METRICAL TRANSLATIONS 
 
 AND OTHER VERSES. 
 
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS 
 AND OTHER VERSES 
 
 ; 
 
 BY 
 
 J. LANGTON H. and R. SAVILL H. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED AT THE CHISWICK PRESS. 
 
 1884. 
 
 »^-^&-^V 9rLC\y^£^ (P' c 
 
 <yU\.«^ (>'\^4li,i-rx.-aC^t^ . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 WINTER Piece 
 On Milton's " Paradise Lost " 
 To an Amaranthus Blowing late 
 Love and Folly 
 
 From " Mathematical Questions " 
 The Animal in the Moon . 
 The Grasshopper and the Ant 
 Description of Calypso's Island . 
 Calypso's " Good-Night " to Telemachus 
 Apollo and the Thessalian Shepherds . 
 The Marine Festival .... 
 The Delusion of Athamas . 
 
 Antiope 
 
 The Approach of Old Age . 
 
 The Barbarian Ambassadors to Idomeneus 
 
 Cleanthes and Pholoe .... 
 
 The Dead Body of Hippias . 
 
 Mentor assuming the Attributes of Minerva 
 
 The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter . 
 
 Distrust .... 
 
 Cain 
 
 The Translation of Enoch . 
 
 The Death of Moses . 
 
 The Song of Deborah and Barak 
 
 in Autumn 
 
 Page 
 
 3 
 S 
 8 
 II 
 13 
 15 
 18 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 27 
 29 
 
 31 
 35 
 37 
 39 
 40 
 42 
 43 
 45 
 47 
 50 
 52 
 53 
 55 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Denouncement of Judgment upon David 
 
 The XCVII. Psalm 
 
 Solomon's Prayer . . • • 
 
 A Reverie in Cumberland .... 
 A Young Lady's Farewell to Peterborough . 
 
 Page 
 58 
 61 
 
 63 
 65 
 
 68 
 
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 By J. LANGTON H. 
 
^. 
 
 A WINTER PIECE. 
 
 ITHOUT control stern Winter rages now, 
 
 And subject Nature to his sway submits ; 
 Tempests and drizzling rains, and frost and 
 snow, 
 Attendant in his train, he deals by fits. 
 
 How desolate the scene ! the fields are bare ; 
 
 The trees no more their leafy dress display ; 
 Clouds veil the sun, and piercing is the air. 
 
 And hush'd is every songster's tuneful lay. 
 
 How chang'd is all since Summer lately threw 
 His verdant robe the smiling landscape o'er ! 
 
 Now all seems cold and barren to the view, 
 
 And woods, hills, valleys, please the eye no more. 
 
 Impatient, oft we at the change repine ; 
 
 But let us not despairingly complain ; 
 For Winter soon his empire shall resign. 
 
 And joyous Spring and Summer laugh again. 
 
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Meanwhile this useful lesson we may learn ; 
 
 As Winter meliorates the exhausted soil, 
 By crumbling frost and plenteous rains, in turn, 
 
 That Autumn's bounty crown the labourer's toil, 
 
 So is affliction. Winter of the soul, 
 
 In mercy by the all-wise Creator given, 
 
 To melt our hearts, our vain desires control, 
 And fit us for the eternal Spring of heav'n. 
 
ON MILTON'S "PARADISE LOST." 
 
 From the Latin of Samuel Barrow, M.D. 
 
 jHOE'ER thou art that read'st this heavenly 
 song, 
 By the great Milton writ, I ask of thee, 
 Doth not to every part the praise belong 
 
 Of perfect judgment, true sublimity ? 
 To what a height his Muse adventurous soar'd ! 
 
 What lofty themes composed his daring strains ! 
 The origin of all things he explor'd ; 
 
 The fate awaiting all, this book contains. 
 Creation's wonders, too, he did declare ; 
 
 The mysteries of this terrestrial frame ; 
 The earth, the boundless sea, the ambient air. 
 
 Dark Erebus, and hell that vomits flame ; 
 Whate'er on earth or in the ocean dwell, 
 
 Or the bright regions of celestial skies. 
 Or in the drear abodes of darkest hell. 
 
 And what is shut as yet from mortal eyes ; 
 Chaos unbounded, a God infinite, 
 
 And great expression or compare above ; 
 
6 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 If that is great that will no bound admit- 
 In Christ towards men conciliating love. 
 Who would have thought or hoped themes so sublime 
 
 In poetry could ever thus succeed ? 
 Yet favour'd Britons, in our happy time, 
 
 May in their bard such heavenly raptures read. 
 War, too, he sung, gender'd by Satan's pride ; 
 
 Angelic hosts fill'd heaven with dire alarms. 
 What mighty generals on either side ! 
 
 Michael and Satan stand opposed in arms. 
 How terrible the weapons that they wield ! 
 
 How dreadful is each adverse trumpet's clang ! 
 Angels the warriors ; heav'n the battle-field : 
 
 The skies with uproar and confusion rang. 
 How Satan rages ! how aloft he rears 
 
 His dreadful weapons ; as he strides the field, 
 To Michael scarce inferior he appears ; 
 
 Leads on his squadrons, and disdains to yield. 
 The mountains from their bases torn, are thrown 
 
 Like darts by either host, and fire they rain. 
 Olympus stands in doubt which it shall own 
 
 Victorious on the long contested plain. 
 But now in air Messiah's ensigns blazed ; 
 
 Upon a living chariot he rode ; 
 Sublime he moves, the thunder high upraised 
 
 In his right hand, arms worthy of the God ! 
 The roaring wheels cast lightning as they roll, 
 
ON MILTON'S '^PARADISE LOST!' 
 
 And withering fire the blazing chariot darts ; 
 Hoarse thunders growl, and sound from pole to pole, 
 
 Dismay and anguish seize the rebels' hearts. 
 They fly confounded : fiery darts pursue, 
 
 And drive them to the verge of opening hell : 
 Themselves to 'scape the wrath, they downward threw ; 
 
 For ever there in darkness shall they dwell. 
 Yield Greece and Rome ; the bays let Milton wear ; 
 
 Ye modern poets, yield ; for if his theme. 
 With Homer's or with Virgil's we compare. 
 
 But frogs or grasshoppers their subjects seem. 
 
.rO.AN AMARANTHUS BLOWING LATE 
 IN AUTUMN. 
 
 From the French of M. Constant Dubois. 
 
 UR gardens no longer are gay 
 
 With the flowers which they lately display'd : 
 I have witness'd them droop and decay, 
 Though soft zephyrs around them have 
 play'd. 
 Flora's beauties, alas ! are no more : 
 
 How short is the time that they last ! 
 Thus quickly our pleasures are o'er, 
 So soon all enjoyments are past. 
 
 Thee, sweet Amaranthus, I see ; 
 
 To lessen my grief dost thou come : 
 Thy fragrance exhaling for me. 
 
 And unfolding thy delicate bloom. 
 Thus when storms of adversity blow, 
 
 And o'er our bereavements we grieve. 
 Kind friendship will solace our woe, 
 
 And in all our distresses relieve. 
 
