The Poetical Works of Elijah Fenton/To the Right Hon. the Lady Marg. Cavendish Harley, with the poems of Mr. Waller
Let others boast the Nine Aonian maids,
Inspiring streams, and sweet resounding shades,
Where Phœbus heard the rival bards rehearse,
And bade the laurels learn the lofty verse:
In vain! nor Phœbus nor the boasted Nine 5
Inflame the raptur'd soul with rays divine:
None but the fair infuse the sacred fire,
And love with vocal art informs the lyre.
When Waller, kindling with celestial rage,
View'd the bright Harley of that wond'ring age, 10
His pleasing pain he taught the lute to breathe,
The Graces sung, and wove his myrtle wreath.
In youth, of patrimonial wealth possest,
The praise of science faintly warm'd his breast,
But sir'd to fame by Sidney's rosy smile, 15
Swift o'er the laureat realms he urg'd his toil.
His Muse, by Nature form'd to please the fair,
Or sing of heroes with majestic air,
To melting strains attun'd her voice, and strove
To waken all the tender pow'rs of love; 20
More sweetly soft her awful beauty shone
Than Juno grac'd with Cytherea's zone.
As angels love, congenial souls unite
Their radiance, and refine each other's light.
The florid and sublime, the grave and gay, 25
From Waller's beams imbibe a purer ray;
Illumin'd, thence in equal lays to bound
Their copious sense, and harmonize the sound;
With varied notes the curious ear to please,
And turn a nervous thought with artful ease. 30
Maker and model of melodious verse!
Accept these votive honours at thy hearse:
While I with filial awe attempt thy praise,
Infuse thy genius, and my fancy raise!
So, warbling o'er his urn, the woodland choirs 35
To Orpheus pay the song his shade inspires.
In Waller's fame, O fairest Harley! view
What verdant palms shall owe their birth to you:
To you what deathless charms are thence decreed,
In Sacharissa's fate vouchsafe to read. 40
Secure beneath the wing of with'ring Time
Her beauties flourish in ambrosial prime;
Still kindling rapture, see! She moves in state,
Gods, nymphs, and heroes, on her triumph wait.
Nor think the lover's praise of love's delight 45
In purest minds may stain the virgin white:
How bright and chaste the poet and his theme!
So Cynthia shines on Arethusa's stream.
A fainted virtue to the spheres may sing
Those strains that ravish'd here the martyr-king. 50
Plenteous of native wit, in letter'd ease,
Politely form'd: to profit and to please
To fame whate'er was due he gave to fame,
And what he could not praise forget to name:
Thus Eden's rose, without a thorn, display'd 55
Her bloom, and in a fragrant blush decay'd.
Such soul-attracting airs were sung of old,
When blissful years in golden circles roll'd:
Pure from deceit, devoid of fear and strife,
While love was all the pensive care of life, 60
The swains in green retreats, with flow'rets crown'd,
Taught the young groves their passion to resound:
Fancy pursu'd the paths where Beauty led,
To please the living or deplore the dead:
While to their warbled woe the rocks reply'd, 65
The rills remurmur'd, and the zephyrs sigh'd,
From death redeem'd by verse, the vanish'd fair
Breath'd in a flow'r, or sparkled in a star.
Bright as the stars, and fragrant as the flow'rs
Where Spring resides in soft Elysian bow'rs, 70
While these the bow'rs adorn, and they the sphere,
Will Sacharissa's charms in song appear.
Yet in the present age her radiant name
Must take a dimmer interval of fame;
When you to full meridian lustre rise, 75
With Morton's shape and Gloriana's eyes,
With Carlisle's wit, her gesture, and her mien,
And, like seraphic Rich, with zeal serene;
In sweet assemblage all their graces join'd
To language, mode, and manners more refin'd! 80
That angel-frame, with chaste attraction gay,
Mild as the dove-ey'd Morn awakes the May,
Of noblest youths will reign the public care,
Their joy, their wish, their wonder, and despair.
Far-beaming thence what bright ideas flow! 85
The sister-arts with sadden rapture glow;
Her Titian tints the painter-nymph resumes,
The canvass warm with roseate beauty blooms:
Inspir'd with life by Sculpture's happy toil,
The marble breathes, and softens with your smile;
Proud to receive the form by Fate design'd 91
The fairest model of the fairer kind.
But hear, O hear, the Muse's heav'nly voice!
The waving woods and echoing vales rejoice:
Attend, ye Gales! to Margaretta's praise; 95
And all ye list'ning Loves record the lays!
So Philomela charms th' Idalian grove,
When Venus, in the glowing orb of Love,
O'er ocean, earth, and air, extends her reign,
The first, the brightest, of the starry train. 100
What fav'rite youth assign the Fates to rise
In bridal pomp to lead the blooming prize?
Whether his father's garter'd shield sustains
Trophies achiev'd on Gallia's viny plains,
Or smiling Peace a mingled wreath displays, 105
The patriot's olive and the poet's bays,
Adorn, ye Fates! the fav'rite youth assign'd
With each ennobling grace of form and mind:
In merit make him great, as great in blood;
Great without pride, and amiably good; 110
His breast the guardian ark of heav'n-born law,
To strike a faithless age with conscious awe:
In choice of friends by manly reason sway'd;
Not fear'd, but honour'd, and with love obey'd:
In courts and camps, in council and retreat 115
Wise, brave, and studious to support the state:
With candour firm; without ambition bold;
No deed discolour'd with the guilt of gold;
That Heav'n may judge the choicest blessings due,
And give the various good compris'd in you. 120
Inspiring streams, and sweet resounding shades,
Where Phœbus heard the rival bards rehearse,
And bade the laurels learn the lofty verse:
In vain! nor Phœbus nor the boasted Nine 5
Inflame the raptur'd soul with rays divine:
None but the fair infuse the sacred fire,
And love with vocal art informs the lyre.
