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Where in the croft the russet hayrick stands,
The dextrous binder twists his sedgy bands,
Across the stack his sharp-edg'd engine guides,
And the hard mass in many a truss divides 4.

SECOND.

When frost thy turnips fixes in the ground,
And hungry flocks for food stand bleating round,
Let sturdy youths their pointed peckers ply,
Till the rais'd roots loose on the surface lie.

THIRD.

When stormy days constrain to quit the field,
The house or barn may useful business yield;
There crooked snaths of flexile sallow make,
Or of tough ash the fork-stale and the rake.

FIRST.

Full many a chance defeats the farmer's pains,
Full many a loss diminishes his gains;
Wet spoils the seed, or frosts its growth o'erpow'r,
Beasts break the stalk, and birds the grain devour.

SECOND.

While plenteous crops reward thy toil and care,
Thy lib'ral aid may age and sickness share!
Nor let the widow'd cottager deplore
Her fireless hearth, her cupboard's scanty store.

THIRD.

The haughty lord, whom lust of gain inspires, From man and beast excessive toil requires: The gen'rous master views with pitying eyes Their lot severe, and food and rest supplies.

FIRST.

Amid Achaia's streamy vales of old,

Of works and days th' Ascrean pastor told; Around him, curious, came the rustic throng, And wond'ring listen'd to th' informing song.

SECOND.

Where fam'd Anapus' limpid waters stray,
Sicilia's poet tun'd his Doric lay;
While o'er his head the pine's dark foliage hung,
And at his feet the bubbling fountain sprung.

THIRD.

The Latian Maro sung, where Mincio's stream Through groves of ilex cast a silv'ry gleam; While down green vallies stray'd his fleecy flocks, Or slept in shadow of the mossy rocks.

FIRST.

Fair fame to him, the bard whose song displays
Of rural arts the knowledge and the praise!
Rich as the field with ripen'd harvest white-
A scene of profit mingled with delight!

SECOND.

As dewy cherries to the taste in June, As shady lanes to travellers at noon,

4 Hay is usually cut with an oblong, triangular instrument, called a cutting-knife.

5 Snath is the technical term for the handle of a scythe.

To me so welcome is the shepherd's strain;
To kindred spirits never sung in vain!

THIRD.

While lindens sweet and spiky chesnuts blow,
While beech bears mast, on oaks while acorns grow;
So long shall last the shepherd's tuneful rhyme,
And please in ev'ry age and ev'ry clime!

ORIENTAL ECLOGUES.

ADVERTISEMENT.

there is an eastern poem, generally esteemed sacred, which abounds with the most ardent expressions of the one, and luxuriant pictures of the other.

KORASA's tribe, a frequent-wand'ring train,
From Zenan's pastures sought Negiran's plain.
With them Semira left her fav'rite shades,
The loveliest nymph of Yemen's sportive maids!
Her parting hand her fair companions press'd;
A transient sorrow touch'd each tender breast;
As some thin cloud across the morning ray
Casts one short moment's gloom, and glides away:
Their cares, their sports, they hasted soon to tend,
And lost in them the memory of their friend.
But gallant Zerad ill her absence bore,―
A wealthy emir from Katara's shore;
warrior he, the bravest of his race;

THE Oriental Eclogues of Collins have such excel-A
lence, that it may be supposed they must preclude
the appearance of any subsequent work with the
same title.
This consideration did not escape the
author of the following poems; but as the scenery
and sentiment of his predecessor were totally differ-
ent from his own, he thought it matter of little con-
sequence.

A bard high-honour'd in his native place;
Age oft learn'd knowledge from his tuneful tongue,
And list'ning beauty languish'd while he sung.
What time the tribes in camp contiguous lay,
Oft with the fair-one he was wont to stray;
There oft for her fresh fruits and flow'rs he sought,
And oft her flocks to crystal fountains brought.

