[Page 41][Page 52]
KENSINGTON GARDEN.
Campos, ubi Troja fuit. Virg.[ed.]
1 WHERE Kensington high o'er the neighb'ring lands,
2 'Midst greens and sweets, a regal fabrick stands,
3 And sees each spring, luxuriant in her bowers,
4 A snow of blossoms, and a wild of flowers,
5 The dames of Britain oft in crowds repair
6 To groves and lawns, and unpolluted air.
7 Here, while the town in damps and darkness lies,
8 They breathe in sun-shine, and see azure skies
9 Each walk, with robes of various dies bespread,
10 Seems from afar a moving tulip-bed,
11 Where rich brocades and glossy damasks glow,
12 And chints, the rival of the show'ry bow.
13 Here England's Daughter, darling of the land,
14 Sometimes, surrounded with her virgin band,
15 Gleams through the shades. She, tow'ring o'er the rest,
16 Stands fairest of the fairer kind confess'd,
[Page 42]17 Form'd to gain hearts, that Brunswick's cause deny'd,
18 And charm a people to her father's side.
19 Long have these groves to royal guests been known,
20 Nor Nassan first prefer'd them to a throne.
21 Ere Norman banners wav'd in British air;
22 Ere lordly Hubba with the golden hair
23 Pour'd in his Danes; ere elder Julius came;
24 Or Dardan Brutus gave our isle a name;
25 A prince of Albion's lineage grac'd the wood,
26 The scene of wars, and stain'd with lovers' blood.
27 You, who through gazing crowds, your captive throng,
28 Throw pangs and passions, as you move along,
29 Turn on the left, ye fair, your radiant eyes,
30 Where all un-levell'd the gay garden lies:
31 If generous anguish for another's pains
32 Ere heav'd your hearts, or shiver'd through your veins,
33 Look down attentive on the pleasing dale,
34 And listen to my melancholy tale.
35 That hollow space, where now in living rows,
36 Line above line the yew's sad verdure grows,
37 Was, ere the planter's hand its beauty gave,
38 A common pit, a rude unfashion'd cave;
39 The landskip now so sweet we well may praise,
40 But far, far sweeter in its ancient days,
41 Far sweeter was it, when its peopled ground
42 With fairy domes and dazzling tow'rs were crown'd.
43 Where in the midst those verdant pillars spring,
44 Rose the proud palace of the Elfin king;
[Page 43]45 For every hedge of vegetable green,
46 In happier years a crowded street was seen,
47 Nor all those leaves, that now the prospect grace,
48 Could match the numbers of its pigmy race.
49 What urg'd this mighty empire to its fate,
50 A tale of woe and wonder I relate.
51 When Albion rul'd the land, whose lineage came
52 From Neptune mingling with a mortal dame,
53 Their midnight pranks the sprightly fairies play'd
54 On ev'ry hill, and danc'd in every shade.
55 But, foes to sun-shine, most they took delight
56 In dells and dales conceal'd from human sight:
57 There hew'd their houses in the arching rock;
58 Or scoop'd the bosom of the blasted oak;
59 Or heard, o'ershadow'd by some shelving hill,
60 The distant murmurs of the falling rill.
61 They, rich in pilfer'd spoils, indulg'd their mirth,
62 And pity'd the huge wretched sons of earth.
63 Even now, 'tis said, the hinds o'erheard their strain,
64 And strive to view their airy forms in vain;
65 They to their cells at man's approach repair,
66 Like the shy leveret, or the mother hare,
67 The whilst poor mortals startle at the sound
68 Of unseen footsteps on the haunted ground.
69 Amid this garden, then with woods o'ergrown,
70 Stood the lov'd seat of royal Oberon.
71 From every region to his palace gate
72 Came peers and princes of the fairy state,
[Page 44]73 Who, rank'd in council round the sacred shade,
