Transcriber’s Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH CLASSICS

Poems

by

George Crabbe

In Three Volumes

GEORGE CRABBE

Born, 1754

Died, 1832

GEORGE CRABBE
POEMS

EDITED BY

ADOLPHUS WILLIAM WARD,

Litt.D., Hon. LL.D., F.B.A.

Master of Peterhouse

Volume III

Cambridge:

at the University Press

1907

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE

C. F. CLAY, Manager.

London: FETTER LANE, E.C.

Glasgow: 50, WELLINGTON STREET.

Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.

New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS.

Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.

[All Rights reserved]

PREFACE.

The very miscellaneous nature of the contents of this third and last volume of the present edition of Crabbe’s Poems obliges me to trouble the reader with a rather lengthy series of prefatory remarks. Before, however, entering on these, I should like to supplement what was said in the Preface to Vol. 1 with regard to the source of the earliest among the Juvenilia there printed. Since writing that Preface I have at last had an opportunity of examining the whole set of Vols. I-VI (for the years 1770–5) of the elusive Lady’s Magazine, of which Vol. I was published by Robinson and Roberts, and the remaining five volumes by Robinson. Curiously enough, the 1773 volume of this Magazine contains, in the February number, a long piece of verse, apparently a prize poem, entitled An Essay on Hope; but the six lines quoted by the younger Crabbe are not to be found in this poem any more than in that printed in the October number of the 1772 volume of the Magazine. By another coincidence, a poem called The Bee, signed “Louisa Broughton,” appears in the April number of the same Magazine for 1774. I may add, that the June number of the same volume contains a poem, in Shenstone’s manner, addressed “To Miss E——r M——,” and signed “G. C., Cambridge, May 2, 1774.” It has an apologetic introductory note, which might have been written by Crabbe.

To turn to the present volume. The Tales of the Hall (Bks. XII-XXII), which occupy its earlier pages are, like the previous Tales contained in Vol. II, printed from the edition of 1823; and the variants are taken from the first edition (1819) and from the “Original MS.” readings given as footnotes in the edition of 1834. The Posthumous Tales are printed from Vol. VIII of the Poetical Works of Crabbe edited by his son (1834). The sources of the variants in the Posthumous Tales will be indicated immediately.

With regard to the remaining contents of the present volume, it may be convenient if I here, in accordance with a promise made in the Preface to Vol. II of the present edition, furnish some account of the Crabbe MSS. now in the possession of the Cambridge University Press, as well as of certain other collections of MSS. of which I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to make use. In each case, I have, for purposes of reference, indicated the marks by which, in a list given at the end of the Bibliography included in the present volume, the previously unpublished pieces by Crabbe, here printed from transcripts of the originals in the several collections, have been distinguished.

The MS. books acquired by the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) are five in number. One of these, half-bound in red, is throughout in Crabbe’s handwriting, and contains, together with fragments of the Posthumous Tales I, III, VI, VII and X, and a version of Lines written at Warwick (p. [428]), in each case offering some variants which have been duly noted, Joseph’s Dream (p. [521]) and some other pieces now printed for the first time. The writing, partly in pen, partly in pencil, on the first and the last four pages of this volume, has been disregarded, as not sufficiently coherent to warrant an attempt at printing it. A note superscribed “Duchess of Rutland, Oct. 11th, 1824” (perhaps the lines in question were written in the Duchess’s album) states that the verses here entitled On a View of Barford (p. [505]) refer to a picture drawn by Miss Bagot of that house, when occupied by Mr and Mrs Mills. This note further states that An Inscription at Guy’s Cliff which Crabbe has marked as “By ——,” and the verses added by him (p. [504]) refer to a picture of Guy’s Cliff near Leamington, the property of Mr Bertie Greathead. Another note explains that the verses On a Drawing of Cadlands (p. [518]) refer to a picture of Mr Drummond’s seat of that name by Lady Elizabeth Drummond; and that the “drawing by the Hon. Mrs. Smith (Eliza Forrester)” (p. [519]) consisted of “a Landscape and other pieces.” This MS. book also contains an earlier copy of the lines entitled La Femme Jalouse (p. [507]). The last three stanzas of the poem on a drawing of Brompton Park Cottage (p. [506]) are added from the version given in this MS. book. From it are also taken a few readings in the stanzas For the Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle (p. [520]). From it is also printed the fragment Joseph and Charles (p. [492]), with which should be compared Vol. VIII, pp. 63 sq. of the edition of 1834, and indeed the whole tale of The Family of Love. It also contains a draft of The Equal Marriage (Posthumous Tales, III), with a few variants, noted among those printed at the end of the present volume; also a draft of Silford Hall (Posthumous Tales, I), with a considerable number of variants, of which the chief have been noted in the same place. There are also to be found here drafts of Lines written at Warwick (p. [428]), and of the lines On a Drawing of the Elm Tree (p. [431]), &c., there stated to be by Miss Chilibeen(?), both with variants. Finally, the same MS. book contains the lines which I have entitled Rest in the Lord (p. [523]) and the unfinished lines And He said unto her, “Thy Sins are forgiven” (p. [524]).

