ANSWER

ΤΟ

Stanzas addressed to Lady Hesketh, by Miss Catharine Fanshaw, in returning a Poem of Mr. Cowper's lent to her on condition she should neither show it, nor take a copy.

[1793.]

To be remembered thus is fame,
And in the first degree;
And did the few like her the same,
The press might sleep for me.

So Homer, in the mem'ry ste””
Of many a Grecian belle,
Was once preserv'd-a richer hoard,

But never lodged so well.

TO

THE SPANISH ADMIRAL,

COUNT GRAVINA,

ON

His translating the Author's Song on a Rose into Italian Verse.

[1793.]

My rose, Gravina, blooms anew,

And, steep'd not now in rain,
But in Castalian streams by You,
Will never fade again.

ON

FLAXMAN'S PENELOPE.

[September, 1793.]

THE suitors sinn'd, but with a fair excuse.
Whom all this elegance might well seduce
Nor can our censure on the husband fall,
Who, for a wife so lovely, slew them all.

ON

RECEIVING HEYNE'S VIRGIL

FROM MR. HAYLEY.

[October, 1793.]

I SHOULD have deem'd it once an effort vain,
To sweeten more sweet Maro's matchless strain,
But from that errour now behold me free,
Since I receiv'd him as a gift from Thee.

TO MARY.

[Autumn of 1793.]

THE twentieth year is well nigh past
Since first our sky was overcast,

Ah would that this might be the last!

My Mary!

Thy spirits have a fainter flow,

I see them daily weaker grow

'Twas my distress that brought thee low,

My Mary'

Thy needles, once a shining store,
For my sake restless heretofore,
Now rust disus'd, and shine no more,

My Mary!

or though thou gladly wouldst fulfil The same kind office for me still, Thy sight now seconds not thy will,

My Mary!

But well thou play'dst the housewife's part,
And all thy threads, with magick art,
Have wound themselves about this heart,

Thy indistinct expressions scem

Like language utter'd in a dream;

My Mary'

Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme,

My Mary'

Thy silver locks oncè auburn bright,
Are still more lovely in my sight
Than_golden beams of orient light,

For could I view nor them nor thee,
What sight worth seeing could I see?
The sun would rise in vain for me,

My Mary

My Mary'

Partakers of thy sad decline,

.

Thy hands their little force resign ;

Yet gently prest, press gently mine,

My Mary'

Such feebleness of limbs thou prov❜st,

That now at

Upheld by two step thou mov'st,

yet still thou lov'st,

And still to love, though prest with ill,

In wintry age to feel no chill,
With me is to be lovely still,

But ah! by constant heed I know,
How oft the sadness that I show,
Transforms thy smiles to looks of wo,

My Mary!

My Mary!

10. „î dao pola Hod, yw 3.

And should my future lot be cast
With much resemblance of the past,
'Thy worn-out heart will break at last,

W

My Mary!

MONTES GLACIALES,

IN OCEANO GERMANICO NATANTES.

[March 11, 1799.]

EN, quæ prodigia ex oris allata remotis,
Oras adveniunt pavefacta per æquora nostras
Non equidem priscæ sæclum rediisse videtur
Pyrrhæ, cum Proteus pecus altos visere montes
Et sylvas, egit. Sed tempora vix leviora
Adsunt, evulsi quando radicitus alti

In mare descendunt montes, fluctusque pererrant
Quid vero hoc monstri est magis et mirabile visu!
Splendentes video, ceu pulchro ex ære vel auro
Conflatos, rutilisque accinctos undique gemmis,
Bacca cærulea, et flammas imitante pyropo,
Ex oriente adsunt, ubi gazas optima tellus
Parturit omnigenas, quibus æva per omnia sumptu
Ingenti finxere sibi diademata reges?!

Vix hoc crediderim. Non fallunt talia acutos
Mercatorum oculos: prius et quam littora Gangis
Liquissent, avidis gratissima præda fuissent.
Ortos unde putemus? An illos Ves'vius atrox
Protulit, ignivomisve ejecit faucibus Ætna?
Luce micant propria, Phœbive, per æra parum
Nunc stimulantis equos, argentea tela retorquent ?
Phœbi luce micant. Ventis et fluctibus altis
Appulsi, et rapidis subter currentibus undis,
Tandem non fallunt oculos. Capita alta videre est
Multa onerata nive, et canis conspersa pruinis

Cætera sunt glacies. Procul hinc, ubi Bruma fere

omnes