74 Their monarch's will and great behests obey'd.
75 From Thame's fair banks, by lofty tow'rs adorn'd,
76 With loads of plunder oft his chiefs return'd:
77 Hence in proud robes, and colours bright and gay,
78 Shone every knight and every lovely fay.
79 Whoe'er on Powell's dazzling stage display'd
80 Hath fam'd king Pepin and his court survey'd,
81 May guess, if old by modern things we trace,
82 The pomp and splendor of the fairy race.
83 By magic fenc'd, by spell encompass'd round,
84 No mortal touch'd this interdicted ground;
85 No mortal enter'd, those alone who came
86 Stolen from the couch of some terrestrial dame:
87 For oft of babes they robb'd the matron's bed,
88 And left some sickly changeling in their stead.
89 It chanc'd a youth of Albion's royal blood
90 Was foster'd here, the wonder of the wood;
91 Milkah, for wiles above her peers renown'd,
92 Deep-skill'd in charms and many a mystic sound,
93 As through the regal dome she sought for prey,
94 Observ'd the infant Albion where he lay
95 In mantles broider'd o'er with gorgeous pride,
96 And stole him from the sleeping mother's side.
97 Who now but Milkah triumphs in her mind!
98 Ah wretched nymph, to future evils blind!
99 The time shall come when thou shalt dearly pay
100 The theft, hard-hearted! of that guilty day:
[Page 45]101 Thou in thy turn shalt like the queen repine,
102 And all her sorrows doubled shall be thine:
103 He who adorns thy house, the lovely boy
104 Who now adorns it, shall at length destroy.
105 Two hundred moons in their pale course had seen
106 The gay-rob'd fairies glimmer on the green,
107 And Albion now had reach'd in youthful prime
108 To nineteen years, as mortals measure time.
109 Flush'd with resistless charms he fir'd to love
110 Each nymph and little Dryad of the grove;
111 For skilful Milkah spar'd not to employ
112 Her utmost art to rear the princely boy.
113 Each supple limb she swaith'd, and tender bone,
114 And to the Elsin standard kept him down;
115 She robb'd dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit,
116 And fed him early with the daisy's root,
117 Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran,
118 And form'd in beauteous miniature the Man.
119 Yet still, two inches teller than the rest,
120 His lofty port his human birth confess'd;
121 A foot in height, how stately did he show!
122 How look superior on the crowd below!
123 What knight like him could toss the rushy launce!
124 Who move so graceful in the mazy dance!
125 A shape so nice, or features half so fair,
126 What elf could boast! or such a flow of hair!
127 Bright Kenna saw, a princess born to reign,
128 And felt the charmer burn in every vein.
[Page 46]129 She, heiress to this empire's potent lord,
130 Prais'd like the stars, and next the moon ador'd.
131 She, whom at distance thrones and princedoms view'd,
132 To whom proud Oriel and Azuriel su'd,
133 In her high palace languish'd, void of joy,
134 And pin'd in secret for a mortal boy.
135 He too was smitten, and discreetly strove
136 By courtly deeds to gain the virgin's love;
137 For her he cull'd the fairest flowers that grew,
138 Ere morning suns had drain'd their fragrant dew;
139 He chas'd the hornet in his mid-day flight,
140 And brought her glow-worms in the noon of night;
141 When on ripe fruit she cast a wishing eye,
142 Did ever Albion think the tree too high!
143 He show'd her where the pregnant goldfinch hung,
144 And the wren-mother brooding o'er her young;
145 To her th' inscription on their eggs he read,
146 (Admire, ye clerks, the youth whom Milkah bred)