When Waller, kindling with celestial rage,
View'd the bright Harley of that wond'ring age, 10
His pleasing pain he taught the lute to breathe,
The Graces sung, and wove his myrtle wreath.
In youth, of patrimonial wealth possest,
The praise of science faintly warm'd his breast,
But sir'd to fame by Sidney's rosy smile, 15
Swift o'er the laureat realms he urg'd his toil.
His Muse, by Nature form'd to please the fair,
Or sing of heroes with majestic air,
To melting strains attun'd her voice, and strove
To waken all the tender pow'rs of love; 20
More sweetly soft her awful beauty shone
Than Juno grac'd with Cytherea's zone.
As angels love, congenial souls unite
Their radiance, and refine each other's light.
The florid and sublime, the grave and gay, 25
From Waller's beams imbibe a purer ray;
Illumin'd, thence in equal lays to bound
Their copious sense, and harmonize the sound;
With varied notes the curious ear to please,
And turn a nervous thought with artful ease. 30
Maker and model of melodious verse!
Accept these votive honours at thy hearse:
While I with filial awe attempt thy praise,
Infuse thy genius, and my fancy raise!
So, warbling o'er his urn, the woodland choirs 35
To Orpheus pay the song his shade inspires.
In Waller's fame, O fairest Harley! view
What verdant palms shall owe their birth to you:
To you what deathless charms are thence decreed,
In Sacharissa's fate vouchsafe to read. 40
Secure beneath the wing of with'ring Time
Her beauties flourish in ambrosial prime;
Still kindling rapture, see! She moves in state,
Gods, nymphs, and heroes, on her triumph wait.
Nor think the lover's praise of love's delight 45
In purest minds may stain the virgin white:
How bright and chaste the poet and his theme!
So Cynthia shines on Arethusa's stream.
A fainted virtue to the spheres may sing
Those strains that ravish'd here the martyr-king. 50
Plenteous of native wit, in letter'd ease,
Politely form'd: to profit and to please
To fame whate'er was due he gave to fame,
And what he could not praise forget to name:
Thus Eden's rose, without a thorn, display'd 55
Her bloom, and in a fragrant blush decay'd.
Such soul-attracting airs were sung of old,
When blissful years in golden circles roll'd:
Pure from deceit, devoid of fear and strife,
While love was all the pensive care of life, 60
The swains in green retreats, with flow'rets crown'd,
Taught the young groves their passion to resound:
Fancy pursu'd the paths where Beauty led,
To please the living or deplore the dead:
While to their warbled woe the rocks reply'd, 65
The rills remurmur'd, and the zephyrs sigh'd,
From death redeem'd by verse, the vanish'd fair
Breath'd in a flow'r, or sparkled in a star.
Bright as the stars, and fragrant as the flow'rs
Where Spring resides in soft Elysian bow'rs, 70
While these the bow'rs adorn, and they the sphere,
Will Sacharissa's charms in song appear.
Yet in the present age her radiant name
Must take a dimmer interval of fame;
When you to full meridian lustre rise, 75
With Morton's shape and Gloriana's eyes,
With Carlisle's wit, her gesture, and her mien,
And, like seraphic Rich, with zeal serene;
In sweet assemblage all their graces join'd
To language, mode, and manners more refin'd! 80
That angel-frame, with chaste attraction gay,
Mild as the dove-ey'd Morn awakes the May,
Of noblest youths will reign the public care,
Their joy, their wish, their wonder, and despair.
Far-beaming thence what bright ideas flow! 85
The sister-arts with sadden rapture glow;
Her Titian tints the painter-nymph resumes,
The canvass warm with roseate beauty blooms:
Inspir'd with life by Sculpture's happy toil,
The marble breathes, and softens with your smile;
Proud to receive the form by Fate design'd 91
The fairest model of the fairer kind.
But hear, O hear, the Muse's heav'nly voice!
The waving woods and echoing vales rejoice:
Attend, ye Gales! to Margaretta's praise; 95
And all ye list'ning Loves record the lays!
So Philomela charms th' Idalian grove,
When Venus, in the glowing orb of Love,
O'er ocean, earth, and air, extends her reign,
The first, the brightest, of the starry train. 100
What fav'rite youth assign the Fates to rise
In bridal pomp to lead the blooming prize?
Whether his father's garter'd shield sustains
Trophies achiev'd on Gallia's viny plains,
Or smiling Peace a mingled wreath displays, 105
The patriot's olive and the poet's bays,
Adorn, ye Fates! the fav'rite youth assign'd
With each ennobling grace of form and mind:
In merit make him great, as great in blood;
Great without pride, and amiably good; 110
His breast the guardian ark of heav'n-born law,
To strike a faithless age with conscious awe:
In choice of friends by manly reason sway'd;
Not fear'd, but honour'd, and with love obey'd:
In courts and camps, in council and retreat 115
Wise, brave, and studious to support the state:
With candour firm; without ambition bold;
No deed discolour'd with the guilt of gold;
That Heav'n may judge the choicest blessings due,
And give the various good compris'd in you. 120