The insect youth are on the wing, And float amid the liquid noon : To Contemplation's sober eye And they that creep, and they that fly, In Fortune's varying colours drest: "HENCE, avaunt, ('t is holy ground,) Where willowy Camus lingers with delight! I trod your level lawn, Oft woo'd the gleam of Cynthia silver-bright But hark! the portals sound, and pacing forth High potentates and dames of royal birth, And sad Chatillon†, on her bridal morn That wept her bleeding love, and princely Clare, And Anjou's § heroine, and the paler rose ||, The murder'd saint, and the majestic lord, That broke the bonds of Rome. (Their tears, their little triumphs o'er, And bade these aweful fanes and turrets rise, "What is grandeur, what is power? * Edward the Third; who added the fleur-delis of France to the arms of England. He founded Trinity College. Mary de Valentia, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Guy de Chatillon, Comte de St. Paul in France: of whom tradition says, that her hus Let painted Flattery hide her serpent-train in flowers. band, Audemar de Valentia, Earl of Pembroke, w Nor Envy base, nor creeping Gain, Dare the Muse's walk to stain, While bright-ey'd Science watches round: From yonder realms of empyrean day Bursts on my ear th' indignant lay : To bless the place, where on their opening soul 'T was Milton struck the deep-ton'd shell, "Ye brown o'er-arching groves, That Contemplation loves, slain at a tournament on the day of his nuptials She was the foundress of Pembroke College a Hall, under the name of Aula Mariæ de Valentia. Elizabeth de Burg, Countess of Clare, was wife of John de Burg, son and heir of the Earl of Ulster, and daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by Joan of Acres, daughter of Edward the First. Hence the poet gives her the epithet of princely. She founded Clare-Hall. § Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry the Sixth, foundress of Queen's College. The poet had celebrated her conjugal fidelity in a former ode. Elizabeth Widville, wife of Edward the Fourth (hence called the paler rose, as being of the house of York). She added to the foundation of Margaret of Anjou. ¶ Henry the Sixth and Eighth. The former the founder of King's, the latter the greatest benefactor to Trinity College. Foremost and leaning from her golden cloud The venerable Margret see! Welcome, my noble son," she cries aloud,. And bid it round Heaven's altars shed Lo, Granta waits to lead her blooming band. Not obvious, not obtrusive, she No vulgar praise, no venal incense flings; With modest pride to grace thy youthful brow The laureat wreath, that Cecil wore, she brings, And to thy just, thy gentle hand Submits the fasces of her sway, While spirits blest above and men below Join with glad voice the loud symphonious lay. Nor fear the rocks, nor seek the shore: ODE ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE CAT, DROWNED IN A TUB OF GOLD FISHES. 'Twas on a lofty vase's side, Where China's gayest art had dy'd The azure flowers that blow; Demurest of the tabby kind, Her conscious tail her joy declar'd; The fair round face, the snowy beard, The velvet of her paws, Her coat, that with the tortoise vies, Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes, She saw; and purr'd applause. Still had she gaz'd; but 'midst the tide • Countess of Richmond and Derby; the mother of Henry the Seventh, foundress of St. John's and Christ's Colleges. †The Countess was a Beaufort, and married to a Tudor; hence the application of this line to the Duke of Grafton, who claims descent from both these families. Lord-treasurer Burleigh was chancellor of the University in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The hapless nymph with wonder saw : A whisker first, and then a claw, With many an ardent wish, She stretch'd in vain to reach the prize; What female heart can gold despise? What cat's averse to fish? Presumptuous maid! with looks intent Eight times emerging from the flood No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirr❜d; From hence, ye beauties, undeceiv'd, Not all, that tempts your wandering eyes, ODE · ON A DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE. Άνθρωπος· ἱκανὴ πρόφασις εἰς τὸ δυσυχεῖν. Menander. Yr distant spires, ye antique towers, Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey, Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among Wanders the hoary Thames along His silver-winding way. Ah, happy hills, ah, pleasing shade, Where once my careless childhood stray'd, I feel the gales, that from ye blow, A momentary bliss bestow, As waving fresh their gladsome wing, My weary soul they seem to soothe, And, redolent of joy and youth, To breathe a second spring. Say, father Thames, for thou hast seen The paths of pleasure trace, The captive linnet which enthral ? § King Henry the Sixth, founder of the college. U u While some on earnest business bent 'Gainst graver hours, that bring constraint To sweeten liberty; Some bold adventurers disdain The limits of their little reign, And unknown regions dare descry: Gay Hope is theirs, by Fancy