147 To her he show'd each herb of virtuous juice,
148 Their powers distinguish'd, and describ'd their use:
149 All vain their powers alas to Kenna prove,
150 And well sung Ovid, There's no herb for love.
151 As when a ghost, enlarg'd from realms below,
152 Seeks its old friend to tell some secret woe,
153 The poor shade shivering stands, and must not break
154 His painful silence, till the mortal speak;
155 So far'd it with the little love-sick maid,
156 Forbid to utter what her eyes betray'd.
[Page 47]157 He saw her anguish, and reveal'd his flame,
158 And spar'd the blushes of the tongue-ty'd dame.
159 The day would fail me, should I reckon o'er
160 The sighs they lavish'd, and the oaths they swore;
161 In words so melting, that, compar'd with those,
162 The nicest courtship of terrestrial beaus
163 Wou'd sound like compliments from country-clowns
164 To red-cheek'd sweet-hearts in their home-spun gowns.
165 All in a lawn of many a various hue,
166 A bed of flowers (a fairy forest) grew;
167 'Twas here one noon, the gaudiest of the May,
168 The still, the secret, silent hour of day,
169 Beneath a lofty tulip's ample shade
170 Sate the young lover and th' immortal maid.
171 They thought all fairies slept, ah luckless pair!
172 Hid, but in vain, in the sun's noon-tide glare!
173 When Albion leaning on his Kenna's breast,
174 Thus all the softness of his soul express'd.
175 'All things are hush'd. The sun's meridian rays
176 'Veil the horizon in one mighty blaze;
177 'Nor moon nor star in heav'n's blue arch is seen
178 'With kindly rays to silver o'er the green.
179 'Grateful to fairy eyes; they secret take
180 'Their rest, and only wretched mortals wake.
181 'This dead of day I fly to thee alone,
182 'A world to me, a multitude in one.
183 'Oh sweet as dew-drops on these flowery lawns,
184 'When the sky opens and the evening dawns!
[Page 48]185 'Streight as the pink, that tours so high in air
186 'Soft as the blue-bell! as the daisy, fair
187 'Blest be the hour, when first I was convey'd
188 'An infant captive to this blissful shade!
189 'And blest the hand that did my form refine,
190 'And shrunk my stature to a match with thine!
191 'Glad I for thee renounce my royal birth;
192 'And all the giant-daughters of the earth.
193 'Thou, if thy breast with equal ardour burn,
194 'Renounce thy kind, and love for love return.
195 'So from us two, combin'd by nuptial ties,
196 'A race unknown of demi-gods shall rise.
197 'Oh speak, my love! my vows with vows repay,
198 'And sweetly swear my rising fears away.'
199 To whom (the shining azure of her eyes
200 More brighten'd) thus th' enamour'd maid replies.
201 'By all the stars, and first the glorious moon,
202 'I swear, and by the head of Oberon,
203 'A dreadful oath! no prince of fairy line
204 'Shall e'er in wedlock plight his vows with mine.
205 'Where-e'er my footsteps in the dance are seen,
206 'May toadstools rise, and mildews blast the green,
207 'May the keen east-wind blight my fav'rite flowers,
208 'And snakes and spotted adders haunt my bowers.
209 'Confin'd whole ages in an hemlock shade,
210 'There rather pine I a neglected maid;
211 'Or worse, exil'd from Cynthia's gentle rays,
212 'Parch in the sun a thousand summer-days,
[Page 49]213 'Than any prince, a prince of fairy line,
214 'In sacred wedlock plight his vows with mine.'
