiful. 
 • See Blair's Lectures, vol. iii. p. 157.
 
 CXXXIV ESSAY ON THK POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 powers of the exciting cause. But in situations of peculiar grandeur 
 and sublimity, on the summit of some lofty mountain, where the eye 
 commands a prospect bounded only by the imperfect powers of human 
 vision ; or in the opposite situation, such as may be seen in the bosom of 
 a moimtainous country, amidst overhanging cliffs and torrents ; in the 
 loneliness of a sea view, with all its wild accompaniments of sight and 
 sound ; the moral feeling becomes so strong, from the unusual impression 
 made by greatness, distance, and elevation, that it effaces, for a time, 
 the parent-cause, and occupies the mind itself. The poets therefore who 
 want a ground-work for reflections of this nature, have selected some re- 
 markable situation, which might suggest greater variety of thought and 
 imagery, than they could elsewhere command. Denhara hints at this 
 circumstance, though he expresses it with his usual quaintness of man- 
 ner ; 
 
 " No wonder if advantaged in my fliglit, 
 From taking wing from this auspicious height. 
 Through untraccd ways and airy paths I fly, 
 More boundless in myfoncy, than my eye." 
 
 " I must do," says Dr. Warton,* " a pleasing English poet the justice 
 to observe, that it is this particular art that is the very distinguishing ex- 
 cellence of Cooper's Hill. Throughout which, the description of places 
 and images, raised by the poet, are still tending to some hint, or leading 
 into some particular reflection, upon moral life, or political institution ; 
 much in the same manner, as the real sight of such scenes, and prospects, 
 is apt to give the mind a composed turn, and incline it to thoughts and 
 contemplations that have a relation to the object. This is the great charm 
 of the incomparable Elegy written in a Country Church-yard." 
 
 * See Warton's Essay on Pope, vol. i. p. 31.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CXXXV 
 
 (In addition to the remark of Dr. Warton, I may observe that the moral 
 and religious sentiments in the poems of Gray, derive their effect from 
 the perfect propriety of their situation, and their intimate connexion with 
 the subject. They are not unskilfully inserted, or laboriously accumu- 
 lated, or ostentatiously displayed ; not merely sprinkled on the surface ol' 
 the poem, but growing out of it, as an essential part of its structure and 
 substance. They express the result of those impressions which the reader 
 himself has already felt ; and which produce great effect, when the mind 
 has been prepared by the incident, to delight in the reflection. 
 
 Such, then, is that mental progress, in the course of which, if I may 
 use the expression, the moral landscape, reflected from the natural one, 
 becomes painted on the mind : an example presents itself in that just and 
 elevated sentiment that closes the Progress of Poesy ; in which the result 
 of the whole poem may be said to be concentrated : and the last impres- 
 sion which the mind receives from the subject, is what leaves with it the 
 noblest recollections of an art, before which the vulgar distinctions of 
 wealth and birth and power sink into insignificance : 
 
 " Yet sliall he mount, and keep his distant way, 
 Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate. 
 Beneath the good how far, but far above the great." 
 
 Dr. Johnson has observed, that the Bard promotes no truth, moral or 
 political. The Bard is certainly not written for the professed or ostenta- 
 tious display of any moral truth ; but I may with confidence assert, that it 
 coiiltl not produce the effect which it does, if it had only delighted us with 
 the display of the ima'^ination, and had not impressed its moral tendency 
 on the mind: and I must remark, that ill would that poet perform the 
 office which lie undertakes, and wretchedly would he account for the high 
 powers with which he is gifted, if his poetry produced no moral effect
 
 CXXXVl KSSAY OX TUT. POF.TIIY Or GRAY. 
 
 n])on the minds of his readers ; if it had no tendency to ennoble the feel- 
 ing, to elevate the sentiment, to soften the passions, to breathe its tiner 
 spirit into the soul ; and by raising it to purer contemplations, detach it 
 iiom those low and sordid objects, that at once degrade its office, and 
 impair its nature. 
 
 The tendency of 'The Bard' is to show the retributive justice that 
 follows an act of tyranny and wickedness ; to denounce on Edward, in 
 his person and his progeny, the effect of the crime he had committed in 
 the massacre of the Bards ; to convince him, that neither his power nor 
 situation could save him from the natural and necessary consequences of 
 his guilt ; that not even the viiiiies which he possessed, could atone for 
 the vices with which they were accompanied : 
 
 " Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail, 
 
 Nor e'en thy virtues, Tyrant, shall avail." 
 
 This is the real tendency of the poem ; and well worthy it was of being 
 adorned and heightened by such a profusion of splendid images, and 
 beautiful machinery. We must also observe how much this nioral feeling 
 increases, as we approach the close ; how the poem rises in dignity ; and 
 by what a fine gradation the solemnity of the subject ascends. The Bard 
 commenced his song with feelings of sorrow for his departed brethren, 
 and his desolate country. This despondence, however, has given way to 
 emotions of a nobler, and more exalted nature. What can be more mag- 
 nificent than the vision which opens before him to display the triumph of 
 justice, and the final glory of his cause ? and it may be added, what can 
 be more forcible or emphatic than the language in which it is conveyed .'' 
 
 " But, oh ! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height. 
 Descending slow their glitt'ring skirts unroll ; 
 Visions of glory, spare my aching sight, 
 Ye unborn ages, crouid not on my soul .'"
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OP GRAY. CXXXVll 
 
 The fine apostrophe to the shade of Talicssin completes the picture of 
 exultation : 
 
 " Hear from the grave, great Talicssin, hear ; 
 They breathe a soul to animate thy clay." 
 
 The triumph of justice, therefore, is now complete. The vanquished 
 has risen superior to his conqueror, and the reader closes the poem with 
 feelings of content and satisfaction. He has seen the Bard uplifted both 
 by a divine energy, and by the natural superiority of virtue ; and the 
 conqueror has shrunk into a creature of hatred and abhorrence : 
 
 " Be thine despair, and scept'red care; 
 To triumph, and to die, are mine." 
 
 If there be any truth in those observations, surely some objections 
 must arise with regard to those poems which are purely descriptive, with 
 little or nothing in them of manners and sentiments: such, for instance, 
 as large parts of Thomson, and some poems of a writer contemporary 
 with Gray, whose genius has justly given him a very respectable rank 
 among the English poets, and whose merits in other respects are far from 
 inconsiderable. I allude particularly to many poems of T. Warton, which 
 appear to me from this cause imperfect and unfinished in their nature ; 
 stopping at that point where the picture of the natural scenery is finished 
 in the mind, has united all its effects, and when the moral feeling begins 
 to be excited ; when the thought passes from the effect to the cause, from 
 the sublimity and beauty and grandeur displayed in the creation, to the 
 beings wlio ennoble it by their presence, or to the wise and animating 
 Mind that created and pervades it.* In this case, though the attention 
 
 * I take the liberty of quoting a passage from one of the Essays of Mr. D. Stewart on tlie 
 Sublime ; at) well for the relation it bears to the subject under consideration, as for the instance 
 VOL. I. S
 
 CXXXVUl ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 of the poet may have been ever so steadily fixed upon his subject, and 
 his representation ever so accurate, or even new ; the reader will demand, 
 in addition, the exercise of the imagination, the excitement of the feel- 
 ing, the relation of the object to the different passions of the mind ; and 
 he win call upon the poet to awaken those numberless analogies which are 
 sleeping in his mind, and which would instantly start up at the call of his 
 inspiration. 
 
 In the 'Ode to Spring' by Gray, the imagery he might have intro- 
 duced, would be amply furnished by the subject, and could be limited 
 only by the will of the poet. It is however to be remarked, that he has 
 confined himself to the assemblage of a very few images and incidents, 
 suited to the occasion, but by which his picture becomes more really 
 finished, than it could by the most laborious assemblage of descriptions. 
 
 which he has so admirably produced from a poem by Gray. — " The sublime effect of rocks, and 
 of cataracts; of huge ridges of mountains; of vast and gloomy forests ; of immense and im- 
 petuous rivers; of the boundless ocean; and in general, of every thing which forces on the 
 attention the idea of creative power, is owing in part to the irresistible tendency which that 
 idea has to raise the thoughts toward Heaven — The influence of some of these spectacles, in 
 awakening religious impressions, is nobly exemplified in Gray's ode, written at the Grande 
 Chartreuse — an Alpine scene of the wildest and most awful grandeur, where every thing 
 appears fresh from the hand of Omnipotence, inspiring a sense of the more immediate presence 
 of the Divinity. 
 
 PrcBsentiorem et conspicimus Deum, 
 Per invias rupes, fera p«r juga, 
 
 Clivosque praeruptos, sonantes 
 
 Inter aquas, nemorumque noctem 
 Quamsi rcpostus sub trabe citrea 
 
 Fuigeret auro, et Phidiaca raanu," &c. 
 
 Philos. Essays, p. 368.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CXXxix 
 
 To the studious and contemplative mind, the season of the Spring un- 
 doubtedly will suggest, at different times, the same train of thought 
 which the poet has established ; but it is probable, or indeed certain, that 
 it will not be presented to the mind in so strong and uniform a manner, 
 cleared of all discordant images, and unnecessary and confused additions. 
 I need not observe, that in the works of a common poet, it would prove 
 either a mere transcript of nature, or something even more imperfect. 
 The description would be too detailed, the smaller parts would be mingled 
 with the greater features ; the uniform tendency of the whole would be 
 broken, and enumeration would supply the place of selection. In this 
 poem, as in all the others which he has written. Gray has introduced much 
 of the moral and the pathetic character. Even in so short a poem as the 
 Elegy, he did not think its plan was perfect, unless the reader were in- 
 terested by something more awakening than description ; unless he ani- 
 mated and peopled the landscape which he described. " A description 
 (says Mr. Twining*) may be, but a poem cannot be founded upon what 
 Pope somewhere calls, an entire landscape, without human figures, an 
 image of nature, solitary and undisturbed." 
 
 In the poem of ' Spring' the expression of the moral feeling occupies a 
 larger space than in the other poems ; indeed the original subject seems 
 to be nearly forsaken. The poet, instead of continuing the description of 
 Spring with which he commenced, has seized upon a single incident in 
 the picture, has taken it out of the general description, and followed the 
 train of thought which it promoted, till the thread of the connexion 
 seemed almost lost j but a fine and unexpected turn of expression, a single 
 
 • See Twining's Aristotle, 4to. p. 33. Sec also some observations on this subject, by Du 
 Bos, in his Reflexions, vol. i. chap. 6. 
 
 6 2
 
 Cxl ESSAY OV TIIF. POETRY OF CI? AT. 
 
 word at the close, brings the mind back, and places before it the origina 
 scenery with which the poem opened : 
 
 ' We frolic while 'tis May.' 
 
 Some critics, I believe, have thought that the ' Elegy in a Country Church- 
 yard' is disjointed and unconnected in its plan ; but it is sufficient to ob- 
 serve, that it leaves one strong and general impression on the mind ; 
 the result of the connexion of the images, and the unity of the subject. 
 The Elegy is an interesting picture of the feelings, manners, and liabits of 
 the village poor : it is intended to awaken our sympathy for them ; and 
 to extend the sphere of our associations among objects so well calculated 
 to excite them. It tends also to lessen our exclusive admiration of those 
 great and elevated scenes of life, which we are too much accustomed to 
 suppose, are alone worthy of our regard. This seems to me to be the 
 general feeling which is excited : but towards the close of the poem, by 
 a transition founded on this simple association, that as the poet has not 
 been " unmindful of the dead," so his own death shall not pass without 
 commemoration ; by this poetical transition, the interest that bad before 
 been generally dift'used over the fate of many, becomes now narrowed 
 and directed to the fortune of one : the same train of feeling is preserved, 
 but more precise in its circumstances, and more strong in its power of 
 excitement ; and thus, by the insertion of this pathetic episode, the de- 
 scriptive poem closes with an highly dramatic effect. 
 
 V. After venturing to offer the foregoing remarks on Gray's poetry in 
 general, I now come to the particular consideration of the poem of 'The 
 Bard.' It is well known, that this poem had been accused of obscurity; 
 to obviate which. Gray found it necessary to add some explanatory* notes. 
 
 * " That Gray was conscious of the fault [obscurity] imputed to his ode, The Bard, (the
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. CxU 
 
 Tliis charge has, however, been still repeated, upon the supposition that 
 the poem should be sufficiently clear in its language and plan, without 
 requiring additional assistance. But, in the first place, it is to be consi- 
 dered, that some degree of obscurity must always attend the prophetic 
 poem ; and that he who wishes it otherwise, does not demand a prophecy, 
 but a direct narrative. Such obscurity we find in many of the choral 
 parts of ^schylus, particularly, as was required by the subject, in the Aga- 
 memnon ; compared indeed with which, the ode of Gray possesses much 
 advantage in point of perspicuity. It descends into minute particulari- 
 ties; while the sublime odes of the Grecian bard acquire their obscurity, 
 from the very general and dark language, in which the coming events are 
 foretold. I shall just mention in this place, that the distinctness or ob- 
 scurity of a prophecy, will depend mainly for its propriety upon this con- 
 sideration ; whether it proceed from the lips of one whom the poet sup- 
 poses by stipernaliiral means to be gifted, as in the case of the Bard of 
 Gray, with visions of futurity ; or whether, as is frequently the case in the 
 choral odes of the Greek tragedians, the projjhecy is uttered by those, to 
 whom wisdom gives prescience, and experience imparts a knowledge of 
 the natural order of events ; by those whose calm passions and clear 
 sense foretell the effects of imprudence and sin ; and who are able to see 
 that, in the common analogy by which the world is conducted, punish- 
 ment must follow guilt; that the furies will haunt the parricide ; and that 
 the crimes of adiiltrry, or incest, will be attended with misery, remorse, 
 and death. 
 
 finest, I believe, that was ever written in any language,) is manifest to me from two particulais. 
 Ono is, liis prefixing to it, for a motto, 't';«av7a Stvsroio-iv. Tlie other is, the explanalonj 
 nnti's, icA/i/i xvil/i grcal rclnctamr he nddi.l at lax/ bi/ (he advice of his J'riciids, amongxvhoni icas 
 the writer nf this letter ; who drew iip an analysis of the ode, for his own use, as mentioned 
 in fhi' Life of (iray." — llcmarks on the Pursuits of Literature by John jNIainwaring, B. D. 
 Margaret I'rofessor of Divinity, p. 19.
 
 Cxlii ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 The obscurity, liowevtM', complained of in Gray, is such only, as of ne- 
 cessity arises from the plan and conduct of a prophecy ; for it does not 
 proceed from any affected peculiarity of diction, or from a studied and 
 intentional darkness, through which tlie reader is to seek his way, as in 
 Lycophron: but to those who bring to the perusal of the Bard only the 
 common outlines of English history, the ode is perfectly intelligible; just 
 as they must be acquainted with the history appertaining to the Trojan 
 war, to understand the prophetic ode of Nercus in Horace. In the pro- 
 phetic poem, one point of history alone is told, and the rest is to be ac- 
 quired previously by the reader ; as in the contemplation of an historical 
 picture, which commands only one moment of time, the memory of the 
 spectator must supply him with the links of knowledge ; and that point of 
 time selected by the painter, must be illustrated by the spectator's know- 
 ledge of the past or future, of the cause or the consequence. 
 
 I am pleased to find in Dr. Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric,* some 
 corroboration of this opinion. " I know (he says) no style to which 
 darkness of a certain cast is more suited than the prophetical : many 
 reasons might be assigned, which render it improper, that prophecy 
 should be perfectly understood, before it be accomplished. Besides, we 
 are certain, that a production may be very dark before the accomplish- 
 ment, and yet so plain afterwards, as scarcely to admit a doubt in regard 
 to the events suggested. It does not belong to critics to give laws to 
 prophets; nor does it fall within the confines of any human art, to lay 
 down rules for compositions so far above art. Thus far, however, we may 
 •warrantli/ observe, that when the prophetic style is imitated in poetry, the 
 piece ought, as much as possible, to possess the character above men- 
 tioned. This character, in my opinion, is possessed in a very eminent 
 
 * See Dr. Campbell's Philosophy of Khetoric, vol. ii. p. 129.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. Cxliu 
 
 degree by Gray's ode, called 'The Bard.' It is all darkness to one, who 
 knows nothing of the English history posterior to the reign of Edward 
 the First, and all light to one who is acquainted with that history : a kind 
 of writing, whose peculiarities can scarce be considered as exceptions from 
 ordinary rules." 
 
 This complaint, however, of obscurity, I suppose to have arisen partly 
 from this circumstance, that in epic or dramatic compositions, the reader 
 may come to the poem without any previous knowledge of the subject ; 
 because the structure of those fables requires, that in the course of their 
 actions, they should elucidate and unfold themselves. Every step that is 
 taken, in some measure removes what is difficult, and brightens what is 
 obscure ; till at length the intention and unity of the whole is completed. 
 The prophetic poem, of course, is formed upon a plan wholly different, 
 leaving the reader by his own knowledge to explain the poet, and to look 
 for a completion of the prophecy, not in the page of the writer, but 
 among the stores of his own memory. If the circumstances of the poem 
 were too closely narrated, the prophetic character would be lost, and with 
 it, the excitement of those powerful passions, hope and fear, the distant 
 forebodings, the mystic grandeur, and the solemn shadowing of things to 
 come. To the effect of such a poem upon the mind of the reader, the 
 following passage from the preface* of M. de la Motte, will be perfectly 
 applicable. " D'ailleurs I'csprit a une certaine activite qu'il faut satis- 
 faire. 11 aime a voir plusieurs choses a la fois, ct a distinguer les rap- 
 ports ; il se complait dans cette penetration adroite, qui S9ait decouvrir 
 plus qu'on ne lui montre : et en apper9evant ce qui etoit couvert de qucl- 
 que voile, il croit en quelque sorte creer ce qu'on lui cachoit." 
 
 See Discours sur la Fable, p. li.
 
 CxllV ESSAY ON TIIK POKTRY OF CRAY. 
 
 The very intent indeed of a poem of this nature, is opposite to that of 
 the epic or dramatic fable. In my opinion, the contrary comphiint might 
 be urged, not without justice, against Horace ; that the circumstances in 
 his prophetic ode are expressed with too much clearness. Certain it is, 
 that it excites none of those anxious feelings that attend a tale only half 
 told ; and seems to undraw too widely the curtain that covers the shadows 
 of futurity. In the ode of Horace, the prophecy extends only to the ap- 
 proaching fate of the Prince of Troy ; and every actor in the scene is ex- 
 pressly named. In the Bard of Gray, not only the fate of Edward, but 
 of his descendants is foretold, and the vision extends through a long race 
 of kings. 
 
 " Tliy hair, 
 
 Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first ; — 
 — A third is like the former " 
 
 It is not therefore without justice, that the language of the Roman 
 poet is more precise, as the prophet anay be supposed to have a clearer 
 insight into the events immediately approaching in the person of one 
 man, than those removed to a greater distance, and divided among seve- 
 ral characters: and also, because the gift of superior foresight, may 
 naturally be ascribed to the Deity, who is the supposed Author of the 
 prophecy. The skill of Gray is, I think, eminently shown, in the superior 
 distinctness w ith which he has marked those part of his prophecies which 
 are speedily to be accomplished ; and in the gradations by which, as he 
 descends, he has insensibly melted the more remote into the deeper and 
 deeper shadowings of general language. The first prophecy is the fate of 
 Edward the Second. In that the bard has pointed out the very night in 
 which he is to be destroyed ; has named the river that flowed around bis 
 prison, and the castle, that was the scene of his suflferings : 
 
 " Mark the year, and mark the nighl. 
 
 When Severn shall re-echo with affright ;
 
 ESSAY ON TIIR POKTRY OP CRAY. Cxlv 
 
 The shrieks of death, through BcrUeys roof that ring, 
 Shrieks of an agonizing king." 
 
 How different is tlie imagery, when Richard the Second is described j 
 and how indistinctly is the luxurious monarch marked out in the form of 
 the morning, and his country in the figure of the vessel ! 
 
 " The swarm that in thy noontide beam were born, 
 Gone to salute the rising morn. 
 Fair laughs the morn, and soft tlie zephyr blows, 
 
 While proudly riding on the azure realm, 
 In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes, 
 
 Youtli on the prow, and pleasure at the helm ; 
 Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway. 
 That, husli'd in grim repose, expects his ev'ning prey." 
 
 The last prophecy is that of tlic civil wars, and of the death of the two 
 young princes. No place, no name is now noted: and all is seen through 
 the dinniess of figurative expression : 
 
 " Above, below. 
 
 The rose of snow, 
 Twin'd with her blushing foe, we spread : 
 
 The bristled boar 
 
 In infant gore 
 \\ allows beneath the thorny shade." 
 
 As the subject of Gray's poem is dr;i\\ ii from a period of English his- 
 tory not very remote, it was proper to avoid too circumstantial and plain 
 a description, which would destroy the dignity recpiired. — It appears then, 
 from the obscurity we meet with in alinosl all prophetic poems, that it 
 belongs to this species of composition : ami that tliose who have at- 
 tempted to write poems of this character, liavc I'cit Iiow necessary it was 
 to surround tlicmselves with some degree ot' indistinctness proportioned 
 to tlieir taste and judgment. In Lycophron, however, the almost insur- 
 
 VOL. I. t
 
 Cxlvi ESSAY ON THK PO£TRV OF GRAV. 
 
 mountable obscurity arises from his strange and pedantic phraseology ; 
 in the Agamemnon of -^schyhis, from the accidental corruptions of the 
 text, as well as from the metaphorical ornaments and the cumbrous mag- 
 nificence of his diction. How much to unfold, and what to leave gra- 
 dually to be discovered ; in short, the degree of clearness and obscurity 
 in which a poetical prophecy should be laid before the reader, must al- 
 ways be a difficult part of the poet's business. Gray's judgment is cer- 
 tainly displayed in omitting the names of the personages of this poem j 
 as in a tale of history so well known, the name would instantly call up 
 the whole circumstances that follow iu the recital, and the force of the 
 prophecy would be lessened, or lost. 
 
 1'i S' a.K\a. irdyT \trxc-iv 
 
 Before I finish my observations on the prophetic character of this ode, 
 I must remark, that there appears to me one passage, and only one, in 
 which I cannot help considering the unity of the poetical thoughts, and 
 the tendency of the poem to produce one particular eflTect upon the mind, 
 imperfectly preserved. It is apparent, that the agitation of the bard's 
 mind is extreme ; his anger, his scorn, his hatred of the tyrant, his sorrow 
 for his friends, and his contempt for a desolate and dishonoured life, is 
 forcibly described. This character is uniformly sustained, till he has 
 finished his poetical destiny of Edward and his successors; and then, as 
 if he was overwhelmed with a fresh tide of indignation, and withholding 
 his greatest blow for the last, he returns from denouncing woe on the 
 blood of the Plantagenets, to Edward himself: and to make his last de- 
 nunciation of wrath more dreadful, he foretells the speedy death of his 
 wife — his beloved Eleanor of Castile : 
 
 " Half of thy heart we consecrate. 
 
 ( The web is wove. The work is done. ) "
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. Cxivii 
 
 That such impetuosity of feeling may suddenly be changed into great 
 and unexpected* joy, is not unnatural ; and accordingly when he fore- 
 sees the restoration of his own coiuitry, in the Welsh descent of the House 
 of Tudor, he with poetical truth of character breaks out into an exulta- 
 tion, founded as well on the future prosperity of his own race, as on the 
 baffled and frustrated cruelty of the tyrant. This joy is finely expressed 
 in the apostrophe to the shade of Taliessin : 
 
 " Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear ! 
 They breathe a soul to animate thy clay." 
 
 And if this impetuosity of feeling had been carried on by the address to 
 
 Edward : 
 
 " Fond impious man, think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, 
 Rais'd by thy breath, lias quench'd the orb of day ?" &c. 
 
 the whole poem would have preserved a uniform and consistent character. 
 The bard, however, in the last stanza, and just before he " plunges into 
 endless night," points out the future poets, who were to adorn the reign 
 of Elizabeth, in the following lines : 
 
 " The verse adorn again 
 
 Fierce war, and faithful love, 
 And truth severe, by fairy fiction drest. 
 In buskin'd measures move 
 Pale grief, and pleasing pain. 
 With horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast. 
 
 A voice, as of the cherub-choir. 
 Gales from blooming Eden bear ; 
 
 And distant warblings lessen on my ear, 
 
 That lost in long futurity expire." &c. 
 
 * On the sudden, and violent nature of the passion of Joy ; and its great difference, in this 
 respect, from the ojjiiositc passion of Grief, sec Ad. Smith's History of Astronomy, 
 p. 8, 4to. 
 
 t 2
 
 Cxlviii ESSAY ox THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 Independently of the interruption which these lines, by their lengtli, 
 give to the vmfhrmihf of" the emotion, perhaps they are not (however 
 beautiful) well adapted to the ciiaracter of the Welsh bard at any time; 
 and surely every one must acknowledge that they are most unsuited in 
 subject-matter, in expression, and turn of feeling, to the awful situation irj 
 which he stood, and the deed wliicli he was just preparing to commit ; 
 the revival of the Bards, it also must be remarked, is sufficiently noticed 
 in the preceding stanza : 
 
 " What strings symphonious tremble in the air. 
 What strains of vocal transport round her play !" 
 
 Gray writing a letter to Mr. Mason says, speaking of this poem : " I am 
 well aware of many weakly things toivards the conclusion, but hope the 
 end itself will do." — As there is certainly nothing weak in the preceding 
 stanza, it is fair to suppose tliat lie alluded to these verses, which I have 
 just cited ; and the criticism on which, I must leave to tlie opinion of 
 the reader; just adding, that I think he will perceive, upon a careful perusal 
 of them, something which indicates that they were composed after the first 
 heat of the composition was past.* There is a calmness, a care, an orna- 
 
 * The allegory in which the reign of Richard the Second is described, and which I have 
 already quoted, is remarkable, I think, for tl)e extreme beauty of the transition by which it i& 
 introduced. 
 
 " Gone to salute the rising morn." 
 
 With true lyrical spirit, the last image at once gives a train of thought to the poet's noind, and 
 he suddenly breaks forth: 
 
 " Fair laughs the morn," &c. 
 
 Whether this allegorical allusion may not, by some, be deemed to be too far extended, 
 considering the passionate emotion of the bard's mind, may at least be suggested. Dr. Priestly 
 has justly pointed out the distinctive propriety of tlie short metaphor, or the extended allegory^
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETIIY OF GRAY. Cxlix 
 
 ment about them, very different from the real language of passion so admi- 
 rably sustained through the rest of the poem. 
 
 So far as to the prophetic cast of this ode. It is called a Pindaric ode, 
 witli greater propriety than perhaps has been generally remarked ; I mean, 
 with regard to the form and structure of its measure. The English odes 
 of Cowley, and of other authors which they have called Pindaric, and which 
 they have formed in measures of irregular versification, unconfinedbutby 
 the fancy of the author, have been so denominated by a peculiar and unfor- 
 tunate misnomer. Among the Greek writers, that quality which particu- 
 larly distinguished the odes of Pindar from those of later writers, was the 
 confinement of his metre, and the regularity of his strophe and antistrophe. 
 OtiKiTi, says Aristotle,* i);^ouirni'Ati7ia-T^o(poui,'!r^ors§oi> ^l i'lyov. It appears 
 that the principal authors of this lyrical corruption, were Timotheus 
 and Philoxenus. Dionysius,t in his nineteenth section of his Treatise 
 ffe^< 2uv^£fl-£4j; 'Ovotxa.Tuv, says, ITa^a ys rtnc, d^'^uioig, rsTayf^ii/og ^ o Itdu- 
 §afji.Cog. According to Dionysius, there were three several changes in the 
 lyrical poem, or ode. Alcasus and Sappho, the oldest writers in this line, 
 had short strophes and antistrophes, consisting of a few lines each, and very 
 short epodcs. Stesichorus and Pindar enlarged and lengthened them, 
 fjcei^ovg l^yutnx.f/.ivoi rug vs^ioSovg, ilg ttoXXk i^'ir^Uy xa.) k.m}m, ^nviifj(,a.v uCtuc, 
 But the Dithyrambic poets wlia followed, Timotheus, Telestes, and Phi- 
 
 according to the situation. " Extended similes give universally more satisfaction in the 
 description of a still scene, than in the representation of a very active and busy one. In the 
 former case, the mind is in no haste, ns we may say, to return to the principal subject : in the 
 latter, it is often impatient of the least diversion from it." The reader may find some very 
 sound observations on this subject, supportcii by sufficient examples, in his Lectures on Oratory 
 and Criticism, p. 17+, 4to. And Webb, on Poetry, p. 107. 
 
 • Vid. Aristot. Problcmata xix. Sect. 15. 
 
 \ Vid. Dionys. de Structura Orationis, ed. Upton, p. 15G.
 
 Cl £SSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 loxenus, introduced other measures, so as almost to render themselves 
 free of all laws. —A confirmation of the truth of this passage from Diony- 
 sius, may be found in the Treatise of Plutarch -Tno) M&u(r<x;jj, cap. Xa, 
 where he cites a passage from Aristoxcnus, who says, " that Telesias the 
 Thehan forsook the beautiful example of Pindar, Dionysius, and others, in 
 which he had been educated and instructed, deceived by the new manner 
 of Timotheus and Philoxenus. 'Tiro r^g o-xf^viKtig re, xcc) •jroixlXm Mova-iKtis, 
 ug Kurci<ppoi>7i(rKi tuv kocXcou iKsUm, iv oig acer^a(p;;, t« ^tXo^ivov ^\, r.ui 
 
 TiUjoS'iov lK[x,a,i)6civiiv, Kcti rouTuv avTuti Tcc xoix.t'kuTara, y.an vKtKrrrii/ iv auToit 
 
 If ' 
 
 iyovTCC xunoTOfjtiiuv. 
 
 In this very brief sketch of the poetry of the lyre, we see the history of 
 the rise and decline of poetry in general. The simple structure, border- 
 ing on hardness in the first instance : secondly, the completion of its con- 
 formation, and the perfection of its parts: and, lastly, by that love of 
 variety which is always acting with so much force upon the fine arts, we 
 behold' the beauty of its structure destroyed, and an irregular and loose 
 system of versification built upon its ruins. What the Roman poet says 
 of Pindar, 
 
 *• Seu per audaces nova dithyrambos 
 Verba devolvit, numerisque fertur, 
 Lege solutis,"* 
 
 docs not apply to any part of Pindar's poetry now remaining ; but solely 
 to that species of poetry in which he composed, called dithyrambic ; and 
 
 • These lines in Horace, are, I should think, the foundation of the common opinion, that the 
 Odes of Pindar are irregular and wild in their formation. Gerard, in his ' Essay on Genius,' 
 hasTallen into this mistake: " Pindar's fancy (he says) was wild ; his versification also was irre- 
 gular." Essay, p. 424.
 
 ESSAV ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. cli 
 
 of which no specimens liave reached us. Instead therefore of the odes of 
 Cowley, and other writers, being Pindaric odes, they would propcily rank 
 under what is called by Greek writers, the 'J^iXo^enlog r^oTog, and would be 
 the 6)iu,i fjiyaxocci, X.U.] ToXvsiSiic. Nor was it without reason that Gray 
 called his a Pindaric ode ; because in what is called i\\e formal part of it, it 
 is modelled after the example of the Theban bard. It is mentioned as 
 Gray's opinion, in the Memoirs of Mason,* "that each stanza of the lyric 
 ode should have but nine lines, to make the ear perceive the return of the 
 regular metre ; and that Pindar has many such odes." He appears how- 
 ever to have altered his opinion on this subject, before he wrote The Bard. 
 He probably found, that an ode of this structure did not admit sufficient 
 variety. Tlie Ode by Fenton to Lord Go\ver,+ which received the praise 
 of Pope and Akenside, is formed in stanzas of ten lines. 
 
 * See Mason's Jlemoirs, vol. iii. p 157. I may mention here, that the ' Progress of Poetry' 
 is purely a narrative ode. ' The Bard' is, strictly speaking, a dramatic ode. Such are the 
 Pindaric odes mentioned by Mr. Twining, viz. Olymp. i. Ant. y. Olymp. vi. Epod. a.y. Olj-mp. 
 viii. Ep. /3. Pyth. viii. Stroph. -/. and also the odes of Horace which Dr Warton has pointed out 
 in his Essay on Pope (vol. i. p. 396.) ; viz. Lib. I. Od. xv., Lib. III. Od. iii. ver. 1 J. 37. and 
 Epode v. 
 
 f As an instance of the structure, as well as spirit of this ode, the following stanza may be 
 quoted : 
 
 " Beneath the pole, on hills of snow, 
 
 Like Thraci.m Mars, the undaunted Swede, 
 To dint of sword defies the foe, 
 In fight unknowing to recede. 
 From Volga's banks, the impetuous czar 
 Leads forth his furry troops to war, 
 
 Fond of the softer southern sky; 
 The soldan galls the Illyrian coast. 
 But soon the miscreant moony host 
 Before the victor-cross shall fly."
 
 Clii F.SSAY ON THE POKTUV OF CRAY. 
 
 In some observations on this point, Mr. Mason infers the superiority of 
 tlie regular lyric stanza, over the irregular ditliyrambic ode, from the com- 
 parative easiness of the latter ; it being in the power of any poet to construct 
 such an ode. " There was nothing," he says,* " that Gray more disliked, 
 than that chain of irregular stanzas which Cowley introduced, and falsely 
 called Pindaric ; and which, from the extreme facility of execution, pro- 
 duced a number of miserable imitators. Had the regular return of strophe, 
 antistrophc, and epode, no other merit than that of extreme difficulty, it 
 ought, on this very account, to be valued ; because we well know, that 
 ' easy writing is no easy reading.' " Voltaire, it is well known, in the pre- 
 face to the CEdipe, has used a similar argument, in saying, " that the dif- 
 ficulty of composing in rhyme in French plays, is a great cause of the plea- 
 sure which we receive in the composition. Tragedy," he says, " would be 
 destroyed if it were in blank verse ; remove the difhcuUy, and you take 
 away the merit. "t In a letter also to Mr. Walpole, he says, " \^ous n'ob- 
 servez, vous autres libres Bretons, ni unite de lieu, ni unite de tems, ni 
 unite d' action. En veritc vous n"cn faites pas mieux. La vraisemblance 
 doit etre comptee pour quelque chose. L'art en devient plus difficile, et 
 le difficultes vaincues donnent en tout genre du plaisir et de la gloire." 
 And in another part of the same letter he adds, " Permettez moi de vous 
 dire encore un mot sur la rime que vous nous reprochez. Presque toutes 
 les pieces de Driden sont rimees. Et jesoutiens encore que Cinna, Atalie, 
 Iphigenie etant rimes, quiconque voudrait secouer ce joug en France, 
 serait regarde comme un artiste foible, qui n' auroit pas la force de le 
 porter. 
 
 * See Mason's Memoirs of Gray, vol. iii. p.l56. , 
 
 f This passage from Voltaire is quoted in Dr. Blair's Lectures, vol. iii. p. 316.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETUY OF GUAY. cliii 
 
 ^' En qualitc de viellard il faut que je vous dire une anecdote. Je de- 
 i»andais un joiw a Pope pourquois Milton n'avoit pas rime son poerae, 
 dans le terns que les autres poetes rimoient leurs pocmes a I'imitation des 
 Italiens; il me repondit — because he could not," Both these opinions 
 may seem to be branched off from the general observation made by Aristotle 
 in his Treatise on Rhetoric,* ro ^uXi'zuTs^ov, f/,e7^oti ayadov, and which to a 
 certain extent seems to be strongly founded upon nature and truth. 
 
 In regard to Mr. Mason's opinion, he has perhaps laid down his posi- 
 tion in too unlimited a manner ; and placed rather more stress upon the 
 metrical construction of the ode than is due. There are certainly other 
 great difficulties in the composition of the ode, besides the occurrence of 
 the regular metre. It must require nearly the same talents to construct a 
 good ode, either in measure irregular or fixed : nor would inferior talents 
 succeed, though released from the bondage of such restriction. If we 
 receive greater pleasure from the regular ode, which I fully believe, it 
 must be sought for from another cause, in conjunction with that of the 
 ' difficult^ surmontcc :' chiefly from the itnifonnity we associate with our 
 notions of all poetical composition ; from our being accustomed to mea- 
 sures which have regularity and proportion in their parts ; and from the 
 perplexity and confusion arising in our minds, from intricacy and irre- 
 gularity of structure. There is a repugnance which we feel at first to 
 the introduction of any novel form of composition : perhaps there is no 
 young reader of poetry, who does not at first dislike the iise of the triplet 
 in Drydcn, because it is unexpected ; and indeed in all cases, the beauty 
 of it will depend on some nice preparation in the cadence, and on the 
 
 * See AristotclisRhetorica, lib. i. cap. vii. cil Holwell. Aiul A. Smith's Pliilosophical Essays, 
 4to. p. Iviii. in the account of his Life, by D. Stewart. 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 cliv ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 skilfiillness of its introduction in the preceding lines. To crvvv^ig, says 
 Aristotle, * Tjiu y^oiXXoy too atrvvn^ovg. And in a problem he has on this 
 subject, he says, A<a r) rihiov duovova-iv doovrm, ocru. nc^oiwicru.^iyo^ rvy- 
 ^ama-i ruv [/.iXm, rj m ,«,»? iwKrrdvrat. And in the forty-first problem of the 
 same chapter, he asks, A«a t) >j$iov dxovovcriv ciiovTuv, oara oiv v^oe'Tritrruf^ivoi 
 Tij^u(n raiv fJi,iKav, ^ iav fx^ri ixiffruvrui. '^rore^ov on fji,oiXXov OfjXog io-riv o rvy- 
 ^dtuv, altrTTi^ (TKOTOV, orav yvu^l^axri to a.iofJt,ivov. yvu^f^ovrm ie> riou ^m^ilv 
 rj oTi (Ty^Ta^^j ecTii' o ccKpouTtig, tco to yvai^ifJLOv uoovti. 
 
 The assertion of Voltaire is of less force, because it is not known, that 
 such a thing can exist, as a Fiench tragedy in blank verse. Rhyme, and 
 the inversion of the words, are the constituents of tiieir verse. It is laid 
 down as a rule by the best writers, that no word should be used in French 
 poetry, that may not with equal propriety be used in prose : and blank 
 verse could not be formed in a language, whose verse invariably demands 
 a pause in the middle of each line, and has a regular accent on the sixth 
 foot before the pause. Before it can be proved that blank verse can be 
 successfully written in French, | it must be shown, that this pause and 
 accent can be removed and altered. Independently of that, I may be 
 permitted to doubt whether Voltaire has not overrated (for the sake of 
 the argument) the difficulty of rhyming: though, perhaps, it exists in 
 the French language more than in others. We know, however, that an 
 Englishman has translated the whole of the long poem of Hudibras into 
 
 « Vid. Problemata 9. e. p. 763, and 768. ed. Duval : and Probl. 9— a. p. 768. 
 
 \ M. de la Motte says, that it is impossible to write a poem of any considerable length in 
 French, whicli sliall not weary the reader by the perpetual uniformity of its sounds. Does 
 not this partly account for almost all the Didactic Poems by French authors, being written in 
 Latin verse ?
 
 ESSAY OK THE POETRV OF GRAT. clv 
 
 French verses of four feet, with admirable success,* where one would 
 suppose the difficulty of finding rhymes would be absolutely insuperable : 
 and when even this poem, with its short lines and strange phraseology, 
 has been excellently versified ; shall we lay such great stress upon the 
 difficulty of finding rhymes in the plays of Racine, Corneille, or other 
 authors. I am not sure also, whether the rule of ' la difficulte surmonte,' 
 though it has a certain force in the versification of the French drama, 
 where so much art of various kind is displayed, may not act with less 
 power in that species of English poetry, which has always relied more on 
 its fertility of invention, and richness and sublimity of imagination, than 
 on its precise conformity to the exact rules of criticism. 
 
 Upon the whole, it appears to me, that the superior pleasure which we 
 receive from the regular lyric ode,1" arises from two causes. First, from 
 
 * I allude to that extraordinary work, < Hudibras, Poeme ecrit dans le Tems des Troubles 
 d'Angleterre, et traduit en vers Francois,' Londres, 1757, by Mr. Townley, an officer in 
 the Irish brigade, and Knight of the Order of St. Louis. He died in 1782, aged 85. 
 
 t 'The odes in blank verse, by Milton, Collins, and T. Warton, have less singularity in 
 their numbers, than is generally supposed. They consist of two common Heroic, or five- 
 footed verses, with an Alexandrine, or six-footed. The last divided into two portions, as 
 every Alexandrine is, by the pause, at the end of the third foot. Milton admits an Alexan- 
 drine into his Par. Lost, ix. ver. 24'9 ; which, together with the tw9 preceding lines, forms 
 the metre, of these blank-verse odes. 
 
 " Assist us — But if much converse perhaps 
 Thee satiate, to short absence I would yield, 
 For solitude sometimes 
 Is best society." 
 
 P. Lost, ix. 249. 
 
 ^ oung has admitted the Alexandrine into his Night Thoughts: 
 
 " The wisdom of the wise, and prancings of the great." 
 
 U 2
 
 clvi ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 the satisfaction which is derived from the harmony and proportion of its 
 parts ; from its connected variety, and corresponding relation in itself. 
 This is entirely lost in the irregular ode ; because there is no room to 
 institute that comparison, in which we delight so much, when we con- 
 template all works of art and design. Secondly, we pai'ticipate in the 
 pleasure that attends any difficult or laborious work overcome and sub- 
 dued by our skill. Although, in the long heroic verse, I think rhyme is 
 little source of difficulty ; yet it indisputably is, when added to the short 
 lyric stanza. Now if a poem can be so constructed as to present these 
 difficulties of such a nature that they are evidently not insuperable to 
 genius and skill, its merit wUl no doubt be enhanced by the conquest 
 which it has made. But if the difficulties are such, as cannot be over- 
 come, but only avoided by awkwardness of language, ungracefulness of 
 idiom, and obscurity of sense, then they must give way to metre of an 
 easier construction. The cost of the labour would manifestly be far 
 greater than the gain : and the taste that delights to sport in such perverse 
 misapplications of ingenuity, must be regarded as corrupt. Such, for 
 instance, would be the case, if in the common lyric stanza, we should 
 be forced to begin each line with a certain letter, or to make it an acros- 
 tic; and to end every line with a double rhyme. It would then become 
 merely an exercise of ingenuity, and not a work of genius : and this is 
 the plain and broad distinction, that the younger Racine did not see, 
 when he calls this argument a paradox, and says, that instead of admiring 
 we despise " ces vers techniques, cnfans du mauvais goiit, les Ropha- 
 
 Cowpcr also, in the 2il book of his Task : 
 
 " Storms rise to overwhelm them, or if stormy winds." 
 
 I perceive that it is also authorised by Mr. Southey in his Madoc. It is to be found in Spen- 
 ser, in the 2d line of the stanza, iii. 41 : 
 
 " He bound that piteous ladye prisoner, now releast."
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. civii 
 
 liques, Retrogrades, Leonins, Num^raux, Soladiques, Acrostiches, &c." • 
 It is true that we should despise them, if they were attempted to be dis- 
 played as works of genius ; or if they selected subjects above their na- 
 ture ; or if they mixed themselves with the ode, or the epic or tragic 
 poem : and besides this, their example proves only the excess or abuse of 
 the doctrine, which of course is no argument against its confined and 
 legitimate use. 
 
 This construction then of the ode, t by strophe and epode, or by some 
 other regular return of certain metres at stated intervals, appears to me 
 to be founded upon natural principles, which are not likely to be ex- 
 tinguished : and may I not also add, that it is authorized by the best 
 examples in all countries. Nor do I find, that it is proved by those who 
 are of a contrary opinion, that it has excluded any beauties which might 
 have been introduced into looser compositions. Indeed, it is more likely 
 to produce the contrary effect. The same principle holds good in all 
 other arts: and, as Sir Joshua Reynolds says.t " If difficulties overcome. 
 
 * See Reflexions sur la Poiisie, par M. L. Racine, p. 105. 
 
 f In favour of the Regular Ode ; the strongly-marked design, may be urged, as ouc 
 source of beauty. But the exact degree of regularity will probably remain a subject of 
 dispute; as few agree, on that combination of uniformity, and variety; design, and propor- 
 tion, which should appear in any work of art. 1 consider, the variety of measures used in 
 the Odes of Horace, as so many attempts to gratify the public mind in its love of change, 
 and weariness of uniformity. Some of these were probably successful ; others, like the 12th 
 ode of the 3d book — " Miserarum est nequc Amori dare ludum, neque dulci" — perhaps 
 unsuccessful, or not adopted into general use. And thus among the vast variety and change 
 of measures used by our old Englisli poets, as may bo seen by turning over the pages of 
 'England's Helicon,' and otiicr books; how few have been approved by time, and descended 
 into common and constant use : and those few, of plain, simple, and marked construction. 
 See Gray's Observ. on English Metre, ed. Mathlas, vol. ii. p. 29. 
 
 I See Sir J. Reynolds' Discourses, ed. Malone, vol. i. p. 287.
 
 Clviii ESSAY ON THE I'OtTKV Of GUAY. 
 
 make a great part of the merit of art ; difficulties evaded can deserve but 
 little commendation." 
 
 In the elegance as well as magnificence of his diction, in the force and 
 energy of his style, in the sublimity of the images, and in the boldness 
 of the metaphorical language, Gray's poem resembles the productions of 
 the Theban bard. In two circumstances, however, there exists a pro- 
 minent difference between them. The odes of Pindar are distinguished 
 for the frequency of the moral sentiments which he draws from his sub- 
 ject, in the shape of short and proverbial sayings ; and which he delivers 
 in a kind of axiomatical form. It is not necessary to say how distinct 
 this is, from that species of moral pathos which I mentioned before as 
 existing in the poetry of Gray. The ancient bard never seems to miss 
 any opportunity afforded by his subject, of extracting some ethical pre- 
 cept from it ; something in praise of the bounty of kings, of piety to the 
 gods, or of justice to men. Lord Bacon has not missed the notice of 
 this peculiarity. — " Animos hominum, [Pindarus^ sententiola aliqua mi- 
 rabili, veluti virgula divina percutit." This arose partly from the nature 
 of the Grecian ode, which was considered as a composition of a religious 
 nature, and which was framed in honour of gods and heroes, and whose 
 duty it was to recommend piety and praise ; * 
 
 'A^avdrovs fi-iv r^-jHra, fiiouf, yo'/xw tvs Staxeiyrai 
 Tlijia, — lir£i9"Howa; dyavov;. 
 
 Pythagor. Aur. Carm. 
 
 and partly from the natural disposition of the poet's mind, which loved 
 
 * T^f MovriKrjs tv rois lejols dvairr^eipoiieri}; h oJs niLr.v re rou Seiou, Std, ray'ri;; liroioCvro, 
 xa) rtuv dya^uiv dvSqwv sTtaivov;. Plutarch, de Musica, p. 663, ed. Wyttenbach. " All the 
 ideas (as Gray says in his notes to the republic of Plato) the Greeks had of the gods were 
 borrowed from the poets."
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. clix 
 
 to indulge in a kind of severe or pensive morality, changing at times into 
 enthusiastic animation, loftiness of sentiment, or beauty of description. 
 We find these same features displayed in the choral odes of the Greek 
 tragedy : and from a want of judgment in the imitation of the Greek 
 tragedians, the plays that pass under the name of Seneca, are a heap of 
 declamatory sentiments and moral aphorisms. As Horace, in his imita- 
 tion of Pindar, often followed his example in the loose and defective con- 
 nexions of the subject; so he by no means neglected to copy this pe- 
 culiarity in his great predecessor. Though much of this moral reflection 
 the poets undoubtedly borrowed from the Schools* of Philosophy ; yet it 
 is also to be observed, that in the early poetry of most nations, before it 
 has ceased to be the direct means of information as well as of pleasure, 
 this sententiousness naturally takes place. Heinsius, in his Dissertation on 
 Tragedy, where he is endeavouring to discover by internal evidence, the 
 
 * Hurt! attributes the frequency of the moral sentences, in the writings of the ancient 
 poets, to tlic influence of the Schools of Philosophy. See his notes on Horace, vol. i. 
 p. 175. " As they had been more or less conversant, in the Academy, would be their relish 
 of this moral mode, as is clearly seen in the case of Euripides, that Philosopher of the 
 Stage, as the Athenians called him ; and who is characterized by Quinctilian as " sententiis 
 dcnsior, et in iis quae a sapientibus tradita sunt, pane ipsis par." Hurdhas well distinguished 
 the peculiar moral character of the chorus, which, he sa3's, " was rather political and po- 
 pular, than legal and philosophic." See his note, vol. i. p. 154'. The most singular instance, 
 in modern times, of a tragic fable being founded on recent events, for a w/ora/ purpose, was 
 that of the tragedy on the Death of Henry IVth, acted at Paris, a few months after that event 
 took place, before his son and successor Louis XHItli, where he is represented as a personage 
 in the drama, made to complain, that study was prejudicial to him, that a book gave him the 
 head-ache, and that a drum was the cure. Du Bos gives a singuU-ir reason why dramas, in 
 which kings and queens are represented, cannot be taken from modern times; because the 
 Sovereign Houses in our days, nre so connected by intermarriage, that it would be impossible 
 to exhibit upon the stage a prince, who had reigned within an iiundrcd years, in any neigh- 
 bouring kingdom, in which the sovereign of the country would not find a relation. Sei- 
 Reflex. Bur la Poijsie, So-, vol. i. chap. I'O.
 
 Clx ESSAY ON THE POETRY Of GRAY. 
 
 time in which the different plays were written, that all pass under the name 
 of Seneca, says, "jam locorum major suppellex in Lucio Seneca; qua? 
 res mire antiqidtatem sapit." Every opportunity is seized to instruct, as 
 well as to please. Poets are not only the first historians, but the first mo- 
 ralists. They not only relate the action, but they unfold its motive, and 
 scrutinize its end. 
 
 " Fuit hiEC sapientia quondam, 
 
 Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis ; 
 Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis ; 
 Oppida nioliri, leges incidere ligno. 
 Sic honor, et nomen divinis vatibus, atque 
 Carminibus venit " 
 
 Chaucer introduces many lines of this nature into the humour of his 
 poems ; and he distinguishes his friend and contemporary by the appella- 
 tion of the ' Moral Gower.'* Much of the Gnomic poetry of the Greek 
 writers was composed by the elder poets ; and Quinctilian mentions, that 
 the elder Latin poets abounded with this sententious kind of writing. 
 " Tragediae scriptores, Accius, et Pacuvius, clarissimi gravitate senten- 
 tiarum."! When philosophy and history took the province of instruc- 
 tion ; poetry assumed, as its appropriate and primary purpose, the pro- 
 duction of pleasure. At least, instruction became not a necessary part 
 of the province of poetry, and only used as a means of pleasure,;}; as it 
 
 • Gower and Chaucer may not unaptly be called the Hesiod and Homer of English poetry. 
 If we take from Hesiod all that does not belong to hira, we should then bring the genius of 
 the two poets nearly on an equality. 
 
 f See Quinctilian, Inst. Orat. lib. x. cap. 1. And Athenasus, lib.xv. cap. H. 
 
 X Tlie object of the philosopher is to inform and enlighten mankind : that of the orator, to 
 acquire an ascendant over the will of others, by bending to his own purposes their judgment, 
 their imaginations, and their passions: but the primary and the distinguishing aim of thepof*.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. clxi 
 
 was conveyed with peculiar attraction ; with harmony of style, and beauty 
 of description. Jn this respect, then, it was judicious in the English 
 poet, when he formed his ode after the Pindaric model, not to follow that 
 peculiarity, the introduction of which depended upon the age in wJiich 
 the Grecian bard lived ; as well as upon his own particular habits of 
 thou ht, and on the genius and disposition of the people among whom 
 he wrote ; and which was not a necessary or constituent part of an ode 
 of that kind. I observe, that the excellent and learned editor of the 
 HeraclidiE of Euripides,* has taken notice of this peculiarity in the Greek 
 drama, in a note which he has written on the speech of Macaria, (ver. 
 501,) which abounds with moral reflections, suited to the occasion; and 
 which he compares with other speeches of the same nature in the Iphi- 
 genia and Hecuba. " Omnes (he says) locis communibus refertaj sunt, 
 quarum multo paticntiores fuerunt Athenienses quam nostri homines." 
 This observation might very properly be extended beyond the province 
 of the drama : for, indeed, the Athenians were not only patient of 
 this moral instruction, but placed it in a very eminent rank. It was not 
 
 is to please ; and the principal resource which he possesses for that purpose, is by addressing 
 the imagination. D. Stewart's Elem. of the Philos. of the Human Mind, 8vo, p. 497. On 
 the idea that utiliti/ and instruction are the end of poetry, and not pleasure; the reader is re- 
 ferred to a note in Mr. Twining's Aristotle, p. 561. 
 
 * So remarkable was Euripides for the frequency and the fullness of his moral sentiments, 
 that it was said Socrates assisted him with reflections and observations, drawn from his know- 
 ledge of liuman nature. Alluding to this, Callias, in the comedy called the IlfJijrai, makes 
 some one say to Euripides, 
 
 'H Ji; <rv (Tijj.)/^, xai (fpityils oSrui fteya. 
 To which he answers, 
 
 E^£(rri ydp [i.ii. Tux^iri^s ya^ ulno;. 
 
 And see jElian. Var. Hist. lib. ii cap 13. 
 
 VOL. I. V
 
 Clxii ESSAY ON THE POETllV OF GRAY. 
 
 unknown in painting, as well as poetry, anil tlic noblest among the an- 
 cient artists were the painters of manners, the "HOoycatpoi. It was the 
 advice of Aristotle, in his Politics, (lib. viii. c. 5,) to those who had the care 
 of youth, that only pictures, that had a moral tendency, should be seen by 
 them ; and especially the pictures of Polygnotus. Plato also makes a similar 
 remark:* Ae7 fjt,ri to, ITATSHNOS, ^laouv rovg vtovg, a.X}.u rov YIO- 
 ATFNriTON X ccv e) rig aXXo; ruiv ypupiuvy h ruy ayu'kf/.a.ruv kttiv y^Oir.og. 
 
 To conclude this branch of the subject, when it is said that instruction 
 forms apart of the province of poetry, it should be understood that moral 
 instruction is meant ; that instruction which is most generally interesting, 
 and most important in its nature, "quod niagis adnospertinet, et nescire 
 malum est ;" and which, in the language of Harris,! '^^ ^'^^t master- 
 knowledge, without which all other knowledge will prove of little or no 
 utility. This is what Horace calls, 
 
 " Speciosa locis, morataque recte — 
 Fabula— " 
 
 " a fable abounding with moral reflection, and where the manners are 
 properly expressed." And thus (to use the words of Sir Philip Sidney), 
 " Mistress Philosophy will very often borrow the masking raiment of Poesy. 
 For even those hard-hearted evil men who think \'irtue a school-name, 
 and know no other good but " indulgere gcnio," and therefore desjiise 
 the austere admonitions of the philosopher, and feel not the inward reason 
 they stand upon ; yet will be content to be delighted, which is all the 
 good fellow poet seems to promise ; and so steal to see the form of good- 
 ness ; which seen, they cannot but love, e'er themselves be aware." The 
 
 * Vide Platonem de Republ. viii. 5. f See Harris's Three Essays, p. S5, 8vo.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETUV 01' GRAY. clxiii 
 
 intention of conveying knowledge in arts and sciences, through the 
 medium of poetry, can only be built on grounds fundamentally erroneous; 
 and the genius of the poet, as Scaliger says of Claudian, will be "igno- 
 biliori materia depressus." 
 
 I hardly need observe, that the transitions in Gray are of a different 
 nature from those in Pindar. The difference arises partly from the license 
 assumed by the Grecian poet, and partly from the nature of his subjects. 
 The transitions in Pindar are Such as he makes in departing from his ori- 
 ginal subject, to a field more fruitful of ornament, and productive of plea- 
 sure ; * or else, when, in defiance of all regular succession of thoughts, 
 and by the most arbitrary associations and accidental connexions, he pur- 
 sues one subject after another ; like that species of verse called " Echoes," 
 where the sound of the last word is the sole guide f(;r the commencement 
 of the next, and the poem is connected only by the contiguity of its re- 
 sembling syllables : "quod tangit idem est, tamen ultima distant." The 
 neglect of the consideration of the peculiar circumstances under which 
 the Pindaric odes were written, misled our English writers, who possessed 
 the command of their subject-matter, but who still took advantage of the 
 license in which their predecessor had indulged. In the irregularity of 
 the metre, in the epigrammatic and quaint manner of expression, in their 
 
 ■* Dr. Warton says, that the character of Pindar ( as comnwnly taken) seems not to be well 
 understood. " We hear nothing but of tliu impetuosity and the sublimity of his manner; 
 whereas he abounds in strokes of domestic tenderness." (Warton on Pope, i. p. .'^89.) This 
 is true; but Horace had fully remarked it : 
 
 " Flebili sponsor, juvenemve raptum 
 Plorat; et vires animumque mores- 
 Que aureos educit in astra, nigro- 
 
 Que invidet Oreo." Od. IV. ii. 21. 
 
 X 2
 
 Clxiv ESSAY OX THE POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 witty and subtle associations, and in their harsh and dissonant numbers, 
 these Pindaric odes were most dissimilar to their original, and they re- 
 sembled it only in its chief defect. It must however be observed, before 
 I quit this subject, that many later odes of this kind have failed from the 
 very reverse of this objection, namely, from having little or no transi- 
 tion ; the thoughts being preserved in a regular and philosophical con- 
 nection, by which the poem takes the cast of a narrative, and loses all the 
 spirit and strength which arises from the sudden contrasts in matter and 
 numbers, from the rapid and various changes, from the fine transitions, 
 and from the bold and frequent personifications peculiar to the elevated 
 style of lyrical poetry. In rank next, and only next, to the poems of 
 Gray, must be placed the odes of Collins : in the subject, and the solemn 
 and severe style in which they are written, they bear a more striking re- 
 semblance to the choral odes of .^schylus, than to the poetry of Pindar; 
 and indeed, as I have before observed, Collins caught in an eminent de- 
 gree, the sublimity of conception, and grandeur of style, peculiar to the 
 father of the ancient drama. 
 
 VI. I have only a few words to say concerning the notes to this edition 
 of Gray. In some instances they have pointed out passages in the au- 
 thor which have been copied or imitated by succeeding poets, as by 
 Warton, Whitehead, or Langhorne ; and in a few places also, they have 
 assumed a liberty always granted to the editors of ancient authors, of di- 
 gressing into some observations on the poetry of authors incidentally men- 
 tioned. But their primary purpose was, to lay before the reader either 
 the intentional and direct imitations in the Poems of Gray ; as in The 
 Progress of Poetry ; 
 
 " The dauntless child 
 Stretch'd forth its little arms, and smil'd ;" 
 
 from Sandys ;
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OT GRAY. clxv 
 
 " the child 
 
 Stretch'd forth its little arms, and on him smil'd."* 
 
 And in The Hymn to Adversity ; 
 
 " Whose iron scourge, and torturing hour ;" 
 
 from Milton ; 
 
 " When the scourge 
 
 Inexorably, and the torturing hour." 
 
 Or else to mark those indirect imitations, in which the image bears a very 
 strong resemblance to that used by another poet, as in the Elegy ; 
 
 " Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries ;'' 
 
 from the Anthologia ; 
 
 " Crede mihi vires aliquas Natura sepulchris 
 Adhibuit, tumulos vindicat umbra suos." 
 
 Or, thirdly, to trace an allusion, either in subject or style, made to an- 
 cient customs or expressions ; to open the sources from which the poet 
 ornamented the productions of his fancy ; to shew the materials which he 
 connected for new combinations and fresh imagery ; and to elucidate the 
 allusions which he remotely made to the idioms, phrases, and images of 
 foreign writers. The very first lines of the poem on the Spring, for in- 
 stance, abound with allusions to the expressions of the ancient poets : 
 
 " Lo ! where the rusy-bosorn'd Hours, 
 Fair Venus' train, appear, 
 Disclose the long-expecting flowers, 
 
 • I may remark in what a fine manner Gray has made the general picture of a child smiling, 
 and stretcliing out its hands, in this instance a;);>ro/)Wa/c, by the epithet "dauntless," and 
 how admirable it characterizes the int'unt genius of Shakspearc.
 
 elxvl ESSAY ON THE PCETRY OF CRAY. 
 
 And wake the purple year ! 
 The Attic uiarbler pours her I hroal," &c. 
 
