Some parent breaft may heave the answering figh,
To the flow paufes of the funeral knoll;
E'en now black Atropos, with fcowling eye,
Roars in the laugh, and revels o'er the bowl;
L'en now in rofy-crowned pleafure's wreath
Entwines in adder folds all-unfufpected Death.
Know, on the ftealing wing of time fhall flee
Some few, fome fhort-liv'd years, and all is paft;
A future bard these awful domes may fee,
Mufe o'er the prefent age, as I the laft;
Who mouldering in the grave, yet once like you
The various maze of life were feen to tread,
Each bent their own peculiar to pursue,

ray,

As cuftom urg'd, or wilful nature led:
Mix'd with the various crowd's inglorious clay,
The nobler virtues undiftinguish'd lie;
No more to melt with beauty's heaven-born
No more to wet compaffion's tearful eye,
Catch from the poet raptures not their own,
And feel the thrilling melody of fweet renown.
Where is the mafter-hand, whofe femblant art
Chiffell'd the marble into life, or taught
From the well-pencil'd portraiture to start
The nerve that beat with foul, the brow that
thought?

Cold are the fingers that in stone-fix'd trance
The mute attention rivetting, to the lyre
Struck language: dimm'd the poet's quick-eyed
glance,

All in wild raptures flafhing heaven's own fire.
Shrunk is the finew'd energy, that ftrung

The warrior arm. Where fleeps the patriot breast Whilom that heav'd impattion'd? where the 1! tongue

That lanc'd its lightning on the tow'ring creft
Of Scepter'd infolence, and overthrew
Giant Opprethion, leagued with all her earth-born

crew?

Thefe now are paft; long, long, ye fleeting year Purfuc, with glory wing'd, your fated way, Ere from the womb of time unwelcome peers

The dawn of that inevitable day, When wrapt in fhrouded clay their warmest friend The widow'd virtues fhall again deplore, When o'er his urn in pious grief fhall bend

His Britain, and bewail one patriot more; For foon must thou, too soon! who spreadst abroad Thy beaming emanations uncontin'd, Doom'd, like fome better angel fent of God To fcatter bleffings over humankind, Thou too must fall, O Pitt! to fhine no more, And tread thefe dreadful paths a Faulkland trod before.

Faft to the driving winds the marshall'd clouds Sweep difcontinuous o'er th' ethereal plain ! Another still upon another crowds;

All haftening downward to their native main. Thus paffes o'er, thro' varied life's career, Man's flecting age; the Seafons as they fly Snatch from us in their courfe, year after year, Some sweet connection, fome endearing tie. The parent, ever-honour'd, ever-dear,

Claims from the filial breaft the pious figh;

A brother's urn demands the kindred tear,
And gentle forrows gufh from friendship's eye.
To-day we frolic in the rofy bloom

Of jocund youth-the morrow knells us to the tomb.

Who knows how foon in this fepulchral fpot
Shall heaven to me the drear abode affign?
How foon the paft irrevocable lot

Of thefe, that reft beneath me, fhall be mine? Haply, when Zephyr to thy native bourn

Shall waft thee o'er the ftorm'd Hibernian wave, Thy gentle breaft, my Tavistock, fhall mourn To find me fleeping in the fenfelefs grave. No more the focial leifure to divide,

Blithe, or of graver brow; no more to chide

In the fweet intercourse of soul and foul,

Till all thy cultur'd virtues fhall difplay,
The ling'ring years impatient as they roll,
Full-bloffom'd, their bright honours to the gazing
day.

Ah, dearcft youth! thefe vows perhaps unheard

The rude wind featters o'er the billowy main; Thefe prayers at friendship's holy thrine preferr'd May rife to grafp their father's knees in vain. Soon, foon may nod the fad funereal plume

With folemn horror o'er thy timeless hearfe, And I furvive to grave upon thy tomb

That leave to Heaven's decifion-be it thine,.
Higher than yet a parent's wishes flew,
To foar in bright pre-eminence, and shine

The mournful tribute of memorial verfe.

