ON A PLANT OF VIRGIN'S BOWER, DESIGNED TO COVER A GARDEN-SEAT. [SPRING OF 1793.] THRIVE, gentle plant! and weave a bower And deck with many a splendid flower Thou camest from Eartham, and wilt shade Some future day the illustrious head Of him who made thee mine. Should Daphne shew a jealous frown, Such honour'd brows as they, Thy cause with zeal we shall defend, ON RECEIVING FROM HER A NETWORK PURSE, MADE BY HERSELF. [The lady from whom he received his mother's picture.] My gentle Anne, whom heretofore, Than plaything for a nurse, I danced and fondled on my knee, I thank thee for my purse. Gold pays the worth of all things here; I, therefore, as a proof of love, The best things kept within it. INSCRIPTION FOR AN HERMITAGE IN THE AUTHOR's garden. [MAY, 1793.] THIS cabin, Mary, in my sight appears, ΤΟ MRS UNWIN. [MAY, 1793.] MARY! I want a lyre with other strings, And undebased by praise of meaner things, And that immortalizes whom it sings. By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light, There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine, And, since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine. ΤΟ JOHN JOHNSON, ON HIS PRESENTING ME WITH AN ANTIQUE BUST OF HOMER. [MAY, 1793.] KINSMAN beloved, and as a son, by me! Joy, too, and grief. Much joy that there should be Proves dross when balanced in the Christian scale. Be wiser thou-like our forefather Donne, Seek heavenly wealth, and work for God alone. ΤΟ A YOUNG FRIEND, ON HIS ARRIVING AT CAMBRIDGE WET, WHEN NO RAIN [MAY, 1793.] [This was addressed to Mr Johnson, the poet's kinsman, afterwards the Rev. Dr Johnson.] IF Gideon's fleece, which drench'd with dew he found, A TALE. [JUNE, 1793.] [Founded on a fact reported in the Scottish newspapers, and copied into the Buckinghamshire Herald for June 1, 1793, where Cowper read it as follows:-" Glasgow, May 3.- In a block or pulley, near the head of the mast of a gabart, now lying at the Broomielaw, there is a chaffinch's nest and four eggs. The nest was built while the vessel lay at Greenock, and was followed hither by both birds. Though the block is occasionally lowered for the inspection of the curious, the birds have not forsaken the The cock, however, visits the nest but seldom, while the hen never leaves it but when she descends to the hull for food."] nest. IN Scotland's realm, where trees are few, Nor even shrubs abound; But where, however bleak the view, Some better things are found: For husband there and wife may boast And false ones are as rare almost In Scotland's realm, forlorn and bare, This history of a wedded pair, A chaffinch and his mate. The spring drew near, each felt a breast They pair'd, and would have built a nest, The heaths uncover'd, and the moors, Long time a breeding-place they sought, A ship!could such a restless thing Afford a place of rest? Or was the merchant charged to bring The homeless birds a nest? Hush-silent hearers profit most- Proved kinder to them than the coast, But such a tree! 'twas shaven deal, Within that cavity aloft Their roofless home they fix'd, Form'd with materials neat and soft, Bents, wool, and feathers mix'd. Four ivory eggs soon pave its floor, Then perching at his consort's side, The billows and the blast defied, And cheer'd her with a song. |