On the fly-leaf of a second Crabbe MS. book in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) is written: “This MS. is by the Poet Crabbe and in his autograph. It is one of his Memorandum Books.” This book begins with three pages of almost illegible verse, which appear to contain an earlier draft of a portion of what follows. Then ensues the long MS. entitled Tracy, to which is prefixed, in Crabbe’s own handwriting, the date “1 Jan. 1813,” and which is interrupted at intervals by further illegible passages. On pp. “18–19” of this MS. book there is an account, only in part legible, of the beginning of the Lady’s Vision, which is continued in the portion printed in the present volume (from p. [450]). The lines beginning “The good are happy,” appear to form no part of Tracy, though they have been inserted in the middle of it, and are therefore here printed as a separate piece, to which I have given the title Conscious Guiltiness (p. [498]). The verses superscribed Jane Adair, which are similarly inserted in the text of Tracy, are likewise printed separately (p. [512]), as are also those which I have respectively called Horatio (p. [513]), Jacob and Rachel (p. [514]), David and Saul (p. [515]), Belief and Unbelief (p. [499]), and The Task (p. [498]). Then follows a version of the lines On receiving from a Lady a Present of a Ring (p. [432]); then a version of Villars (Posthumous Tales, V); then the fragment of a tale, which I have entitled Susan and her Lovers (p. [462]), interspersed with some illegible passages; then another fragment of a tale, Captain Godfrey (p. [468]); then a further fragment, The Amours of G[eorge], which is obviously an early draft, in a different metre, of a large portion of The Elder Brother (Tales of the Hall, Bk. VII); then the Charade (Modesty) (p. [516]); then a variant of the conclusion of the tale of Villars (see above); then the lines Tragic Tales, Why? a fragment (p. [474]). Opening this volume at the other end, we find it to contain prose-sketches of certain of the Tales; a criticism of Gibbon and other miscellaneous matter; besides the verses on Miss Waldron’s Birthday (p. [502]), and some partially illegible and quite incoherent fragments.

A third, small, MS. book (U.P.), of which the writing is throughout remarkably clear, and which has few variants from the text of the 1834 edition, contains, together with fifteen of the Posthumous Tales, The Funeral of the Squire, obviously designed as one of this series, and now printed for the first time (p. [489]). There is nothing in this book that has not been previously printed except The Funeral.

A fourth, small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, together with some fragments of Tales of the Hall, Bks. VII and XI, of which the variants have been noted in Vol. II of this edition, and a version of the lines On the Death of Sir Samuel Romilly (p. [439]), the stanzas entitled Matilda (p. [516]). A number of pages in pencil have been unavoidably disregarded. In the same little book are a few fragmentary lines, hitherto unprinted, that must originally have been intended to form part of the Tales of the Hall (p. [473]).

A fifth, also small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, besides a catalogue of Crabbe’s library at Trowbridge, and a few accounts, the two short pieces printed in the present volume under the titles Momentary Grief (p. [507]) and Enigma (Sovereign) (p. [515]). A number of pages at the end of this volume have been cut out.

Through the kind offices of the Vice-Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr W. Aldis Wright, I was allowed to examine a MS. volume in the Trinity Library (T.C.) which bears the following inscription: “This volume, which formerly belonged to Crabbe the poet was given to the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by Edward FitzGerald, M.A., April, 1871.” The obverse of the volume contains a list of Plants, beginning with Cryptogamia. On a fly-leaf are written, in a tremulous hand (probably Crabbe’s), the lines which I have entitled A Fragment (p. [497]). Then follow, in Crabbe’s ordinary writing, the lines printed in the present volume under the title of Poverty and Love (ib.); and towards the end of the book, are, in Crabbe’s handwriting, the lines here called The Curate’s Progress (ib.). The reverse of this MS. book, which is on the cover very neatly dated September 23, 1793, contains, besides another shorter list of plants and much miscellaneous matter, a scribbled page of verse, from which I was only able to extract the following entire couplet:

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spent

Would more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

Professor E. Dowden, LL.D., of Trinity College, Dublin, has added to previous obligations conferred on me in connexion with the present edition by allowing me the use of two small books belonging to him, in Crabbe’s handwriting (D.). One of these supplies the complete Tale of The Deserted Family, now for the first time printed (pp. [477]–488). The other contains drafts of Posthumous Tales VI-XVI and XXII; the more important variants offered by these are inserted in the list at the end of the present volume. From this MS. book are also taken the verses entitled The Prodigal Going (p. [517]).