fed, The sunshine of the breast: And lively cheer of vigour born; The thoughtless day, the easy night, The spirits pure, the slumbers light, That fly th' approach of morn. Alas, regardless of their doom, The little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, Nor care beyond to-day. Yet see how all around them wait And black Misfortune's baleful train, Ah, show them where in ambush stand To seize their prey, the murderous band! Ah, tell them, they are men! These shall the fury passions tear, And Shame that skulks behind; Or pining Love, shall waste their youth, Or Jealousy, with rankling tooth, That inly gnaws the secret heart, Ambition this shall tempt to rise, And grinning Infamy. The stings of Falsehood those shall try, And hard Unkindness' alter'd eye, That mocks the tear it forc'd to flow; And keen Remorse, with blood defil'd, And moody Madness laughing wild Amid severest woe, Lo, in the vale of years beneath The painful family of Death, More hideous than their queen : This racks the joints, this fires the veins, Those in the deeper vitals rage: To each his sufferings: all are men, Yet ah! why should they know their fate? And happiness too swiftly flies. THE BARD. A PINDARIC ODE. I. "RUIN seize thee, ruthless king! On a rock, whose haughty brow Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, With haggard eyes the poet stood; Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air,) To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay. "Cold is Cadwallo's tongue, That hush'd the stormy main; Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed: Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-top'd head. The hauberk was a texture of steel ringlets, or rings interwoven, forming a coat of mail, that st close to the body, and adapted itself to every motion. + Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, son-in-law to King Edward. Edmond de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore. The shores of Caernarvonshire opposite to the Isle of Anglesea. No more I weep. They do not sleep. On yonder cliffs, a griesly band, I see them sit, they linger yet, Avengers of their native land: With me in dreadful harmony they join, Revere his consort's faith, his father's + fame, And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line. Wallows beneath the thorny shade. "Mighty Victor, mighty Lord, Is the sable warrior || fled? Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead. Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the Zephyr blows, « Fill high the sparkling bowl, The rich repast prepare: Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: Fell Thirst and Famine scowl A baleful smile upon their baffled guest. Lance to lance, and horse to horse? Long years of havoc urge their destin'd course, And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. Ye towers of Julius **, London's lasting shame, With many a foul and midnight murther fed, Now, brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom, Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. III. "Edward, lo! to sudden fate (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn: But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height "Girt with many a baron bold Sublime their starry fronts they rear; In the midst a form divine! Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line; What strings symphonious tremble in the air, * Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit, who struggled hard to save her husband and her Henry the Sixth, very near being canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown. § The white and red roses, devices of York and Lancaster. The silver-boar was the badge of Richard the Third; whence he was usually known in his own time by the name of The Boar. Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the Edward the Second, cruelly butchered in conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of Berkley castle. her affection for her lord is well known. The mo + Isabel of France, Edward the Second's adul-numents of his regret, and sorrow for the loss of terous queen. Triumphs of Edward the Third in France. Death of that king, abandoned by his children, and even robbed in his last moments by his courtiers and his mistress. Edward the Black Prince, dead some time before his father. Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster. ** Henry the Sixth, George Duke of Clarence, Edward the Fifth, Richard Duke of York, &c. believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar. her, are still to be seen at Northampton, Geddington, Waltham, and other places. ** It was the common belief of the Welsh nation, that King Arthur was still alive in Fairy-land, and should return again to reign over Britain. ++ Both Merlin and Taliessin had prophesied, that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; which seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor. Taliessin, chief of the bards, flourished in the sixth century. His works are still preserved, and his memory held in high veneration among his countrymen. U u 2 |