TO A FRIEND. No more thus brooding o'er yon heap, With science tread the wond'rous way, Where mirth and temperance mix the bowl! Thus taste the feast by Nature spread, STELLA IN MOURNING. The nymphs, who found their power decline, Since Stella still extends her reign, Th' adoring youth and envious fair, TO STELLA. Nor the soft sighs of vernal gales, WHOM A LADY HAD GIVEN A SPRIG OF MYRILE'. WHAT hopes, what terrours, does thy gift create? TO LADY FIREBRACE2, AT BURY ASSIZES. AT length must Suffolk beauties shine in vain, So long renown'd in B-n's deathless strain? Thy charms at least, fair Firebrace, might inspire Some zealous bard to wake the sleeping lyre; For, such thy beauteous mind and lovely face, Thou seem'st at once, bright nymph, a Muse and Grace. TO LYCE, AN ELDERLY LADY. Ye nymphs whom starry rays invest, By flatt'ring poets given, Who shine, by lavish lovers drest, In all the pomp of Heaven; Engross not all the beams on high, Which gild a lover's lays, But as your sister of the sky, Let Lyce share the praise. 1 These verses were first printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1768, p. 439, but were written many years earlier. Elegant as they are, Dr. Johnson assured me, they were composed in the short space of five minutes. N. 2 This lady was Bridget, third daughter of Philip Bacon, esq. of Ipswich, and relict of Philip Evers, esq. of that town. She became the second wife of sir Cordell Firebrace, the last baronet of that name (to whom she brought a fortune of 25,0001.), July 26, 1737. again left a widow in 1759, she was a third time married, April 7, 1762, to William Campbell, esq. uncle to the present duke of Argyle; and died July 3, 1782. Being Her teeth the night with darkness dyes, Yet, spite of fair Zelinda's eye, ON THE DEATH OF MR. ROBERT LEVET, A PRACTISER IN PHYSIC. CONDEMN'D to hope's delusive mine, Our social comforts drop away. Of ev'ry friendless name the friend. Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind; Thy praise to merit unrefin'd. The pow'r of art without the show. His useful care was ever nigh, Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan, No summons mock'd by chill delay, The toil of ev'ry day supply'd. The single talent well employ'd, Unfelt, uncounted, glided by ; His frame was firm-his powers were bright, Death broke at once the vital chain, EPITAPH ON CLAUDE PHILLIPS, AN ITINERANT MUSICIAN'. PHILLIPS! whose touch harmonious could re move The pangs of guilty pow'r, and hapless love, 1 These lines are among Mrs. Williams' Miscellanies: they are nevertheless recognised Filiam et hæredem. Inter humanitates studia felicitèr enutritus, Omnes liberalium artium disciplinas avidè arripuit, Quas morum suavitate haud leviter ornavit. Continuò inter populares suos famâ eminens, Et comitatûs sui legatus ad Parliamentum inissus, Ad ardua regni negotia per annos prope triginta se accinxit: Cumque apud illos amplissimorum virorum ordines Solent nihil temerè effutire, Sed probè perpensa dissertè expromere, Non minus integritatis quam eloquentiæ laude commendatus, Equè omnium, utcunque inter se alioqui dissidentium, Aures atque animos attraxit. Annoque demum м DCC. XIII. regnante Annâ, Felicissimæ florentissimæque memoriæ reginâ, Ad Prolocutoris cathedram Communi Senatûs universi voce designatus est: Cum nullo tempore non difficile, Et variis et lubricis et implicatis difficillimum, Honores alios, et omnia quæ sibi in lucrum cederent munera, Sedulò detrectavit, Ut rei totus inserviret publicæ; Justi rectique tenax, Et fide in patriam incorruptâ notus. Ubi omnibus, quæ virum civemque bonum decent, officiis satisfecisset, as Johnson's in a memorandum of his hand-writing, and were probably written at her request. Phillips was a travelling fidler up and down Wales, and was greatly celebrated for his performance. 