The Poetical Works of George Crabbe

Would learn my fatewhat portend

-Good Heaven! and There is a beauty's joy, amid a crowd
To have that beauty her first fame allow'd;

These tears?-and fall they for thy wretched And there's the conqueror's joy, when,

friend?

Or--but I cease; I cannot paint the bliss, From a confession soft and kind as this; Nor where we walk'd, nor how our friends

we met,

Or what their wonder-I am wondering yet; For he who nothing heeds has nothing to forget.

All thought, yet thinking nothing-all
delight

In every thing, but nothing in my sight!
Nothing I mark or learn, but am possess'd
Of joys I cannot paint, and I am bless'd
In all that I conceive-whatever is, is best.
Ready to aid all beings, I would go
The world around to succour human wo;
Yet am so largely happy, that it seems
There are no woes, and sorrows are but
dreams.

'There is a college joy, to scholars known, When the first honours are proclaim'd their

own;

There is ambition's joy, when in their race A man surpassing rivals gains his place;

dubious held

And long the fight, he sees the foe repell'd: 'But what are these, or what are other joys, That charm kings, conquerors, beauteous nymphs and boys,

Or greater yet, if greater yet be found,
To that delight when love's dear hope is
crown'd?

To the first beating of a lover's heart,
When the loved maid endeavours to impart,
Frankly yet faintly, fondly yet in fear,
The kind confession that he holds so dear.
Now in the morn of our return how strange
Was this new feeling, this delicious change;
That sweet delirium, when I gazed in fear,
That all would yet be lost and disappear.

'Such was the blessing that I sought for

pain,

In some degree to be myself again;
And when we met a shepherd old and lame,
Cold and diseased, it seem'd my blood to
tame;

And I was thankful for the moral sight,
That soberized the vast and wild delight.'

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

But dost thou love this woman?'

'O! beyond What I can tell thee of the true and fond: Hath she not soothed me, sick, enrich'd me, poor,

And banish'd death and misery from my
door ?

Has she not cherish'd every moment's bliss,
And made an Eden of a world like this?
When Care would strive with us his watch
to keep,

Has she not sung the snarling fiend to sleep?
And when Distress has look'd us in the face,
Has she not told him, "thou art not Dis-
grace ?",

'I must behold her, Richard; I must see This patient spouse who sweetens misery But didst thou need, and wouldst thou not apply?—

And left no more the once-accepted youth;
Though he disloyal, lost, diseased, became,
The widow'd turtle's was a deathless flame:
This faith, this feeling, gave my soul delight,
Truth in the lady, ardour in the knight.

'I built me castles wondrous rich and rare, Few castle-builders could with me compare ;

Nay, thou wert right-but then how wrong The hall, the palace, rose at my command,

was I!'

'My indiscretion was

'No more repeat; Would I were nothing worse than indiscreet ;

But still there is a plea that I could bring,
Had I the courage to describe the thing.'
'Then thou too, Brother, couldst of weak-

ness tell;

Thou, too, hast found the wishes that rebel
Against the sovereign reason; at some time
Thou hast been fond, heroic, and sublime;
Wrote verse, it may be, and for one dear maid
The sober purposes of life delay'd;
From year to year the fruitless chase pursued,
And hung enamour'd o'er the flying good:
Then be thy weakness to a Brother shown,
And give him comfort who displays his own.'
Ungenerous youth! dost thou presuming
ask

A man so grave his failings to unmask?
What if I tell thee of a waste of time,
That on my spirit presses as a crime,
Wilt thou despise me ?—I, who, soaring, fell
So late to rise-Hear then the tale I tell ;
Who tells what thou shalt hear, esteems his
hearer well.

And these I fill'd with objects great and

grand.

Virtues sublime, that nowhere else would live,
Glory and pomp, that I alone could give;
Trophies and thrones by matchless valour
gain'd,

Faith unreproved, and chastity unstain'd;
With all that soothes the sense and charms
the soul,

Came at my call, and were in my control.

'And who was I? a slender youth and tall,
In manner awkward, and with fortune small;
With visage pale, my motions quick and slow,
That fall and rising in the spirits show;
For none could more by outward signs express
What wise men lock within the mind's recess;
Had I a mirror set before my view,

I might have seen what such a form could do;
Had I within the mirror truth beheld,
I should have such presuming thoughts re-
pell'd ;

But awkward as I was, without the grace
That gives new beauty to a form or face;
Still I expected friends most true to prove,
And grateful, tender, warm, assiduous love.

'Assured of this, that love's delicious bond
Would hold me ever faithful, ever fond;
It seem❜d but just that I in love should find
Yes, my dear Richard, thou shalt hear A kindred heart as constant and as kind.
Give me,
I cried, a beauty; none on earth
Of higher rank or nobler in her birth;
Pride of her race, her father's hope and care,
Yet meek as children of the cottage are;

me own

Follies and frailties thou hast never known;
Thine was a frailty,-folly, if you please,-
But mine a flight, a madness, a disease.

