And nothing may we use in vain : DRYDEN. BORN 1631-DIED 1700. JOHN DRYDEN, one of the most eminent of the British poets, was born on the 6th of August, 1631, at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire; and died in London on the 1st of May, 1700.-His works, consisting of plays, translations, and poems, are voluminous. He is one of those writers who, without any particular profession of piety, have occasionally done homage to religion. Dryden was a Roman catholic. VENI CREATOR. CREATOR spirit, by whose aid The world's foundations first were laid, Come visit every pious mind; Come pour thy joys on human kind; Plenteous of grace, descend from high, Thou strength of his Almighty hand, Who dost the gift of tongues dispense, Eternal Paraclete, to thee. ODE TO THE MEMORY OF MRS ANNE THOU youngest virgin-daughter of the skies, Rich with immortal green above the rest : Hear then a mortal Muse thy praise rehearse, But such as thy own voice did practise here, And candidate of heaven. O gracious God! how far have we (Nay added fat pollutions of our own) T' increase the streaming ordures of the stage? When in mid-air the golden trump shall sound, For those who wake, and those who sleep : And foremost from the tomb shall bound, For they are cover'd with the lightest ground; And straight, with in-born vigour, on the wing, Like mounting larks, to the new morning sing. There thou, sweet Saint, before the quire shall go, As harbinger of heaven, the way to show, The way which thou so well hast learnt below. SIR RICHARD BLACKMORE. BORN ABOUT 1654-DIED 1739. SIR RICHARD BLACKMORE, a poet, a physician, and a miscellaneous writer, was a native of Wiltshire, and became an eminent medical practitioner in London. He was appointed physician to King William, and received the honour of knighthood. Many of his poems are of a serious character; among them are "The Creation," "The Redeemer," a paraphrase on the Book of Job, and a metrical version of the Psalms. Blackmore, though a man of respectable talents and irreproachable life, was, by some fatality, the butt of what were called the wits of his time. Dryden raised the hue and cry, which was continued by Pope, Dennis, and a host of contemporary witlings. This species of persecution he endured with the most admirable temper, writing on, apparently unaffected by either praise or blame, from mere delight in the exercise of his own powers, and claiming the high motive of wishing to advance the cause of virtue and religion. From Addison, Locke, and latterly from Johnson, Blackmore received the applause to which his poetical talents and virtuous life entitled him. By Addison the poem of Creation was highly valued, and his judgment is confirmed by Johnson. HAIL, King Supreme! of power immense abyss ! In its ideal frame the world design'd From ages past lay finish'd in Thy mind. Conform to this divine-imagin'd plan, With perfect art th' amazing work began. Thy glance survey'd the solitary plains, Where shapeless shade inert and silent reigns; Then in the dark and undistinguish'd space, Unfruitful, unenclos'd, and wild of face, Thy compass for the world mark'd out the destin'd place. |