Shave the goat's fhaggy beard, left thou too late In vain should'ft feek a ftrainer to difpart The husky, 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, 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.
Has drain'd the pulpous mafs, regale their
With the dry refufe; thou, more wife, fhalt fteep
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 whiftle, as thy tinkling team They drive, and fing of Fufca's radiant eyes, Pleas'd with the medly draught,
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 unusual growth. Such profit fprings from hufks discreetly us'd!
The tender apples, from their parents rent By stormy 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 replenifh'd yearly: He no more
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 tempests arm'a, 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 shall always
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 intense; Altho' Devonia much commends the ufe Of ftrengthning Vulcan; with
Thy wines fufficient, other aid refufe; And, when th' allotted orb of time's compleat, Are more commended than the labour'd drinks.
Nor let thy avarice tempt thee to with
The priest's appointed fhare; with chearful
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 unfeafonable frofts Curb'd his increafing hopes, or when around The clouds dropt fatnefs, in the middle fky The dew fufpended staid, and left unmoist His execrable glebe: Recording this, Be juft, and wife and tremble to transgrefs.
Aaron Hill, (geb. 1685, geft. 1750.) gehört zwar nicht unter die englischen Dichter vom ersten Range; indeß find feine zahlreichen dramatischen Stücke nicht ohne einzelnę 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 Negeln 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 verschiednen Leiden schaften und ihre Aeußerungen auszudrücken, mit vielem, nur für den Ton des Lehrgedichts fast zu lebhaftem, Feuer vorgetragen.
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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 refemblance 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, 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 ftray.
Arduous the tafk, and afks a climbing brain; A head for judgment, and a heart for pain: Eer fenfe imprefs'd, reflects adopted forms, And changeful nature fhakes, with borrow'd ftorms:
F'er ductile genius turns, as paffions wind, And bends, to fancy's curve, the pliant mind.
Mark, when th' expanding feed, from earth's moift 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 thofe boughs, lend leaves, each leaf contains
Side-lefs'ning ftalks, transvers'd by fibry veins. So, from injected thought, fhoots paffion's growth; No fprout 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 shown image. Pleafure, pity, fhame,
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