George Crabbe

“ Till rising anger put my grief to flight:
As well might you the beauteous jar repiece,
As joy renew and bid vexation cease. 390
H. Why then ’tis wisdom, Emma, not to keep
These griefs in memory; they had better sleep.
There was a time when this heaven-guarded isle,
Whose valleys flourish—nay, whose mountains smile—
Was steril, wild, deform’d, and beings rude
Creatures scarce wilder than themselves pursued.
The sea was heard around a waste to howl;
The night-wolf answer’d to the whooting owl;
And all was wretched—Yet who now surveys
The land, withholds his wonder and his praise? ”

“ Receive a People’s Praise, their Love, their Prayer;
Blest Parent to thy Granby, born to Shine
An Honour to thy Rutland’s House and thine!
Accept the Homage grateful Numbers pay,
Exulting all in this triumphant Day;
When all in one event rejoice,
And mine is as the public Voice—
An Echo to the general Joy
That thanks thee for the noble Boy!
All join in Wishes for the generous Race, 30
That through revolving Ages it may run—
Blest each lov’d Daughter with the Mother’s Grace
And with the Father’s Virtue every Son ”

“ Was her new lord, and she confess’d it right; 280
For now she found that she could gaily live
On what the chance of common life could give:
And her sick mind was cured of every ill,
By finding no compliance with her will;
For, when she saw that her desires were vain,
She wisely thought it foolish to complain.
Born for her man, she gave a gentle sigh
To her lost power, and grieved not to comply;
Within, without, the face of things improved,
And all in order and subjection moved. 290
As wealth increased, ambition now began
To swell the soul of the aspiring man. ”

“ The Youth unconscious of th’ impending woe;
And oft he urged the absent Maid to talk,
As she was wont in many a former walk;
And still she slowly walk’d beside the brook,
Or look’d around—for what could Fanny look?
Something there must be! What, did not appear; 190
But William’s eye betray’d the anxious fear,
The cause unseen!——
But who, with giant-stride,
Bounds o’er the brook, and is at Fanny’s side?
Who takes her arm? and oh! what villain dares
To press those lips? Not even her lips he spares!
Nay, she herself, the Fanny, the divine,
Lip to his lip can wickedly incline! ”

“ To baffle Grief and make thee Sorrow-Proof?
Hast thou not said, that all Mankind endure
Finds in their Faith a Comfort or a Cure?
I know thy Prayers are offered day by day,
And yet thy Griefs will obstinately stay,
To war with Grace—Come, take a chearful View 40
Of Life, and think its Pleasures are thy due!
“Why mourn an Husband, were he good, so long?
But One like thine! ’Tis desperately wrong!
One who deceived thee, whom we should despise
A Wretch, all Falsehood, Treachery and Disguise!
“Nay, my Matilda, let me not offend:
Would’st have thy Brother be a Villain’s Friend? ”

“ Our praise at once we on the Work bestow;
We see the image of so just a Mind,
And ’tis the Merit, not the Man, we know.
But when we learn from where our Pleasure springs,
And whose the Skill that here the Proof has placed:
This to our Mind a double Pleasure brings,
For ’tis Affection looks as well as Taste.
They who have Wealth may hire an Artist’s Hand.
And may the Gallery and the Hall supply; 10
But Love alone can Views like this command:
Affection gives what Wealth can never buy. ”

“ Enabled thus, the maid is kind to all—
Is pious too, and that without a call.
Not that she doubts of calls that Heav’n has sent—
Calls to believe, or warnings to repent:
But that she rests upon the Word divine,
Without presuming on a dubious sign—
A sudden light, the momentary zeal
Of those who rashly hope, and warmly feel;
These she rejects not, nor on these relies,
And neither feels the influence nor denies. 20
Upon the sure and written Word she trusts,
And by the Law Divine her life adjusts;
She blames not her who other creed prefers,
And all she asks is charity for hers. ”

“ Who are loyal, and happy, and free. 20
“The Islands at rest in their Sovereign rejoice;
Lo, the power and the wealth they display!
And there comes from the lands and the waters a voice,
From the Shannon, the Thames, and the Tay.
“‘All hail to our King!’ is the shout of the crowd;
I see them, a shadowy throng;
They are loyally free, are respectfully proud,
And Joy to their King is their song.
“Yet bear up, my soul, ’tis a theme of delight,
That thousands hereafter shall sing; 30
How Scotland, and England, and Ireland unite
In their Glory, their Might, and their King. ”

