Gray.

Yet ev'n thele bones from infult to protect
Some frail memorial ftill erected nigh,

With uncouth rhymes and fhapelefs fculpture
deck'd;

Implores the paffing tribute of a figh.

Their name, their years, ipelt by th' unletter'd
Mufe,

The place of fame and elegy fupply:

And many a holy text around fhe ftrews,
That teach the ruftic moralift to die.

For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
This pleafing anxious being e'er refign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the chearful day,
Nor caft one longing ling'ring look behind?

On fome fond breaft the parting foul relies,
Sonie pious drops the clofing eye requires;
Ev'n from the tomb the voice of nature cries,
Ev'n in our Afhes live their wonted Fires.

For thou, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead
Doft in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely Contemplation led,
Some kindred fpirit i hall enquire thy fate,

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Haply fome hoary-headed swain may fay,
Oft have we feen him at the peep of dawn
Brufhing with hafty step the dews away
To meet the fun upon the upland lawn.

"

"

99

"

"

There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantaftic roots fo high,

His liftlefs length at noontide would he ftretch, „And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

"Hard by yon wood, now fmiling as in fcorn,
,,Muttring his wayward fancies he would rove;
,,Now drooping, woeful, wan, like one forlorn,
"Or craz'd with care, or crols'd in hopeless love.

»One

One morn I mifs'd him on the custom'd hill, „Along the heath and near his fav'rite tree; Another came; nor yet befide the rill,

"

Nor the lawn, nor at the wood was he. up

"The next with dirges due in fad array

"

Grar.

„Slow thro' the church-way path we faw him born. Approach and read (for thou can't read) the Lay, Grav'd on the ftone beneath yon aged thorn!"

THE EPITAPH.

Here refts his head upon the lap of Earth,
A Youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown:
Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth
And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his foul fincere,
Heav'n did a recompence as largely fend;
He gave to Mis'ry all he had a tear,

He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

No farther feek his merits to disclofe,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose) The bofom of his Father and his God.

Beisp. Samml. 4. B.

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Jer

Jerningham,

Ferning ham.

S. B. I. 'S. 83. Folgende Elegie von ihm ist offens bar eine Nachahmung der vorhergehenden von Gray, der sie indeß durch Nührung und leidenschaftliche Schilderung nås her kommt, als durch Schönheit und Harmonie der Spraz che. Sie wurde im J. 1762 zuerst einzeln gedruckt. Man fieht bald, daß unter den Magdalenen reuige gefallene Personen des andern Geschlechts verstanden werden, deren traurige Lage und bedauernswerther Zustand von dem Dichter überaus treffend geschildert wird. Jene Benennung ist in England ziemlich geläufig, seitdem das bekannte Magdalenenspital in London, als Zuflucht jener Unglücklichen, ers richtet ist.

See, to your fane the fuppliant nymphs repair,
At virtue's fhrine to breathe Contrition's figh,
Their youthful cheek is pal'd with early care,..
And forrow dwells in their dejected eye.

Hark! they awake a folemn plaintive lay,
Where Grief with Harmony delights to meet:
Not Philomela from her lonely spray,
Trills her clear note more querulously fweet.

Are thefe the fair (late Pleafure's youthful quire)
Who wont the dome of Luxury to tread?

Appear in all the fplendor of attire?

And vie in beauty with the high-born maid?

The fmiling fcenes of Pleafure they forfake,
Obey no more Anrufement's idle call,
Nor mingling with the fons of mirth partake
The treat voluptuous, or the feftive ball.

For

For fober weeds they change their flowing train, Jerningham, Of the pearl bracelet ftrip the graceful arm, Conceal the breaft that glow'd in ev'ry vein, And madden'd' into joy at Love's alarm.

No longer now the diamond's dazzling ray
Darts from the cunning treffes of the hair;
Nor do thofe trefles any more display
The colour'd plumes that fported in the air.

Yet Beauty lingers on their mournful brow,
As loth to leave the cheek fuffus'd with tears,
Which fcarcely blushing with a languid glow,
Like Morn's faint beam thro' gath'ring mist appears.

No more compare them to the gaudy flow'r, Whose painted foliage wantons in the gale: They look the lily drooping from the fhow'r, Or the pale violet fick'ning in the vale.

If fond of empire and of conqueft vain,
They frequent vot'ries to their altars drew,
Yet blaz'd thofe fplendid altars to their bane
The idol they, and they the victim too!

Once deftitute of counfel, aid, or food,
Some helpless orphans in this dome refide,
Who (like the wand'ring children in the wood)
Trod the rude paths of life without a guide.

Some who encircled by the great and rich
Were won by wiles and deep defigning art,
By fplendid bribes, and foft perfuafive speech,
Of pow'r to cheat the young unguarded heart.

Some on whom Beauty breath'd her radiant
bloom,

While adverse stars all other gifts remov'd;
Who hurried from the dungeon's living tomb,
To scenes their inborn virtue disapprov❜d.

Jerningham.

1

What tho' their youth imbib'd an early ftain,
A fecond innocence is now their claim;
While in the precincts of this blefs'd domain,
They bafk beneath the rays of rifing Fame.

So the young myrtles in Misfortune's day,
Nipt by the blast that fwept their vernal bed,
In heltring walls their tender leaves display,
And wak'ning into life new fragrance flied.

Tho' white-wing'd Peace protect this calm abode,
Tho' each tumultuous paffion be fupprefs'd,
Still Recollection wears a fting to goad,

Still Confcience wakes to rob their foul of rest.

See one the tort'ring hour of mem❜ry prove
Who wrapt in penfive fecrecy forlorn,
Sits mufing on the pledges of her love,
Who fell the victims of paternal scorn.

Forgot, deferted in th' extremeft need,
By him who fhou'd have rear'd their tender age:
,,Was this, Seducer, this the promis'd meed?"
She cries then finks beneath Affliation's rage.

Her bufy mind recalls the fatal plain,

Which with low lab'ring fteps fhe journey'd o'er,
Half-yielding to the fierce impetuous rain,
While in her arms two helplefs babes he bore.

Her mind recalls how at that awful hour
The dismal owlet fcream'd her fhiv'ring note,
How fhriek'd the fpirit from the haunted tow'r,
While other founds of woe were heard remote.

How to the covert of a tott'ring fhed,

As Night advanc'd, fhe fearfully retir'd,

And as around the dark'ning horror spread
Her famifh'd infants on her breaft expir'd.

How