Nursed in the court, and there by love pursued,
But fond of peace, and blest in solitude;
By rivals honour'd, and by beauties praised,
Yet all unconscious of the envy raised;
Suppose her this, and from attendants freed,
To want my prowess in a time of need,
When safe and grateful she desires to show
She feels the debt that she delights to owe,
And loves the man who saved her in distress-
So fancy will'd, nor would compound for less.
This was my dream.—In some auspicious
hour,

In some sweet solitude, in some green bower, Whither my fate should lead me, there, un

seen,

I should behold my fancy's gracious queen, Singing sweet song! that I should hear awhile, Then catch the transient glory of a smile; Then at her feet with trembling hope should kneel,

Such as rapt saints and raptured lovers feel; To watch the chaste unfoldings of her heart, In joy to meet, in agony to part,

And then in tender song to soothe my grief, And hail, in glorious rhyme, my Lady of the Leaf.

'To dream these dreams I chose a woody scene,

My guardian-shade, the world and me between ;

A green inclosure, where beside its bound
A thorny fence beset its beauties round,
Save where some creature's force had made

a way

For me to pass, and in my kingdom stray :
Here then I stray'd, then sat me down to call,
Just as I will'd, my shadowy subjects all!
Fruits of all minds conceived on every coast,
Fay, witch, enchanter, devil, demon, ghost;
And thus with knights and nymphs, in halls
and bowers,

In war and love, I pass'd unnumber'd hours:
Gross and substantial beings all forgot,
Ideal glories beam'd around the spot,
And all that was, with me, of this poor world

was not.

'Yet in this world there was a single scene, That I allow'd with mine to intervene ; This house, where never yet my feet had stray'd,

I with respect and timid awe survey'd ; With pleasing wonder I have oft-times stood, To view these turrets rising o'er the wood;

When fancy to the halls and chambers flew, Large, solemn, silent, that I must not view; The moat was then, and then o'er all the ground

Tall elms and ancient oaks stretch'd far around;

And where the soil forbad the nobler race, Dwarf trees and humbler shrubs had found their place,

Forbidding man in their close hold to go, Haw, gatter, holm, the service and the sloe; With tangling weeds that at the bottom grew, And climbers all above their feathery branches threw.

Nor path of man or beast was there espied, But there the birds of darkness loved to hide, The loathed toad to lodge, and speckled snake to glide.

To me this hall, thus view'd in part,

appear'd

A mansion vast. I wonder'd, and I fear'd; There as I wander'd, fancy's forming eye Could gloomy cells and dungeons dark espy; Winding through these, I caught th' appalling sound

Of troubled souls, that guilty minds confound, Where murder made its way, and mischief stalk'd around.

Above the roof were raised the midnight storms,

And the wild lights betray'd the shadowy forms.

'With all these flights and fancies, then so

dear,

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

'I saw them ere they came, myself unseen, My lofty fence and thorny bound betweenAnd one alone, one matchless face I saw, And, though at distance, felt delight and awe : Fancy and truth adorn'd her; fancy gave Much, but not all; truth help'd to make their slave;

For she was lovely, all was not the vain
Or sickly homage of a fever'd brain;
No! she had beauty, such as they admire
Whose hope is earthly, and whose love desire;
Imagination might her aid bestow,

But she had charms that only truth could show. 6 Their dress was such as well became the place,

But one superior; hers the air, the grace, The condescending looks, that spoke the nobler race.

Slender she was and tall: her fairy-feet
Bore her right onward to my shady seat;
And O! I sigh'd that she would nobly dare
To come, nor let her friend th' adventure
share;

But see how I in my dominion reign,
And never wish to view the world again.

Thus was I musing, seeing with my eyes
These objects, with my mind her fantasies,
And chiefly thinking-is this maid, divine
As she appears, to be this queen of mine ?
Have I from henceforth beauty in my view,
Not airy all, but tangible and true?
Here then I fix, here bound my vagrant views,
And here devote my heart, my time, my muse.
'She saw not this, though ladies early trace
Their beauty's power, the glories of their face;
Yet knew not this fair creature-could not

know

That new-born love! that I too soon must

show:

And I was musing-how shall I begin? How make approach my unknown way to win, And to that heart, as yet untouch'd, make known

The wound, the wish, the weakness of my

own ?

Such is my part, but--Mercy! what alarm? Dare aught on earth that sovereign beauty harm?

Again the shrieking charmers-how they rend

The gentle air- -The shriekers lack a friendThey are my princess and th' attendant maid In so much danger, and so much afraid!—

But whence the terror?-Let me haste and see What has befallen them who cannot fleeWhence can the peril rise? What can the peril be?

'It soon appear'd, that while this nymph divine

Moved on, there met her rude uncivil kine, Who knew her not-the damsel was not there Who kept them-all obedient-in her care; Strangers they thus defied and held in scorn, And stood in threat'ning posture, hoof and horn;

While Susan-pail in hand-could stand the while

And prate with Daniel at a distant stile.

