^ii<■t:CrU:0;^-';'^'/' n> )SANCn% ^ lIBRARYQr^ I CAIIFOR^ ^1 moj^ ^ an-# "^ f\jr- ^ -j^^lUBRARYQ^ ^OFCAUFOR^ ^^WE•UNIVER%. ^lOSAKCElft^ ^% i% c^. -3' ^tUBRARY^ -ri ^ so ^tfOjnvDjo'^ 'auiii ^.OFCAUFOI?^ ^0 % ^lOSANCElftu '^JQAINftiftV %. ^10SANCEI% ,^ l'^ %a3AINrt-1WV' g P^'. ^OFCAUF0% '^om ^^lUBRAI ^OF" a:: .^ \ aters borne Trees, cattle, houses, stones half Avorn Together roll, whilst loud is heard The clamour in the mountain caves Of neighbouring woods ; and tempest-stirr'd. The calmest rivers swell with waves. 53 VI. That man is blest who thus can say Lord of himself, " I've lived to day ; To-morrow let the gods obscure The sky with clouds, or sunshine pure Pour forth, come brightness, or come gloom. The past is acted, and its doom Pronounced ; and to revoke the past, Annul the joys I have possess'd, Darken the light past hours have cast, Is not in fate : I have been blest." VII. Fortune still plies her savage trade, Laughs at the bankrupts she hath made ; And insolent enjoys the game As shuffling honours, wealth, and fame. To others, now to me, she '11 deal The prizes of her fickle wlieel. Mine she's adored : her gifts resign'd Soon as her rapid pinions sound, 55 Meek dow'rless poverty, more kind, I woo, whilst virtue wraps me round. VIII. 'Tis not for me, when, strain'd and weak. The labouring mast is heard to creak, To fall to wretched trading pra3^ers, Lest Cyprian or lest Tyrian wares With rarest spoils, unwonted gain. Enrich the avaricious main. Me favour'd by a gentle breeze. And safe within my light bireme, Shall light along the iEgean seas Leda's fair twins, my constant theme. ORIGINAL PIECES. 59 ODE TO HARRIS Always I hated civic ^ entertainments : Mutton disgusts me simulating^ ven'son, Catch ^ me no fish hermetically fasten'd, Harris, or oysters. ' Who this Harris was, is a point about which the commentators are at variance. Some say, but erroneously as I think, that he was the " puer," the "minister," of the poet. But this is not probable, for to such persons odes were not then commonly addressed. No ! Harris was no servant, he was the friend, the " comraensalis," the fellow-messman of the author at the cuddy table ; whom he may be supposed to be inviting to the erratic fish, which, under the influence of a gale, has become as locomotive as ever it was in its own native element. ^ •^ Why civic, since the entertainment was nautical ? ask some matter-of- fact critics. Do not these blunderers perceive the delicately-veiled compli- ment to the owners of the vessel upon the richness and profusion of the viands ? 3 " Simulating ven'son." This process is, unfortunately, in some'degree lost to us. Some say that mutton was made to resemble venison, by being roasted with the wool on. Others, that it was the flesh of a seven-year old male. Hot a irether. But neither of these conjectures is correct. The meat was probably steeped in a brine compounded of wine, salt, spices, sugar, and other condiments, and sprinkled with Irish blackguard and brickdust. * " Catch." Some critics would substitute " reach " for " catch." But who does not see the witty allusion to the unsteadiness of the table, to which these didl dogs arc blind '. ODE TO HARRIS. 61 StilV' I could feast on watery*^ potatoes. Fill my friend's lap ^ soups derelict ^ abandon'd Sauces, rich gifts of charitable ocean Cheaply benignant ^ ^ " Still." Free from motion. r. « "Watery potatoes." This expression is very enigmatical. Some under- stand by it " dressed in, or by means of water," as potatoes boiled or steamed, in opposition to roasted, baked, or fried potatoes, his preference for wliich the author is supposed to insinuate. But in my opinion this reading, though ino'enious, is not correct ; the true sense of the expression is potatoes carried by water, that is, potatoes eaten at sea. Murphyius, however, that intem- perate though erudite Hibernian critic, declares that it means any potato not Irish, which last alone, as he says, were free when dressed from superfluous moisture. He contends, that the potato esteemed by epicures was a mealy potato. But he off'ers nothing in proof of his assertion. ' " Lap." This is plainly a misreading for " plate." It would have been an unfriendly and unamiable wish had the author prayed tliat liquids, as soups and sauces were, should fall into the lap of his friend, of which it would naturally have been irretentive. It is easy to trace the corruption of the text. " Plate " has been written with an elision, " pla," by a copyist studious of his ease. The now final vowel has slipped into the middle place and formed " pal ;" which a careless scribe, putting the cart before the horse, has changed into "lap." " " Derelict." This implies the departure from the table of some squeamish person without the " animus revertendi." 