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Specimens with Memoirs of the Less known British Poets, Vol. 3 by George Gilfillan

G >> George Gilfillan >> Specimens with Memoirs of the Less known British Poets, Vol. 3





ODE TO A TOBACCO-PIPE.

Little tube of mighty power,
Charmer of an idle hour,
Object of my warm desire,
Lip of wax and eye of fire;
And thy snowy taper waist,
With my finger gently braced;
And thy pretty swelling crest,
With my little stopper pressed;
And the sweetest bliss of blisses,
Breathing from thy balmy kisses.
Happy thrice, and thrice again,
Happiest he of happy men;
Who when again the night returns,
When again the taper burns,
When again the cricket's gay,
(Little cricket full of play,)
Can afford his tube to feed
With the fragrant Indian weed:
Pleasure for a nose divine,
Incense of the god of wine.
Happy thrice, and thrice again,
Happiest he of happy men.


AWAY! LET NOUGHT TO LOVE DISPLEASING.

1 Away! let nought to love displeasing,
My Winifreda, move your care;
Let nought delay the heavenly blessing,
Nor squeamish pride, nor gloomy fear.

2 What though no grants of royal donors,
With pompous titles grace our blood;
We'll shine in more substantial honours,
And, to be noble, we'll be good.

3 Our name while virtue thus we tender,
Will sweetly sound where'er 'tis spoke;
And all the great ones, they shall wonder
How they respect such little folk.

4 What though, from fortune's lavish bounty,
No mighty treasures we possess;
We'll find, within our pittance, plenty,
And be content without excess.

5 Still shall each kind returning season
Sufficient for our wishes give;
For we will live a life of reason,
And that's the only life to live.

6 Through youth and age, in love excelling,
We'll hand in hand together tread;
Sweet-smiling peace shall crown our dwelling,
And babes, sweet-smiling babes, our bed.

7 How should I love the pretty creatures,
While round my knees they fondly clung!
To see them look their mother's features,
To hear them lisp their mother's tongue!

8 And when with envy Time transported,
Shall think to rob us of our joys;
You'll in your girls again be courted,
And I'll go wooing in my boys.


RICHARD BENTLEY'S SOLE POETICAL COMPOSITION.

1 Who strives to mount Parnassus' hill,
And thence poetic laurels bring,
Must first acquire due force and skill,
Must fly with swan's or eagle's wing.

2 Who Nature's treasures would explore,
Her mysteries and arcana know,
Must high as lofty Newton soar,
Must stoop as delving Woodward low.

3 Who studies ancient laws and rites,
Tongues, arts, and arms, and history;
Must drudge, like Selden, days and nights,
And in the endless labour die.

4 Who travels in religious jars,
(Truth mixed with error, shades with rays,)
Like Whiston, wanting pyx or stars,
In ocean wide or sinks or strays.

5 But grant our hero's hope, long toil
And comprehensive genius crown,
All sciences, all arts his spoil,
Yet what reward, or what renown?

6 Envy, innate in vulgar souls,
Envy steps in and stops his rise;
Envy with poisoned tarnish fouls
His lustre, and his worth decries.

7 He lives inglorious or in want,
To college and old books confined:
Instead of learned, he's called pedant;
Dunces advanced, he's left behind:
Yet left content, a genuine Stoic he,
Great without patron, rich without South Sea.


LINES ADDRESSED TO POPE.[1]

1 While malice, Pope, denies thy page
Its own celestial fire;
While critics and while bards in rage
Admiring, won't admire:

2 While wayward pens thy worth assail,
And envious tongues decry;
These times, though many a friend bewail,
These times bewail not I.

3 But when the world's loud praise is thine,
And spleen no more shall blame;
When with thy Homer thou shalt shine
In one unclouded fame:

4 When none shall rail, and every lay
Devote a wreath to thee;
That day (for come it will) that day
Shall I lament to see.

[1] Written by one Lewis, a schoolmaster, and highly commended by
Johnson.--_See_ Boswell.



THE END.