This kind of composition is, in general, subject to
one disadvantage, for which allowance should be
made. He, who describes what he has seen, may
describe correctly: he, who describes what he has
not seen, must depend for much on the accounts of
others, and supply the rest from his own imagina-Indulg'd the sorrows of his anxious heart.
tion.

Where the tall palm-grove grac'd Alzobah's green,
And sable tents in many a rank were seen 1;
While ev'ning's steps the setting Sun pursu'd,
And the still fields her balmy tears bedew'd;
The pensive lover, there reclin'd apart,

ZERAD;

OR, THE ABSENT LOVER.

AN ARABIAN ECLOGUE.

THE learned and ingenious Mr. Jones, in his elegant and judicious Essay on the Poetry of the Eastern Nations, speaking of the Arabians, has the following passage: "It sometimes happens," says he, "that the young men of one tribe are in love with the damsels of another; and, as the tents are frequently removed on a sudden, the lovers are often separated in the progress of the courtship. Hence, almost all the Arabic poems open in this manner: The author bewails the sudden departure of his mistress, Hinda, Maia, Zeineb, or Azza, and describes her beauty; comparing her to a wanton fawn that plays among the aromatic shrubs. His friends endeavour to comfort him; but he refuses consolation; he declares his resolution of visiting his beloved, though the way to her tribe lie through a dreadful wilderness, or even through a den of lions."-The author of the following Eclogue was struck with this outline, and has attempted to fill it up. An apology for expatiating on the pleasing subjects of love and beauty, when nothing is said to offend the ear of chastity, he supposes needless. If any, however, there be, who question the utility of at all describing those subjects; such may remember, that

His graceful head the costly turban dress'd;
The crimson sash confin'd his azure vest;
His hand the sounding arabeb 2 sustain'd;
And thus his voice in melody complain'd-
Soft as the night-bird's amorous music flows,
In Zibit's gardens, when she woos the rose 3:

"Bright star of Sora's sky, whose matchless blaze
Gilds thy proud tribe with mild, benignaut rays!
Sweet flow'r of Azem's vale, whose matchless bloom
O'er thy fam'd house spreads exquisite perfume!
Blithe fawn of Kosa, at the break of dawn,
Midst groves of cassia, sporting on the lawn!
Too charming beauty! why must I bemoan
Thee from my presence thus abruptly flown?
Ere the shrill trump to march the signal gave,
And banners high in air began to wave;
Ere the tall camel felt his wonted load,
And herds and flocks slow mov'd along the road;
Ere slow behind them march'd the warrior train,
And the struck tents left vacant all the plain;
Could no fond plea obtain a longer stay;
Would no kind hand th intelligence convey?
Ah, hapless me! to Aden's port I stray'd,
Sought gold and gems, but lost my lovely maid!

"My friends, they come my sorrows to allay-
Azor the wise, and Soliman the gay-
One cries, Let Reason hold her sober reign,
Nor Love's light trifles give thy bosom pain!

1 The Arabian tents are black. Vide Canticles, i. 5.

2 Arabebbah, an Arabian and Moorish instrument of music. Vide Shaw's Travels, and Russell's History of Aleppo.

3 Alluding to an eastern fable of the Nightingale courting the Rosc.

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For thee kind Science all her lore displays,
And Fame awaits thee with the wreath of praise.'
O why,' cries one, is she alone thy care?
She's fair, indeed, but other maids are fair:
Negima's eyes with dazzling lustre shine,
And her black tresses curl like Zebid's vine;
On Hinda's brow Kushemon's lily blows,
And on her cheek unfolds Nishapor's rose !
With them, the tale, the song, the dance shall please,
When Mirth's free banquet fills the bow'r of ease.'
Ah cease,' said I; of love he little knows,
Who with sage counsel hopes to cure its woes!
Go, bid in air Yamama's lightnings stay,
Or Perath's lion quit his trembling prey:
Kind Science' lore with Beauty best we share,
And Beauty's hands Fame's fairest wreaths prepare.
I praise Negima's lovely hair and eyes;
Nor Hinda's lily, nor her rose despise ;
But Omman's pearls diffuse a brighter beam
Than the gay pebbles of Kalafa's stream.'—