 • 
 
 The propriety and beauty of the expressions in these lines depend upon 
 the reference which we make to the ancient authors who have used them. 
 To tlie mere English writer, some must appear inapplicable, as '■'■purple 
 year;" and others unintelligible, as " Attic warbler." The whole of the 
 stanza has, indeed, quite the air of a Grecian hymn or ode: and might 
 have been sung with propriety by an ancient poet, who was beholding an 
 Athenian landscape brightening in the spring. Considered as a mere 
 piece of English scenery, I think some of the imag'js not peculiarly ap- 
 propriate. Shoidd we not select different parts of the day, and different 
 scenery, for the songs of the cuckoo and the nightingale, instc:id of bring- 
 ing tliem together, and making them " responsive ?" The first delights us 
 when it is heard from some distant trees, suddenly breaking through the 
 stillness of the summer noon : the latter, when pouring from a neigh- 
 bouring thicket its fine and full tones of melody at the close of the even- 
 ing, in the spring.* But not to dwell on this trivial objection ; perhaps 
 
 * How completely lias Goldsmith in the ' Deserted Village,' where he mentions the song 
 of the Nightingale, broken the unity of the image, and destroyed the proper emotion that 
 would have arisen from it, by a number of discordant, and opposite circumstances, that be- 
 longed to another part of the scenery, and an earlier period of the day: 
 
 " 1 he noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, 
 The playful children just let loose from school, 
 The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whisp'ring wind, 
 And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind. 
 These all in sweet confusion sought the shade, 
 AndfU'd each pause, the Nightingale had made." 
 
 These lines, I should think, were written when the poet lived, 
 
 " — Ad veleres Arcus, madidamque Capenara " —
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY. clxvii 
 
 the allusions to the ancient mythology with which the poem opens, 
 might have been kept in view throughout ; instead of being almost en- 
 tirely confined to the commencement ; and, on the whole, I have always 
 thought tlicre was a little defect in the change of scenery and expression 
 which takes place in this ode at the close of the first stanza. The charm, 
 indeed, which is produced by the occasional insertion of a classical image, 
 or an allusion to the mythology of the ancients ; the associations which it 
 brings with it, and the interesting picture which it creates in the mind, is 
 too evident to require any proof When, for instance, in the Hymn ta 
 Adversity, we meet with that fine invocation : 
 
 " Oh ! gently on tliy suppliant's head, 
 
 Dread goddess, lay thy chast'ning hand ! 
 Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad. 
 
 Not circled with the vengeful band" — 
 
 •what single epithet, what attribute could the poet have given to Terror, 
 which could have produced an effect equal to that of this image ? Do we 
 not immediately behold the figure of the goddess ; 
 
 " Ilorrentem colubris, vultuquc tremendam, 
 Gorgoneo ;" — 
 
 and do we not reflect upon a period, when this image was not considered 
 merely as part of an elegant fable, or as an ingenious personification ; but 
 when it brought with it the impression of its real presence, which was felt ; 
 and of its supernatural power, which was revered? 
 
 When an allusion, and not an imitation, is intended to be pointed out, it 
 is not always of consequence from what author, or what particular passage, 
 the resemblance is drawn ; and therefore it cannot be objected, that the 
 owe allusion which I have marked, is needless ; because many others equally
 
 Clwiii ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF OKAY. 
 
 obvious could be brought from various quarters. An hnitation perhap- 
 must be confined to one or two passages j but an allusion may be illustrateil 
 by many. It surely forms also a pleasing branch of criticism, to trace co- 
 incidences of thought between writers of genius ; to see what particular 
 taste has added to general expression ; and to observe, how a graceful 
 idiom, or a noble image, has bee« altered or enlarged by each succeeding 
 poet ; what new and unexpected lights have been cast by the fancy of one 
 author, on the suggestions of another ; and how a thought, by gradual 
 expansion, or sudden addition, is at length perfected. We may thus per- 
 ceive from what slender associations, from what faint images and occa- 
 sional turns of expression, a train of thought may shoot across the mind of 
 the poet, and opening and enlarging itself, and gaining accessions of 
 strength from all which the genius and learning of the mind can supply, 
 at length appear with a lustre and beauty that never belonged to it in its 
 early state, and under its original possessor. In this manner we may form a 
 correct notion how fine the fruit of native genius will be, when it is assisted 
 by the wisdom of others: and when the poet, while indulging in a patient 
 and liberal enquiry into the opinions of the enlightened, still preserves a 
 consciousness of his own independence of thought, and of his native and 
 original strength. — " Poetry (says Milton) is the art of expert judgment, 
 and the final work of a head filled by long reading and observing, with 
 elegant maxims and copious invention." 
 
 It will hardly be necessary, after what I have said, to take notice of the 
 opinions of those, who think the fame of the poet lessened as the imitations, 
 coincidences, or allusions are pointed out, and that his original genius 
 will be depreciated by exhibiting the quantity of his acquired materials. 
 It may be asked, however, if the reputation of Shakspeare or Milton has 
 been at all diminished by what has been selected to illustrate them, by the 
 industry of their commentators. I remember when an opinion of this
 
 liSSAY ON TUK POETIIV 01- GRAY. cixix 
 
 ilature was once urged against jNIilton ; and vvlien it was asserted that the 
 chief part of the materials which he used in his Paradise Lost, belonged to 
 other poets; the late Professor Porson, who was present, strenuously re- 
 pelled the justice of the accusation ; and, repeating the noble exordium 
 of the third book, a passage which is at once pathetic and sublime in the 
 highest degree, he asked to whom Milton was indebted for this fine example 
 of the most perfect poetry. As far as my opinion is concerned, I must say 
 that the original genius of Gray appears to me to be of the very highest 
 order: and that the combination of his images, and the application of theni 
 to his subject, is at once the result of the profoundcst thought, the finest 
 taste, and the most creative imagination. A person, however, who still en- 
 tertains sentiments of this kind, will do well, before he decides* too po- 
 sitively on the want of originality in this, or that writer, to read what Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds has so sensibly written on this subject witli regard to 
 painting ; and especially where he treats of the imitations of llaphael. 
 I shall here content myself with transcribing one short passage from one 
 of his Discourses.* " It is indisputably evident (he says) that a great part 
 of every man's life must be employed in collecting materials for the exer- 
 cise of genius. Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new 
 combination of those images which have been previously gathered and 
 deposited in the memory. Nothing can come of nothing. He who has 
 laid up no materials, can produce no combinations. The more extensive 
 therefore your acquaintance with the works of those who have excelled, 
 the more extensive will be your powers of invention ; and, what may 
 appear still more a paradox, the more original will be your conception." 
 
 • Sec Sir J. Reynolds's Discourses, vol. i. p. 2S, ed. Malonc. If any apology should be ne- 
 cessary for quoting so often the discourses of a painter, to illustrate the sister-art of potiri/, I 
 !<hould shelter myself under the remark of Mr. Harris; that the Stagiritc often illustrates his 
 poetic ideas from painting. Sec Philological Inquiries, p. '^08. 
 
 VOL. I. V
 
 clxX ESSAV ON THE POETKY OF GllAY. 
 
 It may be remarked, that proficiency in the language, as in all other 
 parts of poetry, must be acquired by study alone. In no case can it be 
 called a gift, or sudden inspiration. The poet, like the prose-writer,* 
 must take his words, as well as ideas, from the writings of others. He 
 will watch that slow, but perpetual change, that is always taking place 
 in language ; and his taste will enable him to decide, what he may draw 
 from the recesses of antiquity, as well as reject, what has been sullied by 
 injudicious use, and constant repetition. It is also to be observed, that 
 the notes of commentators are chiefly confined to the phraseology of the 
 poet ; because, imitations of expression are much more easily traced, than 
 imitations of thought. Of course, a poet like Spenser or Milton, though 
 he may borrow much in his expression, may show great genius in the 
 other constituents of his art, in the invention of the fable, in the disposi- 
 tion of the parts, in the framing of the characters, in the connexion and 
 dependence of the incidents, in the loftiness of his conceptions, in the 
 power of commanding all that is pathetic or sublime, and in the manage- 
 ment and conductof the whole poem, ro7g"'H.h<riv dz^i^ovv, n ra, n^a,yfji,ccTU 
 a-vvitrrcia-dat. The judgment, therefore, of the poet's originality from his 
 diction alone, of course, must be fallacious. Every poet has some parti- 
 cular province of the art to which he attributes the greatest charms, and 
 pays the chief attention. Though the phraseology be particularly studied 
 by one, it is comparatively neglected by another ; while something of 
 greater importance in his eyes, supplies its room. We should know, for 
 instance, what occupied the attention of Milton, by observing the varied 
 harmony, the inverted language, the flowing periods, and the foreign 
 phraseology of the poem. In Dryden, we should remark the power with 
 which he commands all the native sources of the English lansuatrc, the 
 
 See Hume's Essay on the Rise of the Arts and Sciences, xvii. p. 160, ed. London, 12ino.
 
 ESSAY ON THK POKTllY Ol' GUAV. clxxi 
 
 masculine vigour of his lines, the diversity of his idioms, the comprehen- 
 sion of his periods, the richness of his numbers, and the exuberance of his 
 expression.* In Thomson, though on the one hand we should feel the 
 heaviness and monotony of his versification, arising from his ignorance or 
 neglect of the true structure of blank verse, yet we should find even that 
 often giving way to the strength and vigour of his genius : we should ad- 
 mire that significant and emphatical language, which, atone touch, forms 
 and completes the picture he intended to create ; the promptitude with 
 which his genius seizes upon the decisive parts of the composition, the 
 vividness of his colouring, and the originality of his observation. The 
 great harmony of Akenside's versification, we should find, was to be attri- 
 buted to the frequency of the pause at the end of an unequal foot of the 
 verse, particularly the seventh. The position of this pause was as much 
 attended to, and admired by him, as that on the eighth foot by Milton, and 
 the Hymn to the Naiads, t derives much of its harmony from this cause. 
 
 * See Dryden's account of his own style, in the Preface to Don Sebastian, vol. iii. p. ISG, 
 ed. Malonc ; where he speaks of " some newnesses of English, translated from the beauties of 
 Modern Tongues, as well as from the elegancies from the Latin; and here and there, some old 
 words are sprinkled, which, for their significance and sound, deserve not to be antiquated, such 
 as wu often find in Sallust among the Roman authors ; and in Milton's Paradise, amongst 
 ours." 
 f As in the following lines : 
 
 " O'er cv'ry clime 
 
 Send tribute to their parents ; | and from them 
 
 Are ye, O Naiads; j Aretlmsa fair. 
 
 And tuneful Aganippe ; | that sweet name 
 
 Bandusia ; | that soft family that dwelt 
 
 With Syrian Daphne | and the hallow'd tribes 
 
 Heloved of Poeon. | Listen to my strain. 
 
 Daughters of Tethys, [ listen to your praise." 
 
 J'hi'sc pauses are all on unccptal feet ; on the 7th, jth, 7th, lid, 5th, 5th, 5th.
 
 Clxxii ESSAV ON Tlir: I'OETJIV Ol' (iRAV. 
 
 Akenside is, perhaps, the only one of our English poets who has writteu 
 so much in blank verse, and who is never inharmonious. In the poems of 
 Goldsmith, we should acknowledge what appear to be the artless, and the 
 natural graces of" composition. The subject, the phrase, the simple flow 
 of the verse, the choice of images, the beautiful transitions, the pathetic 
 vein that runs through his poetry, and perhaps the very carelessness in the 
 recurrence of the same rhyme, contribute to form a style of poetry by many 
 preferred to that of any other ; and able indeed to delight and refresh the 
 mind with the softness of its thoughts, and the easiness of its expression.* 
 Lastly, we might trace the effect, which the greatest skill in select and 
 ornamented language, exquisite attention to the euphony and harmony 
 of verse, judicious personification of abstract terms peculiarly adapted to 
 lyrical composition, highly-wrought metaphorical language, and splendid 
 and sublime imagery, have produced in lyric poetry, wlien directed by the 
 genius of Gray. He, therefore, who should attemj)t to take a critical re- 
 view of the English poets, and form his decision of the originality of their 
 powers from any one principle or application of their art, would, of 
 course, egregiously fail in his estimation of their general character. Of 
 poetry it may be said, as Quinctilian said of oratory : " Plures sunt 
 cloquentia? facies ; sed stultissimum est quajrere, ad quam rccturus se sit 
 orator, cum omnis species, quae modo recta est, habeat usum." 
 
 VII. It may be thought necessary to say something to the admirers of 
 Gray, concerning the silence which is held on Ur. Johnson's criticisms on 
 
 * It has alwaj-s appeared to me, that the frequent recurrence of the same rhymes in Gold- 
 smith, was intended to assist the natural and unstudied appearance of his poetry; at least, it 
 possesses that effect. Atterbury praises Waller for his rhymes being not only good, but new : 
 and Ur. Warton remarks, that " wo have compositions where new and uncommon rhymes are 
 introduced. One or two writers, however, I cannot forbear mentioning, who have been
 
 ESSAY OK THE POETRY OT GRAY. clxXlii 
 
 the poet. This has proceeded from the conviction, that most of the par- 
 ticular objections, all indeed of any importance, have long since been an- 
 swered by those,* who wrote with that avowed intention. What remain, 
 are rather general objection?, often unsupported by arguments, and which 
 have lost much of their weight, since the prejudice and partialities of their 
 author have been acknowledged. The observations of Dr. Jolmson on the 
 poetry of Gray, bear few marks of severe scrutiny, or mature decision ; but 
 seem rather the productions of a mind, deeply prejudiced against the 
 poetry of the author ; loosely scattering expressions of dislike and con- 
 tempt ; anxious to find objections, and careless of the grounds on which 
 they were founded. Under this impression, all the talents and acuteness 
 of Ur. Johnson must fail in commanding our confidence, in the stability of 
 his criticism. We shall look in vain for that openness, and candour, which 
 can make the most searching remarks, of service both to the author, and 
 the reader ; and we have no hesitation in saying, that his, is not the seve- 
 rity of the judge, but the misrepresentation of the adversary. f Dr. John- 
 
 studious of this beauty. They arc Parnell, Pitt in his Translation of Vida, West in his Pin- 
 dar, Thomson in his Castle of Indolence." Essay on'Pope, vol. i p. M9. 
 
 ♦ Mr. Potter, the translator of j'Eschylus, Mr. Fitzthomas, (see A.Seward's Letters, ii. 
 p. Ua), ' A Yorkshire Freeholder,' Mr. G. Wakefield, Mr. P. Stockdale; not to mention the 
 publication of Professor Young of Glasgow. 
 
 t It is fair to confute a critic from his own writings. The two following passages will per- 
 haps shew how much the same person difters from himself, when an author and a critic. On 
 
 the Ode to Eton College, Dr. Johnson says, " The Prospect of Eton College suggests nothing 
 to Gray, which every beholder does not cijually think and feel. His supplication to Father 
 T/iamex, to tell him who dr'weA the Loop or tosses the ball, is useless and puerile. Father 
 Thatties had no better means of/moxiitig than himselj." — Are we by this rule of criticism to 
 judge the following passage, in the twentietli chapter of Kasselas? " As they were sitting 
 together, the princess cast her eyes upon the river that flowed before her: « Ansivcr,' said she, 
 ' great Father of Waters, thou that rollest thy floods through eighty nations, to the invocation 
 of the daughter of thy native king. Tell mc, if thou xvatcrest, through all thy course, a singlr
 
 clxxiv KSSAY ON TIIK POETRY OF GRAY. 
 
 son, however, did not stand single in his expressions of dislike to the 
 poetry of Gray. Goldsmith, I have heard, spoke of it in terms of great 
 contempt in his familiar conversation ; and alluded to it in the same man- 
 ner, in the preface to his edition of ParnelL* But if we suppose that Dr. 
 Johnson and others were not prejudiced against the poetry of their contem- 
 porary, it remains then only to presume, that they did not esteem or feel 
 the beauties of that species of composition, in which the genius of Gray 
 delighted. Dr. Johnson certainly most admired that kind of poetry, in 
 which he himself so eminently excelled ; and which, like the works of 
 Dryden, contained sound sense, quick and ready observation, and moral 
 eloquence, in fine harmonious couplets ; without borrowing much embel- 
 lishment from the fancy, or much sublimity from the imagination. In the 
 Lives of the Poets, the school of Dryden and Pope, the school of strong 
 sense, shrewd wit, close expression, and elegant amplification of the sub- 
 ject, is every where admired ; while the beautiful imagery, pathetic sen- 
 timent, romantic thought, and sublime and magnificent creations of the 
 lyric muse, as displayed in the poems of Gray, or of Collins, are slighted 
 and depressed. I never would for a moment believe, that Dr. Johnson so 
 
 habitation, from which thou dost not hear the murmurs of complaint.' " If the reader is now 
 desirous to see the critic criticized by the author, he may turn to Walpole's Works, vol. v. 
 p. 394, and find Gray's opinion of Dr. Johnson's Translation of Juvenal ; and which passage 
 I have quoted in the Life. 
 
 * See the Life of Parnell, p. xxviii. Goldsmith does not mention Gray by name ; but it is 
 w ell known that he alluded to him. " Parnell is happy in the selection of his images, and 
 scrupulously careful in the choice of his subjects. His productions bear no resemblance to 
 those tawdry things which it has for some time been the fashion to admire ; in writing which, 
 the poet sits down without any plan, and heaps up splendid images without any selection ; when 
 the reader grows dizzy with praise and admiration, and yet soon grows weary, he can scarce 
 tell why." This alludes, I believe, to the Elegy ; and there is much more of thb reflection in 
 the preface, which it is hardly worth while to transcribe, as the book is very common in which 
 it is to be found.
 
 ESSAY ON THE POETRY OF GRAY, clxXV 
 
 severely and unjustly criticized what he really and sincerely admired; but 
 I should think, that he might feel some degree of spleen, in hearing others 
 extol, what he could not approve ; and enjoy, what he was not capable of 
 relishing ; and it happened in this, as iu most cases of a similar nature, 
 that an opposition of sentiments, occasioned a warmth of expression ; and 
 the more he heard the poems of Gray approved, the more closely he clung 
 to his own opinions ; and more severely expressed his contempt of his ad- 
 versaries ; by lowering in the eyes of the public, the Bard whom they so 
 fondly admired, and adored. 
 
 It is perhaps almost unnecessary to observe, that he who peruses the 
 Lives of the Poets by Dr. Johnson, will certainly discover in them the 
 same marks of that great waiter's penetration and sagacity which dis- 
 tinguished the productions of his earlier years. The same clearness of 
 thought and profundity of judgment which he brought to the examination 
 of all subjects critical and moral : and by which he was enabled to dispel 
 much error and obscurity, even upon those questions which had not 
 formed his favourite objects of enquiry, or been submitted to his accus- 
 tomed investigation. He seldom indeed fails to inform, e\cn w'herc he is 
 unable to persuade : and if he does not convince us of the general truth 
 of his arguments, he at least instructs us by the particular force of his 
 reasoning. But we shall be much disappointed, if we open these volumes 
 with a hope of enjoying the calm result of an impartial judgment j or 
 if we expect to find in them a just and connected code of poetical cri- 
 ticism, founded on enlarged principles, and accompanied with a candid 
 and liberal investigation of the merits of those writers who pass in re- 
 view before him ; and we shall probably agree in the opinion of a writer, 
 (who always accompanies his philosophicalinvcstigations with the most in- 
 dulgent spirit of criticism,) when he says : '* To myself (much as I admire his 
 great and various merits both as a critic and a writer) human nature never
 
 clxXVl ESSAY ON THE POETRY Or CiUAY. 
 
 appears in a more humiliating form than when I read his Lives of the 
 Poets, a performance which exhibits a more faithful, expressive, and curious 
 picture of the author, than all the portraits attempted by his biographers ; 
 and which in this point of view compensates fully by the moral lessons it 
 may suggest, for the critical errors which it sanctions. The errors, alas ! 
 are not such as any one who has perused his imitations of Juvenal can 
 place to the account of a bad taste, but such as had their root in 
 weaknesses, which a noble mind would be still more unwilling to ac- 
 knowledge.* " 
 
 * See Professor D. Stewart's Philosophical Essays, 4to. p. 491.
 
 SONNET. 
 
 A LONELY Man he was, from whom these lays 
 Flow'd in his cloister'd musings : He in scorn 
 Held them, the unfeeling multitude, who born 
 For deeds of nobler purpose, their ripe days 
 Waste amidst fraudful industry, to raise 
 Inglorious wealth. — But He, life's studious mora 
 Gave to the Muse, so best might he adorn 
 His thoughtful brow, with never-dying bays. 
 And well the Muse repay 'd him. She hath given 
 An unsubstantial world of richer fee ; 
 High thoughts, unchanging visions, that the leaven 
 Of earth partake not ; — Rich then must he be, 
 Who of this cloudless world, this mortal heaven, 
 Possesseth in his right the Sovereignty. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 In presenting the first volume of this work to the notice of the 
 public, the editor takes the opportunity of stating, that his inten- 
 tion has been to form a more complete collection of the poems of 
 Gray, than has hitherto appeared : and to accompany the text 
 with those notes and illustrations, which might trace the imitations, 
 and explain the allusions, that occur in the works of a poet, who 
 is almost unequalled, at least in modern times, in the extent of 
 his research, and the variety of his learning. The edition- of the 
 late Mr. Wakefield was designed, in some degree, to execute this 
 plan ; and the editor has great pleasure in acknowledging his fre- 
 quent obligations to that work. He has also collected in a short 
 life of Gray, those new materials, which had appeared at different 
 times, since the publication of Mr. Mason. 
 
 The second volume contains all the letters of Gray which were 
 published by Mr. Mason ; together with those subsequently printed 
 in the works of Lord Orford, and in the Gentleman's Magazine. 
 In addition to these, the editor has been enabled, b}' the kindness of 
 Richard Wharton, Esq., to enrich his work with many original and 
 highly valuable letters from Gray to his most intimate and respected 
 friend. Dr. Wharton, of Old Park, Durham. From this collection in 
 
 .V M
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the hand-writing of Gray, the editor has made the selection which 
 he now offers to the pubhc, with the most perfect confidence of 
 its affordino; additional delioht to those who have estimated the 
 value of that part of the correspondence of Gray, formerly edited 
 by Mr. Mason. In these letters, which arc now published for the 
 first time, they will acknowledge the same marks of that sound and 
 correct judgment, that excellent sense, and polished taste, ex- 
 j)ressed in the most lively and unaffected language,: and adorned 
 by a fancy highly playful and elegant. 
 
 The great importance liowever which the editor attaches to this 
 volume is, that it enables the public /or the first time to read the 
 genuine and uncorrupted correspondence of Gray, exactly in his 
 own language, and printed from his own manuscripts. ]\f r. Mason 
 has published about thirty letters from Gray to Dr. Wharton, in 
 many of which he has transposed the sentences, inserted para- 
 graphs from one letter into another, and coilnected these insertions 
 with sentences of his own ; in almost all, he has altered' the style, 
 and changed, in a greater or less degree, the truth and character 
 of the original composition. 
 
 It was the intention of the editor to give in this place a speci- 
 men of one of the genuine letters compared with ihe r if acimento 
 of Mr. Mason, but owing to the numerous transpositions ; and 
 from the manner in which a fictitious letter is often framed, from 
 two, or even three original ones, it was found difficult to effect this 
 with satisfaction ; and it was therefore thought better to leave the 
 comparison entirely to the curiosity of the reader.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The same volume whicix has been now entrusted to the present 
 editor was lent by the late Dr. Wharton to Mr. Mason, when the 
 latter was preparing to publish the memoirs of his friend : and the 
 editor has the very best authority for stating, that Dr. Wharton 
 was excessively displeased at the extraordinary liberties which 
 Mr. IVIason had taken with the volume that had been entrusted 
 to his care. Much, of course, that may now be published with 
 the greatest propriety, was at the time, in which Mr, Mason 
 lived, very judiciously omitted by him. But for the system of 
 alteration which he has intentionally, constantly, and silently 
 adopted in that which he has pitblhhed ; so as often to disfigure 
 and change the real style and manner of Gray ; what reason can 
 be assigned, what apology can be offered.'' 
 
 The editor has also been favoured, in the most oblioino- maimer, 
 with copies of the original letters from G/ay to Mr. Taylor IIow, 
 and he has found the same plan of transposition of sentences and 
 alteration of style pursued by Mr. INfason in them. The blank 
 spaces which sometimes occur in the following letters are occa- 
 sioned by similar deficiencies in the original manuscript. Before 
 Dr. M'harton entrusted his volume of letters to Mr. Mason, he cut 
 out, and erased several passages. The editor has only further to 
 observe, that he has formed the following selection according to 
 the best of his judgment: he has made u few omissions where 
 the subject turned on mere matters of business, or private and 
 domestic circumstances ; and he has taken the liberty of altering 
 a very lew words which occurred in the freedom of the most 
 familiar correspondence; but it must be added, that this has not
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 taken place above three or four times in the whole collection of 
 letters ; and only in those cases where the original expression 
 could not with propriety have been retained. 
 
 The notes marked with a W, are taken from the edition of 
 Mr. Wakefield. 
 
 Benhall, May 7tli, 1816.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Life of Grav ....... Page i 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 . . . .A. - - - . . . . Ixxi 
 
 • • • .B. . - - - . - - Ixxvi 
 
 • • • .C. - - - - . - . Ixxix 
 . . . .D. - - - - - . . luxv 
 Essay on the Poetry of Gray - - - - xci 
 
 Ode on the Spring --.-.-.j 
 Ode on the Death of a favourite Cat - - - - .7 
 
 Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College - - - - 1 1 
 
 Hymn to Adversity - . . . . . -20 
 
 The Progress of Poesy - - - _ . - 26 
 
 The Bard --...--46 
 
 Ode for Music ._--...gg 
 
 The Fatal Sisters -----..80 
 
 The Vegtam's Kivitha ; or, The Descent of Odin - - -85 
 
 The Triumphs of Owen - - - - _ .94 
 
 The Death of Hoel, &c. - - - - - - 97 
 
 Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West .... ]00 
 
 Epitaph on Mrs. Jane Clcrkc . _ _ _ . i02 
 
 Epitaph (in Sir William Williams ..... 104 
 
 Elegy written in a Country Church-yard - - - . /yoQ 
 
 Long Story -- --..._ 127 
 
 POSTHUMOUS POEMS AND FRAGMENTS. 
 
 Ode on the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude - . - 139 
 
 Translation of a Passage from Statius . . - - 1 46 
 
 Fragnitnt of a Tragedy of Agrippina » - - - 148 
 
 Hymn to Ignorance ----.-- 162
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Tlic Alliance of Education and Government _ _ - _ l65 
 
 Stanzas to Mr. Bentley .--.-_ 175 
 
 Sketcii of iiis own Character - . _ - . 178 
 
 Amatory Lines - - - - - . - 180 
 
 Song - - - - - - - - 182 
 
 Tophet - - - - - - - -184 
 
 Impromptu .-_■-.. i'^5 
 
 The Candidate - - - - - - -187 
 
 LATIN POEMS. 
 
 Hymeneal - - - - - - - -I'Jl 
 
 Luna Habitabilis - - ... . . _ igfi 
 
 Sapphic Ode -.--.-. 202 
 
 Alcaic Fragment ._----- ©Ofi 
 
 Latin Lines addressed to Mr. West from Genoa ... ibid. 
 Elegiac Verses, occasioned by the Sight of the Plains were the Battle of 
 
 Trebia was fought - - ' - - - - 207 
 
 Ode ' ad C. Favonium Zcphyrinum ' - - - - - 20y 
 
 Fragment of a Latin Poem on the Gaurus - - _ . 213 
 Farewell to Florence - - - - - -218 
 
 Imitation of an Italian Sonnet of Sig. Abbate Buondelmonte - - 220 
 
 Alcaic Ode, written in the Album of the Grande Chartreuse, iu Dauphiny 222 
 
 Part of an heroic Epistle - - - - - - 225 
 
 Didactic Poem, unfinished ; entitled, ' De Principiis Cogitandi ' - 229 
 
 Greek Epigram - - - >- - - - 243
 
 ODES. 
 
 ODE I. 
 ON THE SPRING. 
 
 The original manuscript title given by Gray to this Ode, was « Noontide.' It appeared for the 
 first time in Dodsley's Collection, vol. ii. p. 271, under the title of ' Ode." 
 
 Lo ! wliere the rosy-bosoni'd Hours, 
 
 Fair Venus' train, appear. 
 Disclose the long-expecting flowers, 
 
 And wake the purple year ! 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. Lo ! w/iere the rosy-bosom'd Hours} " The Graces, and the rosy -bosom' d 
 Hours." Milton's Comus, ver. 984. W. 
 
 Ver. 2. Fair f'enus' train, appear] So Homer in the Hymnus ad Venerem, ii. 5 : 
 
 AifavT dtntctartajs *efl S' ajj-^pra. etfuxra. strcrav. 
 The Hours also are joined with Feii'ts in the Hymnus ad Apollineni, ver 194. And 
 Hesiod places tliom in her train : 
 
 'Ilfai KnXXiKOjioi (rre<fov av^sriy £]acgivo7(n. Erg. ver. 75. 
 Ver. 3. Disclose the long-expecting Jiozcers] 
 
 " At tliat soft season when descending showers 
 Call forth the greens, and wake the rising Jioicers" 
 Pope's Temple of Fame, b. i. ver. 1. VV. — In some editions, and even in those of Mr, 
 Park, and of Du Iloveray, "expected*' is erroneously printed for "ex pectin;'." 
 
 Ver. 4. ^Ind titike the purple i/ear] Apuleius in his Nuptiis Cupid, et Psyches, vi, 
 p. 427, ed. Oudendorp: " Hora:, rosis, et cateris floribus purpurabant omnia." Also 
 in the Pervigilium Veneris, ver. 13 : " Ipsa ^cmmh pnrpurant em pingit annum floribus." 
 Pope has the same expression in his Past. i. 28 : " And lavish Nature paints the purjilr 
 i/ear." ^ 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 
 
 The Attic warbler pours her throat.V 5 
 
 Responsive to the cuckow's note, 
 
 The untaught harmony of spring : 
 While, whisp'ring pleasure as they fl}', 
 Cool Zephyrs thro' the clear blue sky * 
 
 Their gather'd fragrance fling. 10 
 
 Where'er the oak's thick branches stretch 
 
 A broader browner shade, 
 Where'er the rude and moss-grown beech 
 
 O'er-canopies the glade. 
 Beside some water's rushy brink 15 
 
 With me the muse shall sit, and think 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 5. The Attic warbler pours Iter throat~\ Martial. Epig. i. 54 ; " Sic ubi 
 inultisuna fervet sacer Atthide lucus." Also in the Epitaphium Athenaidos apud 
 Fabrettum, p. 703: " Cum te, nate, fleo, planctus dabit Attica Aedoii," And "Attica 
 volucris." Propert. II. xvi. G. 
 
 " fugit vultus 
 
 Philomela suos, natumque sonat 
 Flebilis Attfna:' Seneca; Here. CEt. v. 200. 
 Add Milton, Par. Reg. iv. 245 : " The Attic bird trills her thick -warbled notes." The 
 expression " pours her throat " is taken from Pope's Essay on Man, iii. 33 : " Is it for 
 thee the \mnct pours her throat ?" 
 
 Ver. 12. A broader browner shade'] Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 21G: " The unpierc'd 
 shade imbroTcn'd the noontide bowers." " And breathes a browner horror o'er the woods," 
 Pope's Eloisa, 170. \V. — Thomson's Cast, of Ind. i. 38 : "Or Autumn's varied shades 
 imbrown the walls." 
 
 Vtr. 13. Where er the rude and moss-grown beech 
 
 O'er-canopies the glade] 
 " A bank u'ercanopied with luscious woodbine." Shaks. Mids. N. Dr. act ii. so. 2. 
 GaAY — Mr. Wakefield has cited a passage from Milton's Comus, 513, which bears some 
 resemblance to this passage. 
 
 Fletcher's Purpl. Island, ch. i. ver. 30: 
 
 " The beech shall yield a cool safe canopy." *
 
 (At ease reclin'd in rustic state) 
 How vain the ardour of the crowd. 
 How low, how httle are the proud, 
 
 How indigent the great ! 20 
 
 Still is the toiling hand of Care; 
 
 The panting herds repose : 
 Yet hark, how thro' the peopled air 
 
 The busy murmur glows ! 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 19. Hovi lotv, &c.] 
 
 " How low, how indigent the proud. 
 
 How little are the great !" 
 
 So these lines appeared in Dodsley. The variation, as Mr. Mason informs us, was subsequently 
 
 made, to avoid the point " little and great," 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 22. The panting herds repose'] " Patula pecus omue sub ulino est," Pers. 
 Sat. ill. 6. W. — But Gray seems to have imitated Pope's Past. ii. 80 : 
 " But see tiie shepherds shun the noonday heat, 
 The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat, 
 To closer ihades the panting Hocks remove:" 
 whicli was from Virg. Eclog. ii. 8 : " Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant ;" or 
 Hor. Book III. Ode xxix. 21 : 
 
 " Jam pastor umbras cumgrege languido 
 Rivumque fessus quaerit." 
 Ver. 23. Yet hark, how thro' the peopled air] Thomson's Autumn, 83f) : " Warn'd 
 of approaching winter, gatlier'd, i)!ay the szca//ow-peopk." And Walton's Complete 
 Angler, p. 2(;() : " Now the wing'd people of the sky shall sing." To which may be 
 added, Beaumont's Psyche, st. Ixxxviii. p. 40: " Every tree empeopled was with birds of 
 softest throats." 
 
 Ver, 24. The busy murmur glows] Thus Milton, Par. Reg. iv. 248 : " The sound 
 of bees' industrious murmur." Mr. Wakefield quotes Thomson's Spring, 5O0 : " Tliro' 
 the soft air the hu^if nations Hy." And, 049 : " But restless hurry thro' the husi/ air." 
 Compare also i'ope's T. of Fame, 2^4. I will add here a few of Pope's imitations, 
 (wiiiuli have been unnoticed,) in as brief a manner as possible. " The glory of the priest- 
 hood and the shame," (Essay on Criticism, 093) is from Oldham's Sat. against Poetry : 
 
 B 2
 
 The insect-youth are on the wing, 25 
 
 Eager to taste the honied spring, 
 
 And float amid the liquid noon : 
 Some liglitly o'er the current skim. 
 Some shew their gayly-gilded trim 
 
 Quick-glancing to the sun. 30 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " The glory and the scandal of the age." And this line is copied from a poet who has been 
 undeservedly neglected, and in whose work are many very beautiful passages and expressions : 
 " The glory, yet the scandal of the age." Chambcrlayne's Pharonida, ii. p. <200. In Eloisa 
 to Abelard, ver. 51 : " Heaven lirst taugiit leltcis," is formed upon some lines written by 
 Howel, and prefixed to his Epistles, p. 13. In the begiiniing of Eloisa, ver. 13: "Oh! 
 write it not, my hand," is from Claudian, Nupt. Hon. et iMar. ver. 7. 
 
 " quotics iiu ;nuluit ore 
 Confessus sccrcta rubor : nonienque bcatum 
 Injussaiscripserc manus !" 
 ver. 324, of the same poem, is from Seneca, Here. QCt. liJ4G. Pope has borrowed much 
 from Milton. To give the passages at longlh would extend this note too far : but compare 
 Paetoral iii. GO, with Comus, !290 ; Temple of Fame, 9', with Par. Lost, i. 7 1 1 ; Temple 
 of Fame, 94, with Pur. Lost, ii. 2. , 
 
 Ver. 23. The imect-ijouth are on the wing] " Some to the sun i\\e\r insect- zoiugs 
 unfold," Pope's Rape of the Lock, ii. 59- W. ; but this expression was rather suggested 
 by a line in Green's Hermitage, quoted in Gray's Letter to Walpole : (see note at ver. 31.) 
 " From maggot-i/outh thro' change of state 
 They feel, like us, the turns of fate." 
 Ver. 2(). Eager to taste the honied spring'] Part of Dr. Johnson's objection to this 
 word, as formed after a late practice of poets, has been removed by the authority of 
 million, as quoted by Mr. Wakefield : II Pens. 142., Lycid. 140., Sams. Agonist. 1066. 
 T. Warton has used it in Tlie Hamlet, 43 : " Their humble porch with honied flowers." 
 
 Ver. 27. ylnd float amid the liquid nnonl " Nare per astatem liquidam," Georg. 
 iv. 59. Gray. — To which, add Georg. i. 404 ; and ^n. v. .525 ; x. 272. 
 
 Ver. 30. Qu'ck-glancing to the sun'] " Sporting with quick glance, shew to the 
 sun their wav'd coats dropp'd \\ith gold," Par. Lost, vii. 410., Gray. — See also Pope's 
 Homer, ii. 557 ; and Essay on Man, iii. 55, Whiteliead has copied this expression : 
 " Quick- glancing to the sun display 'il." See his Works, vol. iii. p. 26; and T. Warton in 
 his ode written at Vale Royal Abbey : 
 
 " Tiie golden fans, that o'er the turrets strown 
 Quick-glancing to the sun, wild music made." st, iii.
 
 To Contemplation's sober eye 
 
 Such is the race of Man : 
 And they that creep, and they that fly, 
 
 Shall end where they began. 
 Alike the Busy and the Gay 35 
 
 But flutter thro' life's little day, 
 
 In Fortune's varying colours drest: 
 Brush'd by the hand of rough Mischance, 
 Or chill'd by Age, their airy dance 
 
 The^^ leave, in dust to rest. 40 
 
 Methinks I hear, in accents low, 
 
 The sportive kind reply : 
 Poor moralist ! and what art thou ? 
 
 A solitary fly ! 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 31. To Coiitempldtioii's sober ei/e] "While insects from the threshold preach" 
 Green, in the Grotto. Dodsley, Misc. vol. v. p. iGl. Gray. — Gray, in a letter to H. 
 Walpole, says : (see Walpole's Works, vol. v. p. 395.) " I send you a bit of a thin" for 
 two reasons; first, because it is one of your favorites, Mr. M. Green; and next, because 
 I would do justice : the thoiic^lit on tchich mi/ secoiul Ode turn);, (The Ode to Sprint, after- 
 wards placed Jirst, by Gray,) is manifestly stole from thence. Not that I knew it at the 
 time, but having seen this many years before ; to be sure it imprinted itself on my memory, 
 and forgetting the author, I took it for my own." Then follows the quotation from Green's 
 Grotto. Mr. Wakefield seems to iiave discovered the original of this stanza in some lines 
 in Thomson's Sunuucr, 34G : 
 
 " Thick in you stream of light, a thousand ways, 
 
 Uinvard and downward, thwarting and convolved, 
 
 The quivering nations sport ; till, tempest- winged. 
 
 Fierce Winter sweeps them from the face of day. 
 
 E'en so luxurious men, unheeding, pass 
 
 An idle summer life in forlime's shine, 
 
 A season's glitter ! Thus they flutter on 
 
 From toy to toy, from vanity to vice. 
 
 Till, blown away by Death, Oblivion comes 
 
 I5ehiud, and strikes them from the book of life !"
 
 Thy joys no glitt'ring female meets, 45 
 
 No hive hast thou of hoarded sweets, 
 
 No painted plumage to display : 
 On hasty wings thy youth is flown ; 
 Thy sun is set, thy spring is gone — 
 
 We frolic while 'tis May. 50 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 47- No painted plumage to display] 
 
 " From branch to branch the smaller birds with song 
 Solac'd the woods, and spread their painted wings." 
 
 Mih. Par. Lost, vii. 43S. VV. 
 And so Tliomson's Spring, 582 ; Virg. Georg. iii. 243 ; iEn. iv. 525 ; and Claudiaii, 
 XV. 3. Pope seems indebted to the Hystri.\ of Claudiaii, 44, for some lines in the Essay 
 on Man, iii. 172 : "Go from the creatures," Sec. I may add also, that an expression in 
 Samson Ag. ver. 89, 
 
 " The mooii 
 
 Hid in her vacant interlunar cave," 
 
 is from the Stilicho of Claudian, iii. 288 : " Roscida fecundis concepit liina cavernis." 
 Nor have the commentators noticed that the line in Par. Reg. i. 498, " Satan bowing low, 
 his grai/ dissimulalion" is from Ford's Brok. Heart, act iv. sc. 2 : " Lay by thy whining 
 gray dissimulation." 
 
 Ver. 49. Thy sun is set, thy spring is gone'\ IlayS' dXiD? a.fj.i;.i SeSvxsiv. Tiieocrit. Idyll. 
 i. 102. W. Alexis ap. Stobjeum. lib. cxv. : 'HJij yap /3/of oufio; 'Eo-Trijay ayet. Plato has 
 the same metaphorical expression : rJaeT; S'ky Sua-jji-ais tou /Si'ou, de Legib. torn. ii. p. 770, cd. 
 Serrani; and see Aristotelis Poetica, cap. S5 : «a) ro yrj^scs, 'Ea-vi^av plov. Mr. Twining, in 
 his translation of the Poetics, together with this line from Gray, has quoted Shakspeare's 
 Comedy of Errors (last scene) : " Yet hath my night of life some memory," see p. 108. 
 Compare with this poem, a paper in the Freethinker, vol. iii. No. 114, written by Dr. 
 Pearce; and which has been republished in the Gleaner, vol. i. p. 122.
 
 ODE II.* 
 
 ON THE DEATH 
 
 OF 
 
 A FAVOURITE CAT, 
 
 DROWNED IN A TUB OF GOLD FISHES. 
 
 TwAs on a lofty vase's side, 
 Where China's gayest art had dy'd 
 
 The azure flowers, that blow ; 
 Demurest of the tabby kind, 
 The pensive Selima, recHn'd, 
 
 Gaz'd on the lake below. 
 
 VARIATIONS, 
 
 Ver. i. In the first edition of this poem, the order of these lines was reversed : 
 
 " The pensive Selima reclin'd, 
 Demurest of the tabby kind." 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * This Ode first appeared in Dodblej's Collection, vol.ii. p. 274, with some variations; 
 enly one of which is given by Mason. Tliey arc all noticed in this edition, as they occur. 
 In Jortin'fi Prolusions, vol. i. p. 39, is a short Poem on the Death of a Cat. 
 
 Ver. '^. The azure flowers, that blow] This expression has been accused of redundance 
 by Dr. Johnson and Mr. Wakefield, day, however, could have defended it by the usage 
 of the ancient poets. See Ovid Mciam. ix. 98 : " Hunc tanien nl/lati domultjaclura de- 
 coris." And Statii Silv. II. v. 30 : " Unius amissi tetigit jactura leonis." In Jortin's 
 Tiacts, vol.i. p.'2Gg, some examples of such redundant expressions are collected from the 
 (jrcck and Latin |)oefs. Sec on tliis sulycct also the notes of Burniaiin on Propcrtius,
 
 8 
 
 Her conscious tail her joy declar'd ; 
 The fair round face, the snowy beard, 
 
 The velvet of her paws, 
 Iler coat, that with the tortoise vies, 10 
 
 Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes. 
 
 She saw ; and purr'd applause. 
 
 Sitill had she gaz'd ; but 'midst the tide 
 Two angel forms were seen to glide. 
 
 The Genii of the stream : 15 
 
 Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue 
 Thro' richest pur[)le to the view 
 
 Betray 'd a golden gleam. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. H. Two angeljbrms'] First edit. " Two beauteous forms :" a reading that appears to 
 me preferable to the one now in the text. 
 
 NOTES. 
 lib. iv. El. vii. v. 69; on Ovid. Metani. ii. 66, and on the Poemata Lotichii, lib. i. el. 8. 27. 
 In the Prog, of Poesy, I. i. 5 : " The hughingjiowers that round them bios'." 
 
 Ver. 15. 'Ihe Genii of the stieam'\ Thomson, in his Spring, v. 400, with equal beauty, 
 speaking of fish : 
 
 " in whose ample wave 
 
 The littie Naiads love to sport at large." 
 Antipater tl.e Sidonian, may be said nearly to have reversed this image : 
 Mouvai aV(Jf9i;T0i N7;fr/J£; 'Clxixyoh 
 Koi?f ai, <rwv d^Bwy f«.t/x.vOftfy 'AXkvovi;. 
 
 Vide Analecta Brunckij, vol. ii. p. CO. 
 In this, as in many other parts of his poem, Thomson has made use of the Prtedium Rus- 
 ticum of Vaniere, sometimes translating whole pas.iages. Compare with this, Vaniere's 
 Poem, p. 289. A beautiful line in Sprini^, ver. 60.6, " In fond rotation spread the spotted 
 \vin<'," is from the same source, " Saepe solum verrens pcnn^ pendente rotatur." 
 Ver. 17. Thro' richest purple lo the view] So Virg. Georg. iv. C74 : 
 " Aureus ipse ; sed in foliis, qua; plurima circum 
 Funduntur, violae sitblucet purpura nigra;." W.
 
 9 
 
 The hapless nymph with wonder saw: 
 
 A whisker first, and then a claw, ' 20 
 
 With many an ardent wish. 
 She stretch'd, in vain, to reach the prize. 
 What female heart can gold despj^e ? 
 
 What Cat's averse to fish ? 
 
 Presumptuous maid ! with looks intent 25 
 
 Again she stretch'd, again she bent, 
 
 Nor knew the gulf between. 
 (Malignant Fate sat by, and smil'd) 
 The slipp'ry verge her feet beguil'd, 
 
 She tumbled headlong in. 30 
 
 Eight times emerging from the flood 
 She mew'd to ev'ry wat'ry God, 
 
 Some speedy aid to send. 
 No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirr'd : 
 Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard. 35 
 
 A fav'ritc has no friend ! 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 24. JVhat Cat's averse loJish'\ First edition : " a/oc to fish." 
 Ver. 25. Looks'] Eyes, ms. 
 
 Vcr. 35. Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard] First edition : 
 
 " nor Harry heard. 
 Whatfovorite has a friend ?" 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 18. Betray d a golden gleam] " His shining horns diffus'd a golden gleam," 
 I'ope's Winds. For. 331. "And lucid amber casts a golden gleam," Temp, of Fame, 
 253. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 10 
 
 From hence, ye beauties, undeceiv'd, 
 Know, one false step is ne'er retricv'd. 
 
 And be with caution bold. 
 Not all that tempts your wand'ring eyes 40 
 
 An^ heedless hearts is lawful prize, 
 
 Nor all, that glisters, gold. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 40. Tempts'] Strikes, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 42. Nor all, that glisters, gold] This j)roverbial expression was a favorite among 
 the old English poets : 
 
 " But all thing which sh'meth as the gold 
 JVe is no gold, as I have herd it told " 
 See Chaucer's Cliarone Yemanne's Tale, v. 1G4. 30. Tyrwhit refers to the Parabolas of 
 Alaiuis (le Insulis, quoted by Leyser, Hist. I'oet. Med. iEv. 10/4: " Noii tencas auruin, 
 totum quod splendet ut aurum." Among the poems published with Lord Surrey's, p. 226, 
 edit. 1717 : " Not every glist'ring gives the go/d, that greedy folk desire." In the Paradise 
 of Dainty Devises, called ' No Foe to a Flatterer,' p. 60 (reprint), is this line : " But 
 now I see all is not gold, that glittereth in the ei/e." In England's Helicon, p. 194: " All 
 is not goW, that shiiieth bright in show." Spenser's F. Queen, ii. 8. 14: "Yet gold all 
 is not, that doth golden seem." 
 
 " Not every thiiige that gives, a gleame and glittering showe, 
 Is to be counted gold indeede, this proverbe well you knowe." 
 
 Turberville's Answer of a Woman to her Lover, supposing his 
 complaynt to be but fayned, st. iv. 
 " To fill his purse with grotes, and glist'iing golde." Gascoigne's " The • 
 I'ruittes of Warre," st. Ix. and clxxxvi. 
 
 This poem was written later than the first, third, and fourth Odes, but was arranged by 
 Gray in this place, in his own edition.
 
 ODE III.* 
 
 ft 
 
 ON 
 
 A DISTANT PROSPECT 
 
 OF 
 
 ETON COLLEGE. 
 
 Menander. Incert. Fragm. ver. 382. ed. Cler. p. 245, 
 
 Ye distant spires, ye antique towers, 
 That crown the wat'ry glade. 
 
 Where grateful Science still adores 
 Her Henry's -f holy shade ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * This, as Mason informs us, was thejirst English production of Gray which appeared 
 in print. It w.is published in folio, in 1747, and appeared again in Dodsley's Collection, 
 vol. ii. p. 2G7, without the name of the author. A Latin poem by him. On the Prince of 
 Wales's Marriage, had appeared in the Cambridge Collection, Mi the year 1736, which is 
 inserted in this edition. 
 
 + King Henry the Sixtii, founder of the College. 
 
 Ver. 4. Her Hcnri/'s holy s/kiiIc] So in the Bard, ii. ,"5 : " And spare the meek usurper's 
 holt/ head." And in the Install. Ode, iv. 12 : " the murder'd saint." So Shak. Rich. III. 
 act V. sc. I : " IIo/i/ King Henry." And act iv. sc. 4 : " When ho/j/ Henry died." This 
 epithet has a peculiar propriety, as Henry the Sixth, though never canonized, was regarded 
 as a saint. See Douce's Illust. of Shaksp. ii. 38. Pope, in Winds. For. 313, calls him 
 " the /««r/y;-king ;" and T. Warton, " Nor long e'er Henry's holy zeal." See his Poems, 
 by Mr. Maut, ii. 121. 
 
 c 2
 
 12 
 
 • 
 
 And ye, that from the stately brow 5 
 
 Of Windsor's heights th' expanse below 
 
 Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey, 
 AVhose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among 
 Wanders the hoary Thatnes along • 
 
 Ills silver-winding way : 10 
 
 Ah, happy hills ! ah, pleasing shade! 
 
 Ah, fields belov'd in vain ! 
 Where once my careless childhood stray 'd, 
 
 A stranger yet to pain ! 
 I feel the gales that from ye blow 15 
 
 A momentary bliss bestow. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 5. ^nd ye that from the stately hrow] 
 
 " and now to where 
 ^lajestic Windsor lifts liis princely hroiv." 
 
 Thorns. Sum. 14 IC. \\\ 
 And Mason's Engl. Garden, book i. ver. 146 : " Seek it on Richmond, or on Windsor s 
 hrow." 
 
 Ver. 10. His silver-winding way] Thomson, in his Summer, 1417: " The vale of 
 Thzmcs fair-winding up." In Dart's Westminster Abbey, p. 10: " Where Thames in 
 silver currents winds his way." Fenton, in his Ode to Lord Gower, which was so much 
 praised by Pope and Akenside, had these two lines, iii. 1 : 
 
 " Oj' if invok'd where Tliamcs's fruitful tides 
 Slow thro' the vale in silver volumes play." 
 This compound epithet might have been suggested by " the silver-shedding tears" of Shak- 
 speare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, act iii. sc. 3. Or by the following line in Pope's 
 Moral Essays, ep. iv. ver. 85 : " With silver- quiv ring rills meandcr'd o'er." Homer gives 
 the Xl-rivtio; the appellation oi'ApyupoSlvri;, II. /3. ver. 753. 
 • Ver. 15. I feel the gales that from ye blvrc'] 
 
 " U Aura gentil che rasserena i poggi 
 
 Destando i fior per questo ombroso bosco 
 
 Al soaresuo spirto riconosco." Petrarca, Son. clxi.
 
 13 
 
 As waving fresh their gladsome wing, 
 My weary soul they seem to sooth, 
 And, redolent of joy and youth, 
 
 To breathe a second spring. 20 
 
 Say, father Thames, for thou bast seen 
 Full many a sprightly race 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 19. ^iid, redolent of joy and youl/i] " And bees their honey redolent of spring," 
 Dryden's Fable on the Pythag. System. Cray. — " And every field is redi:lenl of spring," 
 L. W elsted's Poems, p. G.'5. Langhorne has copied this expression in his Hymeneal Ode, 
 vol. i. p. 96. ed. Park : " Redolent of youth and joy." It appears also in the Memoirs of 
 Europe towards tiie Close of the Eighth Century, by Mrs. Manly, 1716, vol. ii. p. C7 : 
 " Tile lovely Endimion, redolent of youth." Mr. Todd, in a note to Sams. Agonist, (see 
 Milton, vol. iv. p. 410), deduces nuicli earlier authority for this expression : 
 " O! redolent well o/" famous poetrye." 
 And, " Her redolent words o/' sweetest influence." 
 
 S. Haties's Past, of Pleasure. 
 Also Skelton's Boke of Philip Sparrowc ; " And redolent of ayre." Catullus has an ex- 
 pression somewhat similar : " Queis permulsa domus, jucundo risit odore," Ep. Pel. 
 et Thet. ver. 'J8o. 
 
 Ver. 21. Say,j'alher Thames, for thou hast scen'\ This invocation is taken from Green's 
 Grotto: see Dodsley's Collect, vol. v. p. 159: 
 
 " Say, father Thames, whose gentle pace 
 Gives leave to view, what beauties grace 
 Your flowery banks, if i/ou hove seen." 
 Perhaps both poets thought of Cowley, vol. i. j). 117: 
 
 " Ye fields of Cambridge, our dear Cambridge, say, 
 Have you not seen us walking every day." 
 T. Warton, in the Mons Catharinie, lias imitated this passage, as well as some others 
 which will be noticed : ver. 31 : "At Pater Ichinus," &c. It has escaped the learned 
 editor of the late edition of T. Warton's Works, that a remarkable expression in the ' Verses 
 im tlie Window of New College,' may bi; traced to Chamberlayne's Pharonida : 
 " Wiien elfin sculjjtors \\\\.\\fintastic clew 
 O'er the long roof their wild embroidery drew." 
 
 " This \\\c fantastic clew 
 
 To a delight," ice. Pharonida, vol. i. book ii. p. 1 JH.
 
 14 
 
 Disporting on thy niargent green, 
 
 The paths of pleasure trace ; 
 Who foremost now dehght to cleave, 25 
 
 With jjliant arm, thy glassy wave ? 
 
 The captive linnet which enthral? 
 What idle progeny succeed 
 To chase the rolling circle's speed, 
 
 Or urge the tiying ball ? SO 
 
 While some on earnest business bent 
 
 Their murm'ring labours ply 
 'Gainst graver hours that bring constraint 
 
 To sweeten liberty : 
 Some bold adventurers disdain 35 
 
 The limits of their little reign, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 In tlie second volume, p. 45, Mr. Mant observes, tliat empurpled is used in composition, 
 only by Akenside : but it is found in the Poems of Gilbert Cooper, (the author of the 
 Life of Socrates,) p. 46 : 
 
 " Where lies the vine-empurpled glade, 
 By tuneful Chaulieu vocal made." 
 Ver. 23. Disporting on thj/ margeul green] " By slow Masander's margeni green," 
 Milton's Comus, 232. W. — 1 believe it has not been observed, that there is a considerable 
 resemblance, in style and subject, between Milton's Comus and Cowley's play called 
 * Love's Riddle.' Comus was printed in 1637; Love's Riddle in l63S, though written 
 several years before. Both these plays were probably suggested by the ' Sad Shepherd' 
 of B. Jonson, and the ' Faithful Shepherdess' of Fletcher. 
 
 Ver. 24. The path of pleasure trace] So Pope in his Essay on Man, iii. 233 : 
 
 " To virtue, in the paths of pleasure trod." 
 Ver. 27. The captive linnet which enthral] This expression has been noticed as tauto- 
 logous. Thomson, on the same subject, uses somewhat redundant language. Spring, 702 : 
 " Inhuman caught; and in the narrow cage 
 From libertij confined and boundless air." 
 Ver. 30. Or urge thefiying ball] " The senator at cricket urge the ball," Pope's 
 Dunciad, iv, 592.
 
 15 
 
 And unknown regions dare descry : 
 Still as they run they look behind, 
 They hear a voice in every wind, 
 
 And snatch a fearful joy. 40 
 
 Gay hope is theirs b}^ fancy fed, 
 
 Less pleasing when possest ; 
 The tear forgot as soon as shed, 
 
 The sunshine of the breast: 
 Theirs buxom health, of rosy hue, 45 
 
 Wild wit, invention ever new. 
 
 And lively cheer, of vigour born ; 
 The thoughtless da^^ the easy night. 
 The spirits pure, the slumbers light, 
 
 That fiy th' approach of morn. 50 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 37- -^nd unknown regions dare descri/] This line is taken iVoin Cowley's Pindarique 
 Ode to Hobbes, iv. 7- p. 223 : 
 
 " Till unknown regions it descries." 
 Ver. 38. These last six lines are translated by T. \\';irtou in his Mons Catharime, be- 
 ginning ver. 41 : " Intcrca licitos colies, atque oiia jussa, liii iiKlignantcs," &c. down to 
 " Quicqnid erit, cursu pavitanti, oculisque retortis 
 I it furtiva via, et suspcctis passibus itur." 
 Ver. 40. y/n</ snatch a fearful joi/] So Stat. Theb. i. G20: 
 
 " Magiiaque post lacliryinas etianniuni gaudia pallent.' 
 For other expressions of" this nature, see iVIr. Wakefield's note. 
 
 Ver. 43. The tear forgot as soon as shed] Thus T. Warton, in Mons Cath. ver. Ql : 
 " En ! vobis roseo ore sains, cura.'que fiigaces 
 Et lachrifina siquando breves." 
 Ver. 44. The sunshine of the breast] So Pope's Eloisa, ver. 209 : " Eternal sunshim 
 of the spotless mind." 
 
 Ver. 47. -Ind liveli/ cheer, of vigour born] " In cither clieeke dtpeynctcn live/i/ cheere," 
 Spenser's Ilobbinol's Dittie, ver. 33. W. 
 
 Ver. 49- The spirits pure, the slumbers light] " The temperate sleeps, and spirits light 
 HS air." Pope's Iin. of Horace, I. 73 ; an I Milton's Par. Lost, v. 3 :
 
 16 
 
 Alas ! regardless of their doom 
 
 The little victims play ; 
 No sense have they of ills to come, 
 
 Nor care beyond to-day : 
 Yet see, how all around 'cm wait 55 
 
 The ministers of human fate, 
 
 And black Misfortune's baleful train ; 
 Ah, show them where in ambush stand, 
 To seize their prey, the murth'rous band ! 
 
 Ah, tell them they are men ! 60 
 
 These shall the fury Passions tear, 
 The vultures of the mind, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " H is sleep 
 
 Was aity light, from pure digestion bred, 
 And temperate vapours bland." 
 Ver. 51. Alas! regardless of their dooni] 
 
 " E'en now, regardless of his doom, 
 
 Applauding honour haunts his tomb." 4th stanza of Collins 's 
 Ode on the Death of Col. Ross, from hh first manuscript. 
 Ver 5.5. Yet see, how all around 'em wait 
 
 The ministers of human fate'] These two lines seem to be taken from Broome's 
 Ode on Melancholy, p. 28 : 
 
 " While round, stern ministers of fate, 
 Pain, and Disease, and Sorrow wait." 
 And so Otway's Alcibiades, act v. sc. 2. p. 84 : " Then enter, ye grim ministers of fate." 
 Ver. 57- And black Misfortune's baleful train"] This resembles a stanza in a poem but 
 little known, published in 1752; viz. A Translation of the Eighth Isthmian Ode of Pin- 
 dar, by Tiiomas TyrwhitI : 
 
 " The past, or future, wherefore should we heed f 
 The present hour alone belongs to man. 
 What if thro' all the various maze of life 
 Black fates in ambush hover o'er our heads 
 With loads of bitter woe ?" 
 Ver. til. These shall thefuri/ Passions tear] " The fury Passions from that flood be- 
 gan." See Pope's Essay on Man, Ess, iii. l67.
 
 17 
 
 Disdainful Anger, pallid Fear, 
 
 And Shame that sculks behind ; 
 Or pineing Love shall waste their youth, 65 
 
 Or Jealousy, with rankling tooth, 
 
 That inly gnaws the secret heart ; 
 And Envy wan, and faded Care, 
 Gritn-visag'd comfortless Despair, 
 
 And Sorrow's piercing dart. 70 
 
 Ambition this shall tempt to rise. 
 
 Then whirl the wretch from high, 
 To bitter Scorn a sacrifice. 
 
 And grinning Infamy. 
 The stings of Falsehood those shall try, 75 
 
 And hard Unkindness' alter'd eye. 
 
 That mocks the tear it forc'd to flow; 
 And keen Remorse with blood defil'd. 
 And moody Madness laughing wild 
 
 Amid severest woe. 80 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 63. Disdaiiifid Angev, pallid Vem'\ Statins, Tlieb. vii. 49 : " Exsanguisque Me- 
 
 tiis." And from him Milton. Quint. Novemb. 14S : " Exsanguisque Horror." 
 
