Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

GAY.

"From Cloddipole we learnt to read the skies, "To know when hail will fall, or winds arise. "He taught us erst the heifer's tail to view, “When stuck aloft, that show'rs would straight ensue : “He first that useful secret could explain,

"That pricking corns foretold the gath’ring rain. "When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air, "He told us that the welkin would be clear."

VIRGIL.

Dam.-"Vis ergo inter nos, quid possit uterque vicissim Experiamur? Ego hanc vitulam, ne forte recuses,

"Depono."

Men." Id quod multo tute ipse fatebere majus, "Insanire libet, quoniam tibi pocula ponam

[blocks in formation]

Cuddy." I'll wager this same oaken staff with thee,

66

That Cloddipole shall give the prize to me."

Lobbin Clout." See this tobacco pouch, that's lin'd with

hair,

"Made of the skin of sleekest fallow deer:

"This pouch, that's ty'd with tape of reddest hue, "I'll wager that the prize shall be my due."

VIRGIL.

Dam.-"Triste lupus stabulis, maturis frugibus imbres, "Arboribus venti: nobis Amaryllidis iræ.”

Men.-" Dulce satis humor, depulsis arbutus hædis, "Lenta salix fæto pecori: mihi solus Amyntas,"

GAY.

Lobbin Clout." Leek to the Welch, to Dutchmen butter's dear,

"Of Irish swains potatoes are the cheer;

"Oats for their feasts the Scottish shepherds grind,
"Sweet turnips are the food of Blouzelind:
"While she loves turnips, butter I'll despise,
"Nor leeks, nor oatmeal, nor potatoes prize."

Cuddy." In good roast-beef my landlord sticks his knife, "A capon fat delights his dainty wife;

"Pudding our parson eats, the squire loves hare,
"But white-pot thick is my Buxoma's fare.
"While she loves white-pot, capon ne'er shall be,
"Nor hare, nor beef, nor pudding, food for me."

VIRGIL.

Pal." Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites: "Et vitula tu dignus & hic: & quisquis amores "Aut metuet dulces, aut experitur amaros, "Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt.”

GAY.

Cloddipole." Forbear, contending louts, give o'er your strains;

"An oaken staff each merits for his pains.

"But see the sun-beams bright to labour warn,

"And gild the thatch of goodman Hodges' barn.

"Your herds for want of water stand a-dry;
"They're weary of your songs-and so am I."

The ballad is the sweetest and most natural medium in which pastoral ideas can at present be conveyed. Perhaps the charming Idyllium of Bion, on the death of Adonis, may not improperly fall under this description. If it does not, I know not under what class to rank it; but this I know, that a more beautiful poem does not exist, either for pathetic expression or simplicity of thought: and therefore not to have noticed it would have been unpardonable. We have many beautiful compositions of this kind in our language. Gay, Cunningham, Rowe, and Shenstone have all left specimens of the pastoral ballad, but that of Mr. Shenstone, in four parts, is generally esteemed the best. It is all beautiful, and I may select at random; the following lines are from that portion which the author entitles Hope→

"One would think she might like to retire
"To the bow'r I have labour'd to rear;
"Not a shrub that I heard her admire,
"But I hasted and planted it there.

[blocks in formation]

"O how sudden the jessamine strove
"With the lilac, to render it gay!
Already it calls for my love,

"To prune the wild branches away.

"From the plains, from the woodlands and groves,
"What strains of wild melody flow!
"How the nightingales warble their loves

"From thickets of roses that blow !
"And when her bright form shall appear,
"Each bird shall harmoniously join
"In a concert so soft and so clear,

86 As-she may not be fond to resign."

The chief difficulty I have intimated in pastoral, consists in finding such subjects and materials as may render them interesting. With this view, some modern poets have.formed them into a kind of dramatic performance, and this may be considered as the highest improvement of pastoral poetry. Of this kind is the Aminta of Tasso; it abounds in tenderness, but has also too much of the Italian refinement and quaintness.

Guarini's Pastor Fido is a drama of the same kind, and is by some more admired than the Aminta; but, in my opinion, they are both greatly surpassed by the production of a Scot

tish bard; I allude to Allen Ramsey's Gentle Shepherd. It may want the dignity of the Arcadian scene, but there are in it descriptions and sentiments which would do honour to any poet. The Scottish dialect, in which it is written, gives it all the advantage of the Doric numbers, which was the original language of pastoral. It has besides interest and pathos; the plot is good, the characters well drawn, and the whole drama is conducted with singular address and effect.

« ForrigeFortsæt »