Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Heedless he cast forbidden looks behind;
The fleeting shadow vanish'd like the wind,
And all his joys wing'd their eternal flight
With her, like frighted doves, to realms of night.
Again I close my sleep-deluded eyes,
Around my soul black swarms of demons rise,
Pale spectres grin, and angry furies howl,
Quick lightnings flash, and horrid thunders roll;
Again the frighted wanderer hastes away
Back to the living horrors of the day,
There counts the visionary misery o'er,
And realizes what was dream'd before.

Ye dreary powers, that hover o'er the plains Where sorrows reign, and everlasting pains, Bear me to places suited to my woe,

Where noxious herbs and deadly poisons grow, Whilst wintry winds howl fiercely round my head, The flint my pillow, sharpen'd rocks my bed; And ghosts of wretches once who died for love Round their unburied bodies nightly rove, Which hang half moulder'd on some blasted tree, And by their sad example counsel me.

What now avail the joyous moments past, Or what will all the wretched few that last? In them I dying will our loves proclaim, With faltering accents call upon thy name; And, whilst I bless thee with my parting breath, Enjoy the raptures of my life in death. Then spare thy curses, and forget the' offence Of him who robb'd thee of thy innocence; Or if not quite forget, forgive at least, And sooth the dying penitent to rest. Oh! may to thee the pitying gods bestow Eternal peace and happiness below;

Yet when thy mortal frame, as once it must,
Returns and mingles with its native dust;
May the same urn our mingled ashes have,
And find a lasting union in the grave!

If you ere long my bleeding corse should see
Beneath the covert of yon conscious tree,
This last request I make for all my fears,
For all my sleepless minutes spent in tears,
For all those struggles of my parting breath,
And all the agonies in one, my death;
Think on the raptures which we ravish'd there,
Then breathe a sigh, and drop the' indebted tear.
This empty tribute's to the memory due
Of one who lived and died in love of you.
My ghost, thus sooth'd, shall seek the Stygian
shore,

Mix with the happy crowd, and grieve no more; But eager wait till thou at last art given,

To raise each blessing of the' Elysian heaven, Where uncontrol'd in amorous sports we'll play, And love a whole eternity away.

THE POWER OF HARMONY:

A POEM, IN TWO BOOKS.

The Besign.

IT is observable, that whatever is true, just, and harmonious, whether in nature or morals, gives an instantaneous pleasure to the mind, exclusive of reflection. For the great Creator of all things, infinitely wise and good, ordained a perpetual agreement between the faculties of moral perception, the powers of fancy, and the organs of bodily sensation, when they are free and undistempered. From hence is deducible the most comfortable, as well as the most true philosophy that ever adorned the world; namely, a constant admiration of the beauty of the creation, terminating in the adoration of the First Cause, which naturally leads mankind cheerfully to cooperate with his grand design for the promotion of universal happi

ness.

From hence our author was led to draw that analogy between natural and moral beauty: since the same faculties which render us susceptible of pleasure, from the perfection of the creation and the excellence of the arts, afford us delight in the contemplation of dignity and justice in characters and manners. For what is virtue but a just regulation of our affections and appetites, to make them correspond to the peace and welfare of society? so that good and beauty are inseparable.

From this true relish of the soul, this harmonious association of ideas, the ancient philosophers, and their disciples among the moderns, have enlivened their imaginations and writings in this amicable intercourse of adding moral epithets to natural objects, and illustrating their observations upon the conduct of life, by metaphors drawn from the external scenes of the world. So we know, that by a beautiful action, or consonant behaviour, is meant the generous resignation of private advantage by some individual, to submit and adapt his single being to the whole community, or some part of it. And, in like manner, when we read of a solemn grove where horror and melancholy reign, we entertain an idea of a place that creates such thoughts in the mind, by reason of its solitary situation, want of light, or any other circumstances analogous to those dispositions, so termed, in human nature.

This then is the design of the poem, to show that a constant attention to what is perfect and beautiful in nature will by degrees harmonize the soul to a responsive regularity and sympathetic order.

From what has been premised, it would be needless to explain the comprehensive meaning of the word harmony. For an explanation or a proof of the relation of the imitative arts to moral philosophy the reader is referred to the dialogues of Plato and the other philosophers of the academic school; to Lord Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, their great disciples among the moderns.

BOOK I.

The Argument.

The subject proposed. Invocation to Venus allegorically, Invocation to quit superstition and adore the Creator of all things. Chaos originally reduced to harmony. A fictitious account of the music of the spheres. The notes of music taken from the number of planets. Its effect on the human mind in despair-in sorrow-in rage-on distempered bodies-on brutes and irrational beings. The seat of Art described, and her attendants: to what end are her labours either to excite voluptuousness, or the contrary, just as made use of. Commendation of the use of art to raise in us sentiments of justice and temperance. The excellence of art as great in representing monstrous objects as the most regular, as far as relates to imitation. Why a just resemblance gives us pleasure. Passions may be represented by outward forms, but moral beauty can never be full enough expressed by them: that province belongs to the Muse. The conclusion of the first book.

THE HARMONY OF MUSIC, POETRY, AND THE IMITA-
TIVE ARTS.

OF Harmony, and her celestial power
O'er the responsive soul, and whence arise
Those sweet sensations, whether from the lays
Of melting music and impassion'd verse,
From mimic scenes of emulative art,
Or nature's beauteous objects, which affect
The moral powers with sympathetic charms,
The Muse congenial sings.-Descend, ye Nine,
Who guard the' Aonian mount, whilst I unfold
The deep recesses of your tuneful haunts,

« ZurückWeiter »