"O lov'd Semira! whither dost thou rove?
Tread thy soft steps by Sada's jasmine grove?
Dost thou thy flocks on Ocah's mountain keep?
Do Ared's olives whisper o'er thy sleep?—
Ah, no!the maid, perhaps, remote from these,
Some hostile troop, in ambush laid, may seize :
Too lovely captive! she, in triumph borne,
The proud pacha's throng'd baram shall adorn.
Vain fear! around her march her valiant friends;
Brave Omar's hand the bow of Ishmael bends;
Strong Hassan's arm Kaaba's spear can wield,
And rear on high El-makin's pond'rous shield!
Ah, shame to me! shall Sloth's dishonouring chain
From love, from glory, Zerad here detain,
Till grief my cheek with sickly saffron spread,
And my eyes, weeping, match th' argavan's red 4?
Haste, bring my steed, supreme in strength and

grace,

First in the fight, and fleetest in the chase;
His sire renown'd on Gebel's hills was bred,
His beauteous dam in Derar's pastures fed:
Bring my strong lance that ne'er impell'd in vain,
Pierc'd the fierce tiger on Hegesa's plain.
Across the desert I her steps pursue;
Toil at my side, and danger in my view!
There Thirst, fell demon! haunts the sultry air,
And his wild eye-balls roll with horrid glare;
There deadly Sumiel 5, striding o'er the land,
Sweeps his red wing, and whirls the burning sand;
As winds the weary caravan along,
The fiery storm involves the hapless throng,
I go, I go, nor toil nor danger heed;
The faithful lover Safety's hand shall lead.
The heart that fosters virtue's gen'rous flames,
Our holy prophet's sure protection claims.

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4 D' Herbelot informs us, that saffron faces, and argavan eyes, are expressions commonly used in the east, to describe passionate lovers, whose melancholy appears in their countenances, and whose eyes become red with weeping. The argavan is supposed to be the arbor judæ; whose blossoms are of a bright purple. Vide Harmer's Commentary on Solomon's Song, page 162.

Each shady tree of varied foliage shows,
And ev'ry flow'r and ev'ry fruit bestows;
There drop rich gums of ev'ry high perfume;
There sing sweet birds of ev'ry, gaudy plume;
There soft-ey'd Houries tread th' enamell'd green-
Once, and no more, the happy seat was seen;
As his stray'd camel midst the wild he sought,
Chance to the spot the wand'ring Esar brought;
A blissful Irem, midst the desert drear,
Semira's tent my love-sick sight shall cheer.

"What palm of beauty tow'rs on Keran's hills?
What myrrh with fragrance Sala's valley fills?
'T is she, who left so late her fav'rite shades,
The loveliest nymph of Yemen's sportive maids!
Look from thy tent, the curtains fair unfold,
Give to my view thy veil of silk and gold;
O lift that veil! thy radiant eyes di-play-
Those radiant eyes shall light me on my way!
On Hejar's wild rocks from the Persian main,
Thus the Moon rising lights the wilder'd swain.
O raise thy voice! the sound shall give delight,
Like songs of pilgrims distant heard by night!
I come, I come!"-He spoke, and seiz'd the rein,
And his fleet courser spurn'd the sandy plain.

SERIM;

OR, THE ARTIFICIAL FAMINE.

AN EAST-INDIAN ECLOGUE.

