by William Shenstone
Here, in cool grot and mossy cell,
We rural fays and fairies dwell;
Though rarely seen by mortal eye,
When the pale moon, ascending high,
Darts through yon lines her quivering beams,
We frisk it near these crystal streams.
Her beams, reflected from the wave,
Afford the light our revels crave;
The turf, with daisies broider'd o'er,
Exceeds, we wot, the Parian floor;
Nor yet for artful strains we call,
But listen to the water's fall.
Would you then taste our tranquil scene,
Be sure your bosoms be serene;
Devoid of hate, devoid of strife,
Devoid of all that poisons life:
And much it 'vails you in their place,
To graft the love of human race.
And tread with awe these favour'd bowers,
Nor wound the shrubs, nor bruise the flowers;
So may your path with sweets abound;
So may your couch with rest be crown'd!
But harm betide the wayward swain,
Who dares our hallow'd haunts profane!
Ingenio et amicitae
Gulielmi somervile.
And on the opposite side,
G. S. Posvit,
Debita spargens lacryma favillam
Vatis amici.
Come then, my friend, thy Sylvan shade display,
Come hear thy Faunus tune his rustic lay;
Ah, rather come, and in these dells disown
The care of other strains, and tune thine own.
Shepherd, wouldst thou here obtain
Pleasure unalloy'd with pain?
Joy that suits the rural sphere?
Gentle shepherd, lend an ear.
Learn to relish calm delight,
Verdant vales and fountains bright;
Trees that nod o'er sloping hills,
Caves that echo tinkling rills.
If thou canst no charm disclose
In the simplest bud that blows;
Go, forsake thy plain and fold;
Join the crowd, and toil for gold.
Tranquil pleasures never cloy;
Banish each tumultuous joy;
All but love--for love inspires
Fonder wishes, warmer fires.
Love and all its joys be thine--
Yet, ere thou the reins resign,
Hear what reason seems to say,
Hear attentive, and obey.
"Crimson leaves the rose adorn,
But beneath them lurks a thorn;
Fair and flowery is the brake,
Yet it hides the vengeful snake.
"Think not she, whose empty pride
Dares the fleecy garb deride,
Think not she, who, light and vain,
Scorns the sheep, can love the swain.
"Artless deed and simple dress
Mark the chosen shepherdess;
Thoughts by decency controll'd,
Well conceived and freely told.
"Sense that shuns each conscious air,
Wit, that falls ere well aware;
Generous pity, prone to sigh
If her kid or lambkin die.
"Let not lucre, let not pride,
Draw thee from such charms aside;
Have not those their proper sphere?
Gentler passions triumph here.
"See, to sweeten thy repose,
The blossom buds, the fountain flows;
Lo! to crown thy healthful board,
All that milk and fruits afford.
"Seek no more--the rest is vain;
Pleasure ending soon in pain:
Anguish lightly gilded o'er:
Close thy wish, and seek no more."
O you that bathe in courtly blysse
Or toyle in fortune's giddy spheare;
Do not too rashly deem amysse
Of him that bydes contented here.
Nor yet disdeigne the russet stoale,
Which o'er each carelesse lymb he flyngs:
Nor yet deryde the beechen bowle,
In whyche he quaffs the lympid springs.
Forgive him, if at eve or dawne,
Devoide of worldlye cark he stray:
Or all beside some flowery lawne,
He waste his inoffensive daye.
So may he pardonne fraud and strife,
If such in courtlye haunt he see:
For faults there beene in busye life,
From whyche these peaceful glens are free.
Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,
Hortus ubi, et tecto vicinus jugis aquae fons,
Et paulum sylvae super his foret. Auctius atque
Dii melius fecere.--
IOSEPHO SPENCE,
EXIMIO NOSTRO CRITONI;
CVI DICARI VELLET
MVSARVM OMNIVM ET GRATIARVM CHORVS,
DICAT AMICITIA.
MDCCLVIII.
Nerine Galatea! thymo mihi dulcior Hyblae,
Candidior cygnis, hedera formosior alba!
Cum primum pasti repetent praesepia tauri,
Si quae tui Corydonis habet te cura, venito.
CELEBERRIMO POETAE
JACOBO THOMSON
PROPE FONTES ILLI NON FASTIDITOS
G. S.
SEDEM HANC ORNAVIT.
