Et tibi forma datur procerior omnibus, inquit,
Et tibi, principibus qui folet effe, color,
Et donec vincat quædam formofior ambas,
Et tibi reginæ nomen, et efto tibi.

His ubi fedatus furor eft, petit utraque nympham
Qualem inter Veneres Anglia fola parit;

Hanc penes imperium eft, nihil optant amplius, hujus

Regnant in nitidis, et fine lite, genis.

THE POPLAR FIELD.

HE poplars are fell'd, farewell to the
fhade,

And the whispering found of the cool colonnade;

The winds play no longer and fing in the leaves, Nor Oufe on his bofom their image receives.

Twelve years have elapfed fince I first took a view Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;

And now in the grass behold they are laid,
And the tree is my feat that once lent me a shade.

The blackbird has fled to another retreat,

Where the hazels afford him a fcreen from the heat, And the scene where his melody charm'd me before Resounds with his sweet flowing ditty no more.

My fugitive years are all hasting away,

And I must ere long lie as lowly as they,

With a turf on my breast, and a stone at my head,
Ere another fuch grove shall arise in its stead.

'Tis a fight to engage me, if any thing can,
To mufe on the perishing pleasures of man;
Though his life be a dream, his enjoyments, I see,
Have a being lefs durable even than he.*

IDEM LATINE REDDITUM.

OPULEÆ cecidit gratiffima copia filvæ,
Conticuêre fufurri, omnifque evanuit
umbra.

Nullæ jam levibus se miscent frondibus auræ,
Et nulla in fluvio ramorum ludit imago.

cogor

Hei mihi! bis fenos dum luctu torqueor annos,
His filvis fuetoque carere receffu,
Cum ferò rediens, ftratafque in gramine cernens,
Infedi arboribus, fub queîs errare folebam.

Ah ubi nunc merulæ cantus? Felicior illum
Silva tegit, duræ nondum permiffa bipenni;

* Cowper afterwards altered this last stanza in the following

manner :

The change both my heart and my fancy employs,
I reflect on the frailty of man, and his joys;
Short-lived as we are, yet our pleasures, we see,
Have a ftill fhorter date, and die fooner than we.

Scilicet exuftos colles campofque patentes
Odit, et indignans et non rediturus abivit.

Sed qui fuccifas doleo fuccidar et ipfe,
Et priùs huic parilis quàm creverit altera filval
Flebor, et, exequiis parvis donatus, habebo
Defixum lapidem tumulique cubantis acervum.

Tam fubitò periiffe videns tam digna manere,
Agnofco humanas fortes et tristia fata—

Sit licèt ipfe brevis, volucrique fimillimus umbræ,
Eft homini brevior citiúfque obitura voluptas.

VOTUM.

MATUTINI rores, auræque falubres,
O nemora, et lætæ rivis felicibus herbæ,
Graminei colles, et amœnæ in vallibus
umbræ !

Fata modò dederint quas olim in rure paterno
Delicias, procul arte, procul formidine novi,
Quam vellem ignotus, quod mens mea femper

avebat,

Ante larem proprium placidam expectare fenectam, Tum demùm exactis non infeliciter annis,

Sortiri tacitum lapidem, aut sub cefpite condi.

TRANSLATIONS FROM VINCENT

BOURNE.

1. THE GLOWWORM.

ENEATH the hedge, or near the stream,

A worm is known to stray,

That shows by night a lucid beam,

Which disappears by day.

Disputes have been, and still prevail,
From whence his rays proceed;
Some give that honour to his tail,
And others to his head.

But this is fure-the hand of might
That kindles up the skies,
Gives him a modicum of light
Proportion'd to his fize.

Perhaps indulgent Nature meant,
By fuch a lamp bestow'd,
To bid the traveller, as he went,
Be careful where he trod:

Nor crush a worm, whose useful light
Might ferve, however small,

To show a stumbling ftone by night,
And fave him from a fall.

Whate'er fhe meant, this truth divine
Is legible and plain,

'Tis

power Almighty bids him fhine,
Nor bids him fhine in vain.

Ye proud and wealthy, let this theme
Teach humbler thoughts to you,
Since fuch a reptile has its gem,
And boasts its splendour too.

2. THE JACKDAW.

HERE is a bird who, by his coat,
And by the hoarseness of his note,
Might be supposed a crow;
A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishoplike, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too.

Above the steeple fhines a plate,
That turns and turns, to indicate

From what point blows the weather;
Look up-your brains begin to swim,
'Tis in the clouds ;-that pleases him,
He chooses it the rather.

Fond of the fpeculative height,
Thither he wings his airy flight,

And thence fecurely fees
The bustle and the raree-show,
That Occupy mankind below,

Secure and at his ease.