A Pastoral Elegy
On Henry late Duke of N ORFOLK , begun by P YLADES in the Country, and finish'd by the Author in Town.
P YLADES .
O H ! whence Eliza flow those pregnant Tears,
That call for mine, and raise my utmost Fears?
Why sit you drooping in this Shade alone,
And make the Woods lament to hear your Moan?
Tell me why thus excessively you grieve?
I fain wou'd know, because I'd fain relieve.
E LIZA .
My Grief is greater than I can express,
Exceeds all Bounds, admits of no Redress.
P YLADES .
Oh therefore tell! that I may bear a Part,
And bring some comfort to thy throbbing Heart,
Companions in Affliction ease the Smart.
E LIZA .
I wou'd not, for that Cause, my Woes reveal,
Nor let my dearest Friend my Sorrow feel:
And since I am afflicted, lost, undone,
Compleatly wretched, let me be alone.
P YLADES .
Unless I may with you participate
In all your Passions, ev'ry Turn of Fate;
Unless I'm suffer'd to condole with you,
How can I think your promis'd Friendship true?
In Vain on your Affection I depend,
If unsincere; in Vain you call me Friend;
And I conjure you, if you think me so,
No longer thus from me conceal your Wo.
E LIZA .
Well! since with such a forcible Constraint:
You press to know the Cause of my Complaint.
Wherein your self an equal Portion bear,
With melting Heart the dismal Tidings hear.
Oh Pylades! our mutual Hopes are fled,
How shall I speak those Words? great Pollio's dead.
P YLADES .
Forbid it Heav'n! our gen'rous Petron gone?
Great! Good! and Just! all Worth contain'd in one.
E LIZA .
Alas, too true!
Last Night I heard the sad amazing News,
As I was going forth to fold my Ewes;
Unhappy Ewes! which now may bleat in vain,
And with unpitied Cries fill all the Plain:
Once my Delight, but now no more my Care,
Go wander Flocks, while I lye sobbing here.
P YLADES .
If Silence, or if Sighs cou'd ease our Pain,
Or our lost Pollio bring to Life again;
With silent Tears we'd wash our Griefs away,
And in long Sighs! wear out each tedious Day:
But Lo! I hear the melancholy Sound
Thro' all the Plains goes heavily around,
Pollio's no more! Great Pollio is no more!
Rebounds from ev'ry Rock, and distant Shore:
The Woods, and Hills the dismal News disperse,
Lamenting Eccho's the sad Words reherse,
And ev'ry hollow Cave, with doleful Tone,
Redoubles Nature's universal Groan.
Then in pathetick Verse his Death proclaim,
And in sweet Numbers celebrate his Fame.
E LIZA .
That he vouchsaf'd to hear my humble Lays,
Shew'd his unbounded Goodness, not my Praise;
Nor were his condescending Smiles e'er meant
For Commendation, but Encouragement:
Judiciously he'd calm the Muse's Heat,
And regulate her inharmonious Feet:
Direct her in a new and nobler Way,
Yet call her down, when she had soar'd astray.
Thus did he not my humble Song despise,
In Hopes I might to higher Notes arise:
Then weep sad Maid, thy fatal Loss deplore,
Thy great, thy godlike Censor, is no more.
P YLADES .
Behold, Eliza, where our Pan appears,
See what a melancholy Look he wears,
Vast is his Sorrow boundless as his Mind,
But manly Virtue hath his Tears confin'd:
What broken Accents from his Lips do flow!
Musing he walks, and seems depress'd with Wo.
Then with a Sigh, he cries my Pollio's gone!
And hark, how all the Swains his Loss bemoan:
These Thoughts, methinks, should give us some Relief,
Pan moarns his Fate, Pan shares our mutual Grief.
E LIZA .
The royal Sorrow is to Pollio due,
Pan knew his Heart, and Pan possess'd it too:
To our great Pastor, he was ever dear,
And next to Pan, we Pollio did revere;
For Pollio strove th' Arcadians still to please,
And, by his thoughtful Care, secur'd our Ease.
Justice he lov'd, and Peace was his Delight:
Mild was his Face, yet so divinely bright,
Wolves, Bears, and Tygers, fled his awful Sight.
Unhappy Plains! your disinal State deplore,
Unhappy Flocks! your Guardian is no more.
P YLADES .
Forsaken Nymphs, and Swains, your Loss proclaim;
Hills, Vales, and Groves, reverberate his Name.
E LIZA .
See! see, lamenting Swain! with wond'ring Eyes,
What beauteous Streams of Light, adorn the Skies!
What wond'rous Harmony is this we hear?
See! Shepherd see! our Pollio does appear:
Behold, what dazling Glories round him shine,
The mortal Part cast off, he now is all divine.
Smiling he sits, crown'd with immortal Bays,
And with a gracious Nod accepts our duteous Lays.
P YLADES .
Then let our Sorrows vanish all away,
Like Clouds dispers'd before approaching Day;
Let's Cease untimely, and in vain to mourn;
For Pollio gone, who never must return:
Benignc he sits in his exalted State,
Fix'd in the Skies above the Pow'r of Fate:
Where, like a glorious Star, he shall remain,
To shed auspicious Influence on our Plain:
And while he sits above secure of Fame,
Let's here below perpetuate his Name.
