English

I.

I' VE a proposal here from Mr. Murray,
" He offers handsomely — the money down;
" My dear, you might recover from your flurry
" In a nice airy lodging out of town,
" At Croydon, Epsom, anywhere in Surrey;
" If every stanza brings us in a crown,
" I think that I might venture to bespeak
" A bed-room and front-parlour for next week.

II.

" Tell me, my dear Thalia, what you think;

I.

I' VE finish'd now three hundred lines and more,
And therefore I begin Canto the Second,
Just like those wandering ancient Bards of Yore;
They never laid a plan, nor ever reckon'd
What turning they should take the day before;
They follow'd where the lovely Muses beckon'd:
The Muses led them up to Mount Parnassus,
And that's the reason that they all surpass us.

II.

The Muses served those Heathens well enough —

I.

Beginning (as my Bookseller desires)
Like an old Minstrel with his gown and beard,
" Fair Ladies, gallant Knights, and gentle Squires,
" Now the last service from the Board is clear'd,
" And if this noble Company requires,
" And if amidst your mirth I may be heard,
" Of sundry strange adventures I could tell,
" That oft were told before, but never told so well. "

II.

T HE G REAT K ING A RTHUR made a sumptuous Feast,

I.

I VE often wish'd that I could write a book,
Such as all English people might peruse;
I never should regret the pains it took,
That's just the sort of fame that I should choose:
To sail about the world like Captain Cook,
I'd sling a cot up for my favourite Muse,
And we'd take verses out to Demerara,
To New South Wales, and up to Niagara.

II.

Poets consume exciseable commodities,

III. 1.

They shrink, they vanish into air —
Now Slander taints with pestilence the gale;
And mingling cries assail,
The wail of Woe, and scream of mad Despair.
Lo, wizard Envy from his serpent-eye
Darts quick destruction in each baleful glance;
Pride smiling stern, and yellow Jealousy,
Frowning Disdain, and haggard Hate advance:
Behold, amid the dire array,
Pale, wither'd Care his giant-stature rears,
And lo, his iron hand prepares
To grasp its feeble prey.

III. 2.

II. 1.

When first on Childhood's eager gaze
Life's varied landscape stretch'd immense around
Starts out of night profound,
Thy voice incites to tempt the wildering maze.
Fond he surveys thy mild maternal face,
His bashful eye still kindling as he views,
And, while thy lenient arm supports his pace,
With beating heart the upland path pursues;
The path, that leads, where, high uphung,
Seen far remote, Youth's gorgeous trophies, gay
In Fancy's vivid rainbow-ray,
Allure the eager throng.

I. 1.

O thou that glad'st the pensive breast;
More than Aurora's smile the pilgrim lorn
Left all night long to mourn
Amidst the horrors of the dreary waste;
Where savage howls, as intermits the storm,
Wide o'er the wilderness resound from far,
And cross the gloom darts many a grisly form,
And fire-eyed visages horrific stare;
Hail, Goddess, friend of human race!
Hail! for thou oft thy suppliant's vow hast heard,
And oft with smiles indulgent chear'd
His doubting soul to peace.

I. 2.

IV. 1.

Illusions vain! Can sacred Peace reside,
Where sordid gold the breast alarms,
Where cruelty inflames the eye of Pride,
And Grandeur wantons in soft Pleasure's arms!
Ambition! these are thine:
These from the soul erase the form divine;
These quench the animating fire,
That warms the bosom with sublime desire,
Thence the relentless heart forgets to feel,
Hate rides tremendous on th' o'erwhelming brow,
And midnight-Rancour grasps the cruel steel,

III. 1.

Ambition, outside fair! within more foul
Than fellest fiend from Tartarus sprung,
In caverns hatch'd, where the fierce torrents roll
Of Phlegethon, the burning banks along,
Yon naked waste survey:
Where late was heard the flute's mellifluous lay;
Where late the rosy-bosom'd Hours
In loose array danced lightly o'er the flowers;
Where late the shepherd told his tender tale;
And wak'd by the soft-murmuring breeze of morn
The voice of chearful Labour fill'd the dale;

II. 1.

The bloody banner streaming in the air
Seen on yon sky-mix'd mountain's brow,
The mingling multitudes, the madding car
Pouring impetuous on the plain below,
War's dreadful Lord proclaim.
Bursts out by frequent fits th' expansive flame,
Whirl'd in tempestuous eddies flies
The surging smoke o'er all the darken'd skies.
The chearful face of heaven no more is seen,
Fades the Morn's vivid blush to deadly pale,
The bat flits transient o'er the dusky green,