And, when his longing view the fair declin❜d,
Left a full image of her charms behind.
Thus reigns the moon, with furtive fplendor crown'd, While glooms opprefs us, and thick fhades furround. But let the fource of light its beams display,
Languid and faint the mimic flames decay,
And all the fick❜ning fplendor fades away.
A POEM on the Temper and Studies of the AUTHOR; and how great a Misfortune it is, for a Man of fmall Eftate to have much TASTE.
PART the FIRST.
Perhaps fome cloud eclips'd the day,
When thus I tun'd my penfive lay.
"The ship is launch'd-we catch the gale-
On life's extended ocean fail:
Our ardent cry, our general end!
Yet ah! the scenes which tempt our care
Are like the forms difpers'd in air,
Still dancing near diforder'd eyes;
And weakest his, who best descries!
Yet let me not my birth-right barter,
(For wishing is the poet's charter;
All bards have leave to wish what's wanted,
Tho' few e'er found their wifhes granted;
Extenfive field! where poets pride them
In finging all that is deny'd them.)
For humble ease, ye pow'rs! I pray;
That plain warm fuit for ev'ry day!
And pleasure, and brocade, beftow;
To flaunt it-once a month, or so.
The first for conftant wear we want;
The firft, ye pow'rs! for ever grant!
But conftant wear the last befpatters,
And turns the tiffue into tatters.
Where'er my vagrant course I bend,
Let me fecure one faithful friend.
Let me, in public fcenes, request
A friend of wit and tafte, well-drefs'd:
And, if I n.uft not hope fuch favour,
A friend of wit and taste, however.
Alas! that wisdom ever fhuns
To congregate her scatter'd fons;
Whose nervous forces, well combin'd,
Would win the field, and fway mankind.
The fool will fqueeze, from morn to night,
To fix his follies full in fight;
The note he strikes, the plume he shews,
Attract whole flights of fops and beaux;
And kindred-fools, who ne'er had known him,
Flock at the fign; caress, and own him.
But ill-ftar'd sense, nor gay nor loud,
Steals foft, on tip-toe, thro' the crowd;
Conveys his meagre form between ;
And slides, like pervious air, unseen :
Contracts his known tenuity,
As though 'twere ev❜n a crime, to be:
Nor ev'n permits his eyes to stray,
And win acquaintance in their way.
In company, fo mean his air,
You fcarce are conscious he is there:
Till from fome nook, like sharpen'd steel,
Occurs his face's thin profile.
Still feeming, from the gazer's eye,
Like VENUS, newly-bath'd, to fly.
Yet while reluctant he displays
His real gems before the blaze,
The fool hath, in its center, plac'd
His tawdry stock of painted paste,
Difus'd to fpeak, he tries his fkill;
Speaks coldly, and fucceeds but ill;
His modefty, reserve esteem'd;
His wit unknown, his learning vain,
He wins not one of all the train.
And those who, mutually known,
In friendship's faireft lift had fhone,
Lefs
prone, than pebbles, to unite,
Retire to fhades from public fight;
Grow favage, quit their focial nature;
And starve, to study mutual fatire.
But friends, and fav'rites, to chagrin them, Find counties, countries, feas, between them: Meet once a year, then part, and then Retiring, wish to meet again.
Sick of the thought, let me provide
Some human form to grace my fide;
At hand, where'er I shape my course;
An useful, pliant, stalking-horse!
No gefture free from fome grimace;
No feam, without its share of lace;
But, mark'd with gold or filver either,
Hint where his coat was piec'd together.
His legs be lengthen'd, I advise,
And stockings roll'd abridge his thighs.
What tho' VANDYCK had other rules,
What had VANDYCK to do with fools?
Be nothing wanting, but his mind;
Before, a folitaire; behind,
A twisted ribbon, like the track
Which nature gives an afs's back.
Silent, as midnight! pity 'twere
His wifdom's flender wealth to share;
And, whilst in flocks our fancies ftray,
To wish the poor man's lamb away.
This form attracting ev'ry eye,
I ftrole all unregarded by:
This wards the jokes of ev'ry kind,
As an umbrella fun or wind;
Or, like a fpunge, abforbs the fallies,
And peftilential fumes of malice;
Or like a fplendid shield is fit
To fcreen the templar's random wit;
Or what fome gentler cit lets fall,
As wool-packs quafh the leaden ball.
Allufions thefe of weaker force,
And apter ftill the stalking-horse!
O let me wander all unseen,
Beneath the fanction of his mien |
As lilies foft, as roses fair!
Empty as air-pumps drain'd of air!
With steady eye and pace remark
The fpeckled flock that haunts the park ;
Level my pen with wond'rous heed
At follies, flocking there to feed:
And, as my fatire bursts amain,
See, feather'd fopp'ry ftrew the plain.
|