 Ver. 6Q. Or Jealousi/, with rankling tuot/i] 
 
 " But guuTcing Jealousy out of their sight, 
 
 Sitting alone, his bitter iips did bite." 
 
 Spenser's V, Q. vi. 23. 
 
 Ver. 68. And Eniy roan, and Jaded Care] 
 
 " With praise cnougli for Envi/ to look zean." 
 
 Milton's Sonnet to H. Lawes, xiii. 6. W. 
 
 Ver. 69. Grim-tisagd comfortless Despaii] Gray lias here imitated Shakspeare. See 
 
 Richard HI. act i. so. I : " Grim-visag'd War." And Comedy of Errors, act v. sc. 1 : 
 
 "A muodji and didl nu'lanclioly kinsman to grim and conifortless Despair." 
 
 Vtr. 7'i. And hard Unkindness alter'd ii/e] " Affected Kindness with an alter'd face," 
 
 Dryden's Hind and Panth. part iii. 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 18 
 
 Lo ! in the vale of years beneath 
 
 A gricsly troop are seen, 
 The painful family of Death, 
 
 More hideous than their queen : 
 This racks the joints, this fires the veins, 85 
 
 That every labouring sinew strains, 
 
 Those in the deeper vitals rage : 
 Lo ! Poverty, to fill the band. 
 That numbs the soul with icy hand, 
 
 -And slow-consuming Age. 90 
 
 To each his suff'rings : all are men, 
 
 Condemn'd alike to groan ; 
 The tender for another's pain, 
 
 Th' unfeeling for his own. 
 Yet, ah ! why should they know their fate, 95 
 
 Since sorrow never comes too late, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 79- ■^'id moody Madness laughing wild] " Madness laughing in his ireful mood :" 
 Dryden's Palam. and Arc. (book ii. p. 43. ed. Aik.) Gray. And so Shakspeare, K. Hen.VI. 
 p. 1. act iv. SC.2 : " But rather moody mad." And act iii. so. 1 : " Moody fury." Chaucer's 
 Knyghte's Tale, 1 152. " And heartless oft like moody madness stare," Coilins's Ode on 
 the Sup. of the Highlands, stanz. iv. 
 
 Ver. 81. Lo! in the vale of years beneath] So Othello, act iii. sc. 3 : " Declin'd into 
 the vale of years." Compare also with this passage, Virg. iEu. vi. 275. 
 
 Ver. 83. The painful family of Death] " Hate, Fear, and Grief, the family of Pain," 
 Pope's Essay on Man, Ess. ii. 1 18. Dryden's State of Innocence, act v. sc. 1 : " With 
 all the immerows family of Death." And Garth's Dispens. vi. 138: "And all the faded 
 family of Care." Ciaudian uses language not dissimilar : Cons. Honor, vi. 323 : " Inferno 
 stridentes agmine Morbi." And Juvenal. Sat. x. 218 : " Circumsedit agmine facto Mor- 
 borum omne genus." 
 
 Ver. 95. Yet, ah ! why should they know their fate] We meet with the same thought in 
 Milton's Comus, ver. S59 : 
 
 " Peace, brother ; be not over-exquisite 
 To cast the fashion of uncertain evils ;
 
 And happiness too swiftly flies ? 
 Thought would destroy their paradise. 
 No more ; — where ignorance is bliss, 
 
 Tis folly to be wise. 
 
 NOTES, 
 For grant they be so, while they rest unknown, 
 What need a man forestall his date of grief?" W. 
 Ver. 98. Thought would destroy their paradise] Soph. Ajax, ver. 555 : "^y '^'P i^ovely 
 yaq (i.r,Ssv, ^Si<rro; jSi'of. W, 
 
 Ver. P9. No more ; — zvhei-e ignorance is bliss'] Beattie has imitated this line in his Min- 
 strel, ii. 30: " Be j,g-noraHce thy choice, when knowledge leads to woe." And the con- 
 cluding stanza has also been imitated by Tweddell in his Greek Ode : ' Juvenum Curas,' 
 p. IIQ. 
 
 D
 
 HYMN TO ADVERSITY.* 
 
 crayrx, tiv ird^u [/.a^ujy 
 Qivra. Kvgiw; «;^£iy. 
 
 j^schylus, in Agamemnone, ver. 181. 
 
 Daughter of Jove, relentless power. 
 Thou tamer of the human breast, 
 
 Whose iron scourge and tort'ring hour 
 The bad affright, afflict the best ! 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * This Hymn first appeared in the fourth volume of Dodsley's Collection, together with 
 the ' Elegy in a Country Churchyard,' p. 7 ; and not, as Mr. Mason says, with the three 
 foregoing Odes, which were published in the second volume. In Mr. Mason's edition it 
 is called an Ode ; but the title is now restored, as it was given by the author. The motto 
 from ^schylus is not in Dodsley. 
 
 Ver. 1 . Daughter of Jove, relentless pozce)-] 'An;, who may be called the goddess of 
 Adversity, is said by Homer to be the daughter of Jupiter: Horn. II. r. 91. U^so-^x Sio; 
 ^uydtij^'Atri, rj KivTo.; ddrsci. Perhaps, however, Gray only alluded to the passage of 
 ^schylus which he quoted, and which describes Affliction as sent by Jupiter for the benefit 
 of man. Potter in his Translation has had an eye on Gray. See his Transl. p. ly : 
 " Yet often when to Wisdom's seat 
 Jove deigns to guide man's erring feet. 
 
 His virtues to improve ; 
 He to Affliction gives command 
 To form him with her chast'ning liaud ; 
 The memory of her rigid lore. 
 On the sad heart imprinted deep. 
 
 Attends him through day's active hour," &.c.
 
 21 
 
 Bound in thy adamantine chain, 
 The proud are taught to taste of pain, 
 And purple tyrants vainly groan 
 With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. G. Thou tamer of the human breast] " Then he, great tamer of all human 
 hearts," Pope's Dunciad, i. 163. 
 
 Ver. 3. Iron scourge] So Fletcher, Purpl. Isl. ix. 28 : " Affliction's ironjiail." 
 Ibid. Tort'ring hour'\ In Mr. Wakefield's note, he remarks an impropriety in the 
 poet joining to a material image, the " torturing hour." If there be an impropriety- in this, 
 it must rest with Milton, from whom Gray borrowed the verse: 
 
 " when the scourge 
 
 Inexorably, and the torturing hour, 
 Calls us to penance." Par. Lost, ii. 90. 
 
 But this mode of speech is indeed authorized by ancient and modern poets. In Virgil's 
 description of the lightning which the Cyclopes wrought for Jupiter, ^n. viii. 429 : 
 "Tresinibris torti radios, tres nubis aquosae 
 Addiderant, rutili tres ignis, et alitis Austri : 
 Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque, metumque 
 Miscebant," Sic. 
 In Par. Lost, x. 297, as the original punctuation stood : 
 
 " Bound with Gorgonian rigor not to move. 
 And with Asphaltic slime."* 
 The Latin authors of the later ages, and Ovid (see Metamorph. iv. ver. 500) indeed in 
 better times, abound with this kind of expression, carried much beyond the limits of grave 
 and judicious style. It must be remarked, however, that there is no attempt at point, or 
 conceit, cither in Gray or Milton ; it occurs again in the ' Alliance of Education and 
 Government:' " Her boasted tillvs and Ikt golden y/eWs." 
 
 Ver. 5. Bound in thy adamantine chain'] 'Aiocu-avrivcuv S;trij.'jjv Iv cipprixrat; riSatr 
 TEscl). Prom. vi. W., from whom Milton, Par. Lost, i. 48: " In adnmanline chains, and 
 penal fire." And the expression occurs also in the Works of Spenser, Drumniond, 
 Fletcher, and Dr.iylon See Todd's note on Milton. " In adamantine chains shall 
 Death be bound," Pope's Messiah, ver. 47 ; and lastly, Manilius in his Astron. lib. i. 92 1 . 
 Ver. 7. yind purple tyrants vainly groan] " Till some new tyrant lifts h\s purp/f 
 
 * I ought to remark th.it this punctuation is now altered in most of the editions. The 
 new reading was proposed by Dr. Pearce.
 
 22 
 
 "When first thy sire to send on earth 
 
 Virtue, his darling child, design'd, 10 
 
 To thee he gave the heav'nly birth, 
 
 And bade to form her infant mind. 
 Stern rugged nurse! thy rigid lore 
 With patience many a year she bore : 
 What sorrow was, thou bad'st her know, 15 
 
 And from her own she learn'd to melt at others' woe. 
 
 Scar'd at thy frown terrific, fly 
 
 Self-pleasing Folly's idle brood, 
 Wild Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy, 
 
 And leave us leisure to be good. 20 
 
 Light they disperse, and with them go 
 The summer friend, the flatt'riugfoe; 
 By vain Prosperity received. 
 To her they vow their truth, and are again believ'd. 
 
 NOTES, 
 hand," Pope's Two Choruses, ver. 23. Wakefield cites Horace, Book I. Ode xxxv. 12: 
 " Purpurei metuunt ti/ranni." 
 
 Ver. 8. With pangs vnfelt before] From Milton, Par. Lost, ii. 703 : " Strange 
 liorrour seize thee, and pangs nnfelt before^ 
 
 Ver. 10. Virtue Ids darling'] " So, che quando liai mandato sii la Terra la Virtu tua 
 ligluiola, le hai data per guida la S VENTURA," Lettere di Jacopo Ortis. p. 08. 
 
 Ver. 15. Stern rugged ?rurse ! thy rigid lore] An expression similar to this occurs in 
 Sir P. Sydney's Arcadia, vol. iii. p. 100: " 111 fortune, my awful governess." Whitehead 
 has copied Gray in his Elegy, IV. written at Rome in 175G, vol. iv. p. 211, the jear after 
 this poem appeared : 
 
 " Stern War, the rugged nurse of virtuous Rome ;" 
 and T. Warton in his poem On the Birth of the Prince of Wales : " Her simple institutes 
 and rigid lure." 
 
 Ver. 20. ^nd leave us leisure to be good] See Hurd's Cowley, vol. i. p. 13G: " If 
 we for HAPPINESS could leisure find," and the note of the editor. " And know 
 I have not yet the leisure to be good," Oldham's Ode, stnnz. v. vol. i. p. 83. 
 
 Ver. 22. The summer friend, the flattering foe] See Troilus and Cressida, act iii. 
 sc. 3. p. 3G4:
 
 23 
 
 Wisdom in sable garb array 'd, 25 
 
 Inimers'd in rapt'rous thought profound, 
 And Melancholy, silent maid, 
 
 With leaden eye that loves the ground. 
 Still on thy solemn steps attend : 
 Warm Charity, thegen'ral friend, 30 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " For men, like butterflies, 
 
 Shew not their mealy wings, but to the summer." 
 
 Also, 
 
 " The common people swarm like summer flies, 
 And whither fly the gnats, but to the sun." 
 
 Henry VI. Part iii. act 2. sc. 9- 
 Timon of Athens, act iii. sc. 7. " Sucli summer-birds are men!" But tlie e.xact ex- 
 pression is to be found in the poems of Herbert : " fall and flow, like leaves, about me, 
 or like summer-friends, flies of estates and sunshine," Herbert's Temple, p. 296. 
 Gray seems to have had Horace in his mind, Book I. Ode xxxv. 25. 
 " At vulgus infldum, et uieretrix retro, 
 Pcrjura cedit ; diff'ugiunt cadis 
 Cum fa-ce siccatis amici, 
 Ferre jugum pariter dolosi," 
 and in tiie next stanza we are reminded of " Te Spes, et albo rara Fides colit, 8cc." 
 
 Ver. 25. Wisdom in sable garb arra/d] " O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue," 
 IlPenser. Hi. W. 
 
 Ver. 28. Jnd Melancholy, silent maid. 
 
 With leaden eye that loves the ground] 
 
 " Willi a sad leaden downward cast, 
 Thou fljc them on the earth as fast." 
 
 II Penser. 43. W. 
 Dryden's Cimon and Iphig. ver. 57. " And stupid eyes that ever loved the ground." 
 Pope's Ode on St. Cecilia, ver. .'30 : " Melancholy lifts her head." And in Pericles 
 Prince of Tyre, act. i. sc. 2: 
 
 " The sad companion, dnll-ci/cd Mel ncholij." 
 And so we read " leaden Contemplation " in Love's labour's Lost, p. 123. act iv. sc. 5. 
 In Beaumont's Passionate Madman:
 
 24 
 
 With Justice, to herself severe, 
 And Pity, dropping soft the sadly-plcasing tear. 
 
 Oh! gently on thy suppliant's head, 
 
 Dread goddess, lay thy chast'ning hand ! 
 Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad, 35 
 
 Not circled with the vengeful band 
 (As by the impious thou art seen) 
 With thund'ring voice, and threat'ning mien. 
 With screaming Horror's fun'ral cry, 
 Despair, and fell Disease, and ghastly Poverty : 40 
 
 Thy form benign, oh goddess, wear. 
 Thy milder influence impart. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " A look that's fasten'd to the ground, 
 A tongue chain'd up without a sound." 
 
 Act. lii. sc. 1 . 
 Ver. 31. With Justice, to herself severe] 
 
 " To Servants kind, to Friendship clear, 
 
 To nothing but herse/f severe." Carew's Poems, p. 87. 
 
 And 
 
 " Judge of thyself alone, for none there were 
 Could be so Just, or could be so severe." 
 
 Oldham's Ode on Ben Jonson, p. 7 1 , vol. ii. 
 Ver. 3'2. And Pity, dropping soft the sadly-pleasing tear'] So Whitehead in his 
 Atys, p. 67 : 
 
 " If soft-ey'd Pity takes her rise from thence, 
 If hence we learu to feel another's pain, 
 And from our own misfortunes grow humane." 
 Ver. 35. Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad] So Ovid. Metam. IV. 801 : 
 " Gorgoneum turpes criuem mutavit in hydros. 
 
 Nunc (juoque, ut attonitos formidine terreat hastes."
 
 25 
 
 Thy philosophic train be there 
 
 To soften, not to wound my heart. 
 The gen'rous spark extinct revive, 45 
 
 Teach me to love, and to forgive, 
 Exact my own defects to scan. 
 What others are to feel, and know myself a Man. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 And Val. Flac. vi. 175 : 
 
 " Horrentem colubris, vultuque tremendam 
 
 Gorgoiieo." 
 
 Ver. 48. Jtliat others are to feel, and know myself a Man] This line has been 
 boVrowed b_v Whitehead in his Creusa, 122: 
 
 " To feel for others' woes, and bear my own 
 With manly resignation." 
 And in the concluding stanza of his Enthusiast, p. l6l : 
 . " If not thy bliss, thy excellence 
 
 Thou yet hast learn'd to scan ; 
 At least thy wants, thy reeakiiess know, 
 And see thcni all uniting show, 
 That man was made for man." 
 Both poets were indebted to Terence, ITeautontini, act i. ver. 2.5. 
 
 VOL. r.
 
 THE PROGRESS OF POESY. 
 
 A PINDARIC ODE* 
 
 As TO vdv kpfji.riviujy 
 XaT(?a. 
 
 Pindar, Olymp. II. v. 152. 
 
 I. 1. 
 
 Awake, JEoVmn lyre, awake. 
 And give to rapture all thy trembling strings. 
 From Helicon's harmonious springs 
 
 A thousand rills their mazy progress take : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 1. AwaJce, MoUan lyre, axcake.'] " Awake, my lyre: ray glory, wake," Ms. 
 Ver. 2. Rapture'] Transport, Ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * When the author first published this and the following Ode, he was advised, even by 
 his friends, to subjoin some few explanatory notes; but had too much respect for the under- 
 standing of his readers to take that liberty. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 1. Auake, jEo/ian lyre, awukc] " Awake, my glory: awake, lute and iiarp," 
 David's Psalms. Gray. 
 
 Cowley in his Ode of David, vol. ii. p. 423 : 
 
 " Awake, awake, my lyre, 
 And tell thy silent master's humble tale." 
 And Akenside, Ode, I. ii. 4 : " But thou, my lyre, awake, arise."
 
 27 
 
 The laiio-l'ins flowers that round them blow, 
 Drink life and fragrance as they flow. 
 Now the rich stream of music winds along, 
 Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Pindar styles his own poetry, vvitli its musical arconipaniments, AioXif p-oATr^, AioXi'Jsf 
 yjaoia.), AioAiJoiv irvoai auAtuv, JEolian song, iEoiian strings, the breath of the jEoIian 
 flute. *Gka\.* 
 
 'Y\\f snbj.ct anil simile, as usual with Pindar, arc united. The various sources of poetry, 
 which gives life and lustre to all it touches, are here described ; its quiet majestic progress 
 enriching every subject (otherwise dry and barren) with a pomp of diction and luxuriant 
 iiartnony of numbers ; and its more rapid and irresistible course, when svvoln and hurried 
 away by the conflict of tumultuous passions Gray. 
 
 Vcr. :]. From Jle/irmi's hrtrmoiiiuiis springs] Thomson has joined the subject and 
 simile in a passage strongly resembling this (Liberty, ii. v. 0,57) : 
 
 " In thy full language speaking mighty things, 
 Like a clear torrent close, or else diffus'd 
 A broad majestic stream, and rolling ou 
 Thro' all the winding harmony of sound." 
 And see Quinctilian, Inst. xii. 10. G'. "At ille qui saxa devolvat," &c. 
 
 In Ilnntiiigford's Apology for his Monosirophics, p. 80, referred to by Wakefield, 
 several pas.sages of Pindar are pointed out; to which he supposes that Gray alluded, viz. 
 Ol. ii. 6i. 2'2J). vii. I '2 xii. (i 
 
 Ver. 5. The Uiuiihiii:J: Jhncers that rnund them hhw] " Albaque de viridi riserunt 
 Ulia prAto," Petrou cap. I'27. " Hiilentes calathos," Claud. R. Pros. ii. \3[). " liideuti 
 colocasia fundet acantho" Virg. Eel. iv. 20; and Achilles Tatius has the expression, 
 TO TfsTaKdv TuJ ^e^tifw yiXoi. 
 
 Ver. 6. Drink life diid fragrance as they fon-l " IJibant violaria fontcm," Virg. 
 Georg. iv. ver. H'i. W. 
 
 • This note was occasioned by a stranife mistake of tlie Critiral Reviewers, who supposed 
 the Ode addrcjiscd to the " Harp of .Eolus." See Mason's Memoirs, let. '2G. sec. 4 ; and 
 Critical Kevicw, vol. iv. p. KiT. And see the Liter.iry .Magu/.ine for 17.57, p. 4'22;at p. 466 of 
 the same work, is un Ude to Gray on his Pinduric Odes. 
 
 F, 2
 
 28 , 
 
 Thro' verdant vales, and Ceres' golden reign : 
 
 Now rowlingdown the steep amain, 10 
 
 Headlong, impetuous, see it pour : 
 
 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 11. With torrent rapture, sec it pour, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " And niouiiliiig in loose robes the skies 
 Shed light and fragrance as she Jiies." 
 
 Green's Spleen, v. 79- 
 Ver. 7. Now the rich stream, &c.] Tiiis couplet seems to have been suggested hv 
 some lines of Pope (Hor. Epist. II. ii. 17') : 
 
 " Pom- the full fidi- of eloquence along, 
 Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong."* 
 Wakefield refers to Pope's Cecilia (10) : 
 
 " VVliile in more lengthcu'd notes, and slow, 
 The deep tuajestk solemn organs blow." 
 Dr. Berdmore of the Charter-House, in his pamphlet on Literary Resemblance, p. 16, 
 supposes that Gray had Horace in his mind: 
 
 * This latter line of Pope is taken from Prior's Carmen Seculare XXII. written in 1700 ; 
 who in his turn was indebted to Denliam : 
 
 " But licr own king she likens to his Thames, 
 With gentle course devolving fruitful streams. 
 Serene yet strong, majestic yet sedate. 
 Swift without violence, without terror great." 
 In fact, these famous lines of Denham were imitated so often, and by so many writers, as to 
 occasion this admonition, in a poem called ' Apollo's Edict,' in the Gulliveriana, p. 53 : 
 " If Anna's happy reign you praise, 
 Pray, not a word of halcyon days. 
 Nor let my votaries shew their skill, 
 In aping lines from Cooper' s- Hill ; 
 For know, I cannot bear to hear, 
 The mimickry of — ' deep yet clear.*"
 
 29 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 Oil ! Sov'rciii'n of the willinij soul, 
 Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs, 
 Enclianting shell ! the sullen Cares 15 
 
 And frantic Passions hear thy soft controul. 
 On Thracia's hills the Lord of War 
 Has curb'd the fury of his car, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Quod aiiest, meineiito 
 
 Componere aequus. — Cetera Huiiiiuis 
 Ritu feruiitur, nunc medio alveo 
 Citm pace dclabcntis Etiuscum 
 111 iiiiire : nunc lupides adesos, 
 Stirpes(jue raptas, et pecus, et domes, 
 Volventis una, non sine montium 
 
 Clamoie, vicinaeque silv«." Od. III. xxix. 3'J. 
 Ver. <j. Thro' verdant vales, and Ceres' golden reign] Copied by Wliileliead, Ode 
 VII. vol. ii. p. 282: 
 
 " To warmer suns, and Ceres' golden reign." 
 Ver. 12. The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar] Dryden's Virg. Georg. i. 
 " And rocks tlie bellowing voice of boiling seas resound." Pope's Iliad: " Rocks re- 
 bellow to liie roar." 
 
 Ver. 13. Oh! Sov reign of the willing sout] Power of harmony to calm the tur- 
 bulent sallies of the soul. The thoughts are borrowed from the first Pythian of Piiuiar. 
 
 Gka Y. 
 
 Ver. i o. Enchanting shell ! the sullen Cares] " While sullen Cares and wither'd Age 
 relKut," Eusdcii's Court of Venus, p. 101. " Revengeful Cares, and sullen Sorrows 
 dwell," Dryden's Virgil, vi. 247. 
 
 Ver. 17. On Thracia's hills the Lord of {■far] So Dry den, vol. iii, 60. ed. Warton : 
 
 " The God of fVar 
 
 Wa.s drawn triumphant on his iron car." 
 And thence Collins in his Ode to IVace, ver. 4 : 
 
 " When War by vultures drawn afar, 
 To Britain bent his iron car."
 
 30 
 
 And dropt his thirsty hmce at thy command. 
 Perching on the scept'rcd hand 20 
 
 Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feather'd king 
 AVitli ruffled plumes and flagging wing: 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Mavorlia Thrace," Statii Theb. 1. 201; and " MarsThreccn occiipat," Ovid. Ar. Am. ii. 
 ver. 5S8. 
 
 Ver. 19. ^nd dropt his thirsty lance at thy command] Collins, in his Ode to Mercy, 
 ver. 5 : " Win'st from his fatal grasp the spear." In Fletcher's Purple Island is a 
 beautifnl stanza (vi. Ifi.) much resembling the image drawn by Gray and Collins : 
 " But see how 'twixt her sister, and her sire. 
 Soft-hearted Mercy sweetly interpo.sing, 
 Settles Ijer panting heart against her sire, 
 Pleading for grace, and chains of death unloosing. 
 Neat from her lips the melting liony flows. 
 The striking Thunderer recals his blows, 
 And every armed soldier, down his weapon throzcs." 
 In the Lusus Poetici of Jortin (Hymn to Harmony, p. 45.), published in 1722, is the 
 following couplet, strongly resembling Gray's, and from the same source : 
 " Thou mak'st the God of War forsake the field. 
 And drop his lance, and lay aside his shield." 
 See also Ovid. Fasti, iii. v. 1: " Bellice, depositis clypeo paullisper et hasta. Mars, 
 ades." 
 
 Ver. 20. Perching on the scept'red hand] This is a weak imitation of some beautiful 
 lines in the same ode. Gray. 
 
 The passage in the first Pythian of Pindar, which Gray has imitated, is the following 
 (ver, 10): 
 
 -■Ks'ia.v Kri^vy a'a^orij do- 
 
 'Afp^Of o'tujvuiv. xs^aivtu- 
 •ffiv 5 etTi oi vEipiAav 
 'AyxuAty xfari, yXsipipwy
 
 31 
 
 Qucnch'd in dark clouds of slumber lie 
 
 The terror of his beak, and lighlnings of his eye. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 23. Dark^ Black, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 'Typov vcorov aituf eT, tssu; 
 'PiraTiri xaraT-j^o'aEvof. xaiyao ^la- 
 -raj 'Afiif, Tjapi^slai' ayEuOe Xi7:u:v 
 
 Ka'y.ari. 
 
 Akenside has also imitated it in liis Hymn to tlie Naiads, p. 170, Park's ed. ; a poem 
 perhaps imequalled in our language for the exquisite harmony of its numbers ; 
 
 " with slacken'd wings. 
 
 While now the solenni concert breathes around, 
 Incumbent o'er the sceptre of his lord 
 Sleeps the stern eagle, by the nuniber'd notes 
 Possess'd, and satiate with the melting tone. 
 Sovereign of birds ; the furious God of War 
 His darts forgetting, and the winged wheels 
 That bear him vengeful o'er the embattled plain, 
 Relents, and soothes his once fierce heart to ease." 
 Gray has departed from the order in which the images are placed by Pindar and Akenside. 
 The figure of Mars, which is slightly drawn, he has introduced first ; and closed his stanza 
 with the more elaborate description of the power of music over the ferocity of tlie eagle. 
 As the images are transposed by Gray, it has been thought that the transition from Thracia's 
 Hills, and the Lord of War, to the Eagle, is too violent even for lyric poetry. See 
 Stewart's Philos. Essays, p. 373. T. Warton, in his Latin Translation of this Ode of 
 Pindar, has iuserted the last line of Gray's stanza. See Mr. Mant's edition, vol. ii. p. '27S : 
 
 " carentque 
 
 Rostra minis, oculique tiammis,'' v. 1'2. 
 Ver. '21. Of Jove, thy magic /alls the feather d king] 
 
 " Every fowl of tyrant wing, 
 
 Save the Eagle fcalhcr'd Klug." 
 
 Shaksp. Pass. l*ilg. .\.\. p. 733, cd. Malone. 
 Ver. £2. With ruffled plumes and flagging mng] H. Walpole, in describing the famous
 
 S2 
 
 I. 3, 
 Thee the voice, the dance, obey, 25 
 
 Ternper'd to thy warbled lay. 
 O'er Idaha's velvet-green 
 The rosy -crowned Loves arc seen 
 On Cytherea's day ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Bofcapadugli eagle, of Greek sculpture, says: " Mr. Gray has drawn the * flagging wing.' " 
 See H. Walpoiu's Works, vol.ii. p. 463. 
 
 V'er. 25. Thee the voice, the dance, obeij] Power of harmony to produce all the graces 
 of motion in the body. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 27. O'er Idalia's velvet-greeii] So Fairfax in his Tasso, xiii. 38 : 
 " At length a fair and spacious greew he spide, 
 Like calmest waters, plain; like velvet, soft." 
 Garrick, in his Ode to Shakspeare, has copied tliis passage : 
 " Link'd to a wumevoviS frolic band, 
 With roses and with myrtle croioitd. 
 O'er the green velvet lightly bound." 
 Young's Love of Fame, Sat. V. p. 128 : 
 
 " She rears her flowers, and spreads her velvet-green." 
 This expression, it is well known, has met with rejirehension from Dr. Johnson; who 
 appears by his criticism to have supposed it first* introduced by Gray. It was numbered, 
 however, among the absurd expressions of Pope, by the authors of the Alexanderiad, (some 
 of the heroes of the Dunciad,) see p. 288. It occurs in a list of epithets and nouns which 
 Pope had used, and which these authors held up to ridicule : some of the others arc, 
 ' pensive steed,' ' brown horror,' ' blue languish,' ' self-mov'd tripod,' ' curling spire,' 
 ' liquid road,' ' vermilion prose,' &c. The expression ' velvet green' may be seen in its 
 original rudeness in the Poems of Quarles and Habingtou : 
 
 " I like the green plush which your meadows wear." 
 
 ■ And what 's a life ? the flourishing array 
 Of the proud summer-meadow, which to-day 
 Wears her green plush, and is to-morrow hay. 
 
 Castara, p. 110. 
 
 Emblems, iii. 13. 
 
 * Shakspeare has, " Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds," Henry V. act i. so. 2.
 
 33 
 
 With antic Sport, and blue-eyed Pleasures, 30 
 
 Frisking light in frolic measures; 
 Now pursuing, now retreating. 
 
 Now in circling troops they meet: 
 To brisk notes in cadence beating. 
 
 Glance their many-twinkling feet. 35 
 
 Slow melting strains their Queen's approach declare : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 30. Sporf] Sports, ms. Ver. S*. In cadence'] The cadence, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 30. JVith antic Sport, and blue-eyed Pleasures] 
 
 " I '11 charm the air to give a sound, 
 While you perform your antic round." 
 
 Macbeth, activ. sc. 2. W. 
 Ver. 32. Now pursuing, now retreating] Wakefield refers to Callimachi Hymn. Dian. 3. 
 and Horn. 11. S. 593. 
 
 Ver. 35. Glance their mani/-tzi:inklingfeet] 
 
 Horn. Od. 0. ver. 265. Gray. 
 " Or rustling turn the many-twinkling leaves 
 Of aspin tall." Thoms. Spring, 155. W. 
 
 Ver. 36. Slow melting] Compare the following stanza of a poem by Barton Booth 
 (the famous actor), in his Life, written in 1718, published 1733 : 
 " Now to a slow and melting air she moves, 
 So like in air, in shape, in mien. 
 She passes for the Paphian queen ; 
 The Graces all around her play 
 The wond'ring gazers die away ; 
 Whether her easy body bend. 
 Or her faire bosom heave with sighs ; 
 Whether her graceful arm* extend. 
 Or gently fall, or slowly rise ; 
 Or returning or advancing, 
 Swimming round, or sidelong glancing, 
 Strange force of motion that subdues the soul." 
 
 VOL. r. F
 
 34 
 
 Where'er she turns, the Graces homage pay. 
 With arms subHme, that tloat upon the air, 
 
 In gUding state she Avins her easy way : 
 O'er lier Avarm check, and rising bosom, move 40 
 
 The bloom of young Desire and purple light of Love. 
 
 II. 1. 
 Man's feeble race what ills await ! 
 Labour, and Penury, the racks of Pain, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 37. Where'er she turns, the Graces homage pni/] So in Dryden's -Fliwer and 
 Leaf, V. 191: 
 
 " For wheresoe'er she turn'd her face, they bow'd." 
 Ver, 39. In gliding state she wins her east/ zoai/] This image is represented by Broome 
 in his Poems, p. Cfi2 : 
 
 " Then swimming smooth along, magnificently treads." 
 " Incessu patuit Dea," Virg. ^n. i. 405. And see Heyne's quotation from Eustathius. 
 " On all sides round environ'd, wins his way." 
 
 Milton's Par. Lost, ii. lOlO. 
 Ver, 41. The bloom of young Desire and purple lisht of Lore] 
 
 Tla^slriC-t (fiu; Bouiro;. 
 
 Phrynicus apud Athenaeum. Gray. 
 
 " lumen(iiie juvenlae 
 
 Purptireum, et laetos oculie affl^rat honores." 
 
 Virg. JEn. i. 594. W. 
 Add Ovid. Amor. ii. 1. 38 : " Purpureiis quae mihi dictat Amor." And ix. 34: " Notaque 
 purpureus tela resumit Amor." And Art. Amor. i. 232. And Claudian Rap. Proserp. 
 i. 270: 
 
 " Niveos infecit purpura vultus 
 
 Per liquidas succensa genas, castacquc pudoris 
 Iliuxere_/aces." 
 And Virg. iEn. xii. 67. 
 
 Ver. 42. Man's feeble race zehat ills await'] To compensate the real and imaginary ills 
 of life, the muse was given to mankind by the same Providence that sends the day, by its 
 cheerful presence, to dispel the gloom and terrors of the night. Gray.
 
 35 
 
 Disease, and Sorrow's weeping train, 
 
 And Death, sad refuge from the storms of fate! 45 
 
 The fond complaint, my song, disprove. 
 And justify the laws of Jove. 
 Say, has he giv'n in vain the heav'nly muse? 
 Night and all her sickly dews. 
 
 Her spectres wan, and birds of boding cr3% 50 
 
 He gives to range the dreary sky ; 
 Till down the eastern cliffs afar 
 Hyperion's march they spy, and glitt'ring shafts of war. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 52. Till down the eastern cliffs qfar'] 
 
 " Till fierce Hyperion from afar 
 Pours on their scatter'd rear, his glitt'ring shafts of war," ms. 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 Ver. 49. Night mid all Iter sickly rfea's] Wakefield refers to Milton's Hymn to the Na- 
 tivity, Stan. xxvi. and Par. Reg. iv. 419- Uut a passage in Cowley is pointed out by his last 
 tnlitor, Dr. Hurd, as alluded to by Gray, vol. i. p. 195 : 
 
 " Night and her ugly subjects thou dost fright, 
 And Sleep, the lazy owl of night; 
 Asham'd and fearful to appear, 
 
 They skreen their horrid shapes with the black hemisphere." 
 \'er. JO. Birds of boding cri/] 
 
 " Love not so much the doleful knell 
 And news the boding night-birds tell." 
 
 Green's Grotto, 126. 
 " Obscoenique Canes, importunteque Volucres 
 
 Signa dabant." Virg. Georg. i. v. 470. 
 
 " He withers at the heart, and looks as zi<an 
 As tiie pule spectre of a murder'd man."' 
 
 t Dryden's Pal. and Arcite. B. 1. 
 
 Ver. 51. Till down the eastern cliff's nfar"] 
 
 " Or seen tin- morning's we]l-api)ointed star 
 Come marching uj) the eastern hills afar." 
 
 Cowley. Gray. 
 
 F 2
 
 36 
 
 IT. 2. 
 
 In climes bc3'ond the solar road, 
 Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, 55 
 The muse has broke the twilight "-loom 
 
 To cheer the shiverinji native's dull aliode. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Tlie couplet from Cowley has been wrongly quoted by Gray, and so continued by liis 
 different editors. It occurs in Brutus, an Ode, staii. iv. p. 171. vol. 1. Ilurd's eil. : 
 " One would have thought 't had heard the morning erov, 
 Or seen her well-appointed star 
 Come marching up the eastern hills afar." 
 In Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, containing a Journal of his Tour to the Lakes, he 
 says : " While I was here, a little shower fell, red clouds came marching up the hills from 
 the east," Sic. Mason's ed. 4. p 175. 
 
 Ver. jS. Hyperions marcli] In Mr. Mant's edition of Warton (vol. ii. p. 41), and in 
 Mr. Sleevens's note on Hamlet, (act i. sc. 2), it is remarked that all the English poets 
 are guilty of the same Jake ciuantity, with regard to this word, except Akenside, as quoted 
 by Mr. jMant, Hymn to the Naiads, 4G ; and the author of ' Fuimus Troes' by Mr. Stee- 
 vens. See Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. vii. p. 500 : 
 
 " Blow gently, Africus, 
 
 Play on our poops ; when Hyperion's son 
 Shall couch in west his foani-bedappled jades. 
 We '11 rise to run our course." 
 The assertions, however, of these learned editors are not correct; as will appear fioin the 
 following quotations : 
 
 " That Hyperion far beyond his bed 
 Doth see our lions ramp, our roses spread." 
 
 Drummond of Hawthornd. Wand. Muses, p. 180. 
 " Then Hyperion's son, pure fount of day. 
 Did to his children the strange tale reveal." 
 
 West's Pindar, Ol. viii. •ii. p. 63. 
 
 Gray has used this word again with the same quantity: Hymn to Ignorance, v. 12: 
 
 " Thrice hath Hyperion roll'd his annual race." The same neglect of quantity * has 
 
 * The old English Poets (as Jortih remarks) did not regard quantity. Spenser has lole, 
 
 I
 
 37 
 
 And oft, beneath the od'rous shade 
 
 OfChiU's boundless tbrests laid, 
 
 She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat, 60 
 
 In loose numbers wildly sweet, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 attended a word of similar formation in England's Helicon, p. 130, Astrophel and Stella, 
 by Sir F. Sydney : 
 
 " If stones good measure daunc'd, the Thebane walls to build. 
 To cadence of the tunes, which .Jmphyuns lyre did yield." 
 Ver. 53. Glittering shafts of irar'] " Non radii solis, neque lucida tela diei," Lucret. 
 i. 148. vi. 3y. Aiisonii Moscll. 26^: " Lucifeiicjtie paveiit letaiia te/a diei." \V. Add 
 Euripid. Pliccniss<E, 171. cd. Por»i)n. 
 
 This expression occurs also in Prudentii Hamiirtig. 86, and Marius Victor, Comm. in 
 gen. i. 101. 
 
 Ver. 54. In climes heyond the solar roadi Extensive influence of poetic genius over 
 the remotest and most uncivilised nations : its connection with liberty, and the virtues that 
 naturally attend on it. [See the Erse, Norwegian, and Welsh fragments, the Lapland and 
 
 American songs.] 
 
 " E.\tra auni solisque vias — " 
 
 Virg. jEn. vi. 795. 
 " Tulta lontana dal camin del sole." 
 
 Petrarch, Carizon. 2. Gray. 
 
 " Out of the solar walk, and heaven's high way," Dryden's Thcnod. August, slajiz. \'i. 
 
 " Inter solisque vias, Arctosque latentes." Manilius, i. 430. Pope also has this expression : 
 
 " Far as the solar walk and milky way," Essay on Man, ch. i. 102. Broome has used it 
 
 also: " Lifts me from earth above the solar way," Verses to Pope, p. 195. 
 
 Ver. 56. The twilight gloom'] 
 
 " The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn." 
 
 JMilloHs Hymn to Nativ. st. xx. \\. 
 
 Pyliidcs, CaphSreus, Ilhoctfan. Gascoygne in his « Ultinium Vale :' " Kinde Erato, and 
 wanton Thalia." Turberville.in the ' Ventrous Lover,' stanz. i: 
 " If so Lcander durst, from Alndon to .''est, 
 To swim to Hero, wliom lie cliose his Iriend above the rest." 
 Lord Stcrllnc in his ' Third Hour,' stanz. xiii p. 50: " Then Pleiades, Arcturus, Orion, all.'' 
 Id. p. 87 : " Which carrying Orton safely to the shore."
 
 38 
 
 Their feather-cinctur'd chiefs, and dusky loves. 
 
 Her track, where'er the goddess roves, 
 
 Glory pursue, and gen'rous Shame, 
 
 Th' unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame. 65 
 
 II. S. 
 Woods, that wave o'er Delphi's steep, 
 Isles, that crown th' i?5Lgean deep. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. (5 1. In loose numbers wildly siceet] Milton's L'Allegro, 13,"?: 
 " Or sweetest Shakspeare, fancy's child, 
 Warble his native woodiiotes wild." W. 
 Ver. 62. Their feather-cinctur'd chiefs'] So Milton, Par. Lost, ix. 1116: 
 
 " Girt with fealhcr'd cincture." 
 Ver. 62. Diisky loves'] So Pope's Winds. For. 410: "Reap their own fruits, and woo 
 tlieir sable loves." Gray's epithet, as Dr. Warton remarks, is the more correct. He has 
 used it again : " The dusky people drive before the gale," Frag, on Educ. and Gover. 
 ver. 105. 
 
 Ver. 64. Glory pursue, and genrous Shame] This use of the verb plural after the first 
 substantive, is in Pindar's manner, Nem. x.Ql. Pyth. 4. 318. Horn. II. E. 774. W. "I 
 cannot help remarking (says Mr. D. Stewart, in his Philosophy of the Human Mind, 
 p. 506, 8vo.) the effect of the solemn and uniform Ao'^ of the verse in this exquisite stanza, 
 in retarding the pronunciation of the reader, so as to arrest liis attention to every successive 
 picture, till it has time to produce its proper impression." 
 
 Ver. 66. Woods, that ware o'er Delphi's steep] Progress of Poetry from Greece to 
 Italy, and from Italy to England. Chaucer was not unacquainted with the writings of 
 Dante or of Petrarch. Tlie Earl of Surry and Sir Thomas Wyatt had travelled in Italy, 
 and formed their taste there. Spenser imitated the Italian writers; Milton improved on 
 them : but this school expired soon after the Restoration, and a new one arose on the 
 French model, which has subsisted ever since. Gray. 
 
 " Wiih hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving." 
 
 Milton's Hymn to Nativ. xix. W. 
 Ver. 67. Isles, that crotcn the /Egean deep] So Dionysius, in his chaste and classical 
 poem The Periegesis, v. 4 : 
 
 — ^ ev ydg IxEiVtti 
 Tiara y^'jiy, en yrjiro; iitslDiros s<rT£fa.yJjrat.
 
 39 
 
 Fields, that cool Ilissus laves. 
 
 Or where IMaeander's amber waves 
 In lingering lab'rinths creep, 70 
 
 How do your tuneful echoes languish, 
 
 Mute, but to the voice of anguish ! 
 Where each old poetic mountain 
 
 Inspiration brcath'd around ; 
 Ev'ry shade and hallow'd fountain 75 
 
 Murmur'd deep a solemn sound : 
 Till the sad Nine, in Greece's evil hour. 
 
 Left their Parnassus for the Latian plains. 
 Alike they scorn the pomp of t^'rant Power, 
 
 And coward Vice, that revels in her chains. 80 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ovid in Metam. v. 388 : " Silva coronat aquas." And Seueca in CEdip. 488 : " Naxos 
 JEgxo redimita Pouto." 
 
 And Jortin, in his Lusus Poetici, vol. i. p. 4 ; 
 
 " Cyclades sparsas iibi Naxos inter 
 Surgit yiy'ijeo ndimita Ponlo." 
 Ver.fiS. Cool Ilissus laves] This epithet is given by Seneca in the Hippolyt. 1.13: 
 " Ubi par i^lacie lenis Ilissus ; 
 Ubi MaiaiidtT, sic per ina>quales 
 L^bitur agros." 
 Ver. fig. Meander's amber rcavef] " Tliere Susa by Choaspes, amber strffim," Par. 
 Reg. iii. 288. " Rolls o'er Elysiaii flow'rs her amher stream," Par. Lost, iii. 559. Cal- 
 limuelii Cer. 29 : 
 
 ro i", cuffr tihixr^iyw, uSuip 
 
 ij oiu,a.^iv dni'lvi. W. 
 To which adil Eiuipid. Hippolyt. ver. 741. " Electro purior resplendebat amnis," Mar- 
 tian. Capella, c. viii. I . ed. Goez. 
 
 Ver. 71. How do your tuiuful echoes languish] In the Quarterly Review for July, 
 1814, No. ,\xii. |). .'»14, souie lines are quoted from Addison's letter from Italy, containing 
 an idea similar to these ot CJray : " Puelie fields encompass me around, " Stc. 
 
 Ver. 80. jind conard Vice, that revelt iu Iwr ihaiits] " Servitude tliat hugs lier chain," 
 Ode on the Install. V. W.
 
 40 
 
 When Latiuin had her lofty spirit lost. 
 
 They sought, oh Albion ! next thy sea-encircled coast. 
 
 III. 1. 
 
 Far from the sun and summer-gale, 
 In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid, 
 What time, where lucid Avon stray'd. 85 
 
 To him the mighty mother did unveil 
 Her awful face: the dauntless child 
 Stretch'd forth his little arms and smil'd. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 84. In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid] " Nature's darling." Shakspcarc. 
 Gkay. — This expression occurs in Cleveland's Poems, p. 314. 
 " Here lies within this stony shade, 
 N^ature's darling ; whom she made 
 Her fairest model, her brief story, 
 In him heaping all her glory." 
 " The flowery May, who from her green lap throws 
 Tlie yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose," 
 
 Milton's Son. ou May Morn. Shaksp. Gray. 
 Ver. 86. To him the mighty mother did unveil] 
 
 " Tlie might 1/ mother, and he;- son who brings 
 
 The Smithfield muses to the ear of kings." Pope's Dunciad, i. 1. 
 " A cloud of fogs dilates her awful face." 
 
 Id. i. 262. W. 
 See also Virg. Georg. i. by Dryden : , 
 
 " On the green turf ihy careless limbs display, 
 And celebrate the mighty mother's day." 
 
 Ver. 87 The dauntless child 
 
 StretcKd forth his little arms and smil'd] Mr. Wakefield refers to Virg. Eclog. 
 iv. 60 : " Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem." And Berdmore, in his Literary 
 Resemblances, p. 40, to the description of the infant Hercules in Theocritus, Idyll, xxiv. 
 55. But the truth is, that the two lines in Gray are almost exactly the same as two in 
 Sandys's Ovid, p. 78. ed. ISmo. (see Metam. iv. 515.^
 
 41 
 
 " This pencil take (she said), whose colours clear 
 
 Richly paint the vernal year: 90 
 
 Thine too these golden keys, immortal Boy ! 
 
 This can unlock the gates of joy ; 
 
 Of horror that, and thrilling fears, 
 
 Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears," 
 
 III. 2. 
 
 Nor second He, that rode sublime 95 
 
 Upon the seraph-wings of Extasy, 
 The secrets of th' abyss to spy, 
 
 He pass'd the flaming bounds of place and time : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 93. Horror'} Terror, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " the child 
 
 Stretch' d forth its little arms, and on him smiFd." 
 Ver. 9I- Thine too these golden keys, immortal Bot/] 
 
 " Yet some there be, that with due steps aspire 
 To lay their lianrls upon that golden hey 
 That opes tlie palace of eternity." 
 
 Milton's Comus, 1 3. W. 
 This passage of Milton is from Fletcher's Purpl. Isl. vii. 62 : 
 " Not in his lips, but hands, trro kei/s he bore, 
 Heaven's doors and hell's to shut, and open wide." 
 Ver. 95. "Sor second He, that rode sublime'] Milton. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 97. The secrets of th' abyss to spy] This alludes to Milton's own picture of him- 
 self: 
 
 " Up led by thee 
 
 Into the Heaven of Heavens, I have presumed 
 An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air." Par. L. vii. 12. 
 Ver. 98. He pass'd thejiaming bounds nf place and time] " Flanimantla moenia niundi," 
 Lucret. i. 74. Gray.— See also Stat. Silv. iv. 3. 15G: " Ultra sidera, flammeumque so- 
 lem." And Cicero de Tinibus, ii. 31. Hor. Epist. I. xiv. 9. 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 42 
 
 The living throne, the sapliirc blaze, 
 
 Where angels tremble while they gaze, 100 
 
 He saw ; but, blasted with excess of light, 
 
 Clos'd his eyes in endless night. 
 
 Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car. 
 
 Wide o'er the fields of glory bear 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 99. The living throne, the saphire blaze'] "For the spirit of the living creature 
 was in the wheels. And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of 
 a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. This was the appearance of the glory of 
 the Lord," Ezek. i. 20, 2fi, 28. Gray. — "Ay sang before the saphir-color'd throne," 
 Poem at a solemn Music (Milton), ver. 7. 
 
 " Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne, 
 
 The cherub Contemplation." 11 Pens. ver. 53. 
 " Whereon a sapphire throne inlaid, with pure 
 
 Amber, and colours of the showery arch." Par. Lost. vi. 753. 
 " He on the wings of cherub rode sublime. 
 
 On the crystalline sky, in sapphire thrond." Ibid. ver. 77 !• 
 Ver. 102. Clos'd his eyes in endless night] 
 
 '0<p9aXp,i«v JJ.IY au.s^<Tr Siiov S' ij^sTac aoiJ^v. 
 
 Horn. Od. 0. ver. 64. Gray. 
 " In seternam clauduntur lumina noctem," Virg. iEn. x. 746. W. " He clos'd his eyne 
 iu everlastynge nyghte," Chatterton's Battle of Hastings, p. ii p. 278. Sec also Milton's 
 Sonnets, -\ix. sxii. The blindness of Homer was accounted for among the ancients, in 
 the same poetical way as Milton's by Gray. Homer, when lie resolved to write of Achilles, 
 had a desire to fill his mind with a just idea of the hero, and entrvated a sight of him. The 
 hero rose in a glorious armour, which cast so insufferable a splendor tli;it the poet lost his 
 sight. See Allatius de Patria Honieri, c. viii. and Pope's Essay on Homer, p. Ixxxv. 
 Politian has used this fiction, which he derived from Hcrmias in Pliadr. PKitonis, (see the 
 passage quoted in Allatius, p. 178j. Gronov. Gr. Thes. vol. x.) in his Ambra: 
 " Ipse ardens clypeo ostentat, terramque fretumque 
 Atquc indefessum solem, solisque sororem 
 Jam plenam, et tanto volventia sidera niundo. 
 Ergo his defixus vates, dum singula visu 
 Explorat miser incauto, dum lumina figit, 
 Lumina nox |iepulit." 
 Ver. 103. Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car] See Pope's account of Dry- 
 den, Epist. I. book ii. ver. 2S7 :
 
 43 
 
 Two coursers of ethereal race, 105 
 
 AVith necks in thunder cloth'd, and lonsj-resounding pace. 
 
 III. 3. 
 
 Hark, his hands the lyre explore ! 
 Bright-eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er. 
 Scatters from her pictur'd urn 
 Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. 110 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 108. Brighl-eyed'\ Full-plumed, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 " Waller was smooth ; but Dryden taught to join 
 The varying verse, the full resounding line, 
 The long majestick march, and energy divine." 
 Ver. lOfi. With necks in thunder cloth' d'] " Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?" 
 Job. — This verse and the foregoing are meant to express the stately march and sounding 
 energy of Dryden's rhymes. Guay. 
 
 " Currum, geminosque jugales 
 Seraine ab a-thcreo, spirantes naribus iguem." 
 
 Virg. iEn. vii. 280. W. 
 Ver. 108. Bright-eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er'] " Bright-eyed Fancy hovering near," 
 Smollett's Ode to Mirth, xxxv. p. 2.51. ed. Anderson. 
 Ver. 1 10. Thoughts that breathe, and Kords that burn'] 
 
 " Words that weep, and tears that speak," 
 
 Cowley, Prophet, vol. i. p. 1 13. Gray. 
 Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, ii. p. 3f) : 
 
 " Prayers that e'en spoke, and pity seem'd to call ; 
 And issuing sighs that smoked along the wall." 
 So Mallet, in his Funcrnl Hymn, ver. 23 : 
 
 " Strains that sigh, and words that weep." 
 And in his Amyntor and Tiicodora, ii. .30(5: 
 
 " Words that weep, and strains that agonize." 
 Dr. Warton's censure of Mallet's poem quoted last, vrhich so offended the author, was not 
 without sufficient reason. The following line is in the tirst canto : " Song, fragrance, lienlth, 
 ambrosiate every breeze," which surely is not far removed from nonsense. His poem called 
 * Excursion,' is almost a cento from Thomson's Seasons. 
 
 G 2
 
 44 
 
 But ah ! 'tis heard no more 
 
 Oh ! lyre divine, what daring spirit 
 
 Wakes thee now ? Tho' he inherit 
 Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, 
 
 That the Thcban eagle bear, 115 
 
 Sailing with supreme dominion 
 
 Thro' the azure deep of air : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 111. But ah! 'tis heard no more'] We have had in our language no other odes of 
 the sublime kind, than that of Dr^fden on St. Cecilia's Day ; for Cowlej, who had his 
 merit, yet wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a task. That of Pope is not 
 worthy of so great a man. Mr. Mason indeed, of late days, lias touched the true chords, 
 and with a masterly hand, in some of his choruses ; above all in the last of Caractacus : 
 " Hark ! heard ye not yon footstep dread .? " &.c. Giiay. 
 Ver. 1 13. Wakes thee now] So Elegy, st. xii : 
 
 " Or wake to extasy the living lyre." 
 And Lucret. ii. 41£ : 
 
 " Ac Musaea mole per chordas organic! qua; 
 Mobilibus digitis erpergej'acta figuraut." 
 And Callimach. Hymn. Del. 312. W. 
 
 Ver. 1 15. That the Theban eagle bear] Aio; ffo; opvix^ ^i~ov, Olymp. ii. 114. Pin- 
 dar compares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ravens that croak and clamour in 
 vain below, while it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise. Gray. 
 See Spenser's Fairy Queen, V. iv. 42 : 
 
 " Like to an eagle in his kingly pride 
 Soaring thro' his wide empire of the aire 
 To weather his brode sailes." 
 Cowley, (i. 166. Hurd's ed.) in his Translation of Hor. Od. IV. ii. calls Pindar " the The- 
 ban swan ;" 
 
 " Lo ! how the obsequious wind and swelling air 
 The Theban swan does upward bear." 
 Pope in his Temple of Fame, 210, has copied Horace, and yoked four swans to the car 
 of the poet : 
 
 " Four swans sustain a car of silver bright." 
 See also Berdmore, Specimens of Lit. Resemblance, p. 10'2.
 
 45 
 
 Yet oft before liis infant eyes would run 
 
 Such forms as glitter in the Muse's ray, 
 With orient hues, unborrow'd of the sun : 120 
 
 Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way 
 Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate. 
 Beneath the Good how far — but far above the Great. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1 17. Thro' the azure deep of air'\ " Coeli fretum," Enniiis apud Non. Marcell. 
 
 3.92. Lucret. ii. 151. v. 277: " Aeris in magiuim Fertiir mare." W. Oppian. Kuvi;/. iii. 
 
 497: 
 
 'HifOj u'l'ttro^otirty itntXwaiin x£^£i!6oif. 
 
 Shaksp. Timon of Athens, act iv. sc. 2. p. 126. ed. Steevens : "Into this sea of air." 
 And Cowlev's Poems : " Row thro' the trackless ocean of the air." 
 
 Vcr. 1 1 8. Ytt oft before his infant eyes would rini] See the observation of Mr. D. Stewart 
 in his Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, p. 48fi : " that Gray, in describ- 
 ing the infantine reveries of poetical genius, has fixed with exquisite judgement on that class 
 of our conceptions which are derived from visible objects." And see also his Philosoi)hical 
 Essays, p. 231. There is a passage in Sir William Temples Essay on Poetry, vol. iii. 
 p. 402, which has been supposed to have been the origin of this passage. See Gentleman's 
 Magazine, vol. Ixi. p. 91. 
 
 Ver. 123. lieneath the Good how far — but far above the Great 
 
 " How much it is a meaner thing 
 
 To be unjustly great, than honorably nood." 
 
 Duke of Buckingham on Lord Fairfax. 
 
 I cannot conclude the notes to tliis Poem without inserting the admirable observation of 
 Professor Stewart, from his l'"lenienls of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, in a chapter 
 on Imagination, where he is considering the dilferent effects produced by words upon the 
 mind : " I have sometimes thought (he says) that in the last line of the following passage, 
 Gray had in view the two diflferent effects of words already described; the effect of some, 
 in awakening the powers of conception and imagination; and that of o//ie/s in exciting 
 associated emotions, 
 
 " Hark, his hands the lyre explore! 
 
 Bright- eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er, 
 
 Scatters from her |)ictur'd urn 
 
 Thou>jhls that breathe, and words that Lmrn." P. 507.
 
 THE BARD. 
 
 A PINDARIC ODE. 
 
 This Ode is founded on a tradition current in Wales, that Edward the First, wlien he com- 
 pleted the conquest of that country, ordered all the Bards that fell into his hands to be 
 put to death. Gray. 
 
 I. 1. 
 
 " Ruin seize thee, ruthless King!* 
 Confusion on thy banners wait ; 
 
 Tho' fann'd by Conquest's crimson wing, 
 They mock the air with idle state. 
 
 Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail, 
 
 Nor e'en thy virtues. Tyrant, shall avail 
 
 NOTES. 
 ♦ It is the opening of this poem, that tlic Ode by Soame Jenyns, on a * Giant run mad 
 with disappointment in Love and Ambition," is meant to ridicule. See his Poems, p. 118. 
 Park's ed. 
 
 Ver. S. Tho'fami'd by Conquest's crimson uing] 
 
 " Wiiere the Norweyan banners flout the sky. 
 
 And f(in our people cold.' Macbeth, act i. so. 2. 
 Ver. 4. They mock the air with idle state'] 
 
 " Mocking the air with colours idly spread." 
 
 Shakspcare's King John. Gray. 
 Ver. 5. Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail'] The hauberk was a texture of steel ringlets, 
 or rings interwoven, forming a coat of mail that sat close to the body, and adapted itself 
 to every motion. Gray.
 
 47 
 
 To save thy secret soul from nightly fear?, 
 
 From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears !" 
 Such were the sounds that o'er the crested pride 
 
 Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay, 10 
 
 As down the steep of Suowdon's shaggy side 
 
 He wound with toilsome march his long array. 
 Stout Glo'ster stood aghast in speechless trance : 
 
 " To arms!" cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quiv'ring lance. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Hawberks and helms are hew'd witli many a wound," 
 Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, lib. iil. ver. 1879. Fairfax, in his Translation of Tasso, 
 has joined these words in many places : As canto vii. 33 : " Now at his helm, now at his 
 hau'herk bright." See also p. lyS, 199, 299, of the folio edition of IG'24. 
 Ver. y. lyiiit o'er the crested pride'\ 
 
 " The crested adder's pride." 
 
 Dryden's Indian Queen. Gray. 
 Ver. 1 1. Of Snoicdons shaggy s'rde'] Snowdon was a name given by the Saxons to that 
 mountainous tract which the Welsh themselves call Craigian-eryri : it included all the hi"h- 
 lands of Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire, as far east as the river Conway. R. Hy"'- 
 (len, speaking of tiie castle of Conway, built by King Edward the First, says, " Ad ortum 
 anniis Conway ad clivum niontis Erery ;" and Matlliew of Westminster, (ad ann. 1'283) 
 " A pud Aberconway ad pedes montis Snowdonia; fecit erigi castrum forte." Gray. 
 
 The epithet " sliaggy," applied to " Snowdon's side," is iiigiily appropriate, as Leland 
 says that great woods clothed the different parts of the moimtain in his time : see Itin. 
 v. 45. Dyer, in his lluins of Rome, p. 137 : 
 
 " as Britannia's oaks 
 On >rcrhn's mount, or Snoudon's rugged sides, 
 Stand in tlie ciuuds." 
 Ver. 13. Stout Glo'ster] Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, earl of Gloucest«sr and 
 Hertford, son-in-law to King Edward. (iiiAY. 
 
 Ver. 14. " To (inns!" cried Mortimer'] Edmond de Mortimer, Lord of Wig- 
 more. Gray. 
 
 They both were Lord Marchers, whose lands lay on the borders of Wales, and jirobably 
 accompanied the king in this expedition. Gray.
 
 48 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 On a rock, whose haughty brow 15 
 
 Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, 
 
 Robed in the sable garb of woe, 
 With haggard eyes the poet stood ; 
 (Loose his beard, and hoary hair 
 
 Streaiii'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air) 20 
 
 And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire, 
 Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 15. On a lock, whose /taiiglttj/ biozcl . So Homer, II. T. ver. 1,'jl : 'Er' 6p^v<rt 
 xa.>Mxo\uivr,s. And Mosch. IH. ii. 48 : 'Ett' of f^5f afyfaAoTo. Ap. Rhod.i. ver. 178. St. Luke, 
 iv. 29 And Virg. Georg. i. 108 . " Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis." W. 
 
 Ver. 17. Robed in the sable garb of zci:e] " Perpetuo marore, et nigra teste senes- 
 cant," Juvenal. Sat. x. 243. W. Also Propertius, Eleg. IV. vii. 28: " At ram quis la- 
 crimis incaluisse togam." , 
 
 Ver. 19- Loose liis beard, and hoary hair] The image was taken from a well-known 
 picture of Raphael, representing the Supreme Being in the vision of Ezekiel. There are 
 two of these paintings, both believed to be originals, one at Florence, the other iu the Duke 
 of Orleans' collection at Paris. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 20. Stream d, like a meteor, to the troubled air"] 
 
 " Slione like a meteor streaming to the wind." 
 
 Par. Lost, i. ver. 535. W. 
 
 " Her fair yellow locks behind her flew. 
 
 Loosely disperst with puff of every blast ; 
 All as a blazins. >^lar doth far outcast 
 
 His hairy beams and flaming locks disperst." Spenser. 
 
 The comparison of hair to a meteor, or comet, is not uncommon in poetry. See Hudi- 
 bras, Pt. I. cant. i. ver. 247 : 
 
 " His tawny beard was th' equal grace 
 Both of his wisdom and his face. 
 
 This hairy meteor did denounce 
 The fall of sceptres, and of crowns."
 
 49 
 
 " Hark, how each giant-oak, and desert-cave, 
 
 Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath ! 
 O'er thee, oh King! their hundred arms they wave, 25 
 
 Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe ; 
 Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day, 
 To high-born Iloel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay. 
 