TO AN AMARANTHUS, 
 
 So beauteous thy lovely attire, 
 
 So charming to me dost thou seem, 
 Thou inspirest my languishing lyre ; 
 
 I cannot but make thee my theme. 
 Last tribute that Flora bestows, 
 
 Which the Goddess lets fall from her zone 
 That we may not forget when she goes, 
 
 What delights with her presence have flown. 
 
 So when a loved friend doth depart 
 
 On a journey to some distant land, 
 His still gazing eyes speak his heart. 
 
 As he waves us farewell with his hand. 
 Tender language, though mute, which declares, 
 
 As plainly as words could convey, 
 *' The last pledge of the love my heart bears ; 
 
 Which it still shall retain whilst away." 
 
 When a few more short years shall have flown, 
 
 And my summer of life has an end. 
 Ah, then my old age thou shalt crown, 
 
 And thou shalt to me be a friend. 
 Thine image shall bring to my mind 
 
 Sweet remembrance of happier hours ; 
 My old age to my youth shall seem join'd. 
 
 When I greet thee, thou last of the flowers. 
 
lo METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Thy smile, lovely flow'ret, shall cheer, 
 
 When I gaze on thy beautiful form ; 
 And shall give me new courage to bear 
 
 Each adverse and pitiless storm. 
 If an aspect of gladness Spring bears, 
 
 The Autumn of life, too, is sweet : 
 I welcome ye, my silver hairs : 
 
 Anacreon his joyfully did greet. 
 
 Does happiness solely depend 
 
 On either youth, manhood, or age ? 
 Youthful schemes rarely meet their wish'd end 
 
 Disappointment attends on each stage. 
 How oft does age follow the bier 
 
 On which youth to the tomb is convey'd ! 
 How oft shed the warm, gushing tear, 
 
 O'er the grave where an infant is laid ! 
 
LOVE AND FOLLY. 
 
 From the French of La Fontaine. 
 
 OVE is a mystery, no doubt, 
 And I, for one, can't make it out. 
 His darts, his flames, his infancy, 
 Were never understood by me. 
 My sole intent is to explain, 
 In the best manner that I can, 
 Why this omnipotent God is blind, 
 And show herein the Fates were kind, 
 And favoured man in this decree : 
 What power had Love if he could see ! 
 Lovers on this may judgment pass ; 
 I '11 not decide so nice a case. 
 
 It chanced upon a certain day 
 That Love with Folly was at play. 
 Love was not then deprived of eyes ; 
 Between them angry words arise, 
 And Love proposes that the Gods 
 Be summon'd from their high abodes 
 
12 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 To try the matter in debate. 
 
 Impatient Folly would not wait, 
 
 But struck at Love with rage and spite, 
 
 And quite deprived the God of sight. 
 
 Venus for vengeance rends the skies 
 
 With shrieks and loud maternal cries. 
 
 Jupiter, Nemesis, and all 
 
 Who judge in hell, come at her call. 
 
 To them she represents the case ; 
 
 How infamous the act, how base ! 
 
 Her son in a defenceless state ; 
 
 No punishment could be too great ! 
 
 And they in justice must requite 
 
 Her darling boy for loss of sight. 
 
 They duly weigh'd the grave affair, 
 
 Considering every point with care ; 
 
 And thus at last the Court decided : 
 
 " Love, evermore, shall be by Folly guided." 
 
FROM "MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS." 
 
 LAWYER, Physician, and Priest 
 Once happen'd together to dine ; 
 
 And having concluded the feast, 
 Were chatting and sipping their wine. 
 
 After drinking full many a toast, 
 
 (How many, the muse did not count) 
 
 Each began to the others to boast 
 Of his riches the wondrous amount. 
 
 They found that the sum of their gains 
 
 Proportion harmonical bore ; 
 Of course this kept out of their brains 
 
 Thoughts of envy at each other's store ; 
 
 That the total amount of their wealth 
 Was one hundred four thousand pounds ; 
 
 Of which the restorer of health. 
 
 Who in riches the most did abound, 
 
14 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Had half what the lawyer possess'd, 
 Plus four times the sum that remain'd, 
 
 By deducting that own'd by the priest, 
 From the sum that the lawyer had gain'd. 
 
 I beg from the data I give, 
 
 You will find what to each did belong ; 
 And with hope you'll successfully strive, 
 
 I here make an end of my song. 
 
 It is well known that the reciprocal of numbers in harmonical 
 progression, are in arithmetical progression. Let x zz the physician, 
 
 I I 
 
 and V the common difference of their reciprocals ; then x, ~ -{. v ^ -{• v' 
 
 will represent the gains of the physician, lawyer, and priest respectively. 
 
 II I 
 
 • •• ^ + i -{• V + ~ -{• V "=■ a (i), and (per question) 2i -{- v + 
 
 4 4 4i 4 
 
 ^^2, — j^^2v — ^i^^ii-v— ~ -^ 2v'=-x. Divide both sides 
 
 . 44: 4 
 
 of the last equation by x^ and the result is ^ ^ v x — i +2z/^— '• 
 
 I 
 Hence if x" — v x — — i, and consequently x rz ^, By sub- 
 
 i I I 
 
 stituting this value oi x in equation (i), we have J^ + s'z^'t" 4^ — ^'^^ 
 
 Hence vm 12 a. •"• -^ — 48000, 32/ — 32000, 4 j- zr 24000. 
 
THE ANIMAL IN THE MOON. 
 
 From the French of La Fontaine. 
 
 OME of the philosophic tribe have said, 
 Man by his senses always is misled ; 
 Others maintain they are a certain guide, 
 And never lead us from the truth aside. 
 Each creed in part is true : without the aid 
 Of reason, blunders will be often made. 
 Those who their senses only will believe, 
 Appearances continually deceive. 
 The sun, that dazzling orb, that fount of light, 
 How small a space it occupies to sight! 
 But reason tells me it is nature's eye, 
 The ruler of the wondrous worlds on high. 
 I know 'tis vastly distant, and from thence 
 Infer its size, nor take my guide from sense. 
 I see its surface as a plane appear, 
 Though reason teaches me it is a sphere ; 
 It seems to run the circuit of the sky. 
 And earth appears immoveable to lie ; 
 But both appearances are false ; the race 
 Is run by earth ; the sun preserves his place. 
 
i6 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 I shut my eyes ; a dismal blank ensues, 
 And lost are nature's bright and varied hues. 
 Yet though no longer to my sight reveal'd, 
 I know they still exist, but are conceal'd. 
 A stick however straight will bent appear 
 When introduced in water still and clear. 
 Thus, through disguise of sense, the active mind 
 Strives ever truth in its own form to find. 
 
 By the unlearn'd 'tis confidently said 
 
 On the moon's surface is a female head ; 
 
 And various other wonders they declare ; — 
 
 A man, an ox, an elephant are there. 
 
 They, in her inequalities of face, 
 
 All kinds of strange, misshapen monsters trace ; 
 
 Nor to the uninstructed of mankind 
 
 Such silly fancies are alone confined. 
 
 By way of illustration I will tell 
 
 What once a sage astronomer befell : 
 
 His telescope he pointed towards the moon. 
 
 And something wondrous was apparent soon. 
 
 An animal of most prodigious size. 
 
 Within its orb met his astonished eyes ; 
 
 And all who used the tube observed the same : 
 
 The marvel far and wide was spread by fame. 
 