215 She ended: and with lips of rosy hue
216 Dipt five times over in ambrosial dew,
217 Stifled his words. When from his covert rear'd,
218 The frowning brow of Oberon appear'd.
219 A sun-flower's trunk was near, whence (killing sight!)
220 The monarch issu'd, half an ell in height:
221 Full on the pair a furious look he cast,
222 Nor spake, but gave his bugle-horn a blast,
223 That through the woodland echo'd far and wide,
224 And drew a swarm of subjects to his side.
225 A hundred chosen knights, in war renown'd,
226 Drive Albion banish'd from the sacred ground;
227 And twice ten myriads guard the bright abodes,
228 Where the proud king, among his demi-gods,
229 For Kenna's sudden bridal bids prepare,
230 And to Azuriel gives the weeping fair.
231 If fame in arms, with ancient birth combin'd,
232 And faultless beauty, and a spotless mind,
233 To love and praise can generous souls incline,
234 That love, Azuriel, and that praise were thine.
235 Blood, only less than royal, fill'd thy veins,
236 Proud was thy roof, and large thy fair domains,
237 Where now the skies high Holland-house invades,
238 And short-liv'd Warwick sadden'd all the shades,
239 Thy dwelling stood; nor did in him afford
240 A nobler owner, or a lovelier lord.
[Page 50]241 For thee a hundred fields produc'd their store,
242 And by thy name ten thousand vassals swore;
243 So lov'd thy name, that, at their monarch's choice,
244 All Fairy shouted with a gen'ral voice.
245 Oriel alone a secret rage suppress'd,
246 That from his bosom heav'd the golden vest.
247 Along the banks of Thame his empire ran,
248 Wide was his range, and populous his clan.
249 When cleanly servants, if we trust old tales,
250 Besides their wages had good fairy vails,
251 Whole heaps of silver tokens, nightly paid
252 The careful wife or the neat dairy-maid,
253 Sunk not his stores. With smiles and powerful bribes
254 He gain'd the leaders of his neighbour tribes,
255 And ere the night the face of heav'n had chang'd,
256 Beneath his banners half the fairies rang'd.
257 Mean-while driven back to earth, a lonely way
258 The chearless Albion wander'd half the day,
259 A long, long journey, choak'd with brakes and thorns,
260 Ill-measur'd by ten thousand barley-corns.
261 Tir'd out at length, a spreading stream he spy'd
262 Fed by old Thame, a daughter of the tide:
263 'Twas then a spreading stream, though now its fame
264 Obscur'd, it bears the creek's inglorious name,
265 And creeps, as through contracted bounds it strays,
266 A leap for boys in these degenerate days.
267 On the clear crystal's verdant bank he stood,
268 And thrice look'd backward on the fatal wood,
[Page 51]269 And thrice he groan'd, and thrice he beat his breast,
270 And thus in tears his kindred gods address'd.
271 'If true, ye watery powers, my lineage came
272 'From Neptune mingling with a mortal dame;
273 'Down to his court, with coral garlands crown'd,
274 'Through all your grottoes waft my plaintive sound,
275 'And urge the god, whose trident shakes the earth,
276 'To grace his off-spring, and assert my birth.'
277 He said. A gentle Naiad heard his prayer,
278 And, touch'd with pity for a lover's care,
279 Shoots to the sea, where low beneath the tides
280 Old Neptune in th' unfathom'd depth resides.
281 Rous'd at the news the sea's stern sultan swore
282 Revenge, and scarce from present arms forbore;
283 But first the nymph his harbinger he sends,
284 And to her care his fav'rite boy commends.
285 As through the Thames her backward course she guides,
286 Driven up his current by the refluent tides,
287 Along his banks the pygmy legions spread
288 She spies, and haughty Oriel at their head.
289 Soon with wrong'd Albion's name the host she fires,
290 And counts the ocean's god among his sires;
291 'The ocean's god, by whom shall be o'erthrown
292 '(Styx hear'd his oath) the tyrant Oberon.
293 'See here beneath a toadstool's deadly gloom
294 'Lies Albion: Him the Fates your leader doom.
295 'Hear and obey; 'tis Neptune's powerful call,
296 'By him Azuriel and his king shall fall.'
297 She said. They bow'd: and on their shield up-bore
298 With shouts their new-saluted emperor.
299 Even Oriel smil'd: at least to smile he strove,
300 And hopes of vengeance triumph'd over love.
301 See now the mourner of the lonely shade
302 By gods protected, and by hosts obey'd,
303 A slave, a chief, by fickle Fortune's play,
304 In the short course of one revolving day.
305 What wonder if the youth, so strangely blest,
306 Felt his heart flutter in his little breast!
307 His thick-embattel'd troops, with secret pride,
308 He views extended half an acre wide;
309 More light he treads, more tall he seems to rise,
310 And struts a straw-breadth nearer to the skies.
311 O for thy Muse,*
* Mr. ADDISON.
great Bard, whose lofty strains312 In battle join'd the Pygmies and the Cranes!