The originals of certain pieces contained in the present volume are to be found in a book belonging to Mrs Mackay, of Trowbridge, which she has with the utmost liberality placed at my service. This interesting portion of Mrs Mackay’s collection (M.) contains a series of proof-engravings of Corbould’s, Westall’s and other illustrations of certain among the earlier editions of Crabbe’s Poems. It also includes a draft of a portion of The Sisters (Tales of the Hall, Bk. VIII; see Vol. II, and variants, ib.), and the lines To Lady Jersey (p. [435]), in a version, of which the variants have been duly noted. From this book are taken the following poems: the stanzas called by me The Flowers of the Spring (p. [508]), of which I have ventured to transpose the last two, and the fragment which I have named La Belle Dame sans Merci (p. [509]). Both pieces are here printed for the first time. Mrs Mackay’s collection also contains, written on separate leaves, the blank-verse lines entitled by me The Passionate Pilgrim (p. [496]), which are subscribed “Crabbe,” and of which the handwriting in several respects resembles that in Crabbe’s autograph of Midnight (see Vol. I), though less flowing than this; the couplets called by me Sorrow (p. [496]), which are not in the handwriting of Crabbe; and, finally, the lines To the Hon. Mrs Spencer (p. [503]), which are signed “Geo. Crabbe.”

Mr Buxton-Forman has most generously allowed me to print a series of pieces from his collection of MSS. (B.F.). It includes the verses which are entirely in Crabbe’s handwriting, as is perhaps the signature appended, and which I have called Hopeless Love (p. [510]); the fragment David Jones (p. [476]) of which the text may be, the title is certainly not, in Crabbe’s hand; and the fragment which I have called Robert and Catharine (p. [475]), as to which it seems uncertain whether the text is in Crabbe’s hand. It is manifestly an early draft of The Cousins (Posthumous Tales, XXI); but the actual phraseology in the two versions is very rarely the same. The following pieces are also derived from the same collection: those called by me Union (p. [511]) and Revival (ib.), of which latter the third stanza appears in a rather different form on a separate leaf; Metamorphosis (p. [512]); and Contentment (p. [493]), a fragment of a tale. Mr Buxton-Forman’s Crabbe MSS. also include memoranda for Tales and drafts of parts of The Will (Posthumous Tales, XX) and of Belinda Waters (ib. XV). In neither case are the variants offered by these drafts of importance.

Finally, the late Duke of Rutland was so kind as to allow several pieces of verse in Crabbe’s own handwriting preserved at Belvoir to be transcribed for insertion in the present edition (B). Some of these, I cannot but think, were transcribed by the Duke’s own hand. Most of them were exhibited at the Crabbe Celebration held at Aldborough in September, 1905, and successfully arranged and organised by Mr Charles Ganz. The Verses to the Duke of Rutland dated Belvoir, August, 1784, were most kindly transcribed for me after the death of the late Duke by his Grace’s Chaplain and Librarian, the Rev. F. W. Knox. Of these pieces, the Verses written for the Duke of Rutland’s Birthday (January 4, 1817) (p. [499]) and the lines entitled La Femme Jalouse (Teniers) (p. [507]) are here printed for the first time; to the latter a few variants have been furnished from an earlier copy in one of the MS. books in the possession of the University Press (U.P.). The stanzas For the Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle (p. [520]), and Brompton Park Cottage (p. [506]), are also printed for the first time, from transcripts made by the late Duke of Rutland, or by his Grace’s instructions, from the originals at Belvoir. In the former case the original states the “Fair Artist” who drew the picture to have been Miss Isabella Forrester. In the latter the drawing in question is stated to have been made by Lady Sophia Norman, the cottage having been lent to the Duke, when ill, by Mr Greenwood. In the former case the last three stanzas, and in the latter a few various readings, have been supplied from one of the Crabbe MS. books in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.). To the lines From Belvoir Castle (p. [389]), Storm and Calm (p. [396]), and To Sarah, Countess of Jersey, on her Birthday (p. [435]), previously printed in the 1834 edition, variants have been supplied from the Duke’s transcripts.