THE following account of British conduct and its consequences, in Bengal and the adjacent provinces, some years ago, will afford a sufficient idea of the subject of the following Eclogue. After describing the monopoly of salt, betel-nut, and tobacco, the historian thus proceeds: "Money, in this current, came but by drops; it could not quench the thirst of those who waited in India to receive it. An expedient, such as it was, remained to quicken its pace. The natives could live with little salt, but not without food. Some of the agents saw themselves well situated for collecting the rice into stores; they did so. They knew the Gentoos would rather die, than violate the precepts of their religion by eating flesh. The alternative would therefore be, between giving what they had, and dying. The inhabitants sunk; they that cultivated the land, and saw the harvest at the disposal of others, planted in doubt; scarcity ensued; then the monopoly was easier managed. The people took to roots, and food they had been unaccustomed to eat. Sickness ensued. In some districts, the languid living left the bodies of their numerous dead unburied."-Short History of English Transactions in the East-Indies, p. 145. The above quotation sufficiently proves, that the general plan of the following poem is founded on

which is no less celebrated by the Asiatic poets, than that of the Hesperides by the Greeks. It was planted, as the commentators say, by a king named Shedad; and was once seen by an Arabian, who 5 Sumiel; the fiery blasting wind of the desert.wandered far into the desert, in search of a lost 6" Mabommed, in his Alcoran, in the chapter camel." Jones's Essay on the Poetry of the Eastern of the Morning, mentions a garden, called Irem, Nations.

fact. And, even with regard to its particular incidents, there can be little doubt, but that, among the varied miseries of millions, every picture of distress, which the author has drawn, had its original.

"O GUARDIAN genius of this sacred wave '!
O save thy sons, if thine the pow'r to save!"
So Serim spoke, as sad on Ganges' shore
He sat, his country's miseries to deplore-
"O guardian genius of this sacred wave!
O save thy sons, if thine the pow'r to save!
From Agra's tow'rs to Muxadabat's 2 walls,
On thee for aid the suffring Hindoo calls:
Europe's fell race control the wide domain,
Engross the harvest, and enslave the swain.
Why rise these cumbrous piles along thy tide?
They hold the plenty to our prayers deny'd!
Guards at their gates perpetual watch maintain,
Where Want in anguish craves relief in vain.
'Bring gold, bring gems,' th' insatiate plunderers

cry;

Who hoards his wealth by Hunger's rage shall die.'
Ye fiends! ye have ravish'd all our little store;
Ye see we perish, yet ye ask for more!

Go ye yourselves, and search for gold the mine;
Go, dive where pearls beneath the ocean shine!
What right have ye to plague our peaceful land?
No ships of ours e'er sought your western strand :
Ne'er from your fields we snatch'd their crops away,
Nor made your daughters or your sons our prey.
Not ev'n in thought we quit our native place--
A calm, contented, inoffensive race!

By Avarice led, ye range remotest climes,
And ev'ry nation execrates your crimes.

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Dearth and disease to you alone we owe;
Ye cause the mischief, and enjoy the woe!
"This beauteous clime, but late, what plenty
bless'd!

What days of pleasure, and what nights of rest!
From Gola's streets, fam'd mart of fragrant grain !
Trade's cheerful voice resounded o'er the plain;
There now sad Silence listens to the waves
That break in murmurs round the rocky caves.
Sweet were the songs o'er Jumal's level borne,
While busy thousands throng'd to plant the corn;
Now tenfold tax the farmer forc'd to yield,
Despairs, and leaves unoccupy'd the field.
Sweet were the songs of Burdwan's mulberry grove,
While the rich silk the rapid shuttle wove;
Now from the loom our costly vestments torn,
Th' insulting robbers meanest slaves adorn.
In Malda's shades, on Purna's palmy plain,
The hapless artists, urg'd to toil in vain,
Quit their sad homes, and mourn along the land,
A pensive, pallid, self-disabled band 4!—

"The year revolves- Bring choicest fruits and
flow'rs!

Spread wide the board in consecrated bow'rs;
Bring joy, bring sport, the song, the dance prepare!
'Tis Drugah's feast, and all our friends must
share!'