 Some dread event 'twas thought to indicate ; 
 
 Dissensions and convulsions in the State ; 
 
THE ANIMAL IN THE MOON. ly 
 
 Wars, pestilence, or famine. Every ear 
 Was open to receive some tale of fear. 
 The monarch would himself the wonder view, 
 And find if this appalling tale were true. 
 But when the huge, terrific beast he saw 
 His breast was fill'd with wonder and with awe. 
 At length by accident was brought to light 
 The harmless cause of all the needless fright. 
 A mouse into the tube had found its way, 
 And thus occasion'd all this wild dismay. 
 But now the cause of wonderment was clear, 
 And mirth and laughter took the place of fear. 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT. 
 
 From the French of La Fontaine. 
 
 GRASSHOPPER had spent the summer 
 long 
 
 In idle sport, and never-ceasing song ; 
 But when rude Boreas from the northern sky "^ 
 Brought wintry storms, she found nor grub nor fly, 
 So raised to neighbour ant a piteous cry, ; 
 
 And humbly begg'd that from her garner'd store 
 Her wants might be relieved ; nor ask'd for more 
 Than what might just sustain her life and strength 
 Till plenteous summer should arrive at length. 
 " When August comes, with interest I'll repay ; 
 And take an insect's word for what I say." 
 Thus pray'd Miss Grasshopper. The ant, we know 
 Is not inclined to lend, much less bestow. 
 Here lies her fault. She to the suppliant's prayer 
 This answer gave : " What did you make your care 
 
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT. 19 
 
 While summer suns were beaming ? " " Night and day," 
 Said Grasshopper, " I sang * dull care ' away." 
 " You sang ; how happy and content you were ! 
 Now dance, and once again get rid of care." 
 
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM 
 
 FENELON'S TELEMACHUS, 
 
 AND OTHER VERSES. 
 
 By R. Savill H. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF CALYPSO'S ISLAND. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 OFT zephyrs, playing round the grot, 
 maintain'd 
 Delicious coolness, spite of Sol, who reign'd 
 In burning splendour : fountains murmur'd 
 round, 
 And as along those verdant meads they wound, 
 Adorn'd with amaranths and violets, there 
 They fell in baths, as crystal pure and clear. 
 The neighbouring lawns like a green carpet lay, 
 Deck'd with a thousand flowers. In rich array 
 Appear'd a wood of those wide branching trees 
 Which bear the golden apple, and the breeze 
 Came loaded with the sweetest of perfume, 
 Borne from their blossoms. In perpetual bloom 
 They stood and crown'd the meads. The beams of day 
 Were from their shade excluded : there the lay 
 Of birds alone was heard, save where the brook, 
 
24 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Impetuous rushing from the rocks, forsook, 
 With foamy waves, the shade, and took its way, 
 With gentler course along the meads to stray. 
 
 The grotto from on high o'erlook'd the deep, 
 Now as a mirror bright in tranquil sleep : 
 Anon, its billows beat the rocky shore 
 With idle rage, and wat'ry mountains roar. 
 But, turning thence, a river met the view, . 
 Adorn'd with isles, where flow'ring lindens grew. 
 And poplars rear'd aloft their noble heads, 
 Which strove to pierce the clouds. Along the meads 
 The streams which form'd the islands seem'd to play ; 
 Some with swift course pursued their crystal way ; 
 Some gently flow'd, and others turn'd again, 
 As loath to leave this sweet, enchanting plain. 
 
 Distant afar, blue mountains heave on high") 
 Their mighty peaks, which soar into the sky. 
 And with fantastic forms delight the eye. 
 Here vine-clad slopes diversify the scene ; 
 Thick clusters blush behind their leafy screen : 
 There like a garden spreads the smiling plain, 
 And trees of every fruit enrich the wide campaign. 
 
CALYPSO'S "GOOD NIGHT" TO 
 TELEMACHUS. 
 
 Book IV. 
 
 SALYPSO, motionless, with rapture fill'd, 
 The youthful hero heard. At length the hour 
 Of rest drew nigh, and thus the Goddess spake : 
 Let slumber now thy lengthen'd toils succeed. 
 Fear from thy breast be banish'd. All for thee 
 Here smiles propitious — Peace and every joy 
 Which Gods confer on men await thee here. 
 With rosy fingers when the gates of morn 
 Aurora in the golden east unbars. 
 And Sol's bright chariot, bursting from the wave, 
 Drives from his course the lesser lights of heav'n, 
 Then, my Telemachus, thou shalt resume 
 The history of thy wanderings. — Thou thy sire 
 In wisdom and in virtue hast excell'd. 
 Achilles, vanquisher of Hector ; he 
 Who rose triumphant from the gulf of hell. 
 Great Theseus ; e'en the mighty son of Jove, 
 
 E 
 
26 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Who rid the earth of monsters — all than thou 
 Less fortitude, less valour have display'd. 
 May night to thee, in sweet refreshing sleep 
 Consumed, seem swiftly to have pass'd away. 
 But I, alas ! shall deem its flight too slow. 
 How shall I long to see thee, and to hear 
 Thy voice again ! To make thee tell once more 
 What thou hast told, and what I know not yet 
 Beseech thee to unfold. With Mentor, then. 
 Thy heav'n-sent guide, to yon high grot repair : 
 I will invoke for thee the God of Dreams, 
 . That he may shed his softest influence 
 O'er thy sleep-laden lids : bright visions send, 
 Which hovering round thee, may enchant thy sense 
 With images of bliss ; and far aloof 
 Keep all which might untimely break thy rest. 
 
APOLLO AND THE THESSALIAN 
 
 SHEPHERDS. 
 
 Book IL 
 
 HORN of his beams, an exile from the sky, 
 Apollo dwelt on earth, and fed the flocks 
 Of King Admetus. Oft his warbling flute 
 Awoke the echoes of the rock and grove, 
 And swains, assembling in the breezy shade 
 Of waving lindens, by the fountain's flow, 
 With rapture heard the dulcet strains. 
 
 He sung 
 The flowers which herald Spring ; the balmy gales 
 Which play around her, and the youthful verdure 
 Budding beneath her footsteps. Next he sung 
 The nights of Summer when descending dews 
 Refresh the thirsty earth and drooping flowers. 
 He sung the fruits of Autumn which reward 
 The labourer's toil, and Winter's gloomy reign, 
 When sprightly youths around the ruddy glow 
 Of festive torches, dance away the hours. 
 
28 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC, 
 
 He sung the gloomy forests which adorn 
 The mountain's rugged steep ; the fertile vales, 
 Where rivulets, meandering, seem to sport 
 Amid the laughing meads. 
 
 He taught the swains 
 The charms of rural life, and they, whose nature 
 Was heretofore uncivilized and rude, 
 Became more happy, with their rustic pipes, 
 Than monarchs with their sceptres, for their lives 
 Were one continuous holiday. The groves 
 Rung with the song of birds, the dash of fountains, 
 The music of the gently waving boughs. 
 And shepherds' voices, raised in hymns of praise. 
 
«^^ 
 
 ^-^ 
 
 THE MARINE FESTIVAL. 
 
 Book VIII. 
 