“ They talk’d of love with so much warmth and zeal,
That they believed the woman’s heart must feel;
Adding such praises of her worth beside, 120
As vanquish prudence oft by help of pride.
In vain! her heart was by discretion led—
She to the children of her Friend was wed;
These she establish’d in the world, and died,
In ease and hope, serene and satisfied.
And loves not man that woman who can charm
Life’s grievous ills, and grief itself disarm;
Who in his fears and troubles brings him aid,
And seldom is, and never seems, afraid? ”

“ Good fortune comes—and that is sterling sense;
Then perseverance, never to decline
The chase of riches till the prey is thine;
And firmness, never to be drawn away
By any passion from that noble prey— 40
By love, ambition, study, travel, fame,
Or the vain hope that lives upon a name.
The whistling Boy that holds the plough,
Lured by the tale that soldiers tell,
Resolves to part, yet knows not how
To leave the land he loves so well.
He now rejects the thought, and now
Looks o’er the lea, and sighs “Farewell!” ”

“ He cried, “Farewell! a solemn business this;
Nay, Susan, Sophy!—heaven and earth, my dears!
I am a soldier—What do I with tears?”
He sought his parents;—they together walk’d,
And of their son, his views and dangers, talk’d; 760
They knew not how to blame their friend, but still
They murmur’d, “She may save us if she will;
Were not these visions working in her mind
Strange things—’tis in her nature to be kind.”
Their son appear’d—He sooth’d them, and was bless’d,
But still the fondness of his soul confess’d—
And where the lady?—To her room retired! ”

“ Shall I, who oft have woo’d the Muse
For gentle Ladies’ sake,
So fair a theme as this refuse—
The Ladies of the Lake?
Hail, happy pair! ’tis yours to share
Life’s elegance and ease:
The bliss of wealth without the care,
The will and power to please—
To please, but not alone our eyes,
Nor yet alone our mind; 10
Your taste, your goodness, charm the wise—
Your manners all mankind.
The pleasant scenes that round you glow,
Like caskets fraught with gold,
Though beauteous in themselves, yet owe
Their worth to what they hold.
Trees may be found, and lakes, as fair ”

“ To one directed, they have gain’d the Heart—
But will not Tracy ask substantial things;
Will he be happy with a bride who sings;
Who, when her Husband would her Virtue trace, 390
Will entertain him with each Girlish Grace?
Will he the partner of his thoughts admire
For Arts and forms her teachers can inspire,
452And give to her the Secrets of his Heart,
Whose own has nought but trifles to impart?
I, too, with him upon the Lake could be,
Sing in the Tent and dance upon the Lea;
I in the House of Harmony might raise
Th’approving Look in him who loves to praise. ”

“ The very changes of amusement prove
There’s nothing that deserves a lasting love.
They hunt, they course, they shoot, they fish, they game;
The objects vary, though the end the same—
A search for that which flies them; no, my Boy!
’Tis not enjoyment, ’tis pursuit of joy.”
Peter was thoughtful—thinking, What! not these,
Who can command, or purchase, what they please—
Whom many serve, who only speak the word, 530
And they have all that earth or seas afford—
All that can charm the mind and please the eye—
And they not happy!—but I’ll ask her why. ”

“ For suffering men, and would their sufferings heal,
But when at certain huts you chose to call,
At certain seasons, was compassion all?
I there beheld thee, to the wretched dear 300
As angels to expiring saints appear
When whispering hope—I saw an infant press’d
And hush’d to slumber on my Emma’s breast!
Hush’d be each rude suggestion!—Well I know,
With a free hand your bounty you bestow,
And to these objects frequent comforts send;
But still they see not now their pitying friend.
A merchant, Emma, when his wealth he states,
Though rich, is faulty if he over-rates
His real store ”

“ Had pierced that heart no other nymph could wound.
“Oh, sweet Maria”—so began the Youth
His meditations—“thine the simple truth! 90
Thou hast no wicked wisdom of thy sex,
No wish to gain a subject-heart—then vex.
That heavenly bosom no proud passion swells;
No serpent’s wisdom with thy meekness dwells.
Oh! could I bind thee to my heart, and live
In love with thee, on what our fortunes give!
Far from the busy world, in some dear spot,
Where Love reigns king, we’d find some peaceful cot.
To wed, indeed, no prudent man would choose;
But such a maid will lighter bonds refuse!” ”

“ That Pity half despises, half forgives;
’Tis join’d with grief, is not from shame exempt,
And has a plenteous mixture of contempt.
311
TALE XV.
BELINDA WATERS.
I.
Of all the beauties in our favour’d place,
Belinda Waters was the pride and grace.
Say ye, who sagely can our fortunes read,
Shall this fair damsel in the world succeed?
A rosy beauty she, and fresh and fair,
Who never felt a caution or a care;
Gentle by nature, ever fond of ease,
And more consenting than inclined to please. ”

