[Page 213]
An Ode to the Right Honourable the Lord LONSDALE.
I.
1 LONSDALE! thou ever-honour'd name,
2 For such is sacred virtue's claim,
3 Say, why! my noble friend!
4 While nature sheds her balmy powers
5 O'er hill and dale, in leaves and flowers,
6 Say, why my joys suspend!
II.
7 Here spreads the lawn high-crown'd with wood,
8 Here slopes the vale, there winds the flood
9 In many a crystal maze;
10 The fishes sport, in silver pride
11 Slow moves the swan, on either side
12 The herds promiscuous graze.
III.
[Page 214]13 Or if the stiller shade you love,
14 Here solemn nods th' imbow'ring grove
15 O'er innocence and ease;
16 Whether with deep reflection fraught,
17 Or in the sprightly stream of thought,
18 The lighter trifles please.
IV.
19 [*]
[*] Alluding to a certain scandalous libel.
And should the shaft of treacherous spleen20 Glance venom'd through this peaceful scene,
21 Unheeded may it fly.
22 Provok'd, nor tempted to repay,
23 Tho' truth severer prompt the lay,
24 A mean prosaic lie.
V.
25 Here with the pheasant and the hare,
26 Unfearful of the human snare,
27 Have statesmen pass'd a day.
28 While far from yon forbidden gate,
29 Pale care and lank remorse await
30 Their slow-returning prey.
VI.
31 O! blind to all the joys of life,
32 Who seek them in the storm of strife,
33 Destroying, or destroy'd.
34 Less wretched they, and yet unbless'd,
35 Who batten in lethargic rest,
36 On blessings unenjoy'd.
VII.
[Page 215]37 But come, my friend, the sun invites,
38 For thee the town hath no delights,
39 Distasted and aggriev'd;
40 While fools believe, while villains cheat,
41 Too honest to approve deceit,
42 Too wise to be deceiv'd.
VIII.
43 Or dost thou fear lest dire disease
44 Again thy tortur'd frame may seize;
45 And hast thou therefore stay'd?
46 O! rather haste, where thou shalt find
47 A ready hand, a gentle mind,
48 To comfort and to aid.
IX.
49 And while by sore afflictions try'd,
50 You bear without the Stoic's pride,
51 What Stoic never bore;
52 O! may I learn like thee to bear,
53 And what shall be my destin'd share,
54 To suffer, not explore.
About this text
Themes:
city; nature
Genres:
ballad metre; epistle
References:
DMI 22427
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. II. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 213-215. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.002) (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 Robert Craggs Nugent, Earl Nugent
- EPIGRAM I. ()
- EPIGRAM II. ()
- EPIGRAM III. ()
- EPIGRAM IV. Upon the Bust of English worthies, at Stow. ()
- EPIGRAM V. ()
- EPIGRAM VI. ()
- EPIGRAM VII. ()
- EPIGRAM VIII. On Mrs. PENELOPE. ()
- EPIGRAM IX. On one who first abused, and then made love to a LADY. ()
- EPIGRAM X. ()
- EPIGRAM XI. ()
- EPIGRAM XII. ()
- EPIGRAM XIII. ()
- EPIGRAM XIV. ()
- EPIGRAM XV. To CLARISSA. ()
- EPIGRAM XVI. ()
- EPIGRAM [XVII.] ()
- An EPISTLE to a LADY. ()
- An EPISTLE to Mr. POPE. ()
- EPISTLE to POLLIO, from the Hills of HOWTH in IRELAND. ()
- An Epistle to the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount CORNBURY. ()
- An EPISTLE. ()
- An INSCRIPTION on the TOMB, Raised to the memory of the author's father, and of others his ancestors. ()
- An ODE to MANKIND. Address'd to the Prince. ()
- An ODE to WILLIAM PULTNEY, Esq; ()
- An ODE. ()
- An ODE. ()
- An ODE. ()
- To CLARISSA. ()
- VERSES to CAMILLA. ()