313 Each gandy knight, had I that warmth divine,
314 Each colour'd legion in my verse should shine.
315 But simple I, and innocent of art,
316 The tale, that sooth'd my infant years, impart,
317 The tale I heard whole winter eves, untir'd,
318 And sing the battles, that my nurse inspir'd.
319 Now the shrill corn-pipes, echoing loud to arms,
320 To rank and file reduce the straggling swarms.
321 Thick rows of spears at once, with sudden glare,
322 A grove of needles, glitter in the air;
[Page 53]323 Loose in the wind small ribbon streamers flow,
324 Dipt in all colours of the heav'nly bow,
325 And the gay host, that now its march pursues,
326 Gleams o'er the meadows in a thousand hues.
327 On Buda's plains thus formidably bright,
328 Shone Asia's sons, a pleasing dreadful sight.
329 In various robes their silken troops were seen,
330 The blue, the red, and prophet's sacred green:
331 When blooming BRUNSWICK near the Danube's flood,
332 First stained his maiden sword in Turkish blood.
333 Unseen and silent march the slow brigades
334 Through pathless wilds, and unfrequented shades.
335 In hopes already vanquish'd by surprize,
336 In Albion's power the fairy empire lies;
337 Already has he seiz'd on Kenna's charms,
338 And the glad beauty trembles in his arms.
339 The march concludes; and now in prospect near,
340 But fenc'd with arms, the hostile towers appear,
341 For Oberon, or Druids falsely sing,
342 Wore his prime visir in a magick ring.
343 A subtle spright, that opening plots foretold
344 By sudden dimness on the beamy gold.
345 Hence in a crescent form'd, his legions bright
346 With beating bosoms waited for the fight;
347 To charge their foes they march, a glitt'ring band,
348 And in their van doth bold Azuriel stand.
349 What rage that hour did Albion's soul possess,
350 Let chiefs imagine, and let lovers guess!
[Page 54]351 Forth issuing from his ranks, that strove in vain
352 To check his course, athwart the dreadful plain
353 He strides indignant: and with haughty cries
354 To single fight the fairy prince defies.
355 Forbear, rash youth, th' unequal war to try;
356 Nor, sprung from mortals, with immortals vie.
357 No god stands ready to avert thy doom,
358 Nor yet thy grandsire of the waves is come.
359 My words are vain — no words the wretch can move,
360 By beauty dazled, and betwich'd by love:
361 He longs, he burns to win the glorious prize,
362 And sees no danger, while he sees her eyes.
363 Now from each host the eager warriors start,
364 And furious Albion flings his hasty dart:
365 'Twas feather'd from the bee's transparent wing,
366 And its shaft ended in a hornet's sting;
367 But, toss'd in rage, it flew without a wound,
368 High o'er the foe, and guiltless pierc'd the ground,
369 Not so Azuriel's: with un-erring aim
370 Too near the needle-pointed jav'lin came,
371 Drove through the seven-fold shield, and silken vest,
372 And lightly ras'd the lover's ivory breast.
373 Rous'd at the smart, and rising to the blow,
374 With his keen sword he cleaves his fairy foe,
375 Sheer from the shoulder to the waist he cleaves,
376 And of one arm the tott'ring trunk bereaves.
377 His useless steel brave Albion wields no more,
378 But sternly smiles, and thinks the combat o'er:
[Page 55]379 So had it been, had aught of mortal strain,
380 Or less than fairy felt the deadly pain.
381 But empyreal forms, howe'er in fight
382 Gash'd and dismember'd, easily unite.
383 As some frail cup of China's purest mold,
384 With azure varnish'd, and bedrop'd with gold,
385 Tho' broke, if cur'd by some nice virgin's hands,
386 In its old strength and pristine beauty stands;
387 The tumults of the boiling Bohea braves,
388 And hold secure the Coffee's sable waves:
389 So did Azuriel's arm, if fame say true,
390 Rejoin the vital trunk whence first it grew;
391 And, whilst in wonder fix'd poor Albion stood,
392 Plung'd the curs'd sabre in his heart's warm blood.
393 The golden broidery tender Milkah wove,
394 The breast to Kenna sacred and to love,
395 Lie rent and mangled: and the gaping wound
396 Pours out a flood of purple on the ground.
397 The jetty lustre sickens in his eyes:
398 On his cold cheeks the bloomy freshness dies;
399 'Oh Kenna, Kenna, thrice he try'd to say,
400 'Kenna farewel: 'and sigh'd his soul away.