Of the Miscellaneous Verses previously printed reprinted in the present volume the two Poetical Epistles (April, 1780) are, by the kind permission of Mr Buxton-Forman, owner of the MSS., and of Dr W. Robertson Nicoll and Mr T. J. Wise, editors of Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century (1896), and of Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, reproduced at length from Vol. II of that work. Ten lines from the Epistle to Mira had already been printed in Vol. I (p. [67]) from the Life (p. [58]) in Vol. I of the 1834 edition.

From this edition also come, with the exception of the last but two and the last, all the remaining shorter pieces already published (some with variants, duly noted, from the University Press and Belvoir MSS., from the MSS. of Mrs Mackay, and from an article entitled Treasure Trove contributed by Miss M. Jourdain to The Book Monthly for May, 1906). This article, of which Miss Jourdain and her publishers (Messrs Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.) kindly allowed me to make use, consists of pieces printed from transcripts made at Belvoir Castle. In Miss Jourdain’s article is included stanza v of The Friend in Love (p. [437]), which is missing in the stanzas given in the Life (1834). A few variants in this version have been duly noted. I may add that between The World of Dreams and Sir Eustace Grey which in metre and otherwise are so closely associated with one another, no actual parallelisms either of sense or of form are noticeable. The exceptions referred to are the following. The Lines (Edinburgh, August 15, 1822) (p. [440]) are printed, without variants, from a separately printed leaflet in my possession: and the Lines addressed to the Dowager Duchess of Rutland (p. [441]) from The Casket (1829), with variants from Miss Jourdain’s article in The Book Monthly.

Of the Poems hitherto unpublished a list giving the source of each will be found at the close of the Bibliography in this volume. In the general sequence of these pieces I have so far as possible adopted a chronological order; the whole body of previously unpublished verse has however been divided into two groups—viz. tales and fragments of tales, and lyrical pieces; and, where there was no indication of date, the poems taken from the same collection of MSS. have been kept together.

It remains for me to return my sincere thanks to the possessors of Crabbe MSS. already mentioned, and to others who have in various ways aided me in making this concluding volume of Crabbe’s Poems, and therewith the edition as a whole, as complete as possible. I should like, in especial, to thank Professor Morfill of Oxford for enriching the Bibliography at the close of this volume by enabling us to refer to two works which attest the very curious and significant fact of the interest in Crabbe taken in Russia.

The Bibliography itself has been drawn up by Mr A. T. Bartholomew, of Peterhouse and the University Library, who has again compiled the list of Variants, and to whom the present volume of this edition, like its predecessors, is throughout indebted for his continuous cooperation. It is a true pleasure to me to have been so zealously and efficiently aided in the performance of my task by a member of my own College.

A. W. WARD.

Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge.

December 10th, 1906.

CORRIGENDUM, CRABBE’S POEMS, VOL. III.

CONTENTS.

TALES OF THE HALL.

BOOK XII.
SIR OWEN DALE.

The Rector at the Hall—Why absent—He relates the Story of Sir Owen—His Marriage—Death of his Lady—His Mind acquires new Energy—His Passions awake—His Taste and Sensibility—Admires a Lady—Camilla—Her Purpose—Sir Owen’s Disappointment—His Spirit of Revenge—How gratified—The Dilemma of Love—An Example of Forgiveness—Its Effect.

TALES OF THE HALL.

BOOK XII.

SIR OWEN DALE.

Again the Brothers saw their friend the priest,

Who shared the comforts he so much increased;

Absent of late—and thus the squire address’d,

With welcome smile, his ancient friend and guest.

“What has detain’d thee? some parochial case?

Some man’s desertion, or some maid’s disgrace?

Or wert thou call’d, as parish priest, to give

Name to a new-born thing that would not live,

That its weak glance upon the world had thrown,

And shrank in terror from the prospect shown? 10

Or hast thou heard some dying wretch deplore,

That of his pleasures he could taste no more,

Who wish’d thy aid his spirits to sustain,

And drive away the fears that gave him pain?

For priests are thought to have a patent charm

To ease the dying sinner of alarm.

Or was thy business of the carnal sort,

And thou wert gone a patron’s smile to court,

And Croft or Cresswell would’st to Binning add,

Or take, kind soul! whatever could be had? 20

Once more I guess: th’ election now is near;

My friend, perhaps, is sway’d, by hope or fear,

And all a patriot’s wishes, forth to ride,

And hunt for votes to prop the fav’rite side?”