P YLADES .
O H ! whence Eliza flow those pregnant Tears,
That call for mine, and raise my utmost Fears?
Why sit you drooping in this Shade alone,
And make the Woods lament to hear your Moan?
Tell me why thus excessively you grieve?
I fain wou'd know, because I'd fain relieve.
E LIZA .
My Grief is greater than I can express,
Exceeds all Bounds, admits of no Redress.
P YLADES .
Oh therefore tell! that I may bear a Part,
And bring some comfort to thy throbbing Heart,
Companions in Affliction ease the Smart.
E LIZA .
I wou'd not, for that Cause, my Woes reveal,
Nor let my dearest Friend my Sorrow feel:
And since I am afflicted, lost, undone,
Compleatly wretched, let me be alone.
P YLADES .
Unless I may with you participate
In all your Passions, ev'ry Turn of Fate;
Unless I'm suffer'd to condole with you,
How can I think your promis'd Friendship true?
In Vain on your Affection I depend,
If unsincere; in Vain you call me Friend;
And I conjure you, if you think me so,
No longer thus from me conceal your Wo.
E LIZA .
Well! since with such a forcible Constraint:
You press to know the Cause of my Complaint.
Wherein your self an equal Portion bear,
With melting Heart the dismal Tidings hear.
Oh Pylades! our mutual Hopes are fled,
How shall I speak those Words? great Pollio's dead.
P YLADES .
Forbid it Heav'n! our gen'rous Petron gone?
Great! Good! and Just! all Worth contain'd in one.
E LIZA .
Alas, too true!
Last Night I heard the sad amazing News,
As I was going forth to fold my Ewes;
Unhappy Ewes! which now may bleat in vain,
And with unpitied Cries fill all the Plain:
Once my Delight, but now no more my Care,
Go wander Flocks, while I lye sobbing here.
P YLADES .
If Silence, or if Sighs cou'd ease our Pain,
Or our lost Pollio bring to Life again;
With silent Tears we'd wash our Griefs away,
And in long Sighs! wear out each tedious Day:
But Lo! I hear the melancholy Sound
Thro' all the Plains goes heavily around,
Pollio's no more! Great Pollio is no more!
Rebounds from ev'ry Rock, and distant Shore:
The Woods, and Hills the dismal News disperse,
Lamenting Eccho's the sad Words reherse,
And ev'ry hollow Cave, with doleful Tone,
Redoubles Nature's universal Groan.
Then in pathetick Verse his Death proclaim,
And in sweet Numbers celebrate his Fame.
E LIZA .
That he vouchsaf'd to hear my humble Lays,
Shew'd his unbounded Goodness, not my Praise;
Nor were his condescending Smiles e'er meant
For Commendation, but Encouragement:
Judiciously he'd calm the Muse's Heat,
And regulate her inharmonious Feet:
Direct her in a new and nobler Way,
Yet call her down, when she had soar'd astray.
Thus did he not my humble Song despise,
In Hopes I might to higher Notes arise:
Then weep sad Maid, thy fatal Loss deplore,
Thy great, thy godlike Censor, is no more.
P YLADES .
Behold, Eliza, where our Pan appears,
See what a melancholy Look he wears,
Vast is his Sorrow boundless as his Mind,
But manly Virtue hath his Tears confin'd:
What broken Accents from his Lips do flow!
Musing he walks, and seems depress'd with Wo.
Then with a Sigh, he cries my Pollio's gone!
And hark, how all the Swains his Loss bemoan:
These Thoughts, methinks, should give us some Relief,
Pan moarns his Fate, Pan shares our mutual Grief.
E LIZA .
The royal Sorrow is to Pollio due,
Pan knew his Heart, and Pan possess'd it too:
To our great Pastor, he was ever dear,
And next to Pan, we Pollio did revere;
For Pollio strove th' Arcadians still to please,
And, by his thoughtful Care, secur'd our Ease.
Justice he lov'd, and Peace was his Delight:
Mild was his Face, yet so divinely bright,
Wolves, Bears, and Tygers, fled his awful Sight.
Unhappy Plains! your disinal State deplore,
Unhappy Flocks! your Guardian is no more.
P YLADES .
Forsaken Nymphs, and Swains, your Loss proclaim;
Hills, Vales, and Groves, reverberate his Name.
E LIZA .
See! see, lamenting Swain! with wond'ring Eyes,
What beauteous Streams of Light, adorn the Skies!
What wond'rous Harmony is this we hear?
See! Shepherd see! our Pollio does appear:
Behold, what dazling Glories round him shine,
The mortal Part cast off, he now is all divine.
Smiling he sits, crown'd with immortal Bays,
And with a gracious Nod accepts our duteous Lays.
P YLADES .
Then let our Sorrows vanish all away,
Like Clouds dispers'd before approaching Day;
Let's Cease untimely, and in vain to mourn;
For Pollio gone, who never must return:
Benignc he sits in his exalted State,
Fix'd in the Skies above the Pow'r of Fate:
Where, like a glorious Star, he shall remain,
To shed auspicious Influence on our Plain:
And while he sits above secure of Fame,
Let's here below perpetuate his Name.
Translation:
Language:
Reviews
No reviews yet.