 HE rowers were with bays and roses crown'd ; 
 The stroke of oars kept measure to the sound 
 Of flutes : Achitoas awakes the lyre, 
 And with his voice celestial strains conspire. 
 That voice might bless the banquets of the skies, 
 And charm Apollo. Round the vessel rise 
 Tritons and nereids, hoary Neptune's train, 
 And vast sea-monsters skim the surface of the main. 
 They quit their grottoes, humid and profound. 
 All fix'd in charm'd attention at the sound. 
 Phoenician damsels dance in fair array. 
 In snow-white vestures clad, and lovely as the day ; 
 And ever and anon the sprightly sound 
 Of trumpets floated on the waves around. 
 The calmness of the sea, the silent night. 
 And the pale moonbeams, which, with trembling light, 
 Play on the waves ; the deep celestial blue. 
 Thick sown with stars, presented to the view 
 A matchless scene. Telemachus beheld ; 
 With rapture at the sight his bosom swell'd. 
 
30 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Then Mentor swept the lyre : Achltoas' breast 
 Was filled with shame and envy, while the rest 
 Enraptur'd heard the soul-entrancing strain. 
 He sung of Jove, the sire of gods and men. 
 Who shakes creation with his awful nod : 
 Of Pallas, who, proceeding from the God, 
 To teach mankind forsakes the blest abode. 
 And so sublime the strain, that awe possest, 
 And sacred horror, every hearer's breast. 
 As if he stood on vast Olympus' height — 
 The Thunderer confest before his sight, 
 Whose awful eyes more dreadful light diffuse 
 Than e'en his burning bolts ; and then the muse 
 He bids unfold how young Narcissus died, 
 Cut off, untimely, in his youthful pride ; 
 Enamour'd of his own reflected charms. 
 He stands, and longs to catch the shadow in his arms ; 
 Still o'er the fount he bends, and pines with grief, 
 Till pitying gods afford him kind relief. 
 And change him to the flower that bears his name. 
 He sings how rushing from the woodland came, 
 Foaming with rage and pain, a wounded boar. 
 And young Adonis, loved of Venus, tore. 
 Herself immortal, yet her power is vain 
 To shield him, or his ebbing life retain ; 
 Her prayers and sighs to heav'n ascend, but Jove 
 Vouchsafes no succour to her dying love. 
 
THE DELUSION OF ATHAMAS. 
 
 Book IX. 
 
 At the instigation of Venus, Neptune deceives the pilot of Telemachus 
 with a vision, in order to prevent the latter from reaching Ithaca. 
 
 T Neptune's summons from the deep arose 
 A spirit with deluding power endued ; 
 Deceptive as a dream ; yet dreams alone 
 In sleep beguile, while o'er the waking sense 
 This spirit of illusion hath control. 
 He comes, environ'd with a winged host 
 Of falsehoods, fleeting visions, and deceits, 
 His ever-present ministrants, and o'er 
 The watchful eyes of Athamas he pours 
 A magic essence, as the starry vault 
 He scans, and marks the aspects of the moon, 
 And bends his looks upon the steepy coast 
 Of Ithaca, whose threat'ning rocks draw near. 
 Yet but an empty vision met his view : 
 The sky above, the sea and shore around. 
 Were falsely pictured to his sight. The stars 
 
32 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Seem'd to retrace upon the travell'd sky 
 Their course : Olympus moved by laws unknown ; 
 Nature herself was changed, and while the ship 
 Forsook her destined port, the pilot still 
 Beheld it, painted on the empty air. 
 Still steering towards the shadowy coast, it flew 
 Before him, till amazement fill'd his mind. 
 The distant murmur of a busy port 
 He seem'd to hear, and bade the crew prepare 
 To disembark upon an isle which lies 
 Beneath the parent land, that, so deceived, 
 The traitor crew who, leagued against their prince, 
 Beset the port, might deem him absent still. 
 He saw and shunn'd the rocks which crowd the deep 
 Along that island strand : the horrid sound 
 Of bellowing breakers fiU'd his ears, as burst 
 The mighty waves around. Anon the shore 
 Receded, and its mountains, seen afar, 
 Faded to hazy clouds, like those which fringe 
 The horizon, when the gleam of sunset dies. 
 While Athamas the fleeting scene beheld 
 With wonder, and believed it but a dream. 
 The east wind blew, by Neptune summon'd forth. 
 To drive the bark upon Hesperia's coast. 
 Fiercely it swept the seas, and soon uprose 
 The destined shore above the western wave. 
 Aurora brings the dawn ; the stars which shun 
 
THE DELUSION OF ATHAMAS. 33 
 
 Sol's bright approach, as envious of his rays, 
 
 Quench their dull fires in ocean, when elate 
 
 With joy, the pilot cries : " I doubt no more ! 
 
 Telemachus, rejoice! In one short hour 
 
 Thou may'st embrace Penelope, and find 
 
 Thy sire reseated on his island throne. 
 
 These joyful sounds from slumber's bonds released 
 
 Telemachus ; he sought with eager haste 
 
 The helm, embraced the pilot, and with eyes " 
 
 Whose cumber'd lids own'd still the power of sleep, 
 
 Survey'd the neighbouring coast. He groaned, alas ! 
 
 He look'd not on his native land: "Oh! where," 
 
 He cried, " Beloved Ithaca, art thou ? 
 
 I see thee not ; Oh ! Athamas, thine eyes 
 
 Deceive thee ; distant from thy Tyrian strand, 
 
 These seas and harbours are to thee unknown." 
 
 " Scarce more familiar," Athamas replied, 
 
 " Is Tyre to me than Ithaca. My ship 
 
 Rides oft upon your waters. Not a rock 
 
 Nor shoal but in my memory hath its place. 
 
 Yon mountain mole I recognize : behold 
 
 That tower-like crag, familiar to thine eye ; 
 
 List to the roar as boil the waves beneath 
 
 Those rocks which menace ocean with their fall. 
 
 Minerva's fane thou may'st descry, whose dome 
 
 Invades the clouds ; and, dimly seen, afar. 
 
 The fortress, and the palace of thy sire." 
 
 F 
 
34 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 While thus he spoke the vision fled ; he saw 
 
 Another scene, in truthful hues array'd, 
 
 And thus in wonder spoke : " Some hostile God 
 
 My senses with a vision hath deceived ; 
 
 Before mine eyes lay Ithaca, and wore 
 
 Its own familiar aspect ; like a dream, 
 
 It vanishes from my bewilder'd sight. 
 
 Now, in full view, behold Salentum's towers 
 
 And the long outline of Hesperia's coast." 
 
ANTIOPE. 
 
 Book XXII. 
 
 Antiope was the daughter of King Idomeneus, and the Consort-elect 
 of Telemachus, who speaks the following Panegyric. 
 
 ITH grace divine, beneath the linden shades, 
 She leads the dances of her Cretan maids, 
 While flutes soft warbling through the groves 
 resound, 
 And melody and mirth prevail around. 
 Not lovely Venus more enchanting grace 
 Can boast, nor brighter charms of form or face. 
 When forth she moves with her attendant train 
 Of Nymphs and Graces on the Paphian plain. 
 
 And when with pride and pomp Salentum's court, 
 In his dark woods to hunt the boar resort, 
 As Dian's dart unerring is her spear, 
 Nor Dian wears a more majestic air. 
 Yet all unconscious of her heavenly charms. 
 She reins her steed, and wields her sylvan arms. 
 