“More private duty call’d me hence, to pay

My friends respect on a rejoicing day,”

Replied the rector; “there is born a son,

Pride of an ancient race, who pray’d for one,

And long desponded. Would you hear the tale—

Ask, and ’tis granted—of Sir Owen Dale?” 30

“Grant,” said the Brothers, “for we humbly ask;

Ours be the gratitude, and thine the task.

Yet dine we first; then to this tale of thine,

As to thy sermon, seriously incline;

In neither case our rector shall complain

Of this recited, that composed, in vain.

Something we heard of vengeance, who appall’d,

Like an infernal spirit, him who call’d,

And, ere he vanished, would perform his part,

Inflicting tortures on the wounded heart. 40

Of this but little from report we know;

If you the progress of revenge can show,

Give it, and all its horrors, if you please;

We hear our neighbour’s sufferings much at ease.

“Is it not so? For do not men delight— }

We call them men—our bruisers to excite, }

And urge with bribing gold, and feed them for the fight? }

Men beyond common strength, of giant size,

And threat’ning terrors in each other’s eyes;

When in their naked, native force display’d, 50

Look answers look, affrighting and afraid;

While skill, like spurs and feeding, gives the arm

The wicked power to do the greater harm.

Maim’d in the strife, the falling man sustains

Th’ insulting shout, that aggravates his pains—

Man can bear this; and shall thy hearers heed

A tale of human sufferings? Come! proceed.”

Thus urged, the worthy rector thought it meet

Some moral truth, as preface, to repeat;

Reflection serious—common-place, ’tis true; 60}

But he would act as he was wont to do, }

And bring his morals in his neighbour’s view. }

“O! how the passions, insolent and strong,

Bear our weak minds their rapid course along;

Make us the madness of their will obey;

Then die, and leave us to our griefs a prey!”

Sir Owen Dale his fortieth year had seen,

With temper placid, and with mind serene;

Rich, early married to an easy wife,

They led in comfort a domestic life. 70

He took of his affairs a prudent care,

And was by early habit led to spare;

Not as a miser, but in pure good taste,

That scorn’d the idle wantonness of waste.

In fact, the lessons he from prudence took

Were written in his mind, as in a book:

There what to do he read, and what to shun;

And all commanded was with promptness done;

He seem’d without a passion to proceed,

Or one whose passions no correction need. 80

Yet some believed those passions only slept,

And were in bounds by early habits kept;

Curb’d as they were by fetters worn so long,

There were who judged them a rebellious throng.

To these he stood, not as a hero true,

Who fought his foes, and in the combat slew,

But one who all those foes, when sleeping, found,

And, unresisted, at his pleasure bound.

We thought—for I was one—that we espied

Some indications strong of dormant pride: 90

It was his wish in peace with all to live;

And he could pardon, but could not forgive;

Nay, there were times when stern defiance shook

The moral man, and threaten’d in his look.

Should these fierce passions—so we reason’d—break

Their long-worn chain, what ravage will they make!

In vain will prudence then contend with pride,

And reason vainly bid revenge subside;

Anger will not to meek persuasion bend,

Nor to the pleas of hope or fear attend; 100

What curb shall, then, in their disorder’d race, }

Check the wild passions? what the calm replace? }

Virtue shall strive in vain; and has he help in grace? }

While yet the wife with pure discretion ruled,

The man was guided, and the mind was school’d;

But then that mind unaided ran to waste:

He had some learning, but he wanted taste;

Placid, not pleased—contented, not employ’d—

He neither time improved, nor life enjoy’d.

That wife expired, and great the loss sustain’d, 110

Though much distress he neither felt nor feign’d:

He loved not warmly; but the sudden stroke

Deeply and strongly on his habits broke.

He had no child to soothe him, and his farm,

His sports, his speculations, lost their charm;

Then would he read and travel, would frequent

Life’s busy scenes; and forth Sir Owen went.

The mind, that now was free, unfix’d, uncheck’d,

Read and observed with wonderful effect;

And still, the more he gain’d, the more he long’d 120

To pay that mind his negligence had wrong’d;

He felt his pleasures rise as he improved;

And, first enduring, then the labour loved.

But, by the light let in, Sir Owen found

Some of those passions had their chain unbound;

As from a trance they rose to act their part,

And seize, as due to them, a feeling heart.

His very person now appear’d refined,

And took some graces from th’ improving mind;

He grew polite without a fix’d intent, 130

And to the world a willing pupil went.

