Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

Which the Bird, overhearing, flew high o'er his head,
And some TOBIT-like marks of his patronage shed,
Which so dimm'd the poor Dandy's idolatrous eye,
That while FUM cried « Oh Fo!» all the Court cried
<< Oh fie!»

But a truce to digression.-These birds of a feather
Thus talk'd, t' other night, on State matters together
(The PRINCE just in bed, or about to depart for 't,
His legs full of gout, and his arms full of HERTFORD);
«I say, Hum,» says FUM-FUM, of course spoke Chi-

nese,

But, bless you, that's nothing-at Brighton one sees
Foreign lingoes and bishops translated with ease-
<< I say HUM,»> how fares it with Royalty now?
Is it up? is it prime? is it spooney-or how?»
(The Bird had just taken a flash man's degree

Which have spoil'd you, till hardly a drop, my old
porpoise,

Of pure English claret is left in your corpus;
And (as JIM says) the only one trick, good or bad,
Of the fancy you 're up to, is fibbing, my lad!
Hence it comes,-BOXIANA, disgrace to thy page!
Having floor'd, by good luck, the first swell of the age,
Having conquer'd the prime one, that mill'd us all
round,

You kick'd him, old BEN, as he gasp'd on the ground!
Ay-just at the time to show spunk, if you'd got any-
Kick'd him, and jaw'd him, and lagg'd' him to Botany!
Oh, shade of the Cheesemonger! 2 you who, alas!
Doubled up, by the dozen, those Mounseers in brass,
On that great day of milling, when blood lay in lakes,
When Kings held the bottle and Europe the stakes,
Look down upon BEN-see him dunghill all o'er,

Under B➖➖➖➖ɛ, Y————тu, and young Master Insult the fallen foe that can harm him no more.

« As for us in Pekin»---here a devil of a din

From the bed-chamber came, where that long Mandarin,
CASTLEREAGH (whom FUM calls the Confucius of prose),
Was rehearsing a speech upon Europe's repose,
To the deep double-bass of the fat idol's nose!

(Nota bene.-His Lordship and LIVERPOOL come,
In collateral lines, from the old Mother HUM,—
CASTLEREAGH A HUM-bug-LIVERPOOL a Пlum-drum.)—
The speech being finish'd, out rush'd CASTLEREAGH,
Saddled FUM in a hurry, and whip, spur away!
Through the regions of air, like a Snip on his hobby;
Ne'er paused till he lighted in St Stephen's lobby.

[ocr errors]

Out, cowardly spooney!—again and again,
By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, BEN.

To show the white feather is many men's doom,
But, what of one feather?—BEN shows a whole Plume.

TO LADY HOLLAND,

On Napoleon's Legacy of a Snuff-Box.
GIFT of the Hero, on his dying day,

To her, whose pity watch'd, for ever nigh;
Oh! could he see the proud, the happy ray,

This relic lights up in her generous eye,
Sighing, he 'd find how easy 't is to pay
A friendship all his kingdoms could not buy.

EPISTLE FROM TOM CRIB TO BIG BEN,
Concerning some foul play in a late Transaction.'

Ahi, mio Ben!-METASTASIO.2

WHAT! Ben, my old hero, is this your renown!
Is this the new go?-kick a man when he 's down!
When the foe has knock'd under, to tread on him then-
By the fist of my father, I blush for thee, BEN!
<< Foul! foul;» all the lads of the fancy exclaim-
CHARLEY SHOCK is electrified-BELCHER spits flame-
And MOLYNEUX-ay, even BLACKEY, cries « Shame!»
Time was, when JOHN BULL little difference spied
'T wixt the foe at his feet and the friend at his side;
When he found (such his humour in fighting and eating)
His foe, like his beef-steak, the sweeter for beating-
But this comes, Master BEN, of your cursed foreign no-
tions,

Your trinkets, wigs, thingumbobs, gold lace, and lo-
tions;

Your noyaus, curaçoas, and the devil knows what-
(One swig of Blue Ruin 3 is worth the whole lot!)
Your great and small crosses-(my eyes, what a brood!
A cross-buttock from me would do some of them good!)

'Written soon after Bonaparte's transportation to St Helena.