36 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Nor knows her smile, more dangerous than her dart, 
 Inflicts a cureless wound, a ceaseless smart. 
 
 When meekly to the temples of the Gods 
 She bears her oflerings, of those blest abodes 
 Fit habitant she seems ; a deity 
 To whom adoring crowds might bend the knee. 
 She lays her gifts before each sacred shrine, 
 And humbly supplicates the Powers Divine 
 That wars may cease ; that tumults may be still'd, 
 And evil auguries be unfulfill'd. 
 
 She plies her golden needle mid a throng 
 Of virgins, and relieves their toils with song : 
 The glory of the Gods her chosen theme. 
 And grace of heaven to man. He well may deem 
 Who sees her thus, and hears that lofty strain, 
 That Pallas, heaven forsaking, dwells with man. 
 To teach the arts which soften and refine. 
 And fill the human breast with love divine. — 
 
 Whom gentle Hymen shall unite with thee, 
 Fairest and best of mortals, blest will be 
 Beyond his fellow men ; yet one alloy. 
 Else earth were heav'n, will mingle with his joy ; 
 The cruel fear will hover round his heart 
 That thou, too bright for earth, from earth might'st part. 
 And he remain, to whom the Fates could give 
 No future joy, for grief alone to live. 
 
THE APPROACH OF OLD AGE. 
 
 jAN'S life is transient as the morning flowers, 
 Whose buds expand to greet the sunny hours, 
 But wither as the day dedines, and He 
 Strewn o'er our path ere evening veils the sky. 
 Wave follows wave along the flood, and we, 
 Thus imaged may our own existence see. 
 Time who or what resists ? The wise, the strong, 
 The valiant, in his course are swept along. 
 To thee, my Son, rejoicing in thy youth, 
 Thy happy dawn of life, how sad the truth 
 That beauty and that strength must pass away, 
 E'en as the flower which blooms but to decay ; 
 And health and pleasure to thy thought will seem 
 But the remembrance of a happy dream. 
 Old age, approaching now, with stealthy pace. 
 Will grave his track in furrows o'er thy face ; 
 Those graceful limbs enfeeble, and will bow 
 That lofty frame, erect and haughty now ; 
 Will dry the springs of joy within thy heart. 
 And bid the present pleasure to depart; 
 
38 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Will fill thy darken'd mind with haunting fears, 
 
 And give to pain and grief the remnant of thy years. 
 
 Think not the time is far ; it comes, 'tis here ; — 
 
 The inevitable future still is near : 
 
 The present we can never grasp ; 'tis gone, 
 
 'Tis lost, and coming moments hurry on. 
 
 Then on the future, not the present time, 
 
 Fix'd be thy every thought. Let aims sublime 
 
 Confine thy steps to virtue's rugged way ; 
 
 Let love of justice all thy actions sway ; 
 
 Thy life be pure, that when the end shall come 
 
 The realm of endless peace may be thy home. 
 
THE BARBARIAN AMBASSADORS TO 
 
 IDOMENEUS. 
 
 Book X. 
 
 jN olive branch and sword, O King, we bear, 
 The emblem, one of peace, and one of war. 
 Choose thou ! but peace is our desire : to thee. 
 
 For peace, we yield the empire of the sea. 
 
 To homeless wanderers from the coast of Greece "^ 
 
 We yield the fertile shore, for love of peace. 
 
 Blest by the beams of Sol with large increase. 
 
 For peace to ease and plenty we prefer ; 
 
 And life in deserts, or on hills, with her ; 
 
 Where flowers, the pride of spring, refuse to blow,' 
 
 And with autumnal lustre, fruits to glow ; 
 
 Regions of ice, and tracts of endless snow. 
 
 3|c % % :ic 
 
CLEANTHES AND PHOLOE. 
 
 Pholoe was daughter of the river Liris, and the affianced bride of 
 Cleanthes, who was killed in battle by Telemachus. 
 
 Book XX. 
 
 HUS slaughter and confusion reign around ; 
 The Daunian troops recede ; the ensanguined 
 ground 
 
 Is burden'd with the slain, and there, his eyes. 
 Darkening with shades of death, Cleanthes lies. 
 
 For him, her guardian and affianced spouse, 
 Young Pholoe wearies heav'n with prayers and vows : 
 Fruitless, alas ! for on the Daunian Strand 
 He fought, and perish'd by a Grecian hand. 
 
 With loud laments she fills the Lyrian groves. 
 And o'er the rugged hills, distracted, roves : 
 She rends her graceful locks, neglects the flowers 
 She loved to wreathe, and shuns her fragrant bowers. 
 The rising morn upon its roseate wing 
 No solace to her stricken heart could bring; 
 Nor the pale eve, nor night, the mourner's friend, 
 A brief oblivion of her cares could lend. 
 
CLEANTHES AND PHOLOE. 41 
 
 Still, night and day, her tears incessant flow, 
 And each succeeding hour brought added woe. 
 The pitying Gods at length vouchsafed their aid, 
 And to a fountain changed the weeping maid ; 
 A bitter stream springs forth where Pholoe stood, 
 Strays through the meads, and joins the parent flood ; 
 But still, where'er its winding waters pour, 
 The sombre cypress shades the barren shore. 
 
THE DEAD BODY OF HIPPIAS. 
 Book XVII. 
 
 XTENDEDona bier, which silver, gold. 
 And purple deck, the cold remains behold 
 Of him, in beauty and in youth by death 
 
 Struck down, — whose beauty has survived his breath. 
 
 Though closed his sunken eyes, the tender grace 
 
 Of youth yet lingers in the pallid face. 
 
 Adown his drooping neck, more white than snow. 
 
 In sable folds his silken ringlets flow : 
 
 Locks beautiful as those which grace the head 
 
 Of Atys, or of Jove-loved Ganymed. 
 
MENTOR ASSUMING THE ATTRIBUTES 
 OF MINERVA. 
 
 Book XXIV. 
 
 S darkness flies when o'er the orient mountains 
 Aurora leads the chariot of the day, 
 While hills and valleys, lakes and sparkling 
 fountains, 
 Meadows and forests glitter in her ray ; 
 So fade the furrows from his aged brow, 
 
 And thus the cloud forsakes his kindling eyes ; 
 That, majesty and grace illumine now. 
 
 And these reflect the azure of the noonday skies. 
 
 And as a tender flow'ret which discloses 
 
 Its opening beauties to the beams of day. 
 So blooms the Goddess ; lilies vie with roses 
 
 To deck her features with their bright array. 
 Her martial mien and majesty divine 
 
 Of half their terrors winning grace disarms ; 
 Softness and sweetness in her aspect shine ; 
 
 Eternal youth unites with never-fading charms. 
 
44 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Her vestures, with a rainbow's radiance gleaming, 
 
 The splendours of the rising morn outvie ; 
 Fairer their hues than sunset glory streaming 
 
 To the dark zenith from the western sky. 
 Her flowing locks ambrosial odours shed ; 
 
 On earth she rests not, but the empurpled air 
 Upholds her, and sustains her winged tread, 
 
 As tempests from his cliff the soaring eagle bear. 
 