Restore him twenty years—restore him ten—

And bright had been his earthly prospect then;

But much refinement, when it late arrives,

May be the grace, not comfort, of our lives.

Now had Sir Owen feeling: things of late

Indifferent he began to love or hate;

What once could neither good nor ill impart

Now pleased the senses, and now touch’d the heart;

Prospects and pictures struck th’ awaken’d sight, 140

And each new object gave a new delight.

He, like th’ imperfect creature who had shaped

A shroud to hide him, had at length escaped;

Changed from his grub-like state, to crawl no more,

But a wing’d being, pleased and form’d to soar.

Now, said his friends, while thus his views improve,

And his mind softens, what if he should love?

True; life with him has yet serene appear’d,

And therefore love in wisdom should be fear’d;

Forty and five his years, and then to sigh 150

For beauty’s favour!—Son of frailty, fly!

Alas! he loved; it was our fear, but ours,

His friends’, alone. He doubted not his pow’rs

To win the prize, or to repel the charm,

To gain the battle, or escape the harm;

For he had never yet resistance proved,

Nor fear’d that friends should say—“Alas! he loved.”

Younger by twenty years, Camilla found

Her face unrivall’d when she smiled or frown’d;

Of all approved; in manner, form, and air, 160

Made to attract; gay, elegant, and fair.

She had, in beauty’s aid, a fair pretence

To cultivated, strong intelligence;

For she a clear and ready mind had fed

With wholesome food; unhurt by what she read.

She loved to please; but, like her dangerous sex,

To please the more whom she design’d to vex.

This heard Sir Owen, and he saw it true; }

It promised pleasure, promised danger too; }

But this he knew not then, or slighted if he knew. 170}

Yet he delay’d, and would by trials prove

That he was safe; would see the signs of love;

Would not address her while a fear remain’d;

But win his way, assured of what he gain’d.

This saw the lady, not displeased to find

A man at once so cautious and so blind;

She saw his hopes that she would kindly show

Proofs of her passion—then she his should know:

“So, when my heart is bleeding in his sight,

His love acknowledged will the pains requite; 180

It is, when conquer’d, he the heart regards;

Well, good Sir Owen! let us play our cards.”

He spake her praise in terms that love affords,

By words select, and looks surpassing words.

Kindly she listen’d, and in turn essay’d

To pay th’ applauses—and she amply paid,

A beauty flattering!—beauteous flatterers feel

The ill you cause, when thus in praise you deal;

For surely he is more than man, or less,

When praised by lips that he would die to press, 190

And yet his senses undisturb’d can keep,

Can calmly reason, or can soundly sleep.

Not so Sir Owen; him Camilla praised,

And lofty hopes and strong emotions raised;

This had alone the strength of man subdued;

But this enchantress various arts pursued.

Let others pray for music—others pray’d

In vain; Sir Owen ask’d, and was obey’d;

Let others, walking, sue that arm to take—

Unmoved she kept it for Sir Owen’s sake; 200

Each small request she granted, and though small,

He thought them pledges of her granting all.

And now the lover, casting doubt aside,

Urged the fond suit that—could not be denied;

Joy more than reverence moved him when he said;

“Now banish all my fears, angelic maid!”

And, as she paused for words, he gaily cried,

“I must not, cannot, will not be denied.”

Ah! good Sir Owen, think not favours, such

As artful maids allow, amount to much; 210

The sweet, small, poison’d baits, that take the eye

And win the soul of all who venture nigh.

Camilla listen’d, paused, and look’d surprise,

Fair witch! exulting in her witcheries!

She turn’d aside her face, withdrew her hand,

And softly said, “Sir, let me understand.”

“Nay, my dear lady! what can words explain,

If all my looks and actions plead in vain?

I love”—She show’d a cool, respectful air;

And he began to falter in his prayer, 220

Yet urged her kindness—-Kindness she confess’d;

It was esteem; she felt it, and express’d,

For her dear father’s friend; and was it right

That friend of his—she thought of hers—to slight?

This to the wond’ring lover strange and new,

And false appear’d—he would not think it true.

Still he pursued the lovely prize, and still

Heard the cold words, design’d his hopes to kill;

He felt dismay’d, as he perceived success

Had inverse ratio, more obtaining less; 230

And still she grew more cool in her replies,

And talk’d of age and improprieties.

Then to his friends, although it hurt his pride, }

And to the lady’s, he for aid applied; }

Who kindly woo’d for him, but strongly were denied. }