Page images
PDF
EPUB

As flows the am'rous tide, the fair attend,
Down to the beach the blooming train descend;
The billows gently their fair bosoms lave,
The panting breast repels the circling wave:
So bright their charms, no eye can judge between
The British Lady, and the Paphian Queen.

[graphic]

EE, first, enchanting El.... n1 appears;

More quick than light, more soft than zephyr's airs:
All disintrench'd from petticoats and stays;-

O love! the shape a single gown betrays!

Her radiant eyes diversify the scene,

And where she dips, appears a brighter green.

Like her attir'd, and led within her hand,
Her lovely partner trips along the sand ;-
"Tis J...... n,- see, in her cheeks are spread
The lilly's whiteness, and the rose's red!
A blaze of charms she plunges in the main,
But strives to hide her beauteous form in vain.

See, next advance, with every smiling grace,
Joy in her eyes, good humour in her face,
The charming C.. r,3 all innocently gay;
A thousand loves thro' all her features play:
To the green flood she moves with easy pace,
And, gently sighing, meets the cool embrace.

Nigh her a female with a graceful air,
Tall as Minerva, and, as Venus, fair;
Her lovely eyes emit a glad'ning ray,
Mild as the morning and as bright as day:
O..e.4 in softest sounds, declares her name;
O..e well suits her soft harmonious frame.

How shall I next describe the younger C..r ?5
As Cynthia soft, bright as the morning star.
Amidst a world of charms the fair appears,
In height of beauty and the bloom of years:

1 Ellison. 2 Jurdison. 3 Carr. 4 Ogle.

5 Carr.

Genteel and graceful are her shape and mien,
Not to be told, and but with danger seen.

With native charms and unaffected ease,

The blooming H......y's1 are form'd to please—
Two gentle nymphs, in beauteous dishabille,
Seek the cool stream, and leave the sultry ville:
Smooth flow the waves, indulgent smiles the sky,
Soft fans the breeze, and all the scene is joy.

Next M....... n,2 all blooming, fair, and young,
The pleasing theme of every youthful tongue;
No lovelier nymph e'er trod the sandy bay,
No lovelier limbs pervade the wat'ry way:
Tinmouth! thy ville did ne'er behold
A fair one cast within a finer mold.

Charming as her, but with a nobler mien,
See stately An... ws3 step the sloping green!
Who sees her move, and can unmov'd remain?
Confess'd at once our wonder and our pain:
To bathe her snowy limbs with speed she flies,
Nor heeds the triumphs of her conquering eyes.

The elder H.... l's4 charms, O muse, survey,
Nor dully grave, nor indiscreetly gay;
Graceful her person, and polite her mind,
From all the foibles of her sex refin'd;
One of the lovely few who reason well,
And both in beauty and good sense excel.

Her lovely sister mixes in the scene,
The justest shape and the genteelest mien;
Her eyes have force the coldest breast to warm,
To tame a fury, aud a savage charm:
Gay, flutt'ring round her (as she gently moves)
Fly the soft graces and the smiling loves.

Nor shall, amidst the bright, the gay, the young,
Deserving Ap.... y3 remain unsung;

As Marcia fair, her soul, like her, she decks
With manly sense, and tow'rs above her sex:

1 Hollidays. 2 Middleton. 3 Andrews. 4 Henzel's.

5 Appleby.

When beauty palls and fades upon the sight,
A mind, like hers, will ever give delight.

Nor here, in silence, can the muse pass by
The splendor, darting fierce, from G......
If such her youth, just dawning to a bloom,
What glories shall her riper years assume?
Thus Venus kindling up the morning's grey,
Portends the beaming radiance of the day.

She, next a nymph, in whom all beauties meet,
Tho' tall, yet graceful; tho' most awful, sweet:
Such dignity of charms distinguish'd stands,
And, with superior force, all hearts commands.
Thus walks the fair, unrivall'd, o'er the plain-
Scarce seems she mortal, N.. le2 is her name.

h's1 eye.

See Cr. w3 steps forward to the sight, and forms
A train of Cupid's kindling in her charms;
Charms great by nature, and by art improv'd,
Fram'd for delight, and destin'd to be lov'd:
Well speaks her name those jetty rings of hair,
Spread o'er her temples, for mankind a snare.