 She brandishes a lance which warlike nations 
 
 Behold with dread, embattled armies fear ; 
 Her voice, which shakes Athena's deep foundations, 
 
 As sweetest music yet salutes the ear. 
 The bird of night, upon her lofty crest, 
 
 Sits brooding, shrouded by the snowy plume ; 
 The immortal aegis blazes on her breast. 
 
 And sheds terrific splendours through the forest gloom. 
 
THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF 
 
 JUPITER. 
 
 From the French of La Fontaine. 
 
 BLOCK of marble which a sculptor bought 
 So fair, so faultless, such a prize was thought, 
 That, " Ne'er to common purposes," cried he, 
 
 " Shall such a stone as this devoted be. 
 
 A God, a God, I'll form, whose hand shall bear 
 
 Thunder and lightning : worship, mortals, fear ! 
 
 Behold, the King of all the Gods is here ! " 
 
 The terrors of a Deity invest 
 The sculptured stone ; so truly were exprest 
 The attributes of Jove, that speech alone 
 Seem'd wanting to complete the God of stone. 
 But, ah ! he was the first to bow the knee 
 Before his image, and with dread to see 
 The gloomy frown, and the uplifted hand, 
 The forky lightnings, and the threat'ning brand. 
 
46 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Pygmalion thus, by am'rous phrensy moved, 
 The Venus that himself had sculptured, loved. 
 And thus the poets of the olden time 
 Their own creations worshipp'd, and in crime 
 The sculptor equall'd ; thus deluded men 
 Form creeds and idols of their own, as vain, 
 And worship the chimaeras of their brain. 
 
DISTRUST. 
 
 From an Anonymous French Author. 
 
 H that in earthly bower 
 
 There grew, though lowly and of pensive hue, 
 Nor in sweet scent excelling, one fair flower, 
 Which yet I might endue 
 With bloom which time and winter might defy ; 
 Might open to the blighting east, nor die. 
 And long as I should gaze, enchant my loving eye ! 
 
 Oh that one summer's day 
 I might foreknow would fade from painted skies 
 Glorious as those which caught its herald ray. 
 
 Then with no sad surmise 
 That storm-clouds might the beaming heav'ns invest. 
 What bliss were mine, and how serene my breast, 
 Sharing, in breezy shelter, nature's noontide rest ! 
 
48 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Oh would an angel voice 
 Whisper the welcome tidings in mine ear : 
 The friend whose truth and zeal thy heart rejoice, 
 
 Is ever thine, sincere. 
 Unchangeable. Oh then my heart would know 
 All happiness that friendship can bestow. 
 And trustful evermore, with generous warmth o'erflow. 
 
 And Love, on which I found 
 My brightest hopes, had double power to bless, 
 Did not distrust in fetters hold me boundr 
 
 And mar my happiness. 
 This joy, methinks, may false or fleeting prove ; 
 And all these dear delights of mutual love 
 Death may untimely end, or lapse of years remove. 
 
 Those moments since my birth, 
 On which my friendly star hath shed its beams, 
 (Though few and distant, as on this sad earth 
 
 Must ever prove the gleams 
 Of joy which flash upon our night of grief,) 
 My fears, alas ! have render'd dim and brief, 
 And clouds of doubt obscured those glimmerings of relief 
 
DISTRUST. 49 
 
 There are, and happy they, 
 Wanderers through Hfe o'er dreary paths and lone, 
 Mid storm and gloom, who welcome on their way, 
 
 With thorns and brambles strown, 
 Bright buds of pleasure, which anon expand 
 To bloom, and gladden all the desert land ; 
 Foster'd with faith and love, by hope's sweet breezes 
 fann'd. 
 
 H 
 
^, 
 
 CAIN. 
 
 " And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can 
 bear." — Genesis iv, 13. 
 
 SINK, o'erwhelm'd, beneath Thy dread decree ! 
 
 An outcast wanderer through the earth to be ; 
 
 All I have ever loved to leave ; to find 
 My meet companions in the savage kind ; 
 Cut off from all my race, despair my guide ; 
 Remorse and terror ever at my side ; 
 Heaven's intercourse with man forbid to share ; 
 Oh, this is anguish more than I can bear ! 
 
 I, who Thine image wear, among mankind 
 The mightiest, yet to ruin am consign'd. 
 Woe, woe, eternal woe ! and who shall stay 
 The avenger's hand, which shall be raised to slay 
 The earth-polluting wretch, whose brother's blood 
 Cried from his reeking altar to his God ! 
 The wilderness unfolds- before mine eyes 
 Its dark, untravell'd paths ; waste mountains rise. 
 
CAIN. 51 
 
 And dim, drear forests stretch their endless shade. 
 Those awful solitudes I seek, afraid 
 Lest judgment find me here : to them I fly 
 For shelter from Thy presence ; yet the eye 
 Which saw my crime, will evermore look down 
 From yon black heaven, in which I see Thy frown. 
 
^. 
 
 THE TRANSLATION OF ENOCH. 
 
 " And Enoch walked with God : and he was not ; for God took 
 him." — Genesis v. 24. 
 
 [OURN, Earth, for thou art less like"" Heav'n ; 
 thy best, 
 Thy holiest offspring now is thine no more ! 
 He that hath walk'd with God, with whom the skies 
 Communed, is not ; nor doth thy bosom hold 
 His ashes ; he was all too pure for thee. 
 His soul so sanctified his mortal frame 
 That it could death withstand, and soar above 
 Glorious, immortal. 
 
 As he talk'd with God, 
 Lo ! the bright efifluence of the Deity 
 Robed him with light eternal, and a throne 
 In Paradise received the Friend of God. 
 
 Then triumph, Earth, that thou to Heav'n could'st give, 
 Stainless, though in thy fleshly vesture clad, 
 One who now sits among the saints, and holds 
 Divine communion in the courts above ! 
 
0. 
 
 THE DEATH OF MOSES. 
 
 " And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom 
 the Lord knew face to face." — Deuteronomy xxxiv. lo. 
 
 HE Promised Land ! ere close thine eyes 
 
 On things of earth, look up and see 
 Thine Israel's home, that Paradise 
 Foreshadowing which unfolds for thee ! 
 For thou shalt but behold afar, 
 
 From Pisgah's height, yon earthly heav'n ; 
 To thee from perils, toils, and war, 
 A surer resting-place is given. 
 
 What signs, what wonders since thy birth 
 
 Has Heav'n in human sight display'd ! 
 Portents and plagues affrighted earth 
 
 Has seen, by thee evoked and stay'd. 
 The Red Sea, smitten by thy rod, 
 
 Its billows heap'd on either hand ; 
 Thou, face to face, hast talk'd with God ; 
 
 Thy voice proclaim'd His dread command! 
 
54 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Yet must thou die, and Canaan's soil 
 
 Shall never by thy feet be trod — 
 Here cease thy glories, ends thy toil ; 
 
 Hence shalt thou rise to be with God ! 
 Thy sepulchre, in after time. 
 
 Shall be unknown, but every age 
 Shall celebrate thy name sublime ; 
 
 Thou Leader, Prophet, Warrior, Sage ! 
 
 And after thee no seer shall rise 
 
 In Israel with thine awful power 
 Endued — whose prayer could move the skies 
 
 To mercy, or their vengeance shower. 
 Still Egypt quakes ; in memory 
 
 She sees thee wave thine outstretch'd hand ; 
 And Israel weeps, bereft of thee, 
 
 Though gazing on the Promised Land ! 
 
o. 
 
