The footheft fhepherd of the flow'ry vale: Dver. "Which o'er our Fleecy wealth and harmless fports Thus have expanded wide their fhelt ring arms tent "Ye gentle Shepherds! pillow us at night." " Yes, tuneful Damon, for our cares are fhort, „Rifing and talling with the cheerful day." Colin reply 'd;,, and pleafing weariness „Soon our unaching heads to fleep inclines. Is it in cities fo? where, poets tell, " " The cries of forrow fadden all the streets, „Alas! that any ills from wealth should rife! "May the fweet nightingale on yonder spray, " May this clear ftream, thefe lawns, thofe fnowwhite lambs Which with a pretty innocence of look „Skip on the green, and race in little troops; " Recall them erring! this is Damon's with." „Huge Breaden's *) ftony fummit once After a kidling: Damon, what a scene! "And here and there, between the fpiry rocks, 99 *) Breaden, a hill on the borders of Montgomeryfhire. Tyer. ,,Each greedy wretch for tardy - rifing wealth وو 99 And piping, careless, filly fhepherds we, "We filly fhepherds, all intent to feed "Our fnowy flocks, and wind the fleeky Fleece."! ,, ,,Deem not, however, our occupation mean," " ,,But hafte, begin the rites: fee purple Eve Stretches her fhadows: all ye Nymphs and Swains. ,,Hither affemble! Pleas'd with honours due, " Shall blefs our cares, when fhe by moonlight clear Skins o'er the dales, and eyes our fleeping folds; ,,Or in hoar caves around Plynlymmon's brow, Where precious minerals dart their purple gleams ,, Among her fifters fhe reclines; the lov'd,, ,,Vaga, profufe of graces, Ryddol rough, „Blithe Yftwith, and Clevedoc, *) swift of foot; ,,And mingles various feeds of flow'rs and herbs, ,,In the divided torrents, ere they burst " Thro' the dark clouds, and down the mountain roll. ,,Nor taint-worm fhall infect the yeaning herds, „Nor *) Vaga, Ryddol, Fftwith, and Clevedoc, rivers, the fprings of which rife in the fides of Plynlym men „Nor penny-grafs, nor spearwort's pois'nous Dyer. leaf." He faid: with light fantastic toe the nymphs And o'er the dimpled ftream a thousand flow'rs, Mix'd with the greens of burnet, mint, and thy me, And trefoil, fprinkled with their sportive arms. Such cuftom holds along th' irriguous vales Difpers'd in copious measure: early fruits And those of frugal ftore, in husk or rind; cream Soft temper'd, în full merriment they quaff, Of pipe, fheep, kine, and birds, and liquid Dolvoryn, a ruinous castle in Montgomeryfhire, on the Dyer. Unite their echoes: near at hand the wide 1 Arm Armstrong. Dr. John Armstrong war ein einsichtvoller und gefchickter Arzt, der zu Anfange dieses Jahrhunderts im Kirchspiel Castleton geboren wurde, und im J. 1779 in London starb. Sein erstes Lehrgedicht, The Oeconomy of Love hatte zu viel freie Stellen, die er in einer umgeånderten Ausgabe vom J. 1768 größtentheils wegließ; indeß fand er doch dieß Gedicht einer Aufnahme in die Sammlung seiner wißigen Schriften nicht würdig, die er im J. 1770 unter dem Titel, Miscellanies, in zwei Bånden herausgab. An der Spike dieser Sammlung steht sein besseres, und von Seiten des Inhalts sowohl als der Ausführung überaus schäßbares Lehrgedicht: The Art of preferving Health, in vier Büchern, worin Vorschriften der Lebensordnung in vierfacher Rücksicht, auf Luft, Nahrung, Bewegung und Gemüthszustand, ertheilt werden. Zur Probe gebe ich hier nur eine kurze Stelle des legten Buchs, weil das ganze Gedicht neulich im zweiten Bande von Hrn. Benzler's Poetical Library, einer sehr empfehlungswerthen Sammlung der besten, englischen didaktis schen und beschreibenden Gedichte abgedruckt ist. Vergl. Dusch's Briefe, Th. II. Br. 15. THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH, Arnistrong. How to live happiest; how avoid the pains, |