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Not you, Torquatus, boast of Rome,
When Minos once has fix'd your doom,
Or eloquence, or splendid birth,
Or virtue, shall restore to earth.
Hippolytus, unjustly slain,

Diana calls to life in vain ;

Nor can the might of Theseus rend

The chains of hell that hold his friend.

Nov. 1784.

The following TRANSLATIONS, PARODIES, and BURLESQUE VERSES, most of them extempore, are taken from ANECDOTES of Dr. JOHNSON; published by Mrs. Piozzi.

ANACREON, ODE IX.

LOVELY Courier of the sky,

Whence and whither dost thou fly?
Scatt'ring, as thy pinions play,
Liquid fragrance all the way;
Is it business? is it love?
Tell me, tell me, gentle dove.

Soft Anacreon's vows I bear,

Vows to Myrtale the fair,

Grac'd with all that charms the heart,
Blushing nature, smiling art.

Venus, courted by an ode,

On the bard her dove bestow'd;
Vested with a master's right,
Now Anacreon rules my flight;
His the letters that you see,
Weighty charge consign'd to me :
Think not yet my service hard,
Joyless task without reward;
Smiling at my master's gates,
Freedom my return awaits;
But the lib'ral grant in vain
Tempts me to be wild again.
Can a prudent dove decline
Blissful bondage such as mine

Over hills and fields to roam,
Fortune's guest without a home;
Under leaves to hide one's head,
Slightly shelter'd, coarsely fed;
better lot bestows

Now my

Sweet repast, and soft repose;
Now the gen'rous bowl I sip
As it leaves Anacreon's lip;
Void of care, and free from dread,
From his fingers snatch his bread;
Then, with luscious plenty gay,
Round his chamber dance and play ;
Or from wine, as courage springs,
O'er his face extend my wings;

And when feast and frolic tire,

Drop asleep upon his lyre.

This is all, be quick and go,

More than all thou canst not know;

Let me now my pinions ply,

I have chatter'd like a pye.

LINES

Written in ridicule of certain poems published in 1777.

WHERESOE'ER I turn my view,

All is strange, yet nothing new;

Endless labour all along ;

Endless labour to be wrong;

Phrase that time hath flung away,

Uncouth words in disarray,

Trick'd in antique ruff and bonnet,

Ode, and elegy, and sonnet.

PARODY OF A TRANSLATION

FROM THE MEDEA OF EURIPIDES.

ERR shall they not, who resolute explore
Times gloomy backward with judicious eyes ;

And, scanning right the practices of yore,
Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise.

They to the dome where smoke, with curling play,
Announc'd the dinner to the regions round,
Summon'd the singer blithe, and harper gay,
And aided wine with dulcet streaming sound.
The better use of notes, or sweet, or shrill,
By quiv'ring string, or modulated wind;
Trumpet or lyre-to their harsh bosoms chill
Admission ne'er had sought, or could not find.

Oh! send them to the sullen mansions dun,

Her baleful eyes where sorrow rolls around;
Where gloom enamour'd mischief loves to dwell,
And murder, all blood-bolter'd, schemes the wound.

When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish,
And purple nectar glads the festive hour;
The guest, without a want, without a wish,
Can yield no room to music's soothing pow'r.

TRANSLATION

Of the two first Stanzas of the Song “Rio verde, Rio verde,” printed in Bishop PERCY'S Reliques of Ancient British Poetry. An IMPROMPTU.

GLASSY water, glassy water,

Down whose current, clear and strong,

Chiefs confus'd in mutual slaughter,

Moor and Christian, roll along.

IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF ****.

HERMIT hoar, in solemn cell

Wearing out life's evening gray,

Strike thy bosom, sage, and tell

What is bliss, and which the way.

Of the following lines at the end of Baretti's Easy Phraseology:

AN IMPROMPTU.

VIVA Viva la padrona!
Tutta bella, e tutta buona,
La padrona è un angiolella
Tutta buona e tutta bella;
Tutta bella e tutta buona;
Viva! viva la padrona !

LONG may live my lovely Hetty!
Always young, and always pretty:
Always pretty, always young,
Live, my lovely Hetty, long!
Always young, and always pretty.
Long may live my lovely Hetty.

IMPROVISO TRANSLATION

Of the following distich on the Duke of Modena's running away from the comet in 1742 or 1743.

SE al venir vostro i principi se n' vanno
Deh venga ogni di-durate un anno.

Ir at your coming princes disappear,
Comets, come every day-and stay a year.

IMPROVISO TRANSLATION

Of the following lines of M. Benserade, à son lit.
THEATRE des ris, et des pleurs,
Lit! où je nais, et où je meurs,
Tu nous fais voir comment voisins
Sont nos plaisirs, et nos chagrins.
In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,
And born in bed, in bed we die;
The near approach a bed may show
Of human bliss to human wo.

EPITAPH FOR MR. HOGARTH.

THE hand of him here torpid lies,
That drew th' essential form of grace;
Here clos'd in death th' attentive eyes,
That saw the manners in the face.

TRANSLATION

Of the following lines written under a print representing persons

skating.

SUR un mince chrystal l'hyver conduit leurs pas,

Le précipice est sous la glace;

Telle est de nos plaisirs la legere surface;

Glissez, mortels; n'appuyez pas.