 NOTES. 
 Also in his Remains*, p. 135 : 
 
 " Wliich holy vow he firmly kept : 
 And most devoutly wore 
 A grisli/ meteor on his face." 
 Mr. Todd mentions a passage very similar to the one in the text: " The circumference 
 of his snowy beard like the streaming rays of a meteor appeared," Persian Tales of Ina- 
 tulla, vol. ii. p. 41. This image is often used metaphorically, as Statii Theb. iii. .S32. 
 And see Manilii Astron. i. 8.30. 
 
 Ford, in his Pcrkin VV'arbeck, p. 25, ed. Weber; 
 
 " since the beard 
 
 Of this wUd eomet conjur'd into France." 
 Milton has applied it very beautifully to the long streaks of light that appear near the 
 horizon, at the break of the morning : " Love-darting eyes, and tresses like the morn," 
 Comus, ver. 753. 
 
 Ver. 27. Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day] See some observations on the 
 j)oetical and proper use of " vocal," as used by Gray in this place, in Huntingford's 
 Apolog. for the Monosh. p. 3 1 . 
 
 Ver. 28. To high-born Hoel's harp f ] Hoel is called high-born, being the son of Owen. 
 
 * Is there not a curious similarity between a passage in the will of Burke, and one in the 
 mock will of Lord Pembroke in Butler's Remains ? " I desire (says Burke) that 710 monument, 
 beyond a middle-sized tablet, with a small and simple inscription on the church wall, or on the 
 
 flag-stone, be erected. But I have had in my life-time but too much of noise and compliment." 
 
 Burke's Will, in Bisset's Life, p. 578. 
 
 " My xvill is that I have no monumntt, for then I must have epitaphs and verses. But all my 
 lifelong I have had but too much tfthem." Lord I'embroke's Will. Butler's Remains, p. '28L 
 
 I Hoel's Harp'] This passage is copied by Lovibond, in his Complaint of Cambria: 
 " Rev(.'re thy Cambria's (lowing tongue, 
 Tho' high-born Iloel's lips be dumb; 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 50 
 
 I. 3. 
 
 " Cold is Cadwallo's tongue. 
 
 That hush'd the stormy main : 30 
 
 Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed : 
 Mountains, ye mourn in vain 
 
 NOTES. 
 Gwjnedd, prince of North Wales, by Finnog an Irisli damsel. He was one of his father's 
 generals in his war.i against tiiu English, Flemings, and Normans, in South Wales ; and was 
 a famous bard, as his poems that are extant, testify. See Evans's Specimens, p. C6, 4to. ; 
 and Jones's Relics, vol. ii. p. 36, who says that he wrote eight pieces, five of which are 
 translated by him in his interesting publication. The whole are given in Mr. Owen's trans- 
 lation in Mr. Southey's Madoc, vol. ii. p. 162 : and his ' Lay of Love' sounds sweetly in 
 the numbers of the latter bard. See Madoc, xiv. 136. 
 
 Ver. 28. Soft LlewelJyn's lay] In a Poem to Llewellyn, by Einion the son of Guigan, 
 a similar epithet is given to him (p. '22): " Llewellyn is a tender-hearted prince." And 
 in another Poem to him, by Llywarch Brydydd y Mocli (p. 32) : " Llewellyn, though in 
 battle he killed with fury, though he burnt like an outrageous fire, yet was a mild prince 
 when the mead horns were distributed." Also in an Ode to him by Llygard Gwr (p. 39), 
 he is called " Llewellyn the mild, and prosperous governor of Gwynedd." Llewellyn's 
 ' soft Lay' is given by Jones in his Relics, vol. ii. p. (i4. 
 
 Ver. 29- Cold is Cadwallo's tongue'] Cadwallo and Urien are mentioned by Dr. Evans 
 in his ' Dissertatio de Bardis,' p. 78, among those bards of whom no works remain. Mo- 
 dred is, I suppose, the famous " Myrddin ab ATorvryn,'" called Merlin the Wild; a disciple 
 of Taliessin, and bard to the Lord Gwenddolaw ab Ceidiaw. He fought under King 
 Arthur in 542 at the battle of Camlau, and accidentally slew his own nephew. He was 
 reckoned a truer prophet, than his predecessor the great magician jNIerdhin Ambrose. See 
 a poem of his called the ' Orchard' in Jones's Relics, vol. i. p. 24. I su])|iose Gray altered 
 the name ' euphonije gratia ;' as I can no where find a bard mentioned of the name of 
 ' Modred.' 
 
 Ver. 30. That hush'd the stormy main] 
 
 " Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath. 
 That the rude sea grew civil at her song." 
 
 Mids. N. Dream, act ii. sc. 2. W. 
 
 Cadwallcr's harp no more is strung, 
 
 And silence sits on soft Llewellyn's tongue." 
 
 Chalmers's Poets, vol. xvi. p. 295.
 
 51 
 
 Mod red, whose magic song 
 Made huge PHnUmmon bow his cloud-topt head. 
 
 On dreary Arvon's shore they lie, 35 
 
 Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pale : 
 Far, far aloof th' aftrightcd ravens sail ; 
 
 The faniish'd eagle screams, and passes by. 
 Dear lost companions of my tuneful art, « 
 
 Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, 40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 VtT. 34. Made huge PHiiUmmoii how his cloud-topt head] " Cloud-capt towers," 
 Tempest, act iv. sc. i. W. — Drayton has used tliis image very poetically in his Poly-Olbion, 
 vol. iii. p. 1 ia6, in the speech of Skedow : 
 
 " But from my glorious iieight into its depth I pry, 
 Great hills far under me, but as my pages lie; 
 And when my he/i/i of clouds upon my head I take." 
 So in the tragedy of Nero, 1024, p. 27 : " Hebrus stood still, Pangtea bow' d his head." 
 
 Ver. 35. On dretiri/ /Irion's shore they lie] The shores of Caernarvonshire opposite to 
 the isle of Anglesey. Gkay. 
 
 Ver. 36. Smear'd ziith gore, and ghastly pale] " Smear'd with gore, a ghastly 
 stream." King of France's Daughter : Percy's Reliques, iii. l64. 
 
 Ver. 37- Fur, far aloof I h' affrighted ravens s«/7] This image may be found in 
 Lucret. vi. ver. 1213. Oviil Meiam. vii. 550. Lucan. vi. ver. 023. Statii Theb. i. ver. 
 624. It is also in Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, ver. 1142: 
 " The fowl that scent afar the borders fly, 
 And shiui the bitter lihist, and wheel about the sky." 
 Ver. SS. Tlieftmish'd eagle screams, and passes by] Camden and others observe, that 
 eagles used annually to build their aerie among the rocks of Snowdon, which from thence 
 (as some think) were named by the Welsh Craigiau-eryri, or the crags of the eagles. At 
 this day (I am told) the highest [joint of Snowdon is culled the Eagle's Nest. That bird 
 IS certainly no stranger to this island, as the Scots, and the people of Cumberland, W'est- 
 moreland, Sec. can testify : it even has built its nest in the peak of Derbyshire. [Sec Wil- 
 loughby's Ornithol. published by Ray.] (Jray. 
 
 Ver. 40. Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes] 
 
 " As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 
 That visit my sad heart." 
 
 Shakspcare's Jul. Cresar, act ii. sc. 2. Gray. 
 II 2
 
 52 
 
 Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, 
 Yc died amidst 3'our dying country's cries — 
 
 No more I weep. They do not sleep. 
 On yonder chffs, a gricsly band, 
 
 I see them sit, they hnger yet, 45 
 
 Avengers of their native land : 
 
 With me in dreadful harmony they join, 
 
 And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line. 
 
 II. 1. 
 
 " Weave the warp, and weave the woof, 
 The winding-sheet of Edward's race. 50 
 
 Give ample room, and verge enough 
 The characters of hell to trace. 
 Mark the year, and mark the night. 
 When Severn shall re-echo with affright 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 See Callimach. H. Diaii. v. 211. Theocr. Id. cap. 53. Quint. Siiiyiii. x. 47i. Ca- 
 tullus, xiv. I. Virg. iEn. iv. ;il. Otway, in his Venice Preserved, act v. p. 309, was more 
 ininiediatL-ly in Gray's inind : 
 
 " Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life, 
 Dear as these eyes that weep in fondness o'er thee." 
 In Sir P. Sydney's Arcadia, vol. ii. p. 415 : " Oh, mother, said Aniphialus, speak not of 
 doing them hurt, lio more than to mine eyes or my heart, or if I have any tiling more dear 
 than (yes or heart unto me." King Lear, act i. sc. 2 : " Dearer than eye-sight." 
 
 Ver. 42. Ye died amidst your dying count ri/'s cries] " And greatly falling with a falling 
 state," Pope. " And couldst not fall, but with thy country's fate," Dryden. VV. 
 
 Ver. 44. On yonder cliff's, a griesly hand] I have thought this inmge was shadowed by 
 the poet from the following passage of Stat. xi. 421. The third line is aiaiost translated: 
 " Ipse quoque Ogygios monstra ad gentilia manes 
 Tartareus rector porta jubet ire reclusa. 
 Montihiis insidunt patriis, tristique corona 
 Infecere diem, et vinci tua crimina gaudent." 
 Ver. 48. And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line] Sec the Norwegian ode 
 (the Fatal Sisters) that follows. Gray.
 
 53 
 
 The sliricks of death, thro' Berkley's roof that ring, .55 
 
 Shrieks of an ag-onizino; kin<2;! 
 
 She- wolf of France, with unrelenting fanss. 
 That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate, 
 
 From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs 
 The scourge of heav'n. What terrors round him wait ! 60 
 Amazement in his van, with tlight combin'd, 
 And sorrow's faded form, and solitude behind. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 51. Give ample room and verge enough] 
 
 " I have a soul that like an ample sliield 
 
 Can take in all, and verge enough for more." 
 
 Dryden's Sebastian, act i. sc. 1 . 
 Ver. .5.5. The shrieks of death, thro' Berklei/'s roof that ring] Edward the Second, 
 cruellv butchered in Berkley castle. Gray. — See Drayton's Barons' Wars, v. Ixvii. : 
 " Berkley, whose fair seat hath been famous long, 
 Let thy sad echoes shriek a deadly sound ; 
 To the vast air ; complain his grievous wrong, 
 And keep the blood that issued from his wound." 
 Ver. 5(i. Shrieks of an agonizing king] This line of Gray is almost in the same 
 words as Hume's description, vol. ii. p. 359: "The screatns with which the agonizing 
 king filled the castle." 
 
 Ver. 57. She- wolf of France] Isabel of France, Edward the Second's adulterous 
 queen. Gray. 
 
 This expression is from Sliakspcare's Henry VI. part lit. act 1. sc. 4. p. 41 (Steev. cd.): 
 " She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France." Latin writers have used the 
 same language. Apuleins, speaking of the sisters of Psyche : " Perfdic lupulcc nefarias 
 insidias comparant." And Ausonius, ed. Tollii, p. 23 : " Et mater est vere liipa." 
 Plutarch in Vita Romuli, c. iv. p. 84. cd. Reiske. AOfnAS yaf ijca'Aotv 'Of AATINOI 
 TmvTi (iri^'tMv rais AyxaiVaf, xal r-JHv yjya.iit.jjv rd; fraifO'Jraf, &c. See also Dionys. Halicaro. 
 Ant. Rom. lib. I. c. l.wxiv. and Constantiu. Manasscs. 
 
 'HTif KOuov Tou rujiiaris to xa'XXof iroioufw*!;, 
 AOTf nA xariuvofia'ssro rrj yXuJmj ttj iraTf itu, 
 'H-oi xard JiaAjxTOv 'E\Ai;nxi» iraipx. 
 
 y\nnales, ed. Mcursii, p. 404. 
 Ver. 60. The scourge of heav'n] Triumphs of Edward the Third in France. Gray.
 
 54 
 
 II. 2. 
 
 " Mighty victor, niighty lord ! 
 liOw on his funeral couch he hes! 
 
 No pitying heart, no eye, afford 6& 
 
 A tear to grace his obsequies. 
 
 Is the sable warrior fled ? 
 Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Vcr.63. Victor'] Conqueror, ms. Vcr. Gl. His"] The, MS. 
 
 Ver. 65. No, no] What, what, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 60. What terrors round him zcait] 
 
 " Circumque atr;e formidinis ora, 
 IriEque, insidia^qiie, Dei coniitatus, aguntur." 
 
 Viig. Mn. xii. S35. W. 
 Ver. 61. Amazement in his van] Cowley has a couplet with similar imager}, vol. i. 
 
 p. 254 : 
 
 " He walks about the perishing nation, 
 
 Ruin behind him stalks, and empty desolation." 
 And Oldham in his Ode to Home4-, stanz. iii. 
 
 " Where'er he does his dreadful standard bear, 
 
 Horror stalks in the van, and slaughter in the roar." 
 Ver. 64. Low on his funeral couch he lies] Death of that king, abandoned by his 
 children, and even robbed in his last moments by his courtiers and his mistress. G k a v. 
 
 Ver. 65. No pitying heart] The same words, with the same elliptical expression, 
 occur in the Instal. Ode, vi : 
 
 " Thy liberal heart, thy judging ei/e. 
 The flower unheeded shall descry." 
 On this ellipsis see J ortins Observ. on Spensrr : Tracts, vol. i. p. 91. 
 
 Ver. 67. Is the sable warrior fled] Edward the Black Prince, dead some time before 
 his father. Gray. 
 
 " Hence Edward dreadful with his sable shield." 
 
 Prior's Poems, p. GIO. 
 " The sable-suited prince," T. Warton's Poems, vol. i. p. 20. In Peacham's ' Period 
 of Mourning,' 1613, a similar epithet is given, but from a different reason:
 
 55 
 
 The swarm, that in thy noontide beam were born r 
 Gone to salute the rising morn. 70 
 
 Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, 
 While proudly riding o'er the azure realm 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 69. In thy noontide beam were 6orn2 Hover'd in thy noontide ray, ms. 
 Ver. 70. Morn'} Day, ms. 
 Ver. 71 — 76. Fair laughs, <S"C.] 
 
 " Mirrors of Saxon truth and loyalty. 
 
 Your helpless, old, expiring master view ! 
 
 They hear not: scarce religion does supply 
 
 Her rautter'd requiems, and her holy dew. 
 
 Yet thou, proud boy, from Pomfret's walls shall send 
 
 A sigh, and envy oft thy happy grandsire's end.'' 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Appeared then in armes a goodly prince 
 
 Of swarthy hew, by whom there hung a launce 
 Of wondrous length, preserved ever since 
 He overthrew, at Poitiers, John of Fraunce. 
 A dial his device, the stile at one — 
 And this, ' No night, and yet my day is done.'" 
 Ver. 09- The szcann, that in thy noontide beam were born] So in Agrippina : 
 
 " around thee call 
 
 The gilded swarm, that wantons in the sunshine 
 
 Of thy full favour." 
 
 Ver. 71. Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows] Magnificence of Richard 
 the Second's reign. See Froissard and other contemporary writers. Gray. 
 
 In Malone's Suppl. to Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 700, Mr. Henley thinks that Gray caught 
 from the following passage of Shakspeare his imagery: 
 " How like a youiiker, or a prodigal. 
 
 The skarfed bark puts from its native bay; 
 Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind : 
 How like a prc)ili;;al doth she return 
 With over-wcathcrd ribs, and ragged sails. 
 Lean, rent, and beggar 'd by the strumpet wind. " 
 
 Merchant of Venice, act ii. sc. (t.
 
 56 
 
 In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ; 
 
 Youth on the prow, and pleasure at the helm ; 
 Regardless of the sweeping wlurlwind's sway, 75 
 
 'I'liat, hush'd in grim repose, expects his ev'ning prey. 
 
 NOTES. 
 There is, however, a passage in Petrarch, (Canzoni XLii. st. ii, p. 3.j,) v.hich more 
 nearly resembles the text : 
 
 " Indi per alto mar, vidi una nave 
 
 Con le sarte di seta, e d'or la vela 
 Tutta d'avorio, e d'ebeno contcsta ; 
 
 E'l mar tranquilio, e I'auru era soave; 
 E'l del, qual' e se nulla iiube il vela 
 Ella carca di ricca merce onesta ; 
 Poi n-pcntc tcmpesta 
 Oriental turhi si I'aere, e Tonde 
 Che la nave percosse ad uno serglio." 
 In Spenser's ' Vision of the World's Vanity,' the following stanza is too beautiful not 
 
 to be quoted : 
 
 " Looking far foorth into the ocean wide, 
 
 A goodly ship wilh banners bravely diglit; 
 
 And flag in her top-gallant I espide, 
 
 Thro' the maine-sea making her merry flight; 
 
 Faire blew the wind into her bosome right. 
 
 And the heavens looked lovely all the while, 
 
 That she did secme to daiince as in delight, 
 
 And at her own felicitie did smile. "' St. i.T. 
 
 A stanza of stronger resemblance is in Spenser's ' Vision of Petrarch,' ii : " After at sea 
 
 a tall ship did appear," &c. which is a translation of the passage quoted from Petrarch. 
 
 Ver. 73. In gallant trim the gi'ded vessel goes] So Pope, Donne's Sat. iv. 230, who 
 
 has used the same words on the same subject : " Top-gaVant he, and she in all her trim." 
 
 " The goodly London in her gallant trim, 
 
 And on her shadow rides in floating go/J." Dryden's An. Mirab. 151. 
 
 Ver. 74. Youth on the prow, and pleasure at the helm] " Ipse gubernabit residens in 
 puppe Cupido," Ov. Ep. xv. 215. And so Petrarch : " E al governo, siede '1 Signor, anzi 
 '1 nimico mio," Son. CLvr. 
 
 Ver. 75. Regardless of the sweeping zchirlwind's swayl So in his Fragment on 
 Education and Government, ver. 48 :
 
 57 
 
 II. 3. 
 
 " Fill high the sparkHng bowl, 
 The rich repast prepare, 
 
 Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast : 
 Close by the regal chair 80 
 
 Fell Thirst aiul Famine scowl 
 
 A balciul smile upon their baffled guest. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 82. A baleful smile'} A smile of horror, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " And where the deluge burst with sweepy sway." 
 The expression is from Drydcn. See Virg. Georg. i. 48S : 
 
 " And rolling onwards witii a sweeps sway." 
 And in Granada, act v. sc. 1 : 
 
 " Tiiat whirls along with an impetuous sway. 
 And like chain-shot sweeps all thiugs in the way."' 
 Ver. 77. Fi/f high the sparkling howl] Richard the Second, as we are told by 
 Archbishop Scroop and the confederate Lords in their manifesto, by Thomas of Wajsiii"- 
 liam, and all the older writers, was starved to death. The story of his assassination, 
 by Sir Piers of Exon, is of much later date. Gray. 
 
 For the profusion of Richard II. sec I lardyngc's Chron. quoted in the Preface to Mason's 
 Hoccleve, p. 5 ; Uaniel's Civil Wars, iii. 87 ; and Pennant's London, p. 89, 4to. Dr. 
 Berdmore, in his Spec, of Lit. Resemblance, p. J 1 , compares this passage with the following 
 lines of Virgil, ]En. vi. 603 : 
 
 " Lucent gcnialibus altis 
 Aurea fulcra toris, epula'cjue ante oia paratee 
 Jiegijico luxit : Fariarum maximajuxta 
 Adcu!)at, ct manibus proliibet contingere mensas, 
 E\surgitque faccni adtollens, atquc intonat ore." 
 Ver. 79. Heft of a erown] 
 
 " Such is the robe that kings must wear. 
 When death has reft their crown." 
 
 Mallet's Will, and Marg. .st. y. \\. 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 58 
 
 Heard ye the din of battle bray, 
 
 Lance to lance, and horse to horse ? 
 
 Long years of havock urge their destinVl course, 85 
 
 And thro' the kindred scjuadrons mow their way. 
 
 Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame, 
 AVith many a foul and midnight murder fed, 
 
 Revere his consort's faith, his father's fame. 
 And spare the meek usurper's holy head. 90 
 
 Above, below, the rose of snow, 
 
 Twin'd with her blushing foe, we spread : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 87. Ye} Grim, ms. Ver. 90. Ho/y] Hallow'd, MS. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 82. A baleful smile upon their baffled guest'] 
 
 " He ceas'd : for both seeiii'd highly pleas'd; and Death 
 
 Griiiu'd horrible a g/(as//y s/«(7c." Par. Lost, ii. 84.5. W. 
 
 So Horn. II. >;. 212: MstSiouiv ^koa-vpola-i fffotraJwao-i. And other examples cited in the note 
 of Newton to the Par. Lost. 
 
 Ver. S3. Heard ye the din of battle bray] Ruinous wars of York and Lancaster. 
 Gray. 
 
 Ver. 86. And thro' the kindred squadrons mow their way] " Cognatasque acies," Lu- 
 can. i. 4. W. — And so iu Sidonius Apollin. xv. 28: " Cognatam portans aciem." In 
 Dryden's ' All for Love,' act i. we find an expression similar to the text 
 
 " Mow them out a passage, 
 And entering where the foremost squadrons yield." 
 Ver. 87. Ye tozcers oj' Julius, Loiidou's lasting shame, 
 JVith many a foul and midnight murder fed] 
 Henry the Sixth, George Duke of Clarence, Edward the Fifth, Richard Duke of York, 
 &c. believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that 
 structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Ctesar. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 89. Revere his consort's faith] Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit, who 
 struggled hard to save her husband and her crown. Gray. 
 Ibid. His father's fame] Henry the Fifth. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 90. And spare the meek usurper's holy head] Henry the Sixth, very near being 
 canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown. Gray.
 
 59 
 
 The bristled boar in infant-gore 
 
 Wallows beneath the thorny shade. 
 Now, brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom, 95 
 
 Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 91- Above, beloic; the rose of snow'] The white and red roses, devices of York 
 and Lancaster. Gray. 
 
 " no, Plantagenet, 
 
 Tis not for fear, but anger — that thy cheeks 
 Blush for pure shame, to counterfeit our roses. 
 
 Shaksp. Henry VI. part i. act ii. sc. 4. 
 And, 
 
 " The red rose and the white are on his face, 
 The fatal colours of our striving houses." 
 
 Henry VI. part iii. act ii. sc. 7. 
 And Dart's Westminster Abbey, 27 : 
 
 " Till Richmond, most auspicious name, arose, 
 Who hotnul ill one, each fair contending rose." 
 Ver. 93. The bristled boar * in infant-gore'] The silver boar was the badge of Richard 
 the Tliird ; whence he was usually known in his own lime by the name of the Boar. 
 G R .\ Y . 
 
 " Nor easier fate the bristled boar is lent." 
 See Mirror for Magis. p. 4 1 7. Anon. 62. 69. 80. Again, 
 
 * The crest, or bearing of a warrior ( says Mr. Scott in his notes to the Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel, p. fj()0), was often used as a " nom de guerre." Thus Ricliard III. acquired his 
 well-known epithet, — ' the Boar of York.' In thu violent satire on Cardinal Wolsey, com- 
 monly but erroneously imputed to Dr. Hull, the Duke of Buckingham is called the Bcaii- 
 1'ifid Swan ; and the Duke of Norfolk, or Earl of Surrey, the White Lion. And see the Lay 
 of the Last Minstrel, cant. iv. stanz. xxx. 
 
 " Yet hear, quoth Howard, calmly hear, 
 Nor deem my words, the words of fear; 
 For wlio, in field or foray slack. 
 Saw tlie lilatichc Lion e'er fall back?" 
 And so in Shakspcare's Henry VI. |)iirt ii. act v. sc. 2. Warwick is called the Bear, from \\\% 
 father's badge, old Neville's crest : 
 
 " The rampant Bear chained to the ragged staff." 
 
 I 2
 
 60 : 
 
 III. 1. 
 
 " Edward, lo! to sudden fate 
 (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) 
 
 Half of thy heart we consecrate, 
 n^he web is wove. The work is done.) 100 
 
 Stay, oh stay ! nor thus forlorn 
 Leave nie unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn : 
 In yon bright track, that fires the western skies, 
 They melt, they vanish from my eyes. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 101. Thus2 Here, ms. 
 
 Ver. 102. Me unbless'd, unpitied, here'] Your despairing Caradoc, MS. 
 
 Ver. 103. Track"] Clouds, »is. Ver. 104. Melt] Sink, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 *•' At Stouic Stratford being upon my way. 
 The bloodie boi-e my uncle that did aime." 
 
 Mirror for Magis. p. 740. 
 The Princes are called the roses : 
 
 " Oh ! noble Edward, from whose royal blood 
 Life to their infant bodies nature drew, 
 T/)!/ roses both are cropt e'en in the bud." 
 And p. 745, with the same allusion : 
 
 " Why didst thou leave that bore in time t' ensue 
 To spoil those plants that in thy garden grew." 
 See also the Battle of Flodden Field, st. 25.5 ; and Ford's Perkiii Warbeck, act i. sc. 1. 
 p. 12. ed. Weber. 
 Ver. 98. Weave we the woof. The thread is spun] 
 
 " Yet rather let him live, and twine 
 His woof of daj/es with some thread stolen from mine." 
 
 Cartwright's Poems, p, 239 
 Ver. 99. Half of thy heart we consecrate] Eleanor of Castile died a few years after 
 the conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of her affection for her lord is well 
 known. The monuments of his regret and sorrow for the loss of her, are still to be seen 
 at Northampton, Gaddington, Waltham, and other places. Gray.
 
 61 
 
 But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowilon's height 10.} 
 
 Descending slow their glittering skirls unroll ? 
 
 Visions of glory, spare my aching sight ! 
 Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul ! 
 
 No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail. 
 
 All hail, ye genuine kings, Britannia's issue, hail ! 110 
 
 III. 2. 
 " Girt with many a baron bold 
 Sublime their starry fronts they rear ; 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 105. Solemn scenes'] Scenes of Heaven, ms. 
 
 Ver. 106. Glittering'] Golden, ms. 
 
 Ver. 109, 110. No more our long-lost, &;c.] 
 
 " From Cambria's thousand liills a thousand strains 
 Triumphant tell aloud, another .4///i;o- reigns," MS. 
 Ver. in, 112. Girt with, Ssc] 
 
 " Youthful knights, and barons bold 
 
 With dazzling helm, and horrent spear," ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 107. Visions of glory, spare m\j aching sig/if"] From Dryden's State of Innocence, 
 
 act iv. so. 1 : 
 
 " Their glory shoots upon my aching sight." 
 
 Ver. 109. No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail] It was the common belief of the 
 Welsh nation, that King Arthur was still alive in Fairyland, and would return again to 
 reign over Britain. 
 
 Iscauus, in his poem ' De Bello Trojano,' lib. iii.4G'5, says that the Lesbians do not 
 believe in the death of Castor and Pollux, though they have sought tiiem in vain among 
 the Trojans, and on tiie ocean. They sacrifice to thein as gods, and expect their return, 
 as the Britons wait for the arrival of Arthur — 
 
 " Sic Britonum ridenda fides, et creduius error, 
 Arturum expeclat, expectabittjue pcrenn^." 
 
 Ver. 110. All-hail, ye genuine kings, Ihitannia's issue, hail] Both Merlin and Ta- 
 licssin had prophesied, that tlie Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; 
 which seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor. Guay.
 
 62 
 
 And ooifrcous danics, and statesmen old 
 In bearded majesty, appear. 
 
 In the midst a form divine! • 115 
 
 Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line ; 
 Iler lyon-port, her awe-commanding face, 
 Attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 ♦ Ver. 117. Her, her'] A, an, Ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 111. Girt toith many a hctron hohl'] " Girt witli niiuiy an armed peer/' T. War- 
 ton's Poems, vol. ii. p. 25C. 
 
 Ver. 112. Sublime llicir starry fronts they rear} So Milton: "His starry front low 
 rooft beneath the skies," Ode on the Passiou, iii. 18. " Sideribus similes oculos," 
 Ovid. Metam. i. 4<)9. "Hen! ubi siderci vultus," Statii Theb. v. 6I3. " Sidereo Ixta 
 supercilio," Claudian. xv. v. 58; and " Sidercos oculos," Maniiius Ast. iv. fj05; and, 
 lastly, " Gli occhi sereni, et\e stellanti ciglin," Petrarca, Son. CLxvii. v. 9. 
 
 Ver. 1 14. In bearded majesty appear] It has been remarked that there is an inaccuracy 
 in this expression, as the Hard, whose own beard is compared to a meteor, would not be 
 struck with the dignity of the short enrlcd beards of Elizabeth's days. See Gentleman's 
 Magazine. Selections from vol. ii. p. G37. 
 
 Ver. IIG. Her eye proelalnis her of the Briton-line] So Peacham, in his ' Period of 
 Mourning,' p. if), speaking of Elizabeth: 
 
 " Where when I saw that brow, that cheeke, that eye 
 Hee left imprinted in EHza^sfaee." 
 Mr, Wakefield quotes a stanza from Spenser's Hobbinol's Dittie, in praise of Eliza : 
 " Tell me, have ye scene her angclikejace, 
 Like Phoebe fayre ? 
 Her heavenly haveour, her princely grace 
 
 Can you well compare ? 
 The redde rose medled, with the whiie y fere 
 In either cheek dej)eincten lively chere, 
 Her modest eye, 
 Her maje^lyc. 
 When have you scene the like but there r"
 
 63 
 
 What strings s3-niphonious tremble in the air, 
 
 Wluit strains of vocal transport round her play ! 120 
 
 Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear ; 
 
 They breathe a soul to animate thy cla}'. 
 Bright Rapture calls, and soaring as she sings, 
 Waves in the eye of hcav'n her many-colour'd wings. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 England's Helicon, p. 1^: and Spenser's Poems, by Todd, i. (i4: and the note of T. 
 Warton. 
 
 Ver. 117. Her li/ijii-port, her azi'e-commandingjace] Speed, relating an audience given 
 by Queen Elizabttli to Paul Uzialinski, ambassador of Poland, says, " And tiius she, 
 lion-like rising, duiinlcil the malapert orator no less witli her stately port and majestical 
 deporturc, than with the tartnesse of her priiicclie checkes." Gray. 
 
 Ver. I'il. Ilettr fruiu the ^rave, great Taliessin, hear'] Taliessin, chief of the bards, 
 flourished in the sixth century. His works are still preserved, and his memory held in 
 high veneration among his counli ymen. G 11 A Y . 
 
 Sec Kvans's Specimens, p. 18, who says, " Taliessin's poems, on account of their great 
 antiquity, are very obscure." There is a great deal of the Druidical cabala introduced in 
 his works, especially about the transmigration of souls. Evans says that he had fifty of 
 Taliessin's poems; and that many s])urious ones are attributed to him. At p. oG, Evans 
 has translated one of his odes, beginning " Fair Elpliin, cease to weep ;" comforting his 
 friend on his bad success in the salmnu-fishery. Tiiere is a (ullcr account of him in Jones's 
 Relics, vol. i. p. 18, '1\. vol. ii. p. \'l, \[), ill, 34, where many of his poems are translated; 
 and Pennant's Wales, vol. ii. p. 3 Ui ; and particularly Turner's Vindication of the Ancient 
 British Poems, p. e'2,5, C37. 
 
 Ver. 123. Bright Rapture ealh, and souring us she sings] From Congrcve's Ode fo 
 Lord Godolphin, st. vi.: 
 
 " And soars with rapture while she sings." 
 
 Ver. 124. Jl'aves in the eye oj'heav'n her maiii/-it>hiir'd wings] 
 
 " Interest that waves on parly-eolour'd wings." Pope's Dune. iv. 53b, 
 
 And, 
 
 " Colours that change where'er they wave tiieir wings." Rape of the Lock, ii, 68. 
 
 Mr. Wakefield cites the Tempest, act iv.sc. 1 : 
 
 " Hail, many-colour'd mcssengtr."
 
 64 
 
 III. 3. 
 "The verse adorn again 125 
 
 Fierce war, and faithful love, 
 And truth severe, by fair}' fiction drest. 
 
 In buskin'd measures move 
 Pale grief, and pleasing pain. 
 With horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast. 130 
 
 A voice, as of the cherul>choir, 
 Gales from blooming Eden bear ; 
 And distant warljlings lessen on my ear, 
 
 That lost in long futurity expire. 
 Fond impious man, think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, 135 
 
 Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day .'' 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Her angel's face 
 As the great eye of Heaven sliined bright." 
 
 Spenser's F. Queen, cant. iii. 
 Ovid. Met. iv. 228 : " Mundi oculus." And Milton's II. Pens. ver. 141 : " Hide me from 
 day's garish eye." Par. Lost, b. v. ver. 171 : " Thou sun of this great world, both eye and 
 soul." 
 
 Ver. 126. Fierce war, and faithful love] 
 
 " Fierce wars and faiihful loves shall moralize my song." 
 
 Spenser's Proenie to the Fairy Queen. Gray. 
 Ver. 127. ^nd truth severe, by fairy Jiction drest"} 
 
 " With truth severe she temper'd partial praise." 
 
 T. Warton, vol. i. p. 32. 
 Ver. 128. In buskin'd measures move] Shakspeare. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 131. ^ voice, as of the cherub -choir] Milton. " And thus a cherub-voice," 
 T. Warton, i. 153, who has also imitated the next line : 
 
 " Blooming in immortal prime, 
 By gales of Eden ever fann'd." Wart. Poems, ii. 62. 
 Ver. 133. And distant warblings lessen on my ear] The succession of poets after 
 Milton's time. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 135. Fn7id impious] This apostrophe with its imagery seems taken from Vida : 
 
 1
 
 65 
 
 To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, 
 
 And warms the nations with redoubled rav. 
 
 Enough for me : with joy I see 
 
 The d iff" rent doom our fates assign. 140 
 
 Be thine despair, and scept'red care. 
 To triumph, and to die, are mine." 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Impie quid furis ? 
 
 Tene putas posse illustres abscondere coeli 
 Auricomi flanimas, ipsuinqueextingueresolem? 
 
 Forsitan Immentem nebulani proflare, breveraque 
 Obsessis potcris radiis obtendere uubem. 
 Erumpet lux ; crumpet rutilantilus auris 
 Lampas ; et auriflua face, nubila difteret omnia. 
 
 Vida; Hymnus D. Andreae Apostolo. v. 99. T. i. p. 335. 
 Mr. Steevens refers to ' Fuimus Troes,' act i. so. 1 : 
 
 " Think ye the smoky mist 
 Of sun-boil'd seas, can stop the eagle's eye." 
 Vcr. 137. To-morroii' he repairs the go/den flood] 
 
 " And yet anon repairs his drooping head." 
 
 Lycidas, I69. 
 " So soon repairs her light, trebling her new born raies." 
 
 Fletcher's Purple Island, vi. (34. 
 " That never could lie hope his waning to repaire." 
 
 lb. Stan. 70. 
 Ver. 141. Be thine despair, and scept'red eare] There is a passage in the Thebaid of 
 Statius, iii. 85, similar to this, describing a bard who had survived liis companions : 
 
 " Sed janj nudavcrat enseni 
 Magnanimus vates, et nunc trucis ora lyranni 
 Nunc fcrruni aspectans, Nun(|uatn tibi sanguinis hujus 
 Juserit, aut niagno feries imperdita Tydeo 
 Pectora. {'ado ef/iiidem e.iultans, ereptatjitefata 
 Inscquor, el comilos feror cxpectatus ad umbras; 
 
 Te supcris, fratriquc, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 66 
 
 He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height 
 Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night.* 
 
 NOTES. 
 Compare also the conclusion of the fust Olynip. of Pindar, vcr. 184, which Gray seems to 
 
 have had in his mind : 
 
 ETt; fl-i re ■foiitiv 
 
 'T'-J'ou x^'^""" "'^'^'^i'^'^i ^M 
 
 Ts roirirdSs viv.a^if oi; 
 
 'OftiXeTy. k. t. X. 
 
 This similarity has apparently struck the author of the late Translations, as I judge by this 
 
 language : 
 
 " Each hath his proper eminence. 
 
 To kings indulgent Providence 
 
 (No farther seek the will of Heaven) 
 
 The glories of the eartli hath given. — 
 
 Still may'st thou reign ! Enough for me 
 
 To dwell with heroes like to thee, 
 
 Myself the chief of Grecian minstrelsy." 
 
 Reg. Heber's Poems, p. 94. 
 
 Ver. 143. He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height'] " Medias praceps 
 
 tancfertur in undaf," Lucan. ix. 122. 
 
 * The original argument of this ode, as Islr. Gray had set it down in one of the pages of 
 his common-place book, was as follows : " The army of Edward I., as ihcy march through 
 a deep valley, are suddenly stoj)ped by the appearance of a venerable figure seated on the 
 summit of an inaccessible rock, who, with a voice more than human, reproaches the king 
 with all the misery and desolation which he had brought on his country ; foretells the mis- 
 fortunes of the Norman race, and with pro)>lielic spirit declares, that all his cruelty shall 
 never extinguish the noble ardour of poetic genius in this island ; and that men shall never be 
 wanting to celebrate true virtue and valour in immortal strains, to expose vice and infamous 
 pleasure, and boldly censure tyranny and op))ression. H is song ended, he precipitates himself 
 from the mountain, and is swallowed up by the river that rolls at its foot." 
 
 " Fine (says Mr. Mason) as the conclusion of this ode is at present, I think it would have 
 been still liner, if he could have executed it according to this plan ; but, unhappily for his 
 purpose, instances of English poets were wanting. Spenser had that enchanting flow of 
 Terse which was peculiarly calculated to celebrate virtue nud valour ; but he chose to cele-
 
 67 
 
 brate them, not literally, but in allegory. Sliakspeare, who had talents lor every thing, was 
 undoubtedly capable of exposing vice and iufumoiis plenaure ; and the drama was a proper 
 vehicle for his satire ; but we do not ever find tiiat he professedly made this his object; nay, 
 we know that, in one inimitable character, he has so contrived as to make vices of the worst 
 kind, such as cowardice, drunkenness, dishonesty, and lewdness, not only laughable, but 
 almost amiable; for with all tliese sins on his head, who can help liking Falstaft'? Milton, 
 of all our great poets, was the only one who bold/j/ censured tyranny and oppression : but 
 he chose to deliver this censure, not in poetry, but in prose. Dryden was a mere court 
 parasite to the most infamous of all courts. Pope, with all his laudable detestation of 
 corruption and bribery, was a Tory; and Addison, though a Whig, and a line writer, was 
 unluckily not enough of a poet for his purpose. On these considerations Mr. Gray was 
 necessitated to change his plan towards tiie conclusion : hence we perceive, that in the last 
 epode he praises Spenser on\y for Im allegory, Shakspeare for liis powers of tnoving the 
 passions, and Miltonybr his epic excellence. I remember the ode lay unfinished by him for a 
 year or two on this very account ; and I hardly believe that it would ever have had his last 
 hand, but for the circumstance of his hearing Parry play on the Welsh harp at a concert at 
 Cambridge, (see Letter xxv, sect, iv.) which he often declared inspired Inm with the con- 
 clusion. 
 
 " Mr. Smith, the nmsical composer and worthy pupil of Mr. Handel, had once an idea 
 of setting this ode, and of having it performed by way of serenata or oratorio. A common 
 friend of his and Mr. Gray's interested himself much in this design, and drew out a clear 
 analysis of the ode, that Mr. Smith might more perfectly understand the poet's meaning. He 
 conversed also with Mr. Gray on the subject, who gave hiui an idea for the overture, and 
 marked also some passages in the ode, in order to ascertain w hich should be recitative, which 
 air, what kind of air, and how accompanied. This design was, however, not executed ; and 
 therefore I shall only (in order to give the reader a taste of Mr. Gray's musical feelings) 
 insert in this place what his sentiments were concerning the overture. ' It should be so 
 contrived as to be a proper introduction to the ode ; it might consist of two movements, the 
 first descriptive of the horror and confusion of battle, the last a n)arch grave and majestic, 
 but expressing the exultation and insolent security of conquest. This movement should be 
 composed entirely of wind instruments, except the kettle-drum heard at intervals. The da 
 capo of it must be suddeidy broke in upon, and |)ut to silence by the clang of the harp in a 
 tumultuous rapid movement, joined with the voice, all at once, and not ushered in by any 
 symphony. The harmony may be strengthened by any otiier stringed instrument; but the 
 harp shoidd i-ver\ w iiere prevail, and form the continued running accompaniment, submitting 
 itself to nothing but tlio voice.' 
 
 " I cannot (adds Mr. Mason) quit this and the preceding ode, without saying a word or 
 two concerning the obscurity which has Iieen iinjuited to them, and the preference which, 
 in consequence, has been given to his Elegy. It seems as if the persons, who hold this 
 opinion, suppose that every species of poetry ought to be equally clear ami intelligible : tiian 
 which position nothing can be more repugnant to the several specific natures of composi- 
 
 K 2
 
 68 
 
 tion, and to the practice of ancient art. Not to take Pindar and liis odes for an example, 
 (thougli what I am here defending were written professedly in imitation of him,) 1 would ask, 
 are all the writings of Horace, his Epistles, Satires, and Odes, equally perspicuous ? Among 
 his odes, separately considered, are there not remarkable differences of this very kind f Is 
 the spirit and meaning of that which liegins, " Descende ccelo, ct die, age, tibia," Ode iv, 
 lib. 3, so riadily comprehended as " Persicos odi, puer, apparatus," Ode xxxviii. lib. 1. 
 And is the latter a finer piece of lyrical com|)osition on that account ? Is " Integer vitae, 
 scelerisque purus," Ode xxii. lib. I, superior to " Pindarum quisquis studet senuilari," 
 Ode ii. lib. 4; because it may be understood at the first reading, and the latter not without 
 Biuch study and reflection .^ Now between these odes, thus compared, there is surely equal 
 difference in point of perspicuity, as between the Progress of Poesy, and the Prospect of 
 Eton College ; the Ode on the Spring, and the Bard. ' But' say these objectors, ' the end 
 of poetry is universally to please. Obscurity, by taking off from our pleasure, destroys that 
 end.' I will graul that if the obscurity be great, constant, and insurmountable, this is cer- 
 tainly true ; but if it be only found in particular passages, proceeding from tlie nature of 
 the subject and the very genius of the romposition, it does not rob us of our jjleasurr, but 
 superadds a new one, which arises from conquering a difficulty ; and the })leasure which 
 accrues from a difficult passage, when well understood, provided the passage itself be a fine 
 one, is always more permanent than that which we discover at the first glance. The Lyric 
 Muse, like other fine ladies, requires to be courted, and retains her admirers the longer for 
 not having yielded too readily to their solicitations. This argument, ending as it does in a 
 sort of simile, will, I am persuaded, not only have its force with the intelligent readers (the 
 2TNET0I), but also wi'h the men of fashion : as to critics of a lower class, it may be 
 sufficient to transcribe, for their improvement, an unfinished remark, or rather maxim, 
 which I found amongst our author's papers ; and which he probably wrote on occasion of 
 the common preference given to his Elegy. ' The Gout <le comparaison (as Bruyere 
 styles it) is the only taste of ordinary minds. They do not know the specific excellence 
 either of an author or a composition : for instance, they do not know that Tibullus spoke 
 the language of nature and love; that Horace saw tiie vanities and follies of mankind 
 with the most penetrating eye, and touched them to the quick ; that Virgil ennobled even 
 the most common images by the graces of a j^Iowing, melodious, and well-adapted ex- 
 pression; but they do know that Virgil was a better poet than Horace; and that Horace's 
 Epistles do not run so well as the Elegies of Tibullus.' ' 
 
 I
 
 ODE FOR MUSIC* 
 
 (iRREGULAB.) 
 
 Tliis Ode was performed in the Senate-House at Cambridge, July 1, 1769, at flie Installation 
 of His Grace Augustus-Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, Chancellor of the University. 
 
 I. 
 
 " Hence, avaunt, ('tis holy ground) 
 Comus, and his midnight-crew. 
 And Ignorance with looks profound, 
 And dreaming Sloth of pallid hue. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Alluding to this Ode, Junius, in his Letter to the Duke of Grafton, says, vol. i. p. 105 : 
 " The Jearnt'd Dullness nf Declamation will be silent, and even the venal Muse, thoush 
 happiest iiijiclioii, tcill forget your virtues" 
 
 Ver. 1. lieiice, avaunt, {'tis holy ground}] So Callimach. H. in A poll. ver. 2: Exaj 
 ixi; oTTis d.\iTch{. Virg. iEn. vi. (258 : " Procul, O procul este profaui." Statii Sylv. iii. S : 
 " Procul hinc, procul ite iiocontes." Claudiani Kap. Proscrp. i. 3 : " Grcssus removete 
 profani." — As I have mentioned Cluudian in this note, 1 will add a circumstance that may 
 lead to a curious discovery concerning the originality of a modern poem of note. The motto 
 of Darwin's Bot. Ciardin, (Part ii ") On the Loves of the Plants, consists of the four fol- 
 lowing lines from Claudian ' De Nuptiis llonorii et Mari*,' ver. 65 ; 
 " Vivunt in Vencrem frondes, omnisque vicissiro, 
 Felix arbor aniat ; nutant ad nuitua palma; 
 Fa'dera ; populco suspiiat populus ictu ; 
 \i\ platani platunis, aluocjue a^siliilat ainus."
 
 70 
 
 Mad Sedition's cry profane, 5 
 
 Servitude that hugs her chain, 
 
 Nor in these consecrated bowers 
 
 Let painted Flatt'r}' hide her serpent-train in flowers. 
 
 Nor Envy base, nor creeping Gain, 
 
 Dare the ISIuse's walk to stain, 10 
 
 While bright-eyed Science watches round : 
 
 Hence, away, 'tis holy ground!" 
 * 
 
 II. 
 From yonder realms of empyrean day 
 
 Bursts on my ear th' indignant lay : 
 There sit the sainted sage, the bard divine, 15 
 
 The few, whom genius gave to shine 
 Thro' every unborn age, and undiscovered clime. 
 
 Rapt in celestial transport they ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 In his note on this very passage of Claudiau, Gesner mentions a Latin poem in tlie fol- 
 lowing words : " Suavissimum est Adria van Royen carmen elegiacuni de Amoribm et 
 Connubiis Plantarum, 4to. L. B. 173'2. There can be little doubt but tiiat Darwin must 
 have seen this note on the passage lie picked out for his motto ; especially as Gesner's is 
 the most common edition : it would be curious to see whether he was indebted to the poem 
 of this Dutch author. 
 
 Ver. 2. Comiis, and his midnight-crew'] 
 
 " Meanwhile welcome joy, and feast, 
 • Midnight shout, and revelry, 
 
 Tipsy dance, and jollity." Conms, ver. 102. W. 
 
 Ver. 7. Nor in these consecrated bowers] 
 
 " Near to her close and consecrated bower." 
 
 Shaksp. Mids. N. Dr. act iii. sc. 2, p. 417, ed. Steev. W. 
 Ver. 17. Thro' every unborn age, and undiscoicr'd clime] 
 
 " Nations unborn your mighty name shall sound, 
 And worlds applaud that must not yet be found.'" 
 
 Pope's Essay on Criticism, 193. W.
 
 71 
 
 Yet hither oft a glance from high 
 
 They send of tender sympathy 20 
 
 To bless the place, where on their opening soul 
 
 First the genuine ardour stole. 
 'Twas Milton struck the deep-ton'd shell, 
 And, as the choral warblings round him swell, 
 Meek Newton's self bends from his state sublime, 25 
 
 And nods his hoary head, and listens to the rhyme. 
 
 III. 
 " Ye brown o'er-arching groves, 
 That contemplation loves, 
 Where willowj' Camus lingers with delight ! 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver, 26. And nods his hoary head, and listens to the rhi/me] 
 
 " E'eu mitred Rochester would uod the head." 
 
 Pope's Prol. to the Sat. 143. W. 
 Ver. 27. Ye brazen o'er-arching groves] 
 
 " To arched walks of twilight groves. 
 And shadows brown that S}lvan loves." 
 
 II Penser. 133. W. 
 And so Pope, in his Translation * of the Odyssey : " Brown M'ith o'er-arching shades." 
 
 This stanza, supposed to be sung by ^Iilton, is very judiciously written in the metre which 
 lie fixed upon for the stanza of his Christmas Hymn : " "Twas in the winter wild, " 8ic. 
 Mason. 
 
 Ver. 29. JVhere wiUoretf Camus] 
 
 " Or where the Cam thro' willous winds his way." 
 
 Dart's VVestm. Abbey, p. Gl. 
 
 * I possess Pope's copy of Chapman's Translation of Homer's Iliad ; and find that he was 
 very industrious in his examination of it. WTierevcr Cli.-ipman introduced any thing of his 
 own, Pope has marked it, and sometimes written " Interpolated" agaiiist eight or nine 
 successive lines. This copy Warburton gave to Mr. Thomas Warton.
 
 72 
 
 Oft at the blush of dawn 30 
 
 I trod your level lawn, 
 Oft woo'd the gleam of Cynthia silver-bright 
 In cloisters dim, far from the haunts of Folly, 
 With Freedom by my side, and soft-eyed Melancholy." 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Nought have we here but willow- shaded shore, 
 To tell our Grant his banks are left forlore." 
 
 Hall's Sat. b. i. sat. 1 . 
 Ver. 29. Lingers with delight] Tiiis image is enlarged in some beautiful lines by 
 T. Heyrick of Peter-House; a much neglected poet. See p. 83. 169I. 4to. 
 " So some smooth river, loth to leave the plains 
 And those fresh fields where health and pleasure reigns, 
 In many wand'ring turns his passage takes, 
 A thousand stops, a thousand windings makes ; 
 Plays with his flowery banks, oft turns his head. 
 And with full eyes o'er-looks his watery bed ; 
 Courts every wanton shade, and feigns delay," &c. 
 In this volume of Heyrick are two paems by Joshua Barnes, pag. vii 15. 
 Ver. SO. Oft at the blush of dawn] Mr. Wakefield has justly remarked that this 
 stanza is indebted to the following passage in the 11 Penseroso of Milton, ver. Gl : 
 " Sweet bird, that shunn'st the noise oifolli/, 
 Most musical, most melancholy ! * 
 
 * Gaw. Douglas, in his Translation of Virgil, Prolog, to book xiii. p. 4S0, describes the 
 notes of the nightingale as merry : 
 
 " The merij nyghtyngele Philomene, 
 
 That on the thorne sat syngand fro the splene, 
 Quhais niyrthfull nottis langing for to here," &c. 
 And Thomson, in his Agamemnon, p. 63 : 
 
 " Ah! far unlike the nightingale! — she sings 
 Unceasing thro' the balmy nights of May ; 
 She sings from love and joy." 
 And Gascoigne's Complaynt of Phylomene : 
 
 " Him will I clieare with chaunting all this night, 
 And with that word she 'gan to clear her throate ;
 
 73 
 
 IV. 
 
 But hark ! the portals sound, and pacing forth 35 
 
 With solemn steps and slow, 
 High potentates, and dames of royal birth, 
 And mitred fathers in long order go: 
 Great Edward, with the lilies on his brow 
 
 From haughty Gallia torn, 40 
 
 NOTES. 
 Tliee, cliaunlress, oft the woods amoug 
 I Koo to hear thy cven-soiig; 
 And missing thee, I walk unseen, 
 On the dry smooth- s/itiven green, 
 To beliold the wand'ring 7iioon 
 Riding near her highest noon. 
 
 But let my due feet never fail 
 To ualk the studious cloi/sters p/ile." Ver. 155. 
 Ver. 34'. Soft-eyed Me/aiichi>li/] "And sensible soft Melancholy," Pope's Poem on 
 a certaili Lady at Court, ver. 8. W. 
 
 Ver. ZG. With solemn steps and slow'] " With wand'ring .steps and sloif," Par. Lost, 
 b. xii. ver. 648. W. — And Pope's Odyssey, b. x. ver. 280. Dunciad, b. iv. ver. 4(J5, as 
 i|uoted by Mr. Todd. 
 
 Ver. 38. And mitred fat/iers in long order go] 
 
 " Unde onines longo ordinc possit 
 Adversos iegeic, et vmieiituni discere vultus.'" 
 
 Virg. JEu. vi. 754. W. 
 Ver. SI). Great Edward, with the lilies on his brow] Edward the Third, who added 
 the fleur de lys of France to the arms of England. He founded Trinity College. 
 
 But such a liveli/ song, now by this light. 
 
 Yet never hoardc I sucli nnotltcr note." 
 Mr. Fox has, I think, given no autliority but tliat of Chaucer, for the merry notes of the 
 nightingale; see his Letter to Lord Grey, p 12. Nor do I recollect any other instances in 
 English poetry, than those which I have mentioned. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 74 
 
 j\nd sad Chatillon, on her bridal morn 
 
 That wept her bleeding Love, and princely Clare, 
 
 And Anjou's heroine, and the paler rose, 
 
 The rival of her crown and of her woes, 
 
 And either Henry there, 45 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Draw mighty Edward as lie conq'riug stood, 
 
 The lilies on his shield stain'd red with Gallic blood." 
 
 Dart's Westm. Abbey, p. 36, 
 So T. Warton, i. 20. ed. Mant : 
 
 " I see the sable-suited Prince advance, 
 
 \^'ith lilies crown d, the spoil of bleeding France." 
 And Philips, in ' Cyder,' ii. 592 : 
 
 " Great Edward thus array 'd, 
 With golden Iris his broad shield emboss'd." 
 Ver. 41. And sad Chatillon, on her bridal mom'] Mary de Valentia, countess of Pem- 
 broke, daughter of Guy de Chatillon, comte de St. Paul in France ; of whom tradition 
 says, that her husband Audemar de Valentia, earl of Pembroke, was slain at a tournament 
 on the day of his nuptials. She was the foundress of Pembroke College or Hall, under 
 the name of Aula Marise de Valentia. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 42. That wept her bleeding Love, and princeli/ Clare] Elizabeth de Burg, coun- 
 tess of Clare, was wife of John de Burg, son and heir of the earl of Ulster, and daughter 
 of Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, by Joan of Acres, daughter of Edward the 
 First. Hence the poet gives her the epithet of princely. She founded Clare Hall. 
 Gray. 
 
 Ver. 43. And Anjou's heroine, and the paler rose] Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry 
 the Sixth, foundress of Queen's College. The poet has celebrated her conjugal fidelity 
 in 'The Bard,' epode 2d, line l.Sth. 
 
 Elizabeth Widville, wife of Edward the Fourth, hence called the paler rose, as being 
 of the house of York. She added to the foundation of Margaret of Anjou. Gray. 
 So Whitehead, in his Poems, vol. iii. p. 38 : 
 
 " Margaret the Anjouvine, of Spain 
 Faire Blanche, and Ellen of Guienne." 
 Ver. 45. And either Henry there] Henry tlie Sixth and Eighth. The former the 
 foimder of King's, the latter the greatest benefactor to Trinity College. Gray.
 
 75 
 
 Tlie niurder'd saint, and the majestic lord, 
 Tliat broke the bonds of Rome. 
 
 (Their tears, their httle triumphs o'er, 
 
 Their human passions now no more, 
 Save Charity, that glows beyond the tomb.) 50 
 
 All that on Granta's fruitful plain 
 
 Rich streams of regal bounty pour'd, 
 And bad these awful fanes and turrets rise, 
 To hail their Fitzroy's festal morning come ; 
 
 And thus they speak in soft accord 55 
 
 The liquid language of the skies : 
 
 V. 
 
 " What is grandeur, what is power? 
 Heavier toil, superior pain. 
 What the bright reward we gain ? 
 The grateful memory of the good. 60 
 
 Sweet is the breath of vernal shower, 
 The bee's collected treasures sweet. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 49. Their human passions now no more'] " One human tear shall drop, and be 
 forgiven," Pope's Eloisa, 358. W. 
 
 Ver. 50. Save Charity, that glows liei/oiid the tomb] " Charily never faileth," St. 
 Paul, 1 Corinth, xiii. 8. W. 
 
 Ver. 56. The liquid language of the skies] 
 
 " Cui liquidam Pater 
 
 I'ocem." Hor. Od. I. xxiv. 3. W. 
 
 And so Lucretius, v. 1378: " Liquidas voces." Calpurn. Eclog. iv. ver. 149. And 
 Ovid. Amor. I. xiii. 8. 
 
 Ver. (J2. The bees collected treasures sweet] This coraparison \vc find also in Theocr. 
 id. viii. 83: Kfic-o-oc fieWofi-ivio rtu dKOuiftsv,-^ fheKi Xsl^iy- And in Caijiurn. Eclog. iv. 
 ver. 150. TJicse four verses, an Mr. Wakefield remarks, were .suggested by Milton's 
 
 L 2
 
 76 
 
 Sweet music's melting fall, but sweeter yet 
 The still small voice of gratitude." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Foremost and leaning from her golden cloud 65 
 
 The venerable Marg'ret see ! 
 " AV'elcome, my noble son, (she cries aloud) 
 To this, thy kindred train, and mc : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Paratiise Lost, b. iv. vcr. 641 : " Sweet is the breath of morn," &c. : but see also Theo- 
 critus Idyll. 5. ver. 33: 
 
 ours yaj Jirvof, 
 
 Our' tap E^OLvlva; yXuKSfiuTcfOV, ouTe jj.sAia'crai; 
 'AvOsa, ocro-ov ffiiv ij-ovTai ?iAai. 
 Ver. 64. The slill small voice of gratitude] " After the fire, a still small voice," I 
 Kings, .\ix. 12. And in a rejected stanza of the Elegy : 
 
 " Hark how the sacred calm that breathes around 
 Bids every fierce tumultuous passion cease; 
 In still small accents whisp'riug from the ground 
 A grateful earnest of eternal peace." W. 
 Tlie same expression occurs in Dryden : 
 
 " Now in a still small tone 
 Your dying accents fall." CEdipus, act ii. 
 
 Again : 
 
 " Soft as those gentle whispers w-ere 
 In which the Almighty did appear, 
 By the still sound tlie prophet knew him there." 
 
 Threnod. August, st. ix. 
 " It is the still small voice, 
 That breathes conviction." 
 
 Walpole's Myst. Mother, act i. sc. ,5. 
 And so also in Green's Ode on Barclay's Apology : 
 
 " The world can't hear the small still voice." 
 Ver. 66. The venerable Marg'ret see] Countess of Richmond and Derby; the mother 
 of Henry the Seventh, foundress of St. John's and Christ's Colleges. Gray. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 i
 
 77 
 
 Pleas 'd in thy lineaments we trace 
 
 A Tudor's fire, a Beaufort's grace. 70 
 
 Thy liberal heart, thy judging eye. 
 
 The flow'r unheeded shall descry, 
 
 And bid it round heav'n's altars shed 
 
 The fragrance of its blushing head : 
 
 Shall raise from earth the latent gem 75 
 
 To glitter on the diadem. 
 
 VII. 
 
 *' Lo ! Granta waits to lead her blooming band. 
 Not obvious, not obtrusive, she 
 No vulgar praise, no venal incense flings; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 70. A Tudor sjlre, a Beaufort's grace] The Countess was a Beaufort, and mar- 
 ried to a Tudor : hence the application of this line to the Duke of Grafton, who claims 
 descent from both these families. Gray. 
 Ver. 7 1 . Thi/ liberal heart, tfii/ judging et/e] 
 
 " Dryden alone escaped his judging eye" 
 
 Pope's Prol. to the Sat 24G. 
 Also: 
 
 " A face untaught to feign, a judging eye." 
 
 Pope's Epist. to Craggs, p. £89. 
 Ver. 72. Thejlozcr unheeded shall descry] Tiiis allusion to the^oaer and the gem we 
 meet with again in tiie Elegy. 
 
 Ver. 73. And bid it round heav'n's altars shed] " Delubra, et aras cuilitum," SenecK 
 Agam. V. 3!JQ. " Ctc/oque educitur ara," Sil. Ital. xv. 388. " Araqne Divorum, " Manil. 
 Astr. V. 18. 
 
 Ver. 78. l^ot obvious, not obtrusive, she] " Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired," 
 Par. Lost, viii. 504. W. — And so in the ' Fool of Quality,' by Henry Brooke : " The maid 
 who would achieve the wiiole laurel of conquest, must not be obvious or obtrusive" vol. 
 ii. p 275. 
 
 Ver. 79. No vulgar praise, no venal incense flings] " No hireling she, no jiroslitutc 
 for praise," Pope's lipisl to Lord ONford, vci. 'Mi. VV.
 
 78 
 
 Nor dares with courtly tongue refin'd 80 
 
 Profane thy inborn royalty of mind: 
 
 She reveres herself and thee. 
 AVith modest pride to grace thy youthful brow. 
 The laureate wreath, that Cecil wore, she brings. 
 