401 His fall the Dryads with loud shrieks deplore,
402 By sister Naiads echo'd from the shore,
403 Thence down to Neptune's secret realms convey'd,
404 Through grots, and glooms, and many a coral shade.
405 The sea's great sire, with looks denouncing war,
406 The trident shakes, and mounts the pearly carr:
[Page 56]407 With one stern frown the wide-spread deep deforms,
408 And works the madding ocean into storms.
409 O'er foaming mountains, and through bursting tides,
410 Now high, now low, the bounding chariot rides,
411 'Till through the Thames in a loud whirlwind's roar
412 It shoots, and lands him on the destin'd shore.
413 Now fix'd on earth his tow'ring stature stood,
414 Hung o'er the mountains, and o'erlook'd the wood.
415 To Brumpton's grove one ample stride he took,
416 (The valleys trembled, and the forests shook)
417 The next huge step reach'd the devoted shade,
418 Where choak'd in blood was wretched Albion laid:
419 Where now the vanquish'd, with the victors join'd,
420 Beneath the regal banners stood combin'd.
421 Th' embattel'd dwarfs with rage and scorn he past,
422 And on their town his eye vindictive cast.
423 Its deep foundations his strong trident cleaves,
424 And high in air th' up-rooted empire heaves;
425 On his broad engine the vast ruin hung,
426 Which on the foe with force divine he flung;
427 Aghast the legions in th' approaching shade,
428 Th' inverted spires and rocking domes survey'd,
429 That downward tumbling on the host below
430 Crush'd the whole nation at one dreadful blow.
431 Towers, arms, nymphs, warriors, are together lost,
432 And a whole empire falls to sooth sad Albion's ghost.
433 Such was the period, long restrain'd by Fate,
434 And such the downfal of the fairy state.
[Page 57]435 This dale, a pleasing region, not unblest,
436 This dale possess'd they; and had still possess'd,
437 Had not their monarch, with a father's pride,
438 Rent from her lord th' inviolable bride,
439 Rash to dissolve the contract seal'd above,
440 The solemn vows and sacred bonds of love.
441 Now, where his elves so brightly danc'd the round,
442 No violet breathes, nor daisy paints the ground,
443 His towers and people fill one common grave,
444 A shapeless ruin, and a barren cave.
445 Beneath huge hills of smoaking piles he lay
446 Stun'd and confounded a whole summer's day.
447 At length awak'd (for what can long restrain
448 Unbody'd spirits!) but awak'd in pain:
449 And as he saw the desolated wood,
450 And the dark den where once his empire stood,
451 Grief chill'd his heart: to his half-open'd eyes
452 In every oak a Neptune seem'd to rise:
453 He fled: and left, with all his trembling peers,
454 The long possession of a thousand years.
455 Thro' bush, thro' brake, thro' groves and gloomy dales,
456 Thro' dank and dry, o'er streams and flowery vales,
457 Direct they fled; but often look'd behind,
458 And stop'd and started at each russling wind.
459 Wing'd with like fear, his abdicated bands
460 Disperse and wander into different lands;
461 Part did beneath the Peak's deep caverns lie,
462 In silent glooms impervious to the sky;
[Page 58]463 Part on fair Avon's margin seek repose,
464 Whose stream o'er Britain's midmost region flows,
465 Where formidable Neptune never came,
466 And seas and oceans are but known by fame:
467 Some to dark woods and secret shades retreat,
468 And some on mountains chuse their airy seat.
469 There haply by the ruddy damsel seen,
470 Or shepherd-boy, they featly foot the green,
471 While from their steps a circling verdure springs;
472 But fly from towns, and dread the courts of kings.
473 Mean-while sad Kenna, loth to quit the grove,
474 Hung o'er the body of her breathless love,
475 Try'd every art (vain arts!) to change his doom,
476 And vow'd (vain vows!) to join him in the tomb.
477 What could she do; the Fates alike deny
478 The dead to live, or fairy forms to die.
479 An herb there grows (the same old†
† Odyss. l. 10.