INDEX

VOL.
A Ballad upon a Wedding, SUCKLING, i.
Abel's Blood, VAUGHAN, ii.
A Character, Panegyric, and Description of the
Legion Club, SWIFT, iii.
A Cradle Hymn, WATTS, iii.
Address to the Nightingale, BARNFIELD, i.
A Description of Castara, HABINGTON, ii.
A Distempered Fancy, MORE, ii.
Admiral Hosier's Ghost, GLOVER, iii.
Address to the Moon, MACPHERSON, iii.
A Friend, PHILLIPS, ii.
A Fragment of Sappho, PHILIPS, iii.
Allegorical Characters from 'The Mirror for
Magistrates,' SACKVILLE, i.
ALEXANDER, WILLIAM, EARL OF STIRLING, i.
A Loose Saraband, LOVELACE, ii.
A Meditation, WOTTON, i.
An Epitaph, BEAUMONT, i.
An Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers, MASON, iii.
An Ode to the Right Hon. Lord Gower, FENTON, iii.
An American Love Ode, WARTON THE ELDER, iii.
Apostrophe to Freedom, BARBOUR, i.
A Praise to his Lady, ANONYMOUS, i.
A Pastoral Dialogue, CAREW, i.
A Pastoral, iii.
Apostrophe to Fletcher the Dramatist, VAUGHAN, ii.
A Persian Song of Hafiz, JONES, iii.
Arcadia, CHALKHILL, ii.
Argalia taken Prisoner by the Turks, CHAMBERLAYNE, ii.
Ascension-Day, VAUGHAN, ii.
A Vision upon the "Fairy Queen," RALEIGH, i.
A Valediction, BROWNE, i.
A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque, COTTON, ii.
Away! Let nought to Love Displeasing, iii.

BAMPFYLDE, JOHN, iii.
BARBOUR, JOHN, i.
BARCLAY, ALEXANDER i.
BARNFIELD, RICHARD i.
Battle of Black Earnside BLIND HARRY, i.
Baucis and Philemon SWIFT, iii.
BEAUMONT, FRANCIS i.
BEAUMONT, DR JOSEPH ii.
BISHOP, SAMUEL iii.
BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD iii.
BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM iii.
BLACKLOCK, THOMAS iii.
BLAMIRE, SUSANNA iii.
BLIND HARRY i.
Breathing toward the Heavenly Country WATTS, iii.
Bristowe Tragedy CHATTERTON, iii.
BROWN, JOHN iii.
BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS iii.
BROWNE, WILLIAM i.
BROOKE, HENRY iii.
BRUCE, MICHAEL iii.
BURTON, ROBERT i.
Burial VAUGHAN, ii.
BOOTH, BARTON iii.
BRAMSTON iii.

Canace Condemned to Death by her Father LYDGATE, i.
Careless Content iii.
CAREW, THOMAS i.
CARTWRIGHT, WILLIAM i.
CAREY, HENRY iii.
Celia Singing STANLEY, ii.
CHALKHILL, JOHN ii.
CHAMBERLAYNE, WILLIAM ii.
CHATTERTON, THOMAS iii.
Cherry Ripe HERRICK, ii.
Cheerfulness VAUGHAN, ii.
CHESTERFIELD, LORD iii.
Childhood VAUGHAN, ii.
Close of 'Christ's Victory and Triumph' FLETCHER, i.
Cock-crowing VAUGHAN, ii.
COCKBURN, MRS iii.
Complaint of Nature LOGAN, iii.
CORBET, RICHARD i.
Corinna's Going a-Maying HERRICK, ii.
COOPER, JOHN GILBERT iii.
COTTON, CHARLES ii.
COTTON, NATHANIEL iii.
COWLEY, ABRAHAM ii.
CRAWFORD, ROBERT iii.
Creation, BLACKMORE, iii.
Cumnor Hall, MICKLE, iii.
CUNNINGHAM, JOHN, iii.

DANIEL, SAMUEL, i.
DAVIES, SIR JOHN, i.
Davideis--Book II., COWLEY, ii.
DAVENANT, SIR WILLIAM, ii.
Description of King's Mistress, JAMES I., i.
Death of Sir Henry de Bohun, BARBOUR, i.
Description of Morning, DRAYTON, i.
Description of Parthenia, FLETCHER, i.
Destruction and Renovation of all Things, DR H. MORE, ii.
Desolation of Balclutha, MACPHERSON, iii.
Dinner given by the Town Mouse to the Country
Mouse, HENRYSON, i.
Directions for Cultivating a Hop Garden, TUSSER, i.
DODSLEY, ROBERT, iii.
DONNE, JOHN, i.
DOUGLAS, GAVIN, i.
DRAYTON, MICHAEL, i.
DRUMMOND, WILLIAM, i.
DU BARTAS, i.
DUNBAR, WILLIAM, i.
Dwelling of the Witch Orandra, CHALKHILL, ii.