“ But, if unworthy of a lot so bless’d,
’Twas something yet to rob the man of rest;
The heart, when stricken, she with hope could feed,
Could court pursuit, and, when pursued, recede.
Hearts she had won, and with delusion fed, 20
With doubt bewilder’d, and with hope misled;
Mothers and rivals she had made afraid,
And wrung the breast of many a jealous maid;
Friendship, the snare of lovers, she profess’d,
242And turn’d the heart’s best feelings to a jest.
Yet seem’d the Nymph as gentle as a dove,
Like one all guiltless of the game of love—
Whose guileless innocence might well be gay ”

“ And time has drawn aside the veil of love—
We may be sorry, but we must approve;
The fancied charms no more our praise compel,
But doubly shines the worth that stands so well.
E. O! precious are you all, and prizes too,
Or could we take such guilty pains for you?
Believe it not—As long as passion lasts, 320
A charm about the chosen maid it casts;
And the poor girl has little more to do
Than just to keep in sight as you pursue.
Chance to a ruin leads her ”

“ Long we conversed, but not till we perceived
A gathering gloom—Our freedom gain’d, we grieved;
Above the vulgar, as we judged, in mind,
Below in peace, more sad as more refined; 540
’Twas joy, ’twas sin—Offenders at the time,
We felt the hurried pleasure of our crime
With pain that crime creates, and this in both—
Our mind united as the strongest oath.
O, my dear George! in ceasing to obey,
Misery and trouble meet us in our way!
I felt as one intruding in a scene
Where none should be, where none had ever been;
Like our first parent, I was new to sin,
But plainly felt its sufferings begin ”

“ Sure to offend, if far the Muse should soar,
And sure to wrong thee if her strength I spare:
Still, in my doubts, this comfort I explore—
That all confess what I must not declare.
Yet on this day, in every passing year,
Poets the tribute of their praise may bring;
Nor should thy virtues then be so severe,
As to forbid us of thy worth to sing. 20
Still I forbear; for why should I portray
Those looks that seize—that mind that wins the heart—
Since all the world, on this propitious day,
Will tell how lovely and how good thou art?
436
TO A LADY WHO DESIRED SOME VERSES AT PARTING.
Oh! ”

“ For, tho’ the Tracys were so well belov’d, 120
Their real Courage was but seldom prov’d;
Yet never Tracy was by Honour call’d
Who fled the Summons or who look’d appall’d.
The timid parent, when the Son would cry
“To breathe is Joy, to live is Extacy;
To feel this pleasure ever strong and new,
And wish that every being felt it too”—
“Beware, my Tracy! let these Spirits sleep
And for the days of certain sorrow keep!
Kind [are] thy wishes, but are all in vain: 130
There will be Griefs, Sighs, Sufferings and pain! ”

“ Such trust in heaven, and yet on earth such grief! 580
Thou art almost, my friend—thou art not all;
Thou hast not yet the self-destroying call;
Thou hast a carnal wish, perhaps a will
Not yet subdued—the root is growing still.
There is the strong man yet that keeps his own,
Who by a stronger must be overthrown;
There is the burden that must yet be gone,
And then the pilgrim may go singing on.”
William to this would seriously incline,
And to their comforts would his heart resign; 590
It soothed, it raised him—he began to feel
Th’ enlivening warmth of methodistic zeal ”

“ Oh! ’tis not right! as all with scorn must see,
Although the certain mischief falls on me.
D. Nay, never weep! but let this kiss restore
And make our friendship perfect as before;
Do not our wiser selves ourselves condemn, 100
And yet we dearly love their faults and them?
So our reproofs to tender minds are shown:
We treat their wanderings as we treat our own;
We are each other’s conscience, and we tell
Our friend her fault, because we wish her well;
We judge, nay prejudge, what may be her case,
Fore-arm the soul, and shield her from disgrace. ”

“ To show how false his speech, how feign’d his love;
And, though her heart another story told, 120
Her speech grew cautious, and her manner cold.
Rachel had village fame, was fair and tall,
And gain’d a place of credit at the Hall;
Where James beheld her seated in that place,
With a child’s meekness and an angel’s face;
Her temper soft, her spirit firm, her words
Simple and few as simple truth affords.
James could but love her—he at church had seen
The tall, fair maid; had met her on the green ”

“ To say of such that every maid has need.
Then, when you flatter—in your language, praise—
In our own view you must our value raise;
And must we not, to this mistaken man, 340
Appear as like his picture as we can?
If you will call—nay, treat us as—divine,
Must we not something to your thoughts incline?
If men of sense will worship whom they love,
Think you the idol will the error prove?
What! show him all her glory is pretence,
And make an idiot of this man of sense?
Then, too, suppose we should his praise refuse,
And clear his mind, we may our lover lose ”