Homer tells480 Ulysses bore to rival Circe's spells)
481 Its root is ebon-black, but sends to light
482 A stem that bends with flow'rets milky white,
483 Moly the plant, which gods and fairies know,
484 But secret kept from mortal men below.
485 On his pale limbs its virtuous juice she shed,
486 And murmur'd mystick numbers o'er the dead,
487 When lo! the little shape by magick power
488 Grew less and less, contracted to a flower;
[Page 59]489 A flower, that first in this sweet garden smil'd,
490 To virgins sacred, and the Snow-drop styl'd.
491 The new-born plant with sweet regret she view'd,
492 Warm'd with her sighs, and with her tears bedew'd,
493 Its ripen'd seeds from bank to bank convey'd,
494 And with her lover whiten'd half the shade.
495 Thus won from death each spring she sees him grow,
496 And glories in the vegetable snow,
497 Which now increas'd through wide Britannia's plains,
498 Its parent's warmth and spotless name retains;
499 First leader of the flowery race aspires,
500 And foremost catches the sun's genial fires,
501 'Midst frosts and snows triumphant dares appear,
502 Mingles the seasons, and leads on the year.
503 Deserted now of all the pygmy race,
504 Nor man nor fairy touch'd this guilty place.
505 In heaps on heaps, for many a rolling age,
506 It lay accurs'd, the mark of Neptune's rage;
507 'Till great Nassau recloath'd the desart shade,
508 Thence sacred to Britannia's monarchs made.
509 'Twas then the green-rob'd nymph, fair Kenna, came,
510 (Kenna that gave the neighb'ring town its name)
511 Proud when she saw th' ennobled garden shine
512 With nymphs and heroes of her lover's line.
513 She vow'd to grace the mansions once her own,
514 And picture out in plants the fairy town.
515 To far-fam'd Wise her flight unseen she sped,
516 And with gay prospects fill'd the craftsman's head,
[Page 60]517 Soft in his fancy drew a pleasing scheme,
518 And plan'd that landskip in a morning dream.
519 With the sweet view the sire of gardens fir'd,
520 Attempts the labour by the nymph inspir'd,
521 The walls and streets in rows of yew designs,
522 And forms the town in all its ancient lines;
523 The corner trees he lifts more high in air,
524 And girds the palace with a verdant square;
525 Nor knows, while round he views the rising scenes,
526 He builds a city as he plants his greens.
527 With a sad pleasure the aërial maid
528 This image of her ancient realm survey'd;
529 How chang'd, how fallen from its primaeval pride!
530 Yet here each moon, the hour her lover dy'd,
531 Each moon his solemn obsequies she pays,
532 And leads the dance beneath pale Cynthia's rays;
533 Pleas'd in the shades to head her fairy train,
534 And grace the groves where Albion's kinsmen reign.
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About this text
Author: Thomas Tickell
Themes:
gardens; mythology; patriotism; glory of the British nation
Genres:
heroic couplet; narrative verse; prospect poem / topographical poem
References:
DMI 22254
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. I. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 41-60. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.001) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Thomas Tickell
- COLIN AND LUCY. ()
- AN EPISTLE from a Lady in England, to a GENTLEMAN at Avignon. ()
- AN IMITATION OF THE PROPHECY OF NEREUS. From HORACE, Book III. Ode XXV. ()
- AN ODE Inscrib'd to the Right Honourable the EARL of SUNDERLAND at WINDSOR. ()
- ON THE Death of the Earl of CADOGAN. ()
- ON THE PROSPECT OF PEACE, A POEM. ()
- To a LADY before MARRIAGE. ()
- TO APOLLO MAKING LOVE. FROM MONSIEUR FONTENELLE. ()
- TO Sir GODFREY KNELLER, at his Country Seat. ()
- To the Right Honourable the Earl of WARWICK, &c. On the Death of Mr. ADDISON. ()