Tom, I suppose, was assisted to this motto by Mr Jackson, who, it is well known, keeps the most learned company going. a Gia.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

1 Then why, my Lord Warden! oh! why should you fidget

Your mind about matters you don't understand? Or why should you write yourself down for an idiot, Because, «you,» forsooth, « have the pen in your

hand!»

Think, think how much better
Than scribbling a letter
(Which both you and I

Should avoid, by the by)

? How much pleasanter 't is to sit under the bust

Of old CHARLEY, my friend here, and drink like a

new one;

While CHARLEY looks sulky and frowns at me, just
As the ghost in the pantomime frowns at Don

Juan!

3 To crown us, Lord Warden!

In CUMBERLAND'S garden

Grows plenty of monk's-hood in venomous sprigs; While Otto of Roses,

Refreshing all noses,

Shall sweetly exhale from our whiskers and wigs. 4 What youth of the Household will cool our noyau In that streamlet delicious,

That, down 'midst the dishes,
All full of good fishes
Romantic doth flow?-

5 Or who will repair

Unto Manchester Square,

And see if the gentle Marchesa be there?
Go-bid her haste hither,

6 And let her bring with her
The newest No-Popery Sermon that's going-

7 Oh! let her come with her dark tresses flowing, All gentle and juvenile, curly and gay, In the manner of ACKERMANN'S Dresses for May!

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

No want has he of sword or dagger,
Cock'd hat or ringlets of GERAMB;
Though Peers may laugh, and Papists swagger,

He does not care one single d-mn!

2 Whether 'midst Irish chairmen going,

Or, through St Giles's alleys dim, 'Mid drunken Sheelahs, blasting, blowing, No matter 't is all one to him.

3 For instance I, one evening late, Upon a gay vacation sally,

Singing the praise of Church and State,

Got (God knows how) to Cranbourne Alley. When lo! an Irish Papist darted

Across my path, gaunt, grim, and big-
I did but frown, and off he started,

Scared at me even without my wig!
4 Yet a more fierce and raw-boned dog
Goes not to mass in Dublin City,
Nor shakes his brogue o'er Allen's Bog,
Nor spouts in Catholic Committee !

5 Oh! place me 'midst O'ROURKES, O'TOOLES,
The ragged royal blood of TARA;
Or place me where DICK MARTIN rules
The houseless wilds of CONNEMARA;—

6 Of Church and State I'll warble still,

Though even DICK MARTIN'S self should grumble; Sweet Church and State, like JACK and JILL,

7 So lovingly upon a hill

Ah! ne'er like JACK and JILL to tumble!

Non eget Mauri jaculis neque arcu,

Nec venenatis gravida sagittis

Fusce, pharetra.

Sive per Syrteis iter æstuosas, Sive facturus per inhospitalem Caucasum, vel quæ loca fabulosus

Lambit Hydaspes.

The noble translator had, at first, laid the scene of these imagined dangers of his man of conscience among the papists of Spain, and had translated the words quæ loca fabulosus lambit Hydaspes thus- The fabling Spaniard licks the French; but, recollecting that it is our interest just now to be respectful to Spanish catholics (though there is certainly no earthly reason for our being even commonly civil to Irish ones), he altered the passage as it stands at present.

3 Namque me sylva lupus în Sabina,
Dum meam canto Lalagen, et ultra
Terminum curis vagor expeditus,
Fugit inermem.

I cannot help calling the reader's attention to the peculiar ingenuity with which these lines are paraphrase. Not to mention the happy conversion of the wolf into a papist (seeing that Romulus was suckled by a wolf, that Rome was founded by Romulus, and that the Pope has always reigned at Rome), there is something particularly neat in supposing ultra terminum to mean vacation time, and then the modest consciousness with which the noble and learned translator has avoided touching upon the words curis expeditus,» (or, as it has been otherwise read, causis expeditus,) and the felicitous idea of his being inermis when without his wig," are altogether the most delectable specimens of paraphrase in our language.

