N 1 Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE MAID OF SKIDDAW IN TWO BOOKS. THE MAID OF SKIDDAW, }m§^ of pak'itme, AND OTHER POEMS. By THOMAS BOURNE. But when a poet, or when one like me, Happy to rove among poetic flowers. Though poor in skill to rear tbcm, lights at last On some fair theme, some theme divinely fair. Such is the impulse and the spur be feels To give it praise proportioned to its worth, Tliat not to attempt it, arduous as he deems The labour, were a task more arduous still. The Task, Book vi. PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY G. J. BAYNES. TURNHAM GREEnr. 183G. MRS. EDWARD PARKER, MY VERY DEAR AND VALUED FRIEND, THESE POEMS ARE INSCRIBED WITH SENTIMENTS OF GRATITUDE, AFFECTION, AND ESTEEM. PREFACE. WHEN, or under what circumstances, the following trifles were written, the public, busied with its own concerns, will of course care very little to be informed : but to the author's per- sonal friends, and more immediate connections, a few remarks may not be thought wholly out of place. They are, then, the production of earlier and less anxious years; the greater part having been written ere the fancy had learned to submit to the sober verdict of the judgment, still less to the unsparing ordeal of public and impartial criticism. Trifles, the writer himself has denominated them, and such, without any affectation of diffi- dence he really considers them. In fact his chief motive for submitting them to public notice, is if possible to bespeak some degree of favourable attention for a work, of much greater mag- nitude and more general interest, which has for some time past occupied his intervals of leisure, and which, in a few months, he hopes to have ready for publication. Of the Poems contained in the present volume, he has but two additional observations to il PREFACE. make, and they are these : — First, as regards the mere versifi- cation, the mechanical arrangement of rhymes and metres, they are matters of secondary importance in his own estimation when judging of the merits of others, and he surrenders them at once, without a single word of apology, to the tender mercies of verbal criticism. But, secondly, as regards the principles he has feebly endeavoured to advocate, and which he would fain hope are sufficiently apparent in almost every page he has written, he by no means either feels or aifects any such indifference. With them he wishes to be identified, by them he is anxious that his unpre- tending little volume should be tried, and just in proportion as they appear correct or otherwise, will no doubt be the measure of his own success. Presuming, however, that they are mainly in accordance with those doctrines of universal charity and benevo- lence, so peculiarly and emphatically enjoined by the Divine Author of our creed; and well assured that as matters not of faith merely, but of practice, they are indispensably necessary to the happiness and regeneration of our species, he only regrets, that his limited influence and station in society afford him no better means of extending them. Meanwhile he has done what he could ; and would to Heaven that this were the maxim and the practice of us all in our several PKEFACE. iii spheres of action and opportunities of usefulness ! Then, indeed the hopes of the enthusiast, the wishes of the good, and the hap- piness of all, would be far more likely to be realized, than by that c61d indiflference to the wants of others, — that absorbing anxiety for self, which is at once the curse and the consequence of our fallen nature, and the most formidable obstacle in the way of its improvement. With reference to the second part of the work, the Songs of Palestine, if one more remark may be permitted him, he would take the opportunity of suggesting to those who . have both leisure and inclination for the purpose, that in the Volume of inspiration there are many great leading doctrines which admit of happy illustration in the poet's song, many high and holy precepts which children, more especially, would welcome in a verse and remember in a hymn ; and very many historical portraits of which only just the outlines are given, and which it seems perfectly allowable to fill up and adorn, provided it be done with judgment and discretion, without distorting the facts, or departing from the character. Nor ought this to subject us to the charge of trifling with divine things, or that we like " fools rush in where angels fear f o tread." Tlie practice indeed of meddlinp, with Ihins's too high for us, of seeking with inquisitive and presumptuous eye to iv PREFACE. pierce the veil which shrouds the impenetrable future, cannst be too often nor too strongly deprecated ; whether the attempt be made in the imagery of the poet, or the equally visionary and unprofitable speculations of the philosopher. But confined to the limits already mentioned, he cannot but repeat his conviction that such application of scriptural truths and doctrines are not uiifrequently attended with profit both to the writer and the reader. " A verse may find him who a sermon flies," is a remark, and a just one, of that quaint but truly Christian writer, George Herbert; and the truth it asserts, seems to ofier an additional motive for the employment of genius to its best and most hallowed purposes, — the extension and elucidation of those blessed Scrip- tizres, which are at once the source and the centre of all true wisdom. CuiswicK Lodge, Chiswick, December. 20th, 1836. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page €f\t ifHailr of ^fettrtratn. Book i st, 7 Book 2d, 27 Songs of fJalcsttnc. Isaac, 51 Rebekah at the Well, 56 Rachel, 61 The Death of Sisera, 05 Rizpah, 69 . Michal, 71 The Latter Days, 74 Hymn at Sunrise, 77 David, 79 The Covenant of Mercy, 84 A Requiem, >, 87 Innocence, 89 The Lake of Gennesaret, 95 JKlifirrllancous ^ocms. Sensibility, 105 The Choice, 113 The Old Manor House, 120 A Text and Commentary, 124 What is Faith ? 128 The Bridal Eve, 129 To a Lady, 133 True Beauty, 135 The Birth-day, 137 Dublin Light-House, 140 To the Snowdrop, 142 The Indian'sDeath-Song, 144 The Music of Dreams, ^.* 150 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Craufilations. HORACE, Book 1st, Ode llth, 155 Ode 12th, 157 Ode 14tli, 162 Ode 16th, ^ 164 Ode 22nd, 167 Ode 24th, 169 Ode 26th, 171 Ode 29th, 173 Ode 31st, 175 Ode 34th, 178 HORACE, Book 2nd, Ode 2nd, 179 Ode3rd, 182 Ode 6th, 185 Ode 10th, 188 Ode 1 4th, 191 LUC AN, Book 1st, The Death of Julia, 194 , ^ Character of Pompey, 197 Character of Ca;sar, 200 Passage of the Rubicon, .... 202 LUC AN, Book 2nd, A Mother's Grief, 205 ERRATA. Page 10 Line 2 read o'er ■mastering. — 108 .... — • \\ for roll rtViiX rolls. — 175 .... — 7 yor read 7? or. — 1!)0 .... — 6 (or .