 And to thy just, thy gentle hand, 85 
 
 Submits the fasces of her sway. 
 While spirits blest above and men below 
 Join with glad voice the loud symphonious lay. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " Thro' the wild waves as they roar, 
 
 With watchful eye and dauntless mien, 90 
 
 Thy steady course of honour keep. 
 Nor fear the rocks, nor seek the shore : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 82. She reveres herself and thee'] ITavrcoy Js ix-dXttrr alry-jyei irxurov, Pjthagoraj 
 Aur. ver. 12. W. — And so Galen, ' De Curatione Morb. Ai)imi :' 2a Si a-avrov alSoij (xa- 
 
 Ver. 83. With modest pride to grace thi/ youthful broKi\ " Yielded with coy submission, 
 modest pride," Par. Lost, iv. SIO. 
 
 Ver. 84. The /aureate wreath, that Cecilwore, she brings'] Lord Treasurer Burleigh was 
 chancellor of the University in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Gii ay. 
 
 Ver. 85. And to thy just, thy gentle hand] Milton's Par. Lost, b. iv. ver. 308, "gentle 
 sway," from Horace, " lenibus imperiis," Epist. I. xviii. 44. W. — But the sentiment, as well 
 as expression, was taken from Drj'den, Threnod. Aui;ust. 284 : 
 
 " And with a wilting hand restores 
 The fasces of the main." 
 Ver. 88. Join with glad voice the loud symphonious lay] See Milton's Par. Lost, vii. 
 559. 
 
 Ver. 89. Thro' the wild wares as they roar] 
 
 " Well knows to still the wild waves when thei/ roar." 
 
 Comu.s, ver. 87. W.
 
 79 
 
 The Star of Brunswick smiles serene, 
 And gilds the horrors of the deep." 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 92. Norjear the rocks, nor seek the shore] 
 
 " Neque altutn 
 Semper urgucndo, neque, dum procellas 
 Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo 
 , Littus iniquum." Hor. Od. II. x. ver. 1. W. 
 
 ^'er, 93. The Star of Tirnttszcick smiles serene] Pope, iu his Essay on Criticism, has a 
 similarly beautiful image, ver. 615 : 
 
 " The mighty Stagirite first left the shore. 
 
 Spread all his sails, and durst the deep explore; 
 He steer'd securely, and discover'd far, 
 Led by the light of the Mczonian star." 
 Young, ia bis ' Universal Passion,' Sat. vii. ver. I69 : 
 
 " And outwatch every star, for Brunsrcick's sake."
 
 THE FATAL SISTERS. 
 
 AN ODE. 
 
 FROM THK NORSE TONGUE. 
 
 To be found in the Orcades of Thormodus Torfsus : Hafniae, 1697, folio; and also in 
 
 Bartholinus, p. 617. lib. iii. c. 1. 4to. • 
 
 Fill er orpitfyrir va/J'alli, &,c. 
 
 Ill the eleventh century Siguid, earl of the Orkney islands, went with a fleet of ships and a 
 considerable body of Iroojis into Ireland, to the assistance of Sictri/g with the silken 
 beard, who was then making war on his father-in-law Brian, king of Dublin : the earl 
 and all his forces were cut to pieces, and Sictri/g was in danger of a total defeat ; but the 
 enemy had a greater loss by the death of Brian their king, who fell in the action. On 
 Christmas day (ihe day of the battle), a native of Caithness in Scotland, of the name of 
 Darrud, saw at a distance a number of persons on horseback riding full speed towards a 
 hill, and seeming to enter into it. Curiosity led him to follow them, till looking through 
 an opening in the rocks, he saw twelve gigantic figures resembling women : they were all 
 employed about a loom ; and as they wove, they sung the followin;^ dreadful song ; which 
 when they had finished, they tore the web into twelve pieces, and (each taking her portion) 
 galloped six to the north, and as many to the south. These were the Valkyriur, female 
 divinitits, servants of Odin (or Wodeii) in the Gothic mythology. Their name signifies 
 Chuscrs of' the slain. They were mounted on swift horses, with drawn sviords in their 
 hands ; and in the throng of battle selected such as were destined to slaughter, and con- 
 ducted them to Valhalla, the hall of Odin, or paradise of the brave ; where they attended 
 the banquet, and served the departed heroes \\ith horns of mead and ,ile. 
 
 Now the storm begins to lower, 
 (Haste, the loom of hell prepare,) 
 
 Iron sleet of arrowy shower 
 Hurtles in the darken'd air.
 
 81 
 
 ,' : Glitt'ring lanoes are the loom, 5 
 
 Where the dusky warp we strain, 
 Weaving many a soldier's doom, 
 Orkney's woe, and Randver's bane. 
 
 See the griesly texture grow ! 
 
 ('Tis of human entrails made) 10 
 
 And the weights, that play below. 
 
 Each a gasping warrior's head. 
 
 Shafts for shuttles, dipt in gore. 
 Shoot the trembling cords along. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 3. Iron sleet of arrowij shower'] 
 
 " How quick they wheel'd, and, ilying, behind lliein shot , , 
 Sharp sleet oj'arrowij s/iozv'i;" 
 
 Milton's Par. Reg. iii. 324. Gra y. 
 Avianus has a similar expression : " Ansa pharetralh imbrihus ista loqui," Fab. xli. 
 ver. (i." Sic et imbremferreum dixcnni, cum volunt mullitudiiiem significare telorum," 
 Lactantii Epitome, c. xi. 
 
 Ver. 4. Hurtles in the darketi'd air] 
 
 " The noise of battle hurtled in the air." 
 
 Shak»p. Julius Cffsar, act ii. sc. '2. Gray. 
 Ver. 7. Weaving many a soldier s doom] In Thomson's Masque of Alfred, p. 126, the 
 weaving of the enchanted standard is thus described : 
 
 " 'Tis the saihe 
 
 Wrought by the sisters of the Danish king. 
 Of furious Ivar, in a midnight liour, 
 While the sick moon, at their enchanted song 
 Wrapt in pale tempest, labour'd thro' the clouds. 
 The deniDiis of deslruction then, (they say,) 
 Were all abroad, and mixing with tlie woof 
 Their baleful power; the Sisters erer sung, 
 ' Shake, standard, shake, this ruin on our foes !'" 
 Ver 1 1. And the teeights, that p/ay below] Dr. Warton, in his Notes on Pope (vol. ii. 
 p. 227), has compared this passage of Gray to some lines in the Thcbais of Statius, i. 720. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 82 
 
 Sword, that once a monarch bore, 15 
 
 Keep the tissue close and strong. 
 
 Mista, black terrific maid, 
 
 Sangrida, and Hilda, see, 
 Join the wayward work to aid : 
 
 'Tis the woof of victory. 20 
 
 Ere the ruddj' sun be set. 
 
 Pikes must shiver, javelins sing. 
 Blade with clattering buckler meet. 
 Hauberk crash, and helmet ring. 
 
 (Weave the crimson web of war) 25 
 
 Let us go, and let us fly, 
 Where our friends the conflict share, 
 
 Where they triumph, where they die. 
 
 As the paths of fate we tread, 
 
 Wading thro' th' ensanguined field, 30 
 
 Gondula, and Geira, spread 
 
 O'er the youthful king your shield. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver; 15. Stuord} Blade, MS. 
 
 Ver. 17. Mista, black'] Sangrida, terrific, ms. 
 
 Ver. 18. Sangrida and"] Mista black, and, MS. 
 
 Ver. 23. Blade] Sword. W. MS. 
 
 Ver. 31. Gondtila, and Geira] Gunna, and Gondula, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 17. Mista, blaek terrific maid] The names of the Sisters, in the original, are 
 Hilda, Hiorthrimula, Sangrida, and Swipuia.
 
 88 
 
 We the reins to slaughter give, 
 
 Ours to kill, and ours to spare : 
 Spite of danger he shall live. 35 
 
 (Weave the crimson web of war.) 
 
 They, whom once the desert-beach 
 
 Pent within its bleak domain, 
 Soon their ample sway shall stretch 
 
 O'er the plenty of the plain. 40 
 
 Low the dauntless earl is laid, 
 
 Gor'd with many a gaping wound : 
 Fate demands a nobler head ; 
 
 Soon a king shall bite the ground. 
 
 Long his loss shall Eirin weep, 45 
 
 Ne'er again his likeness see ; 
 Long her strains in sorrow steep : 
 
 Strains of immortality ! 
 
 Horror covers all the heath. 
 
 Clouds of carnage blot the sun. 50 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 4.4. Shall^ Must, ms. Ver. 50. Biol'] Veil, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 45. Eirin] Ireland. 
 
 Ver. 49. Horror covers all the IieatK] This stanza, as it appears in the original, Mr. 
 Herbert has translated without the insertion or omission of a word : 
 " 'Tis horrid now to gaze around, 
 
 Wliile clouds thro' heaven gore-dropping sail ; 
 
 M 2
 
 84 
 
 Sisters, weave the web of death ; 
 Sisters, cease ; the work is done. 
 
 Hail the task, and hail the hands! 
 
 Songs of joy and triumph sing! 
 Joy to the victorious bands ; 55 
 
 Triumph to the younger king. 
 
 Mortal, thou that hear'st the tale. 
 
 Learn the tenour of our song. 
 Scotland, thro' each M'inding vale 
 
 Far and wide the notes prolong. 60 
 
 Sisters, hence with spurs of speed : 
 Each her thundering faulchion wield ; 
 
 Each bestride her sable steed. 
 Hurry, hurry to the field ! 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 59. IViiiding'] Echoing, Afs. 
 Ver. 61 — Gi. Sisters, hence, SfC.^ 
 
 " Sisters, hence, 'tis time to ride : 
 
 Now your thundering faulchion wield ; 
 Now your sable steed bestride. 
 Hurry, hurry to the field." ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Air must be stain'd with blood of men, 
 Ere all our oracles shall fail." 
 
 See Select Icelandic Poetry, p. 50. 
 Ver. 59. Scotland, thro' each winding vale] This and the following line are not in the 
 original. Indeed, this poem is not so much a translation, as a loose, though highly- 
 spirited paraphrase ; and, as Mr. Herbert observes, inferior to the ' Descent of Odin.''
 
 THE VEGTAM'S KlVl'J'HA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DESCENT OF ODIN.* 
 
 AN ODE. 
 
 FROM THE NORSE TONGUE. 
 
 The original is to be found in Ssemund's Edda, and in Bartholinus, De Causis contemnendie 
 Mortis; Hafniae, 1680, quarto, Lib. III. c. ii. p. 632. 
 
 Upreis Odiiin alida gaittr, 8;c. 
 
 Uprose the king of men Avith speed, 
 And saddled straight his coal-black steed 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * This Ode is much more literally translated than the preceding. The original title I 
 have restored from Gray's MS The first five stanzas of this Ode are omitted ; in wiiicli 
 IJaldtr, one of the sons of Odin, was informed that lie should soon die. Upon his com- 
 munication of his dream, the other gods, finding it true, by consulting the oracles, agreed 
 to ward ofT the approaching danger, and sent Frigga to exact an oath from every thing not 
 to injure Balder. She however overlooked the misletoe, with a branch of which lie was 
 afterwards slain by Hoder, at the instigation of Lok. j\fter the execution of this com- 
 mission, Odin, still alarmed for the life of his sun, called another council ; and hearing 
 nothing but divided opinions amoii;; the gods, to consult the Prophetess, " he up-rose with 
 speed." Vali, or Ali, the son of lUndu, aitcrwards avengi-d the death of Balder, by slay- 
 ing Hoder, and is called u " wondrous boy, because he killed his enemy, before he was a 
 day old; before he had washed his face, combed his hair, or seen one setting-sun." See 
 Mr. Herbert's Icelandic Translations, p. 45 ; lo which I am indebted for part of this note.
 
 86 
 
 DoM'n the yawning steep he rode, 
 
 That leads to Hela's drear abode. 
 
 Him the dog of darkness spied ; 5 
 
 His shaggy tliroat he open'd wide, 
 
 While from his jaws, with carnage fill'd. 
 
 Foam and human gore distill'd : 
 
 Hoarse he bays with hideous din, 
 
 Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin ; 10 
 
 And long pursues, with fruitless yell, 
 
 The father of the powerful spell. 
 
 Onward still his way he takes, 
 
 (The groaning earth beneath him shakes,) 
 
 Till full before his fearless eyes 15 
 
 The portals nine of hell arise. 
 
 Right against the eastern gate. 
 By the moss-grown pile he sate ; 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 \er.\l. Fruitless'] Ceaseless, MS. Ver. l*. Shakes} Quakes, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 2. Coal-black steed} Sleipner was the horse of Odin, which had eight legs. Fide 
 Edda. Mason. 
 
 Ver. 4. That leads to Hela's drear abode} Niflheliar, the hell of the Gothic nations, 
 consisted of nine worlds, to which were devoted all such as died of sickness, old age, or 
 bj- any other means than in battle. Over it presided Hela, the goddess of death. Mason. 
 
 Hela, in the Edda, is described with a dreadful countenance, and her body half flesh- 
 colour, and half blue. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 5. Him the dog of dark7iess spied] The Edda gives this dog the name of Mana- 
 garmar. He fed upon the lives of those that were to die. Mason. 
 
 Ver. 17. Right agahist the eastern gate] So Milton: 
 
 " Right against the eastern gate 
 
 When the great sun begins his state." L'Allcg. v. 60.
 
 87 
 
 Where long of yore to sleep was laid 
 
 The dust of the prophetic maid. 20 
 
 Facing to the northern clime, 
 
 Thrice he trac'd the Runic rhyme ; 
 
 Thrice pronounc'd, in accents dread, 
 
 The tln-ilhng verse that wakes the dead ; 
 
 Till from out the hollow ground 25 
 
 Slowly breath'd a sullen sound. 
 
 PUOPHETESS. 
 
 What call unknown, what charms presume 
 To break the quiet of the tomb? 
 Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite, 
 
 And drags me from the realms of night? 30 
 
 Long on these mould'ring bones have beat 
 The winter's snow, the summer's heat, 
 The dienching dews, and driving rain ! 
 Let me, let me sleep again. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 23. Accents'} Murmurs, ms. 
 
 Ver. 27. What call tinknoxun} What voice unknown, ms. 
 
 Ver. 29. My troubled} A weary, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 22. Thrice he trac'd the Runic rhyme] In a little poem called the ' Magic of 
 Odin,' (see Bartholinus, p. ()4I,) Odin says, " If I see a man dead, and hanging aloft on 
 a tree, I engrave Runic characters so wonderful, that the man immediately descends and 
 converses \>ilh me. When I see magicians travelling tlirouirli the air, I disconcert them 
 with a single look, and force them to abandon their enterprise." Ed. 
 
 Ver. 2+. I'he IhriU'ni^ verse that tvakes the dead] The original word is Valgalldr ; from 
 Ffl/r mortuus, and d'a/Zr/r incanlutio. Gray. 
 
 Ver. 34. Let me, let me sleep «^'rt/;/]This and the two following verses are not in the ori- 
 ginal, and therefore Gray probably borrowed them from the Thessalian Incantation in
 
 88 
 
 Who is he, with voice unblest, 35 
 
 That calls me from the bed of rest ? 
 
 ODIN. 
 
 A traveller, to thee unknown, 
 Is he that calls, a warrior's son. 
 Thou the deeds of light shalt know ; 
 
 Tell me what is done below, 40 
 
 For whom yon glitt'ring board is spread, 
 Drest for whom yon golden bed ? 
 
 PROPHETESS. 
 
 Mantling in the goblet see 
 The pure bev'rage of the bee : 
 
 O'er it hangs the shield of gold ; 45 
 
 'Tis the drink of Balder bold : 
 Balder's head to death is giv'n. 
 Pain can reach the sons of heav'n ! 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver.35. He] This, ms. Ver.41. Yon^ The, ms. 
 
 Ver. ^S. Reach'] Touch, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Lucaii. Ph. vi. 820 : " Sic postquam fata peregit, stat vultu moestus tacito, mortemque re- 
 puscit." See Quart. Review, No. xxii. p. 314. 
 
 Ver. 40. Te/l me what is done below] Odin was anxious about the fate of his son Bal- 
 der, who had dreamed he was soon to die. He was killed by Odin's other son, Hoder, 
 who was himself slain by Vali, the son of Odin and Rinda, consonant with this prophecy. 
 See the £dda. 
 
 Ver. 43. Mantling in the gohlet see] " The spiced gobiets mantled high, " T. Warton's 
 Works, ii. 74.
 
 89 
 
 Unwilling I my lips unclose: 
 
 Leave me, leave mc to repose. oO 
 
 ODIN. 
 
 Once again my call obey, 
 Prophetess, arise, and say. 
 What dangers Odin's child await, 
 Who the author of" his fate? 
 
 PROPHETESS. 
 
 In rioder's hand the hero's doom ; 55 
 
 I lis brother sends him to the tomb. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Verses .•> 1 , 52. Once again, c^c] 
 
 " Prophetess, my call obey, 
 Once again arise and say," Ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 50. Leave me, leave me to repose] " Quid, oro, me post Letlisea pociila, jam 
 Stygiis pahuiibus iniiatantuin ad nionieiitaria.' vit;e ii diicilis ofiicia ? JJesine yam, pretor, 
 desiiie, etc me in mcam (jitietem permitte," Apuleii Menior. ii. 40. quoted in the Quar- 
 terly Review, No. xxii. p. 314. 
 
 Ver. 51. Once again my call obej/] Women were looked upon by the Gotliic nations 
 lis having a peculiar ii).sip;lit into futurity; and some there were tliat made profession of 
 magic arts and divination. Tlicse travelled round the country, and were received in every 
 house with great respect and honour. Such a woman bore the name of Volva Seidkona or 
 Spakona. The dress of Thorbiorga, one of tliese prophetesses, is described at Iar"-e in 
 Eirik's Kanda Sogu, (apud Bartlioiin. lib. i. cap. iv. p. ()88.) "She had on a blue vest 
 spangled all over vvitii stones, a necklace of glass beads, and a cap made of the skin of u 
 black lamb linid willi white cat-skin. She leaned on a staff' adorned with brass wiili a 
 round head set with .vtones ; and was girt w itli an Hunlandish belt, at which hun" liir pouch 
 full of magical instrument^). Her buskins were of rough calf-skin, bound on with lhon"s 
 studded with knobs of brass, and her gloves of white cat-skin, the fur turned inwards," &c. 
 'I'hey were also called fiolki/w^i, or Fiotkunnug, i. e. Multi-scia ; and Viiimlakoim 
 i.e. Oraculorum Mulitr; Nornir, i.e. Parcx. Gkay. 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 90 
 
 Now my weary lips I close : 
 Leave me, leave me to repose. 
 
 ODIX. 
 
 Prophetess, my spell obey, 
 Once again arise, and say, GO 
 
 Who th' avenger of his guilt, 
 By whom shall Iloder's blood be spilt? 
 
 PROPHETESS. 
 
 In the caverns of the Avest, 
 By Odin's fierce embrace coraprest, 
 A wond'rous boy shall Rinda bear, 65 
 
 Who ne'er shall comb his raven-hair. 
 Nor wash his visage in the stream. 
 Nor see the sun's departing beam. 
 Till he on Iloder's corse shall smile 
 Flaming on the fun'ral pile. 70 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 59, 60. Prophetess, <^c.] 
 
 " Once again my call obey. 
 
 Prophetess, arise and say," Ms. 
 Ver. 61, 62. Who th' avenger, S(C.] These verses are transposed in ms. 
 Ver. 65. Wond'rous'} Giant, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 6(i. Whe iteer skull comb his raven-hair'] King Haiold made (according to the 
 singular custom of his liuic) a solemn vow never to clip or comb Jiis hair, till he should 
 have extended his sway over the whole country. Herbert's Iceland. Translat. p. SU- In 
 the Translation of the Dyinj; Song of Asbiorn, p. 52 : 
 
 " Know, gentle mother, know, , 
 
 Thou «'ilt not comb myjloniiig hair, 
 When summer-sweets return, 
 In Denmark's vallies, Svan\hide fair !"
 
 91 
 
 Now my weary lips I close : 
 Leave me, leave me to repose. 
 
 ODIN. 
 
 Yet a'Avhile my call obej' ; 
 Prophetess, awake, and say, 
 
 What virgins these, in speechless woe, 7o 
 
 That bend to earth their solemn brow, 
 That their flaxen tresses tear, 
 And snowy veils that float in air ? 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. Ti. Avmke^ Arise, ms. Vcr. T". That,flaxen'\ Who, flowing, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 75. What virgins these, in speechless k'oc] " It is not certain," says Mr. Herbert, 
 " what Odin means by llie question concerning the weeping virgins ; but it lias been sup- 
 posed that it alludes to the embassy afterwards sent by Frigga to try to redeem Balder from 
 the infernal regions, and that Odin betrays his divinity by mentioning what had not yet hap- 
 pened." Iceland. Translat. p. 48, — The object of this embassy was frustrated by the perfidy 
 of Loke, who having assunu-d (as was supposed) the shape of an old woman, refused to join 
 ill the general petition. " I Lok (she said) will weep with dri/ eyes the funeral of Balder. 
 Let ail things living or dead, weep if they will, but let Mela keep her prey." — After this, 
 Loke hill himself, built a house among the mountains, and made a net. Odin however 
 found out his hiding-place, and the gods assembled to take him. He seeing this, burnt his 
 net, and changed himself into a salmon. After some trouble, Thor caught him by the tail, 
 and this is the reason why salmons, over after, have had their tails so fine and thin. Tlicj 
 bound iiim with chaiii.^, and susprnded the ser|ient Skada over his head, whose venom falls 
 upon his face drop by dro|). His wife Siguna sits by his side, catches the drops as they fall 
 from liil face in a basin, which she empties as often as it is filled. He will remain in 
 chains till the enil of the world, or as the Icelanders call it, the Twilight of the Gods. To 
 this the prophetess alludes in the last stanza. 
 
 Ver. 7(i. That bend to earth their tolemn brow] This and the following verse are nut 
 in the Latin traimlation. 
 
 H 2
 
 92 
 
 Tell me whence their sorrows rose : 
 
 Then I leave thee to repose. 80 
 
 PROPHETESS. 
 
 Ha ! no traveller art thou, 
 King of men, I know thee now ; 
 ^Mightiest of a mighty line ■ 
 
 ODIN. 
 
 No boding maid of skill divine 
 Art thou, nor prophetess of good ; 85 
 
 But mother of the giant brood ! 
 
 PROPHETESS. 
 
 Hie thee hence, and boast at home. 
 That never shall enquirer come 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 79. Tell me whence"} Say from whence, ms. 
 
 Ver. 83. Mightiest of the mighty line'] The mightiest of the mighty line, Ms. 
 
 Ver. 87. Hie thee hence, and boast'] Hie thee, Odin, boast, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 86. But mother of the giant brood] In the Latin, " mater triiim giganliim :" pro- 
 bably Augerbode, who from iier name seems to be " no prophetess of good;" and v\ho 
 bore to Loke, as the Edda says, tinee children, the wolf Fenris, the great serpent of Mid- 
 gard, and Hela, all of thcmcalled giants in that system of mythology. Mason. 
 
 Ver. 88. That never shall enquirer come] In the original, this and the three following 
 lines are represented by this couplet : 
 
 " Et deorum crepusculum ^ 
 
 Dissolventes aderint." 
 
 Mr. Herbert has published a translation of the introiliictory lines of this poem, and also 
 
 nmch curious information illustrating several passages in the text. See his Select Iceland. 
 
 Poetry, p. 4S. He mentions some little amplifications in Gray, tending to convey notions 
 
 of the Icelandic mythology, not warrantedby the original, as ' Coal-black steed;' Raven-
 
 .93 
 
 To iMcak my iron-sleep again ; 
 
 Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain ; 90 
 
 Never, till substantial night 
 
 Has reassuni'd her ancient right; 
 
 Till wrapt in flames, in ruin hurl'd. 
 
 Sinks the fabric of the world. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 90. Has^ Have, MS. Ver. 92. Has reassiwi^d'] Reassumes her, MS. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 hair ;' ' Thrice he trac'd tlic Runic rliyme ;' ' The portals tiine of hell ;' ' Foam and 
 human gore.' 
 
 Vor. <)(). Ti/l Lok has hurst his tenfold chain'] Lok is the evil being, who continues in 
 chains till the Izci'ight of the ^och approaches: when he shall break his bonds, the human 
 race, the stars, and sun, shall disappear; the earth sink in the seas, and lire consume the 
 skies : even (Jdin hinisell' and his kindred deities shall perish. For a further explanation of 
 this niylliology, see ' Introduction a I'Histoire de Uanneniarc par jVIons. Mallet,' 1755, 
 quarto ; or rather a translation of it published in 1770, and entitled ' Northern Antiquities;' 
 in which some mistakes in the original are judiciously corrected. Mason. 
 
 Compare with this poem, ' Hcrmode's Journey to Hell,' in Dr. Percy's Translation of 
 Mallet's Northern .Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 149.
 
 THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN.* 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 PROM 1UZ WELSH. 
 
 Froiti Mr. Evans's Specimens of the Welsli Poetry : London, 1761, quarto, p. 25, and p. 127. 
 Owen succeeded his father Griffith appCynan in the principality of North Wales, A.D. 1137. 
 This battle was fought in the year 1 157. Jones's Relics, vol. ii. p. 36. 
 
 Owen's praise demands my song, 
 
 Owen swift, and Owen strong; 
 
 Fairest flower of Rodcric's stem, 
 
 Gwjnetii's shield, and Britain's gem. 
 
 He nor heaps his brooded stores, 5 
 
 Nor on all profusely pours; 
 
 Lord of every regal art. 
 
 Liberal hand, and open heart. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Tiie original Welsh of tlie above poem was tiic composition of Gwalchmai the son of 
 Melir, immediately after Prince Owen Gwynedd had defeated the combined fleets of Ice- 
 land, Denmark, and Norway, whicli had invaded his territory on the coast of Anglesca. 
 There is likewise another poem which describes this famous battle, written by Prince 
 Howe), the son of Owen Gwynedd ; a literal translation of which may be seen in Jones's 
 Relics, vol. ii. p. ii(). In Mason's edition, and in all the subsequent, it is said that Owen 
 succeeded his father, A.D. IICO. The date I have altered, agreeably to the text of Mr. 
 Jones, to A. D. 1 1.37. 
 
 Ver. 1. Gu-yneth] North Wales.
 
 05 
 
 Big with hosts of mighty name, 
 Scjuadrons three against him came; 10 
 
 This the force of Eirin hiding. 
 Side by side as proudly riding, 
 On her shadow long and gay 
 Lochlin plows the wat'ry way ; 
 There the Norman sails afar 15 
 
 Catch the winds and join the war : 
 Black and huge along they sweep, 
 Burdens of the angry deep. 
 
 Dauntless on his native sands 
 The dragon-son of Mona stands ; 20 
 
 In glitt'ring arras and glory drest, 
 High he rears his ruby crest. 
 There the thund'ring strokes begin, 
 There the press, and there the din ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 10. Squadrons three against him came'] " A battle round of squadrons three they 
 shew," Fuirfax's Tasso, xviii. <K). Mr. Whittlicad, in his ' Battle of Argoed Llwvfain,' 
 translated from Taliessiii, vol. iii. p. 85, sccnis to have had his eye on these lines : 
 
 " Flanidwyn pour'd his rapid bauds * 
 
 Legions four o'er Riged's landsj. 
 The numerou.s host, from side to side, 
 Spread destruction wild, and wide." 
 Ver. 14. Lochlin'] Denmark. 
 
 Ver. '20. The dragon-son of Monti stamh] The red dragon is the device of Ca«lwallader, 
 which all his descendants bore on their banners. Mason. 
 
 Ver. 23. There the thund'ring strokes begin] " It seems (says Dr. Evans, p. C(i,) that 
 tlie fleet landed in some part of the frith of Menai, and that it was a kind of niixt engagement, 
 "i'jnie fighting from the shore, ollurs from the Mii|is ; and probably the i;reat .shiughler was 
 owing io its being low-water, and that they coultl not sail. This will doubtless remind niaiiv 
 of the spirited account delivered by the noblest historian of ancient Greece, of a similar
 
 96 
 
 Talymalfra's rocky shore 25 
 
 Echoing to the battle's roar. 
 Check'd by the torrent-tide of blood, 
 Backward Meinai rolls his flood ; 
 While, heap'd his master's feet around, 
 Prostrate Avarriors gnaw the ground. 30 
 
 AVhcre his glowing eye-balls turn. 
 Thousand banners round him burn : 
 Where he points his purple spear, 
 Hasty, hasty rout is there, 
 
 Marking with indignant eye 35 
 
 Fear to stop, and shame to fly. 
 There confusion, terror's child. 
 Conflict fierce, and ruin wild. 
 Agony, that pants for breath, 
 
 Despair and honourable death. 40 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 conflict on tlie shore of P3IUS, between tlie Athenians and tlic Spartans under llic gallant 
 Brasidas. Thucjd. Bel. Pelop. lib. iv. cap. 12." 
 
 Ver. 27. Check'd, (^c] This and the three following lines are not in the former editions, 
 but^re now added from the author's MSS. Mason. 
 
 Ver. 31 . ff'/iere his glozcitig eye-halls turii] From this line, to the conclusion, the trans- 
 lation is indebted to the genius of Gray, very little of it being in the original, which closes 
 with a sentiment omitted by the translator : " And the gloi7 of our Prince's wide-wasting 
 sword sliall be celebrated in a hundred languages, to give him his merited praise."
 
 THE DEATH OF HOEL. 
 
 AN ODE. 
 
 SELECTED FROM THE GODODIN.* 
 
 Had I but the torrent's might, 
 
 \\'ith headlong rage and wild affright 
 
 Upon Deira's squadrons hurl'd 
 
 To rush, and sweep them from the world ! 
 
 Too, too secure in youthful pride. 
 By them, my friend, my Hoel, died, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Of Aneurin, siyled the Monarch of the Bards. He flourished about the time of 
 Taliessin, A. D. 570.* This Ode is extracted from the Gododin. See Mr. Evans's 
 Specimens, p. 71 and 73. 
 
 " Aneurin witli tlic flowing Muse, King of Bards, brother to Gildas Albanius ihe his- 
 torian, lived under Mvnyddawg of Edinburgh, a prince of the North, whose Eurdorchogioii, 
 or warriors wearing the golden torques, three hundred and sixty-throe in number, were all 
 slain, except Aneurui and two others, in a battle with the Saxons at Cattraeth, on the eastern 
 coast of Yorkshire. His (jodudin, an heroic poem written on that event, is perhaps the 
 oldest and noblest production of that age." Jones's RelicK, vol. i. p. 17. — Taliessin com- 
 posed a poem calUd ' Ciniobilinc's Incantation,' in cniulatiun of excelling the Godudin of 
 .\neurin his rival. He accom|)li^in■d his aim, in the upiiiiun of subsequent bards; by con- 
 densing the prolixity, w ithout losing the ideas, of his u|)p<>uent. 
 
 Ver. a. Upon Deira's sqiiadroim hnrFd'^ The kingdom of Deira int luded the counties uf 
 
 • Mr. Jones, in his Relics, vol. i. p. IT, snys, that .\neurin flourished about \ D. .'jK) 
 VOL. I. O
 
 98 
 
 Great Cian's son : of Madoc old 
 
 He ask'd no heaps of hoarded gold ; 
 
 Alone in nature's wealth array 'd, 
 
 He ask'd and had the lovely maid. 10 
 
 To Cattraeth's vale in glitt'ring row 
 Thrice two hundred warriors go : 
 Every warrior's manly neck 
 Chains of regal honour deck, 
 
 Wreath'd in many a golden link : lo 
 
 From the golden cup they drink 
 Nectar that the bees produce, 
 Or the grape's extatic juice. 
 Flush'd with mirth and hope they burn : 
 But none from Cattraeth's vale return, 20 
 
 Save Aeron brave, and Conan strong, 
 (Bursting through the bloody throng) 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Yorkshire, Durham, Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. See Jones's Relics, 
 vol. i. pi 7. 
 
 Ver. 7. Cian] In Jones's Relics it is spelt ' Kian.' 
 
 Ver. 11. To Cattraeth's vale in g/itt'ring 7-ow'\ In the rival poem of Taliessin mentioned 
 before, this circumstance is thus expressed : " Three, and threescore, and tliree hundred 
 heroes flocked to the variegated banners of Cattraetli; but of those who hastened from the 
 flowing mead-goblet, save three, returned not. Cynon and Cattraeth with hyums they 
 commemorate, and me for my blood they mutually lament." See Jones's Relics, vol. ii. 
 p. 14. — " The great topic perpetually recurring in the Gododin, is, that the Britons lost the 
 battle of Cattraeth, and suffered so severely, because they had drank their mead too profusely. 
 The passages in the Gododin are numerous on this point." See Sharon Turner's Vindi- 
 cation of the Anc. British Poems, p. ol. 
 
 Ver. CO. But none from Cattraeth's tale return] In the Latin translation : " Ex iis 
 auteni, qui nimiopotu madidi ad bellum properabant, non evasere nisi tres." 
 
 Ver. 21. Coa/ah] Properly * Conon," or, as in the Welsh, ' Chynon.'
 
 99 
 
 And I, the meanest of them all, 
 That live to weep and sing their fall. 24 
 
 Have ye seen the tusky boar,* 
 Or the bull, with sullen roar, 
 On surrounding foes advance ? 
 So Car^doc bore his lance. 
 
 Conan's namc,-^- my lay, rehearse, 
 Build to him the lofty verse. 
 Sacred tribute of the bard. 
 Verse, the hero's sole reward. 
 As the flame's devouring force; 
 As the whirlwind in its course ; 
 As the thunder's fiery stroke, * 
 
 Glancing on the shiver'd oak ; 
 Did the sword of Conan mow 
 The crimson harvest of the foe. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Vcr. '23. ylml T, the meanest of them all] In the Latin translation : " Et egomet ipse 
 sanguinu rubcns, alitor ad hoc carmen conipingendum non super>tes fuissem." 
 
 * Tliis and the following short fragment ought to have appeared among the Posthumous 
 Pieces of Gray ; but it was thought j)rcferable to insert them in this place, with the pre- 
 ceding fragment from the Gododin. See Jones's Relics, vol. i. p. 17. 
 
 f In Jones's Relics, vol. i. p. 17, it is ' Vcdel's name;' and in turning to the original I 
 sec ' Rhudd Fedel,' as well as in the Latin translation of Dr. Evans, p. 7^. 
 
 o 2
 
 SONNET 
 
 THE DEATH OF MR. RICHARD WEST. 
 
 In vain to me the smiling mornings shine, 
 
 And redd'ning Phoebus lifts his golden fire : 
 The birds in vain their amorous descant join ; 
 
 Or chearful fields resume their green attire: 
 These ears, alas ! for other notes repine, 5 i 
 
 A different object do these eyes require : 
 My lonely anguish melts no heart but mine ; 
 
 And in my breast the imperfect joys expire. 
 Yet morning smiles the busy race to chear, 
 
 And new-born pleasure brings to happier men : 10 
 
 The fields to all their wonted tribute bear : 
 
 To warm their little loves the birds complain : 
 I fruitless mourn to him that cannot hear, 
 
 And weep the more, because I weep in vain. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 14. ^nd zteep the more, because I weep in vain] A line similar to this occurs in 
 Gibber's Alteration of Richard the Third, act ii. sc. 2 : 
 
 " So we must weep, because we weep in vain."
 
 101 
 
 " Solon, when he wept for his son's death, on one saying to him, ' Weeping will not 
 help,' answered: Ai' avfo itroZro SuK^^iui, an oJJcv dvirrcu- *I weep for that very cause, 
 that weeping will not avail.'" See Diog. Laert. vol. i. p. 39, ed. Meibomii. It is also told 
 of Augustus.
 
 EPITAPH 
 
 ov 
 
 MRS. JANE CLERKE. 
 
 This lady, the wife of Dr. John Gierke, physician at Epsom, died April 27, 175Y; and was 
 buried in the church of Beckenham, Kent. 
 
 Lo ! where this silent marble weeps, 
 A friend, a wife, a mother' sleeps : 
 A heart, within Avhosc sacred cell 
 The peaceful virtues lov'd to dwell. 
 Affection warm, and faith sincere, 
 And soft humanity were there. 
 In agony, in death resign'd, 
 She felt the wound she left behind, 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 7 — 10. In agony, 8(c.'\ 
 
 " To hide her cares her only art, 
 Her pleasure, pleasures to impart. 
 In ling'ring pain, in death resign'd. 
 Her latest agony of mind 
 Was felt for him, who could not save 
 His all from an untimely grave." MS. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. ho! where this silent marble weepsj 
 
 " This weeping marble had not ask'd a tear." 
 
 Pope's Epitaph on Ed. Duke of Buckingham.
 
 103 
 
 Her infant image here below, 
 
 Sits smiling on a father's woe : 10 
 
 AVhoni what awaits, while yet he strays 
 
 Along the lonely vale of days ? 
 
 A pang, to secret sorrow dear ; 
 
 A sigh ; an unavailing tear ; 
 
 Till time shall every grief remove, 15 
 
 With life, with memory, and with love. 
 
 NOTES. 
 And Dart's Westminster Abbey, p. 3 1 : 
 
 " While o'er the grave the marble statue weeps." 
 Ver. 6. Soft kumanity'] 
 
 " Yet soft JH nature, though severe iiis lay." 
 
 Pope's Epit. on Earl of Dorset, 4.
 
 EPITAPH 
 
 SIR WILLIAM WILLIAMS.* 
 
 This Epitaph was written at the request of Mr. Frederick Montagu, who intended to hare 
 inscribed it on a monument at Bellisle, at the siege of which Sir W. Williams was killed, 
 1761. See Mason's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 73'; and vol. iv. p. 76. 
 
 Here, foremost in the dangerous paths of fame, 
 Young Wilhams fought for England's fair renown ; 
 
 His mind each Muse, each Grace adorn'd his frame, 
 Nor envy dar'd to view him with a frown. 
 
 At Aix, his voluntary sword he drew, 
 
 There first in blood his infant honour seal'd ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 * Sir William Peere Williams, Bart, a captain in Burgoyne's dragoons. 
 Ver. 3. His mind each Muse, each Grace adorn d his frame'] 
 E(vfx£v EUETri'ijf vivvTOif^oyO!, yjv b jxeXi^^os 
 fi<rxritrsy Movruiy, au-jiiya xai Xafircuv. 
 
 Sophoclis Epit. ed. Bruuck. vol, i. p. 10. 
 Tbv Mm7Ms iZi'^ov aviJfa, rov oJ 'Nvjj.<pa!inv diriy^^r^, Theocr. Idyll, a. 141. 
 I recollect also llie same expression in Gregory Nazianzen's Epitaph on Amphilochius ; 
 though I am unable to cite the passage from memory. 
 
 " A thousand Graces round her person play, 
 And all the Muses mark'd her Jaucy's way." 
 
 A. Hill's Poems, vol. iii. p. GO. 
 Ver. 5. Jt Ail, his voluntary sword he drew] Sir Wiiliam Williams, iu the expedition
 
 105 
 
 From fortune, pleasure, science, love, he flew, 
 And scorn'd repose when Britain took the field. 
 
 With eyes of flame, and cool undaunted breast, 
 
 Victor he stood on Bellisle's rocky steeps — 10 
 
 Ah, gallant youth ! this marble tells the rest, 
 Where melancholy friendship ])ends, and weeps. 
 
 NOTES, 
 to Aix, was on board the Magnaiiime with Lord Howe ; and was deputed to receive the 
 ca|)itulation. This expression has been adopted by Mr. Scott : 
 " Since riding side by side, our hand 
 First drew the voluntary brand." 
 
 Marmion, Introd, to Cant. iv. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 ELEGY 
 
 WRITTEN IN 
 
 A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD, 
 
 Tlie manuscript variations in this poem, in the Wharton papers, agree generally with those 
 published by Mr. Mathias, vol. i. p. 65, in his edition of Gray's works. 
 
 The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. 
 The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day] 
 
 " The curfew tolls! — the knell of parting day." 
 So I read, says Dr. Warton, in his Notes on Pope, vol. i. p. 82, Dryden has a line re- 
 sembling this : 
 
 " That tolls the knell of their departed sense," 
 See Prologue to Troilus and Cressida, ver. 22. And not dissimilar is Shaksp, Henry IV, 
 Part ii. act i. sc.2 : 
 
 " a sullen bell 
 
 Remember'd knoUinj; a departed friend." 
 
 " squilla di lontaiio 
 
 Che paia '1 giorno piauger, che si muore." 
 
 Dante, Purgat. 1. S. Gray. 
 The seveuth stanza of T. Warton's poem on Vale Royal Abbey is taken from the open- 
 ing of tTiis Elegy. See his Poems, vol, i. p. 132. The opening of this poem is also trans- 
 feiTed into the ' Lcttere di Jacopo Ortis,' p. 70 
 V^er. 2. 2V(e loaing herd zcind slowly o'er the lea'] 
 
 " The lowing herds through living pastures rove," 
 
 Whitehead's Elegy I. vol, ii. p. 204.
 
 107 
 
 The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
 And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 
 
 Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
 And all the air a solemn stillness holds. 
 
 Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight. 
 And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 8. And^ Or, ms. M. and W, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ill the Diosemeia of Aratus, this picture is drawn similar to that of the English poet, 
 ver. 387 : 
 
 'H J' org (xuxr,5|U.(;T9 -rfsftirXsioi dye^wvrai 
 
 And so Dionysius in his Periegesis, ver. IQO: 
 
 Kiivoif S ouiroTs TEfTTvof axouErai oA.xoj df/.!i^-/j; 
 
 See also Hooieri Odyss. xvii. 170, pointed out by Mr. Wakefield. 
 
 Ver. 4. j4nd leaves the world to darkness and to ;ne] A similar expression occurs in 
 Petrarch, p. 1 24 : 
 
 " Quando '1 sol bagna in mar 1' aurato cerco, 
 E 'I aer nostro, e la mia mente imbruna." 
 Ver. 7. Save where the beetle zvheeh /lis dro/iing fUghl] 
 
 " Ere the bat hath flown 
 
 His cloyster'd flight ; ere to black Hecate's summons 
 The shard-born beetle with his drowsy hum 
 Hath rung night's yawning peal." 
 
 Macbeth, act iii. sc. '2. 
 And so Collins, in his Ode to Evening : 
 
 " Or w liore the beetle winds 
 His *■;«(///, but sullen horn ; 
 As oft he rises midst the twilight path, 
 Against the pilgrim borne in heedless hum." W. 
 
 p2
 
 108 
 
 Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r, 
 
 The mopeing owl does to the moon compUiui 10 
 
 Of such as, wand'ring near her secret bow'r, 
 
 Molest her ancient solitary reign. 
 
 Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, 
 Where heaves tlie turf in many a mould'ring heap. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 8. /iiid drozosi/ ttnklings] Warton's Ode on the approach of Summer, 1 10 : 
 
 " Her sound of distant-tinkling bell." 
 Ver. 10. The mopeing ord does to the moon complahi] Tlie " ignavus bubo" of Ovid, 
 see Metam. v. 550. The two following passages might supply the images in the Elegy : 
 " Assiduous in his bouer the ziui/ins ozcl 
 
 Plies his sad song." Thomson's Winter, 114. 
 
 And, 
 
 " the wailina owl 
 " Screams solitary to the mournful moon." 
 
 Mallett's Excursion, p. "244. 
 Compare also T. Warton's ' Pleasures of Melancholy,' p. 7 1 , ed. Mant ; where the learned 
 editor has brought the contrasted passages nearer together, by quoting a line of Gray in the 
 following manner : 
 
 " Of such as wandering near her sacred bower." 
 Ver. 12. Molest her ancient solitary reigtf\ " Desertaque regna pastorum," Virg. Georg. 
 iii. 470. W. 
 
 Ver. 13. Beneath those rugged elms] De Lille, in his ' Jardins,' has imitated these stanzas 
 of the Elegy : 
 
 " Voyez sous ses vieux ifs la tombe on vont se rendre 
 Ceux qui, courbes pour vous sur des siilons ingrats, 
 Au sein de la mis^re esperent le trepas. 
 Rougiriezvous d'orner leuis humbles sepultures? 
 Vous n'y pouvez graver d'illustres avanlures. 
 Sans doute Depuis I'auhe, oil le coq matinal 
 Des rustiques travaux leur donne le signal, 
 Jusques a la veillee, oil leur jeune famiile 
 Environne avec eux le sarniiiit qui petillc, 
 Dans les memes travaux roulent en paix leurs jours.
 
 109 
 
 Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, 15 
 
 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. 
 
 The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 
 
 The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Des guerres, des traitds ii'en niarqiient point le cours. 
 Naitie, soutirir, niDurir, c'esl toute leur liistoiie; 
 Mais leur ccvur n'esl point soiird au bruit de leur menioire. 
 Quel homme vers la vie, au moment du depart ; 
 Ne se tourne, et ne jettc uu Iriste et long regard. 
 A I'espoir d'un regret ne sent pas quelquc cliarme, 
 £t des yeux d'un ami n'attend pas une larme ? C. iv. p. BG. 
 Ver. H. Where heaves the turf in iiiani/ a mould' ring heaj)] 
 " Those graves with bending osier bound, 
 That nameless heave the c?'i/?«/;/e(i ground."' 
 
 Parnell's Night Piece, 29. W. 
 Ver. 15. Each in his narrow ce/fjor ever laid] " The narrow houae is pleasant to me, 
 and the grey stone of the dead, ' Ossian's Oithona, vol. i. p. II 9. " Here let him rest, in 
 his narrow house, far from the sound of Lota," ibid. p. 30G. 
 
 And so Horace, Od. I. iv. 17 : " Domus exilis Plutonia." The word domus, which 
 answers to our poet's cell, is often in Latin authors put for scpu/chrtnn ; as may be seen by 
 referring to Burmann's Petronius, caj). 71 ; and Markiaiid's Statins, p. 255 : the reason of 
 which is given in Barthelemy's Travels in Italy, p. 349- Compare tiie Lettere di Jacopo 
 Ortis, p. 71, with this staniia. 
 
 Ver. 17- Incense-breathing morn'] 
 
 " /\nd e'er the odorous breath of morn," Arcades, ver. 56. 
 Also Milton's Par. Lost, b. ix. 192 : 
 
 " In Eden, on the humid tlowers that brealh'd 
 Their morning incense." W. 
 And so Pope's Messiah, ver. '.d4 : " With all the //Jtc;«e of the breathing spring." 
 And T. Wartoii, vol. i. p. I'J5 : " The meadows ///fe»*5e breathe at eve." 
 Ver. 18. The STiul/ow ttritl'riinj; j'lom the slraw-lmilt shed] 
 " Mane jam cl.irum riserat fiiuslras, 
 Jam strejiit nidis vigHax hirundo." 
 
 Auson. p. 94, ed. Tollii.
 
 no 
 
 The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoinir horn. 
 
 No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. 20 
 
 For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 
 Or busy housewife ply her evening-care ; 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver.l9. O?] And, ms. M. and W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Hesiod gives the swallow a very appropriate epithet : x^\i^-mv o^i^oyor^- Eiy. 567. Mr. 
 Wakefield quotes Thomson, Autumn, ver. 835. 
 
 Ver, ly. The cock's shrill clarion] Philips in ' Cyder,' i.753 : 
 " When chanticleer with clarion shrill recais 
 The tardy day." 
 Mr. Wakefield cites Milton, Par. Lost, b. vii.448 : 
 
 " The crested cock, whose clarion sounds 
 The silent hours." 
 And Hamlet, act i. sc. 1 . To which add Quarles in Argalus and Parthenia, p. 22 : 
 " I slept not, till the early bugle-horn 
 Of chaunticlere had summon'd in the morn." 
 Thomas Kyd has also joined the two images (England's Parnassus, p. 325) : 
 " The cheerful cock, the sad night's trumpeter, 
 Way ting upon the rising of the suime. 
 The wandering sreal/ow with her broken song." 
 Ibid. Echoing horn"] See L'Allegro, ver. 53. W. 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn'] Compare ApoU. Riiod. iv. 
 1062. Lucretius, iv. 907 : 
 
 " At jam non domus accipiet te laeta, neque uxor 
 Optima, nee dulces occurrent oscula nati 
 Praeripere." 
 Horace has added to the picture an image copied by Gray : 
 
 " Quod si pudica mulier, in partem juvet 
 Domuni, atque dulces liberos, 
 
 Sacrum et vetustis exstruat liguis focuni 
 Lassi sub adventum viri."
 
 Ill 
 
 No children run to lisp their sire's return, 
 Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Vcr. 24. Or^ Nor, ms. W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 See also Thomson's Winter, ,311: 
 
 " In vain for liim the officious wife prepares 
 The fire fair-blazinE;, and the vestment warm: 
 In vain liis little children, peeping out 
 Into the mingling xtunn,* demand their sire 
 With tears of artless innocence." 
 Ver. 24. Or climb his knees the envied kiss to sAare] 
 
 " Interea dulces pendent circum oscula nati." 
 
 Virg. Georg. ii. ver. 523. W. 
 So Dryden, vol. ii. p. .0G5, ed. Warton : 
 
 " Whose little arms about thy legs are cast, ' 
 
 And climbing for a kiss prevent their mother's haste." 
 See also Thomson's Liljerty, iii. 171, and Ovid. Heroid. Ep. viii. 93. 
 
 * In the earlier editions, " Into the mingling rack." And, what is singular, five lines farther 
 on it stood: 
 
 " Lays him along the snows, a stifFen'd corse, 
 
 Unslretch'd, and bleaching in the northern blast." 
 In the MS. copy I have, Tlionison hxs altered it, with a pen, to " slrvlch'd out," as it is re.id in 
 thcsubsui|ucnt editions. " Unstretch'd " is a Scotticism, meaning " uii/bUeJ." 
 In Thomson's Winter, 975, the couplet 
 
 " Far-distant flood to flood is social joinM: 
 Th' astonished ICuxJiic hears the Baltic roar " — 
 was probably suggested by the following passages : 
 
 " yEgeas transit in undas 
 
 " Tyrrhenum; sonat lonio vagus Iladria Ponto.'' 
 
 Lucan. Phars. v. 614. 
 .\lso, " J'enlens deja fremir les deux mors etonnccs, 
 
 Dc voir les flots unies au pie des Pircnnfes." 
 
 I3oiIeau, Epitrc i. liG.
 
 112 
 
 Oft did the liarvest to their sickle yield, 25 
 
 Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke : 
 
 How jocund did they drive their team afield ! 
 
 How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke ! 
 
 Let not ambition mock their useful toil. 
 
 Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; SO 
 
 Nor p-randeur hear with a disdainful smile 
 
 The short and simple annals of the poor. 
 
 The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r. 
 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 25. Sickle'} Sickles, ms. W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 27 . How jocund did they drive their team afield] 
 
 " He drove afield." Lycidas, 27. W. 
 Ver. 28. How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke] 
 " But to the roote bent his stiirdie stroalce, 
 And made many woundes in the waste cake." 
 
 Spenser's February, ed. Todd, vol. i. p. 43. VV. 
 Ver. 33. TJie hoast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r] " Very like," says the editor, (in a 
 note to the following passage of Cowley,) " ia the expression as well as sentiment, to that 
 fine stanza in Mr. Gray's Elegy, vol. ii. p. 213, Kurd's ed. : 
 
 " ' Beauty, and strength, and wit, and wealth, and power, 
 Have their short flourisliing hour ; 
 And love to see themselves, and smile. 
 And joy in their pre-eminence a while; 
 E'en so in the same land 
 Poor weeds, rich corn, gay flowers together stand. 
 Alas! Death mows down all with an impartial hand.'" 
 Gray's stanza is, however, chiefly indebted to some verses in his friend West's Monody 
 on Queen Caroline:
 
 lis 
 
 Await alike th' inevitable hour. 35 
 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 
 
 Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, 
 
 If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise, 
 AVhere through the long-drawn isle and fretted vault 
 
 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. 40 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 35] Aviaif] Awaits, its. M, and W. 
 Ver. 37, 38. Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault. 
 If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise"} 
 " Forgive, ye proud, th' involuntary fault, 
 
 If memory to these no trophies raise," ms. M, and W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Ah me ! what boots us all our boasted power. 
 Our golden treasure, and our purple state ; 
 Tliey cainiot nan! the iiwvitable hour. 
 Nor stay the fearful violence of fate." 
 
 Dod^'ey's Misc. ii.279. 
 Ver. 36. The paths of glory lead but to the grave'] In the new Biognipliia Britannica, 
 vol. i\\ 1>.*1C9, in tlic Life of Crashaw, written by ^Ir. Hayley, it is said that tiiis line is 
 " literally translated from tiie Latin prose of Barthoiinus in his D^inish Antiquities." 
 \'er. 39. The long-drawn isle] 
 
 " And the Ion" isles and vaulted roofs rebound." 
 
 o 
 
 Dart's Westminster Abbey, p. 7. 
 
 lliid. Fretted] " liie roof o' the chamber 
 
 With golden cherubiras is fretted" 
 
 Cynibcline, act ii. sc. 4. W. 
 And so llainlel, act ii. 50.2 : " This niajestica! roof fretted with golden fire." 
 Ver. 40. The pealing anthem sicelU the note of praise] 
 " There let the pealing orjjan blow. 
 To the full- voiced (]nirc below, 
 In service high, and anthem clear." II Pens. IfiS. W. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 114 
 
 Can storied urn, or animated bust, 
 
 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? 
 
 Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 
 Or flatt'ry sooth the dull cold ear of death ? 
 
 Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid 45 
 
 Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire ; 
 
 Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd, 
 ■Or wak'd to extasy the living lyre : 
 
 But knowledge to their eyes her ample page 
 
 Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll ; 50 
 
 Chill penury repress'd their noble rage. 
 
 And froze the genial current of the soul. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 4:1. Rod} Reins, ms. M. 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 41. Animated bust] " Heroes in animated marble frown," Temple of Fame, 
 73. W. 
 
 Ver. 44. The dull cold ear of death] " And sleep in dull cold marble," Shaksp. 
 Henry VHI. act iii. sc. 2. 
 
 Ver. 47. Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayd] " Sunt mihi quas possint 
 sceptra decere manus," Ovid, Ep. v. ver. 8(5. " Proud names that once the reins of 
 empire held," Tickell's Poem to Earl of Warwick, ver. 37. 
 
 Ver. 48. Or wak'd to extasy the living li/re] " Waken raptures high," Milt. Par. Lost, 
 iii. 369. And Lucretius, ii. 412 : " Mobilibus digitis expergefacta figurant." 
 
 " Begin the song, and strike the living lyre." Cowley. 
 And Pope's Winds. For. 281 : 
 
 " where Cowley strung 
 
 His living harp, and lofty Denham sung." W. 
 Ver. 5 1 . Their noble rage] 
 
 " Be justly warm'd with your own native rage'' 
 
 Pope's Prol. to Cato, 43. W.
 
 115 
 
 Full many a gem of purest ray serene 
 
 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear : 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 55 
 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 
 
 Some village-Hampden, that, with dauntless breast. 
 The little tyrant of his fields withstood, 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 58. Fields^ Lands, erased in ms. M. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 And: 
 
 " How hard the task ! liow rare the godlike rage." 
 
 Tickell's Prol. (Steele's Misc. p. 70.) 
 Ver. 53. Full many a gem of purest ray serene'] 
 
 " That like to rich and various gems inlay 
 The unadorned bosom of the deep." 
 
 Comus, ver. 22. 
 And see Young's ' Ocean,' st. xxiv. 
 
 " There is many a rich Etone laid up in the bowclls of the earth, many a fair pearle in 
 the bosome of the sea, that never was seene, nor never shall bee," Bishop Hall's Con- 
 templations, 1. vi. p. 872. See Quart. Rev. No. xxii. p. 314. 
 Ver. 55. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen] 
 
 " Like roses that in deserts bloom and die." 
 
 Pope's Rape of the Lock, iv. 157. W. 
 Also Chamberlaync's Pharonida, part ii. b. iv. p. 94 : 
 
 " Like beauteous flowers which vainly waste their scent 
 or odors in unhaunted deserts." 
 And Young's Univ. Passion, Sat. v. p. 128 : 
 
 " In distant wilds, by human eyes unseen, 
 
 She rears her llow'rs, and spreads her velvet green ; 
 Pure gurgling rills tiie lonely desert trace. 
 And Tcaste their music on tiie savage race." 
 " Like woodland flowers, which paint the desert glades, 
 And uaste their sweets in unfrequented shades." 
 
 A. Philips' Tliule, p. 135. 
 
 Q 2
 
 116 
 
 Some mute inglorious IVIilton here may rest, 
 
 Some Cromwell guiltless of his eountry's blood. 60 
 
 Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, 
 
 The threats of pain and ruin to despise, 
 To scatter jjlenty o'er a smiling land, 
 
 And read their history in a nation's eyes, 
 
 Their lot forbad : nor circumscrib'd alone 65 
 
 Their sirowing virtues, but their crimes confm'd ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 For the expression 'desert air,' Mr. Wakefield refers to Pindar Ohm p. i. 10: Eiiijuay 
 S'l oc'iUoos. Also Fragin. Incert. cxvi. 
 
 Ver. 59. Some mute inglorious Milton here vmij rest'\ So Philips, in his animated and 
 eloquent preface to his Theatrum Poetarum, p. xiv. ed. Brydges: " Even the very names 
 of some who having perhaps been comparable to Homer for heroic poesy, or to Euripides 
 for tragedy; yet nevertheless sleep inglorious in the croud of the forgotten vulgar," 
 
 Ver. Go. Some Cromnell guiltless of his country's blood] Mr. Edwards, the author of 
 ' The Canons of Criticism,' here added the two following stanzas, to supply what he deemed 
 a defect in the poem : 
 
 " Some lovely fair, whose unaffected charms 
 Shone with attraction to herself unknowii ; 
 Whose beauty might have bless'd a monarch's arms, 
 Whose virtue cast a lustre on a throne. 
 
 " That humble beauty warm'd an honest heart, 
 And cheer'd the labours of a faithful spouse ; 
 That virtue form'd for every decent part, 
 
 Tlie healthful offspring that adorn'd their house." 
 
 Ver. 61. Th' applause nf list'ning senates'] 
 
 " Tho' wond'ring senates hung on all he spoke." 
 
 Pope's Mor. Essays, i. 1 84.
 
 117 
 
 Forbad lo wade thro' slaughter to a throne, 
 And shut the gates of mercy on mankind, 
 
 The strugghng pangs of conscious truth to hide, 
 
 To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame, ' 70 
 
 Or heap the shrine of luxury and pride 
 With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Vcr. 68. And] Or, ms. INI. and W. Vcr.71. Shrine'] Shrines, ms. W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 67. Wwlc thro slaughter to a throne] 
 
 " And swam lo empire thro' the purple flood." 
 
 Temple of Fame, 347- W. 
 Ver. GS. ./?«/ shut the gales of mercy on mnnhiiul] " The gates ofmerci/ shall be all 
 shut up," Shaksp. Henry V. act iii. sc. 3. Also in Henry VI. part iii : " Open thy gate of 
 mercy, gracious Lord." And so says au obscure poet : 
 
 " His humble eyes, sighs, cries, and bruised breast, 
 Furc'd ope the gates of mercy, g-ive him rest." 
 
 Nath. Ilichards's Poems, Sacred and Satyrical, l'2mo. 1G41. p. 145. 
 Also Congreve's Mourning Bride, act iii. sc. 1 : 
 
 " So did it tear the ears of mercy from his 
 
 Voice, shutting the gates of prayer against him." 
 Ver. 7-' With incense kindled at the Muse s fame] After this verse, in Mr. Gray's first 
 MS. of the poem, were the four following stanzas : 
 
 " Tiie thoughlless world to majesty may bow. 
 Exalt the brave, and idolize success ; 
 But more to innocence their safety owe, 
 
 Than pow'r or genius e'er conspir'd to blesf, 
 
 " And thou who, minilful of th' unhonour'd dead, 
 Di>st in tiicse note.s their artless tale relate, 
 By night and lonely contemplation led 
 To wander iu tiie gloomy walks of fate :
 
 118 
 
 Far from the madding crowd's ignoble stritie, 
 
 Their sober Avishes never learn'd to stray ; 
 Along the cool sequester'd vale of life 75 
 
 They kept the noiseless tenour of their way. 
 
 Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect 
 
 Some frail memorial still erected nigh, 
 With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, 
 
 Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. 80 
 
 Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse, 
 The place of fame and elegy supply : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 82. Elegyl Epitaph, ms. M. 
 
 NOTES. 
 " Hark ! how the sacred cahii, that breathes around, 
 Bids every fierce tumultuous passion cease ; 
 In still small accents whisp'ring from the ground, 
 A grateful earnest of eternal peace. 
 
