But, never from thy golden bow,
May I beneath the shaft expire,
Whose creeping venom, sure and slow,
Awakes an all-consuming fire;
Ye racking doubts! ye jealous fears!
With others wage eternal war;
Repentance! source of future tears,
From me be ever distant far.
May no distracting thoughts destroy
The holy calm of sacred love!
May all the hours be wing'd with joy,
Which hover faithful hearts above!
Fair Venus! on thy myrtle shrine,
May I with some fond lover sigh!
Whose heart may mingle pure with mine,
With me to live, with me to die.
My native soil! belov'd before,
Now dearer, as my peaceful home,
Ne'er may I quit thy rocky shore,
A hapless, banish'd wretch to roam
This very day, this very hour,
May I resign this fleeting breath,
Nor quit my silent, humble bower;
A doom, to me, far worse than death.
Have I not heard the exile's sigh?
And seen the exile's silent tear?
Through distant climes condemn'd to fly,
A pensive, weary wand'rer here;
Ah! hapless dame! (1) no sire bewails,
No friend thy wretched fate deplores,
No kindred voice with rapture hails
Thy steps, within a stranger's doors.
Perish the fiend whose iron heart,
To fair affection's truth unknown,
Bids her, he fondly lov'd, depart,
Unpitied, helpless, and alone!
Who ne'er unlocks, with silver key (2),
The milder treasures of his soul;
May such a friend be far from me,
And Ocean's storms between us roll!
(1) Medea, who accompanied Jason to Corinth, was deserted by him for the daughter of Creon, king of that city. The Chorus, from which this is taken, here address Medea; though a considerable liberty is taken with the original, by expanding the idea, as also in some other parts of the translation.
(2) The original is « Καθαραν ἀνοίξαντι Κληίδα φρενών : terally, « Disclosing the bright key of the mind. »
BY A COLLEGE EXAMINATION.
HIGH in the midst, surrounded by his peers,
MAGNUS (1) his ample front sublime uprears;
Plac'd on his chair of state, he seems a God,
While Sophs and Freshmen tremble at his nod;
As all around sit wrapt in speechless gloom,
His voice, in thunder, shakes the sounding dome;
Denouncing dire reproach to luckless fools,
Unskill'd to plod in mathematic rules.
Happy the youth! in Euclid's axioms tried,
Though little vers'd in any art beside;
Who, scarcely skill'd an English line to pen,
Scans attic metres, with a critic's ken.
What! though he knows not how his fathers bled,
When civil discord pil'd the fields with dead;
When Edward bade his conquering bands advance,
Or Henry trampled on the crest of France;
(1) No reflection is here intended against the person mentioned under the name of Magnus. He is merely represented as performing an unavoidable function of his office indeed, such an attempt could only recoil upon myself; as that gentleman is now as much distinguished by his eloquence, and the dignified propriety, with which he fills his situation, as he was, in his younger days, for wit and conviviality.
Though, marv'li ng at the name of Magna Charta,
Yet, well he recollects the laws of Sparta;
Can tell what edicts sage Lycurgus made,
While Black stone's on the shelf, neglected laid;
Of Grecian dramas vaunts the deathless fame,
Of Avon's bard, remembering scarce the name.
Such is the youth, whose scientific pate,
Class-honours, medals, fellowships, await;
Or even, perhaps, the declamation prizė,
If to such glorious height he lifts his eyes.
But, lo! no common orator can hope,
The envied silver cup within his Scope :
Not that our heads much eloquence require,
Th' ATHENIAN'S glowing style, or Tully's fire.
A manner clear or warm is useless, since
We do not try, by speaking, to convince;
Be other orators of pleasing proud,
We speak, to please ourselves, not move the crowd:
Our gravity prefers the muttering tone,
A proper mixture of the squeak and groan ;
of action must be seen,"
The slightest motion would displease the Dean;
Whilst ev'ry staring Graduate would prate
Against what he could never imitate.
The man, who hopes t' obtain the promis'd cup,
Must in one posture stand, and ne'er look up;
Nor stop, but rattle over every word,
No matter what, so it can not be heard:
Thus let him hurry on, nor think to rest;
Who speaks the fastest's sure to speak the best :
Who utters most within the shortest space,
May, safely, hope to win the wordy race.
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