The year revolves-nor fruits nor flow'rs are seen;
Nor festive board in bow'rs of holy green;
Nor joy, nor sport, nor dance, nor tuneful strain:
'T is Drugah's feast-but grief and terrour reign.
Yet there, ingrate! oft welcome guests ye came,
And talk'd of honour's laws and friendship's flame.
"The year revolves-and Bishen's fast invites
On Ganges' marge to pay the solemn rites;
All, boons of Bishen, great preserver, crave;

"When Timur's house 3 renown'd, in Delhi All, in the sacred flood, their bodies lave:

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The Hindoos worship a god or genius of the Ganges.

2 Muxadabat, or Morshedabat, a large city of India, about two hundred miles above Calcutta. The name is commonly pronounced with the accent on the last syllable; Muxadabát. I have taken the liberty to accommodate this, and some few other words, to my verse, by altering the accentuation; a matter, I apprehend, of little consequence to the English reader.

3 The famous Mahometan tyrant, Auranzebe, during a famine which prevailed in different parts of India, exerted himself to alleviate the distress of his subjects. "He remitted the taxes that were due; he employed those already collected in the purchase of corn, which was distributed among the poorer sort. He even expended immense suns out of the treasury, in conveying grain, by land and water, into the interior provinces, from Bengal, and the countries which lie on the five branches of the Indus." Dow's Indostan, vol. iii. p. 340.

No more, alas!—the multitude no more
Bathe in the tide, or kneel upon the shore;
No more from towns and villages they throng,
Wide o'er the fields, the public paths along:

4 "Those who now made the things the English most wanted, were pressed on all sides-by their own necessities, their neighbours, and the agents employed to procure the company's investments, as the goods sent to Europe are called. These importunities were united, and urged so much, so often, and in such ways, as to produce, among the people in the silk business, instances of their cutting off their thumbs, that the want of them might excuse them from following their trade, and the inconveniences to which they were exposed beyond the common lot of their neighbours." History of English Transactions in the East Indies.

5 Drugah; a Hindoo goddess. "Drugah Poojah is the grand general feast of the Gentoos, usually visited by all Europeans, (by invitation), who are treated by the proprietors of the feast with the fruits and flowers in season, and are entertained every evening with bands of singers and dancers." Vide Holwell's Indostan, vol. ii.

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Sad on our ways, by human foot unworn,
Stalks the dim form of Solitude forlorn!-
From Ava's mountains Morn's bright eyes survey
Fair Ganges' streams in many a winding stray;
There fleecy flocks on many an island feed;
There herds unnumber'd pasture many a mead;
(While noxious herbs our last resource supply,
And, dearth escaping, by disease we die)
"Take these,' ye cry, nor more for food complain!
Take these, and slay like us, and riot on the slain!'
Ah no! our law the crime abhorr'd withstands;
We die-but blood shall ne'er pollute our hands.
O guardian genius of this sacred wave!
Save, save thy sons, if thine the pow'r to save !"

So Serim spoke-while by the Moon's pale beam, The frequent corse came floating down the stream 7. He sigh'd, and rising turn'd his steps to rove Where way'd o'er Nizim's vale the coco-grove; There, midst scorch'd ruins, one lone roof remain'd, And one forlorn inhabitant contain'd.

The sound of feet he near his threshold heard;
Slow from the ground his languid limbs he rear'd:
"Come, tyrant, come! perform a gen'rous part,
Lift thy keen steel, and pierce this fainting heart!
Com'st thou for gold? my gold, alas, I gave,
My darling daughter in distress to save!
Thy faithless brethren took the shining store,
Then from my arms the trembling virgin tore!
Three days, three nights, I've languish'd here
alone-

Three foodless days, three nights to sleep unknown!
Come, tyrant, come! perform a gen'rous part,
Lift thy keen steel, and pierce this fainting heart!"
"No hostile steps the haunt of Woe invade,"
Serim reply'd-and, passing where the glade
A length of prospect down the vale display'd,
Another sight of misery met his view;
Another mournful voice his notice drew!
There, near a temple's recent ruin, stood
A white-rob'd Bramin, by the sacred flood:
His wives, his children, dead beside him lay-
Of hunger these, and those of grief the prey!
Thrice he with dust defil'd his aged head;
Thrice o'er the stream his hands uplifted spread:
"Hear, all ye pow'rs to whom we bend in pray'r!
Hear, all who rule o'er water, earth, and air!
'T is not for them, though lifeless there they lie;
"T is not for me, though innocent I die :-
My country's breast the tiger, Avarice, rends,
And loud to you her parting groan ascends.
Hear, all ye pow'rs to whom we bend in pray'r!
Hear, all who rule o'er water, earth, and air!
Hear, and avenge!-