Quae tibi, quae tali reddam pro carmine dona?
Nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus austri,
Nec percussa juvant fluctu tam litora, nec quae
Saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles.
INSCRIBED TO MISS DOLMAN, A BEAUTIFUL AND AMIABLE RELATION OF MR SHENSTONE'S, WHO DIED OF THE SMALLPOX, ABOUT TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE.
PERAMABILI SVAE CONSOBRINAE
M.D.
On the other side:--
AH MARIA
PVELLARVM ELEGANTISSIMA,
AH FLORE VENVSTATIS ABREPTA,
VALE!
HEV QVANTO MINVS EST
CVM RELIQVIS VERSARI,
QVAM TVI
MEMINISSE!
O let me haunt this peaceful shade;
Nor let Ambition e'er invade
The tenants of this leafy bower,
That shun her paths, and slight her power!
Hither the peaceful Halcyon flies
From social meads and open skies;
Pleased by this rill her course to steer,
And hide her sapphire plumage here.
The trout, bedropt with crimson stains,
Forsakes the river's proud domains;
Forsakes the sun's unwelcome gleam,
To lurk within this humble stream.
And sure I hear the Naiad say,
Flow, flow, my stream, this devious way,
Though lovely soft thy murmurs are,
Thy waters lovely cool and fair.
Flow, gentle stream, nor let the vain
Thy small unsullied stores disdain
Nor let the pensive sage repine,
Whose latent course resembles thine.
P. VIRGILIO MARONI
LAPIS ISTE CVM LVCO SACER ESTO.
FONS FERRVGINEVS.
DIVAE QVAE SECESSV ISTO FRVI CONCEDIT.
INTVS AQVAE DULCIS, VIVOQVE SEDILIA SAXO;
NYMPHARVM DOMVS
The first thus:--
AMICITIAE ET MERITIS
RICHARDI GRAVES:
IPSAE TE, TITYRE, PINVS,
IPSI TE FONTES, IPSA HAEC ARBVSTA VOCABANT.
The other:--
AMICITIAE ET MERITIS
RICHARDI IAGO.
--"Semi educta Venus."
"To Venus, Venus here retired,
My sober vows I pay:
Not her on Paphian plains admired,
The bold, the pert, the gay.
"Not her whose amorous leer prevail'd
To bribe the Phrygian boy;
Not her who, clad in armour, fail'd
To save disastrous Troy.
"Fresh rising from the foamy tide,
She every bosom warms;
While half withdrawn she seems to hide,
And half reveals, her charms.
"Learn hence, ye boastful Sons of taste,
Who plan the rural shade;
Learn hence to shun the vicious waste
Of pomp, at large display'd.
"Let sweet concealment's magic art
Your mazy bounds invest;
And while the sight unveils a part,
Let fancy paint the rest.
"Let coy reserve with cost unite
To grace your wood or field;
No ray obtrusive pall the sight,
In aught you paint, or build.
"And far be driven the sumptuous glare
Of gold, from British groves;
And far the meretricious air
Of China's vain alcoves.
"'Tis bashful beauty ever twines
The most coercive chain;
'Tis she that sovereign rule declines,
Who best deserves to reign."
ELEGANTISSIMAE PVELLAE
DOROTHEAE FANCOVRT
QUAE PERDILECTI SVI CONDISCIPVLI
RICHARDI IAGO
AMORES MERVIT,
D. D.
GVLIELMVS SHENSTONE;
DEBITAE NYMPHIS OPIFEX CORONAE
AMICITIAE G. S.
QVI,
NAIADAS PARITER AC MVSAS
EXCOLENDO.
SIMUL ET VILLAM EIVS ELEGANTISSIMAM
NOMENQVE SVVM
ILLVSTRAVIT.
"(FORTVNATVS ET ILLE DEOS QVI NOVIT
"AGRESTES)
"PANAQVE, SYLVANVMQVE, SENEM, NYM-
"PHASQVAE SORORES." VIRG.
Here, here she lies, a budding rose,
Blasted before its bloom,
Whose innocence did sweets disclose
Beyond that flower's perfume.
To those who for her death are grieved,
This consolation's given;
She's from the storms of life relieved
To shine more bright in heaven.
Copyright © 2002, Shropshire County
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