4 Quale portentum neque militaris
Daunia in latis alit esculetis,
Nec Juba tellus generat, leonum

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

'The literal closeness of the version here cannot but be admired. The translator has added a long, erudite, and flowery note upon Roses, of which I can merely give a specimen at present. In the first place, he ransacks the Rosarium Politicum of the Persian poet Sadi, with the hope of finding some Political Roses, to match the gentleman in the text-but in vain: he then tells us, that Cicero accused Verres of reposing upon a cushion Melitensi rosa fartum, which, from the odd mixture of words, be supposes to be a kind of Irish Bed of Roses, like Lord Castlereagh's. The learned clerk next favours us with some remarks upon a well-known panning epitaph on fair Rosamond, and expresses a most loyal bope that, if Rosa munda mean Rose with clean hands, it may be found applicable to the Right Honourable Rose in question. He then dwells at some length upon the « Rosa aurea, which, though descriptive, in one sense, of the old Treasury Statesman, yet, as being consecrated and worn by the Pope, must, of course, not be brought into the same atmosphere with him. Lastly, in reference to the words old Rose," he winds up with the pathetic lamentation of the poet, consenuisse Rosas. The whole note, indeed, shows a knowledge of Roses that is

7 There cannot be imagined a more happy illustration of the in- quite edifying.

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

Dialogue between a Dowager and her Maid on the Night of Lord Yarmouth's Fête.

"I WANT the Court-Guide,» said my Lady, « to look If the house, Seymour Place, be at 30 or 20»

<< We 've lost the Court-Guide, Ma'am, but here's the Red Book,

Where you'll find, I dare say, Seymour PLACES in plenty!»

1 The words addressed by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, to the beautiful nun at Murano. See his Life.

This is a bon mot, attributed, I know not how truly, to the PaiNCESS OF WALES. I have merely versified it.

EPIGRAM.

FROM THE FRENCH.

« I NEVER give a kiss, says Prue,

<< To naughty man, for I abbor it.>> She will not give a kiss 't is true

She'll take one, though, and thank you for it.

ON A SQUINTING POETESS.

To no one Muse does she her glauce confine, But has an eye, at once, to all the Nine!

THE TORCH OF LIBERTY.

I SAW it all in Fancy's glass-
Herself the fair, the wild magician,
That bid this splendid day-dream pass,
And named each gliding apparition.

'T was like a torch-race-such as they
Of Greece perform'd, in ages gone,
When the fleet youths, in long array,

Pass'd the bright torch triumphant on.

I saw the expectant nations stand
To catch the coming flame in turn—
I saw, from ready hand to hand,
The clear but struggling glory burn.
And, oh! their joy, as it came near,
'T was in itself a joy to see-
While Fancy whisper'd in my ear,

<< That torch they pass is Liberty!»

And each, as she received the flame,
Lighted her altar with its ray,
Then, smiling to the next who came,
Speeded it on its sparkling way.

From ALBION first, whose ancient shrine
Was furnish'd with the fire already,
COLUMBIA caught the spark divine,

And lit a flame like ALBION's-steady.

The splendid gift then GALLIA took,

And, like a wild Bacchante, raising The brand aloft, its sparkles shook,

As she would set the world a-blazing.

And, when she fired her altar, high
It flash'd into the redd'ning air
So fierce, that ALBION, who stood nigh,
Shrunk, almost blinded by the glare!

Next, SPAIN so new was light to her-
Leap'd at the torch; but, ere the spark
She flung upon her shrine could stir,

'T was quench'd, and all again was dark.

Yet no-not quench'd—a treasure worth
So much to mortals rarely dies-
Again her living light look'd forth,

And shone, a beacon, in all eyes.

[ocr errors]

Who next received the flame?-Alas!

Unworthy NAPLES-shame of shames, That ever through such hands should pass That brightest of all earthly flames! Scarce had her fingers touch'd the torch, When, frighted by the sparks it shed, Nor waiting e'en to feel the scorch,

She dropp'd it to the earth-and fled.

And fallen it might have long remain'd,

But GREECE, who saw her moment now, Caught up the prize, though prostrate, stain'd, And waved it round her beauteous brow.

And Fancy bid me mark where, o'er
Her altar as its flame ascended,
Fair laurell'd spirits seem'd to soar,

Who thus in song their voices blended:

« Shine, shine for ever, glorious flame,
Divinest gift of God to men!
From Greece thy earliest splendour came,
To Greece thy ray returns again!