With felf-carn'd honours, eager to purfue Where glory, with her clear unfullied rays, The well-born fpirit lights to deeds of mightiest praife.

'Twas the thy godlike Ruffel's bosom steel'd

With confidence untam'd, in his last breath Stern-fmiling. She, with calm compofure, held

The patriot axe of Sidney, edg'd with death. Smit with the warmth of her impulfive flame,

Wolf's gallant virtue flies to worlds afar, Emulous to pluck fresh wreaths of well-carn'd fame Twas the that, on the morn of dircful birth, From the grim frowning brow of laurel'd war. Bar'd thy young bofom to the fatal blow, Lamented Aimytage the bleeding youth! Ye Nereids and ye Nymphs of Camus hoar, O bathe him in the pearly caves below, Weep-for ye oft have feen him on your haupted

fhore.

Better to die with glory, than recline

On the foft lap of ignominious peace, Than yawn out the dull droning life fupine In monkish apathy and gowned eafe. Better employ'd in honour's bright carcer

The leaft divifion on the dial's round, Than thrice to compafs Saturn's live-long year, Grown old in floth, the burthen of the ground; Than tug with fweating toil the flavish oar, Of unredeem'd affliction, and fuftain The fev'rous rage of fierce difeafes fore Unnumber'd, that in sympathetic chain Hang ever thro' the thick circumfluous air, All from the drizzly verge of yonderftar-girtsphere. Ind 3

Thit

Thick in the many-beaten road of life

A thousand maladies are pofted round, With wretched man to wage eternal strife

Unfeen, like ambush'd Indians, till they wound. There the fwoln hydrop ftands, the watʼry rheum, The northern fcurvy, blotch with lep'rous scale; And moping ever in the cloifter'd gloom

Of learned floth, and bookish asthma pale: And the fhunn'd hag unfightly, that (ordain'd On Europe's fons to wreak the faithlefs sword Of Cortez, with the blood of millions ftain'd) O'erdog-eyed luft the tort' ring fcourge abhorr'd Shakes threat'ning, fince the while the wing'd her flight

From Amazon's broad wave, and Andes' fnow-clad height.

Where the wan daughter of the yellow year, The chatt'ring ague chill; the writhing ftone; And he of ghaftly feature, on whofe ear Unheeded croaks the death-bird's warning moan, Marafmus; knotty gout; and the dead life

foul;

Of nerveless pally; there, on purpose fell Dark brooding, whets his interdicted knife Grim fuicide, the damned fiend of hell. There too is the stunn'd apoplexy pight *, The bloated child of gorg'd intemperance Self-wafting melancholy, black as night Low 'ring; and foaming fierce with hideous howl The dog hydrophoby; and near allied Scar'd madnefs, with her moon-ftruck eyeballs ftaring wide.

There,ftretch'done huge,beneath the rocky minet, With boiling fulphur fraught, and fmouldering He, the dread delegate of wrath divine,

[fires:

Ere while that stood o'er Taio's hundred fpires Vindictive; thrice he wav'd th'earth-fhaking wand, Powerful as that the fon of Amram bore, And thrice he rais'd, and thrice he check'd his hand. He ftruck-the rocking ground, with thunderous roar,

there

Yawn'd! Here from street to ftreet hurries, and [amain, Now runs, now ftops, then fhrieks and fcours Staring diftraction: many a palace fair

With millions finksingulph'd, and pillar'd fane. Old Ocean's fartheft waves confefs the fhock; EvenAlbion trembled confcious on his fted faft rock. The meagre famire there, and drunk with blood Stern war; and the loath'd monfter whom of yore The flimy Naiad of the Memphian flood

Engend'ring, to the bright-hair'd Phebusbore, Fool peftilence, that on the wide-ftretch'd wings Of cominerce speeds from Cairo's fwarthy bay

*Placed.

