Ossian Collection > Gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle > Volume 66, Part 2

SeleSi Poelry, Anthnt and Modern^ Supplemeiit, 1796. I103
I check the rifing tianfport, confcious ftiU
I do injuftice to tlie Bard I love !
But who can view, without apparent
dread,
NatHre convuls'd ; the livid lightning's glare';
And lattling tiiunder Ihake ilw al^oniJh'd
world !
Who can without emotion read the page
Where fine imagination has jwiriray'd
The chafte Amelia, toi n from the embrace
Of her lov'd Celadon ! Who read their
loves, [the mind
But mud confefs that Power which chains
And rivets ih-e attendun ; anxk)us ftill
To dwell enamour'd on the tender theme!
Nor let the prude, with fnpercilious air,
(Mere affe61ation !) check th' admirirg
fvvaifi, [verfe
Whofe curious eye nins o'er the plcafing
Where Mufulora, like Diana, laves
The limpid ftream, iaw emblem of herftlf !
Did eve. Poet, on a theme like tiiis,
Exert fuch pcw'rs, and yet prefei vt tljc fong
1 nviolate and pure, as is the rofe
Or virgin-lily, 'mid the morning de.v !
Infvveettranhtioii, liere the tuneful Bard
Points out the Worthies who havs added
fame
T(' Britain's annab by tlieir martial deeds.
Aided her Science, or improv'd !ier fong.
Kor are the Britifh Fair forgot, but here
Their beauties and their mer;t Itand con-
fefs-d.
Serene Philofophy, the foul of fon^.
Tint fureft guide to truth, clofcs the fcene;
And leaves the mind in pleafing trjnfport
left,
Iflten: to wonder, worfliip, and adore.
Ripe Autumn opens with the Doric reed.
Attun'd to rural labour. Still the Baid,
With philanthropic lo'/e, raifes the long
To cheer the labour of the fimple fwain.
A mind like his, ahve to ev'ry fenfe,
Survey'd mankind as brethren ; all allied
To one indulgent Father, who regards
The monaj ch and the (lave lyith equjl eye.
Tlie annual laboui? nf the ripen'd field
Calls forth our Poet's nnexhaufted pow'rs;
And, in a chafte delightful epifode.
Adorns our language with enchanting tale
Of yoniig Lavima. Say, ye Briti* youth !
Does any tale in modern npvel charm
Or touch the heart with fympaihy like tliis ^
Can any retrofpeifl of conquci 'd charms
liifpire fuch tranf|>orts of ingenuous joy.
As when fair Virtue meet; its juft reward!
On ev'ry theme, the Bard of Nature
melts
With kind eompafifion for another's woe.
The feaiher'd tribes his tender pi'y (hare j
He juftly cenfures ^'ry wanton fporc
That brings Tantimely death ; confcious he
(Whatever daring fdphif^s may advance)
That rapine, ofc repeated, (reels tlie heaft.
Mu(t not the fentimental fportfman bUifli
^t his poor conqueft o'er the timid hare?
©W Poet next, io relisation, finjjs
In burlefque ftrain, the great airJ noiite
chace, ' [date,
Tliat makes the fportfman's heart with j<fy
And buries in oblivion all his cares. '
See u ith what tender caution now he warn*
The Britidi Fair to Ihua thefe dang'rciis
fports,
That ill become the fofnefs of their fex j '
But in th^ir native lul\re always Ihine.
His heart flill beats in unifon witl; thofe
Who follow Nature in her humble walksj.
Hence with the farmer he rej'>ices ftiH,
And fings in dukeC ftrains his " harveft-
home."
Their paitimes, too, are not beneath hiscar^
But chants, like Maro, ev'ry rural fpc«t.
But who can fc/i-m a happier ftate oa
earth,
Ev'n in idea, than the rural life
So finely painted in his matcWefs fong I
Ambition, read ; compare with this chy
ftate ;
Then, in the fcale of Reafjn, fairty we«g1»
Tliy fplendid phantoms 'gainft his real jiys.
Stern Winter, too, our Poet's firit elT.iy,
Difplays uncounted beauiies ; genius here
Shines forth in flrong dsfcription; maiJ^^
fenfej
Boldmetaphor; attemper'd witli that chafm
Which always pleafes, love of God and
man.
How ftrong each image prefTes on the f«nfe.
As Fancy's eye furveys the boiling wave
Laih'd into foam with agitatiou fierce,
Then burfting in a loud tremendous roar !
Or, when on land the wat'ry deluge p:-ur3
In dreadful torrents, fweeping in one ir^'ia
Tliejult-earn'd labours of tiiepeacefulhind.
But '.ee, the God of Nature, awful now
And great amidft the Itorm, puts forth h;3
hand.
The o:ean rteeps, and ali the whnds are (lilL
But keener tempefts now psrvade ; and
man.
Obnoxious ftill to ev'ry wayward blafl.
Feels the ohill froft on all his fenfes feize j
The drooping cattle pentive feek the flxeti^
And in dumb filence let their wants ba
known.
The red-breaft, too, a humble refuse f«;k«*
Makes man his friend, and craves his little
dole; [lefs deem'ct,
S'A'eet B rd 1 though fimple thou and ufe*
Thou liv'ft immortal in the Poet's lay.
But let me pafs th' affl-6\ive tile of wne
That draws our feeling forih, where h.ip-
lefs novv
The poor benighted trav'lerbreathlefs lies
A vii^^im to the (form's refiltlefs rage.
Th' uuijumber'dmiferies that prey on m in»
In his rough paflage through this checcjuer'd
fcene, [fervc
Prefs on the Poet's heart ; Iiencc we ob-
Wliat ]\\\\ rcriectioiis uiher from h'smind.
Alive to av'ry virtue i panting ItiU
To msi'orate each woe tbat mortals fsei.
Andlhou, freat Howard ! facredto tii*- Ma^-i
i. (Mi^hi