Now fainting, sinking, pale, the nymph appears; Faint, breathless, thus she pray'd, nor pray'd in vain; 66 My native shades-there weep, and murmur there." She said, and melting as in tears she lay, In a soft, silver stream dissolv'd away. The silver stream her virgin coldness keeps, 205 Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore, NOTES. Ver. 207. Still bears the name] The River Lodon. Ver. 211. Oft in her glass, &c.] These six lines were added after the first writing of this poem. Ver. 193, 196. IMITATIONS. "Sol erat a tergo: vidi præcedere longam Ante pedes umbram; nisi si timor illa videbat. Most of the circumstances in this tale are from Ovid. · P. The wat'ry landskip of the pendant woods, In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen, 215 And floating forests paint the waves with green, Through the fair scene roll slow the ling'ring streams, Then foaming pour along, and rush into the Thames. Thou, too, great father of the British floods! With joyful pride survey'st our lofty woods; 220 Where tow'ring oaks their growing honours rear, And future navies on thy shores appear. 225 Not Neptune's self from all her streams receives Like the bright beauties on thy banks below; Might change Olympus for a nobler hill. 230 Happy the man whom this bright Court ap proves, His Sov'reign favours, and his country loves: VARIATIONS. Ver. 233. It stood thus in the MS. And force great Jove, if Jove's a lover still, Ver. 235. Happy the man, who to these shades retires, c 2 235 Blest Happy next him, who to these shades retires, Whom Nature charms, and whom the Muse in spires : Whom humbler joys of home-felt quiet please, He gathers health from herbs the forest yields, 240 Now marks the course of rolling orbs on high; 245 Or looks on heav'n with more than mortal eyes, Survey the region, and confess her home! NOTES. 250 255 Ver. 251. T'observe a mean] This is marked as an imitation of Lucretius in the first, and all editions of Warburton; but erroneously: the passage is in the second book of Lucan, v. 381. Blest whom the sweets of home-felt quiet please; P. Such was the life great Scipio once admir'd, Ye sacred Nine! that all my soul possess, Whose raptures fire me, and whose visions bless, Bear me, oh bear me to sequester'd scenes, The bow'ry mazes, and surrounding greens: To Thames's banks which fragrant breezes fill, Or where ye Muses sport on COOPER'S HILL. (On COOPER'S HILL eternal wreaths shall grow 265 While lasts the mountain, or while Thames shall flow) I seem through consecrated walks to rove, I hear soft music die along the grove: Led by the sound, I roam from shade to shade, NOTES. 270 Ver. 263.] Denham, says Dr. Johnson, seems to have been, at least among us, the author of a species of composition that may be denominated Local Poetry, of which the fundamental subject is some particular landscape, to be poetically described, with the addition of such embellishments as may be supplied by historical retrospection, or incidental meditation. Cooper's Hill, if it be maliciously inspected, will not be found without its faults; the digressions are too long, the morality too frequent, and the sentiments such as will not bear a rigorous inquiry. It was first printed at Oxford, in 1633. Warton. VARIATIONS. Ver. 267. It stood thus in the MS. Methinks around your holy scenes I rove, By god-like Poets venerable made. Here his first lays majestic DENHAM Sung; There the last numbers flow'd from COWLEY'S tongue. O early lost! what tears the river shed, When the sad pomp along his banks was led? NOTES. 275 Ver. 271. majestic Denham] Pope, by the expression of "majestic," has justly characterized the flow of Denham's couplets. It is extraordinary that Pope, who by this expression seems to have appreciated the general cast of harmony in Cooper's Hill, should have made his own cadences so regular and almost unvaried. Denham's couplets are often irregular, but the effect of the pauses in the following lines was obviously the result of a fine ear. The language truly suits the subject. But his proud head the airy mountain hides Whilst winds and storms his lofty forehead beat! Bowles. Ver. 272. There the last numbers flow'd from Cowley's tongue.] Mr. Cowley died at Chertsey on the borders of the Forest, and was from thence conveyed to Westminster. P. Disgusted with the business and bustle of the world, and the intrigues of courts, Cowley thought to have found an exemption of all cares in retiring to Chertsey. Dr. Johnson wrote a Rambler to ridicule his wish to retire to America, and has published a Letter, vol. i. of his Lives, p. 29, which he recommends to the perusal of all who pant for solitude. His house at Chertsey now belongs to Mr. Alderman Clarke. Warton. Ver. 275. VARIATIONS. What sighs, what murmurs, fill'd the vocal shore! P. |