His weftering flight, and thro' the fick air flings
Spotted contagion; at his heels difmay
And defolation urge their fire-wheel'd yoke

Terrible; as long of old, when from the height
Of Paran came unwreath'd the mighticft, fhock
Earth's firm fixt bafe tottering; thro' the black
night
[abroad
Glanc'd the flash'd lightnings: heaven's rent roof
Thunder'd; and univerfal nature felt its God.
Who on that scene of terror, on that hour

Of roufed indignation, fhall withstand Th Almighty, when he meditates to show'r The buriting vengeance o'er a guilty land? Canft thou, fecure in reaton's vaunted pride, [gore Tongue-doughty mifcreant, who but now didft With more than Hebrew rage the innocent fide Of agonizing mercy, bleeding foreCanft thou confront, with ftedfaft eye unaw’d,

The fworded judgment stalking far and near! Well mayft thou tremble, when an injur'd God Difclaims thee-guilt is ever quick of fearLoud whirlwinds howl in zephyr's softest breath, And every glancing metcor glares imagin'd death, The good alone are fearlefs; they alone,

Firm and collected in their virtue, brave The wreck of worlds, and look unfhrinking down On the dread yawnings of the rav'nous grave: Thrice happy who, the blameless road along

Of honeft praife, hath reach'd the vale of death! Around him, like miniftrant cherubs, throng

His better actions, to the parting breath Singing their bleffed requiems; he the while Gently repofing on fome friendly breaft, Breathes out his benizons; then with a smile Of foft complacence lays him down to rest, Calm as the flumbering infant: from the goal Free and unbounded flies the difembodied foul. Whether fome delegated charge below,

Some much-lov'd friend its hovering care may claim;

Whether it heavenward foars, again to know That long-forgotten country whence it came; Conjecture ever, the misfeatur'd child

Of letter'd arrogance, delights to run Thro' fpeculation's puzzling mazes wild,

And all to end at laft where it begun. Fain would we trace, with reafon's erring clue, The dark fome paths of deftiny aright; In vain; the talk were eafter, to purfue

The tracklefs wheelings of the fwallow's flight. From mortal ken himfelf the Almighty throuds, Pavilion'd in thick night and circumambient clouds.

§ 1. The Traveller; or, a Profpe&t of Society. Ifcribed to the Rev. Mr. H. Goldsmith.

By Dr. GOLDSMITH.

REMOTE, unfriended, melancholy, flow,

Or by the lazy Scheld, or wand'ring Po; Or onward, where the rude Carinthian boor Against the houfelefs ftranger fhuts the door : Or where Campania's plain forfaken lics, A weary wafte expanding to the fkies: Where'er I roam, whatever realms to fee, My heart, untravell'd, fondly turns to thee: Still to my brother turns, with ceafclefs pain, And drags, at each remove, a length'ning chain. Eternal bleffings crown my earliest friend, And round his dwelling guardian faints attend; Blefs'd be that fpot where cheerful guests retire, To paufe from toil, and trim their evening fire; Blefs'd that abode where want and pain repair, And ev'ry ftranger finds a ready chair: Blefs'd be thofe feafts, with fimple plenty crown'd, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jefts or pranks that never fail, Or figh with pity at fome mournful tale; Or prefs the bafhful ftranger to his food, And learn the luxury of doing good'

But me, not deftin'd fuch delights to share, My prime of life in wand'ring fpent, and care: Impell'd, with steps unceafing, to purfue Some flceting good that mocks me with the view; That, like the circle bounding earth and skies, Allures from far, yet as I follow flies; My fortune leads to traverse realmns alone, And find no fpot of all the world my own. E'en now, where Alpine folitudes afcend, I fit me down a penfive hour to spend ; And plac'd on high, above the storm's career, Look downward where an hundred realms appear;

| Lakes, forefts, cities, plains, extending wide, The pomp of kings, the fhepherds humbler pride.