In H. . . . . m,1 beauty every charm displays,
That makes mankind adore, or poets praise;
What virgins wish, and ardent youths admire-
An angel's sweetness, and a seraph's fire,
With social union meet, and, thro' her frame,
Temper the human with celestial flame.

H go

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

n3

appears; ye swains be wise and fly,
Nor dare the lustre of her dazling eye:
Her form so perfect, and her face so fair,
On her we gaze, and guess what angels are:
Her mind pure innocence, and virtuous all,
Modest as Milton's Eve before the fall.

Not with more glory Phoebus darts his ray,
In purple blushes o'er the eastern sea,
Than A.d.... n° next opens on the sight,
A beauteous rival of the morning light:

1 Goldsbrough. 2 Noble. 3 Crow. 4 Headlam. 5 Hodgshon.

VOL. III.

6 Anderson.

Her face expressive of a sprightly joy,

And love lies bathing in her melting eye.

The beauteous W.. ds1 demands the sweetest lay,
Who equal charms in varied forms display:
No brighter nymphs the fair assembly boast—
We gaze suspended which to praise the most.
So lost in beauty wond'ring Paris stood,
E'er he prefer'd the Goddess of the Flood.

In E...... n2 all gay attractions meet,
The sprightly, soft, agreeable and sweet;
See, o'er her face a thousand Cupids fly,
Bask on her cheeks, and revel in her eye:
The waves and vest but ill her form conceal,
A form so bright requires a darker veil.

But see, succeeding charms attract the sight,
In P...h.n's3 face, and ravish with delight:
What nature's art, and love's soft hand can form,
To bless the senses and the soul to warm,

With easy majesty around her live,

And give all joys a human form can give.

New beauties strike the view !-but cease my strain,
The theme when endless, to pursue is vain :
Enough already, if ye fair approve;

Too much, if this attempt your censure move.
"Tis mine to hope your goodness will forgive,
'Tis yours to smile, and bid the labour live.

No more shall Scarborough vaunt her shining Belles,
Here native beauty all her pomp excels:

No more shall Bath without a rival reign,
Our scene's as blooming, and as fair our train.
To Tinmouth, while the Northern Fair resort,

St. James's boasts not of a brighter court.

1 Wards. 2 Emmerson. 3 Punchon's.

A Chase on the Banks of the Tyne.

RANK Pickering, an unhappy fugitive, had been committed to Hexham House of Correction for some offence against the Poor Laws. Several weeks of his imprisonment had elapsed, but a few were yet unexpired. John Macpherson the keeper, sometimes indulged his prisoners by employing them to carry in coals from the door,-a task no doubt esteemed a favour by the poor prisoners, whatever were its intent. On the 23rd of July, 1840, Pickering had performed such a service; and the work being finished, he instantly ran off to TyneGreen. Tom Jeffer was at his usual post, the corner of the Green; who having been often in prison himself, and only liberated from Pickering's quarters at the preceding sessions, was inclined rather to aid than arrest the fugitive. Tom's advice was to take the water, which, from the late rains, was rather muddy and swollen. Frank seemed to hesitate, but not to stop. He first made towards the Spital lodge; but Macpherson and his dog were out, and he was obliged to turn. The fugitive then crossed the Green-passed the mill-dam by the sluice at its higher extremity-took the main water a little below. the spot where a fragment of the old bridge has since 1771, marked the rise and fall of the water, as it becomes visible or disappears. There was now only one course, and no time to lose: he therefore tried to ford the river where a penning had been made across its bed--and though much exhausted by running, for a time kept his feet. But a breach in the penning presented a chasm which no man could either leap or ford. Many eyes were upon him when he made the desperate attempt; and soon he was seen heels uppermost in the water. was only visible for an instant, a little lower down the stream-and three poplar trees on the opposite side point out the spot where Frank Pickering met his fate. His mother kept a small inn at Bardonmill; and two or three men came in from the west, and made search for him next day. An ill-founded opinion was entertained by some, that he had got out on the other side; and little seems to have been attempted the day following. But on Sunday morning, Richard Muse, a tanner-a man who had often given aid, on trying occasions, succeeded, with some assistance, in recovering the body, near the Hermitge, a little below the place where he was drowned. removed to Tyne mills.

He

It was

J. R.

« PreviousContinue »