[Page 64]

SOME THOUGHTS ON BUILDING and PLANTING,

TO Sir JAMES LOWTHER, Bart. OF LOWTHER-HALL.

1 WHEN stately structures Lowther grace,
2 Worthy the owner and the place,
3 Fashion will not the works direct,
4 But Reason be the Architect.
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5 Ready each beauteous order stands
6 To execute what she commands.
7 The Doric grave, where weight requires
c The Doric grave, where weight requires.] In ea aede cum voluissent columnas collocare, non habentes symmetrias earum, & quaerentes quibus rationibus efficere possent, ut & ad onus serendum essent idoneae, & in aspectu probatam haberent venustatem: dimensi sunt virilis pedis vestigium, & cum invenissent pedem sextam partem esse altitudinis in homine, ita in columnam transtulerunt: & qua crassitudine fecerunt basin Icapi, tantum cam sexies cum capitulo in altitudinem extulerunt. Ita Dorica columna virilis corporis proportionem, & firmitatem & venustatem in aedificiis praestare coepit,Vitruv. l. iv. c. i. p. 60.
;
8 To give his manly strength aspires;
9 The light Corinthian
d The light Corinthian, &c.] Tertium vero, quod Corinthium dicitur, virginalis habet gracilitatis imitationem: quod virgines propter aetatis teneritatem gracilioribus membris figuratae, effectus recipiunt in ornatu venustiores. Ejus autem capituli prima inventio, &c. Ibid.
, richly gay,
10 Does all embellishments display;
11 Between them see
e Between them see, &c.] Junoni, Dianae, Libero Patri, caeteris{que} Diis qui eadem sunt similitudine, si aedes Ionieae construerentur, habita erit ratio mediocritatis, quod & ab severo more Doricorum & à teneritate Corinthiorum, temperabitur earum institutio proprietatis. Ibid.
, with matron air,
12 The Ionic
f The Ionic, &c.] Item postea Dianae constituere aedem quaerentes, hovi generis speciem, iisdem vestigiis ad muliebrem transtulerunt gracilitatem: & fecerunt primum columnae crassitudinem altitudinis octava parte: ut haberent speciem excelsiorem, basi spiram supposuerunt pro calceo, capitulo volutas, uti capillamento concrispatos cincinnos praependentes dextra ac sinistra collocaverunt, & cymatiis & encarpis pro crinibus dispositis, srontes ornaverunt: trunco{que} toto strias, uti stolarum rugas, matronali more dimiserunt. Ibid.
, delicately fair!
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13 These their abundant aid will lend
14 To answer every structure's end.
15 To Building can a mode belong
16 But gay, or delicate, or strong?
17 Why search we then for orders new,
18 Rich in these all-comprising few,
19 But that the standard rules of Greece
20 Disdain to humour wild caprice?
21 They Fancy's wanton freaks controul,
22 In every part consult the whole,
23 Teach Art to dress, and not disguise,
24 Seek lasting fame, not short surprise,
25 And all adornings to produce
26 From real or from seeming use
g From real or from seeming use,] quemadmodum mutuli cantheriorum projecturae serunt imaginem, sie in Ionicis denticuli ex projecturis asserum habent imitationem. Itaque in Graecis operibus nemo sub mutulo denticulos constituit: non enim possunt subtus cantherios asseres esse. Quod ergo supra cantherios & templa in veritate debet esse collacatum, id in imaginibus, si infra constitutum fuerit, mendosam habebit operis rationem; &c.
,
27 The place's genius to revere,
28 And, as he bids, the structure rear.
29 Smiles he o'er fragrant Flora's bloom?
30 Ne'er shock him with a grotto's gloom.
31 Nor with smooth slender columns mock
32 His roughness in the rugged rock.
33 Nor by trim steps hand gently down,
34 (Like dainty dames in formal town)
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35 The nimble Naiades, who bound
36 O'er native rocks with sprightly sound.
37 Nor roving Dryades confine
38 Precisely to a single line,
39 Strait, circular, or serpentine.
40 All forms arise at nature's call,
41 And use can beauty give to all.
42 None e'er disgust the judging mind,
43 When vary'd well, or well combin'd.
44 This Lowther's noble planter knew,
45 And kept it in his constant view.
46 So sweetly wild his woods are strown,
47 Nature mistakes them for her own,
48 Yet all to proper soil and site
49 So suited, doubly they delight.
50 While tender plants in vales repose,
51 Where the mild zephyr only blows,
52 Embattled firs bleak hills adorn,
53 Under whose safeguard smiles the corn.
54 Who builds or plants, this rule should know,
55 From truth
h From truth, &c.] quod non potest in veritate fieri, id non putaverunt in imaginibus factum, posse certam rationem habere. Omnia enim certa proprictate, & à veris naturae deductis moribus, traduxerunt in operum perfectiones: & ea probaverunt, quorum explicationes in disputationibus rationem possunt habere veritatis. Vitruv. lib. iv. c. ii. p. 67. edit. de Laet.
and use
i and use, &c.] See the idea of beauty explained by the great Dr. Berkley in the Minute Philosopher, dial. iii. sect. viii, ix. edit. 3, 1752.
all beauties flow.

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Title (in Source Edition): SOME THOUGHTS ON BUILDING and PLANTING, TO Sir JAMES LOWTHER, Bart. OF LOWTHER-HALL.
Author: John Dalton
Themes: architecture; buildings; nature; agriculture
Genres:
References: DMI 27307

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Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. I. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 64-67. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1122; OTA K093079.001) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.788].)

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