 " No more, with reason and thyself at strife. 
 
 Give anxious cares and endless wishes roonr; 
 But through the cool sequester'd vale of life 
 Pursue the silent tenour of thy doom." 
 
 And here the poem was originally intended to conclude, before the happy idea of the 
 hoary-headed swain, 8cc. suggested itself to him. Mr. Mason thinks the third of these 
 rejected stanzas equal to any in the whole elegy. 
 Ver. 74. Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray] 
 
 " With all thy sober charms possest. 
 Whose wishes never learnt to stray." 
 
 Langhorne's Poems, p. ii. p. 123. Park's ed. 
 Ver. 75. Along the cool sequester'd vale of life] 
 
 " Foe to loud praise, and friend to learned ease, 
 Content with science, in the vale of peace." 
 
 Pope's Ep. to FentoD, 6. W.
 
 119 
 
 And many a holy text around she strews, 
 Tliat teach the rustic morahst to die. 
 
 For wiio, to dumb forgetfulncss a prey, 85 
 
 This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd, 
 Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
 
 Nor cast one longing ling'ring look behind ? 
 
 On some fond breast the parting soul relies, 
 
 Some pious drops the closing eye requires ; 90 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Mollia per placidam delectant otia vitam." 
 
 Manil. Astr. iv. 512. 
 Ver. 87. Left the warm precincts of the cheerful dai/] " Dias in luminis oras," Lucre- 
 tius, i. 23. W. 
 
 Ver. 88. Nor cast one longing ling'ring took behind] So Petrarch, I92 : 
 " Che '1 pii^ va innanzi, e 1' occhio toma indietro." 
 So Whitehead's Ode I. vol. ii. p. 263 : 
 
 " Tlie voice rcsum'd again, proceed, 
 Nor cast one ling'ring look behind." 
 Mr. Wakefu'ld quotes a passage in the Alccstis of Euripides, ver. 201. This passage 
 is ahnost literally translated in the ' Lettere di Jacopo Ortis, p. 81. " E chi mai cede,"&c. 
 Ver. 89. On some fond breast the parting soul relies] So Drayton in his ' Moses,' 
 p.l5()4. vol. iv. ed. 1753 : 
 
 " It is some comfort to a wretch to die, 
 
 (If there be comfort in the way of death) 
 To have some friend, or kind alliance by 
 To he officious at the parting breath." 
 Ver. QO. Some pious drops the closing ei/c requires] 
 
 " No friend's complaint, no kind domestic tear 
 
 Pleas'd thy pale ghost, or grac'd thy mournful bier ; 
 By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd." 
 
 Pope's Elegy, 8 1 . 
 And, " Tlien from his ctositig eyes thy form shall part," ver, 80. 
 
 And so Solon, ver. 5. ed. Brunck. :
 
 120 
 
 Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries, 
 Ev'n in our ashes Uve their wonted fires. 
 
 For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead, 
 
 Dost in these hues their artless tale relate ; 
 If chance, by lonely contemplation led, 95 
 
 Some kindred spirit shall enquire thy fate, — 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 92. Ev'n, live^ And, glow, ms. M. and W. 
 Ver. 92. Ev'n in our ashes live their xuonted fires'^ 
 
 " Awake and faithful to her wonted fires.'' So the first and second editions. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 MijJ* l^hii axhavirrds havaro; jj,6\oi, a^Xa (flXoia 
 
 Ver. 91. Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries'] Some lines in the Anlliologia 
 Lalina, p. GOO. Ep. cliii. have a strong resemblance to those in the text : 
 " Credo mihi vires aliquas natura stpulthris 
 Adhibiiit, tumuios vindicat umbra suos.'' 
 So also Ausonius (Parentalia), p. 109. ed. Tollii ; 
 
 " Gaudent compositi cineres sua noniiua dici.'' 
 Ver. 92. £v'h in our ashes Uve their wontedfires] 
 
 " Ch' i veggio nel pensier, dolce niio fuoco, 
 Fredda una lingua, e due begli occiii cliiusi 
 l-timaner doppo noi pien di faville." 
 
 Pctr. Son. cLxix. Guay. 
 " Yet in our ashen cold, is fire yrekcn." 
 
 Chaucer's Reve's Prologue, ver. 3880. p. 1 SG. 
 AndOvid.Trist.ni.iii.83: 
 
 " Quanivis in cinereni corpus mutaverit ignis, 
 Sentiet officium moesla favilla piuui." 
 Propert. II. xiii. 41 : 
 
 " Iiitcrea cave, sis nos adspernata sepultos, 
 Xon nihil ad verum conscia terra sapit." 
 Mr. Wakefield cites Pope's Ep. to M. Blount, ver. 72 : 
 
 " By this e'en now they live, e'en now they charm, 
 Their wit still sparkling, and their fame still tcarm."
 
 121 
 
 Haply some hoarj-lieaded swain maj say, 
 " Oft have we seen liiin at the peep of dawn 
 
 Brushing with hasty steps the dews away, 
 
 To meet the sun upon the upland knvn: 100 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 100. To meet the sun upon the upland lawn'] 
 
 " On the high brow of yonder hanging lawn." 
 After which, in his first MS., followed this stanza : 
 
 " Hini have we seen the greenwood side along, 
 
 'UTiile o'er the heath we hied, our labour done. 
 Oft as the woodlark pipM her farewell song. 
 With wistful ejcs pursue the setting sun." 
 " I rather wonder (says Mr. Mason ) that he rejected this stanza, as it not only has the same 
 sort of Doric delicacy which charnis us peculiarly in this part of the poem, but also completes 
 the account of his whole day : whereas, this evening scene being omitted, we have only his 
 morning walk, and his noon-tide repose." 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 97. Hoary-headed swain] " Hoary-tressed hind," Warton's Works, i. liy. 
 Ver. 99. Brushing with hast j/ steps the dews away'] Milton, Par. Lost. v. 429 : 
 
 " From off the ground, each morn, 
 
 We brush n\e\\\(\\u>iis dezcs." 
 So also Arcades, ver. 50 : " And from l\w houghs liiush oft" liie evil dew." 
 Ver. 100. To meet thesuji] So Petrarch, in Rime Sceiti, p. 120 : 
 " Re degli aitri, superbo, altero fmnie 
 
 Che "h contril sol, quando c nc niena il giorno." 
 And Tasso, in his Sonnet to Canioi-ns : 
 
 " Vasco, te cui felic^ ardite antenna 
 
 IiH'oittro al sot ciie ne riporta il giorno,"' 8cc. 
 And in another Sonnet : 
 
 " Come va innam'i a /" ullro sol V aurora," &c. 
 Langhorue, in ' Visions of Fancy,' Elegy III : 
 
 " Then let nie meet the morn's first ray." 
 And T. Warton, ii. 147 : 
 
 " On airy uplands met the piercing gale.' 
 Compare also Lucan, Phars. iii. 232. 
 
 VOL. I. »
 
 122 
 
 " There at the foot of yonder nodding beech. 
 That \\ reathes its old fantastic roots so high, 
 His Hstless length at noontide wonld he stretch, 
 And pore upon the brook that babbles by. 
 
 " Hard by yon Avood, now smiling as in scorn, 105 
 
 Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove ; 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 106. lie laould'l Would he, Ms. M. and W. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 100. Upland lawn'] " Y.ie the high lawns appeared 
 
 Under the opening eyelids of the morn." 
 
 Lycidas,25. W. 
 Ver. IOC. That wreathes its old fantastic roots so ht'gh] 
 
 " From the deep dcU where shaggy roots 
 Fringe the rough brink with wreathed slioots." 
 
 T. Warton's Ode VII. 53. 
 Ver. 103. His listless length at noontide would he stretch'] 
 
 " spread 
 
 His listless limbs at noontide on the marge 
 Of smooth translucent pools." 
 
 Scott's Amwell, p. 22. Park's ed. 
 Ver. 104. And poie upon the brook that babbles by] " Unde loguaces lympha desiliuut 
 tuffi,"Hor. Od. 111. xiii. 15. 
 
 " He lay along 
 Under an oak, whose antique root peep'd out 
 Upon the brook, that brawls along this wood." 
 
 As You Like It, act ii. so. 1. W. 
 Ver. 105. Hard by yon zcood, now smiling as in scorn] 
 
 " Yet at my parting sweetly did she s)7iile 
 -n scorn." Shakspeare's Sonnets. 
 
 " smylynge halfe in scorne 
 
 At our foly." Skelton's Prologue to the Brage of Courte, p. 59.
 
 123 
 
 Now drooping, woeful-wan, like one forlorn, 
 Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love. 
 
 " One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill, 
 
 Along the heath, and near his fav'ritc tree ; 110 
 
 Another came ; nor yet beside the rill. 
 
 Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he : 
 
 " The next, with dirges due in sad array 
 
 Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne : — 
 Approach and read (for thou can'st read) the lay 115 
 
 Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn." 
 
 THE EPrj'APH.* 
 Here rests his head upon the lap of earth 
 A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown : 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. lOa On'] From, Ms. M. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 107. Now drooping, woeful-wait, like one forlorn'] 
 
 " For pale aiul icanne he was, alas ! the while 
 May seeme he lord or else some care he tooke." 
 
 Spenser's January, 8. W . 
 Ver. 1 1 \. Through the rhurrh-nvii/ pn/h] 
 
 " In the chnrvh-Kiiy paths to irlide." 
 
 Mids. Niglit's Dream, act v. sc. 1. W. 
 Ver. 1 1.5. ylpproach and read {for thou can'st read) the lay] 
 
 " Tell, (for you can,) what is it to be wise." 
 
 Popes Ep. iv. 2()0. W. 
 " And steal (for you can steal) celestial fire." Young. 
 • " Before the Epitaph," says Mr. Mason, " Mr. Gray originally inserted a very beau- 
 tiful stanza, which was printed in some of the first editions, but afterwards oniitttd, because 
 he thought that it was too long a parentiiesis in this place. The lines however are, in them- 
 selves, exquisitely fine, and demand preservation : 
 
 K 2
 
 124 
 
 Fiiir science frown'd not on his humble birth, 
 
 And melancholy mark'd him for her own. 120 
 
 Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, 
 
 Heaven did a recompcnce as largely send: 
 He gave to mis'ry (all he had) a tear, 
 
 He gain'd from heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend. 
 
 No farther seek his merits to disclose, 125 
 
 Or (haw his frailties fron) their dread abode, 
 
 (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) 
 The bosom of his Father and his God. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " ' There scattei 'd oft, the earliest of the year. 
 
 By hands unseen are show'rs of violets found ; 
 The redbreast loves to build and warble there. 
 And little footsteps ligliliy print the ground.' " 
 Ver. 1 1 7. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth] So Milton : 
 
 " How glad would lay me down, 
 
 As in my mother's lap." Par. Lost, x. 777. 
 
 Also Spens. F. Queen, V. vii. 9 : 
 
 " On their mother earth's dear lap did lie." 
 
 " Kedditur enim terra; corpus, et ita locatum ac situni quasi operimento matris obdu. 
 cetur." Cicero dc Legibus, ii. '22. 
 
 I cannot help adding to this note, the short and pathetic sentence of Pliny, H. N. ii. 6S. 
 " Nam terra uovissime comple.xagremio jam a reliqud naturd ahnegatos, turn maxime, ut 
 mater, operit." 
 
 Ver. 1 19. Fair science frown'd not on his humble birth] 
 " Quem tu Melpomene semel 
 Nascentem placido lumine videris," Hor. Od. IV. iii. 1. W. 
 Ver. 121. Large Kas his boiinti/, and his soul sincere] 
 
 " Large was his soul, as large a soul as e'er 
 Submitted to inform a body here," Cowley, vol. i. p. 11 9. 
 " A passage which," says the editor, " Gray seemed to have had his eye on."
 
 125 
 
 Ver. 127. There they alike in trembling hope repose"] " Spe trepido," Lucan.vfc.297. W. 
 
 And Mallet: 
 
 " With trembling tenderness of hope and fear." 
 
 Funeral Hymn, ver. 473. 
 
 Hooker has defined ' hope ' to be a " trembling expectation of things far removed," Eccl. 
 Pol. B, I. cited in Quart. Rev. No. XXH. p. 315. 
 
 " paventosa speme," Petr. Son. cxiv. Gray. 
 
 In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lii. p. 20, it is asserted that Gray's Elegy was taken 
 from Collins'sOde to Evening ; while in the Monthly Review, vol. liii. p. 102, it is said to 
 be indebted to an Elegy by Gay. I see, however, not the least reason for assenting to these 
 opinions. The passages from ' Celio Magno,' produced in the Edinburgh Review, vol. v. 
 p. 51, are very curious, and form an interesting comparison. It is well known how much 
 the Italian poet Pignotti is indebted to the works ef Gray : some passages would have been 
 given, but the editor was unwilling to increase tlie number of the notes, already perhaps oc- 
 cupying too much space.
 
 A LONG STORY. 
 
 This Poem was rejected by Gray in the Collection published by himself; aad though 
 published afterwards by Mr. Mason in his Memoirs of Gray, he placed it amongst the 
 Letters, together with the Posthumous Pieces ; not thinking himself authorized to insert 
 among the Poems, what the author had rejected.
 
 A LONG STORY. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 130.) 
 
 Mr. Gray'3 Elegy in a Country Church- Yard, previous to its publication, was handed about 
 in manuscript ; and had amongst other admirers the Lady Cobham, who resided at the 
 mansion-house at Stoke Pogeis. The performance inducing her to wish for llie author's 
 acquaintance, her relation. Miss Speed, and Lady Scliaub, then at her house, undertook 
 to effect it. These two ladies waited upon the author at his aunt's solitary habitation, where 
 he at that time resided ; and not finding him at home, they left a card behind tlicm. INIr. 
 Gray, surprised at such a compliment, returned the visit. And as the beginning of this 
 acquaintance bore some appearance of romance, he soon after gave a humorous account 
 of it ill the following copy of verses, w hioh he entitled ' A Long Story.' 
 
 (Note in Mr, Wakefield's edition.) 
 
 In Britain's isle, no matter where, 
 An ancient pile of building stands : 
 
 The Huntino-dons and Ilattons there 
 Enjploy'd the pow'r of fairy hands 
 
 To raise the ceiling's fretted height, 
 Each pannel in achievements clothing. 
 
 Rich windows that exclude the light. 
 And j)ass;igcs, that lead to nothing. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 'i. /In aiiaent pile of buihliii'^ stands'] The mansion-house at Stokc-Pogei», then 
 in tlu' possession of ViscouHte.ss C. hhani. The house formerly belouged to the earls of 
 Huntingdon and (he family of Ilalton. Mason. 
 Ver. 7. Siih tcindujin that eic/inle the iii^ht] 
 
 " And storied windown richly digh(, 
 
 Casting a dim religious light." U Penseroso, 159. 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 130 
 
 Full oft within the spacious walls, 
 
 When he had fifty winters o'er him, 10 
 
 Mv grave Lord-Keeper led the brawls ; 
 
 The seals and maces danc'd before him. 
 
 His bushy beard, and shoe-strings green, 
 
 His high-crown'd hat, and satin doublet, 
 Mov'd the stout heart of England's queen, 15 
 
 Though Pope and Spaniard could not trouble it. 
 
 What, in the very first beginning! 
 
 Shame of the versifying tribe ! 
 Your hist'ry whither are you spinning! 
 
 Can you do nothinn; but describe? 20 
 
 A house there is (and that's enough) 
 
 From whence one fatal morning issues 
 A br?.ce of warriors, not in buff, 
 
 But rustling in their silks and tissues. 
 
 NOTES. 
 And Pope's Eloisa, 1 42 : 
 
 " Where awful arches make a noonday night, 
 
 And the dim windows shed a solemn li^lit." \V. 
 Ver. 11. My grave Lord-Keeper] Sir Christopher Hatton, j)romoted by Qncen Eliza- 
 beth for his grateful person and fine dancing. Gu AY. — See Hume's England, vol. v. p. S30. 
 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia, and Ocklandi Elizabetha, m i. 
 
 Ver. 1 1. Led the hruxds] Brawls were a sort of Frencli figure-dance, then in vogue. See 
 England's Helicon, p. 101 ; Browne's Poems, vol. iii. p. 149, ed. Thompson; and the Note 
 by Steevens to Love's Labour's Lost, act iii. sc. 1 , p. 52. And so Ben Jonson, in a Masque, 
 vol, vi. p. 27, ed. Whaiey : 
 
 " And thence did Venus learu to lead 
 The Idalian brawls." 
 But see more particularly Marston's Malcontent, act iv. sc. 2, where it is tlescribed : 
 
 " We have forgot the brawl," &c.
 
 131 
 
 The first came cap-a-pcc from France, 25 
 
 Her conqu'ring destiny fulfilling, 
 Whom meaner beauties eye askance, 
 
 And vainly ape her art of killing. 
 
 The other amazon kind hcav'n 
 
 Had arm'd with spirit, wit, and satire ; 30 
 
 But Cobham had the polish giv'n. 
 
 And tipp'd her arrows with good-nature. 
 
 To celebrate her eyes, her air — 
 
 Coarse panegyrics would but tease her ; 
 Melissa is her " nom de guerre." 35 
 
 Alas, who would not wish to please her ! 
 
 With bonnet blue and capuchine, 
 
 And aprons long, they hid their armour; 
 And veil'd their weapons, bright and keen. 
 
 In pity to the country farmer. 40 
 
 Fame, in the shHj)e of Mr. P — t, 
 
 (By this time all the parish know it) 
 Had told that thereabouts there lurk'd 
 
 A wicked imp they call a poet: 
 
 Who prowl'il the country far and near, 45 
 
 Bewitch'd the children of the peasants, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 41. Fame, iu the shupe of Mr. P — /] It lias been said, that this geiitlcinan, a 
 ntij;l)h*)ur and acquaintance of Mr. Gray's in ll»e country, was mucli displeased with rfie 
 lilicrly litre takdi « illi liis naiiic ; yet, surely, without any great reason. Mason. 
 
 S 2
 
 132 
 
 Dried u|) the cows, and lam'd the deer, 
 
 And suck'd tlie eggs, and kill'd the plicasants. 
 
 My lady heard their joint petition, 
 
 Swore by her coronet and ermine, 50 
 
 She'd issue out her high commission 
 
 To rid the manor of such vermin. 
 
 The heroines undertook the task. 
 
 Through lanes unknown, o'er stiles they ventur'd, 
 Rapp'd at the door, nor stay'd to ask, 55 
 
 ]iut bounce into the parlour enter'd. 
 
 The trembling family they daunt, 
 
 They flirt, they sing, they laugh, they tattle, 
 
 Rummage his mother, pinch his aunt, 
 
 And up stairs in a whirlwind rattle : 60 
 
 Each hole and cujjboard they explore. 
 
 Each creek and cranu}' of his chamber, 
 Run hurry-skurry round the floor, 
 
 And o'er the bed and tester clamber; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 51. Shed issue out her high commissioti] Henry the Fourth, in the fourth year of 
 his reign, issued out the followiug commission against this species of vennin : — " And it 
 is enacted, tliat no niaster-riuiour, minstrel, or other vagabond, be in any wise sustained 
 in the land of Wales, to make coiumoiths, or gatherings upon the people there."—" Va- 
 gabond," says Ritson, " was a title to which the profession had been long accustomed." 
 " Beggars they are with one consent, 
 And rogues by act of parliament." 
 
 See Preface to Ancient Songs, p. xi. 
 There are still stronger Scotch statutes against them, some condemning them and " such 
 like fules" to lose their ears, and others their lives.
 
 133 
 
 Into the drawers and china pry, Q^ 
 
 Papers and l)ooks, a l)uge imbrogho! 
 Under a tea-cup he niiglit he, 
 
 Or creased, hke dogs-ears, in a foho. 
 
 On the first marching of the troops, 
 
 The IMuses, hopeless of his pardon, 70 
 
 Convey 'd him underneath their hoops 
 
 To a small closet in the garden. 
 
 So rumour says : (who will, believe.) 
 
 But that they left the door ajar. 
 Where, safe and laughing in his sleeve, 75 
 
 He heard the distant din of war. 
 
 Short was his joy. He little knew 
 The pow'r of magic was no fable ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. ()7. Under a tea-cup he m'ight liel There is a very great similurity between the 
 style of part of tliis poem, and Prior's Talc ot the ' Dove :' as for instance in the f«ll«\v- 
 ing stanzas, which Grav, I think, must have had in his mind at the time, 
 " W ilh oiie groat ptal they rap the door, 
 Like footmen on a visiting day : 
 Folks at her house at such an horn-, 
 
 Lord ! what will ail the neighbours say r 
 
 # * • -» « 
 
 " Her keys he takes, her door unlocks, 
 
 Thro" wardrobe, and thro' closet bounces, 
 Peeps into every chest and box. 
 
 Turns all her furbelows and tlouuccs. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " I marrel much, she smilini; said, 
 
 Your poultry cannot yet be found : 
 Lies he in yonder slipper dead, 
 
 Or may be in the tea-pot drown'd."
 
 134 
 
 Out of the window, wisk, they flew, 
 
 But left a spell upon the table. 80 
 
 The words too eager to unriddle. 
 
 The poet felt a strange disorder; 
 Transparent bird-lime form'd the middle, 
 
 And chains invisible the border. 
 
 So cunning was the apparatus, 85 
 
 The powerful pot-hooks did so move him, 
 
 That, will he, nill he, to the great house 
 He went, as if the devil drove him. 
 
 Yet on his way (no sign of grace. 
 
 For folks in fear are apt to pray) §0 
 
 To Pha^bus he preferr'd his case. 
 
 And begg'd his aid that dreadful day. 
 
 The godhead would have back'd his quarrel ; 
 
 But with a blush, on recollection, 
 Own'd that his quiver and his laurel 95 
 
 'Gainst four such eyes were no protection. 
 
 The court was sate, the culprit there. 
 
 Forth from their gloomy mansions creeping, 
 
 The lady Janes and Joans repair. 
 
 And from the gallery stand peeping : 100 
 
 Such as in silence of the nio-ht 
 
 Come (sweep) along some winding entry, 
 
 (Styack as often seen the sight) 
 
 Or at the chapel-door stand sentry:
 
 135 
 
 In peaked hoods and mantles tainish'd, 105 
 
 Sour visages, enough to scare ye, 
 Hio^h dames of honour once, that garnish'd 
 
 The drawing-room of fierce Queen Mary. 
 
 The peeress comes. The audience stare, 
 
 And doff their hats with due submission : 110 
 
 She curtsies, as she takes her chair. 
 
 To all the people of condition. 
 
 The bard, Avith many an artful fib, 
 
 Had in imagination fcnc'd him, 
 Disprov'd the arguments of Squil), 115 
 
 And all that Groom could urge against him. 
 
 But soon his rhetoric forsook him, 
 
 When he the solemn hall had seen; 
 A sudden fit of ague shook him, 
 
 He stood as mute as poor Maclcane. 120 
 
 Yet something he was heard to mutter, 
 
 " How in the park beneath an old tree, 
 (A\'ilhout design to hurt the butter, 
 
 Or any malice to the poultry,) 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Vcr. 103. Sti/ack] Tlie liousckotpcr. G. 
 
 Vcr. 115. Sfiuih] Groom of the chamber. G. 
 
 Ver. 1 IG. Groom] The steward. G. 
 
 Ver. 120. Macleani'] A famous liighwayman hanged the wick before. G.
 
 136 
 
 *' He once or twice had penn'd a sonnet ; 135 
 
 Yet hop'd, that he might save his bacon: 
 Numbers would give their oaths upon it, 
 He ne'er was for a conj'rer taken." 
 
 The ghostly prudes with hagged face 
 
 Already had condemn'd the sinner. 130 
 
 My lady rose, and with a grace — 
 
 She smil'd, and bid him come to dinner. 
 
 " Jesu-Maria ! Madam Bridget, 
 
 Why, what can the Viscountess mean ?" 
 (Cried the square-hoods in woful fidget) 135 
 
 " The times are alter'd quite and clean! 
 
 " Decorum's turn'd to mere civility ; 
 Her air and all her manners show it. 
 Commend me to her affability ! 
 
 Speak to a commoner and a poet !" 140 
 
 \^Here five hundred stanzas are hst!\ 
 
 And SO God save our noble king, 
 
 And guard us from long-winded lubbers, 
 
 That to eternity would sing. 
 
 And keep my lady from her rubbers.
 
 THE 
 
 POSTHUMOUS 
 
 POEMS AND FRAGMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 GRAY. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 ODE 
 
 ON THE PLEASURE ARISING FROM 
 
 VICISSITUDE. 
 
 Left unfinished by Mr. Gray. With additions by Mr. Mason, distinguished by inverted comnnis. 
 
 Now the golden morn aloft 
 
 Waves her dew-bespangled wing, 
 With vermeil cheek and whisper soft 
 
 She wooes the tardy spring : 
 Till April starts, and calls around 5 
 
 The sleeping iVagrancc from the ground ; 
 And lightly o'er the living scene 
 Scatters his freshest, tenderest green. 
 
 New-born flocks, in rustic dance, 
 
 Frisking ply their feeble feet ; 10 
 
 Forgetful of their wintry trance 
 
 The birds his presence greet : 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 8. Scatters hit freshest, tenderest green] 
 
 " Half rob'd appears the hawthorn hedge, 
 Or to tlic distant eye displays 
 
 IVcak/i/greeit its budding sprays." VVarton's 1st of April, i. 180. 
 See Mr. Mant's note upon tlie passage. 
 
 T 2
 
 140 
 
 But chief, the sky-lark warbles high 
 
 His trembling thrilling extasy ; 
 
 And, lessening from the dazzled sight, 15 
 
 Melts into air and liquid light. 
 
 Rise, my soul ! on wings of fire. 
 
 Rise the rapt'rous choir among ; 
 Hark ! 'tis nature strikes the lyre, 
 
 -And leads the gen'ral song: 20 
 
 * Warm let the h'ric transport flow. 
 Warm as the ray that bids it glow ; 
 And animates the vernal grove 
 ^\ith health, with harmony, and love.' 
 
 Yesterday the sullen year 25 
 
 Saw the snowy whirlwind fly; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 9- ^ew-bomjlockt, in rustic dance] 
 
 " Hinc nova proles, 
 
 Artubui irifirmis teneras lasciva per berbas 
 LudiL " Lucret. i. 260. 
 
 " O'er the broad downs a norel rate, 
 Friik. \he lambs zcithfallering pace.'^ T. VVarton, i. ]B.5. 
 Ver. 17- I{i%e, my %oul ! on trin^s of fire] Mr. Mason infornn us, thai he has heard 
 Gray say, that Mr. Oresset's ' Epilre a ma Soeur' gave him the first idea of this Ode ; and 
 whoever, he says, compares it with the French Poem, will find some slight traits of resem- 
 blance, but chiefly in the author's seventh stanza The following lines seem to have been in 
 Gray's remembrance at this place : 
 
 " Mon ame, trop long temsfletrie 
 Va de nouvean s' ^panonir; 
 Et loin de toute reverie 
 
 Voltiger avec le Z':phire, 
 Otcupe tout entier du soin du plaieir d'etre," &c.
 
 141 
 
 Mute was the music of tlie air, 
 The herd stood drooping by : 
 Their raptures now tliat wildly flow, 
 No yesterday nor morrow know ; 30 
 
 'Tis man alone that joy descries 
 With forward, and reverted eyes. 
 
 Smiles on past misfortune's brow 
 
 Soft reflection's hand can trace ; 
 And o'er the check of sorrow throw 35 
 
 A melancholy grace ; 
 While hope prolongs our happier hour, 
 Or dee|)est shades, that dim^y lower 
 And blacken round our weary way. 
 Gilds with a gleam of distant day. 40 
 
 Still, where rosy pleasure leads, 
 
 See a kindred grief pursue ; 
 Behind the steps that misery treads, 
 
 Approaching comfort view : 
 The hues of bliss more brightly glow, 45 
 
 Chastis'd by sabler tints of woe ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 31. 'Tis man alone that joy descries] 
 
 " Sure he that made us with such large discourse 
 Lookiur; heiore mid nj'ter." Ilanilct, act iv. «c. 4. 
 Ver 4.";. llehind the stqn tliiit misery treads] Dr. Warton refers to Pope's Essay on 
 Man, ii. '270: 
 
 " See some strange comfort every state attend, 
 And pride bcstow'd on all, a connnon friend : 
 See some tit pa^>ion every age supply; 
 Hope travels on, nor quits us till we die,"
 
 142 
 
 And blended form, with artful strife, 
 The strength and harmony of life. 
 
 See the wretch, that long has tost 
 
 On the thorny bed of pain, 50 
 
 At length repair his vigour lost, 
 
 And breathe and walk again: 
 The meanest floweret of the vale, 
 The simplest note that swells the gale, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 45. The hues of bliss more biighlh/ g/orc] 
 
 " Here sweet, or strong, may every colour flow ; 
 Here let the pencil warm, the colours glow; 
 Of light and sliaile piovoke the noble strife. 
 And wake each striking feature into life." 
 
 Brown's Essay on Satire, ii. 358. 
 Ver. 49. See the wretch, ^c] 
 
 " O ! jours de la convalescence ! 
 Jours d'uue pure volupte : 
 Ce'st une nouvelie naissance, 
 Un rayon d'immortalite. 
 Quel feu ! tons les plaisirs out vole dans mon ame, 
 
 J' adore avec transport le celeste flambeau ; 
 Tout m int6resse, tout m' enflame — 
 Pour moi, I'univcrs est nouveau. 
 
 Les plus simples objects ; le chaute d'un Fauvette, 
 Le matin d'un beau jour, la verdure des bois. 
 
 La fraicheur d'une violette ; 
 Milles spectacles, qu' autrefois, 
 
 On voyoit avec nonchalance, , 
 
 Transportent aujourd'hui, presentent des appas 
 
 Inconnus a 1' indiif<6rence, 
 Et que la foule ne voit pas.' Cresset, torn. i. p. 145.
 
 143 
 
 The common sun, the air, the skies, 55 
 
 To him are opening paradise. 
 
 Humble quiet builds iier cell. 
 
 Near the source whence pleasure tiows ; 
 She eyes the clear crystalline well. 
 
 And tastes it as it goes. 60 
 
 'While' far below the 'madding' crowd 
 ' Rush headlong to the dangerous flood,' 
 Where broad and turbulent it sweeps, 
 ' And' perish in the boundless deeps. 
 
 Mark where indolence and pride, 65 
 
 ' Sooth'd by flattery's tinkling sound,' 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 55. The common sun, S^c.'] 
 
 " Communemque prius, ceu lumina solis." 
 
 Ovid Metam. i. 135. 
 " Nee solem proprium natura, nee aera fecit." 
 
 Id. vi. 350. 
 Ver. 56. To him are opening paradise'] 
 
 " The fields assiim'd umisunl bloom, 
 And every zepliyr breath'd perfume : 
 The laughing sun witli genial beams 
 Uanc'd lightly on the exulting streams; 
 'Twas transport not to be exprest, 
 'Twas paradise. " Wliitehead's Variety, p.G. 
 
 And Dryden's Absalom, vol. i. p. 11 6. ed. Derrick : 
 
 " And paradise was open'd in his face." 
 And T. Warlon, ed. Mant, ii. 31 : 
 
 " With whom eacU Jie/d's a paradine." 
 Ver. 59. She eyes the clear crptailine zaelf] So Milton accents the w ord : 
 " On the crystAUjne sky, in sapphire tiiron'd." 
 
 Par. Lost, b. vi. ver. TT'J.
 
 144 
 
 Go, softly rolling, side by side, 
 Their dull but daily round : 
 ' To these, if Hebe's self should bring 
 The purest cup from pleasure's spring, 70 
 
 Say, can they taste the flavour high 
 Of sober, simple, genuine joy? 
 
 ' Mark ambition's march sublime 
 Up to power's meridian iieight; 
 While pale-eyed envy sees him climb, 75 
 
 And sickens at the sight. 
 Phantoms of danger, death, and dread. 
 Float hourly round ambition's head ; 
 While spleen, within his rival's breast, 
 Sits brooding on her scorpion nest. 80 
 
 ' Happier he, the peasant, far, 
 
 From the pangs of passion free. 
 That breathes the keen yet wholesome air 
 
 Of rugged penury. 
 He, when his morning task is done, 85 
 
 Can slumber in the noontide sun ; 
 And hie him home, at evening's close. 
 To sweet repast, and calm repose. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 65. Mark, where indolence and pride] 
 
 "Tout s' ^mousse dans I'habitude ; 
 L'amour s'endort sans volupt6; 
 Las des memes plaisirs, las de leur multitude. 
 Le sentiment n'est plus flatd."
 
 145 
 
 He, unconscious whence the bliss, 
 
 Feels, and owns in carols rude, 90 
 
 That all the circling joys are his, 
 
 Of dear Vicissitude. 
 From toil he wins his spirits light, 
 From busy day the peaceful night ; 
 
 Rich, from the very want of wealth, 95 
 
 In heaven's best treasures, peace and health/ 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 TRANSLATION 
 
 OF 
 
 A PASSAGE FROM STATIUS.* 
 THEB. Lib. VI. ver. 704—724. 
 
 Third in the labours of the disc came on, 
 
 With sturdy step and slow, Hippomedon ; 
 
 Artful and strong he pois'd the well-known weight, 
 
 By Phlegyas warn'd, and fir'd by Mnestheus' fate. 
 
 That to avoid, and this to emulate. 5 
 
 His vigorous arm he try'd before he flung, 
 
 Brac'd all his nerves, and every sinew strung; 
 
 Then, with a tempest's whirl, and wary eye, 
 
 Pursu'd his cast, and hurl'd the orb on high ; 
 
 The orb on high tenacious of its course, 10 
 
 True to the mighty arm that gave it force, 
 
 Far overleaps all bound, and joys to see 
 
 Its ancient lord secure of victory. 
 
 The theatre's green height and woody wall 
 
 Tremble ere it precipitates its fall; 15 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * This translation, which Gray sent to W<st, consisted of about a hundred and ten lines. 
 Mr. Mason selected twenty-seven lines, which he published, as Gray's first attempt at 
 English verse; and to show how much he had imbibed of Dryden's spirited manner at that 
 early period of his life. See the Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 12.
 
 147 
 
 The ponderous mass sinks in the cleaving ground, 
 
 While vales and woods and echoing hills rebound. 
 
 As when from /Etna's smoking summit broke, 
 
 The eyeless Cyclops heav'd the craggy rock ; 
 
 Where Ocean frets beneath the dashing oar, 20 
 
 And parting surges round the vessel roar ; 
 
 Twas there he aim'd the meditated harm, 
 
 And scarce Ulysses scap'd his giant arm. 
 
 A tiger's pride the victor bore away, 
 
 With native spots and artful labour gay, 25 
 
 A shining border round the margin roll'd, 
 
 And calm'd the terrors of his claws in gold. 
 
 Cambridge, 
 May 8, 1736. 
 
 2
 
 FRAGMENT OF A TRAGEDY, 
 
 DESIGNED BY MR. GRAY, 
 
 OH THE SnBIZCT OF 
 
 THE DEATH OF AGRIPPINA.* 
 
 "Thf. Britannicus of Mr. Raciiio, 1 know, was one of Mr. Gray's most favourite 
 plays ; and tlie admirable manner in which I have heard iiim say that he saw it represented 
 at Paris, seems to have led him to choose the death of Agrippina for his first and opijr 
 effort in the drama. The execution of it also, as far as it goes, is so very much in Racine's 
 taste, that I suspect, if that great poet had been born an Englishman, he would have 
 written precisely in the same style and manner. However, as there is at present in this 
 nation a general prejudice against declamatory plays, I agree with a learned friend, who 
 perused the manuscript, that this fragment will be little reli.shed by the many ; yet the 
 admirable strokes of nature and characler with which it abounds, and the majesty of its 
 diction, prevent me from withholding from the few, who 1 expect will relish it, so great 
 a curiosity (to call it nothing more) as part of a tra<;edy written by Mr. Gray. These 
 persons well know, that till style and sentiment be a little more regarded, mere action and 
 passion wiil never secure reputation to the author, whatever they ma) do to the actor. It 
 is the business of the one * to strut and fret his hour upon the stage ;' and if he frets and 
 struts enough, he is sure to find his reward in the plaudit of an upper gallery ; but the 
 other ought to have some regard to the cooler judgment of the closet : for 1 will be bold to 
 say that ifShakspcare himself had not written a multitude of passages which please there as 
 much as they do on the stage, his reputation would not stand so universally high as it does 
 at present. Many of these passages, to the shame of our theatrical taste, are omitted 
 constantly in the representation : but I say not this from conviction that the mode of writ- 
 ing, which Mr. Gray pursued, is the best for dramatic purposes. I think myself, what I 
 
 * See Tacitus's Annals, book xiii. xiv. Mason.
 
 149 
 
 have asserted elsewhere,* that a medium between the French and English taste would be 
 preferable to either; and yet this medium, if hit with the greatest nicety, would fail of 
 success on our theatre, and that for a very obvious reason. Actors (I speak of the troop 
 collectively) must all learn to speak as well as act, in order to do justice to such a drama. 
 
 " But let me hasten to give the reader what little insight I can into Mr. Gray's plan, as 
 I find and select it from two detached papers. Tlie Title and Dramatis Personje are as 
 follow." 
 
 (See Mason's Life of Gray, vol. iii. p. 8.) 
 
 * See Letters prefixed to Elfrida, particularly Letter IL
 
 A G R I P P I N A, 
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 DRAMATIS PERSON*. 
 
 Agrippina, the Empress-mother. 
 
 Nero, the Emperor. 
 
 Popp.EA, believed to be in love with Otho. 
 
 Otho, a young man of quality, in love with PoppiEA. 
 
 Seneca, the Emperor's Preceptor. 
 
 Anicetus, Captain of the Guards. 
 
 Demetrius, the Cynic, friend to Seneca. 
 
 AcERONiA, Confidant to Agrippina. 
 
 SCENE, the Emperor's villa at Baiae. 
 
 "The arg^iment drawn out by him, in these two papers, under the idea of a plot and 
 under-plot, I shall here unite ; as it will tend to show that the action itself was possessed 
 of sufficient unity. 
 
 " The drama opens with the indignation of Agrippina, at receiving her son's orders from 
 Anicetus to remove from Baise, and to have her guard taken from her. At this time Otho 
 having conveyed Poppsea from the house of her husband Rufus Crispinus, brings her to 
 Baiae, where he means to conceal her among the crowd ; or, if his fraud is discovered, to 
 have recourse to the Emperor's authority; but, knowing the lawless temper of Nero, he 
 determines not to have recourse to that expedient but on the utmost necessity. In the 
 mean time he commits her to the care of Anicetus, whom he takes to be his friend, and in 
 whose age he thinks he may safely confide. Nero is not vet come to Baice : but Seneca, 
 whom he sends before him, informs Agrippina of the accusation concerning Rubullius 
 Plancus, and desires her to clear herself, which she does briefly : but demands to see her 
 son, who, on his arrival, acquits her of all suspicion, and restores her to her honours. 
 lu the mean while, Anicetus, to whose care Poppaea had been intrusted by Otho, con-
 
 151 
 
 trives the following plot to ruin Agrippina : he betrays his tioist to Otho, and brings Jscro, 
 as it were by chance, to the sight of the beautiful Poppsea ; the Emperor is imnjcdiately 
 struck with her charms, and she, by a feigned resistance, increases his passion : though, in 
 reality, she is from the first dazzled with the prospect of empire, and forgets Otho : she 
 therefore joins with Anicetus in iiis design of ruining Agrippina, soon perceiving that it will 
 be for her interest. Otho hearing that the Emperor had seen PoppEea, is much enraged ; 
 but not knowing that this interview was obtained through the treachery of Anicetus, is 
 readily persuaded by him to see Agrippina in secret, and acquaint her with his fears that 
 her son Nero would marry Poppaea. Agrippina, to support her own power, and to wean 
 the Emperor from the love of Poppaea, gives Otho encouragement, and promises to sup- 
 port him. Anicetus secretly introduces Nero to hear their discourse ; who resolves im- 
 mediately on his mother's death, and, by Anicetus's means, to destroy her by drownin". 
 A solemn feast, in honour of their reconciliation, is to be made ; after which she being to 
 go by sea to Bauli, the ship is so contrived as to sink or crush her; she escapes by accident, 
 and returns to Baise. In this interval Otho has an interview with Poppjea; and being 
 duped a second time by Anicetus and her, determines to fly with her into Greece, by 
 means of a vessel w liich is to be furnished by Anicetus ; but he, pretending to remove 
 Poppaea on board in the night, conveys her to Nero's apartment : she then encourages and 
 determines Nero to banish Otho, and finish the horrid deed he had attempted on his mo- 
 ther. Anicetus undertakes to execute his resolves ; and, under pretence of a plot upon 
 the Emperor's life, is sent with a guard to murder Agrippina, who is still at Baia; in im- 
 minent fear, and irresolute how to conduct herself. The account of her death, and tlio 
 Emperor's horror and fruitless remorse, finishes the drama." Mason. 
 
 ACT I. SCENE I. 
 AGRIPPINA. ACERONIA. 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 'Tis well, begone ! your errand is perform'd : 
 
 [^Speaks as to Anicetus C7iteri?tg. 
 The message needs no comment. Tell your master, 
 His mother shall obey him. Say you saw her 
 Yielding due reverence to his high command : 
 Alone, unguarded and without a lictor, 5
 
 152 
 
 As fits the daughter of Germanicus. 
 
 Say, she retired to Antiuni ; there to tend 
 
 Her household cares, a woman's best employment. 
 
 Wluit if you add, how she turn'd pale and trembled ; 
 
 You thmk, you spied a tear stand in her eye, 10 
 
 And would have dropp'd, but that her pride rcstrain'd it? 
 
 (Go ! you can paint it well) 'twill profit you, 
 
 And please the stripling. Yet 'twould dash his joy 
 
 To hear the spirit of Britannicus 
 
 Yet walks on earth : at least there are who know 15 
 
 AVithout a spell to raise, and bid it tire 
 
 A thousand haughty hearts, unus'd to shake 
 
 AVhen a boy frowns, nor to be lured with smiles 
 
 To taste of hollow kindness, or partake 
 
 His hospitable board : they are aware 20 
 
 Of th' unplcdg'd bowl, they love not aconite. 
 
 ACERONIA. 
 
 He's gone : and much I hope these walls alone 
 
 And the mute air are privy to your passion. 
 
 Forgive your servant's fears, who sees the danger 
 
 Which fierce resentment cannot fail to raise 25 
 
 In haughty youth, and irrirated power. 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 And dost thou talk to me, to me, of danger. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 19 To taste of hollow kindness] So in the Britaunicus of Racine, activ. sc. ?, 
 Agrippina says : 
 
 " Vous etes un ingrat, voiis le fCites toujours. 
 
 Dcs vos plus jeiines ans, mes soius ct mes teudresses 
 N'ont arracLe de vous, que de Jeintes caresses,"
 
 153 
 
 Of haught}' youth and irritated power, 
 
 To her that wave it beins;, her that arm'd 
 
 This painted Jove, and taught his novice hand 30 
 
 To aim the forked bolt ; while he stood trembling, 
 
 Scar'd at the sound, and dazzled with its briohtness ? 
 
 'Tis like, thou hast forgot, when yet a stranger 
 To adoration, to the grateful steam 
 
 Of flattery's incense, and obsequious vows 35 
 
 From voluntary realms, a puny boy, 
 Deck'd with no other lustre, than the blood 
 Of Agrippina's race, he liv'd unknown 
 To fame, or fortune ; haply eyed at distance 
 Some edileship, ambitious of the power 40 
 
 To judge of weights and measures ; scarcely dar'd 
 On expectation's strongest wing to soar 
 High as the consulate, that empty shade 
 Of long-forgotten liberty : when I 
 Oped his young eye to bear the blaze of greatness ; 45 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 29. To her that gave it being] 
 
 " 11 mele avec I'orgueil qu'il a pris dans leur sang, 
 La liertc des Nerous, qu'il puisa dans iiioiijlanc." 
 
 Britanuicus, act i. sc. 1 . 
 Ver. 38. Uiilcnoun to fame or fortune] So Elegy (Epitaph) : " A youth, to fortune 
 and to fame unknown." 
 
 Ver. 45. Oped his young eye to bear (he blaze of greatness] 
 
 " Ce jour, CO triste jour, frappe encor nia niemoire; 
 Oil Ne'ron fut hii-meme iOloui de sa "hire." 
 
 o 
 
 Britannicus, act i.sc. I. 
 " IIjec (exclanial) mihi pro tanto 
 Munere reddis pra;mia, giiatc ? 
 Hac sum, fatcor, digna caring 
 VOL. I. X
 
 154 
 
 Shew'd him where empire tower'd, and bade him strike 
 
 The noble quarry. Gods ! then was the time 
 
 To shrink from danger ; fear might then have worn 
 
 The mask of prudence ; but a heart iike mine, 
 
 A heart that glows with the pure Juhan fire, 50 
 
 If Ijright ainljition from her craggy seat 
 
 Display the radiant |)rize, will mount undaunted, 
 
 Gain the rough heights, and grasp the dangerous honour. 
 
 ACERONIA. 
 
 Through various life I have pursued your steps. 
 
 Have seen your soul, and wonder'd at its daring: 55 
 
 Hence rise my fears. Nor am I yet to learn 
 
 How vast the debt of gratitude which Nero 
 
 To such a mother owes ; the world, you gave him. 
 
 Suffices not to pay the obligation. 
 
 I well remember too (for 1 was present) 60 
 
 ^Vhen in a secret and dead hour of night. 
 Due sacrifice perform'd with barb'rous rites 
 Of mutter'd charms, and solemn invocation. 
 You bade the Magi call the dreadful powers. 
 That read futurity, to know the fate 65 
 
 Impending o'er your son : their answer was, 
 If the son reign, the mother perishes. 
 Perish (you cried) the mother! reign the son ! 
 He reigns, the rest is heav'n's; who oft has bade, 
 Ev'n when its will seem'd wrote in lines of blood, 70 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 QuJB te gemii, qu* tibi luceni 
 Atque inipei-ium, iionienque dedi 
 Casaris, aniens." 
 
 Agrippiua's Speech in Seneca's Octavia, ver. 335.
 
 155 
 
 Th' unthouglit event disclose a, whiter meaning. 
 
 Think too how oft in weak and sickly minds 
 
 The sweets of kindness lavishly induh/d 
 
 Rankle to gall ; and benefits too great 
 
 To be repaid, sit heavy on the soul, 75 
 
 As unrequited wrongs. The willing homage 
 
 Of prostrate Rome, the senate's joint applause, 
 
 The riches of the earth, the train of pleasures 
 
 That wait on yout^ij and arbitrary sway: 
 
 These were your gift, and with them 3^ou bestow'd 80 
 
 The very power he has to be ungrateful. 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 *Thus ever grave and undisturb'd reflection 
 
 Pours its cool dictates in the madding ear 
 
 Of rage, and thinks to quench the fire it feels not. 
 
 Say'st thou I must be cautious, must be silent, 85 
 
 And tremble at the phantom I have raised? 
 
 Carry to him thy timid counsels. He 
 
 Perchance may hqed 'em : tell him too, .that one 
 
 "Who had such liberal power ,to give, may still 
 
 With equal power resume that gift, and raise 90 
 
 A tempest that shall shake her own creation 
 
 To its original atoms — :tell me ! say 
 
 This mighty emperor, this dreaded hero, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * In Gray's ^IS. Agrippina's was one continued speech from this line to the end of the 
 scene. Mr. Mason infoiuis us, that he has altered it to the state in whicli it now stands. 
 Ver. 91. Her own creatioul 
 
 " £t c'est trop respecter 1' ouvrage de mes mains." 
 
 Britaiinitus, act iii. sc. 3.
 
 156 
 
 Has he beheld the gUttering front of war? 
 
 Knows his soft ear the trumpet's thrilhng voice, 95 
 
 And outcry of the battle? Have his limbs 
 
 Sweat under iron harness ? Is he not 
 
 The silken son of dalliance, nurs'd in ease 
 
 And pleasure's flow'ry lap? — Rubellius lives. 
 
 And Sylla has his friends, though school'd by fear 100 
 
 To bow the supple knee, and court the times 
 
 With shows of fair obeisance ; and a call, 
 
 Like mine, might serve belike to wake pretensions 
 
 Drowsier than theirs, who boast the genuine blood 
 
 Of our imperial house. 105 
 
 ACnPONIA. 
 
 Did I not wish to check this dangerous passion, 
 
 I might remind my mistress that her nod 
 
 Can rouse eight hardy legions, wont to stem 
 
 With stubborn nerves the tide, and face the rigour 
 
 Of bleak Germania's snows. Four, not less brave, 110 
 
 That in Armenia quell the Parthian force 
 
 Under the warlike Corbulo, by you 
 
 Mark'd for their leader : these, by ties confirm'd. 
 
 Of old respect and gratitude, are yours. 
 
 Surely the Masians too, and those of Egypt, 115 
 
 Have not forgot your sire: the eye of Home, 
 
 And the Praetorian camp have long rever'd, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 110. Not less brave, Sfc] But Tacitus says : " Sed Corbttloni plus molis adversus 
 ignaviam militum, quani contra pcrfidiam hostium, erat."' Aniiales, xiii. 35.
 
 157 
 
 With custom'd awe, the daughter, sister, wife. 
 And mother of their Ca:sars. 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 I la! by Juno, 
 It bears a noble semblance. On this base 120 
 
 ]My great revenge shall rise ; or say we sound 
 The trump of liijerty ; there will not want, 
 Even in the servile senate, ears to own 
 Her spirit-stirring voice; Soranus there, 
 
 And Cassius ; Vetus too, and Thrasea, 125 
 
 Minds of the antique cast, rough, stubborn souls, 
 That struggle witli the yoke. How shall the spark 
 XJnquencliable, that glows within their breasts. 
 Blaze into freedom, when the idle herd 
 
 (Slaves from the womb, created but to stare, 130 
 
 And bellow in the Circus) ^'et will start. 
 And shake 'em at the name of liberty. 
 Stung by a senseless word, a vain tradition, 
 As there were magic in it? Wrinkled beldams 
 Teach it their grandchildren, as somewhat rare 135 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 118. Tlic daughter, nisler, wifel 
 
 " El moi, qui siir le tr6nc ai suivi mcs ancetres, 
 Moi,Jille,Jvi/ime, sietir, vt mere de vus uiaitres," 
 
 Britannicus, act i. sc. i. 
 Vcr. 124. Her spirit-stirr'iHg i'o»Vt'] 
 
 " The spirit-stirring drum, llie car-piercing fife." 
 
 Othello, act iii. sc. S. 
 
 " the spirit-stirring form 
 
 Of Caesar, raplur'd with tlie charms of rule." 
 
 Deer's Rome.
 
 158 
 
 That anciently appear'd, but when, extends 
 BcYond their chronicle — oh ! 'tis a cause 
 To arm the hand of childhood, and rcbrace 
 The slacken'd sincAvs of time-wearied age. 
 
 Yes, we may meet, ungrateful boy, we may ! 140 
 
 Again the buried genius of old Rome 
 Shall from the dust uprear his reverend head, 
 Rous'd by the shout of millions : there before 
 His high tribunal thou and I appear. 
 
 Let majesty sit on thy awful brow, 145 
 
 And lighten from thy eye : around thee call 
 The silded swarm that wantons in the sunshine 
 Of thy full favour; Seneca be there 
 In gorgeous phrase of labour'd eloquence 
 To dress thy plea, and Burrhus strengthen it 150 
 
 With his plain soldier's oath, and honest seeming. 
 Against thee, liberty and Agrippina: 
 The world, the prize ; and fair befall the victors. 
 
 But soft ! why do I waste the fruitless hours 
 In threats unexecuted? Haste thee, fly 155 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 147. TJie gilded swarm that wantons in the sunshine'] 
 
 " The swarm that in thy noontide beam were born," Bard. 
 Ver. 148. Seneca} " Hi rectores imperatoria- jiiventa;, et pari in socictate potentiae, 
 Concordes, diversa arte, ex Kquo pollebant. Burrns militaribus curis, et severitate mo- 
 rum : Seneca pra;ceptis eloquentise, et comitate honesla." Taciti Annales, xiii. c. 2. 
 
 Ver. 150. Jnd Burrhus strengthen it] So in the speech of Burrhus in the Britannicus 
 of Racine, act i. sc. 2 : 
 
 " Je r^pondrai, madame, avec ia liberty 
 D'un soldat, que saitmal farder la v^rit^." 
 
 And again, act i. sc. 2 : 
 
 " Burrhus pour le mensonge, cut toujours trop d'horreur."
 
 159 
 
 These hated walls that seem to mock my shame. 
 And cast me forth in duty to their lord. 
 
 ACERONIA, 
 
 'Tis time to go, the sun is high advanc'd, 
 x\n(l, ere mid-day, Nero will come to Baiae. 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 My thought aches at him ; not the basilisk l60 
 
 More deadly to the sight, than is to me 
 The cool injurious eye of frozen kindness. 
 I will not meet its poison. Let him feel 
 Before he sees me. 
 
 ACERONIA. 
 
 Why then stays my sovereign, 
 Where he so soon may — 
 
 AGRIPPINA. 
 
 Yes, I will be gone, 165 
 
 But not to Antium — all shall be confess'd, 
 Whate'er the frivolous tongue of giddy fame 
 Has spread among the crowd ; things, that but whisper'd 
 Have arch'd the hearer's brow, and riveted 
 His eyes in fearful extasy : no matter 170 
 
 What ; so't be strange, and dreadful. — Sorceries, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 169. Have arch'd the hearer's lirotc'] 
 
 " Whom have I hurt? has poet yet or peer 
 
 Lost the arch'd etjeOrota, or Parnassian sneer r" 
 
 Pope's Prolog, to the Satires, ver, 95.
 
 160 
 
 Assassinations, poisonings — the deeper 
 Mj guilt, the blacker his ingratitude. 
 
 And you, ye manes of ambition's victims, 
 Enshrined Claudius, with the pitied ghosts 175 
 
 Of the Syllani, doom'd to early death, 
 (Ye unavailing horrors, fruitless crimes !) 
 If from the realms of night my voice 3'^e hear, 
 In lieu of penitence, and vain remorse, 
 
 Accept my vengeance. Though by me ye bled, 180 
 
 He was the cause. My love, my fears for him. 
 Dried the soft springs of pity in my heart. 
 And froze them up with deadly cruelty. 
 Yet if your injur'd shades demand my fate. 
 If murder cries for murder, blood for blood, 185 
 
 Let me not fall alone ; but crush his pride, 
 And sink the traitor in his mother's ruin. 
 
 l^Exeutit. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 172. Assassinations, poisonings'] 
 
 " Pour rendre sa puissance, et la votre odieuses, 
 J' avofirai les rumeurs les plus injurieuses, 
 Je confesserai tout, exils, assassinuts, 
 Poison m^me." 
 
 Britannicus, act iii. sc. 3. 
 See also Taciti Annales, lib. xiii. c. 15. 
 Ver. 176. Of the Syllani'] 
 
 " Pro facinus ingcns ! foeminae est munus datus 
 Silanus, et cruore foedavit suo 
 Patrios Penates, criminis ficti reus." 
 
 Senecae Octavia, ver. 148. 
 And see Taciti Annales, xii. c. 3, 4.
 
 161 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 OTHO; POPP.'EA, 
 
 OTIIO. 
 
 Thus far we're safe. Thanks to the rosy queen 
 
 Of amorous thefts : and had her wanton son 
 
 Lent us his wings, we could not have beguil'd 190 
 
 With more elusive speed the dazzled sight 
 
 Of wakeful jealous}'. Be gay securely ; 
 
 Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous cloud 
 
 That hangs on thy clear brow. So Helen look'd, 
 
 So her white neck reclin'd, so was she borne 195 
 
 By the young Trojan to his gilded bark 
 
 With fond reluctance, yielding modesty, 
 
 And oft reverted eye, as if she knew not 
 
 Whether she fear'd, or wish'd to be pursued. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 195. So her rehite neck recl'md] 
 
 " Et caput iiiflexd lentum cervice recumbit 
 
 Marmored." • Virgilii Ciris. 449. 
 
 " Nived cervice reclinis 
 
 Mollitur ipsa." Manil. Astron. 5, v. 55i. 
 
 This particular beauty is also given to Helen by Constantine Manasses, in his ' Annales/ 
 
 (see Meursii Opera, vol. vii, p. 390) : 
 
 Afip^ jj.ax^a, xsiraKivxts, oitv si/ivSov^yinSrj 
 
 KuKViyeyrj ttjv caovrov 'EXiyyjv y^pr,^drit,tiy. 
 
 And so also in the Antehomerica of Tzetzes, ed. Jacobs, p. 116 (though the passage 
 
 is corrupted) : 
 
 " That soft cheek springing to the marble neck, 
 
 Which bends aside in vain." 
 
 Akenside's PI. of Imag. b. i. p. 1 1'2. cd. Park. 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 HYMN TO IGNORANCE. 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 75.) 
 
 Hail, horrors, hail ! ye ever gloomy bowers, 
 
 Ye gothic fanes, and antiquated towers. 
 
 Where rushy Camus' slowly-winding flood 
 
 Perpetual draws his humid train of mud : 
 
 Glad I revisit thy neglected reign, 5 
 
 Oh take mc to thy peaceful shade again. 
 
 But chiefly thee, whose influence breathed from high 
 
 Augments the native darkness of the sky ; 
 
 Ah, ignorance ! soft salutary power ! 
 
 Prostrate with filial reverence I adore, 10 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 3. Where i-ushy Camus' slozely-windingjiood] " Jam nee arundiferum mihi cura 
 revisere Camum,'' Miltoni Eleg. i. 1 1 . 
 
 Ver. 4. Perpetual draws his huviid train of inud'\ So Milton, Par. Lost, vii, 310: 
 
 " where rivers no«' 
 
 Stream, ?iad perpetual draw their humid train."
 
 163 
 
 Thrice hath Hyperion roll'd his annual race, 
 
 Since weeping I forsook thy fond embrace. 
 
 Oh say, successful dost thou still oppose 
 
 Thy leaden asgis 'gainst our ancient foes ? 
 
 Still stretch, tenacious of thy right divine, 15 
 
 The massy sceptre o'er thy slumb'ring line? 
 
 And dews Lethean through the land dispense 
 
 To steep in slumbers each benighted sense? 
 
 If any spark of wit's delusive ray 
 
 Break out, and flash a momentary day, 20 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 14. Thy leaden <Egis 'gainst our ancient foes] 
 
 " To hatch a new Saturuian age of lead."* 
 
 Pope's Dunciad, i. 28. 
 And so in the speech of Ignorance in ' Henry and Minerva,' by I. B. 1 72y (one amon«» 
 the poetical pieces bound up by Po|)e in liis library, and now iu my possession): 
 " Myself behind this ample shield of lead, 
 Will to the field my daring squadrons head." 
 
 * In the Dunciad, b. ii. ver. 352, 
 
 " DuHncss is sacred in a sound divine," 
 is from Dryden's prologue to Troilus and Cressida : 
 
 " Dullness is decent in the church and state." 
 And in the Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard, ver. 261, 
 
 " Ah! liopcless, lasting flames ; like those that burn 
 To light the dead, and warm th' unfruitful urn," 
 is taken from Hudibras, Part II. cant. i. ver. 309 : 
 
 " Love in your heart as idly bums 
 As fire in antique Roman urns, 
 To warm the dead, and vainly light 
 Those only, that see nothing by 't." 
 
 Y 2
 
 164 
 
 With damp, cold touch forbid it to aspire, 
 And huddle up in fogs the dang'rous fire. 
 
 Oh say — she hears me not, but, careless grown. 
 Lethargic nods upon her ebon throne. 
 
 Goddess! awake, arise, alas my fears! 25 
 
 Can powers immortal feel the force of years? 
 Not thus of old, with ensigns wide unfurl'd. 
 She rode triumphant o'er the vanquish'd world ; 
 Fierce nations own'd her unresisted might, 
 And all was ignorance, and all was night. SO 
 
 Oh ! sacred ase ! Oh ! times for ever lost ! 
 (The schoolman's glory, and the churchman's boast.) 
 For ever gone — yet still to fancy new. 
 Her rapid wings the transient scene pursue. 
 And bring the buried ages back to view. 35 
 
 High on her car, behold the grandam ride 
 Like old Sesostris with barbaric pride; 
 
 * * * a team of harness'd monarchs bend 
 
 ****** 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 22. Jnd huddle up in fogs the dang'rcusjire] 
 
 " Here Ignorance in steel was arrn'd, and there 
 Cloath'd in a cowl, dissembled fast and pray'r ; 
 Against my sway her pious hand stretch'd out. 
 And fenc'd with double fogs her idiot rout." 
 