Early Love, DANIEL, i.
EDWARDS, RICHARD, i.
Elegy XIII., HAMMOND, iii.
Elegy written in Spring, BRUCE, iii.
ELLIOT, Miss JANE, iii.
End, DR BEAUMONT, ii.
Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, JONSON, i.
Epistle addressed to the Honourable W. E. HABINGTON, ii.
Epitaph on Mrs Mason, MASON, iii.
Evening, BROWNE, i.
Eve, DR BEAUMONT, ii.
Exordium of Third Part of 'Pyschozoia', DR H. MORE, ii.

FAIRFAX, EDWARD, i.
Farewell to the Vanities of the World, WOTTON, i.
FANSHAWE, SIR RICHARD, ii.
FAWKES, FRANCIS, iii.
FENTON, ELIJAH, iii.
Few Happy Matches, WATTS, iii.
February--an Elegy, CHATTERTON, iii.
FERGUSSON, ROBERT, iii.
Fingal and the Spirit of Loda, MACPHERSON, iii.
Fingal's Spirit-Home, MACPHERSON, iii.
FLETCHER, GILES
FLETCHER, PHINEAS
From 'The Phoenix' Nest' ANONYMOUS, i.
From the Same ANONYMOUS, i.
From 'Britannia's Pastorals' W. BROWNE, i.
From 'The Shepherd's Hunting' WITHER, i.
From the Same WITHER, ii.
From 'Gondibert,' Canto II. DAVENANT, ii.
From 'Gondibert,' Canto IV. DAVENANT, ii.
From 'An Essay on Translated Verse' EARL OF ROSCOMMON, ii.
From 'The Gentle Shepherd,' Act I., Scene II. RAMSAY, iii.
From 'The Monody' LYTTELTON, iii.
From 'The Country Justice' LANGHORNE, iii.
From the Same LANGHORNE, iii.
From 'Leonidas,' Book XII. GLOVER, iii.

GARTH, SIR SAMUEL iii.
GASCOIGNE, GEORGE i.
Gipsies--From 'The Country Justice' LANGHORNE, iii.
GLOVER, RICHARD iii.
Good-morrow GASCOIGNE, i.
Good-night GASCOIGNE, i.
GOULD iii.
GOWER, JOHN i.
Gratification which the Lover's Passion receives
from the Sense of Hearing GOWER, i.
GRAINGER, DR JAMES iii.
GREVILLE, MRS iii.

HABINGTON, WILLIAM ii.
HALL, JOSEPH, BISHOP OF NORWICH ii.
Hallo, my Fancy ii.
HAMMOND, JAMES iii.
HAMILTON, WILLIAM iii.
Happiness of the Shepherd's Life P. FLETCHER, i.
HARDING, JOHN i.
HARRINGTON, JOHN i.
Harpalus' Complaint of Phillida's Love
bestowed on Corin i.
HARTE, DR WALTER iii.
HAWES, STEPHEN i.
HENRYSON, ROBERT i.
Henry, Duke of Buckingham, in the Infernal
Regions T. SACKVILLE, i.
HERRICK, ROBERT ii.
Hell DR J. BEAUMONT, ii.
HEATH, ROBERT ii.
HEADLEY, HENRY iii.
Holy Sonnets, DONNE, i.
Housewifely Physic, TUSSER, i.
HUME, ALEXANDER, i.

Image of Death, SOUTHWELL, i.
Imperial Rome Personified, DR BEAUMONT, ii.
Imitation of Thomson, ISAAC BROWNE, iii.
Imitation of Pope, ISAAC BBOWNE, iii.
Imitation of Swift, ISAAC BROWNE, iii.
Instability of Human Greatness, P. FLETCHER, i.
Introduction to the Poem on the Soul of Man, DAVIES, i.
Invitation to Izaak Walton, COTTON, ii.
In praise of the renowned Lady Anne, Countess
of Warwick, TURBERVILLE, i.
Isaac's Marriage, VAUGHAN, ii.

JAGO, REV. RICHARD, iii.
JAMES I. OF SCOTLAND, i.
Jacob's Pillow and Pillar, VAUGHAN, ii.
Jephthah's Daughter, HERRICK, ii.
JOHN THE CHAPLAIN, i.
JONSON, BEN, i.
JONES, SIR WILLIAM, iii.
Joseph's Dream, DE BEAUMONT, ii.
Journey into France, CORBET, i.

KAY, JOHN, i.
Kenrick--translated from the Saxon, CHATTERTON, iii.
KING, DE HENRY, ii.

