THE COLUBRIAD

[1782.]

CLOSE by the threshold of a door nail'd fast,
Three kittens sat: each kitten look'd aghast.
I passing swift, and inattentive by,

At the three kittens cast a careless eye;

Not much concern'd to know what they did there ;
Not deeming kittens worth a poet's care.
But presently a loud and furious hiss

Caus'd me to stop, and to exclaim "what's this?"
When lo' upon the threshold met my view,
With head erect, and eyes of fiery hue,

A viper, long as Count de Grasse's queue.
Forth from his head his forked tongue he throws,

Darting it full against a kitten's nose ;

Who, having never seen, in field or house,

The like, sat still and silent as a inouse :

Only projecting, with attention due,

Her whisker'd face, she ask'd him, "who are you
On to the hall went I, with pace not slow,
But swift as lightning, for a long Dutch hoc :
With which well arm'd I hasten'd to the spot,
To find the viper, but I found him not.
And turning up the leaves and shrubs around,
Found only, that he was not to be found.
But still the kittens sitting as before,
Sat watching close the bottom of the door
"I hope," said I," the villain I would kill,
Has slipp'd between the door, and the door's sill ;
And if I make despatch, and follow hard,
No doubt but I shall find him in the yard :"
For long ere now it should have been rehears`d,
Twas in the garden that I found him first.

Ev'n there I found him, there the full-grown cat
His head, with velvet paw, did gently pat;
As curious as the kittens erst had been
To learn what this phenomenon might mean.
Fill'd with heroick ardour at the sight,
And fearing every moment he would bite,
And rob our household of our only cat,
That was of age to combat with a rat ;
With outstretch'd hoe I slew him at the door,
And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE

ON FRIENDSHIP.

Amicitia nisi inter bonos esse non potest. . . . Cicero

[1782.]

WHAT virtue can we name, or grace,

But men unqualified and base

Will boast it their possession?

Profusion apes the noble part
Of liberality of heart,

And dulness of discretion.

But as the gem of richest cost
Is ever counterfeited most,
So, always, imitation
Employs the utmost skill she can
To counterfeit the faithful man,
The friend of long duration.

Some will pronounce me too severe-
But long experience speaks me clear;
Therefore that censure scorning,

I will proceed to mark the shelves,
On which so many dash themselves,
And give the simple warning.

Youth, unadmonish'd by a guide,
Will trust to any fair outside :

An errour soon corrected;

For who, but learns, with riper years, That man, when smoothest he appears, Is most to be suspected!

But here again a danger lies
Lest, thus deluded by our eycs,
And taking trash for treasure,

We should, when undeceiv'd, conclude
Friendship, imaginary good,

A mere Utopian pleasure.

An acquisition, rather rare,
Is yet no subject of despair ;

Nor should it seem distressful,

If either on forbidden ground,
Or, where it was not to be found,
We sought it unsuccessful.

No friendship will abide the test
That stands on sordid interest

And mean self-lovo erIOLITU Nor such, as may awhile subsist "Twixt sensualist and sensualist,

For vicious ends connected.

Who hopes a friend, should have a heart,
Himself, well furnish'd for the part,
And ready on occasion

To show the virtue that he seeks ;

For 'tis an union that bespeaks

A just reciprocation.

TRANSLATION

OF A

SIMILE IN PARADISE LOST.

[June, 1780.

"So when, from mountain tops, the dusky clouds “Ascending, &c.”

Quales aerii montis de vertice nubes

Cum surgunt, et jam Boreæ tumida ora quierunt,
Cœlum hilares abdit, spissa caligine, vultus:
Tum si jucundo tandem sol prodeat ore,
Et croceo montes et pascua lumine tingat,
Gaudent omnia, aves mulcent concentibus agros,
Balatuque ovium colles vallesque resultant.

TRANSLATION

OF

DRYDEN'S EPIGRAM ON MILTON

"Three Poets, in three distant ages boru, &c

[July, 1780.]

TRES tria, sed longe distantia, sæcula vates
Ostentant tribus e gentibus eximios
Græcia sublimem, cum majestate disertum
Roma tulit, felix Anglia utrique parem.
Partnbus ex binis Natura exhausta, coacta est,
Tertius ut fieret, consociale duos.

TO THE REV. MR. NEWTON

ON HIS RETURN FROM RAMSGATE.

[Oct. 1780.]

THAT Ocean you have late survey'd,
Those rocks I too have seen,

But I afflicted and dismay'd,
You tranquil and serene.

You from the flood-controlling steep
Saw stretch'd before your view,

With conscious joy, the threat'ning deep,
No longer such to you.

To me, the waves that ceaseless broke

Upon the dang'rous coast, Hoarsely and ominously spoke Of all my treasure lost.

Your sea of troubles you have past,
And found the peaceful shore ;
1, tempest toss`d, and wreck'd at last,
Come home to port no more.

LOVE ABUSED.

WHAT is there in the vale of life

Half so delightful as a wife,

When friendship, love, and peace combine

To stamp the marriage bond divine?