Shave the goat's fhaggy beard, left thou too late
In vain fhould'ft feek a ftrainer to difpart
The hufky, terrene dregs, fròm purer Muft.
Be cautious next a proper fteed, to find
Whofe prime is paft; the vigorous horse disdains
Such fervile labours, or, if forc'd, forgets

His paft 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-fpring, pleas'd to find his age
Declining, not unuseful to his lord.

Some, when the prefs, by utmoft 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 fall remains of fpirit, and acquire
Avinous flavour; this the pealants blithe
Will quaff, and whistle, as thy tinkling team
They drive, and fing of Fulca's radiant eyes,
Pleas'd with the medly draught. Nor fhalt 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 difcreetly us'd!

The tender apples, from their parents rent
By ftormy fhocks, muft 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

John Philips.

John Philips.

Defir'd, nor wanted, diligent to learn
The various feafons, and by fkill 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, cherifh'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 intense;
Altho' Devonia much commends the use
Of ftrengthning Kulean; with

ftrength

their native

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

draw

The priest's appointed fhare; with chearful heart

The tenth of thy increase 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 unjustly once with held
The clergy's due, relying on himself,

His fields he tended, with fuccefsless 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 fatnefs, in the middle sky
The dew fufpended ftaid, and left unmoist
His execrable glebe: Recording this,

Be juft, and wife and tremble to transgrefs.

John
Philips.

I 4

Hill.

1

ころ

hill.

Sill.

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 Schduheiten 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 dèm Haymarket; und in seinem Lehrge dichte, 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 (der ~ Linhelfer), vortrug. In folgender Stelle jenes Gedichts ist die Plicht des Schauspielers die verschiednen Leidens schaften und ihre Aeußerungen auszudrücken, mit vielem, nur für den Ton des Lehrgedichts fast 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 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,

Off, to due diftance, 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.

Zill.

How fhall this goal be reach'd, that, feen 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 moist
bed,

Starting, at nature's call, prepares to spread;

First, the prone ROOT breaks downward, thence afcend

Shot stems, whofe joints collateral boughs extend: Twigs, from those 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' inspiring WILL:
Strung to obfequious bend, the mufc'ly frame
Stamps the fhown image. Pleasure, pity, 1hame,