'As feeling prompted, to the place I ran, Resolved to save the maids and show the

man:

Was each a cow like that which challenged
Guy,

I had resolved t' attack it, and defy
In mortal combat! to repel or die.
That was no time to parley-or to say,
I will protect you-fly in peace away!
Lo! yonder stile-but with an air of grace,
As I supposed, I pointed to the place.

'The fair ones took me at my sign, and flew, Each like a dove, and to the stile withdrew; Where safe, at distance, and from terrors free, They turn'd to view my beastly foes and me.

'I now had time my business to behold, And did not like it-let the truth be told: The cows, though cowards, yet in numbers strong,

Like other mobs, by might defended wrong; In man's own pathway fix'd, they seem'd disposed

For hostile measure, and in order closed, Then halted near me, as I judged, to treat, Before we came to triumph or defeat.

'I was in doubt: 'twas sore disgrace, I

knew,

To turn my back, and let the cows pursue;
And should I rashly mortal strife begin,
"Twas all unknown who might the battle win;
And yet to wait, and neither fight nor fly,
Would mirth create,-I could not that deny;
It look'd as if for safety I would treat,
Nay, sue for peace-No! rather come defeat!
"Look to me, loveliest of thy sex! and give
One cheering glance, and not a cow shall live;
For lo! this iron bar, this strenuous arm,
And those dear eyes to aid me as a charm."

'Say, goddess! Victory! say, on man or cow Meanest thou now to perch ?-On neither

now

For, as I ponder'd, on their way appear'd
The Amazonian milker of the herd;
These, at the wonted signals, made a stand,
And woo'd the nymph of the relieving hand;
Nor heeded now the man, who felt relief
Of other kind, and not unmix'd with grief;
For now he neither should his courage prove,
Nor in his dying moments boast his love.
'My sovereign beauty with amazement

saw

So she declared-the horrid things in awe;
Well pleased, she witness'd what respect was
paid

By such brute natures-Every cow afraid,
And kept at distance by the powers of one,
Who had to her a dangerous service done,
That prudence had declined, that valour's
self might shun.

Yet much was done-upon my mind a chain
Was strongly fix'd, and likely to remain;
Listening, I grew enamour'd of the sound,
And felt to her my very being bound;
I bless'd the scene, nor felt a power to move,
Lost in the ecstacies of infant-love.

'She saw and smiled; the smile delight

convey'd,

My love encouraged, and my act repaid:
In that same smile I read the charmer meant
To give her hero chaste encouragement;
It spoke, as plainly as a smile can speak,
"Seek whom you love, love freely whom you
seek."

Thus, when the lovely witch had wrought
her charm,

She took th' attendant maiden by the arm,
And left me fondly gazing, till no more
I could the shade of that dear form explore;
Then to my secret haunt I turn'd again,
Fire in my heart, and fever in my brain;

'So thought the maid, who now, beyond That face of her for ever in my view,

the stile,

Received her champion with a gracious smile;
Who now had leisure on those charms to dwell,
That he could never from his thought expel;
There are, I know, to whom a lover seems,
Praising his mistress, to relate his dreams;
But, Richard, looks like those, that angel-face
Could I no more in sister-angel trace;
O! it was more than fancy! it was more
Than in my darling views I saw before,
When I my idol made, and my allegiance

swore.

'Henceforth twas bliss upon that face to dwell,

Till every trace became indelible;

I bless'd the cause of that alarm, her fright,
And all that gave me favour in her sight,
Who then was kind and grateful, till my mind,
Pleased and exulting, awe awhile resign'd.
For in the moment when she feels afraid,
How kindly speaks the condescending maid;
She sees her danger near, she wants her
lover's aid;

As fire electric, when discharged, will strike
All who receive it, and they feel alike,
So in the shock of danger and surprise
Our minds are struck, and mix, and sym-
pathise.

'But danger dies, and distance comes
between

Whom I was henceforth fated to pursue,
To hope I knew not what, small hope in what
I knew.

'O! my dear Richard, what a waste of time
Gave I not thus to lunacy sublime;
What days, months, years (to useful purpose
lost),

Has not this dire infatuation cost?
To this fair vision I, a bounded slave,
Time, duty, credit, honour, comfort, gave;
Gave all-and waited for the glorious things
That hope expects, but fortune never brings.
Yet let me own, while I my fault reprove,
There is one blessing still affix'd to love-
To love like mine-for, as my soul it drew
From reason's path, it shunn'd dishonour's
too;

It made my taste refined, my feelings nice,
And placed an angel in the way of vice.

'This angel now, whom I no longer view'd,
Far from this scene her destined way pursued ;
No more that mansion held a form so fair,
She was away, and beauty was not there.

'Such, my dear Richard, was my early

flame,

My youthful frenzy-give it either name;
It was the withering bane of many a year,
That past away in causeless hope and fear;
The hopes, the fears, that every dream could
kill,

My state and that of my all glorious queen ; | Or make alive, and lead my passive will.

« Anterior Continua »

Llibres