His eyes, in gloomy socket taught to roll, Proclaim'd the sullen habit of his soul. Heavy and phlegmatic he trod the stage, Too proud for tenderness, too dull for rage.
Last Garrick came. Behind him throng a train Of snarling critics, ignorant as vain.—
If manly sense; if nature link'd with art; If thorough knowledge of the human heart, If pow'rs of acting vast and unconfin'd: If fewest faults with greatest beauties join'd; If strong expression, and strange pow'rs which lie Within the magic circle of the eye;
If feelings which few hearts like his can know, And which no face so well as his can show, Deserve the pref'rence:-Garrick, take the chair, Nor quit it-till thou place an equal there.
ADVERSITY. Address to.
Scar'd at thy frown terrific, fly
Self-pleasing folly's idle brood,
Wild laughter, noise, and thoughtless joy And leave us leisure to be good. Light they disperse; and with them go The summer-friend and flattering foe; By vain prosperity receiv'd,
To her they vow their truth, and are again believ'd.
Wisdom in sable garb array'd,
Immers'd in rapt'rous thought profound,
And Melancholy; silent maid,
With leaden eye that loves the ground,
Still on thy solemn steps attend,
With Charity their general friend,
With Justice, to herself severe,
And pity, dropping soft. the sadly pleasing tear.
Oh, gently on thy suppliant's head. Dread Goddess, lay thy chast'ning hand; Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad,
Nor circled with the vengeful band,
(As by the impious thou art seen)
With thund'ring voice, and threat'ning mien, With screaming Horror's fun'ral cry, Despair, and fell Disease, and ghastly Poverty.
Thy form benign, O Goddess wear Thy milder influence impart; Thy philosophie train be there To soften, not to wound, my heart. The gen'rous spark extinct revive; Teach me to love, and to forgive; Exact my own defects to scan;
What others are, to feel; and know myself a man. Gray
AFFECTATION. Clerical, exposed.
In man or woman, but far most in man, And most of all in man that ministers And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe All affectation. "Tis my perfect scorn; Object of my implacable disgust.
What!-will a man play tricks, will he indulge A silly fond conceit of his fair form And just proportion, fashionable mien, And pretty face, in presence of his God? Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes, As with the diamond on his lily hand, And play his brilliant parts before my eyes When I am hungry for the bread of life? He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames His noble office, and, instead of truth, Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock.
Therefore avaunt all attitude, and stare, And start theatric, practis'd at the glass! I seek divine simplicity in him,
Who handles things divine; and all besides,
Though learn'd with labour, and though much admir'd By curious eyes and judgments ill inform'd, To me is odious as the nasal twang Heard at conventicle, where worthy men, Misled by custom, strain celestial themes Through the press'd nostril, spectacle-bestrid. AFFECTATION. Female.
There affectation with a sickly mien, Shows in her cheek the roses of sixteen, Practis'd to lisp, and hang the head aside, Faints into airs, and languishes with pride: On the rich quilt sinks with becoming wo, Wrapt in a gown for sickness and for show.
AGE. Should retire from the World. What folly can be ranker? like our shadows, Our wishes lengthen, as our sun declines. No wish should loiter, then, this side the grave. Our hearts should leave the world, before the knell Calls for our carcasses to mend the soil. Enough to live in tempest; die in port. Age should fly concourse, cover in retreat Defects of judmgent, and the will subdue; Walk thoughtful on the silent, solemn shore Of that vast ocean it must sail so soon!
AGED. Folly of their Love of Life. O my coevals! remnant of yourselves! Poor human ruins, tottering o'er the grave! Shall we, shall aged men, like aged trees, Strike deeper their vile root, and closer cling,
Still more enamour'd of this wretched soil? Shall our pale, wither'd hands be still stretch'd out. Trembling, at once with eagerness and age? With avarice, and convulsions grasping hard? When in this vale of years I backward look, And miss such numbers, numbers too of such,, Firmer in health, and greener in their age And stricter on their guard, and fitter far To play life's subtle game, I scarce believe I still survive: and am I fond of life, Who scarce can think it possible I live? Alive by miracle! if still alive,
Who long have buried what gives life to live, Firmness of nerve, and energy of thought. Life's lee is not more shallow, than impure And vapid; sense and reason show the door, Call for my bier, and point me to the dust. AGES. The Seven Ages.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms; And then, the whining schoolboy, with his satchel, And shining morning-face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school; And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then, a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice, And fair round belly, with good capon lin❜d,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances, And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon;
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side; His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again towards childish treble, pipes And whistles at the sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion; Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.
Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspir'd,
Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retir'd,
Where village statesman talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round.
Imagination fondly stoops to trace
The parlour splendours of that festive place; The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door; The chest contriv'd a double debt to pay, A bed by night, a chest of draw'rs by day; The picture's plac'd for ornament and use, The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose; The hearth, except when winter chill'd the day, With aspan boughs, and flow'rs, and fennel gay, While broken tea-cups, wisely kept for show, Rang'd on the chimney, glistened in a row.
AMUSEMENTS. Tiresome.
What numbers here would into fame advance, Conscious of merit in the coxcomb's dance!
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