 THE SONG OF DEBORAH AND BARAK. 
 
 " Why is his chariot so long in coming ? Why tarry the wheels of his 
 chariots?" — -Judges v. 28. 
 
 HY do his chariot wheels delay 
 To bear him from the war 
 ^^f In triumph ? Lo, his homeward way- 
 Is lit by victory's star ! 
 The sinking sun forsakes the skies, 
 
 And still he gladdens not mine eyes ; 
 Yet wherefore should I fear 
 
 For Sisera, and that conquering host 
 Which march'd at dawn for Israel's coast ! 
 
 And still she gazed till darkness drew 
 
 Its pall across the sky ; 
 When thus, as doubt to anguish grew, 
 
 Her maidens made reply ; 
 He comes not, for with Israel's spoil 
 
 Oppress'd, and faint with warfare's toil, 
 As Barak's squadrons fly, 
 
 He smites their ranks, nor spares to slay. 
 Though slaughter'd thousands choke his way. 
 
56 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 With Hebrew damsels in his train, 
 
 And warriors captive led, 
 Eternal glory he shall gain ; 
 
 And thou, apparelled 
 In robes whose splendour shall outvie 
 The Persian woof, and Tyrian dye, 
 
 Won on the battle plain, 
 In glorious pomp shalt move, and shine 
 With every treasure of the mine !j 
 
 Thus at the lattice through the hours 
 
 Of darkness they abode ; 
 Yet came not those victorious powers ; 
 
 No glittering banners flow'd 
 In morning's breeze : her heart grew cold 
 With grief, and thus her fears she told : 
 
 It may be, Israel's God 
 Is mighty, as His prophet's word 
 Declares, and hath unsheath'd His sword ! 
 
 Their records tell of kings cast down 
 
 Who dared provoke His ire ; 
 Of nations, wither'd at His frown, 
 
 And cities burnt with fire 
 Which fell from heaven : their God, in fight, 
 They liken to the sun, in might 
 
 High heav'n ascending. His attire — 
 
SONG OF DEBORAH AND BARAK. 57 
 
 The lightning ; tempests from His path 
 Sweep the awakeners of His wrath. 
 
 A vision I behold ! our host 
 
 Like scatter'd sheep is flying ; 
 Their chariots broke, their trophies lost, 
 
 Their chiefs in death are lying ! 
 From Harosheth to Kishon's flood 
 The land is red with Canaan's blood ; 
 
 And Israel's tribes, relying 
 On God, their God of battles, come 
 To make our land their Promised Home ! 
 
(^, 
 
 THE DENOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT 
 UPON DAVID. 
 
 " I offer thee three things — choose one of them, that I may do it 
 unto thee." — 2 Samuel xxvv. 12. 
 
 UDGMENT awaits thee and thy doom 
 
 Thou shalt thyself declare ; 
 Shall plague or famine fill the tomb, 
 Or long, disastrous war ? 
 Thou, in thy self-relying pride. 
 Through all thy nations far and wide, 
 
 Hast numbered all who wear 
 Thy yoke, and made thine impious boast 
 The myriads of thine armed host. 
 
 Thy God thou didst forget. Whose power 
 
 Avail'd thee more, alone. 
 Unaided else, in peril's hour, 
 
 Than millions round Thy throne. 
 He smote the ravening beasts of prey ; 
 
DENOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT. 59 
 
 Scatter'd the Philistines' array, 
 
 And led thee, victor, on 
 Through fields of fight : his shield and spear 
 Thy safeguard, and thy weapon there ! 
 
 Put now thy trust in human strength. 
 
 For Heav'n its aid denies ; 
 Thy deeds of sin have roused at length 
 
 The vengeance of the skies ! 
 The angels of the Lord await 
 His word with plagues to devastate 
 
 Thy land ; thy people's cries 
 Shall rend thy heart, and thou, their king, 
 Their shepherd, dost the judgment bring ! 
 
 Thy mighty men, in multitude, 
 
 Like sands beside the sea ; 
 Thy tribes, like leaves which clothe the wood. 
 
 Where will their numbers be 
 When earth, no more by kindly dews 
 Refresh'd, her tribute shall refuse ; 
 
 And herb and fruitful tree 
 The desert wind in dust shall lay, 
 Withering beneath the untemper'd ray ! 
 
 Or if, by famine's ills dismay'd, 
 The swifter plague thou call, 
 
6o METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Where then will rest thy hope of aid 
 
 While armies round thee fall ? 
 Then wilt thou trust that helm or shield 
 Or plates of mail will safety yield, 
 
 Or city's rock-built wall ? 
 The angel of the pestilence 
 Will set at nought thy vain defence ! 
 
 Or if the Lord deliver thee 
 
 Into the hands of men, 
 Thy towers will sink, thy champions flee. 
 
 And thou in cave or den 
 Wilt hide the head which Israel's crown 
 Hath worn ; thy splendour and renown 
 
 Lost, as they had not been ! 
 Thy people captive, and their land 
 
 Laid waste beneath the spoiler's hand. 
 
THE XCVII. PSALM. 
 
 god's power and judgment displayed in a 
 thunder-storm. 
 
 [EHOVAH reigns — His sacred Law 
 Let earth receive with joy and awe, 
 And to her utmost isles be glad ! 
 The Lord, in clouds and darkness clad, 
 With righteousness surrounds His throne, 
 And heav'n and earth His judgments own. 
 Before Him in avenging fire 
 They perish who arouse His ire. 
 His lightnings shed their awful light : 
 Earth sees, and trembles at the sight. 
 The mountains smoke, the rocks descend. 
 The mighty hills their summits bend. 
 And melt like wax before the flame. 
 The heav'ns His righteousness proclaim : 
 His glories all the world illume, 
 And nations gaze and dread their doom. 
 
62 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Confounded now, ye sinners, be, 
 And who to idols bend th : knee ; 
 Bow down, ye Powers, before His throne. 
 And worship him Who reigns alone ! 
 
 Zion, exultant, hears the sound. 
 Thy voice in thunders roll'd around. 
 The daughters of Judaea sing 
 Thy judgments. Thou, creation's King, 
 O'er earthly gods exalted high, 
 Supreme, almighty, now art nigh. 
 
 Oh ye, who in this awful hour 
 Through love, can triumph in His power, 
 Hate sin, for God preserves the pure ; 
 His people are alone secure. 
 But thou, the tyrant, thou, the unjust, 
 Be humbled your proud heads in dust. 
 For you these fiery portents shine ; 
 For you awakes the wrath divine ! 
 
 Rejoice, ye righteous, for the Lord 
 Prepares in heav'n your bright reward ; 
 Amid the gloom shall glory rise. 
 And light celestial glad your eyes : 
 Your thankful hearts shall ever bless 
 His mercy, truth, and holiness. 
 
^ 
 
 SOLOMON'S PRAYER 
 
 AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " But will God indeed dwell on the earth ? " — i Kings viii. 
 
 ^^^^^HOU Who hast said, Around My throne 
 Thick clouds and darkness I have thrown ; 
 For Whom the heav'n of heav'ns in vain 
 
 Unfolds, Thy presence to contain ; 
 
 Wilt Thou for man the skies forsake, 
 
 And earth for him Thy dwelling make ; 
 
 This house, which I have built for God, 
 
 Shall it, indeed, be His abode ? 
 