When thus Creation's charms around combine, Amidft the store, fhould thanklefs pride repine? Say, fhould the philofophic mind difdain That good which makes each humbler bofom vain ? Let fchool-taught pride diffemble all it can, Thefe little things are great to little man ; And wifer he, whofe fympathetic mind Exults in all the good of all mankind. [crown'd; Ye glitt'ring towns, with wealth and fplendour Ye fields, where summer spreads profufion round; Ye lakes, whofe veffels catch the bufy gale; Ye bending fwains, that dress the flow'ry vale; For me your tributary ftores combine : Creation's heir! the world, the world is mine!

As fome lone miser, visiting his store, Bends at his treafure, counts, recounts it o'cr; Hoards after hoards his rifing raptures fill, Yet ftill he fighs, for hoards are wanting ftill: Thus to my breaft alternate paffions rife, [plies; Pleas'd with each good that Heaven to man fupYet oft a figh prevails, and forrows fall, To fee the hoard of human blifs fo fmall; And oft I with, amidst the fcene, to find Some fpot to real happinefs confign'd, Where my worn foul, each wand'ring hope at reft, May gather blifs to fee my fellows bleft.

But where to find that happiest spot below, Who can direct, when all pretend to know? The fhudd'ring tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happieft fpot his own; Extols the treafures of his ftormy feas, And his long nights of revelry and cafe: The naked negro, panting at the line, Boafts of his golden fands and palmy wine; Baiks in the glare, or ftems the tepid wave, And thanks his gods for all the good they gave.

M 4

Such

Such is the patriot's boaft, where'er we roam;

His first, best country, ever is at home.
And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare,
And eftimate the bleflings which they share,
Though patriots flatter, ftill fhall wifdom find
An equal portion dealt to all mankind;
As different good, by art or nature given,
To different nations, makes their bleffings even.
Nature, a mother kind alike to all,
Still grants her blifs at labour's carnoft call;
With food as well the peafant is fupplied
On Idra's cliffs as Arno's thelvy fide;
And tho' the rocky-crefted fummits frown,
Thefe rocks by cuftom turn to beds of down.
From art more various are the bleffings fent;
Wealth, commerce, honour, liberty, content.
Yet thefe each other's pow'r fo ftrong conteft,
That either feems deftructive of the reft. [fails;
Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment
And honour finks where commerce long prevails.
Hence ev'ry ftate, to one lov'd bleffing prone,
Conforms and models life to that alone.
Each to the fav'rite happinefs attends,
And fpurns the plan that aims at other ends;
Till carried to excefs in each domain,
This fav'rite good begets peculiar pain.

But let us try thefe truths with clofer eyes,
And trace them through the prospect as it lies:
Here for a while, my proper cares refign'd,
Here let me fit in forrow for mankind;
Like yon neglected shrub at random caft,
That fhades the steep, and fighs at ev'ry blast.
Far to the right, where Apennine afcends,
Bright as the fummer, Italy extends;
Its uplands floping deck the mountain's fide,
Woods over woods in gay theatric pride;
While oft fome temple's mould'ring tops between
With venerable grandeur mark the fcene.

Could Nature's bounty fatisfy the breast, The fons of Italy were furely blefs'd. Whatever fruits in different climes are found, That proudly rife, or humbly court the ground; Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear, Whofe bright fucceffion decks the varied year; Whatever fweets falute the northern sky With vernal lives, that bloffom but to die: Thefe, here difporting, own the kindred foil, Nor afk luxuriance from the planter's toil; While fea-born gales their gelid wings expand, To winnow fragrance round the fmiling land. But fmall the blifs that fenfe alone beftows, And fenfual blifs is all the nation knows. In florid beauty groves and fields appear, Man feems the only growth that dwindles here. Contrafted faults through all his manners reign: Though poor, luxurious; though fubmiffive,vain; Though grave, yet trifling; zealous, yet untrue; And e'en in penance planning fins anew. All evils here contaminate the mind, That opulence departed leaves behind; For wealth was theirs, not far remov'd the date, When commerce proudly flourish'd through the At her command the palace learn'd to rife, [ftate: Again the long-fall'n coluran fought the kies:

The canvas glow'd beyond e'en Nature warm; The pregnant quarry teem'd with human form; Till, more unfteady than the fouthern gale, Commerce on other fhores difpiay'd her fail; While nought remain'd of all that riches gave, But towns unmann'd, and lords without a flave: And late the nation found, with fruitlefs fkill, Its former ftrength was but plethoric ill.