9 " Cheaply benignant," that is, dispensing things not its own, liberal at the expense of others ; as a generous churchwarden, a chairman distributing prizes, a prime minister filling iq) a pension-list, a House of Commons voting supplies, or an attorney marking undelivered briefs for a son. G3 THE DOCTOR WITHOUT A SOUL; OR, THE CREATURES OF ROMANCE. I. His studies o'er, his next discourse Impromptu learnt by rote, The rector rose, and doff' d a coarse To don a finer coat. II. His silken hose with shining clocks Which clothed each portly calf, His shovel hat ri^ht orthodox. And golden-headed staff. HI. All spoke the doctor. On he strode Soon splash'd, he vow'd irate, The sinner who survey'd the road He 'd excomnmnicate. THE DOCTOR WITHOUT A SOUL. 65 IV. No ! he 'd indict his stubborn flock, And shear their golden fleece, Who, heeding iiiucJi the parish stock, Little Victoria's peace, V. Rebellious lieges ! mended not The errors of their ways, (Upon their pastor's shoes a spot Would shorten not their days !) VI. Thus he resolved ; but cries invade His Reverence's ear ! Is it some damsel, who, afraid, Sees men disguised in beer ? VII. Or one the milky mothers meet Emerging from the byre ? Who sees a snake beneath her feet ? Or waddling toad i-etire ? THE DOCTOR WITHOUT A SOUL. 67 VIII. Perplex'd, he hurries on the while, But soon is seen to stand Amazed : two ladies on a stile Were seated hand in hand : IX. Young were they both, and fair to view, Yet sorrow from their eyes Tears, so the doctor fancied, drew : He spoke, in grave surprise : X. " Issued those cries from ladies' throats ? And what's the reason ? say." " How canst thou ask, when all denotes The cause? this glorious day!" XI. " Thank God," he cried, " the day is fine, Yet why should that distress ? The glass is rising ; to repine Seems rude unthankfulness," THE DOCTOR WITHOTT A SOT'L. 69 XII. " We are not understood, we see With optics not like thine, What canst thou know of poesy, A middle-aged divine ? XIII. " Was ever yet a poet known To wear a white cravat ? A soul did ever mortal own In a three-corner'd hat ? XIV. " We could sit here and crv for hours. Or shriek with sad delight ; The earth, sea, sky, sun, shade, and flowers, Are agonising quite. XV. " To weep 's enjoyment half divine : Unsavoury appears To thee, a bihber of port wine, The luxurv of tears. THE DOCTOR WITHOUT A SOUL, 71 XVI. " Farewell, farewell ! we grieve for thee ;" (They cast a pitying glance,) Doctor, thou hast no sympathy With Creatures of Romance." 73 A MATRIMONIAL DIALOGUE AND MARINE ECLOGUE. Mr. Adipocibe, an eminent and reflecting Tallow Chandlei*. Mrs. Adipocire, an every-day sort of Woman. Time — Evening. The Sea-shore. MR. A. How harden'd is the man who has not felt His heart 'neath Nature's influences 7nelt ! MRS. A. You promised all these terms of art to drop ; Indeed, my dear, you savour of the shop. MR. A. 'Tis sweet to see the lazy clouds decamp, 'Tis sweet to see Night hang her silver lamp. MRS. A. Lamp! MR. A. And with telescope, or naked eye, To view the lesser tapers of the sky. A MATRIMONIAL DIALOGUE. 75 MRS. A. Tapers, for shame ! MR. A. 'Tis pleasing to discern Planet from star, and know the orbs which burn. MRS. A. Burn ! there again. MR. A. Ah ! wherefore do they hlaze f Who lights the sunbeams, and the lunar rays ? MRS. A. Oh! MR. A. When, as our immortal Shakespear sings. Night's candles are burnt out," who daylight brings ? MRS. A. Ah! MR. A. He whose steady eye to his concerns Forces the comets to make due returns. MRS. A. I'm quite worn out. A MATRIMONIAL DIALOGUE. ^^ MR. A. Who bounteous made the whales Common and Spermaceti ? MRS. A. Odious tales ! MR. A. 'Twas that First Cause which, for our nightly use, Filleth the cocoa-nuts with unctuous juice, Which bids the wether fatten to supply A light to tantalise, not satisfy : Which gives us fatty wax from bodies dead Of Lamberts damp within their " narrow^ bed," Which stores the laden thighs of bees with wax, (Its lustre hence no dining-table lacks By footmen rubb'd, who burnish and blaspheme.) Wax w^hich illumes when urns emit their steam ; Wax which inspired the genius of Argand, When lamps, despised till then, at his command A radiance mild o'er dinner-tables shed, Soft'ning on cheeks the artificial red. Paling eacli pimph^ nose with chasten 'd light ; A MATRIMONIAL DIAI.Ofa'K. 79 MRS. A. A — ! you are quite incorrigible, quite ; When shall I ever tutor you to feel The moral fitness of the " true genteel ! " MR. A. Well, well, I'll not offend, love, with my tongue. Oh ! with what art those lustres bright are hun= \S "^^ ^^ /^ i aofcaufo% ^ofcauf^- II iiilll L 005 488 917 5 % ,..^ 1'^ '^om^% ^ c?. UC SOUTHEPrj REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILirV J>^ ^^EUNIVERS// AA 000 370 996 i \m ^mmu"^ ^'auii. ^^ ^oF-a 1?^ v/ja3AiNn-3it'' % ^10SANCFI% ^IDSANCEI ' Or ^v^lOS^ ^ i ^ S3 3 % ^OFCAUFOPf' If i^ ER% ^lOSANCEl^^ -n o ^ ERS^, .o# %ji: ^37-^.f ^lUBRARV I ir; \HVHan- VSth .vvlOSANCEl£n> XtnRRARY/9>r .^V\FUNIVFRSy/> .vV:lOSANCEl