 Yet from Thine everlasting seat 
 Behold us, kneeling at Thy feet ; 
 And may Thy gracious ear approve 
 Thy suppliant's prayer, that from above 
 Thine eyes may shed their sacred light 
 On this Thy temple day and night ; 
 For Thou hast promised, by Thy name. 
 To give it glory, riches, fame. 
 
64 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 This house we consecrate to prayer : 
 Oh, be Thy mercy ever here ! 
 And when within this holy place 
 Thy people kneel, forgiveness, grace, 
 And succour grant. Should foes assail, 
 And Israel's hosts in battle fail, 
 Then from this altar as our cries 
 Ascend, do Thou in might arise ! 
 
 Should famine stretch her mildew'd hand 
 O'er the bright valleys of our land ; 
 Should drought, or heats, or with'ring frost 
 Lay bare our plains ; or on our coast 
 The locust from the sunless sky 
 Descend, or pestilence be nigh, — 
 Let Israel then before Thee bow 
 In these blest courts. Have mercy, Thou ! 
 
 Or if in distant lands we mourn, 
 And languish, hopeless of return, 
 Yet when we turn a prayerful face 
 To Thee, and this most holy place. 
 And humbly kiss Thy chastening rod, 
 And bring our hearts again to God ; 
 Hear Thou in heav'n, and set us free. 
 Again, in peace to worship Thee. 
 
^ 
 
 A REVERIE IN CUMBERLAND. 
 Mind- Pictures Realized. 
 
 I HO that beholds, at twiHght's mystic hour, 
 The star-lit beauties of a pastoral vale, 
 But sees, mind-pictured oft, in stream and 
 bower 
 The woods and waters of some classic tale ? 
 
 There slumbers Tempe ; the Elysian plain. 
 Or Happy Valley, with its shades serene : 
 
 Yon woodland is the Faery Queen's domain. 
 That glittering lake the dwelling of Undine. 
 
 But in a mountain desert Fancy plumes 
 
 Her daring pinions for adventurous flight : 
 Each outlined steep familiar form assumes, 
 
 Each rock, remember 'd hues, as to her sight 
 In day-dreams oft they rise ; the imaged scene 
 
 Where warriors wild, dread phantoms, hermit saints, 
 Floods, earthquakes, or volcanic fires have been. 
 
 As legends chronicle or fiction paints. 
 
 * J^^ r^y/-\-e^ ^ •^- 
 
66 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC. 
 
 Love, too, has flourish'd in a mountain clime, 
 
 As many a tender tale of joy or woe, 
 Of later days, or of the olden time, 
 
 Which rocks and hills to memory bring, may show. 
 His voice still whispers on the mountain air ; 
 
 His form the shepherd wears : the cedar grove 
 Has bent its boughs o'er many an amorous pair ; 
 
 Has sigh'd with those who mourn'd their hopeless love. 
 
 In yon pine-crested peak, which soars afar 
 
 Into the twilight blue, behold the bower 
 To which pale Luna guides her crescent car ; 
 
 Where blest Endymion waits the ev'ning hour. 
 And mortal loves such scene may consecrate : 
 
 Ye hapless pair who in the Afric isle 
 Lived, loved, and died, to mourn your world-wept fate, 
 
 I wander oft where mountain gardens smile. . 
 
 What pensive thoughts are his, whose lonely way 
 
 Winds through a wilderness of barren hills ! 
 At each new aspect of their dark array 
 
 His soul a wilder inspiration fills. 
 He dreams, sole tenant of the youthful earth 
 
 Himself, the rugged scenes arpund him spread, 
 Gloomy and vast, are Nature's second birth ; 
 
 The deluge ocean's late forsaken bed. 
 
A REVERIE IN CUMBERLAND. 6; 
 
 Or should the Storm-Fiend work his vengeful will. 
 
 On howling wings the desert defiles sweep ; 
 Hang his black banners round some kingly hill, 
 
 And mutter to the waste in thunders deep, — 
 He thinks on Sinai : as the lightnings glare, 
 
 And rolling echoes strike the wild with awe, 
 He sees the hosts of Israel marshall'd near, 
 
 He hears the Voice Divine pronounce the law. 
 
 And softer scenes alike their memories bring 
 
 To cheer him, toilworn, on his rock-strewn way ; 
 See sunset o'er yon hills its radiance fling, 
 
 Whose summits with the hues of heav'n are gay. 
 On Christian's gaze, Despair's dark boundary past, 
 
 Thus burst the mountains of Immanuel's Land ; 
 On whose bright peaks the gate of glory cast 
 
 Its rays ; their slopes by Beulah's breezes fann'd. 
 
J. 
 
 A YOUNG LADY'S FAREWELL TO 
 ^ PETERBOROUGH. 
 
 DIEU, beloved town ; with mournful gaze 
 I view thee, fading in the horizon's haze ! 
 Farewell, dear City ! tears bedim mine eye, 
 As borne from thee,^ too swift, alas ! I fly. — 
 How many happy, ah ! too fleeting hours 
 Have fled since first I view'd thy welcome towers. 
 Three moons have waned since that delightful time 
 When broke upon mine ear St. John's sweet chime. 
 Then hope and pleasure revell'd in my breast ; 
 But now, with melancholy thoughts opprest 
 Of pleasures past, and valued then too low, 
 How shall I check the current of my woe ! 
 
 Let me, while yet the privilege remains, 
 Fix my last look upon these smiling plains ; 
 
 • In the up express. 
 
 ^^v^x.•^-^■ 
 
 
FAREWELL TO PETERBOROUGH. 69 
 
 Throw my last glance on yon majestic fane, 
 And view thy windings, " willowy Nene," again. 
 Too transient prospect ! rushing swiftly by, 
 The well-known objects vanish from my eye ; 
 The fields, the woods, the city, and the stream 
 Melt like the fleeting scenery of a dream ; 
 Yet deeply imaged in my heart shall dwell 
 The Elysian scenes to which I bid farewell. 
 
 No more my feet along Thorpe-walk shall stray. 
 Nor seek the Stanground, nor the Woodstone 
 
 way. 
 Fletton, farewell ! no more thy tower I view. 
 And railway stations, you I bid adieu ; 
 Infirmary — I speak the name with awe — 
 Abode of horrors, lancets, scalpels, saw,^ 
 Crescent and prison, Union-house, Thorpe Hall, 
 Bridge, Gravel-walk, adieu, adieu to all. 
 Yet in my grief one solace can I find ; 
 The thought is balm to my desponding mind 
 That duty calls me hence. I go to rule, 
 As Lady Paramount, our village school. 
 
 ^ Miss L 's original words were — 
 
 " Infirmary— at that dread word I pause- 
 Abode of horrors — doctors, lancets, saws ! " 
 
70 METRICAL TRANSLATIONS, ETC, 
 
 To free benighted children from the fetters 
 
 Of ignorance, and make them learn their letters. 
 
 To this dear duty I devote my hours, 
 
 How tedious else, and consecrate my powers ! 
 
CHISWICK PRESS:— C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, 
 CHANCERY LANE. 
 
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