ΤΟ MR. GRAY, UPON HIS ODES. BY DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. [55] REPINE not, Gray, that our weak dazzled eyes Each gentle reader loves the gentle Muse, No longer now from Learning's sacred store No more the Stagyrite is law. [55] From the original MS. in the possession of ISAAC REED, Esq. Tho' nurst by these, in vain thy Muse appears In vain to sightless eyes and deaden'd ears, Yet droop not, Gray, nor quit thy heaven-born art, With ancient deeds our long-chill'd bosoms fire, Those deeds that mark Eliza's reign! Make Britons Greeks again, then strike the lyre, And Pindar shall not sing in vain. ODE TO MR. GRAY, ON THE BACKWARDNESS OF SPRING. BY THE LATE MR. RICHARD WEST. DEAR Gray, that always in my heart What mean these sudden blasts that rise Come, fairest Nymph, resume thy reign! With balmy breath and flowery tread, Awake, in all thy glories drest, See! all her works demand thy aid; Come then, with Pleasure at thy side, Diffuse thy vernal spirit wide; Create, where'er thou turn'st thine eye, Peace, Plenty, Love, and Harmony; Till ev'ry being share its part, And Heav'n and Earth be glad at heart. ODE ON THE DEATH OF MR. GRAY. Me quoque Musarum studium sub nocte silenti CLAUDIAN. ENOUGH of fabling, and th' unhallow'd haunts Of Dian' and of Delia, names profane, Since not Diana nor all Delia's train Are subjects that befit a serious song; For who the bards among May but compare with thee, lamented Gray! Whose pensive solemn lay Drew all the list'ning shepherds in a ring, Well pleas'd to hear thee sing Thy moving notes, on sunny hill or plain, And catch new grace from thy immortal strain. |