Mild as the hour, and cloudless as the skies,
The mind on stronger pinions loves to rise;
And, loosened from the dull restraints of day,
Expansive gives the springs of thought to play:
Bold, active, vigorous, through the enfranchised soul,
The nobler train of fair ideas roll;
The ardent glow, that wakes at friendship's name:
The thirst of science, and the patriot flame;
The generous fear, that wounds the youthful breast,
To live inglorious, and to die unblest
A liberal scorn of every low desire,
Of all that knaves pursue, and fools admire;
Of fortune's stores, of splendour's sickly blaze,
Precarious bliss, and unsubstantial praise.
Now wrapt beneath the deepening gloom of night, Fades the gay prospect on the glimmering sight;— -Thus in the round of time's unchecked career, Day follows day, and year succeeds to year; And changeful ever, as the circle flies,
As empires fall, successive empires rise.
What now remains of TYRE's imperial pride?
Where float the fleets that crowned her constant tide,
That 'midst her echoing ports their sails unfurled, Braved the wide seas, and searched each distant world? -Not her broad base of glory could withstand
The conquering force of time's destructive hand.
And though on fortune's swelling tide borne high, No dangers threaten, and no fears annoy;
The time may come, -O distant be the year,—
When desolation spreads her empire here.
When Trade's uncertain triumph shall be o'er,
And the wave roll neglected on the shore;
Returning verdure clothe the pathless plain,
And not one trace of former pride remain.
-Yet even then, when, all her splendour fled,
This mart of nations shall decline her head,
When dark oblivion veils this faint essay,
(The short-lived offspring of a vernal day,)
Her name, in time's perennial lists enrolled,
Shall rank with those which Commerce loved of old;
And teach mankind, how vain the pride that springs
From the short glory of terrestrial things.
ON THE INSTITUTION OF A SOCIETY IN LIVERPOOL, FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF DESIGNING, DRAWING, PAINTING, &c., READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 17TH, 1773.
Quel présage pour Polhimnie!
La gloire des dieux du pinceau,
A la reine de l'harmonie
Annonce un triomphe nouveau.
-Par des reciproques secours
Augmentant leur clarté féconde
Les astres éclairent le monde
Sans se combattre dans leur cours.
FROM climes where Slavery's iron chain
Has bound to earth the soaring mind,
Where GRECIA mourns her blasted plain
To want and indolence resigned;
From fair ITALIA'S once-loved shore,
(The land of Freedom now no more)
Disdainful of each former seat,
The ARTS, a lovely train, retreat:
Still prospering under FREEDOM's eye,
With her they bloom, with her they fly;
And when the Power transferred her smile
To ALBION's ever-grateful isle,
The lovely Fugitives forgot to roam,
But raised their altars here, and fixed their happier home.
Swift fly the hovering shades of Night,
When bursts the orient dawn of Day;
As swift before their mental light
The clouds of Ignorance decay.
First came the MUSE-her great design
Each dull sensation to refine;
To plant in every rugged breast
The seeds of GENIUS and of TASTE;
To bid the heart expand with woe,
Or with the great example glow,
Or smile along the sportive page,
Or shrink at Satire's pointed rage;
Through Fancy's realms the wondering mind to bear, And for her sister Arts an easier path prepare.
Of power to still the raging deep,
To damp the gay, to warm the cold,
To bid the steel-ribbed warrior weep,
And make the trembling dastard bold,
To free the slave, the wild to tame,
QUEEN of the SPHERES, next Music came:-
Her strains can every care control,
And waft to heaven the listening soul;
Can every soft affection move,
And tune the amorous pulse to love :
Now chaste and rapturous joys inspire,
Pure as the vestal's sacred fire;
Now loud and dreadful swell the strong alarms, Foment the thirst of blood, the glorious rage of arms.
Next came the POWER, in whom conjoined
Their differing excellence is shewn ;
Yet sweetly blended, and combined
With charms peculiarly her own.
Beneath the great Creator's eye,
"T was she with azure spread the sky;
And when Creation first had birth,
In happiest hues arrayed the earth:
Still varying in each varied scene,
Bedecked the smiling meads with green,
Blushed in the flower, and tinged the fruit,
More lovely still as more minute;
O'er every part the veil of beauty cast,
In heavenly colours bright, through numerous years to last.
Her's is the glowing bold design,
The just and lessening perspective,
The beauties of the waving line,
And all the pencil's power can give.
"T is true-the BARD'S harmonious tongue
May draw the landscape bright and strong;
Describe the dreadful scenes of war,
The crested helm, the rattling car;
The generous thirst of praise inspire,
And kindle virtue's sacred fire:
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