Which spoke his ftrength mature beyond its prime, Niason.
Yet vigorous ftill, for from his healthy cheek
Time had not cropt a rofe, or on his brow
One wrinkling furrow plow'd; his eagle eye
Had all its youthful lightning, and each limb
The finewy ftrength, that toil demands and gives.

The warrior faw and paus'd: his nod with-
held
The crowd at awful distance, where their ears,
In mute attention, drank the fage's prayer.
,, Parent of Good! (he cried) behold the gifts
Thy humble votary brings, and may thy fmile
Hallow his cuftom'd offering. Let the hand
That deals in blood, with blood thy fhrines dis-

"

tain;

„Be mine this harmless tribute. If it fpeaks "A grateful heart, can kecatombs do more?

Parent of Good! they cannot. Purple pomp
May call thy prefence to a prouder fane

""

Than this poor cave; but will thy prefence there
Be more devoutly felt? Parent of Good!

"

„It will not. Here then, fhall the proftrate heart,

"

That deeply feels thy prefence, lift its pray'r. ,,But what has he to afk who nothing needs,

"

Save what unafk'd is from thy heav'n of heav'ns
„Giv'n in diurnal good? Yet, holy Power!
"Do all that call thee Father thus exult
"In thy propitious prefence? Sidon finks
"Beneath a tyrant's fcourge. Parent of Good!
"Oh free my captive country."— Sudden here
He paus'd and figh'd; and now, the raptur'd crowd
Murmur'd applaufe: he heard, he turn'd, and saw
The king of Macedon with eager step

Burft from his warrior phalanx. From the youth,
Who bore its ftate, the conqueror's own right hand'
Snatch'd the rich wreath, and bound it on his brow.
His fwift attendants o'er his fhoulders caft
The robe of empire, while the trumpet's voice
Proclaim'd him king of Sidon. Stern he ftood,

Mafon. Or, if he fmil'd, 'twas a contemptuous fmile,
That held the pageant honours in disdain."
Then burst the people's voice, in loud acclaim,
And bad him be their Father. At the word
The honour'd blood, that warm'd him, flush'd his
cheek;
His brow expanded; his exaited step
March'd firmer; gracioufly he bowd the head.
And was the Sire they call'd him. „Tell me king,"
Young Ammon cried, while o'er his bright'ning
form

He caft the gaze of wonder, „how a foul
Like thine could bear the toils of Penury?"

99

99

Oh grant me, Gods!" he anfwer'd, „fo to bear
This load of Royalty.
My toil was crown'd

22

With bleffings loft to kings; yet righteous Pow ers! If to my country ye transfer the boon, "I triumph in the lofs: Be mine the chains

"9

"

That fetter Sov'reignty; let Sidon (mile
"With your best bleffings, Liberty and Peace.<<

Hay,

Hayley.

Keiner unter den jeßigen englischen Dichtern hat sich in der, von dieser Nation so häufig und so vorzüglich schön bez arbeiteten, artistischen Gattung des Lehrgedichts, so ausges zeichneten Beifall erworben, als william Harley, Esq. aus der Grafschaft Susser gebürtig. Seine drei hicher gez hörigen Gedichte sind indeß nicht Lehrgedichte im ftrengern Verstande des Worts, und in Virgil's Manier; es sind vielmehr, ihrer ganzen Form und Einrichtung nach, zugleich ` beschreibende und unterrichtende poetische Episteln, von der Art, wie die Horazischen an die Visouen und an den August. Zuerst erschien der Essay on Painting, in zwei poes tischen Briefen, an den Mahler Romney gerichtet; dann der Effay on History, in drei Briefen, an den berühmten Ges schichtschreiber Gibbon; und zulegt der Essay on Epic Poetry, in fünf Episteln, án Hrn. Mason. In allen ist der Gang nicht sowohl didaktisch, als historisch und charakterisis rend; aber eben in der Entwerfung der eigenthümlichen Vorzüge jedes Mahlers, Geschichtschreibers und Heldens dichters zeigt Hr. Hayley einen sehr feinen Geschmack, und in ihrer Schilderung ein sehr fruchtbares poetisches Genie. Ueberaus unterhaltend find die jedem Gedichte beigefügten ausführlichen Anmerkungen, die zum Theil kritisch, meis ftens aber literarisch und historisch sind. Unter denen zu den legten Gedichte befindet sich der glückliche Versuch einer les bersetzung der drei ersten Gefänge aus der Hölle des Dante, mit beibehaltner Versart der terze rime. Die sämmtlic chen bisherigen Werke dieses Dichters find zu London 1785 in sechs Oktavbänden zusammen gedruckt; und die beiden ersten der drei angeführten Essays, aus deren jedem hier eis ne kurze Probe folgt, stehen, mit dem gedachten Kommentar begleitet, in den beiden bisherigen Bånden der Benzlerischen Poetical Library.

