The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase: With Memoirs and Critical Dissertations, by the Rev. George GilfillanGay, John
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The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase: With Memoirs and Critical Dissertations, by the Rev. George Gilfillan
Gay, John
Dramatists, English -- 18th century -- Biography; English poetry -- 18th century; Poets, English -- 18th century -- Biography
The merchant, robb'd of pleasure,
Sees tempests in despair:
But what's the loss of treasure,
To losing of my dear?
Should you some coast be laid on,
Where gold and diamonds grow,
You'd find a richer maiden,
But none that loves you so.
4
How can they say that nature
Has nothing made in vain;
Why then beneath the water
Should hideous rocks remain?
No eyes the rocks discover,
That lurk beneath the deep,
To wreck the wandering lover,
And leave the maid to weep.
5
All melancholy lying,
Thus wail'd she for her dear;
Repaid each blast with sighing,
Each billow with a tear;
When o'er the white wave stooping,
His floating corpse she spied;
Then, like a lily drooping,
She bow'd her head, and died.
END OF GAY'S SONGS.
Footnotes:
[Footnote 1: Second son of George II.; born in 1721; he was five years
old at the date of the publication of the 'Fables,' which were written
for his instruction. He is 'Culloden' Cumberland.]
[Footnote 2: 'Siam,' a country famous for elephants.]
[Footnote 3: 'Gresham Hall,' originally the house of Sir Thomas Gresham
in Winchester. It was converted by his will into a college, no remains of
which now exist.]
[Footnote 4: 'Curl,' a famous publisher to Grub Street.]
[Footnote 5: Garth's Dispensary.]
[Footnote 6: 'Porta:' a native of Naples, famous for skill in the occult
sciences. He wrote a book on Physiognomy, seeking to trace in the human
face resemblances to animals, and to infer similar correspondences in
mind.]
[Footnote 7: '----When impious men bear sway,
The post of honour is a private station.'-ADDISON.]
[Footnote 8: 'Antiochus': See Plutarch.]
[Footnote 9: Barrow.]
[Footnote 10: 'The Macedonian:' Alexander the Great.]
[Footnote 11: 'Corelli:' Arcangelo, the greatest fiddler, till Paganini,
that has appeared. He was born in the territory of Bologna, in 1653, and
died in 1713.]
[Footnote 12: 'Antoninus:' Marcus, one of the few emperors who have been
also philosophers.]
THE
LIFE OF WILLIAM SOMERVILLE.
* * * * *
There is a chapter in an old history of Iceland which has often moved
merriment. The title of it is, "Concerning Snakes in Iceland," and the
contents are, "Snakes in Iceland there are none." We suspect, when our
"Life of William Somerville" is ended, not a few will find in it a
parallel for that comprehensive chapter, although we strenuously maintain
that the fault of an insipid and uninteresting life is not always to be
charged on the biographer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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