Who can describe the hopeless, silent pang With which the gentle heart first marks her sway? That speaks no more to the fond meeting eye Too faithful heart! thou never canst retrieve Nor watch and fan the expiring flame in vain; Psyche, Canto VI. HAGAR IN THE DESERT. Injured, hopeless, faint and weary, Who can speak a mother's anguish, Lo! the empty pitcher fails her! From the dreadful image flying, Wild she rushes from the sight; In the agonies of dying Can she see her soul's delight? Now bereft of every hope, Cast upon the burning ground, Lo! the Angel of the Lord Comes thy great distress to cheer; See, divine relief is near. "Care of Heaven! though man forsake thee, From thy dream of woe awake thee, "Lift thine eyes! behold yon fountain, God hath seen and pitied thee; Thus, from peace and comfort driven, O'er thy empty pitcher mourning, Thus, with shame and anguish burning, See thy great deliverer nigh, Calls thee from thy sorrow vain; Bids thee on his love rely, Bless the salutary pain. From thine eyes the mists dispelling, Future prospects rich in blessing THE LILY. How withered, perished seems the form The careless eye can find no grace, Yet in that bulb, those sapless scales, Shall kiss once more her fragrant breast. Oh! many a stormy night shall close And ignorance, with skeptic eye, Hope's patient smile shall wondering view; As her soft tears the spot bedew. Sweet smile of hope, delicious tear! The sun, the shower indeed shall come; The promised verdant shoot appear, And thou, O virgin Queen of Spring! Unfold thy robes of purest white, Unsullied from their darksome grave- In the mild breeze unfettered wave. So Faith shall seek the lowly dust May 1809. ON RECEIVING A BRANCH OF MEZEREON WHICH FLOWERED AT WOODSTOCK.1 Odors of Spring, my sense ye charm This poem was the last ever composed by the author, who expired at the place where it was written, after six years of protracted malady, on the 24th of March, 1810, in the thirty-seventh year of her age. Her fears of death And, mid these days of dark alarm, Methinks with purpose soft ye come Of May's blue skies, abundant bloom, Alas! for me shall May in vain The powers of life restore; These eyes, that weep and watch in pain, No, no, this anguish cannot last! But ob! in every mortal pang That rends my soul from life, To all in life its love would clasp Yet why, immortal, vital spark! Look up, my soul, through prospects dark, Thine heavenly being trust! Ah, vain attempt! my coward heart Oh ye! who soothe the pangs of death Still, still retain this fleeting breath, And ye, whose smile must greet my eye Who breathe for me the tender sigh, Whose kindness (though far, far removed) Pride of my life, esteemed, beloved, My last sad claim receive! Oh! do not quite your friend forget, Forget alone her faults; And speak of her with fond regret Who asks your lingering thoughts. December 1809. were entirely removed before she quitted this scene of trial and suffering; and her spirit departed to a better state of existence, confiding with heavenly joy in the acceptance and love of her Redeemer. RICHARD CUMBERLAND, 1722-1811. RICHARD CUMBERLAND, a celebrated dramatic and miscellaneous writer, was born under the roof of his maternal grandfather, the celebrated Dr. Richard Bentley,' on the 29th of February, 1722. After the usual preparatory studies, he was admitted into Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with distinguished honor in 1750. Soon after this, while pursuing his studies at the university, he received an invitation from Lord Halifax to become his private and confidential secretary. Accordingly he proceeded to London, where he published his first offering to the press-a churchyard Elegy, in imitation of Gray's. It made but little impression. "The public," he observes, "were very little interested in it, and Dodsley as little profited." Soon after this, he published his first legitimate drama, "The Banishment of Cicero ;" but it was not adapted for the stage, and it afterwards appeared as a dramatic poem. In 1759, he married Elizabeth, the only daughter of George Ridge, Esq., of Kilminston, and through the influence of his patron, Lord Halifax, was appointed crown agent for Nova Scotia; and in the next year, when that nobleman, on the accession of George III., was made lord-lieutenant of Ireland, Cumberland accompanied him as secretary. He now began to write with assiduity for the stage, and produced a variety of plays, of which the most successful was the comedy of "The West Indian," and thus he became known to the literary and distinguished society of the day. The character of him by Goldsmith, in his "Retaliation," is one of the finest compliments ever paid by one author to another.2 In 1780, Cumberland was sent on a confidential mission to the courts of Madrid and Lisbon, to induce them to enter into separate treaties of peace with England. But he failed to accomplish the object of his mission, and returned in 1781, having contracted, in the public service, a debt of five thousand pounds, which Lord North's ministry meanly and unjustly refused to pay. He was compelled, therefore, to sell all his paternal estate, and retire to private life. He fixed his residence at Tunbridge Wells, and there poured forth a variety of dramas, essays, and other works: among which were "Anecdotes of Eminent Painters in Spain;" a poem in eight books entitled "Calvary, or the Death of Christ," and another called the "Exo * See "Compendium of English Literature," p. 429. 2 Here Cumberland lies, having acted his parts, THE TERENCE OF ENGLAND, THE MENDER OF HEARTS; To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are. |