La Belle Confidante, STANLEY, ii.
LANGHORNE, JOHN, iii.
Life, COWLEY, ii.
Life, KING, ii.
Lines addressed to Pope, LEWIS, iii.
LLOYD, ROBERT, iii.
Lochaber no more, RAMSAY, iii.
LOGAN, JOHN, iii.
London Lyckpenny, The LYDGATE, i.
Look Home, SOUTHWELL, i.
Love's Servile Lot, SOUTHWELL, i.
Love admits no Rival, RALEIGH, i.
Love's Darts, CARTWRIGHT, i.
LOVELACE, RICHARD, ii.
Love-Sick, VAUGHAN, ii.
LOVIBOND, EDWARD, iii.
LOWE, JOHN, iii.
LYDGATE, JOHN, i.
LYNDSAY, SIR DAVID, i.
LYTTELTON, LORD, iii.

MACPHERSON, JAMES iii.
MAITLAND, SIR RICHARD, OF LETHINGTON i.
MALLETT, DAVID iii.
Man's Fall and Recovery VAUGHAN, ii.
Marriage of Christ and the Church P. FLETCHER, i.
MARGARET, DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE ii.
Mary's Dream LOWE, iii.
MARVELL, ANDREW ii.
MASON, WILLIAM iii.
May-Eve; or, Kate of Aberdeen CUNNINGHAM, iii.
Meldrum's Duel with the English Champion
Talbert LYNDSAY, i.
Melancholy described by Mirth DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE, ii.
Melancholy describing herself DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE, ii.
MERRICK, JAMES iii.
MESTON, WILLIAM iii.
MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS iii.
Misery VAUGHAN, ii.
MONTGOMERY, ALEXANDER i.
MOORE, EDWARD iii.
MOORE, SIR JOHN HENRY iii.
MORE, DR HENRY ii.
Morning in May DOUGLAS, i.
Moral Reflections on the Wind TUSSER, i.
Mount of Olives VAUGHAN, ii.
My Mind to me a Kingdom is ii.

Note on Anacreon STANLEY ii.
NUGENT, LORD (ROBERT CRAGGS) iii.

Oberon's Palace HERRICK, ii.
Oberon's Feast HERRICK, ii.
OCCLEVE, THOMAS i.
Ode to Solitude GRAINGER, iii.
Ode on hearing the Drum JOHN SCOTT, iii.
Ode to Mankind NUGENT, iii.
Ode to Aurora BLACKLOCK, iii.
Ode to Fancy JOSEPH WARTON, iii.
Ode to a Tobacco-pipe iii.
Of Wit COWLEY, ii.
Of Solitude COWLEY, ii.
OLDYS, WILLIAM iii.
On Tombs in Westminster BEAUMONT, i.
On Man's Resemblance to God DU BARTAS, i.
On the Portrait of Shakspeare JONSON, i.
On Melancholy BURTON, i.
On the Death of Sir Bevil Granville CARTWRIGHT, i.
On the Praise of Poetry COWLEY, ii.
On Paradise Lost MARVELL, ii.
Love's Servile Lot, SOUTHWELL, i.

On a Charnel-house, VAUGHAN, ii.
On Gombauld's 'Endymion,' VAUGHAN, ii.
On Poetry, SWIFT, iii.
On the Death of Dr Swift, SWIFT, iii.
Opening of Second Part of 'Psychozoia,' DR MORE, ii.
Ossian's Address to the Sun, MACPHERSON, iii.

Palm-Sunday, VAUGHAN, ii.
Paradise, DR BEAUMONT, ii.
PENROSE, THOMAS, iii.
Persuasions to Love, CAREW, i.
PHILIPS, AMBROSE, iii.
PHILIPS, JOHN, iii.
PHILLIPS, CATHERINE, ii.
Picture of the Town, VAUGHAN, ii.
POMFRET, JOHN, iii.
POPE, DR WALTER, iii.
Power of Genius over Envy, W. BROWNE, i.
Priestess of Diana, CHALKHILL, ii.
Protest of Love, HEATH, ii.
Providence, VAUGHAN, ii.
Psalm CIV., VAUGHAN, ii.

RALEIGH, SIR WALTER, i.
RAMSAY, ALLAN, iii.
RANDOLPH, THOMAS, i.
Regeneration, VAUGHAN, ii.
Repentance, VAUGHAN, ii.
Resurrection and Immortality, VAUGHAN, ii.
Richard II. the Morning before his Murder
in Pomfret Castle, DANIEL, i.
Richard Bentley's Sole Poetical Composition, iii.
Righteousness, VAUGHAN, ii.
Rinaldo at Mount Olivet, FAIRFAX, i.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM HAYWARD, iii.
ROSCOMMON, THE EARL OF, ii.
ROSS, ALEXANDER, iii.
Rules and Lessons, VAUGHAN, ii.

