ELEGIAC MUSINGS. For some rude beauty of its own, As one of the departed. 261 This inscription is still preserved on a brass plate in a stone, within the grounds at Rydal Mount.-ED. ELEGIAC MUSINGS. IN THE GROUNDS OF COLEORTON HALL, THE SEAT OF THE LATE* [These verses were in part composed on horseback during a storm, while I was on my way from Coleorton to Cambridge: they are alluded to elsewhere.]+ In these grounds stands the Parish Church, wherein is a mural monument bearing an Inscription which, in deference to the earnest request of the deceased, is confined to name, dates, and these words :"Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord !” WITH copious eulogy in prose or rhyme1 Yet here at least, though few have numbered days 1 1837. -- Sir George Beaumont died on Feb. 7, 1827.-Ev. + See the Fenwick note to the next poem.-ED. 1835. 262 ELEGIAC MUSINGS. From courtesy and delicate reserve; That sense, the bland philosophy of life, Which checked discussion ere it warmed to strife- Oh, fled for ever! vanished like a blast That shook the leaves in myriads as it passed;- Intensely studied with a painter's eye, Its mellow lustre round thy honoured head; * Aught of these bowers and whence their pleasures flow; If things in our remembrance held so dear, And thoughts and projects fondly cherished here, To thy exalted nature only seem Time's vanities, light fragments of earth's dream 1 1837. Those fine accomplishments 1835. Sir George Beaumont used frequently to read Shakspeare aloud to his household and friends at Coleorton.-ED. ELEGIAC MUSINGS. Rebuke1 us not! The mandate is obeyed That said, "Let praise be mute where I am laid;" The holier deprecation, given in trust To the cold marble, waits upon thy dust; Yet have we found how slowly genuine grief Too long abashed thy Name is like a rose In which her bright-eyed beauty is shut up. Green ivy risen from out the cheerful earth 263 Will fringe the lettered stone; and herbs spring forth. Whose fragrance, by soft dews and rain unbound, Commemorating genius, talent, skill, That could not lie concealed where Thou wert known; Thy virtues He must judge, and He alone, The God upon whose mercy they are thrown. * This votive Tablet may still be seen, with its " 1835. 'green ivy," "fringing the lettered stone." Compare the Sonnet To the Author's Portrait, p. 265.-ED. 264 TO THE AUTHOR'S PORTRAIT. Comp. 1830. Pub. 1835. [I have reason to remember the day that gave rise to this Sonnet, the 6th of November, 1830. Having undertaken, a great feat for me, to ride my daughter's pony from Westmoreland to Cambridge, that she might have the use of it while on a visit to her uncle at Trinity Lodge, on my way from Batewell to Matlock I turned aside to Chatsworth, and had scarcely gratified my curiosity by the sight of that celebrated place before there came on a severe storm of wind and rain which continued till I reached Derby, both man and pony in a pitiable plight. For myself, I went to bed at noon-day. In the course of that journey I had to encounter a storm worse if possible, in which the pony could (or would) only make his way slantwise. I mention this merely to add that notwithstanding this battering I composed, on horseback, the lines to the memory of Sir George Beaumont, suggested during my recent visit to Coleorton.] CHATSWORTH! thy stately mansion, and the pride Of thy domain, strange contrast do present Yet He whose heart in childhood gave her troth TO THE A THOR'S PORTRAIT. [Painted at Rydal Mount, by W. Pickersgill, Esq., for St John's College, Cambridge.] [The last six lines of this Sonnet are not written for poetical effect, but as a matter of fact, which, in more than one instance, could not escape my notice in the servants of the house.] 1 TO THE AUTHOR'S PORTRAIT. Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt To life thou art, and, in thy truth, how dear! 265 1837. To * The colour has already faded somewhat.-ED, + Compare Elegiac Musings, p. 263.-ED. 1835. |