THE CHAIN I GAVE. FROM THE TURKISH. I. THE chain I gave was fair to view, 2. These gifts were charmed by secret spell, 3. That chain was firm in every link, But not to bear a stranger's touch; That lute was sweet-till thou couldst think 4. Let him who from thy neck unbound Who saw that lute refuse to sound, 5. When thou wert changed, they altered too; False heart, frail chain, and silent lute. [MS. M. First published, Corsair, 1814 (Second Edition).] VOL. III. E LINES WRITTEN ON A BLANK LEAF OF THE PLEASURES OF MEMORY.į. I. ABSENT or present, still to thee, My friend, what magic spells belong! 2. But when the dreaded hour shall come 3. How fondly will she then repay And blend, while ages roll away, Her name immortally with thine! April 19, 1812. [First published, Poems, 1816.] i. To Samuel Rogers, Esq.-[Poems, 1816.] I. ["Rogers is silent,—and, it is said, severe. When he does talk, he talks well; and, on all subjects of taste, his delicacy of expression is pure as his poetry. If you enter his house-his drawingroom-his library-you of yourself say, this is not the dwelling of a common mind. There is not a gem, a coin, a book thrown aside on his chimney-piece, his sofa, his table, that does not bespeak an almost fastidious elegance in the possessor."-Diary, 1813; Letters, 1898, ii. 331.] 2. [Compare Collins' Ode on the Death of Mr. Thomson "In yonder grave a Druid lies."] ADDRESS, SPOKEN AT THE OPENING OF DRURY-LANE THEATRE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1812.1 In one dread night our city saw, and sighed, Ye who beheld, (oh! sight admired and mourned, i. As flashing far the new Volcano shone meteors And swept the skies with lightnings} not their own. ΙΟ or, As flashed the volumed blaze, and I sadly shone The skies with lightnings awful as their own.- or, As glared each rising flash, and ghastly shone [Letter to Lord Holland, Sept. 27, 1812.] 1. ["Mr. Elliston then came forward and delivered the following Prize address. We cannot boast of the eloquence of the delivery. It was neither gracefully nor correctly recited. The merits of the production itself we submit to the criticism of our readers. We cannot suppose that it was selected as the most poetical composition of all the scores that were submitted to the committee. But perhaps by its tenor, by its allusions to Garrick, to Siddons, and to Sheridan, it was thought most applicable to the occasion, notwithstanding its being in part unmusical, and in general tame.”—Morning Chronicle, October 12, 1812.] 2. ["By the by, the best view of the said fire [February 24, 1809] i. The skies, with lightnings awful as their own, Yes-it shall be-the magic of that name Defies the scythe of time, the torch of flame; On the same spot still consecrates the scene, And bids the Drama be where she hath been: This fabric's birth attests the potent spellIndulge our honest pride, and say, How well! ii. As soars this fane to emulate the last, Oh! might we draw our omens from the past, Some hour propitious to our prayers may boast Names such as hallow still the dome we lost. On Drury first your Siddons' thrilling art O'erwhelmed the gentlest, stormed the sternest heart. On Drury, Garrick's latest laurels grew; Here your last tears retiring Roscius drew, Sighed his last thanks, and wept his last adieu : i. Till slowly ebbed the lava of the spent volcanic or, Till ebb'd the lava of (the burning) wave. that molten wave, And blackening ashes mark'd the Muse's grave. [Letter to Lord Holland, Sept. 28, 1812.] ii. That scorns the scythe of Time, the torch of Flame. [Letter to Lord Holland, Sept. 28, 1812.] 20 30 (which I myself saw from a house-top in Covent-garden) was at Westminster Bridge, from the reflection on the Thames."-Letter to Lord Holland, September 25, 1812, Letters, 1898, ii. 148.] That only waste their odours o'er the tomb. 40 50 Friends of the stage! to whom both Players and Must sue alike for pardon or for praise, i. Far be from him that hour which asks in vain or, Far be that hour that vainly asks in turn Sad verse for him as (crowned his Garrick's [Letter to Lord Holland, Sept. 30, 1812.] ii. Such are the names that here your plaudits sought, When Garrick acted, and when Brinsley wrote.-[MS.] 1. [Originally, "Ere Garrick died," etc. "By the by, one of my corrections in the fair copy sent yesterday has dived into the bathos some sixty fathom "When Garrick died, and Brinsley ceased to write.' Ceasing to live is a much more serious concern, and ought not to be first; therefore I will let the old couplet stand, with its half rhymes 'sought' and 'wrote' [vide supra, variant ii.] Second thoughts in every thing are best, but, in rhyme, third and fourth don't come amiss. I always scrawl in this way, and smooth as much as I can, but never sufficiently."-Letter to Lord Holland, September 26, 1812, Letters, 1898, ii. 150.] |