1

Shave the goat's fhaggy beard, left thou too late.
In vain should'ft feek a ftrainer to difpart
The hufky, terrene dregs, fròm purer Must.
Be cautious next a proper steed to find
Whofe prime is paft; the vigorous horfe difdains
Such fervile labours, or, if forc'd, forgets
His past atchievements, and victorious palms. -
Blind Bayard rather, worn with work,
years,

and

Shall roll th' unwieldly ftone, with fober pace
He'll tread the circling path 'till dewy eve,
From early day-fpring, pleas'd to find his age
Declining, not unufeful to his lord.

Some, when the prefs, by utmost vigour
fcrew'd,

Has drain'd the pulpous mafs, regale their fwine

With the dry refufe; thou, more, wife, fhalt steep

Thy hufks in water, and again employ
The pondrous engine. Water will imbibe
The fmall remains of spirit, and acquire
A vinous flavour; this the pealants blithe
Will quaff, and whistle, as thy tinkling team
They drive, and fing of Fufca's radiant eyes,
Pleas'd with the medly draught, Nor halt thou

now

Reject the Apple-Cheese, tho' quite exhaust;,
Ev'n now 'twill cherifh, and improve the roots
Of fickly plants; new vigour hence convey'd
Will yield an harveft of unufual growth.
Such profit fprings from hufks discreetly us'd!

The tender apples, from their parents rent
By ftormy fhocks, must not neglected lie,
The prey of worms: A frugal man I knew,
Rich in one barren acre, which, fubdu'd
By endless culture, with fufficient Muft
His cafks replenish'd yearly! He no more

John Philips.

Defir'd, nor wanted, diligent to learn
The various feafons, and by f'kill repel
Invading pefts, fuccesful in his cares,
Till the damp Libyan wind, with tempefts arm❜d,
Outragious, blufter'd horrible amidst
His Cyder-grove: O'erturn'd by furious blafts,
The fightly ranks fall proftrate, and around
Their fruitage fcatter'd, from the genial boughs
Stript immature: Yet did he not repine,
Nor curfe his ftars; but prudent, his fall'n heaps
Collecting, cherish'd with the tepid wreaths
Of tedded grafs, and the fun's mellowing beams
Rival'd with artful heats, and thence procur'd
A coftly liquor, by improving time
Equal'd with what the happiest vintage bears.

But this I warn thee, and fhall always

warn,

No heterogeneous mixtures ufe, as fome
With watry Turnips have debas'd their wines,
Too frugal; nor let the crude humours dance
In heated brafs, fteaming with fire intenfe;
Altho' Devonia much commends the use
Of ftrengthning Vulcan; with their
ftrength
Thy wines fufficient, other aid refufe;
And, when th' allotted orb of time's compleat,
Are more commended than the labour'd drinks.

native

Nor let thy avarice tempt thee to with-
draw
The priest's appointed fhare; with chearful
heart

The tenth of thy increafe beftow, and own
Heav'n's bounteous goodnefs, that will fure re-

pay

Thy grateful duty: This neglected, fear
Signal avengeance, fuch as over-took
A mifer, that unjustly once, with held
The clergy's due, relying on himself,

His fields he tended, with fuccefslefs care,
Early, and late, when, or unwifh'd-for rain
Defcended, or unfeasonable frofts
Curb'd his increafing hopes, or when around
The clouds dropt fatnels, in the middle sky
The dew fufpended ftaid, and left unmoift
His execrable glebe: Recording this,
Be juft, and wife and tremble to transgress.

John Philips.

Hill.

Aaron Hill, (geb. 1685, geft. 1750.) gehört zwar nicht unter die englischen Dichter vom ersten Range; indeß sind feine zahlreichen dramatischen Stücke nicht ohne einzelne Schönheiten und auffallende Züge des Genies. Er war, unter mancherlei Veränderungen seiner Lage, auch eine Zeits lang Unternehmer und Direktor der beiden Schaubühnen-in Drurylane und auf dem Haymarket; und in seinem Lehrges dichte, The Art of Acting, bewies er seine Geschicklichkeit zu dieser Stelle, und seine genaue Bekanntschaft mit den dramatischen Regeln für Dichter und Schauspieler, die er auch prosaisch in einem periodischen Blatte, The Prompter (der Linhelfer), vortrug. In folgender Stelle jenes Gedichts ist die Pflicht des Schauspielers die verschiedne Leidenz schaften und ihre Aeußerungen auszudrücken, mit vielem, nur für den Ton des Lehrgedichts faßt zu lebhaftem, Feuer vorgetragen.

THE ACTOR.

Why was the actor ftain'd, by law's decree ?

Loft time's recov'rer! truth's awak'ner, he!
Paffion's refiner! life's fhoal coaft furvey'd
The wife man's pleafer, an the good man's aid.
Precept, and practice, in one teacher, join'd,
Bodied resemblance of the copied mind;
Nature confirms, art dignifies his claim,
And only cant's low crawl defiles his name.

-

If, but by comprehenfion we poffefs,
And every greater circle holds the lefs;

No rank's high claim can make the player's
fmall,

Since, acting each, he comprehends them, all,

Off,

Off, to due distance, half ye ftalking train!
Blots of a title, your low taftes profane!
No dull, cold, mouther fhares the actor's plea,
Rightly to feem, is tranfiently, to be.

How shall this goal be reach'd, that, seen moft
nigh,

Still glides more diftant from th' advancing eye?
Like the fky's fea-dipt arch, heaven's fancied

bound,

For ever fail'd to, and, yet, never found.
How fhall trac'd practice hit th' untrodden way?
Where life is travell'd out, in arts to stray.

Arduous the tafk, and afks a climbing brain;
A head for judgment, and a heart for pain:
E'er fenfe imprefs'd, reflects adopted forms,
And changeful nature fhakes, with borrow'd
ftorms;

E'er ductile genius turns, as paffions wind,
And bends, to fancy's curve, the pliant mind.

↑

Mark, when th' expanding feed, from earth's moist
bed,

Starting, at nature's call, prepares to spread;
First, the prone ROOT breaks downward, thence
afcend

Shot items, whofe joints collateral boughs extend:
Twigs, from those boughs, lend leaves, each leaf
contains

Side-lefs'ning stalks, transvers'd by fibry veins.
So, from injected thought, fhoots paffion's growth;

No iprout fpontaneous, no chance child, of floth:
IDEA lends it ROOT firm, on touch'd minds,
Fancy, (fwift planter!) first, th' impreffion binds.
Shap's in conception's mould, nature's prompt
fkill

--

Bids fubject nerves obey th' infpiring WILL:
Strung to obfequious bend, the mufc'ly frame
Stamps the fhown image. Pleafure, pity, fhame,