ESSAY

hayley,

ESSAY ON PAINTING;
Ep. I. v. 21-155.

Painting, fweet Nymph now leaves in lifeless

trance

Exhaufted Italy and tinfel France,
And fees in Britain, with exulting eyes,
Her vot'ties prosper, and her glories rife.
Yet tho', my friend, thy art is thus careft,
And with the homage of the public bleft,
And flourishes with growing beauty fair,
The child of Majefty's adoptive care,
The youthful artist still is doom't to feel
Obftruction's chilling hand, that damps his zeal:
Th' imperious voice of Vanity and Pride
Bids him from Fancy's region turn afide,
And quit the magic of her fcene, to trace
The vacant lines of fome unmeaning face:
E'en in this work his wifhes ftill are croft,
And all the efforts of his art are loft;
For when the canvas, with the mirror's truth,
Reflects the perfect form of age or youth,
The fond affections of the partial mind.
The eye of judgment with delufion blind:
Each mother bids him brighter tints employ,
And give new spirit to her booby boy;
Nor can the painter, with his utmost art,
Exprefs the image in the lover's heart:
Unconscious of the change the feafons bring,
Autumnal beauty afks the rofe of spring,
And vain felf-love, in every age the fame,
Will fondly urge fome vifionary claim.
The luckiefs painter, deftin'd to fubmit,
Mourns the loft likeness which he once had hit,
And, doom'd to groundlefs cenfure, bears alone
The grievous load of errors not his own.

Nor

Nor is Pride, or Folly's vain command,
That only tetters his creative hand;
At Faf hinon's nod he copies as they pafs
Each quaint reflection from her crowded glass.
The formal coat, with interfecting line,
Mars the free graces of his fair defign;
The towering cap he marks with like diftrefs,
And all the motley mafs of female drefs.
The hoop extended with enormous fize,
The corks that like a promontory rife;
The stays of deadly fteel, in whofe embrace
The tyrant Fashion tortures injur'd Grace.
But Art, defpairing over fhapes like these
To caft an air of elegance and ease,
Invokes kind Fancy's aid -- the comes to spread
Her magic spells the Gothic forms are fled;
And fee, to crown the painter's just desire,
Her free pofitions, and her light attire!
Th' ambitious artift wifhes to pursue
This brilliant plan with more extensive view,
And with adopted character to give
A lafting charm to make the portrait live;
All points of art by one nice effort gain,
Delight the learned, and content the vain;
Make history to life new value lend,
And in the comprehenfive picture blend
The ancient hero with the living friend.
Moft faire device! „but, ah! what foes to fenfe,
What broods of motley monfters rife from hen-
ce!"

The ftrange pretenfions of each age and fex
These plans of fancy and of tafte perplex;
For male and female, to themselves unknown,
Demand a character unlike their own,

Till oft the painter to this quaint distress
Prefers the awkward chapes of common drefs.
Sweet girls, of mild and penfive foftnefs, choose
The sportive emblems of the comic Mufe;
And fprightly damfels are inclined to borrow
The garb of penitence, and tears of forrow:

Beisp. Samml. 3. B.

While