2 At Hanmer church in Flintshire. Paulatim se à publicis consiliis in otium recipiens, Inter literarum amœnitates, Calm conscience, then, his former life survey'd Inter ante-actæ vitæ haud insuaves recordationes,Till Nature call'd him to the gen'ral doom, And recollected toils endear'd the shade, Inter amicorum convictus et amplexus, Honorificè consenuit ; Et bonis omnibus, quibus charissimus vixit, Desideratissimus obiit. Hic, juxta cineres avi, suos condi voluit, et curavit Gulielmus Bunbury Bttus nepos et hæres. His force of genius burn'd in early youth, With thirst of knowledge, and with love of truth; His learning, join'd with each endearing art, Thus early wise, th' endanger'd realm to aid, In business dext'rous, weighty in debate, Thrice ten long years he labour'd for the state; In ev'ry speech persuasive wisdom flow'd, In ev'ry act refulgent virtue glow'd: Suspended faction ceas'd from rage and strife, To hear his eloquence, and praise his life. Resistless merit fix'd the senate's choice, Who hail'd him speaker with united voice. Illustrious age! how bright thy glories shone, When Hanmer fill'd the chair-and Anne the throue! Then when dark arts obscur'd each fierce de- When mutual frauds perplex'd the maze of state, This task perform'd he sought no gainful post, Nor wish'd to glitter at his country's cost; Age call'd, at length, his active mind to rest, And virtue's sorrow dignified his tomb. TO MISS HICKMAN', PLAYING ON THE SPINNET. BRIGHT Stella, form'd for universal reign, PARAPHRASE2 OF PROVERBS, CHAP. VI. "GO TO THE ANT THOU SLUGGARD." How long shall sloth usurp thy useless hours, Unnerve thy vigour, and enchain thy pow'rs; While artful shades thy downy couch enclose, And soft solicitation courts repose? Amidst the drowsy charms of dull delight, Year chases year with unremitted flight, Till want now following, fraudulent and slow, Shall spring to seize thee like an ambush'd foe. These lines, which have been communicated by Dr. Turton, son to Mrs. Turton, the lady to whom they are addressed by her maiden name of Hickman, must have been written at least as early as the year 1734, as that was the year of her marriage at how much earlier a period of Dr. Johnson's life they may have been written, is not known. 2 In Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, but now This Paraphrase is inserted in Mrs. Wil-printed from the original in Dr. Johnson's own liams's Miscellanies. The Latin is here said to hand-writing. be written by Dr. Freind. Of the person whose memory it celebrates, a copious account may be seen in the Appendix to the Supplement to the Biographia Britannica. HORACE, L13. IV. ODE VII, TRANSLATED. THE Snow, dissolv'd, no more is seen, Rough winter's blasts to spring give way, Nor can the might of Theseus rend The chains of Hell that hold his friend. ON SEEING A BUST OF MRS. HAD this fair figure which this frame displays, Her statue would have breath'd an added grace, And on its basis would have been enroll'd, "This is Minerva, cast in virtue's mould." The following Translations, Parodies, and Burlesque verses, most of them extempore, are taken from Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson published by Mrs. Piozzi. ANACREON, ODE IX. LOVELY Courier of the sky, Tell me, tell me, gentle dove. Soft Anacreon's vows I bear, Vows to Myrtale the fair; Grac'd with all that charms the heart, On the bard her dove bestow'd: Vested with a master's right, Now Anacreon rules my flight; Think not yet my service hard, More than all thou canst not know; I have chatter'd like a pye. OF A TRANSLATION FROM THE MEDEA OF Enn shall they not, who resolute explore Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise. By quiv'ring string or modulated wind; When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish, IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF ***. The near approach a bed may show Of human bliss to human woe, EPITAPH FOR MR. HOGARTH. THE hand of him here torpid lies, That drew th' essential form of grace; Here clos'd in death th' attentive eyes, That saw the manners in the face. TRANSLATION OF THE BOLLOWING LINES WRITTEN UNDER SUR un mince chrystal l'hyver conduit leurs pas, O'ER ice the rapid skaiter flies, With sport above, and death below; Where mischief lurks in gay disguise, Thus lightly touch and quickly go. IMPROMPTU TRANSLATION OF THE SAME. O'ER Crackling ice, o'er gulphs profound, With nimble glide the skaiters play; O'er treach'rous Pleasure's flow'ry ground Thus lightly skim, and haste away. TO MRS. THRALE, ON HER COMPLETING HER THIRTY-FIFTH Orr in danger, yet alive, |