John Berries, and fky-dy'd Plumbs, and what in coat Rough, or foft rind, or bearded hufk, or fhell; Fat Olives, and Pifacio's fragrant nut,
And the Pine's tafteful Apple: autumn paints
Aufonian hills with Grapes, whilft English
plains
Blush with pomaceous harvefts, breathing fweets.
O let me now, when the kind early dew
Unlocks th' embofom'd odors, walk among
The well-rang'd files of trees, whofe full ag'd
ftore
Diffuse Ambrofial fteams, than Myrrh, or Nard
More grateful, or perfuming flow ry Bean!
Soft whifp'ring airs, and the lark's matin fong
Then woo to mufing, and becalm the mind
Perplex'd with irkfome thoughts.
Thrice happy
Beft portion of the various year, in which
Nature rejoiceth, fmiling on her works
Lovely, to full perfection wrought! but ah,
Short are our joys, and neighb'ring griefs di
fturb
Our pleasant hours. Inclement winter dwells
Contiguous; forthwith frofty blafts deface
The blithfome year: trees of their fhrivel'd
Are widow'd, dreary ftorms o'er all prevail.
Now, now's the time; ere hafty funs forbid
To work, difburden thou thy faplefs wood
Of its rich progeny; the turgid fruit
Abounds with mellow liquor; now exhort
Thy hinds to exercife the pointed steel
On the hard rock, and give a wheely form
To the expected grinder: now prepare
Materials for thy mill, a fturdy poft
Cylindric, to fupport the grinder's weight
Exceffive, and a flexile fallow' entrench'd,
Rounding, capacious of the juicy hord.
Nor must thou not be mindful of thy prefs
Long ere the vintage; but with timely care
Shave the goat's fhaggy beard, left thou too late
In vain fhould'st seek a ftrainer to difpart
The hufky, terrene dregs, fròm purer Muft.
Be cautious next a proper fteed to find
Whose prime is paft; the vigorous horse difdains
Such fervile labours, or, if forc'd, forgets
His past atchievements, and victorious palms.
Blind Bayard rather, worn with work, and
years,
Shall roll th' unwieldly ftone, with fober pace
He'll tread the circling path 'till dewy eve,
From early day-spring, 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
steep
Thy husks in water, and again employ
The pondrous engine. Water will imbibe
The Imall remains of fpirit, and acquire
A vinous flavour; this the peafants blithe
Will quaff, and whiftle, as thy tinkling team
They drive, and fing of Fulca's radiant eyes,
Pleas'd with the medly draught. Nor halt thou
Reject the Apple Cheese, tho' quite exhaust;
Ev'n now 'twill cherish, and improve the roots
Of fickly plants; new vigour hence convey'd
Will yield an harveft of unufual growth.
Such profit fprings from hufks difcreetly 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 Must
His cafks replenifh'd yearly: He no more
Defir'd, nor wanted, diligent to learn
The various feafons, and by fkill repel
Invading pets, 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
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 ufe
Of strengthning 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 prieft's appointed fhare; with chearful.
The tenth of thy increafe beftow, and own
Heav'n's bounteous goodness, that will fure re-
pay
Thy grateful duty: This neglected, fear
Signal avengeance, fuch as over-took
A mifer, that unjuftly 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 fatnels, in the middle fky
The dew fufpended ftaid, and left unmoift
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 einzelne Schönheiten und auffallende Züge des Genies. Er war, unter mancherlei Veränderungen seiner Lage, auch eine Zeitlang Unternehmer und Direktor der beiden Schaubühnen in Drurylane und auf dem Haymarket; und in seinem Lehrgedichte, The Art of Acting, bewies er seine Geschicklichkeit zu dieser Stelle, und seine genaue Bekanntschaft mit den dras matischen Regeln für Dichter und Schauspieler, die er auch prosaisch in einem periodischen Blatte, The Prompter (det Einhelfer), 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 faft zu lebhaftem, Feuer vorgetragen.
W
hy was the actor stain'd, by law's decree?
Loft time's recov'rer! truth's awak'ner, he!
Paffion's refiner! life's 1 hoal 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.
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