His quarter-staff, which he could ne'er forsake, By chance conducted, or by thirst constrain'd, And on the margin of the fount was laid The dame herself the goddess well express'd, The fool of nature stood with stupid eyes, Then would have spoke, but by his glimmering sense First found his want of words, and fear'd offence : Doubted for what he was he should be known, By his clown accent, and his country tone. Through the rude chaos thus the running light Shot the first ray that pierced the native night; Then day and darkness in the mass were mix'd, Till gather'd in a globe the beams were fix'd. Last shone the sun, who, radiant in his sphere, Illumined heaven and earth, and roll'd around the year. So reason in his brutal soul began, Love made him first suspect he was a man ; TRANSLATION OF THE NINTH ODE OF BEHOLD yon mountain's hoary height Oppress the labouring woods below: With well-heap'd logs dissolve the cold, And feed the genial hearth with fires; Let him alone, with what he made, The winds by his commission blow; To-morrow and her works defy, Lay hold upon the present hour, Secure those golden early joys, That youth unsour'd with sorrow bears, The appointed hour of promised bliss, The half unwilling willing kiss, The laugh that guides thee to the mark, When the kind nymph would coyness feign, And hides but to be found again; These, these are joys the gods for youth ordain. SIR CHARLES SEDLEY. BORN ABOUT 1639-DIED 1701. THIS gentleman, one of the most witty and profligate of the courtiers of Charles the Second, is best known as a dramatic writer. After spending a youth of folly and gaiety, he went into parliament, and became a man of business. His daughter was the mistress of the Duke of York, afterwards James II. At the accession of her royal lover she was created Countess of Dorchester. It does not appear that her father enjoyed her elevation. When Sedley was asked why he promoted the Revolution, which opened the way to the throne to the Princess Mary, the wife of William Prince of Orange, he replied, "Gratitude to the King, who had made his daughter a Countess, made him do what he could to make her a Queen." Sedley is the writer of the well-known song, "Ah, Chloris! could I now but sit." TO A DEVOUT YOUNG LADY. The martyrs, at your tender age, Old men, till past the pleasure, ne'er 'Tis early to begin to fear The devil at fifteen. SONG IN BELLAMIRA. By secret and mysterious springs, You may be handsome and have wit, LOVE. LOVE, when 'tis true, needs not the aid Into their very looks 'twill steal, And he that most would hide his flame, JONATHAN SWIFT. BORN 1667-DIED 1744. THE reputation of Swift as a poet is eclipsed by his fame as a prose writer, and he is thus in some measure the martyr of his own popularity. Swift was the son of an English |