Yet ftill the lofs of wealth is here fupplied By arts, the fplendid wrecks of former pride; From these the feeble heart and long-fall'n mind An eafy compenfation feem to find." Here may be feen, in bloodlefs pomp array'd, The pafteboard triumph and the cavalcade; Proceffions form'd for piety and love, A miftrefs or a faint in ev'ry grove. By fports like these are all their cares beguil'd, The fports of children fatisfy the child: Each nobler aim, reprefs'd by long control, Now finks at laft, or feebly mans the foul; While low delights, fucceeding fast behind, In happier meannefs occupy the mind: As in thofe domes where Cæfars once bore sway, Defac'd by time, and tott'ring in decay, There in the ruin, heedlefs of the dead, The fhelter-fecking peafant builds his fhed; And, wondering man could want the larger pile, Exults, and owns his cottage with a fmile.

My foul, turn from them-tuin we to furvey Where rougher climes a nobler race display; Where the bleak Swifs their ftormy manfion tread, And force a churlish foil for fcanty bread: No product here the barren hills afford But man and fteel, the foldier and his fword. No vernal blooms their torpid rocks array, But winter ling ring chills the lap of May; No zephyr fondly fues the mountain's breaft, But meteors glare, and ftormy glooms inveft.

Yet ftill e'en here Content can spread a charm, Redrefs the clime, and all its rage difarm. Tho' poor the peafant's hut, his feaft tho' small, He fees his little lot the lot of all; Sees no contiguous palace rear its head, To fhame the meannefs of his humble fhed; No coftly lord the fumptuous banquet deal, To make him loath his vegetable meal; But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil, Each with contracting, fits him to the foil. Cheerful at morn he wakes from short repofe, Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes; With patient angle trolls the finny deep, Or drives his vent'rous plough-fhare to the feep; Or feeks the den where fuow-tracks mark the way, And drags the ftruggling favage into day. At night returning, ev'ry labour fped, He fits him down the monarch of a fhed; Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round furveys His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze; While his lov'd partner, boaftful of her hoard, Difplays her cleanly platter on the board: And haply too feme pilgrim, thither led, With many a tale repays the nightly bed. Thus ev'ry good his native wilds impart Imprints the patriot paffion on his heart;

And

"

And e'en thofe hills that round his manfion rife,
Enhance the blifs his fcanty fund fupplics.
Dear is that fhed to which his foul conforms,
And dear that hill which lifts him to the ftorms;
And as a child, when fearing founds moleft,
Clings clofe and clofer to the mother's breaft;
So the loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar,
But bind him.to his native mountains more.
Such are the charms to barren states affign'd:
Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd,
Yet let them only fhare the praises due;
If few their wants, their pleasures are but few;
For ev'ry want that ftimulates the breaft
Becomes a fource of pleasure when redress'd.
Whence from fuch lands each pleafing fcience flies,
That first excites defire, and then fupplies;
Unknown to them, when fenfual pleasures cloy,
To fill the languid paufe with finer joy;
Unknown thofe pow'rs that raise the foul to flame,
Catch ev'ry nerve, and vibrate through the frame.
Their level life is but a mould'ring fire,
Unquench'd by want, unfann'd by strong defire;
Unit for raptures; or, if raptures cheer
On fome high feftival of once a year,
In wild excess the vulgar breast takes fire,
Till buried in debauch the blifs expire.

But not their joys alone thus coarsely flow;
Their morals, like their pleasures, are but low :
For, as refinement ftops, from fire to fon,
Unalter'd, unimprov'd, the manners run;
And love's and friendship's finely-pointed dart
Falls blunted from each indurated heart.
Some fterner virtues o'er the mountain's breaft
May fit, like falcons cow'ring on the neft;
But all the gentler morals, fuch as play
Thro life's more cultur'dwalks,and charm theway;
Thefe, far difpers'd, on timorous pinions fly,
To fport and flutter in a kinder fky.

