Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin: Comprising the Celebrated Political and Satirical Poems, of the Rt. Hons. G. Canning, John Hookham Frere, W. Pitt, the Marquis Wellesley, G. Ellis, W. Gifford, the Earl of Carlisle, and Others.
History
Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin: Comprising the Celebrated Political and Satirical Poems, of the Rt. Hons. G. Canning, John Hookham Frere, W. Pitt, the Marquis Wellesley, G. Ellis, W. Gifford, the Earl of Carlisle, and Others.
English poetry; France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Poetry; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1789-1820
END OF ACT THE FOURTH.
[Illustration]
No. XXXII.
June 18, 1798.
We are indebted for the following imitation of CATULLUS to a literary
correspondent. Whether it will remove the doubts we formerly expressed,
of CITIZEN MUSKEIN’S acquaintance with the classics, from the minds of
our readers, we cannot pretend to say. It is given to us as a faithful
translation from the French—as such, we present it to our readers;
premising only, that though the _Citizen Imitator_ seems to have
_Sans-culottized_ the original in two or three places, yet he everywhere
expresses himself with a _naïveté_ and truth in his verse that we seek
for in vain in many of his countrymen who have recorded their victories
and defeats in very vulgar prose.
AN AFFECTIONATE EFFUSION OF CITIZEN MUSKEIN TO HAVRE-DE-GRACE.
Fairest of cities,[284] which the Seine
Surveys ’twixt Paris and the main,
Sweet HAVRE! sweetest HAVRE, hail!
How gladly with my tatter’d sail,[285]
Yet trembling from this wild adventure,
Do I thy friendly harbour enter!
Well—now I’ve leisure, let me see
What boats are left me; one, two, three—
Bravo! the better half remain;
And all my heroes are not slain.
And if my senses don’t deceive,
I too am safe,[286]—yes, I believe,
Without a wound I reach thy shore
(For I have felt myself all o’er);
I’ve all my limbs, and, be it spoken
With honest triumph, no bone broken.
How pleasing is the sweet transition[287]
From this vile Gun-boat Expedition;
From winds and waves, and wounds and scars,
From British soldiers, British tars,
To his own house, where, free from danger,
MUSKEIN may live at rack and manger;
May stretch his limbs in his own cot,[288]
Thankful he has not gone to pot;
Nor for the bubble Glory strive,
But bless himself that he’s alive!
HAVRE,[289] sweet Havre! hail again,
O! bid thy sons (a frolic train,[290]
Who under CHÉNIER welcomed in,
With dance and song, the _Guillotine_).
In long procession seek the strand;
For MUSKEIN now prepares to land,
’Scaped, Heav’n knows how, from that cursed crew
That haunt the rocks of SAINT MARCOU.
[TO THE PENINSULA OF SIRMIO.
UPON THE RETURN OF THE POET TO HIS COUNTRY HOUSE THERE.
_Translated_ from CATULLUS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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