«Take, Freedom! take thy radiant round-
When dimm'd, revive-when lost, return;
Till not a shrine through earth be found

On which thy glories shall not burn!»

EPILOGUE.

LAST night, as lonely o'er my fire I sat,
Thinking of cues, starts, exits, and-all that,
And wondering much what little knavish sprite
Had put it first in women's heads to write :-
Sudden I saw-as in some witching dream-
A bright-blue glory round my book-case beam,
From whose quick-opening folds of azure light,
Out flew a tiny form, as small and bright
As Puck the Fairy, when he pops his head,
Some sunny morning, from a violet bed.

« Bless me!» I starting cried, « what imp are you?»>--
« A small he-devil, Ma'am-my name BAS BLEU-
A bookish sprite, much given to routs and reading;
'Tis I who teach your spinsters of good breeding
The reigning taste in chemistry and caps,
The last new bounds of tuckers and of maps;
And, when the waltz has twirl'd her giddy brain,
With metaphysics twirl it back again!»>

I view'd him, as he spoke-his hose were blue,
His wings-the covers of the last Review-
Cerulean, border'd with a jaundice hue,
And tinsell'd gaily o'er, for evening wear,
Till the next quarter brings a new-fledged pair.
Inspired by ne-(pursued this waggish Fairy)-—
That best of wives and Sapphos, Lady Mary,
Votary alike of Crispin and the Muse,
Makes her own splay-foot epigrams and shoes,
For me the eyes of young Camilla shine,
And mingle Love's blue brilliancies with mine;
For me she sits apart, from coxcombs shrinking,
Looks wise-the pretty soul!-and thinks she's thinks-
ing.

By my advice Miss Indigo attends
Lectures on Memory, and assures her friends,
''Pon honour!-(mimicks)—nothing can surpass the

plan

Of that professor-(trying to recollect)-psha! that memory-man

That-what's his name?-him I attended lately-
'Pon honour, he improved my memory greatly.'»>

Here, curtseying low, I ask'd the blue-legg'd sprite,
What share he had in this our play to-night.

"

Nay, there-(he cried)-there I am guiltless quite-
What! chuse a heroine from that Gothic time,

When no one waltz'd, and none but monks could rhyme;
When lovely woman, all unschool'd and wild,
Blush'd without art, and without culture smiled-
Simple as flowers, while yet unclass'd they shone,
Ere Science call'd their brilliant world her own,
Ranged the wild rosy things in learned orders,
And fill'd with Greek the garden's blushing borders?-
No, no-your gentle Inas will not do-

To-morrow evening, when the lights burn blue,
I'll come-
e-(pointing downwards)-you understand-

till then adieu !»

And has the sprite been here? No-jests apart-
Howe'er man rules in seience and in art,

The sphere of woman's glories is the heart.
And, if our Muse have sketch'd with pencil true
The wife-the mother-firm, yet gentle too-
Whose soul, wrapp'd up in ties itself hath spun,
Trembles, if touch'd in the remotest one;
Who loves-yet dares even Love himself disown,
When honour's broken shaft supports his throne:
If such our Ina, she may scorn the evils,
Dire as they are, of Critics and-Blue Devils.

TO THE MEMORY OF

JOSEPH ATKINSON, ESQ. OF DUBLIN.

Ir ever life was prosperously cast,

If ever life was like the lengthen'd flow

Of some sweet music, sweetness to the last,
'T was his who, mourn'd by many, sleeps below.

The sunny temper, bright where all is strife,

The simple heart that mocks at worldly wiles, Light wit, that plays along the calm of life,

And stirs its languid surface into smiles;

Pure charity, that comes not in a shower,

Sudden and loud, oppressing what it feeds,
But like the dew, with gradual silent power,
Felt in the bloom it leaves along the meads;

The happy grateful spirit, that improves

And brightens every gift by fortune given,
That, wander where it will with those it loves,

Makes every place a home, and home a heaven:

All these were his.-Oh! thou who read'st this stone,
When for thyself, thy children, to the sky
Thou humbly prayest, ask this boon alone,
That ye like him may live, like him may die!

« VorigeDoorgaan »