SACKVILLE, THOMAS, LORD BUCKHURST AND EARL OF DORSET, i.
SACKVILLE, CHARLES, EARL OF DORSET, iii.
Sally in our Alley, CAREY, iii.
Satire I., HALL, ii.
Satire VII., HALL, ii.
Satire on Holland, MARVELL, ii.
SAVAGE, RICHARD, iii.
SCOTT, JOHN, iii.
SCOTT, THOMAS, iii.
Selections from Sonnets, DANIEL, i.
SEDLEY, SIR CHARLES, iii.
SEWELL, DR GEORGE, iii.
SHAW, CUTHBERT, iii.
Sic Vita, KING, ii.
SIDNEY, SIR PHILIP, i.
SKELTON, JOHN, i.
SMART, CHRISTOPHER, iii.
Song of Sorceress seeking to Tempt
Jesus, G. FLETCHER, i.
Song, CAREW, i.
Song, CAREW, i.
Song, CAREW, i.
Song, SUCKLING, i.
Song, SUCKLING, i.
Song, W. BROWNE, i.
Song, W. BROWNE, i.
Song to Althea from Prison, LOVELACE, ii.
Song, LOVELACE, ii.
Song, HERRICK, ii.
Song, KING, ii.
Song, WILMOT, ii.
Song, WILMOT, ii.
Song, C. SACKVILLE, iii.
Song, SEDLEY, iii.
Song to David, SMART, iii.
Song, ANONYMOUS, iii.
Sonnet on Isabella Markham, HARRINGTON, i.
Sonnet, WATSON, i.
Sonnet, ALEXANDER, i.
Sonnets, SIDNEY, i.
Sonnets, DRUMMOND, i.
Soul compared to a Lantern, DR H. MORE, ii.
SOUTHWELL, EGBERT, i.
Spiritual Poems, DRUMMOND, i.
Spirituality of the Soul, DAVIES, i.
St Mary Magdalene, VAUGHAN, ii.
STANLEY, THOMAS, ii.
STEVENS, GEORGE ALEXANDER, iii.
STORRER, THOMAS, i.
SUCKLING, SIR JOHN, i.
Supplication in Contemption of Side-tails, LYNDSAY, i.
SYLVESTER, JOSHUA, i.
SWIFT, JONATHAN, iii.
SCOTT, ALEXANDER, i.

Poster poems: Water, water everywhere

What is the funniest book in the English language? It's not a very original question and I ask this cold winter weekend only because I heard a couple of shortlisted candidates being promoted at a memorial service the other day.

Few people beyond his very large and eclectic circle of friends may have heard of David Chipp. Even his profession lent itself to anonymity. He was a news agency journalist who survived stepping on Chairman Mao's foot (young Chipp was the first western correspondent in Beijing after the 1949 revolution) to become editor-in-chief of both Reuters and the domestic wire service, the Press Association.

And much loved he was too. I have never seen St Bride's, Wren's lovely 1672 church behind Fleet Street (the seventh on that site in 1,000 years) so full, not just of hacks (some rather grand ones), but lawyers, fellow Henley rowing buffs, opera enthusiasts and many others. Chipp had an infectious smile and believed that champagne was a non-alcoholic drink. Even Mao forgave him. Chipp died suddenly in his sleep in September, aged 81.

Anyway during the course of the service, Jonathan Grun, the current editor of the PA (which reported the event in five crisp lines), read an extract from AG MacDonell's England, Their England (1933), explaining before doing so that Chippy thought it the second funniest book in the language.

I don't know the novelist or the book, but it won the James Tait prize in 1934 and Goebbels later found time to denounce it as "frivolous and cynical", so it must be OK.

And the funniest book? According to Grun, Chipp thought it was George and Weedon Grossmith's The Diary of a Nobody (1888/9). That's surely enough to get your juices going. I preferred Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, published more or less simultaneously.

That one used to make me laugh out loud, as The Diary never quite did. But that's a risk one always takes rereading an old favourite. I loved Eating People is Wrong, by Malcolm Bradbury; funnier than Amis Snr's Lucky Jim. At least, I did until I re-read them both.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Slaughterhouse Five, 1066 and All That. Catch 22 (that stands up pretty well), A Confederacy of Dunces. Anything by Terry Pratchett, say some. Anything by PG Wodehouse, say others, though they all have their favourites. Quite a lot by Evelyn Waugh, says me, though I think it is still Decline and Fall that makes me laugh most.

Any thoughts before the blizzards cut off communications?

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