 Henry and Minerva, 
 And so in the Dunciad, b. i. ver. 80 : 
 
 " All these, and more, the cloud-compelling queen 
 Beholds thro'yb^''s that magnify the scene." 
 Ver. 37. Like old Sesostris with barbaric pride] 
 
 " Sesostris-Vike, such charioteers as these 
 May drive six harness'd monarchs if they please." 
 
 Young's Love of Fame, Sat. V.
 
 THE 
 
 ALLIANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 A FRAGMENT.* 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 99.) 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 — — niray , co 'yaOi" tav ya.p doiSav 
 OuTt ita Elf AiSxv y.e tqv ixXsXaOovra ffluXafeTj'. 
 
 Theocritus, Id. I. 63. 
 
 As sickly plants betray a nigtrard earth. 
 Whose barren bosom starves her generous birth, 
 
 •r 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 2. Barren^ Fli"tJ', ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * In a note to his Roman History, Mr. Gibbon says: " Instead of compiling tables of 
 chronology and natural history, why did not Mr. Gray apply the powers of his genius to 
 fuiish the piiilosopliic poem of which lie has left such an exquisite specimen?" Vol. iii. 
 p. 248. dto — \\ ould it not have been more philosophical in Mr. Gibbon to have lamented 
 the situation in which Gray was placed; which was not only not favourable to the cultiva- 
 tion of poetry, Ijui whicli naturally directed his thoughts to tliose learned inquiries, that 
 formed the amusement or business of all around him i
 
 166 
 
 Nor genial warmth, nor genial juice retains, 
 
 Their roots to feed, and lill their verdant veins: 
 
 And as in climes, where winter holds his reign, 5 
 
 The soil, though fertile, will not teem in vain, 
 
 Forbids her gems to SAvell, her shades to rise, 
 
 Nor trusts her blossoms to the churlish skies : 
 
 So draw mankind in vain the vital airs, 
 
 Unform'd, unfriended, by those kindly cares, 10 
 
 That health and vigour to the soul inipart. 
 
 Spread the young thought, and warm the opening heart : 
 
 So fond instruction on the growing powers 
 
 Of nature idly lavishes her stores. 
 
 If equal justice with unclouded face 15 
 
 Smile not indulgent on the rising race. 
 
 And scatter with a free, though frugal hand. 
 
 Light golden showers of plenty o'er the land : 
 
 But tyranny has fix'd her empire there. 
 
 To check their tender hopes with chilling fear, 20 
 
 And blast the blooming promise of the year. 
 
 This spacious animated scene survey, 
 From wliere the rolling orb, that gives the day. 
 His sable sons with nearer course surrounds 
 To either pole, and life's remotest bounds, 25 
 
 IIow rude so e'er th' exterior form we find, 
 Howe'er opinion tinge the varied mind. 
 Alike to all, the kind, impartial heav'n 
 The sparks of truth and happiness has giv'n : 
 "With sense to feel, with memory to retain, SO 
 
 They follow pleasure, and they fly from pain ; 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 19. But tyranny hps^ Gloomy sway have, ms. Ver. 21. Blooming'} Vernal, ms.
 
 167 
 
 Their judgment mends the plan their fajicy draws, 
 
 The event presages, and explores the cause ; 
 
 The soft returns of gratitude they know, 
 
 By fraud elude, by force repel the foe ; 35 
 
 While mutual wishes, mutual woes endear 
 
 The social smile and sympathetic tear. 
 
 Say, then, through ages by what fate confin'd 
 To-difterent climes seem different souls assisn'd? 
 Here measur'd laws and philosophic ease 40 
 
 Fix, and improve the polish'd arts of peace; 
 There industry and gain their vigils keep, 
 Command the winds, and tame th' unwilling deep : 
 Here force and hardy deeds of blood prevail ; 
 There languid })lcasurc sighs in every gale. 45 
 
 Oft o'er the tremblinti; nations from afiir 
 Has Scythia breath'd the living cloud of war; 
 And, where the deluge burst, with sweepy sway 
 Their arms, their kings, their gods were roH'd away. 
 As oft have issued, host impelling host, 50 
 
 The blue-e^'ed myriads iioni the Baltic coast. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 36. While mutual wishes, mtitual rcoes eiu/ear'] 
 
 " On niutuul wants, build mutual happiness." 
 
 Pope's Ep. iii. 112. 
 Ver. 46. Oft o'er the trembling nations from afar\ This description is also found in 
 Whitehead's Ode VII. vol. ii. p. 282 : 
 
 " \\'hcn tirst the rude o'crpeopled North," &c. 
 Ver. 48. And, where the deluge burst, zoith siceepy swaij] So Claudiau calls it, Bell. 
 Getico, G4I, " Cinibrica teinpestas." 
 
 " Tlic (lull clock swinging slow with sweepy sway." 
 
 Warton's PI. of Melancholy, p. CO9. 
 Ver. 30. ^s oft have issued, host impelling host} So Thomson's Liberty, iv. 803 : 
 " ilencc many a people, fierce with freedom, rush'd
 
 168 
 
 Tlie prostrate south to the destroyer yields 
 
 Her boasted titles, and her golden fields : 
 
 With trrim delight the brood of winter view 
 
 A brighter day, and heav'ns of azure hue ; 55 
 
 Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose, 
 
 And quafi' the pendent vintage as it grows. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 Ver. 55- Heavens] Skies, Ms. Ver. 56. Scent"] Catch, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 From the rude iron regions of the North 
 To Libyan deserts, swarm protruding swarm.'' 
 And Winter, 810: 
 
 " Drove martial, horde on horde, with dreadful sweep 
 Resistless rushing o'er the enfeebled South." 
 And so in the poem of Henry and Minerva, cited before, on the same sulyect, p. 19> 
 are the follow ing spirited lines : 
 
 " The Alps in vain their vast barrier oppose. 
 
 Swarms rise on swarms, and foes succeed to foes. 
 I saw their armed wains, and liarne.ss'd steeds, 
 O'erspread the Sabine fields, and Tuscan meads; 
 I heard their savage horns provoke to war, 
 While human victims bled to horrid Thor." 
 Ver. 51. The blue- eyed myriiids from the Jiallic coast] So Pope, Dunciad, iii. 89 : 
 
 " The North by myriads pours her mighty sons. ' 
 " The fair complexion of the blue-eyed warriors if Germany formed a singular con- 
 trast with the swarthy or olive hue, which is derived from the neighbourhood of the torrid 
 zone," Gibbon's Rom. Hist. iii. 337. 
 
 Ausonius gives them this distinguishing feature : " Oni/os aernla, flava comas," De 
 Bissula. 17- p. 341. ed. Tollii. 
 
 Ver. 57. And quaff the pendent vintage as it griius] Claudian in his poem De Bello 
 Getico, ver. 504, makes the Gothic warriors mention the vines of Italy : " Quid palmitis 
 uber Etrusci," 8cc. " Et dulces rapuit de collibus uvas," Statii Silv. II. ; and " Carpite de 
 plenis pendentes vitibus uvas," Ovid. Am. I. s. 55. " Pendet vindemia," Virg Georg. 
 ii. &J.
 
 169 
 
 Proud of the yoke, and pliant to the rod, 
 
 Why yet does Asia dread a monarch's nod, 
 
 AV'hile European freedom still withstands 60 
 
 Th' encroaching tide that drowns her lessening lands ; 
 
 And sees far off, with an indignant groan, 
 
 Her native plains, and empires once her own? 
 
 Can opener skies and suns of fiercer flame 
 
 O'erpower the fire, that animates our frame ; 60 
 
 As lamps, that shed at eve a cheerful ray. 
 
 Fade and expire beneath the eve of day ? 
 
 Need we the influence of the northern star 
 
 To string our nerves and steel our hearts to war? 
 
 And, where the face of nature laughs around, 70 
 
 Must sick'ning virtue fly the tainted ground? 
 
 Unmanly thought ! what seasons can controul, 
 
 AVhat fancied zone can circumscribe the soul, 
 
 Who, conscious of the source from whence she springs, 
 
 By reason's light, on resolution's wings, 75 
 
 Spite of her frail companion, dauntless goes 
 
 O'er Libya's deserts and through Zembla's snows? 
 
 She bids each slumb'ring energy awake. 
 
 Another touch, another temper take. 
 
 Suspends th' inferior laws that rule our clay : 80 
 
 The stubborn elements confess her sway ; 
 
 Their little wants, their low desires, refine. 
 
 And raise the mortal to a height divine. 
 
 Not but the human fabric from the birth 
 Imbibes a flavour of its parent earth : 85 
 
 As various tracts enl'orce a various toil. 
 The maimers speak the idiom of their soil. 
 An iron-race the mountain-cliffs maintain, 
 Foes to the gentler genius of the plain : 
 VOL. I. z
 
 170 
 
 For where unwearied siuews must be found 00 
 
 With side- long plough to quell the flinty ground. 
 
 To turn the torrent's swift-descending flood, 
 
 To brave the savage rushing from the wood, 
 
 A\'hat wonder, if, to patient valour train'd, 
 
 They guard with spirit, what by strength they gain'd ? 95 
 
 And while their rocky ramparts round they see, 
 
 The rough abode of want and liberty, 
 
 (As lawless force from confidence will grow) 
 
 Insult the plenty of the vales below? 
 
 What wonder, in the sultry climes, that spread 100 
 
 Where Nile redundant o'er his summer-bed 
 
 From his broad bosom life and verdure flings, 
 
 And broods o'er Egypt with his wat'ry wings. 
 
 If with advent'rous oar and read}^ sail 
 
 The dusky people drive before the gale ; 105 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 91. With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground'] 
 
 " Or drives his venturous plnughslitire to the steep, 
 Or seeks the den, \\ here snovv-tracks mark the M'aj, 
 And drags the struggling swoage into day." 
 
 Goldsmith's Traveller. 
 Ver. 101. Where Nile redundant o'er his sutnmer-bed'] " Gaudet aquis, quas ipsa vehit 
 Niloque redundant." Claudiani NiJus, ver. 7- 
 Ver. 103. And broods o'er Egi/pt with his wat'ry wings'] 
 
 " O'er which lie kindly spreads his spaciwis wing. 
 And hatches plenty for tli' ensuing spring." 
 
 Denham's Cooper's Hill. W. 
 Ver. 105. The dusky people] " Cepheam hie Meroen, fuscaque regno canat," Pro- 
 pert. IV. vi. 678. " Fuscis ^-Egyptus aluinnis," Propert. II. xxiv. 15. 
 " Jam proprio tellus gaudens j^gyptia Nilo ; 
 
 Lenius irriguis infuscat corpora campis." 
 
 Manil. iv. 727. 
 
 And so Dryden's version of Virg. Georg. iv. 409, pointed out by Mr. Wakefield :
 
 171 
 
 Or on frail floats to neighboring cities ride, 
 
 Tliat rise and glitter o'er the ambient tide 
 
 ******* 
 
 [The following couplet, which was intended to liave been introduced in the poem on the 
 Alliance of Education and Government, is much too beautiful to be lost. (Mason, vol. 
 iii. p. 1 14.) 
 
 When love could teach a monarch to be wise,* 
 And gospel-light first dawn'd from Bullen's eyes. 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 106. A'eighb'ring2 Distant, ms. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " And where in pomp the sun-burnt people ride 
 On painted barges, o'er the teeming tide." 
 Ver. 105. Drive before the g«/i'] 
 
 " Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." 
 
 Pope's Essay on Man, iii, 178. 
 Ver. 106. Or on frail floats to neighb'ring cities ride'] Lucaii will explain the meaning 
 of the frail float : 
 
 " Sic cum tenet omnia Niltis, 
 
 Conseritur bibula Memphitis ci/mba papyro." 
 
 Pharsal. iv. 135. 
 But Mr. Gilpin gives another explanation in his Western Tour, see p. 34. 
 
 * I Mill add, that the last couplet of this poem : " When love could teach," &,c. has 
 been imitated hy H. Walpole, in an inscription on a Gothic column to Queen Katharine; 
 but with a loss of the mt't:ipl)orii;al beauty in the original : 
 
 " From Katharine's wrongs a nation's bliss was spread, 
 And Luther's light, from Ilenrv's lawless bed." 
 " If (says Dryden) Conscience had any part in moving the king to sue for a divorce, she 
 had taken a long iiap of almost twenty yrars togttlu'r before she was awakened ; and, per- 
 haps, had slept on till doomsday, if Anne Boleyu, or some other fair lady, had not given 
 her a jog : so the satisfying of an inordinate passion cannot be denied to have had a great 
 share at least in the production of that schism which led the very way to our pretended 
 Reformation," Dryden's Works, ed. Malone, vol. iii. p. o'l'l. 
 
 ■A 2
 
 172 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 'I'he iiiitlior's subject being (as we liave seen) The necessary ulliavre lietzceen n good 
 form of goceninient and a good mode of education, in order to produce the happiness of 
 mankind, the Poem opens with two similes; an uncommon kind of exordium : but which 
 I suppose the poet intentionally chose, to intimate tiie analogical method he meant to 
 pinsue in his subsequent reasonings. 1st, He asserts that men without education arc like 
 sickly plants in a cold or barren soil, (line 1 to 5, and 8 to 12;) and, Cdl\, he compares 
 them, when unblest with a just and well-regulated government, to plants that will not 
 blossom or bear fruit in an unkindly and incleuiont iiir (I. 5 to 9, and I. 1,} to 'i'2). Having 
 thus laid do\\ n the two proposi'.ions he means to prove, he begins by examining into the 
 characteristics which (taking a general view of mankind) all men have in connnon one with 
 another (1.22 to 39); they covet pleasure and avoid pain (1. 31); they feel gratitude for 
 benelits (I. 34) ; they desire to avenge wrongs, which they eflfcct either by force or cuiniing 
 (1. 35) ; they are linked to each other by their comnion feelings, and participate in sorrow 
 and in joy (1. 36, 37). If then all the human species agree in so many moral particulars, 
 whence arises the diversity of national characters ? This question the poet puts at line 38, 
 and dilates upon to 1. f)\. Why, says he, have sonfc nations shewn a propensity to com- 
 merce and industry ; others to war and rapine ; others to ease and pleasure ? (1. 42 to 46) 
 Why have the northern people overspread, in all ages, and prevailed over the southern f 
 (I. 46 to 58) Why has Asia been, time out of mind, the seat of despotism, and Europe 
 that of freedom? (I. 59 to 64). Are we from these instances to imagine men necessarily 
 enslaved to the inconveuiencies of the climate where they were born ? (I. 64 to 7-) Or are 
 we not rather to suppose there is a natural strength in the human mind, that is able to van- 
 quish and break through them ? (I. 72 to 84.) It is confest, however, that men receive an 
 early tincture from the situation they are placed in, and the climate which produces them 
 (1. 84 to 88). Thus the inhabitants of the mountains, inured to labour and patience, are 
 naturally trained to war (1. 88 to 96) ; while those of the plain are more open to any at- 
 tack, and softened by ease and plenty (I. 96 to 99). Again, the iEgyptians, from the 
 nature of their situation, might be the inventors of home-navigation, fronj a necessity of 
 keeping up an intercourse between their towns during the inundation of the Nile (1. 99 to 
 ***). Those persons would naturally have the first turn to commerce, who inhabited a 
 barren coast like the Tyrians, and were persecuted by some neighbouring tyrant ; or were 
 drove to take refuge on some shoals, like tiie Venetian and Hollander ; their discovery of 
 some rich island, in the infancy of the world, described. The Tartar hardened to war by 
 his rigorous climate and pastoral life, and by his disputes for water asui herbage in a country 
 widiout land-marks, as also by skirmishes between his rival clans, was consequently fitted to 
 conquer his rich southern neighbours, whom ease and luxury had enervated : yet this is no 
 proof that liberty and valour may not exist in southern climes, since the Syrians and Car- 
 thaginians gave noble instances of both ; and the Arabians carried their conquests as far as
 
 173 
 
 ihe Tartars. Rome also (for many cei)turies) repulsed those very nations, wliitli, \rlien slir 
 grew weak, at length demolished * her extensive enipire. **** 
 
 • The reader will perceive that the Commentary goes further than the text. Tiie reason 
 for which is, that the Editor found it so on the paper from which he formed that comment! 
 and as the thoughts seemed to be those which Mr. Gray would have next graced with the har- 
 mony of his numbers, he held it best to give them in continuation. There are other maxims 
 on different papers, all apparently relating to the same subject, which are too excellent to be 
 lost; these therefore (as the place in which he meant to employ them cannot be ascertained) 
 I shall subjoin to this note, under the title of detached Sentiments. 
 
 " Man is a creature not capable of cultivating his mind but in society, and in that only 
 where he is not a slave to the necessities of life. 
 
 "Want is the mother of the inferior arts, but Ease that of the finer; as eloquence, policv, 
 morality, poetry, sculpture, painting, architecture, which are the improvements of the 
 former. 
 
 " The climate inclines some nations to contemplation and pleasure; others to hardship, 
 action, and war ; but not so as to incapacitate the former for courage and discipline, or the 
 latter for civility, politeness, and works of genius. 
 
 " It is the proper work of edocation and government united to redress the faults that arise 
 from the soil and air. 
 
 " The principal drift of education should be to make men think in the northern climates, 
 and act in the southern. 
 
 " The different steps and degrees of education may be compared to the artificer's operations 
 upon marble ; it is one thing to dig it out of the quarry, and another to square it ; to give it 
 gloss and lustre, call forth every beautiful spot and vein, shape it into a column, or animate 
 it into a statue. 
 
 " To a native of free and happy governments his country is always dear; 
 
 " He loves his old hereditary trees:" (Cowley) 
 
 while the subject of a tyrant has no country ; he is therefore selfish and base-minded ; he has 
 no family, no posterity, no desire of fame; or, if he has, of one that turns not on its proper 
 object. 
 
 " Any nation that wants public spirit, neglects education, ridicules the desire of fame, 
 and even of virtue and reason, must be ill governed. 
 
 " Commerce changes entirely the fate and genius of nations, by connnunicating arts and 
 opinions, circulating money, and introducing the materials of luxury ; she first opens and 
 polishes the mind, then corrupts and enervates both that and the body. 
 
 " Those invasions of effeminate southern nations by the warlike northern people, seem (in 
 spite of all the terror, mischief, and ignorance which they brought with them) to be necessary 
 evils ; in order to revive the spirit of mankind, softened and broken by the arts of commerce, 
 to restore them to their native liberty and equality, and to give them again the power of sup- 
 porting danger and hardship; so a comet, with all the horrors that attend it as it passes through 
 our system, brings a supply of warmth and light to the sun, and of uioisture to the air.
 
 174 
 
 "The doctrine of Epicurus is ever ruinous to society: it had its rise when Greece was de- 
 clining, and perhaps hastened its dissolution, as also that of Uomc; it is now propagated In 
 France and in England, and seems likely to produce the same effect in both. 
 
 " One principal characteristic of vice in the present age is the contempt of fame. 
 
 " Many are the uses of good fame to a generous mind : it extends our existence and example 
 into future ages ; continues and propagates virtue, whicli otherwise would be as short-lived as 
 our frame ; and prevents the prevalence of vice in a generation more corrupt even than our 
 own. It is impossible to conquer that natural desire we have of being remembered ; even 
 criminal ambition and avarice, the most selfish of all passions, would wish to leave a name 
 behind them." 
 
 Thus, with all the attention that a connoisseur in painting employs in collecting every slight 
 outline as well as finished drawing which led to the completion of some capital picture, 1 have 
 endeavoured to preserve every fragment of this great poetical design. It surely deserved this 
 care, as it was one of the noblest which Mr. Gray ever attempted ; and also, as far as he carried 
 it into execution, the most exquisitely finished. That he carried it no further is, and must 
 ever be, a most sensible loss to the republic of letters. Mason.
 
 STANZAS 
 
 MR. B E N T L E Y 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. HS.) 
 
 These were in compliment to Mr. Bentley, who drew a set of designs for Mr. Gray's poems, 
 particularly a head-piece to the Long Story. The original drawings are in the library at 
 Strawberry Hill. See H. Walpole's Works, vol. ii. p. 447. 
 
 In silent gaze the tuneful choir among, 
 
 Half plcas'd, half blushing, let the Muse admire, 
 
 While Bentley leads her sister-art along, 
 And bids the pencil answer to the lyre. 
 
 See, in their course, each transitory thought 
 Fix'd by his touch a lasting essence take ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 3. JVhile Benlley leads her sister-art alontf\ So Pope in the Epistle to Jervas, 13 : 
 " Smit with the love of sister-arts we came ; 
 And met congenial, mingling flame with flame."
 
 176 
 
 Each dream, in fancy's airy colouring wrought 
 To local symmetry and life awake ! 
 
 The tardy rhymes that us'd to linger on, 
 
 To censure cold, and negligent of fame, 10 
 
 In swifter measures animated run, 
 
 And catch a lustre from his genuine flame. 
 
 Ah ! could they catch his strength, his easy grace, 
 
 His quick creation, his unerring line ; 
 (The energy of Pope they might efface, 15 
 
 And Dry den's harmony submit to mine. 
 
 But not to one in this benighted age 
 
 Is that diviner inspiration giv'n, 
 That burns in Shakspeare's or in Milton's page. 
 
 The pomp and prodigality of heav'n. 20 
 
 As when conspiring in the diamond's blaze, 
 I'he meaner gems that singly charm the sight, 
 
 Together dart their intermingled rays, 
 And dazzle with a luxury of light. 
 
 Enough for me, if to some feeling breast 25 
 
 My lines a secret sympathy ' impart ;' 
 
 NOTES. — 
 
 Ver. 7. Each dream, infancy's airy colouring wrought] 
 
 " Thence endless streams of fair ideas flow, 
 Strike on the sketch, or in the picture glow." 
 
 Pope's Epist. to Jervas, ver. 42.
 
 177 
 
 And as their pleasing influence ' flows confest,' 
 A sigh of soft reflection ' heaves the heart/* 
 
 ^ "Ir Vr ^ ^ -IP "Tp 
 
 * Tlie words within the inverted commas were siij)plied by Mr. Mason, a corner of the 
 only manuscript copy being torn. 
 
 VOL. r. 2 a
 
 SKETCH OF HIS OWN CHARACTER. 
 
 WRITTEN IN 1761, 
 
 AND FOUND IN ONE OF HIS POCKF.T-EOOKS. 
 
 Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune; 
 
 He bad not the method of making a fortune : 
 
 Could love, and could hate, so was thought somewhat odd ; 
 
 No very great wit, he believ'd in a God : 
 
 A post or a pension he did not desire, 5 
 
 But left church and state to Charles Townshend and Squire. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Vtr. 1 . Too poor for a bribe, and loo proud to imporlune] Tliis is similar to a piissnge in 
 one of Swift's letters to Gay, speaking of poets : " I have been considering wlij- jjoets have 
 such ill success in making their court. They are too libertine to haunt ante-chaniber.«, too 
 poor to bribe porters, and loo proud tn criii[;e to second-hand favourites in a great family " 
 See Pope's Works, xi. SG. ed.Warton. 
 
 Ver. 4. No very great wit, tie believ'd in a God} 
 
 " I pay my debts, believe, and say my prayers." 
 
 Pope's Prologue to the Satires, ver. 268. 
 Ver. 6. Srjiiire] At that time I'ellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and afterwards 
 Hislioj) of St. David's.
 
 179 
 
 Perhaps these Hues of Gray gave a hint to Golclsniilh in the ' Retaliation :' 
 ' Tho' e(iual to all things, for all things unfit, 
 Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit ; 
 For a patriot too cool, for a drudge, disobedient, 
 And too fond of the right, to pursue the expedient.' 
 
 Character of Burke in the ' Retaliation. 
 
 2a2
 
 AMATORY LINES. 
 
 The following Lines, by Gray, first appeared in Warton's edition of Pope, vol. i. p. 285. 
 
 With beaut}-^, with pleasure surrounded, to languish — 
 
 To weep without knowing the cause of my anguish : 
 
 To start from short slumbers, and wish for the morning — 
 
 To close my dull eyes Avhen I see it returning ; 
 
 Sighs sudden and frequent, looks ever dejected — 
 
 Words that steal from my tongue, by no meaning connected ! 
 
 Ah, say, fellow-swains, how these symptoms befell me.'' 
 
 They smile, but reply not — Sure Delia will tell me ! 
 
 As Dr. Wartonlias here favoured us with some manuscript lines by Gray, it will be a 
 species of poetical justice to give the reader some lines from a manuscript of Dr. Warton, 
 A\ hich he intended to insert in his Ode to Fancy, and which are placed within the inverted 
 commas : 
 
 In converse while metliinks I rove 
 With Spenser through a faiiy grove, 
 ' Or seem by powerful Dante led 
 To the dark chambers of the dead, 
 Or to the ^' **" towers where pine 
 
 gloomy ' 
 
 The sous of famish 'd Ugoline ; 
 Or by the Tuscan wizard's power 
 Am wafted to Alcina's bower' 
 Till suddenly, &c.
 
 181 
 And after the couplet — 
 
 Oil which thou lov'st to sit at eve, 
 
 Musing o'er thy darling's grave — 
 
 Add, from the MS. — 
 
 ' To whom came trooping at thy call 
 Thy spirits from their airy hail, 
 From sea and earth, from heaven and hell, 
 Stern Hecate, and sweet Ariel.'
 
 SON G.* 
 
 TiiVRsis, when we parted, swore 
 
 Ere the spring he would return — 
 Ah! what means yon violet flower! 
 
 And the bud that decks the thorn ! 
 'Twas the lark that upward sprung ! 5 
 
 Twas the nightingale that sung ! 
 
 Idle notes ! untimely green! 
 
 Why this unavailing haste ? 
 Western gales and skies serene 
 
 Speak not always winter past. 10 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Vcr. 1. Thyrsis, xvhen ive parted'] In Mr. Park's edition, for " when tue parted," it is printed 
 ' when he left me." And for " Ere the spring," " In the spring." 
 Ver. 3. Yon violet Jloiver'] In Mr. Park's edition " the opening floner." 
 Ver. 5. 'Twas the lark'] In Mr. Park's edition, tliis and the following line are transposed. 
 Ver. 8. Why this] In Mr. Park's edition, " why such." 
 Ver. 9. Western, ^fc] In Mr. Park's edition these lines are printed thus: 
 " Gentle gales and sky serene 
 
 Prove not always winter past." 
 
 * Written at the request of Miss Speed, to an old air of Gcmiuiani : — the thought from 
 the French.
 
 183 
 
 Cease, my doubts, my fears to move, 
 Spare the honour of my love. 
 
 [This Song is in this edition printed from the copy as it appears in Mr. H. Walpoles 
 letters to the Countess of Ailesbury. See his Works, vol. v. p. 56 1.]
 
 T P II E T.* 
 
 AN EPIGRAM. 
 
 Thus Tophet look'd ; so grinn'd the brawling jRend, 
 Whilst frighted prelates bow'd and caird him friend. 
 Our mother-church, with half-averted sight, 
 Blush'd as she bless'd her griesly proselyte ; 
 Hosannas rung through hell's tremendous borders, 
 And Satan's self had thoughts of taking orders. 
 
 * Mr. Etougli, of Cambridge University, the person satirized, was as remarkable for 
 the eccentricities of his character, as for his personal appearance. Mr. Tyson, of Bene't 
 College, made an etching of his head, and presented it to Mr. Gray, who embellished it 
 with the above lines. Some information respecting Mr. Etough, (who was rector of Ther- 
 field, Herts, and of Colmworth, Bedfordshire, and patronized by Sir Robert Walpole,) 
 may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ivi. p. 25, 2S1 ; and in Nichols's Literary 
 Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, vol. viii. p. 26l.
 
 IMPROMPTU, 
 
 SUGGESTED BY A VIEW, IN 176G, OF THE SEAT AND RUINS OF A DECEASIiU 
 NOBLEMAN, AT KINGSGATE, KENT.* 
 
 Old, and abandon'd by each venal friend, 
 
 Here II d forni'd the pious resolution 
 
 To smuggle a few years, and strive to mend 
 
 A broken character and constitution. 
 
 On this congenial spot he fix'd his choice ; 5 
 
 Earl Goodwin trembled for his neighbouring sand ; 
 
 Here sea-gulls scream, and cormorants rejoice, 
 And mariners, though shipwreck'd, dread to land. 
 
 Here reign the blustering North and blightins; East, 
 
 No tree is heard to whisper, bird to sing ; 10 
 
 Yet Nature could not furnish out the feast, 
 Art he invokes new horrors still to bring 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 2. Fonn'd'i Took, Ms. Ver. 3. J] Some, Ms. 
 
 Vcr. II. Could'] Canuot, MS. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Mr. T);ill:i\va), in liis Anecdotes of the Arts, p. 38 j, says that this house was built 
 by Lord Holland as ii correct imitation of Cicero's Formiaii villa, at Baia;. 
 VOL. I. 2 IJ
 
 186 
 
 Here mouldering fanes and battlements arise, 
 
 Turrets and arches nodding to their fall, 
 Un])eopled inonast'ries delude our eyes, 15 
 
 And mimic desolation covers all. 
 
 " Ah !" said the sighing peer, " had B — te been true. 
 Nor M — 's, R — 's, B — 's friendship vain, 
 Far better scenes than these had blest our view. 
 
 And reali/'d the beauties which we feign: 20 
 
 " Purg'd by the sword, aiiti purified by fire, 
 
 Then had we seen proud London's hated walls ; 
 Owls would have hooted in St. Peter's choir. 
 And foxes stunk and litter'd in St. Paul's." 
 
 VARIATIONS. 
 
 Ver. 13. Here"} Now, MS. Ver. H. Turrets and archesj Arches and turrets, ms^ 
 
 Ver. 15. Monasteries, our] Palaces, his, ms. Ver. 17. B — <e] Bute, Ms. 
 
 Ver. 18. M—'s, E—'s, B—'s^ Shelburnc's, Rigby's, Calcraft's, ms. 
 
 Ver. 19. Better'] Other, ms. Ver. 20. Beauties which'] Ruins that, ms. 
 
 Ver. 21. Purijicd] Beautified, ms. Ver. 23. Would^ Might, Ms.
 
 THE CANDIDATE 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE CAMBRIDGE COURTSHIP.* 
 
 When sly Jemmy Twitcher had smugg'd up his face, 
 With a lick of court white-wash, and pious grimace, 
 A wooing he went, where three sisters of old 
 In harmless society guttle and scold. 
 
 " Lord ! sister," says Physic to Law, " I declare, 
 Such a sheep-biting look, such a pick-pocket air ! 
 Not I for the Indies : — You know I'm no prude, — 
 But his name is a shame, — and his eyes are so lewd ! 
 Then he shambles and straddles so oddly — I fear — 
 No — at our time of life 'twould be silly, my dear." 
 
 " I don't know," says Law, " but methinks for his look, 
 'Tis just like the picture in Rochester's book ; 
 Then his character, Phyzzy, — his morals — his life — 
 When she died, I can't tell, but he once had a wife. 
 
 They say he's no Christian, loves drinking and w g. 
 
 And all the town rimis of his swearins; and roarinij ! 
 
 NOTES. 
 * These verses were written a sliort time previous to tlie election of a liigli-steward of 
 tlie University of Canibriilge, for wliicli olHce the noble lord alluded to (Lord Saudwicii) 
 made an active canvas. 
 
 2 li 2
 
 388 
 
 His lying and filching, and Newgate-bird tricks ; — 
 Not I — for a coronet, chariot and six." 
 
 Divinity heard, between waking and dozing, 
 Her sisters denj'ing, and Jemmy proposing : 
 From table she rose, and with bumper in hand. 
 She strok'd up her belly, and strok'd down her band — 
 " What a pother is here about wenching and roaring ! 
 Why, David lov'd catches, and Solomon w — — g : 
 Did not Israel filch from th' Egyptians of old 
 Their jewels of silver and jewels of gold ? 
 The prophet of Bethel, we read, told a lie : 
 He drinks — so did Noah ; — he swears — so do I : 
 To reject him for such peccadillos, Avere odd ; 
 Besides, he repents — for he talks about G** — 
 
 [To Jemmy] 
 ' Never hang down your head, you poor penitent elf, 
 
 Come buss me — I'll be Mrs. Twitcher myself.'" 
 
 ********
 
 POEMATA.
 
 P O E M xV T A. 
 
 HYMENEAL 
 
 ON THE MARRIAGE OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 loNARiE nostrum mentes, et inertia corda, 
 Dum curas regum, et sortem miseramur iniquam, 
 Quai solio aftixit, vetuitquc calescere ilamma 
 ])ulci, qme dono divCini, gratissima serpit 
 Viscera per, mollesciue aniniis lene implicat oestus ; 
 Nee teneros sensus, A'eiieris nee praernia norunt, 
 Eloquiunive oeuli, aut facunda silentia linguae: 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Printed in the Cambridge Collection, I75f), fol. In this Coliectron is also a Latin 
 Copy of Hindecasyllables, hy Ilorati; Walpole ; a short C'ojn- by Tliomas Asliton, the 
 friend of Walpole, &c. ; and there are some Greek Verses by Richard Dawes, tiie author 
 of Miscellanea Critica.' 
 
 Ver. 1. /«•»«/■«-] " Hen, vatum ignara; mentes!" Virg. JEn. iv. G5. " Tcncri'im 
 mirantur inertia corda," ^n. ix. ,55. 
 
 Ver. 2. Sortem'] " Sortemquc aiiimo miseratus iniquam," /En vi. .332. 
 
 Ver. 4. Grathsiiwil " Dono divi'itn grutissiniii scrjiit," iEn. ii. ofj;). 
 
 Ver. 6. Veneris] " Nee didcesnatos, Wjieris ncc praemia noris ?" yEn. iv. .3;). 
 
 Ver. 7. Eloqiiiiiiii] Vide Ilor. Od. IV. i 35. And Pope's Homer, book .\iv, ver. 25*2: 
 
 " Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes." 
 And Fairfax's Tasso, iv. 85 : 
 
 " Dwmi i7o//«c«a', persuading more than speech."
 
 192 
 
 Scilicet ignorant lacr3'mas, saevosque dolores, 
 Dura rudinienta, et violenttc exordia lianimae ; 
 Scilicet ignorant, qua) flumine tinxit amaro 10 
 
 Tela Venus, ciucique armamentaria Divi, 
 Irasque, insidiasque, et taciturn sub pcctore vulnus ; 
 Namquc sub ingrcssu, primoquc in limine Amoris 
 Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Cura,- ; 
 Intus liabent dulccs Risus, et Gratia sedeni, 15 
 
 Et roseis resupina toris, roseo ore Voluptas : 
 Regibus hue faciles aditus ; communia spernunt 
 Ostia, jamque expers duris custodibus istis 
 Panditur accessus, penetraliaque intima Tcmpli. 
 
 Tuque Oh ! Angliacis, Princeps, spcs optima regnis, 20 
 Ne tantum, ne finge metum : quid imagine captus 
 Haeres, et nientem pictura pascis inani ? 
 Umbram miraris : nee longum tempus, ct ipsa 
 Ibit in amplexus, thalamosque ornabit ovantes. 
 Ille tamen tabulis inhians longum haurit amorem, 25 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 10. Flumine'] " Hk flumine corporaitinguat," Ovid. Met. xii. 413. 
 
 Ver. 11. Armamentaria] " Quidquiil liabent telorum armamentaria coeli," Juv. Sat. 
 xiii. 83. 
 
 Ver. 1'2. Iras] Tliis line, uhich is unnietrical, is so printed in tiic Cambridge Collection; 
 and in Park's edition, without remark. The fault is probably in the author, and not iu the 
 printer; as the line is composed of two hemistichs of Virgil ; lEn. xii. 330, " Irseque, 
 Insidiaiquc, Dei comitatus, agunlur ;" and ^Tln. iv.67, " Taciturn vivit sub pectore vulnus." 
 Or perhaps a line is omitted, which should intervene. 
 
 Ver. 14. Luctus] This line is from Virgil, ^n. vi. 274 : 
 
 " Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curx." 
 
 Ver. 18. Duria] " Quos dura premit vustodia matrum," Hor. Ep. I. i. 22. 
 
 Ver. 22. Pictura] " Atque aniinum pictura pascit inani," lEn. i. 4fi4. 
 
 Ver. 23. Longum] " Nee longum tempus et ingens," &,c. Virg. Georg, ii. 80.
 
 193 
 
 Affiitu fruitur tacito, auscultatque tacentein 
 Iinincnior artificis calami, risunique, ruborenique 
 Aspicit in fucis, picta^que in virginis ore: 
 Tanta Venus potuit ; tantus tenet error amantes. 
 
 Nascerc, niaona Dies, qua sese Augusta Britanno SO 
 Comniittat Pclago, patrianiquc relinquat amoenani ; 
 Cujus in adventuni jam nunc tria regna secundos 
 Attolli in plausus, dulci(|ue accensa furore 
 Incipiunt agitare niodos, et carmina dicunt : 
 Ipse animo sedenim juvenis comitatur euntein 35 
 
 Explorat ventos, atque auribus aiira capiat, 
 At(jue auras, atque astra vocat crudelia; pectus 
 Intentum exultat, surgitque arrecta cupido ; 
 Incusat spes aegra fretuni, solitoque videtur 
 Latior efFundi pontus, fluctusque morantes. 40 
 
 Nascere, Iaix major, (pia sese Augusta liritanno 
 Comniittat jiiveni totam, propriamque dicabit ; 
 At citius (precor) Oh ! cedas melioribus astris ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 30. Nascere] " Magnus ab integro sa;clorum nascitur ordo," Virg. Eel. iv. 5. 
 
 Ver. 31. Committal] " Coinmisit pelngo ratein," Hor. Od. I. iii. 1 1. 
 
 Vtr. S3. Furore] " Sul)iti)(|ue;icci-'iisa fmoie," iEii. iv. 697- 
 
 Ver. 3.5. Comitatur] " Viniiii (jui sic comitatur euiiteni r" lEn. vi. 8G3. 
 
 Ver. 36. Explorat] This line is from Virgil, /En. iii. 514 : 
 
 " Explorat ventos, alcjiie auribus aera captat." 
 
 Ver. 37. local] From Virg. Georg. iv. ■195 : " Crudelia retro Fata vocant." ^-En. v. 138: 
 " Laudunique arrecta cupido." 
 
 Ver 41. Nascere] " Nascere, prwque diem veniens age, Lucifer, ainium," Virg. Eel. 
 viii. 118. 
 
 Ver. 4'J. Propriamque dicabit] " Connubio jungam stabiii, propriami/HC dicabo," Virg. 
 .^n.i.73. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 c
 
 194 
 
 Nox finem pompae, finemque imponere curis 
 
 Possit, et in thalamos furtitn deducere nuptam ; 45 
 
 Siifficiat requiemque viris, et aniantibus umbras : 
 
 Adsit Hymen, et subridens cum matre Cupido 
 
 Accedant, sternantque toros, igncm(|ue ministrent ; 
 
 ] licet baud picta' incandescit imagine forma3 
 
 Ulterius juvenis, verumque agnoscit amorem. 50 
 
 Sculptile sicut ebur, faciemque arsisse venustam 
 Pygmabona canunt : ante banc suspiria ducit, 
 Alloquiturque aniens, flammamque et vulnera narrat ; 
 Implorata Venus jussit cum vivere signum, 
 Foemincani inspirans animam; quae gaudia surgunt, 55 
 
 Audiit ut primae nascentia murmura linguoe, 
 Luctari in vitani, et paulatim volvere ocellos 
 Scdulus, aspexitque nova splendescere tianira^ ; 
 Corripit amplexu vivam, jamque oscula jungit 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 44. Nox] So in Gray's Epistle from Sophonisba : 
 
 " Ponipa? finis erat. Tola vix nocte quievi." 
 Ver.47. Cupido] " Pro Venus, et teiiera volucer cum matre Cupido," Ov. Met. ix. 481. 
 Ver. 50. Verumque agnoscit] " Veres exponit amores," Ovid. Met. x. 439. " Veros 
 parce profitemur amores," Ovid. Art. Am. ii. 639- 
 
 Ver. 51. Sculptile] Tliis is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, x. 247 : 
 " Intcrea niveunj iiiira feliciler arte 
 Scu/pitebur ; formamque dedit, qua foemiiia nasci 
 Nulla potest : operisque sui concepit amorem : 
 Virginis est verse facies, quam vivere credas ; 
 EtjSi non obstet reverentia, velle moveri : 
 Ars adeo latet arte sua. Miratur, et haurit 
 Pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes." 
 Ver. 56. Murmura] " Sed parvte murmura lingua"," Ov. Met. xii. 49. 
 Ver. 59. Amplexu] " Excipis amplexu, feliciaque oscula jungis," Ov. Ep. xviii, 101. 
 And Met. x. 256 : " Oscula dat, reddique putat ; loquiturque tenetque."
 
 195 
 
 Acria confestim, rccipitque rapitque; prioris 60 
 
 Immemor ardoris, Nymphaecjue oblitus eburneae. 
 
 Tho. Gray. Pet. Coll. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Vcr. 61. Ni/mphai] 
 
 " Sit conjux opto, (uon ausus, ebumea virgo, 
 Dicere Pygmalion,) similis inea, dixit, ebunicifi." 
 
 Ov. Met. X. 275. 
 
 2 C 2
 
 LUNA HABITABILIS.* 
 
 DuM Nox rorantes, non inconiitata per auras 
 
 Urget equos, tacitoque inducit sidera lapsu ; 
 
 Ultima, sed nulli soror inficianda sororum, 
 
 Hue mihi, Musa; tibi patet alti janua coeli, 
 
 Astra vides, nee te numeri, nee noniina fallunt. 5 
 
 Hue milii, Diva veni ; dulce est per aperta serena 
 
 Vere frui liquido, campoque errare silenti ; 
 
 Vere frui dulee est ; modo tu dignata petenteni 
 
 Sis comes, et meeum gelida spatiere sub umbr4. 
 
 SciJic-ct hos orbes, cceli haec decora alta putandum est, 10 
 
 Noctis opes, nobis tantum lucere ; virAmque 
 
 Ostentari oculis, nostras laquearia terra?, 
 
 NOTES. 
 * This copy of verses was written by desire of the College, in 1737. It has never 
 been printed, but in the ' Musae Etonenses,' vol. ii. p. 107 ; and has not there, the name 
 of the author. It is referred to, in Mason's Memoirs; a copy of verses on the subject, 
 " PlanetcC sunt habitabiles," is in the same work. 
 
 Ver. 2. Tacito] " Tacito lapsu," Claudian, xxii. 430. And xxxi, 40 : " Tacito de- 
 fluxit fistula lapsu." 
 
 Ver. 4. Patet] " Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis," Virg. JEa. vi. 127. 
 Ver. 7. Liquido'] 
 
 " Ver inde serenum 
 
 Protinus, et liquidi clementior aura favoni." 
 
 Claudian, i. 272. 
 Aod Virg. Georg. i. 43 : 
 
 " Vere novo, gelidus cauis cum montibus humor 
 Liqiiitur."
 
 197 
 
 Ingentes scenas, vasti([ue aulaca tlieatri ? 
 
 Oh ! quis me pennis tiethrai super ardua sistet 
 
 Mirantem, propiuscjue dabit convexa tueri; 15 
 
 Teque adco, undo fluens reficit lux mollior arva, 
 
 Pallidiorque dies, trist.es solata teuebras? 
 
 Sic ego, subridens Dea sic ingressa vicissini : 
 Non pennis opus hie, supera ut simul ilia petanius: 
 Disce, Puer, potius coelo deducere Lunani ; 20 
 
 Neu credc ad magicas te invitum accingier artes, 
 Thessalicosve niodos ; ipsam descendere Phoeben 
 Conspicies novus Endymion ; seque ofteret ultr6 
 Visa tibi ante oculos, et nota major imago. 
 
 Quin tete admoveas (tumuli super aggere spectas), 25 
 Compositum tubulo ; simul imum invade canalem 
 Sic intenta acie, coeli simul alta patescent 
 Atria ; jamque, ausus Lunaria visere rcgna, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 13. Scenai] 
 
 " Vel scena ut vcrsis disccdat frontibiis ; utqiic 
 Purpurea iiitexti tollant aulteo Britanni." 
 
 Virg. Georg. iii. '14. 
 Ver. 14. Oh! quis] This and the following line are from Virg. Georg. ii. 489; and 
 iEn. iv. 451. 
 
 Ver. 20. Disce\ " Disce, puer," /En. xii. 435. " Vel coelo possunt deducere luuam," 
 Eclog. viii. (i9. 
 
 Ver. 21. Acdncier] " Magicas invitam adcingier artes," Mn. iv. 493. 
 Ver. 92. Thessalicosve] 
 
 " Qux sidcra excantata voce Thessala 
 Luiianujue ca-lo deripit." 
 
 Her. Epod. v. 45. 
 Ver. 24. t^isii] This line is from Virgil, Mn. ii. 773 : 
 
 " Visa mihi ante oculos, ei noli major imago."
 
 1.98 
 
 Int^icdicre solo, et caput inter nubila coiules. 
 
 Ecce autem ! vitii se in vertice sistere Phoeben 30 
 
 Cernis, et Oceanum, et crebris Fieta consita tenis 
 Panditur die atrain faciein caliginc condens 
 Sublustri; refugitcjue oculos, fallitcjue tuentem ; 
 Intcgram Solis lucein quippti haurit aperto 
 Fluctii avidus radioruiu, ct lontjos imbibit ignes : 35 
 
 Veium hh, (pue, niaculis variata nitontibus, auro 
 Ctciula disccnuint, cclso sese insula dorso 
 Plurinui protrudit, pnvtentacpic littora saxis ; 
 Liberior datur his quoniam natura, niinusque 
 Lumen depascunt liquiduni ; scd tela diei 40 
 
 Detorqucnt, retroquc doccnt se vertere flanunas. 
 
 ' NOTES. 
 
 Ver.Of). Jngredicre] " Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit," Virg. JEn. 
 
 iv. 177. 
 
 Ver. 31. Frctti] " Et ciebiis legimus freta consita terris," Virg.iEn. iii. 127. 
 
 Ver. So. IinbUnt ignes] There is no authority in Latin poetry for the use of the word 
 " imbibit" in this sense. It is a word utmsual in poetry, though twice found in Lucretius 
 (iii. 1010, aiidvi. 71): but it is there used in another construction : as "Imbibit petere," 
 i. e. " Induxit in uniinuni petere." Tliere is a note on this word in Mureti Var. Lectiones, 
 lib. i. cap. (J. (lu Gesner's Thesaurus, and Havercanip's Lucretius, the reference to Mu- 
 retus is wrong, l.cap. 5.) The word which Gray should have used, is " bibit." See 
 iEn. i. 74L) ; xi. 804 : Georg. ii. 50G ; &c. 
 
 Ver. 38. Protrudit] This word is unusual in Latin poetry. It may be defended on the 
 authority of Lucretius, iv. 247 : " Extemplo protrudit, agilque aera :" — where, however, 
 some manuscripts read " procudit" 
 
 Ver. 3U. Liberior] 
 
 " Saiunt videtur 
 
 Libera ." 
 
 Lucret. ii. 1090. 
 
 Ver. 40. Tela] " Lucida tela diei," Lucret. i. 148. " Luciferique paveut letalia tela 
 diei," Ausonii Mosell. 260.
 
 199 
 
 Hinc longos videas tractus, terrasquc jaccntes 
 Ordine candenti, et claros se attollere montes ; 
 Monies queis Ilhodope assurgat, quibus Ossa nivali 
 Vertice : tuni scoj)ulis intVil pendcntibus antra 45 
 
 Nigrcscunt clivorum umbra, neniorunuiue tenebris. 
 Non rores illi, aut dcsunt sua nubila niundo ; 
 Non frigus geliduni, atquc herbis gratissimus inibcr; 
 His quoque nota ardet picto Thauniantias arcu, 
 Os roscuin Aurorae, propiiique crepuscula coeli. 
 
 Et dubitas lantum certis cultoribus orbem 51 
 
 Destitui ? exercent agros, sua nioenia condunt 
 Pli quoque, vel Marteni invadunt, curantque triuniphos 
 Victores : sunt l)ic ctiam sua praeniia Jaudi ; 
 His nietus, atcjue amor, et nicntem'mortalia tangunt. 55 
 
 Quin, uti nos oculis jam nunc juvat ire per arva, 
 Lucentesque plagas Luna% pontumque profundum ; 
 Idem illos etiam ardor agit, cum sc aureus effert 
 Sub sudum globus, et terrarum ingentior orbis ; 
 Scilicet omne sequor turn lustrant, scilicet oninem 60 
 
 Tellurem, gentesque polo sub utrociue jacentes ; 
 Et quidani aestivi indefessus ad retheris ignes 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 43. Scvpnlis] " Fioiitc .siil) advcisii scopulis pciuleiitibiis antnini," Virg. JEti. 
 i. Kid. 
 
 Ver. 48. IJerljis gralisiiiiius] " Quiim los in iiiuMa pecori gratissimus herba," Virg. 
 Eclog. viii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 41). T/ianmanlias] " lloseo Tliaumanlias ore locuta est," Virg. .fliln. ix. 5. "In 
 terratn y)<(7()s delapsa per anus" 0\. Mtl. xiv. 8;!8. 
 
 Ver. .53, Invadunt] " Invadunt Martem clypeis," iEii. .\ii. 7 I'i. 
 Ver. j4. Prxniiu'] 
 
 " Sunt liic etiani sua prannia laiuii, 
 
 Sunt lacrynix rerun), et lucntein niurtulia twigunt," 
 
 Mn. i. 4(il.
 
 200 
 
 Pervigilat, nocteni exercens, coeluinque fatigat ; 
 
 Jam Galli apparent, Jam se Germania latci 
 
 ToUit, et albescens pater Apenninus ad auras ; 65 
 
 Jam tandem in Borean, en ! parvulus Anglia naevus 
 
 (Quanquam aliis longe fulgentior) extulit oras ; 
 
 Formosum extempl6 lumen, maculamque nitentem 
 
 Invisunt crebri Procercs, serumque tuendo ; 
 
 Hserent, certatimque suo cognomine signant : 70 
 
 Forsitan et Lunee longinquus in orbe Tyrannus 
 
 Se dominum vocat, et nostra sc jactat in aula. 
 
 Terras possim alias propiori sole calentes 
 
 Narrare, atquc alias, jubaris queis parcior usus, 
 
 Lunaruni chorus, et tenuis penuria Plioebi ; 75 
 
 Ni, meditans eadem haec audaci evolvere cantu. 
 
 Jam pulset citharam soror, et pra^ludia tentet. 
 
 Non tamen has proprias laudes, nee facta silebo 
 Jamprid^m in fatis, patria?que oracula famae. 
 Tempus erit, sursOim totos contendere ca3tus 80 
 
 Quo cernes longo excursu, primosque colonos 
 IVIigrare in lunam, et notos mutare Penates : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 63. Pervi:^Uat] 
 
 " Et quidani seros hibcrni ad lutninis ignes 
 Pervigilat." 
 
 Vii'^. Gcotg. i. 292. 
 Ver. 6.5. jdpenniitus] " Vertice se attollens pater Aptiniinus ad auras," JEu. xii. 703. 
 Ver. 72. Jactat] " Ilia se jactat in aula," Mn. i. 140. 
 Ver. 75. l.tuiarum] So Virgil, Georg. i. 421 : " Luna.sque sequciites." 
 Ver. 75. Peintriu] This expression " Penuria Piicebi" is not, I believe, warranted by 
 the authority of any of the Latin poets. There would have been less objection, if the 
 plain term, instead of the figurative, had been used. 
 
 Ver. 79. In fatis] " Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur," Ov. Met. i. 256.
 
 201 
 
 Dum stupet obtutii tacito vetus incola, longcque 
 Insolitas explorat aves, classemquc volantem. 
 
 Ut quondam igiiotum marmor, camposque natantes 85 
 Tranavit Zephyros viscns, nova regna, Columbus ; 
 Litora niirantur circilm, niirantur et undse 
 Inclusas acies fcrro, tunnastiue bitbruies, 
 Monstraque foeta armis, et non iniitabile fulmen. 
 Foedera mox icta, et gemini coniniercia mundi, 90 
 
 Agminaque assueto glomerata sub aethere cerno. 
 Anglia, quaj pelagi janiduduni torquet habenas, 
 Exercetque frequens ventos, atque impciat undae ; 
 Aeris attollet fasces, vctercsque triumphos 
 Hue etiam f'eret, et victis doniinabitur auris. 93 
 
 NOTES. 
 Ver. 83. Obtutu] " Obtutu tacito stetit," ^n. xii. 666. 
 
 Ver. 84. Insolitas] " Innunierce comitautur aves, stipantque volaiitcni," Claud. Phoj- 
 nix, 76. 
 
 Ver. 85. Camposque'] " Campique natantes," Georg. iii. 198. 
 
 Ver. 89. Fata] " Foeta armis," .^n. ii. 238. " Non imitabile fulmen," ^u. vi. 590. 
 
 Ver. 90. Commercia] " Geminoque facis commercia niundo," Claud, xxxiii. 90. 
 
 Ver. 92. Pelagi] " ^quorcas liabenas," Claud, viii. -122. 
 
 V«r. 95. Victis] " Servilio premet, ac Tictis domiuabitur Argis," ^n. i. 285. 
 
 VOL. I. 2d
 
 SAPPHIC ODE: 
 
 TO MR. WEST.* 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii.p.42.) 
 
 Barbaras aedes aditure mecum 
 Quas Eris semper fovet inquicta, 
 Lis ubi late sonat, et togatum 
 
 iEstuat agmen 
 
 Dulcius quanto, patulis sub ulmi 
 Hospitae ramis temer^ jacentem 
 Sic libris horas, tenuique inertes 
 
 Fallere Musa ? 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Mr. Mason considered this as the first original production of Graj's Muse; the two 
 former poems being imposed as exercises, by the College. 
 
 Ver, 3. Lis] " Lis nmiqiiam, toga rara," Martial. Ep. x. 47. 
 Ver. 4. ^stuat] So Claudian, xi. 24 : 
 
 " Quot astuantes ancipiti gradu 
 Furtiva carpent oscula Na'ides." 
 Ver. 5. Patulis] " Platanus. .. patulis est diffusa ramis," Cicero de Oratore, Lib. I. 
 cap. vii. " Hospita umbra," Ovid. Trist. III. iii. (i4. 
 
 Ver. T). Temere] Tliere is no authority for the last syllable of " temere" being made hug.
 
 203 
 
 Saepe cnini curis vagor expedite. 
 
 Mentc; dum, blandam meditans Cainaenatu, 10 
 
 Vix male rori, meminive serae 
 
 Cedere nocti ; 
 
 Et, pedes qu6 me rapiunt, in omni 
 Colle Parnassum videor vidcre 
 
 Fertilem sylvae, gelidaraque in omni 15 
 
 Fonte Aganippen. 
 
 Risit et Ver me, facilesque Nymphae 
 Nare captantem, nee ineleganti, 
 Man^ quicquid de violis eundo 
 
 Sunipit aura : 20 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Yet Casimir Sarbievus (Sarbieuwsky) has erred in the quantity of this word, as well as Gray : 
 
 " Te sibilantis lenior halitus 
 Perflabit Eurl ; me jiivet interim 
 Colium rcclinasse ; et virenti 
 Sic temere jacuisse ripa." Ad Testudinem. 
 
 In Horace, Virgil, and Ovid the final syllable of this word is always elided. — A friend has 
 observed, tliat the last syllable of temere is made long in the ' Gradus' on the authority of 
 Tertullian : " Immemor ille Dei temere committere tale." It is hardly necessary to observe 
 that the authority of Tertullian on a question of a doubtful quantity would not be esteemed 
 sufficient. The last syllable of temere being always elided by Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, suf- 
 ficiently shows their opinion to have been, that it was short : and therefore that it could not 
 be used in Hexameter verse, without lengtliening its final syllable by elision. 
 
 Ver. 7. Tenuique'] " Tenui deducta poemata filo," Hor. Ep. II. i. 225. " Gracile.i 
 Musas," Propcrt. Elcg. II. x. 3. Virg. Eclog. i. 2. 
 
 Ver. 9. Vagor"] 
 
 " ultra 
 
 Terminum, curis vagor expeditis." 
 
 Hor. Od. I. xxii. 10. 
 Ver. 13, 14. Pedes] " I, pedes quo te rapiunt," Hor. Od. III. xi.49. " Videre magnos 
 jam videor duces," Od. II. i.21. 
 
 2 D 2
 
 204 
 
 Me reclinatum tcneram per hcrbam ; 
 Qua leves cursus aqua cunque ducit, 
 Et moras dulci strepitu hipillo 
 
 Nectit in omni. 
 
 Ha? novo nostrum ferh pectus anno 25 
 
 Simplices curae tenuere, ccelum 
 Quamdiu sudum explicuit Favoni 
 
 Purior hora : 
 
 Otia et campos nee adhuc relinquo, 
 
 Nee magis Phoebo Clytie fidelis ; 30 
 
 (Ingruant venti licet, et senescat 
 
 Mollior aestas.) 
 
 Namque, seu, la^tos hominum labores 
 Prataque et montes recreante curru, 
 PurpurS tractus oriens Eoos 
 
 Vestit, et auro ; 
 
 Sedulus servo veneratus orbem 
 Prodigum splendoris ; amoeniori 
 Sive dilectam meditatur igne 
 
 Pingere Calpen ; 40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 17. Faciles] " Sed faciles nymp'.iae risere," Virg. Eclog. iii.Q. 
 Ver. 22 Leves] " Levis cuisu," Virg. ^n. xii. 48y. 
 
 Ver. 26. Ca/uin] '• Cali in rcgione seiein^ 
 
 Per suduM rutilaie videiit." 
 
 Virg. iEn. viii. 528. 
 Ver. 30. Cli/lie'] See Ov. Metam. iv.C34. 264 
 
 Ver.31. Senescat] " Seiiescit ager," Ovid. Art. Ani.iii. 82., e.\ Pont. I. iv. 14. " Mollts 
 anni," Ovid. Kp. iii. 3. Tristia, iv. 43.
 
 205 
 
 Usque dum, fulgore magis magis jam 
 Languido circum, vaiiata nubes 
 Labitur furtim, viridisque in umbras 
 
 Scena recessit. 
 
 O ego fclix, vice si (nee unquam 45 
 
 Surgercm rursus) simili cadentem 
 Parca me lenis sineret quieto 
 
 Fallere Letho ! 
 
 Multa flagranti radiisque cincto 
 
 Intogris ah ! quain nihil invidercm, 50 
 
 Cum Dei ardcntes medius quadrigas 
 
 Sentit Olympus. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 45. O ego] The last syllable of ctfo is short, and so used by the best writers; nor 
 will the example of Ausonius, or an instance or two of its being found lojig in Plautus and 
 Catullus, authorize a modern poet in this licence. See the note by Hcinsius on Ovid. Ep. xiii. 
 135, and Burmann on Propertii Eleg. I. viii. 41. " Recte Hcinsius, qui nunquam a Nasone 
 hujus voculu' ultiinam proil iici uolat ; ct falsos esse illos qui ab ullo Augustci a;vi poota id 
 factum confenduiit, ilicit ad Aibinov. Epiced. Drusi. x. 193." See also Vossius de Arte 
 Granimaticvi, lib. ii. cap. 27- Orakenborch in his note on Sil. Italicus xvii. 358, (where the 
 last syllable of ego is long,) relics on ihe authorities produced by Vos.«iius ; and thinks that it 
 may be lengthened, even without the po\\er of the ciesura. 
 
 Ver. 48. Fallere] " Natus moriensque fefellit," Hor. Ep. I. xvii. 10. 
 
 Vcr. 4!). Multa] Mi-. Mason has improperly accented this word, as if it were an adverb 
 (multa). All the other editions have followed liiiii. It is the " nomen pro adverbio," as 
 Hor.()d.lV.ii.25.
 
 ALCAIC FRAGMENT. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 43.) 
 
 O LACRYMARUM fons*, tencFO sacros 
 Ducentiuin orus ex animo ; quater 
 Felix ! in imo qui scatentcm 
 Pectore te, pia Nympha, sensit. 
 
 LATIN LINES 
 
 ADDRESSED TO MR. WEST, FROM GENOA. 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 94.) 
 
 HoRRiDos tractus, Boreeeque linquens 
 Regna Taurini fera, molliorem-j^ 
 Advehor brumam, Genuaeque amantes 
 
 Litora soles. 
 