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"But, hark! what voice, from yonder starry Slides, like the breeze of ev'ning, o'er my ear? Lo, Birmah's form! on amber clouds enthron'd; His azure robe with lucid emerald zon'd;

7 The Hindoos frequently cast the bodies of their deceased into the Ganges; with the idea, I suppose, of committing them to the disposal of the god or genius of the river.

8 Birmah is a principal deity of the Hindoos, in whose person they worship the divine attribute of wisdom. From the best accounts we have of India, the intelligent part of the natives do not worship "stocks and stones," merely as such; but rather the Supreme Existence, in a variety of attributes or manifestations.

He looks celestial dignity and grace,
And views with pity wretched human race!
"Forbear, rash man! nor curse thy country's
foes;

Frail man to man forgiveness ever owes.
When Moisasoor 9 the fell on Earth's fair plain
Brought his detested offspring, Strife and Pain;
Revenge with them, relentless Fury, came,
Her bosom burning with infernal flame!
Her hair sheds horrour, like the comet's blaze;
Her eyes, all ghastly, blast where'er they gaze;
Her lifted arm a poison'd crice 10 sustains;
Her garments drop with blood of kindred veins !
Who asks her aid, must own her endless reign,
Feel her keen scourge, and drag her galling chain!'
"The strains sublime in sweetest music close,
And all the tumult of my soul compose.
Yet you, ye oppressors! uninvok'd on you ",
Your steps, the steps of justice will pursue!
Go, spread your white sails on the azure main ;
Fraught with our spoils, your native land regain;
Go, plant the grove, and bid the lake expand,
And on green ills the pompous palace stand:
Let Luxury's hand adorn the gaudy room,
Smooth the soft couch, and shed the rich per-
fume-

There night's kind calm in vain shall sleep invite,
While fancied omens warn, and spectres fright:
Sad sounds shall issue from your guilty walls,
The widow'd wife's, the sonless mother's calls;
And infant rajahs' bleeding forms shall rise,
And lift to you their supplicating eyes:
Remorse intolerable your hearts will feel,
And your own hand plunge deep th' avenging

steel 12.

(For Europe's cowards Heav'n's command disdain,
To Death's cold arms they fly for ease in vain.)
For us, each painful transmigration o'er,
Sweet fields receive us to resign no more;
Where Safety's fence for ever round us grows,
And Peace, fair flow'r, with bloom unfading blows;
Light's Sun unsetting shines with cheering beam;
And Pleasure's river rolls its golden stream!"

Enrapt he spoke-then ceas'd the lofty strain, And Orel's rocks return'd the sound again.— A British ruffian, near in ambush laid, Rush'd sudden from the cane-isle's secret shade; "Go to thy God!" with rage infernal cry'd, And headlong plung'd the hapless sage into the foaming tide.

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10 Crice, an Indian dagger.

The reader must readily perceive the propriety of this turn of thought in a poem designed to have a moral tendency. There is much difference between a person wishing evil to his enemy, and presaging that evil will be the consequence of that enemy's crimes. The first is an immoral act of the will; the second, a neutral act of the judgment.

11 The Hindoo religion strongly prohibits suicide. Mr. Holwell gives us the following passage from the Shastah: "Whosoever, of the delinquent Debtah, shall dare to free himself from the mortal form wherewith I shall enclose him; thou, Sieb, shalt plunge him into the Onderah for ever: he shall not again have the benefit of the fifteen Boboons of purgation, probation, and purification.

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