A N

APOLOGY TO BRILLANTE,

FOR HAVING

LONG OMITTED WRITING IN VERSE.

In Imitation of a certain Mimic of Anacreon.

CAN

AN Imatchlefs charms recite ?
Source of ever-fpringing light!
Could I count the vernal flowers,
Count in endless time the hours;
Count the countless ftars above,
Count the captive hearts of Love;
Paint the torture of his fire,

Paint the pangs thofe eyes infpire !
(Pleafing torture, thus to shine,
Purify'd by fires like thine!)
Then I'd ftrike the founding ftring!

Then I'd thy perfection fing.

Myftic world!-Thou fomething more!

Nature's depths we oft descry,

Wonder of th' Almighty's store!

Oft they're pierc'd by Learning's eye;
Thou, if thought on thee would gain,
Prov'ft (like heaven) enquiry vain.

Charms unequal'd we pursue !

Charms in fhining throngs we view!

20

Number'd then could nature's be,

Nature's felf were poor to thee.

AN

E PI

AN

S T LE

то

MR S. OLD FIELD,

OF THE THEATRE ROYAL.

WHILE to your charms unequal verse I raise,

Aw'd, I admire, and tremble as I praise :

Here Art and Genius new refinement need,
Listening, they gaze, and, as they gaze, recede!
Can Art or Genius, or their powers combin'd,
But from corporeal organs, sketch the mind?
When found embody'd can with shape surprize,
The Mufe may emulate your voice and eyes.
Mark rival arts perfection's point pursue !
Each rivals each, but to excel in you!
The Buft and Medal bear the meaning face,
And the proud Statue adds the posture's grace !
Imag'd at length, the bury'd Heroine, known,
Still feems to wound, to smile, or frown in ftone!
As art would art, or metal ftone furpass,
Her foul ftrikes, gleaming, through Corinthian brass!
Serene, the faint in fmiling filver fhines,

And cherubs weep in gold o'er fainted shrines!
If long-loft forms from Raphael's pencil glow,
Wondrous in warmth the mimic colours flow !
Each look, each attitude, new grace displays;
Your voice and motion life and mufic raise.
Thus Cleopatra in your charms refines ;
She lives, the speaks, with force improv'd she shines!

5

10

15

20

Fair, and more fair, you every grace transmit;
Love, learning, beauty, elegance, and wit.
Cæfar, the world's unrival'd master, fir'd,
In her imperial foul, his own admir'd!
Philippi's victor wore her winning chain,
And felt not empire's lofs in beauty's gain.
Could the pale heroes your bright influence know,
Or catch the filver accents as they flow,
Drawn from dark rest by your enchanting strain,
Each shade were lur'd to life and love again.

25

30

35

Say, sweet inspirer! were each annal known, What living greatnefs fhines there not your own! If the griev'd Mufe by fome lov'd empress rose, New strength, new grace, it to your influence owes ! If power by war diftinguish'd height reveals, Your nobler pride the wounds of fortune heals! Then could an empire's caufe demand your care, The foul, that juftly thinks, would greatly dare. Long has feign'd Venus mock'd the Mufe's praise, You dart, divine Ophelia! genuine rays!

40

Warm through thofe eyes enlivening raptures roll! 45 Sweet through each striking feature streams your foul ! The foul's bright meanings heighten beauty's fires: Your looks, your thoughts, your deeds, each grace infpires!

59

Know, then, if rank'd with monarchs, here you stand, What Fate declines, you from the Mufe demand! Each grace that fhone of old in each fam'd fair, Or may in modern dames refinement wear;

Whate'er

Whate'er juft, emulative thoughts purfue,
Is all confirm'd, is all ador'd in you!

If godlike bofoms pant for power to blefs,
If 'tis a monarch's glory to redress;
In conscious majefty you fhine ferene,
In thought a heroine, and in act a queen.

535

V

ER SES

OCCASIONED BY READING

MR. AARON HILL'S POEM,

called GIDEON.

The lines marked thus are taken from GIDEON.

L'

I.

ET other poets poorly fing

Their flatteries to the vulgar great! Her airy flight let wandering fancy wing,

And rival nature's most luxuriant ftore,

To fwell fome monfter's pride, who fhame's a ftate, 5
Or form a wreath to crown tyrannic power!
Thou, who inform'd't this clay with active fire!
Do thou, Supreme of Powers! my thoughts refine,
And with thy pureft heat my foul infpire,

That with Hillarius' worth my verfe may fhine! 10
As thy lov'd Gideon once fet Ifrael free,
So he with fweet, feraphic lays

Redeems the ufe of captive poetry,'

Which first was form'd to speak thy glorious praise !

11. Mofes,

II.

Mofes, with an enchanting tongue, Pharaoh's just overthrow fublimely fung!

When Saul and Jonathan in death were laid,
Surviving David felt the foftening fire!

And, by the Great Almighty's tuneful aid,
Wak'd into endless life his mournful lyre.
Their different thoughts, met in Hillarius' fong,
Roll in one channel more divinely strong!
With Pindar's fire his verfe's fpirit flies,

• Wafted in charming mufic through the air!
Unftopt by clouds, it reaches to the skies,
And joins with angels' hallelujahs there,

15

Flows mix'd, and sweetly strikes th' Almighty's ear!

III.

Rebels should blush when they his Gideon fee!
That Gideon born to fet his country free.

O that fuch heroes in each age might rife, Brightening through vapours like the morning-ftar, Generous to triumph, and in council wife!

Gentle in peace, but terrible in war!

IV.

20%

2.5

30

When Gideon, Oreb, Hyram, Shimron fhine

Fierce in the blaze of war as they engage!

35

Great bard! what energy, but thine,

Could reach the vast description of their rage?

Or when, to cruel foes betray'd,

Sareph and Hamar call for aid,

Loft