To kinder fkies, where gentler manners reign, I turn-and France difplays her bright domain. Gay fprightly land of mirth and focial eafe, Pleas'd with thyfelf, whom all the world can How often have I led thy fportive choir, [pleafe, With tunelefs pipe, befide the murm'ring Loire! Where fhading elms along the margin grew, And, frethen'd from the wave, the zephyr flew; And haply, tho' my harth touch fault'ring still, But mock'd all tune, and marr'd the dancer's fkill, Yet would the village praife my wondrous pow'r, And dance, forgetful of the noon-tide hour! Alike all ages: dames of ancient days Have led their children thro' the mirthful maze; And the gay grandfire, fkill'd in geftic lore, Has frisk'd beneath the burden of threefcore. So blefs'd a life thefe thoughtlefs realms difplay, Thus idly bufy rolls their world away: Theirs are thofe arts that mind to mind endear, For honour forms the focial temper here. Honour, that praise which real merit gains, Or c'en imaginary worth obtains, Here paffes current; paid from hand to hand, It shifts in fplendid traffic round the land: From courts to camps, to cottages, it strays, And all are taught an avarice of praife;

They pleafe, are pleas'd, they give to get efteem;
Till, feeming bless'd, they grow to what they fccrp.
But while this fofter art their blifs fupplies,
It gives their follies alfo room to rife,
For praife too dearly lov'd, or warmly fought,
Enfeebles all internal ftrength of thought;
And the weak foul, within itfelf unblefs'd,
Leans for all pleasure on another's breast.
Hence oftentation here, with tawdry art,
Pants for the vulgar praise which fools impart
Here vanity affumes her pert grimace,
And trims her robes of frize with copper-lace,
Here beggar pride defrauds her daily cheer,
To boast one fplendid banquet once a year;
The mind ftill turns where fhifting fashion draws,
Nor weighs the folid worth of felf-applaufe.
To men of other minds my fancy flies,
Embofom'd in the deep where Holland lies.
Methinks her patient fons before me stand,
Where the broad ocean leans against the land;
And, fedulous to ftop the coming tide,
Lift the tall rampire's artificial pride.
Onward methinks, and diligently flow,
The firm connected bulwark feems to grow;
Spreads its long arms amidst the wat'ry roar,
Scoops out an empire, and ufurps the thore;
While the pent ocean, rifing o'er the pile,
Sces an amphibious world beneath him fimile;
The flow canal, the yellow-bloffom'd vale,
The willow-tufted bank, the gliding fail,
The crowded mart, the cultivated plain,
A new creation refcued from his reign.

Thus, while around the wave-fubjected foll
Impels the native to repeated toil,
Industrious habits in each bofom reign,
And induftry begets a love of gain.
Hence all the good from opulence that springs,
With all thofe ills fuperfluous treasure brings,
Are here difplay'd Their much-lov'd wealth im-
Convenience, plenty, elegance, and arts; [parts
But, view them clofer, craft and fraud appear;
E'en liberty itself is barter'd here!
At gold's fuperior charms all freedom flics;
The needy fell it, and the rich man buys;
A land of tyrants, and a den of flaves,
Here wretches feck difhonourable graves,
And calmly bent, to fervitude conform,
Dull as their lakes that flumber in the ftorm.

Heavens! how unlike their Belgic fires of old! Rough, poor, content, ungovernably bold; War in each breaft, and freedom on each brow; | How much unlike the fons of Britain now!

Fir'd at the found, my Genius spreads her wing, And flies where Britain courts the western spring; Where lawns extend that fcorn Arcadian pride, And brighter streams than fam'd Hydafpes glide: There all around the gentleft breezes ftray, There gentle music melts on ev'ry spray ; Creation's mildeft charms are there combin'd; Extremes are only in the mafter's mind! Stern o'er each bofom Reafon holds her state, With daring aims irregularly great: Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I fee the lords of human-kind pals by;