POEMS

BY

JOHN TAYLOR, ESQ.

LINES

OCCASIONED BY THE REPort that thE BEAUTIFUL

GROUNDS AT TWICKENHAM, PLANTED BY POPE, HAD BEEN CONVERTED INTO A COMMON GARDEN.

O THOU, to taste and nobler feelings dead,
Whose ruthless hand this vulgar ruin spread !
Where Pope's chaste fancy deck'd the classic ground,
In her lov'd haunt the BRITISH MUSE to wound!
In the lov'd haunt the Muse herself had rear'd,
By GENIUS, NATURE, and by TIME endear'd!
Ne'er can that Muse her deep regret proclaim,
But brands the havoc with eternal shame.

Thus he of yore, ambitious, wild, and vain,
Destroy'd at Ephesus the sacred fane!
Yet 'twas the love of Fame beguil'd his mind,
And some excuse in human pride we find;
Fame, that impels the heart to high emprise,
Fame, that ensnares the virtuous and the wise!
But thou unknown, and reckless of a name,
Deaf to the madd'ning strains of Syren Fame,
Thou (guilt that nothing palliates) couldst deface
What GENIUS, NATURE, TIME, were proud to grace.

SONNET

SONNET TO MRS. SIDDONS,

ON RECEIVING A LOCK OF HER HAIR.

AND BEAUTY draws us with a single hair”Thus sung the Bard in fancy's happiest strains. Hence of thy Tresses we may well beware,

Lest they enthrall the breast in lasting chains.

For all that bounteous Nature could impart,
Of genius, feeling, dignity, combin'd
With every softer charm to sooth the heart,
She fondly lavish'd on thy form and mind.

Yet shall I take thy Lock with no alarm,

Proud of a gift from one so good and kind, In hopes, while I preserve the braided charm,

Th' ennobling influence of thy worth to findThat worth which makes thy art so potent prove, Adorning Virtue and exalting Love,

POEMS

POEMS

BY

R. C. DALLAS, ESQ.

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE MAROON WAR, PERCIVAL, AUBREY, &c.