 NOTES. 
 * Lactymarumfons] So Sophocles, Antigone, ver. 803 : 
 
 $ ovx sri irrjYois Juva/xai Sdxgvuiv. 
 t Molliorem] So in the Sapphic Ode, " Mollior sestas," Ovid in his Epist. ex Ponto, 
 I. ii. 62: " Litora mollia."
 
 ELEGIAC VERSES, 
 
 OCCASIONED BY THE SIGHT OF THE PLAINS AV HERE THE BATTLE OF TREBIA WAS 
 
 FOUGHT. 
 
 ( See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. I04..) 
 
 Qua Treble glavicas salices intersecat unda, 
 Arvaque Ronianis nobilitata inalis. 
 
 Visus adhuc amnis veteri de clade rubere, 
 Et suspirantes ducere moestus aquas ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. Treble] I do not know on what authority Gray has used the word " Treble" with 
 the final e. The word which is used in the Classic authors is TreJna, T^s^lx;. See Sil. 
 Ital. iv. 661, xi. 140, &c. saepe. Lucan, ii.46. Livy, xxi. c. 48. Plinj, N. H. 3. 20, &c. 
 Claudian, xxiv. 145. Maniiius, iv. 6GI. — It is most probable that Gray thought that the final 
 syllable of Trebia could not be lengthened ; therefore used the w ord Treble, as Libya, Libye. 
 But in Ovid the words, Leda, Rhea, H}bla, Phadra, Andromeda, Anialthea, &,c. lenu-then 
 the final syllable. " Mittit Hypermnestra de tot modo fratribus uni," Ov. Ep. xiv. 1. In 
 Propertlus, II. xi. 5. the a in Electra is long ; also in Ovid. Fast. iv. I77. See on this point 
 D'Orville's Misc. Obs. ii. 'IQ'l, and Burniann's notes to Anlhol. Latin, i. Gl j. ii. 78. In the 
 Here. Fur. of Seneca, Q03 : " Megara parvum comitata gregeni." Gray therefore would 
 have had sufticieiit authority for the use of Trebia in this place. 
 
 Ibid. Glaucas] So Sil. Italicus, iv.Gfil, describing the appearance of Trebia : 
 " Turn madidos crines, et i^lauca* fronde revinctum 
 Attollit cum voce caput." 
 
 * When the epithet g/oHcn is applied to the foliage ofatrec, and the tree itsclfnot p.irticular- 
 ized, as in thi- passage of Sil. Italicus : wl- must refer it to the " salix," the " populus," or the 
 " oliva;" according to situation, and other circumstances.
 
 208 
 
 Maurorumque ala, et nigrse incrcbcscerc turmce, 
 Et pulsa Ausonidum ripa sonare fuga. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 5. Nigrce] Sil. Italicus describes the army of Hannibal, iii. 407 : 
 " Talia Sidonius per campos agmina ductor 
 Piilvere nigrantes raptat."
 
 CARMEN 
 
 AD 
 
 C. FAVONIUM ZEPHYRINUM.* 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. ISO.) 
 
 Mater rosarum, cui tenerae vigent 
 Aurae Favoni, cui Venus it comes 
 Lasciva, Nympharum choreis 
 
 Et volucrum celebrata cantu ! 
 Die, non incrtcm fallere qua diem 5 
 
 Amat sub umbrS, seu sinit aureum 
 Dormire plectrum, seu retentat 
 
 Pierio Zephyrinus antro 
 Furore dulci plenus, et immemor 
 Reptantis inter frigora Tusculi 10 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Written by Mr. Gray imniediately after his journey to Frascati and the cascades of 
 Tivoli, whicli he had described in a preceding letter to his friend Mr. West. 
 Ver. 1. Figcnl] " Et reserata vigel genitalis aura Favotii," Lucret i. 2. 
 Vcr. 6. Aureum] 
 
 " Et te sonantem plenius aureo, 
 Alcfee, plectra." 
 
 1 1 or. Od. II. xiii. 26. 
 Ver. 8. Fierio} " Pierio recrcatis antro," Hor. Od. 111. iv. 40. 
 VOL. 1. 2 li
 
 210 
 
 Umbrosa, vel colles Amici 
 Palladia} superantis Albae. 
 Dilecta Fauiio, et capripcdum clioris 
 Pineta, tester vos, Anio niinax 
 
 Quaecunque per clivos volutus 15 
 
 Pifficipiti tremefecit amne, 
 lllius altum Tibur, et iEsulse 
 Audisse sylvas nomen amabiles, 
 lllius et gratas Latinis 
 
 Naisin ingeminasse rupes ; 20 
 
 Nam me Latinae Naides uvida 
 A'^idere ripa, qud niveas levi 
 Tam saepe lavit rore plumas 
 Dulc^ canens Venusinus ales ; 
 Mirum ! canenti conticuit nemus, 25 
 
 Sacrique fontes, et retineiit ad hue 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Vcr. 14. Jnio'] " Et praeceps Anio, ac Tiburni lucus," Hor. Od. I. vii, 13. " Pre- 
 ceps Allien," Statii. Silv. I. v. 25. 
 
 Ver. 20. Naisiii] In Mr. Mason's, and all the subsequent editions, the word " Nai'asin," 
 is here placed; which would make the line unmetrical. Gray indeed might have written 
 " Naiasin geminasse rupes." But the word " Naides" in the following line, which has 
 also the same error in the editions as the former word, would make an objection to that 
 reading. 1 have therefore restored the metre, by reading " Naisin" and " Naides." See 
 Gronoviuson Senecae Hippol. 778. Jortin's Tracts, vol. i. p. 321. 
 
 Ver. 20. Ndist/i] See Propert. I. xx. 12 : " Non minor Ausonius est amor ali ! Dry- 
 asin." And I. xx. 52: " Ah! dolor ibat Hylas, ibat Hamadryasin." And Ov. Art. Am. 
 iii. 672. See Burmann's note to Ovid, Ep. xiii. 137- 
 
 Ver. 23. liore] In tiiis, the following, and the last staiua, the third line of the Alcaic 
 stanza ends with two dissyllables; which can be defended but by very few examples of 
 Horace. — Another error in this verse is, the absence of the accent on the^fth or sixth 
 syllable. 
 
 Ver. 26. Sacrique fontes] " Kfrvi;; k^iv fo'ov," Apoll, Rhod. i. 1208. " Ad agiite lene
 
 211 
 
 (Sic Musa jussit) saxa niollcs 
 Docta modos, veteresque lauri. 
 Mirare nee tu ine citharae rudem 
 Claudis laboranteni numeris: loca 30 
 
 Amoena, jucundumque ver in- 
 compositum docuere carmen ; 
 Haerent sub omni nam folio ni^ri 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 caput sacra," Hor. Od. I. i 22. "Nee sacros pollue yb/jte," Ovid. Metam. ii. 464. 
 " Foule sacro," Virg. JEii. vii. 84. 
 
 Ver. 30. C/audis /abordiitem] Tliis is tlie only instance in this ode in wliicli Mr. Gray 
 lias not conformed to tlie rule of the " divisio versus post quinlam syliabaui." In the other 
 Alcaic Ode on the Chartreuse, there is also one instance similar to this : 
 
 " Per invias rupes, fera per juga." 
 
 The practice of Horace certaiuly seems to authorize this rule. Three exceptions are to 
 be found: Od. lib. I. xxxvii. 5, I. xxxvii. 14, and Od. IV. xiv. 16. I do not know that 
 there are any more ; of course, t!ie case of an elided syllable being excepted. 
 
 Ver 31. jiinand\ In Horace there are but nine instances of an amphibrachys, as 
 " AmoLMia," beginning the third line of the Alcaic stanza. As the places where it occurs 
 in that poet have not, I believe, been ever pointed out, I will set them down here, to save 
 any trouble to those desirous of seeing them: I. xvii. 7, I. xxix. 7, I. xxxv. 1.'5, I. 
 xxxvii. 15, n. iii. 3, U. xvii. 3, H. xx. 11, HI. iii. 71, HI. xxix. 11. 
 
 Ver. 31, 32. Ver in-composifi(?>i] There is no instance in Horace of a broken tcord end- 
 ing the third line of the Alcaic stanza, or, indeed, of its being used at all ; and therefore 
 it must be considered, as not defended by authority; though it may be found ending 
 the third line of the Sapphic stanza, in Horace, I. xxv. 11, I. ii. 19, H. xvi. 7. HI. 
 xxvii. 60. but, I believe, that no example even of this can be found in the Sapphics of 
 Seneca. It ends the first line, in Hor. Od. IV'. ii. 1, and the second line in II. ii. 13, 
 and IV. ii. 22, in « liich latter passage it is to be observed, that the " dirisio vocis" takes 
 place in two successive lines. 
 
 VcT.SS. Ilecreiit] 
 
 " Quam sedem Somnia vulg6 
 
 Vaiia tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent." 
 
 Virg. .^n. vi. 283. 
 2 E 2
 
 212 
 
 Phoebea lud (credite) somnia, 
 
 Argutiusque et lympha et aurae 35 
 
 Nescio quid solito loquuntur.
 
 FRAGMENT OF A LATIN POEM* 
 
 ON 
 
 THE GAURUS. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 145.) 
 
 Nec procul infelix se tollit in aethera Gaurus, 
 Prospiciens vitreum lugenti vertice pontum: 
 Tristior ille diu, et veteri desuetus oliva 
 Gaurus, pampinescque eheu jam nescius umbrae ; 
 Horrendi tam saeva premit vicinia montis, 
 Attonitumque urget latus, exuritque ferentem. 
 Nam fama est olim, mediA. dum rura silcbant 
 Noctc, Deo victa, et moUi perfusa quiete, 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * Sent by Mr. Gray to his friend West, with a reference to Sandys's Travels, book iv. 
 pag. 275, 277, and 278. A translation of this poem may be seen in the Gent. Mag. for 
 July 1775. 
 
 Ver. 2. Vitreum] " Vitreo ponto," Hor. Oil. IV. ii. 3. " Vitrca unda," Virg. .En. 
 TJi. 759. Georg. iv. 350. 
 
 Ver. 4. Pampinecc] " Bacchci vincta madentia Gauri," Statii Silv. III. v. [)[). " Icaiio 
 ncmorosus paUiiite Gaurus," Silv. III. i. 147. 
 
 \'er. 5. Fremit] " Vicinia Persidis urget," Georg. iv. 290. " Panipincas invidil col- 
 libus umbras," Virg. Ec. vii. j8.
 
 214 
 
 Infrcmuisse aequor ponti, auditamque per omnes 
 
 Lat^ tellurein surdum immugire cavernas : 10 
 
 Quo sonitu nemora alta trcmunt ; tremit excita tuto 
 
 Parthcnopaea sinu, flanimantisque ora Vesevi. 
 
 At subit6 se aperire solum, vastosquc recessus 
 
 Pandere sub pedibus, nigraque voragine fauces ; 
 
 Turn piceas cinerum glomerare sub aethere nubes 1.5 
 
 Vorticibus rapidis, ardentique imbre procellara. 
 
 Preecipites fugere ferae, perque avia long^ 
 
 Sylvarum fugit pastor, juga per deserta. 
 
 Ah, miser! increpitans soepe alta voce per umbram 
 
 Nequicquam natos, creditque audire sequentes. 20 
 
 Atcjue ille excelso rupis de vertice solus 
 
 Rcspcctans notasque domos, et dulcia regna, 
 
 Nil usquam videt infelix praiter mare tristi 
 
 Lumine percussum, et pallentes sulphurc campos, 
 
 Fumumque, flammasque, rotataque turbine saxa. 25 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 9. ^quor] " Imniania ponti aequora," Lucret. vi. 624. 
 Ver. 10. Immugire] " Curvisque immugiit MXaa. caveiuis." vEn. iii. 674. 
 Ver. 15. Piceas] " Picea crassam caligiiie nubem," Virg. Geoig. ii. 309. " Vorago, 
 pestiferas apeiit fauces," JEn. vii. 569. 
 
 Ver. 17. Fugere fere] "Terra tremit: fugere ferae," Virg. Georg. i. 330. 
 Ver. 24. Sulphure] 
 
 " turn loiigo limite sulcus 
 
 Dat lucem, et late circiiin loca sulphure fumant." 
 
 Virg. Bin. ii. 698. 
 And, " Sulplmrei cum per juga consita Gauri," Ausonii Mosell. p. 387. ed. Tollii. 
 
 Ver. 25. Fumumque] in the modern Latin poetry, this license of lengthening the 
 " que," before the mute and liquid, even with the power of the casura, ought to be 
 avoided, as it is supported by so few examples. See Virg. JEa. vii. 186. Georg. i. l6-i. 
 And see also JEn. iii. 91- Ov. Met. v. 484.
 
 215 
 
 Quin ubi detonuit fragor, ct lux reddita coelo ; 
 Maestos confluere agricolas, passuque videres 
 Tandem iterum timido deserta requirere tecta: 
 Spcrantes, si forte oculis, si forte darentur 
 Uxorum cineres, miserorumve ossa parentuni SO 
 
 (Tenuia, sed tanti saltern solatia luctds) 
 Una colligere et justA, componere in urnfi. 
 Uxorum nusquam cineres, nusquam ossa parentuni 
 (Spem niiseram !) assuetosvc Lares, aut rura videbunt. 
 Quippe ubi planities campi diffusa jacebat ; 35 
 
 Mons novus : illc superciliuni, IVontemque faviliri 
 Incanum ostentans, anibustis cautibus, a^quor 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 26. Detonuit fragor] This is not a common expression in Latin poetry. Val. 
 Flaccus has, " Diim detonet ira:" iv. £94. See also Quintihan (Gesn. XII, ix. 4) : 
 " Cum ilia dicendi vitiosa jactatio inter plausores sero detonuit."' Petronii Sat. c. xvii. 
 p. 37. 
 
 Ver. 31. Tenuia] See Virg. Georg. i. 397 : " Tenuia nee lana," &c.— ii. 121 : " De- 
 pectant tenuia Seres." Lucret. iv. 747. And Terent. Maur. ver. 474. 
 Ver. 31. Solatia] 
 
 " Sohitia iuctfis 
 
 Exigua ingentis niisero sed debita patri." 
 
 ^n. xi. 62. 
 Ver. 32. Una colligere] I should conceive the proper phrase to be " Colligere in 
 unum," and not xinu. Virg. Eel. vii. 2 : " Compuleraiitque grcges Corydon et Tliyrsis 
 in luiuni." Cicero de Invcntione, i. oO : " Colligere et conferre in unum." Again, 
 " Militibus in unum conductis." And Philip, ix. : " Si omues juris considti in unum con- 
 ferantur." Ovidii Met. iii. 7)5. 
 Ver. S3. Uxorum] 
 
 " Alas ! 
 
 Nor wife, nor children, more shall he behold 
 Nor friends, nor sacred home." 
 
 Thomson'.s Winter, ver. 31.i.
 
 216 
 
 Subjectum, stragemque suam, maesta arva, minaci 
 Despicit imperio, soloque in littore regnat. 
 
 Hinc infaiue loci nomen, multosque per annos 40 
 
 Immeinor antiqujE laudis, nescire labores 
 Vomeris, et nullo tellus revirescere cultu. 
 Non avium colles, non carmine matutino 
 Pastorum resonare ; ade6 undique dims habebat 
 Informes lat^ horror agros saltusque vacantes. 45 
 
 Sccpius et long^ detorquens navita proram 
 Monstrabat digito littus, saevaeque revolvens 
 Funera narrabat noctis, veteremque ruinam. 
 
 Montis adhuc facies manet hirta atque aspera saxis : 
 Sed furor extinctus jamdudum, et flamma quievit, .50 
 
 Quae nascenti aderat ; seu fort6 bituminis atri 
 Defluxere olim rivi, atque efFoeta lacuna 
 Pabula sufficere ardori, viresque recusat; 
 Sive in visceribus meditans incendia jam nunc 
 (Horrendiim) arcanis glomerat genti esse futurse 55 
 
 Exitio, sparsos tacitusque recolligit ignes. 
 Raro per clivos baud secius ordine vidi 
 Canescentem oleam : longum post tempus amicti 
 Vite virent tumuli ; patriamque re\ isere gaudens 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ■Ver.41. Antiqua:] " Res antique laudis," Virg. Georg. ii. 174. 
 
 Ver. 43. Carmine] " Matulini cantiis," ;En. viii. 45f). Milton's Par. Lost, v. J. 
 
 Ver. 47. Monstrabat] " Iiidice monstraret digito," Hor. Sat. II. viii. 26. And Pers. 
 i.28. 
 
 Ver. 56. Sparsos] " Sparsosque recolligit ignes," Lucan. i. 157. " Dum tacitas \'nes, 
 it flammam colligit ignis," Sii. Ital. iv. 307. 
 
 Ver. 58. Canesreuteni] " Foetum cuiunlis oliviip," Ov. Mel. vi. 81.
 
 217 
 
 Bacchus in assuetis tenerum caput exerit arvis 60 
 
 Vix tandem, infidoque audet se credere coelo. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 60. Caput] " Jam mod6 coerulco nitiduni caput exsere ponto," Ov. Met. xiii. 
 838. And Fast. i. 458. 
 Ver. 61. Audet'\ " Pennisausus se credere coelo," Virg. ^n.vi. 15. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 FAREWELL TO FLORENCE. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p.l57.) 
 
 * * Oh Faesulae amcena 
 Frigoribus juga, nee nimii^m spirantibus auris ! 
 Alma quibus Tusci Pallas deeus Apennini 
 Esse dedit, glaucaque suA, canescere sylva ! 
 Non ego vos posthac Ami de valle videbo 
 Porticibus circum, et candenti cincta corond 
 Villarum lonoe nitido consuroere dorso. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 1. Fecsul^l In Sil. Italicus, Pun. viii. 478, the second syllable of this word is short : 
 
 " Faesula, et antiquus Romanis moeuibus horror." Poljbius also (lib. ii. cap. 9,) writes 
 
 #ai<roXa. In other authors, as Appian. Civ. Bell. ii. c. 2. Dion, xxxvii. it is written ^lo-ouXaT, 
 
 which appears to be the more ancient orthography. See Cluver. Ital. Antiq. vol. i. p, 509. 
 
 Ver. 5. Nori ego] 
 
 " Non ego vos poslhac, viridi projectus in antro, 
 Duinosa pendere procul de rupe videbo." 
 
 Virg. Eel. i. 76. 
 Ver. 7. T'illaruni] " Conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis," Hor. Ep. I. xv. 40. 
 «' Superni villa candens Tusculi," Epod. i. 29. " Candida qua geniinas ostendunt culmina 
 turres," Propert. Eleg. iii. xvi. 3.
 
 219 
 
 Antiquamve ^dem, et veteres praeferre Cupiessus 
 Mirabor, tectisquc super pendentia tecta. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 8. Praferrel " Prseferiinus maiiibus vittas," ^En. vii.237. 
 Ver. 9. Pendentia] 
 
 " Talia dcspectant longo per cceriila tractii 
 Pciidentes saxis instaiiti ciiliiiine, vi/ta." 
 
 Aiisoiui Mosell. ver. 283. 
 
 2 r 2
 
 IMITATION 
 
 OF 
 
 AN ITALIAN SONNET 
 
 OF SIGNIOR ABBATE BUONDELMONTE. 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii.p. 1S8.) 
 
 Spesso Amor sotto la forma 
 D'amista ride, e s'usconde : 
 Poi si mischia, e si confonde 
 Con lo sdegno, e col rancor. 
 In Pietade ei si trasforma ; 
 Par trastullo, e par dispetto; 
 Ma nel suo diverso aspetto 
 Sempr' egli, h V istesso Amor. 
 
 LusiT amicitiae interdum velatus amictu, 
 Et ben^ composite veste fefellit Amor. 
 
 NOTES. ^ 
 
 Ver. 1. Velatus] " Utniihi pratextae pudor exvelatus amictu," Propert. III. xxiii. S. fl 
 
 Ver. 2. Composllci] " At me composita pace fefellit amor," Propert. El. II. ii. 6. 
 " Cum bene compositis," Manil. iv. 58. 
 
 Ver. I. jimicitite] " Intrat amicitije nomine, tectus Amor," Ovid. Ar. Am. i. 720.
 
 221 
 
 Mox irce assumpsit cultus, faciemque minantem, 
 Inque odium versus, versus et in lacrymas : 
 
 Ludentem fuge, nee lacrjmanti, aut crede furenti ; 
 Idem est dissimili semper in ore Deus. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 5. Ludentem] So Moschus, Idyll, i, 25 : 
 
 K^v wot' 'h,; KKaiovta, (pu\d(r(rso //,>)' (re irXanjo-r. 
 K-^y yi'ha.a., r\> nv I\y.s, na^r^v aSsXri ae (piXxtrat 
 iiZyi. 
 
 This little poem has been translated into English verse by Mr. Walpole ; see his 
 Works, vol. iv. p. 454 ; and also by the author of ' The Pleasures of Memory :' see Rogers's 
 Poems, p. Ifi5.
 
 ALCAIC ODE,* 
 
 WRITTEN IN THE ALBUM OF THE GRANDE CHARTREUSE, IN DAUPHINY, 
 
 AUGUST 174t. 
 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 160.) 
 
 Oh Tu, severi Religio loci, 
 Quocunque gaudes nomine (non leve 
 Nativa nam certt^ fluenta 
 
 Numen habet, veteresque sylvas ; 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 * In Mr. Heron's [Pinkerton's] ' Letters of Literature,' p. 299, is a translation of this 
 Ode; and after that, a most extraordinary assertion, which I wish the author of that book 
 had not given me an opportunity of producing : as, to say no worse, it is erroneous in every 
 instance. " This exquisite ode," says he, " is by no means in the Alcaic measure, which 
 Mr. Gray seems to have intended it for. The Alcaic measure, us used by Horace, consists 
 of six feet, or twelve syllables, in the two first lines ; three fret and a half, or seven syllables, 
 in the third; and four feet, or eight syllables, in the fourth. ' Truly, Master Holofenics, 
 the epithets are sweetly varied, like a scholar at the least*.' " And yet I am afraid that this 
 ingenious commentator has not experienced how true is the admonition given by the Moorish 
 grammarian : 
 
 Shaksp. Love's Labour's Lost.
 
 223 
 
 Prfesentiorem et conspicimus Deum 5 
 
 Per invias rupes, fera per juga, 
 CJivosque praeruptos, sonantes 
 
 Inter aquas, nemorumque noctem ; 
 Quam si repostus sub trabe citre^ 
 
 Fulgeret auro, et Phidiacd manu) 10 
 
 Salve vocanti rite, fesso et 
 Da placidam juveni quietem. 
 Quod si invidendis sedibus, et frui 
 Fortuna sacr^ lege silentii 
 
 Vetat volentem, me resorbens 15 
 
 In medios violenta fluctus: 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Quid sit liteia, quid duae, 
 Juncta; quid sibi s)Fllab%. 
 Dumos inter, et aspera 
 Sciuposis sequimur vadis. 
 Fronte exile ncgotium 
 Et diguum pueris putes. 
 Aggressis labor arduus 
 Nee tractabile pandas est." 
 
 Tcreut. Maui. Praef. G. cd Brissa^o. 
 Ver. 2. Non leve] " Neque enim leva nomen Amatae," Mn. vii. 581. 
 Ver. 0. Per invias'] This verse would be reckoned faulty, from the absence of the cxsura 
 in its right place. See the note to the ' Carmen ad Favonium,' ver. 30. 
 
 Ver. 8. Noctem'] " Veteris sub tiocte cupressi," Val. Flac. i. 774. " Nox propria luco 
 est," Senecae Thyestes, ver. 67S. 
 
 Ver. <J. Trtihe] " Ponit marnioream sub trahe citrea," Hor. Od. IV. i. '20. 
 Ver. 10. P/iididci'i] " Pliidiacii manu," Martial, vi. 73. x.89. 
 Ver. 11. Rite] " Miiii cumquc salve 
 
 Rite vocanti." Hor. Ode I. x.\xii. 15. 
 Ver. 14. Sdcrn] " Utrumque sacro digna silentio," Hor. Od. II.siii.'29. "Resorbens," 
 Hor. Od. II. vii. 15.
 
 224 
 
 Saltern remote des, Pater, angulo 
 Horas senecta) ducere liberas ; 
 Tutumque vulgari tumultu 
 
 Surripias, hominuraque curis. 20
 
 PART OF 
 
 AN HEROIC EPISTLE 
 
 FROM SOPHONISBA TO MASINISSA. 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 4^6. ) 
 
 Eg REG I UM accipio promissi Munus ainoris, 
 
 Inque manu mortem, jam fruitura, fero: 
 Atque utinam citius mandasses, luce vcl una ; 
 
 Transieram Stygios non inhonesta lacus. 
 Victoris nee passa toros, nova nupta, mariti, 
 
 Nee fueram fastus, Roma superba, tuos. 
 Scilicet haec partem tibi, Masinissa, triumph! 
 
 Detractam, haec pompa; jura minora suae 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 4. Jnhonesta] 
 
 " Quamvis ista mihi mors est inhonesta futura, 
 Mors inhonesta quidem." 
 
 Propert. El. II.vii.89. 
 Ver. 5. Fassa^ " Virgineo nullum corpore passa virum," Ovid. Fast. v. 14(). Virg. 
 Georg. iii. fiO. 
 
 ViT. 7. Musinissa] In Mr. Mason's edition it is spelt * Massinissa;' which, however, will 
 oi\\j partially correct the quantity- ; as the second syllable will still be short. See Ovid. 
 Fast, vi. 769 : 
 
 " Postera lun melior, superat Masiuissa Syphaccni." 
 VOL. I. 2 G
 
 226 
 
 Imputat, atque uxor qu(^cl non tua pressa catenis, 
 
 Objecta et Sfievee plausibus orbis eo : 10 
 
 Quin tu pro tantis cepisli prscmia factis, 
 
 Magnum Romanae pignus amicitiae ! 
 Scipiadaj excuses, ore, si tardius utar 
 
 Munere. Non nimium vivcre, crede, velini. 
 Parva mora est, breve sed tempus mea fama requirit : 15 
 
 Detinet haec animam cura suprema meam. 
 Quae patriae prodesse mcfe Regina ferebar. 
 
 Inter Elisaias gloria prima nurus, 
 Ne videar flamma; nimis indulsisse secundie, 
 
 Vel nimis hostiles extimuisse manus. 20 
 
 Fortunam atque annos liceat revocare priores, 
 
 Gaudiaque lieu ! quantis nostra repensa malis. 
 Primitiasne tuas meministi atque arma Sjphacis 
 
 Fusa, et per Tyrias ducta tropha^'a vias ? 
 (Laudis at antiquoe forsan meminisse pigebit, 25 
 
 Quodque decus quondam causa ruboris erit.) 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 And Sil. Ital. xvi. 117: 
 
 " Cultuque Aeneadum nomen Masinissa superbum." 
 
 That * Masinissa' is the right orthography, see Drakenborcli's note on Sil. Italicus ; 
 Gronovius on Livy, lib. XXV. c. xxxiv. 1 1 ; Vorstius on Val. Max. I. i. 31. Tortelliusiu 
 his Grammatical Commentaries, under the word ' Masanissa,' says, "Non enim primums 
 aliquo pacto duplicari potuit : lit ignari quidam syllabarum voluerunt." See also Noitenii 
 Lexicon, vol. i. p. 112. Cellarii Orthog. Lat. i. p. '.!85. 
 
 Ver. 12. Pignus] " I liber absentis pignus aniiciti£H," Martial. IX. cii. 
 
 Ver. 15. Parca] "Parva mora est," Ovid. Met. i. 671. Ep. ii. 114. 
 
 Ver. 18. E/ifeeas'] See Sil. Italicus, ii. 239 ; vi. 3 iH ; xiv. 257- 
 
 Ver. 20. Hosti/es] " Pallet, et AosfiVcs credit adesse //jahm,?," Ov. Fast.ii. 468. 
 
 Ver. 21. Annos] " Non annis revocare tuis," Ov. Met. vii. 177- 
 
 Ver. 26. Cansu] " Aul ubi cessaras, canm ruboris eram," Ov. Trist.III vii. 26.
 
 227 
 
 Tempus ego certe iiien)ini, felicia Poenis 
 
 Quo te non pud u it solvere vota deis ; 
 Moeniaque intrantem vidi : longo agmine duxit. 
 
 Turba salutantum, purpureique patres. 30 
 
 Foeminea ante omnes longe admiratur euntein 
 
 Hasret et aspectu tola caterva tuo. 
 Jam flexi, regale decus, per colla capilli, 
 
 Jam decet ardenti fuscus in ore color ! 
 Commendat frontis generosa modestia foniiam, 35 
 
 Seque cupit laudi surripuisse suee. 
 Prima genas tenui signat vix flore juventas, 
 
 Et dextrae soli credimus esse virum. 
 Dum faciles gradiens oculos per singula jactas, 
 
 (Scu rexit casus luminu, sive A'enus) 40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 27. -Kgo] Here the last sellable of ego is again uiade long. See tlie note to the 
 Sapphic Ode to Mr. West, ver. 45. 1 have only to add to that note, that ego is said to be 
 found with tliis quantity in tlie ' Dine Catonis,' ver. 15fi ; but which line is thus given by 
 Wernsdorf, vol. iii. p. 19 : 
 
 " Ausus egon' primus custos violare pudores f" 
 and by all the other editors prior to him. See Pithxi Catal. p. 2 19. Scaligeri Collect, p. 6 1 . 
 Boxhornii Poet. Sat. p. 117. Burmanni Anthol. ii. 674. 
 
 Ver. .'30. Turba] "Turba saiutautum," Claudian. iii.213. p. 30. ed. Gesn. Virgil. 
 Georg. ii. 462. 
 
 Ver. 31. Fctmiiien] " Omnia foemineis quare dilecta catervis," Martial, xi. 48. " Venit 
 in exsequias tota caterva mea.i," Prop. IV. .\i. GS. And " aspectu ha'sit," Virg. iEn. iii. 
 
 597. 
 
 Ver. 34. Fuscus] " l'2t en'im/usco grata co/ore Venus," Ov. Amor. ii. 440. And Propcrt. 
 
 El. ll.xix.7t<. 
 
 Ver. 35. Commendat] Ov. Medicam. ver. 1 : " Quae faciem commendat cura." And 
 ad Liv. 259. 
 
 Ver. 37. Prima] " Ora puer pr/w/a «/g«a«j iutonsa^uteH/a," Virg. j^n. ix. 1 8 1 . Also 
 Ovid. Met. xiii. 754. Virg. .En. vii. IfiC. viii. iGO. 
 
 Ver. 39. Faciles] " Facilesque oculus fert omnia circum," Virg. /En. viii. aiO. 
 
 2g 2
 
 228 
 
 In me (vel ccrth visum est) conversa morari 
 
 Sensi ; virgincus pcrculit ora putlor. 
 Nescio quid vultum molle spirare tucndo, 
 
 Credideramque tuos lentius ire pedes. 
 Quaerebam, juxta aequalis si diguior esset, 45 
 
 Quae poterat visus detinuisse tuos : 
 Nulla fuit circum aequalis qua3 dignior esset, 
 
 i\sseruitque decus conscia forma suum. 
 Pomp-cc finis erat. Tota vix nocte quievi, 
 
 Sin premat invito lumina victa sopor, 50 
 
 Soninus habet pompas, eademque recursat imago ; 
 
 Atque iterum hestcrno munere victor ades.* 
 
 ******* 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 40. Cnsiw] " Ad fratrem casu lumina flexa tulit," Ov. Tiist. III. ix. 22. 
 
 Ver. 43. Mo/fe spirare] Gray has in this instance preserved a metrical canon, which has 
 been broken through by many of the modern Latin poets : — repeatedly by Milton, Addison, 
 and T. Warton. See the Classical Journal, 1.71. 283. 
 
 Ver. 46. Visits] " Saepe oculos etiam detinuisse tuos," Ov. Trist. ii. 520. 
 
 Ver. 49. Told vix] " Infelix, totd quicumque (juiescere nocte," Ovid. Amor. ii. 9. 39. 
 
 Ver. 50. Lumina] " Lumina cum placido victa sopore jacent," Ov. Ep. xvi. 100. 
 
 » Mr. Ellis, in his Historical Sketch of English Poetry, (p. 224,) thinks that the descrip- 
 tion of the entry of Troilus into Troy, in Chaucer's romance of Troilus and Creseida, .sug- 
 gested to Gray some very beautiful lines in this Epistle : " Jam flexi, regale decus," &,c. 
 (See Chaucer, b. xi. st. 83. fol. 151. ed. lG02.) 
 
 " This Troilus sat on his baye steed, 
 
 All armed, save his head, full richely," &,c.
 
 DIDACTIC POEM, 
 
 UNFINISHED : 
 
 ENTIItEO, 
 
 DE PRINCIPIIS COGITANDI. 
 
 LIBER PRIMUS. AD FAVONIUM. 
 (See Mason's Memoirs, vol.iii. p. 55.) 
 
 Unde Animus scire incipiat; quibus inchoet orsa 
 Principiis seriem rerurn, tenuemque catenani 
 Mnemosyne : Ratio unde rudi sub pectore tardum 
 Augeat imperiuni ; et primum niortalibus jegris 
 Ira, Dolor, Metus, et Curae nascantur inanes, 
 Ilinc canere aggrcdior. Nee dedignare canentem, 
 O decus! Angliaca^ certe O lux altera gentis! 
 Si (juii primus iter monstras, vestigia Conor 
 Signare incertA, tremuhuiuc insistcrc plantii. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 7. O litx] " Magnie spcs altera Roidsb," Virg. JEn. xii. l68. 
 
 Ver. 9. Trcmuldqtte] " Treinulis possunt insistere plantis," Juv. Sat. yi.gG-
 
 230 
 
 Quin potiiis due ipse (potes namque omnia) sunctum 10 
 
 Ad limen (si rit^. adco, si pectore puro,) 
 
 Obscurae reserans Naturje ingcntia claustra. 
 
 Tu caecas rcruin caiisas, Tontemque severuin 
 
 Pande, Pater ; tibi enim, tibi, veri magna Sacerdos, 
 
 Corda patent hominum, atque alta: penetralia Mentis. 15 
 
 Tuque aures adhibe vacuas, facilesque, Favoni, 
 (Quod tibi crescit opus) simplex nee dcspice carmen, 
 Ncc vatem : non ilia leves priniordia motus, 
 Quanquam parva, dabunt. La'tum vel amabile quiccjuid 
 Usquam oritur, trahit hinc ortum ; nee surgit ad auras, i'O 
 Quin ea conspirent simul, eventusque secundent. 
 Hinc variaj vitai artes, ac mollior usus, 
 Dulce et amicitiie vinclum : Sapientia dia 
 Hinc roseum accendit lumen, vultuque sereno 
 Humanas aperit mentes, nova gaudia monstrans, 25 
 
 Deformesque f'ugat curas, vanosque timores : 
 Scilicet et rerum crescit pulcherrima Virtus. 
 Ilia etiam, quae te (mirum) noctesque diesque 
 Assidu^ fovet inspirans, linguamque sequentem 
 Temperat in numeros, atque horas mulcet inertes ; 30 
 
 Aurea non ali^ se jactat origine Musa. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 12. Natural " Natura primus portarum claustra cupiret," Lucret. i. 72. " Cscas 
 
 causas," Ibid. iii. 317. 
 
 Ver. 13. FoHlemque severum\ " ^mnemqueseverum," Virg. JEn.y'i. 374. And Georg. iii. 
 
 7 ; " Amnemque severum Cocjti metuet." 
 
 Ver. 15. Penetralia] " Mentis penetralia nudat," Claud. Rap. Pros i. 213. 
 
 Ver. Ifi. Faciles] " Faciles habuit aures," Quintil. Inst. Oral. VI. v. p. 576. " Vacuas 
 aures adhibe," Lucret. i. 45. 
 
 Ver. 21. Eveiitits] " Eventusque secundet," Virg. Georg. iv. 397- 
 
 Ver. 24. Hoseutiil " Rubens accendit iutnina Vesper," Virg. Georg. i. 251. 
 
 Ver. 27. Scilicet'] " Scilicet et rcrum facta est pulcherrima Roma," Georg. ii. 534.
 
 231 
 
 Principio, ut magnum foedus Natura creatrix 
 Finiiavit, tardis jussitque inolesceie membris 
 Sublimes animas ; tenebroso in carcere partem 
 Noluit acthcream longo torpere veterno : 35 
 
 Nee per se proprium passa exercere vigorem est, 
 Ne soci;c molis conjunctos sperneret artus, 
 Ponderis oblita, et ca^lestis conseia flammae. 
 Idcircc) innumero ductu treniere undique fibras 
 Nervorum instituit: tum toto corpore miscens 40 
 
 Implicuit lat^ ramos, et sensile textum, 
 Implcvit(|ue humore suo (seu lympha vocanda, 
 Sive aura est) tenuis certe, atque levissiuia quaedam 
 Vis versatur agens, parvosque infusa canales 
 Perfluit ; assidufe externis (juas concita plagis, 43 
 
 Mobilis, incussiquc fidelis nuntia motus, 
 Hinc mdh accensA contage relabitur usque 
 Ad superas hominis sedes, arcemque cerebri. 
 Namque illic posuit solium, et sua tcnipla sacravit 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 31. Aiiren Miisn] " At non Venus attrca contra," Virg. ]S.a, x. 16. " Qui nunc 
 te friiitur cicduliis atirca," Hor. Od. I. v. 9. 
 
 Ver. 32. Natura] " Rcrum natura creatrix," Liicret. i. 623. 
 
 Ver. 35. Torpere] " ^ec torpere gtav] pussus sua regna veterno" Virg. Georg. i. 124. 
 
 Ver. 4.5. Plagis] " Seqiienti concita piuga," Liicrel. iv. 189. " Externis plagi.s,'' Ibid, 
 ii. 1140. 
 
 Ver. 48. Cerebri] 
 
 ■ Stetit uniis in anein 
 
 Ercctus aipilis." 
 
 Manilii Astron. iv.(^05. 
 Penilusque supremuni, 
 
 lu cerebrum." 
 
 Claudiau. wiii. [li.
 
 232 
 
 Mens animi : hanc circum coeunt, densoque feruntur 50 
 Agmine notitife, simulacraque tenuia rcruiu : 
 Ecce autem naturae ingens aperitur imago 
 Immensac, variique patent comniercia mundi. 
 
 Ac uti longinquis descendunt niontibus amnes 
 Velivolus Tamisis, flaA entisque Indus arenoe, 55 
 
 Eupliratesque, Tagusque, et opinio flumine Ganges, 
 Undas quisque suas volvens, cursuque sonoro 
 In mare prorumpunt : hos magno acclinis in antro 
 Excipit Oceanus, natorunique ordine longo 
 Dona recognoscit venientiim, ultrc!>que serenat 60 
 
 Cjeruleam faciem, et difFuso marmore ridet. 
 Hand aliter species properant se inferre novellae 
 Certatim menti, atque aditus quino agmine complent. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " Tuin vapor ipsam, 
 
 Corporis arcem flammis urit." 
 
 Senecae CEdip. 185. 
 See also Shakspeare : 
 
 " And his pure brain, 
 
 Which some suppose the soul's frail dzeelliiig-house," 
 
 King John, act v. sc. 7. 
 And see ver. 135 of this Poem. 
 
 Ver. 51. Tenuia] So Lucretius, iii. 244 : 
 
 " Qua nee mobilius quidquam neque tenuius exstat." 
 And Virg. Georg. i. 398 : 
 
 " Tenuia nee lanse per ccclum vellera ferri." 
 Ver. 51. Reruni] " Rerum simulachra ferantur," Lucret iv. l65. " Geminoque facis 
 commercia mundo," Clnud. xxxiii. 91. 
 
 Ver. 59. Oceanusl " Te tuus Oceanus natali gurgite las$um Excipit," Claud, vii. 176. 
 Ver. 60. Dona] " Dona recognoscit populorum," Virg. j^n. viii. 7^1. 
 Ver. 61. Diffusa] " Diffuse lumine ridet," Lucret. iii. 22.
 
 233 
 
 Primas tactus agit partes, piiniusciue minutte 
 Laxat iter caecum lurbce, recipit(|uc rucntcm. 65 
 
 Non idem huic modus est, qui fiatribus : amplius ille 
 Imperium affectat senior, penitusque medullis, 
 Visceribusque habitat totis, pellisque recentem 
 Funditur in telam, et late per stamina vivit. 
 Necdum etiam matris puer eluctatus ab alvo 70 
 
 Multiplices solvit tunicas, et vincula rupit ; 
 Sopitus molli somno, tepidoque liquore 
 Circumfusus adliuc : tactus tamen aura lacessit 
 Jamduduin ievior sensus, animamque reclusit. 
 Idque magis simul, ac solitum bland um([ue calorem 75 
 
 Frigore nmtavit co^li, quod verberat acri 
 Impete inassuetos artus: turn saevior adstat 
 Ilumanaeque comes vitcc Dolor excipit; ille 
 Cunctantem frustra et tremulo multa ore querentem 
 Corripit invadcns, ferreisque amplectitur ulnis. 80 
 
 Tum species primum patefacta est Candida Lucis 
 (Usque vices ade(!> Natura boni(iue, malique, 
 Exaequat, justaquc manu sua damna rependit) 
 Tum primum, ignotoscjue bibunt nova lumina soles. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. CQ. Late per stamina] So Pope's Essay on Man, i. '217 : 
 " The spider's toiicli, so exquisitely fine, 
 Feels at each tliread, and lives along the line." 
 Ver. 70. Puer] " Tum porro puer. — X/iiVx/s ex alfo matris natura profudit," Lucret. 
 V. 223. " Cum veteres ponunt tunicas," Ibid. iv. 56. 
 
 Ver. 80. Amplt'Ctitiir] " Cu[ndh(\\n^ ampferliliir ufiiis," Ovid. Met. xi. 03. 
 
 Ver. 81. Species] " Nam s\nm\ ac species patefacta est wrniLdieil" Lucret. i.x. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 u
 
 234 
 
 Carmine ((uo, Dea, tc dicam, gratissima cccVi 85 
 
 Progenies, ortiimque tuum ; gcmmantiu rore 
 Ut per prata levi lustras, et floribus halans 
 Piupureum Veris greniium, scenanujue virenteni 
 Pingis, et umbriferos colies, et cjerula regna? 
 Gratia te, Venerisque Lepos, et mille Colorum, 90 
 
 Formarumque chorus sequitur, motusque decentes. 
 At caput invisum Stygiis Nox atra tenebris 
 Abdidit, horrcndteque simul Formidinis ora, 
 Pervigilesque aestus Curarum, atquc anxius Anger: 
 Uudique lastitifi florent mortalia corda, 95 
 
 Purus et arridet largis fulgoribus iEther. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 84. Ignotosque] 
 
 " Editiis ex utero cants nova lumina seiisit, 
 Et stupet ignotum se ineruisse diem." 
 
 Claud, xcix. 10. 
 Ver. 85. Call] 
 
 " Dignissima coeli. 
 
 Progenies." 
 
 Achill. Statii, ii. STC. 
 Ver. 88. Purpureum] " Hie Ver purpureum," Virg. Eclog. ix. 41. 
 Ver. 89. Umbriferos] " Umbriferum nemus," Lucret. vi. 703. 
 Ver. 91. Motusque decentes] 
 
 " Quove color ? dcceiis 
 Quo motus ?" 
 
 Hor. Od. IV.xiii. 17. 
 Ver. 92. Caput] " Invisum hoc detrude caput sub Tartara," .^n. ix. 476. " Si3gii$ 
 teaebris," Georg. iii. 551. 
 
 Ver. 93. Horreiichcque] " Subit horrida mentemformido," Sil. Ital. x. 544 ; Lucret. 
 ni. 253. " Curarum fluctuat ffistu," Virg. /En, viii. ly. 
 
 Ver. 96. Arridet largis] " Iinproviso vibratus ab iEthcre fuigor," Virg. JEn. viii. 524.
 
 235 
 
 Omnia nee tu ide6 invalidse se pandere Menti 
 (Quippe nimis teneros posset vis tanta diei 
 Perturbare, et inexpcrtos confundere visus) 
 Nee capere infantes animos, neu cernere eredas 100 
 
 Tam variani nioleni, et mirffi speetacula lucis : 
 Nescio qufi tamen haec oculos dulcedine parvos 
 Splendida percussit novitas, traxitque sequentes ; 
 Nonne videmus enim, latis inserta fenestris 
 Sicubi se Phoebi dispergant aurea tela, 105 
 
 Sivc lucernaruni rutilus colluxerit ardor, 
 Extemplo hue obverti aeiem, qua3 fixa repertos 
 Haurit inexplctum radios, fruiturque tuendo. 
 
 Altior huic vero sensu, majorque videtur , 
 
 Addita, Judicioqiie arete eonnexa potestas, 110 
 
 Quod simul atque ajtas volventibus auxerit annis, 
 Hffic simul, assiduo depaseens omnia visu, 
 Perspicict, vis quanta loci, quid polleat ordo, 
 Juneturae quis honos, ut res aceendere rebus 
 Lumina conjurant inter se, et mutua fulgent. 1 15 
 
 Nee minor in oeminis viget auribus insita virtus. 
 Nee tantum in curvis qnx pervigil excubet antris 
 Hine at(pie hinc (ubi Vox tremefecerit ostia pulsu 
 Aiiriis invecta rotis) longcque recurset : 
 Seilicet Eloquio ha?c sonitus, hajc fulminis alas, 120 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 102. Nescio] " Nescio qua pneter solitum dulcedine laeti," Virg. Georg. i. 413. 
 Ver. 104. Iiiserta] " Plena per inscrtas fundebat luna fenestras," Virg. ^Eu, iii. 152. 
 Ver. 105. Te/a] " Lucida tela diei," Lucret. i. 128. 
 
 Ver. 108. Ilauril] " E.rplei i mciUein ncquit, didnsckqac titeiido," Virg. ^u. i. 7 13. 
 Ver. 113. Polleat] " TanUiin series, jH«(-<M/-«YUf ;)o//f/," Horat. Art. Poet. 242. "Ita 
 res accendeut Itiniiiin rebus," Lucret. i. 1 1 10. 
 
 Ver. 1 1!). Invecta] " Puniccis invecta rotis " Virg. Ma. xii. 77. 
 
 2 H 2
 
 236 
 
 Et nuilccrc dcdit dictis et tollerc corda, 
 
 Verba(|ue inetiri numeris, vcrsuque ligare 
 
 Repperit, et quicqiiid discant Libctlirides undffi, 
 
 Calliope quoti^s, quoties Pater ipse canendi 
 
 Evolvat liquidum carmen, calamove loqucnti 125 
 
 Inspirct dulces animas, digitistjue figuret. 
 
 At medias fauces, et linguae humentia tenipla 
 Gustus habet, qua se insinuet jucunda saporum 
 Luxuries, dona Autumni, Baccliique voluptas. 
 
 Naribus interea consedit odora honiinuni vis, 130 
 
 Docta leves captare auras, Pauchaia (|uales 
 Vere novo cxhalat, Florfeve quod oscula ti.igrant 
 RosQJda, cum Zephyri furtim sub vcsperis hora. 
 Respondet votis, moliemque aspirat amorem. 
 
 Tot portas alta; capitis circumdedit arci 135- 
 
 Alma Parens, sensusque vias per membra reclusit ; 
 Haud solas : nauKjuc inti'is agit vivata facultas, 
 QuA, sese explorat, conlemplatusque repentti 
 Ipse suas animus vires, momentaque cernit. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 122. Verbal " Nee iiitmeris nectere x^eiba jiivat," Ovid. Pout. ii. 30. 
 
 Ver. 123. Libethrides] " Nyniphae, noster amor, Libctlirides," Virg. Eclog. vii. 21, 
 Pomp. Mela, ii. S. 
 
 Ver. 126. Digili.siiue] " Mobiiibus digitis e-xpergefaciaji<^iiifi>it," Liicret. ii, 412. 
 
 Ver. 128. Jucunda] " Jucundos sapores," Tibull. I. vii. 3.5. 
 
 Ver. 130. Odoni'] "Odora canum vis," Lucret vi. 778. Virg. -En. iv. 132. 
 
 Ver. 132. Florfcve} Compare Milton's Par. Lost, book v, iG: "Then with voice, 
 mild as \\ hen Zephyrus on Flora breathes." 
 
 Ver. 134. Respondet] " Votis respondet avari," Georg. i. 43. " Divinum adspirat 
 ainorem," Virg. .En. viii. 373. 
 
 Ver. 137. Vivata] " Vivata potestas," Lucret. iii. 410. 557. 680. 
 
 Ver. 139. Animus] 
 
 " Animus vario labefactus vulnere nutat 
 
 Hue levjs, atque illiic ; momentaque sumit utroquc." 
 
 Ovid. Met. K. 375.
 
 237 
 
 Quid vclit, aut possit, cupiat, fugiatve, vicisshn 140 
 
 Percipit iinperio gaiulens ; neque corpora falluat 
 Morigera ad celeres actus, ac numina mentis. 
 
 Quails Hamadryad urn quondam si fort6 sororum 
 Una, novos peragrans saltus, et devia rura ; 
 (Atquc illani in viridi suadct procumbere ripA 145 
 
 Fontis pura quies, ct opaci frigoris umbra) 
 Dum prona in laticcs speculi de niargine pcndet, 
 IMirata est subitam venienti occurrcre Nympham : 
 Mox eosdcni, quos ipsa, artus, eadem ora gerentem 
 UniV int'ene gradus, una succedere sylvae loO 
 
 Aspicit alludens ; seseque agnoscit in undis. 
 Sic sensu interno rerum simulacra suarum 
 Mens ciet, et proprios observat conscia vultus. 
 Ncc verO) simplex ratio, aut jus omnibus ununi 
 Constat imaginibus. Sunt qua; bina ostia norunt ; \55 
 
 Hae privos servant aditus ; sine legibus illee 
 Passim, qua data porta, ruunt, animoque propinquant. 
 Respice, cui a cunis tristes extinxit occllos, 
 Sa^va et in eternas mersit natura tenebras : 
 Illi ignota dies lucet, vcrn usque colorum 160 
 
 OtTusus nitor est, et vivae gratia formae. 
 Corporis at (ilum, et motus, spatiumque, locique 
 Intcrvalla datur certo dignoscerc tactu : 
 
 NOTES 
 \'i r. 147. Sprni/i] " Lympliarum in speculo," Phipdriis, I. iv. 3. 
 Vcr. 1 4fJ. Eosi]r>/ii] The s:imf sviirere<iis is fmiiiil in Fropertiiis, IV. vii. 7 : 
 " Eosdcm liabuit seciim, quibus est data capillos." 
 And, " Tiosdcm oculos; latcri vestis adui^ta fiiit." 
 
 Ver. 154. Simplex] " Nee ratio solis simp/cT," Liicret. v. C^\3. " Constal imago/ 
 iv. 108. " Piivas aiircs," iv. 570. 
 
 Ver. iGl. (iiitlla foniKc] " Ea gratia formce," Ovid. Met. vii. 41-.
 
 238 
 
 Quando(iuidern his iter ambiguuni est, et janua duplex, 
 Exclusacque oculis species irruinpere tendunt l65 
 
 Per digitos. Atcjui solis concessa potestas 
 Luminibus blandae est radios ininiittere lucis. 
 
 Undique proporrcN sociis, quacunque patescit 
 Notitiae campus, mista; lasciva feruntur 
 
 Turba voluptatis comites, formaeque dolorum 170 
 
 Terribiles visu, et porta glomerantur in ouuii. 
 Nee vario minus introitu magnum ingruit lllud, 
 Quo facere et fungi, quo res existere circiun 
 Quamque sibi proprio cum corpore scimus, et ire 
 Ordine, perpetuoque per aevum flumine labi. 175 
 
 Nunc age quo valeat pacto, qua sensilis arte 
 Affectare viam, atque animi tentare latebras 
 Materies (dictis aures adverte faventes) 
 Exsequar. Imprimis spatii quam multa per sequor 
 Millia multigenis pandant se corpora seclis, 180 
 
 Expende. Haiid unum invenies, (juod mente licebit 
 Amplecti, nedum proprius deprendere sensu, 
 Molis egens certee, aut solido sine robore, cujus 
 Denique mobilitas lincjuit, texturave partes, 
 UUa nee orarum circumcaesura coercet, 185 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 167. Radios] " Radios inter quasi rumpere lucis," Lucret. v. 238. " Radiis ar- 
 dentem lucis," Virg. JEu. vii. 142. 
 
 Ver. 171. Terribiles] " Terribiles visu forma;," ^n. vi. 277. 
 
 Ver. 173. Facere] " Atyacere, e^yHwge sine corpore nulla potestas," Lucret. i. 444. 
 
 Ver. 175. Perpetuoque] " Perpetuo possint ccvi labentia tractu," Lucret. v. 1215. 
 
 Ver. 177. jiffectare] " Viamque adfectat Oljmpo," Georg. iv. 5C2. " Tentare late- 
 bras," Exi. ii. 38. 
 
 Ver. 185. Circumccesura] " Extima membrorum circumctesura coercet," Lucret. iv. 
 651.
 
 239 
 
 Haec conjuncta adeo tota com page fatetur 
 
 Mundus, et extrcmo clamant in limine reruni, 
 
 (Si rebus datur extremum) primordia. Firmat 
 
 Htcc eadem tactus (tactum quis dicere falsum 
 
 Audeat?) hajc oculi nee lucidus arguit orbis. I9O 
 
 Inde potestatuni enasci densissima proles ; 
 Nam quodcunque ferit visum, tangive laborat, 
 Quiccjuid nare bibis, vel concava concipit auris, 
 Quic(|uid lingua sapit, credas hoc omne, necesse est 
 Ponderibus, textu, discursu, mole, figur^ 195 
 
 Particulas praestare leves, et semina rerum. 
 Nunc oculos igitur pascunt, et luce ministnl 
 Fulgere cuncta vides, spargique coloribus orbem, 
 
 Ver. 189, Tactum] 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Solem quis dicere falsum 
 
 Audeat." 
 
 Virg. Georg. i, 463. 
 Ver. 190. Oculi] 
 
 " At si tantula pars ocuJi media iila peresa est, 
 Incoiiunis fjuamvis alioqui aplendidus orbis." 
 
 Lucret. iii. 415. 
 Ver. 191. Prohs] " Densior hinc soboles," Virg. Georg. iii. 308. 
 Ver. Ifj2. Ferit] " Quxferiunt oculorum acies, visumque lacessant," Lucret. iv. 329- 
 Ver. 19-?. Narc] " Nare bibis." Is tiiis expression warranted by the authority of any 
 of the Latin poets ? Horace has " Bibit aure," Od. II. .\iii. 32. ; and Statius, in Ach. ii. 120, 
 " Aure bibentem." Shakspeare transfers the same word to sig/it : " And with mine eyes 
 I'W drink the uords you send," Cymbeline, act i. sc. 2. And Thomson's Spring, lOf): 
 " Or taste the sine// of dairy." 
 
 Ver. 193. Concava] " Elapsusque cavii fuigitur aure lapis," Ov. Art. Am. i. 432. 
 Ver. 197. Luce] " Consulit ardcntes radios, et /uce magistra," Claud. Cons. Honor, 
 fi. 7. 
 
 Ver. 198. Fulgere] " Grammatici veteres notaverunt ii Virgilio et antiquioribus poetis, 
 stridere in tertia conjugationc cum aliis verbis, \xifervere, fulgere esse usitatuni ; a Lucano 
 autcni, el Stalio, et ejus aetatis poetis in secunda.' i'ide Priscian. Col. 837. SG(). 893.
 
 240 
 
 Dum de sole trahunt alias, aliasque superne 
 
 Detorquciit, retr^que docent sc vertere flaninias. 200 
 
 Nunc trepido inter sc fervent corpuscula pulsii, 
 
 Ut tremor rethcra per magnum, lateque natantes 
 
 Aurarum fluctus avidi vibrantia claustra 
 
 Audittis queat allabi, sonituni(|ue propaget. 
 
 Cominus interdum non ullo interprete per se 205 
 
 Nervorum invadunt teneras quatientia fibras, 
 
 Sensiferumque urgent ultr6 per viscera motum. 
 
 ********* 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Lucan. ii. 250. vi. 179 : ed. Oudendorp. Gesner, in a note to Claudian de Cons. Stilicli. 
 iii. 142, " Siculas obsident iirbes," says, " Obsidere tertia conjugatione, nee optinios re- 
 fugisse docent Thesauri nostri." It was on the authority of the use of these verbs in the 
 third conjugation, that Vossius in his treatise ' De Arte Grammatica,' (lib. ii. p. 90), at- 
 tempted to defend respondere in the well-known passage of Manilius, lib. v. 753. 
 
 Ver. 200. Se vertere] " Faciunt ignem se vertere in auras," Lucret. i. 783. 
 
 Ver. 207. Sensiferumque'] " SensiJ'eros inutus quae dedit prima per artus," Lucret. 
 iii. 246.
 
 LIBER QUART US. 
 
 Hactenus baud segnis Naturae arcana rctexi 
 
 Musaruni interpres, primusque Britanna per arva 
 
 Romano liquidum deduxi flumine rivum. 
 
 Cum Tu operc in medio, spes tanti et causa laboris, 
 
 Linquis, et aiternam fati te condis in umbram! 5 
 
 Vidi egoniet duro graviter concussa dolore 
 
 Pectora, in alterius non unquarn lenta dolorein ; 
 
 Et languere oculos vidi, et pallescere amantem 
 
 Vultuni, quo nunquain Pietas nisi rara, Fidesque, 
 
 Altus amor Veri, et purum spirabat Honestum. 10 
 
 Visa tamen tardi demOim inclementia morbi 
 
 Cessare est, reducemque iterum roseo ore Salutem 
 
 Speravi, atque una tecum, dilecte Favoni ! 
 
 Credulus heu longos, ut quondam, fallere Soles : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 2. Primusque] See Lucret. i. 95 ; iv. 5. And Columella de Cult. Hort. 435 : 
 " Qui primus veteres ausus recludere fontes, 
 Ascraeum cecinit Kumana per oppida carmen." 
 Virg. Georg. ii. 175. And, iii. 12 : 
 
 " Aonio rediens deducam vertice Musas." 
 Ver. 8. Languere'] " Laiiguescent lamina morle," Catull. Ixiv. 188. " Vultus amatos," 
 Ov. Fast. vi. 579. 
 
 Ver. 9. Fides] " Incorrupta Jides, nudaque Veritas," Hor. Od. I. xxiv. 7. 
 Ver. 14. Credulus] " Tecum etenim longos meniini consumere soIm," Pers. Siit. v. 41. 
 Virg. Eclog. ix. 51. 
 
 VOL. 1. Si
 
 242 
 
 Heu spes nequicquam dulces, atque iriita vota ! 15 
 
 Heu niaestos Soles, sine te quos ducere flendo 
 Per desideria, et questus jam cogor inanes ! 
 
 At Til, sancta anima, et nostri non indiga luctAs, 
 Stellanti templo, sincerique a^theris igne, 
 Unde orta es, fruere ; atque 6 si secura, nee ultra 20 
 
 Mortalis, notos olim niiserata labores 
 Respectes, tenuesque vacet cognoscere curas ; 
 Hunianam si fort^ altd de sede procellam 
 Contemplere, metus, stimulosque cupidinis acres, 
 Gaudiaque et gemitus, parvoque in corde tumultum 25 
 
 Trarum ingentem, et ssevos sub peclore fluctus ; 
 Respice et has lacrymas, rnemori quas ictus amore 
 Fundo ; quod possum, juxti lugere sepulchrum 
 
 Dum juvat, et mutae vana haec jactare fax iliac. 
 
 ******** 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Ver. 17. Questus] " Questus ad nubila rumpit inanes," Claud, xxxv. 249- " Questu 
 volvebat inani," Ciris. v. 401. 
 
 Ver. 18. Sancta] "Sancta ad vos anima," Virg. ."En. xii. 648. " Opisque baud in- 
 diga nostra," Georg. ii. 428. 
 
 Ver. 21. Miserata] "Oh! sola infandos Trojae niiserata labores !" ^n. i. 597. " Te- 
 nuisque piget cognoscere curas," Georg. i. 177. 
 Ver, 21. Labores] 
 
 " Si quid pietas antiqua labores 
 
 Respicit liumanos." 
 
 JEn. V. 688. 
 Ver. 24. Scirnulos'] " Et stimulos acres sub pectore vertit," JEa. is. 718. 
 Ver. 29. MiUa'] " Taliaque inlacrjmans mutccjace \ethafariUie," Propert.Eleg.il. 
 i. 87.
 
 GREEK EPIGRAM. 
 
 ( See Mason's Memoirs, vol.iii. p. +5.) 
 
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 FINIS. 
 
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