Medio de fonte leporum
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ulia was blest with beauty, wit, and grace:Small poets lov'd to sing her blooming face.Before her altars, lo! a numerous trainPreferr'd their vows; yet all preferr'd in vain,Till charming Florio, born to conquer, came 5And touch'd the fair one with an equal flame.The flame she felt, and ill could she concealWhat every look and action would reveal.With boldness then, which seldom fails to move,He pleads the cause of Marriage and of Love: 10The course of Hymeneal joys he rounds,The fair one's eyes danc'd pleasure at the sounds.Nought now remain'd but 'Noes'--how little meant!And the sweet coyness that endears consent.The youth upon his knees enraptur'd fell: 15The strange misfortune, oh! what words can tell?Tell! ye neglected sylphs! who lap-dogs guard,Why snatch'd ye not away your precious ward?Why suffer'd ye the lover's weight to fallOn the ill-fated neck of much-lov'd Ball? 20The favourite on his mistress casts his eyes,Gives a short melancholy howl, and--dies.Sacred his ashes lie, and long his rest!Anger and grief divide poor Julia's breast.Her eyes she fixt on guilty Florio first: 25On him the storm of angry grief must burst.That storm he fled: he wooes a kinder fair,Whose fond affections no dear puppies share.'Twere vain to tell, how Julia pin'd away:Unhappy Fair! that in one luckless day-- 30From future Almanacks the day be crost!--At once her Lover and her Lap-dog lost. 1789. FOOTNOTES: [6:1] First published in the _History of . . . Christ's Hospital_. Bythe Rev. W. Trollope, 1834, p. 192. Included in _Literary Remains_,1836, i. 33, 34. First collected _P. and D. W._, 1877-80. LINENOTES: _Julia_, Medio, &c.] De medio fonte leporum. _Trollope._ [12] danc'd] dance (T. Lit. Rem.) QUAE NOCENT DOCENT[7:1] [IN CHRIST'S HOSPITAL BOOK] O! mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos! Oh! might my ill-past hours return again!No more, as then, should Sloth around me throwHer soul-enslaving, leaden chain!No more the precious time would I employIn giddy revels, or in thoughtless joy, 5A present joy producing future woe. But o'er the midnight Lamp I'd love to pore,I'd seek with care fair Learning's depths to sound,And gather scientific Lore:Or to mature the embryo thoughts inclin'd, 10That half-conceiv'd lay struggling in my mind,The cloisters' solitary gloom I'd round. 'Tis vain to wish, for Time has ta'en his flight--For follies past be ceas'd the fruitless tears:Let follies past to future care incite. 15Averse maturer judgements to obeyYouth owns, with pleasure owns, the Passions' sway,But sage Experience only comes with years. 1789. FOOTNOTES: [7:1] First published in 1893. THE NOSE[8:1] Ye souls unus'd to lofty verseWho sweep the earth with lowly wing,Like sand before the blast disperse--A Nose! a mighty Nose I sing!As erst Prometheus stole from heaven the fire 5To animate the wonder of his hand;Thus with unhallow'd hands, O Muse, aspire,And from my subject snatch a burning brand!So like the Nose I sing--my verse shall glow--Like Phlegethon my verse in waves of fire shall flow! 10 Light of this once all darksome spotWhere now their glad course mortals run,First-born of Sirius begotUpon the focus of the Sun--I'll call thee ----! for such thy earthly name-- 15What name so high, but what too low must be?Comets, when most they drink the solar flameAre but faint types and images of thee!Burn madly, Fire! o'er earth in ravage run,Then blush for shame more red by fiercer ---- outdone! 20 I saw when from the turtle feastThe thick dark smoke in volumes rose!I saw the darkness of the mistEncircle thee, O Nose!Shorn of thy rays thou shott'st a fearful gleam 25(The turtle quiver'd with prophetic fright)Gloomy and sullen thro' the night of steam:--So Satan's Nose when Dunstan urg'd to flight,Glowing from gripe of red-hot pincers dreadAthwart the smokes of Hell disastrous twilight shed! 30 The Furies to madness my brain devote--In robes of ice my body wrap!On billowy flames of fire I float,Hear ye my entrails how they snap?Some power unseen forbids my lungs to breathe! 35What fire-clad meteors round me whizzing fly!I vitrify thy torrid zone beneath,Proboscis fierce! I am calcined! I die!Thus, like great Pliny, in Vesuvius' fire,I perish in the blaze while I the blaze admire. 40 1789. FOOTNOTES: [8:1] First published in 1834. The third stanza was published in the_Morning Post_, Jan. 2, 1798, entitled 'To the Lord Mayor's Nose'.William Gill (see ll. 15, 20) was Lord Mayor in 1788. LINENOTES: Title] Rhapsody MS. O: The Nose.--An Odaic Rhapsody MS. O (c). [5] As erst from Heaven Prometheus stole the fire MS. O (c). [7] hands] hand MS. O (c). [10] waves of fire] fiery waves MS. O (c). [15] I'll call thee Gill MS. O. G--ll MS. O (c). [16] high] great MS. O (c). [20] by fiercer Gill outdone MS. O.: more red for shame by fiercer G--llMS. O (c). [22] dark] dank MS. O, MS. O (c). [25] rays] beams MS. O (c). [30] MS. O (c) ends with the third stanza. TO THE MUSE[9:1] Tho' no bold flights to thee belong;And tho' thy lays with conscious fear,Shrink from Judgement's eye severe,Yet much I thank thee, Spirit of my song!For, lovely Muse! thy sweet employ 5Exalts my soul, refines my breast,Gives each pure pleasure keener zest,And softens sorrow into pensive Joy.From thee I learn'd the wish to bless,From thee to commune with my heart; 10From thee, dear Muse! the gayer part,To laugh with pity at the crowds that pressWhere Fashion flaunts her robes by Folly spun,Whose hues gay-varying wanton in the sun. 1789. FOOTNOTES: [9:1] First published in 1834. LINENOTES:
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