lime. For, indeed, fuch to me appear the Paffages that I fhall tranfcribe from Mr. JAMES THOMSON on the Seafons, viz. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter; late Pieces of Poetry, which, according to LONGINUS's Criterion of Sublimity, have upon a repeated Perufal irrefiftably forced my Attention and lasting Admiration.
The following fublime APOSTROPHES are his.
The first in Praife of Agriculture. After having described the preparative Effects of the Spring, and Labours of the Hufbandman in plowing, fowing, harrowing, &c.— he says —
BE gracious, HEAV’N! for now laborious Man Has done bis Due. Ye fostering Breezes, blow! Ye foftening Dews, ye tender Showers, defcend! And temper all, thou world-reviving Sun, Into the perfect Year! Nor, ye who live In Luxury and Eafe, in Pomp and Pride, Think thefe loft Themes unworthy of your Ear. 'Twas such as thefe the Rural MARO fung To the full ROMAN Court, in all it's Height Of Elegance and Tafte. The facred Plow Employ'd the Kings and Fathers of Mankind, In ancient Times. And fome, with whom compar'd You're but the Beings of a Summer's Day, Have held the Scale of Justice, shook the Lance Of mighty War, then with defcending Hand, Unus'd to little Delicacies, feiz'd
The Plow, and greatly independant liv'd.
The next to the Supreme Being, as the Soul of Vegetation
HAIL, MIGHTY BEING! UNIVERSAL SOUL Of Heav'n and Earth! ESSENTIAL PRESENCE, bail!
To THEE I bend the Knee; to THEE my Thoughts Continual climb; who, with a Master-Hand, Haft the great Whole into Perfection touch'd. By THEE, the various vegetative Tribes, Wrap'd in a filmy Net, and clad with Leaves, Draw the live Ether, and imbibe the Dew. By THEE, &c.
His next is in recommending a vegetable Diet, and describing the Cruelty of feeding on Animals
Who wears fweet Smiles, and looks erect on Heav'n, Eer ftoop to mingle with the prowling Herd, And dip his Tongue in Blood? Alas! ye Flocks, What have ye done? ye peaceful People, what, To merit Death? You, who have giv❜n us Milk In lufcious Streams, and lent us your own Coat Against the Winter's Cold? whofe Ufefulness In living only lies. And the plain Ox, That harmless, boneft, guileless Animal, In what has be offended? He, whofe Toil, Patient, and ever-ready, clothes the Fields With all the Pomp of Harvest; shall be bleed, And wrestling groan beneath the cruel Hands Even of the Clowns be feeds?
Spring, ver. 402.
Another
Another to Light, while he defcribes the Sun rifing
BUT yonder comes the powerful King of Day, Rejoicing in the East, and burnish'd plays On Rocks, and Hills,and Towers, and wandering Streams, High-gleaming from afar. Prime chearer Light! Of all material Beings first, and best !
Efflux divine! Nature's refplendent Robe! Without whofe vefting Beauty all were wrap'd In uneffential Gloom, &c.
Another to the chief Architect
HOW Shall I then attempt to fing of Him, Whofe fingle Smile has, from the first of Time, Fill'd, overflowing, all thofe Lamps of Heav'n, That beam for ever thro' the boundless Sky? But fhould be hide his Face, th' aftonish'd Sun, And all th' extinguifh'd Stars, would loofening reel, Wide from their Spheres, and Chaos come again. And yet was every faultering Tongue of Man, Almighty Poet! filent in thy Praise; Thy matchless Works in each exalted Line, And all the full harmonic Universe, Would vocal, or expreffive, thee atteft,
The Caufe, the Glory, and the End of all.
Another to Hufbandmen, recommending Charity in Harvest
BEHIND the Mafter walks, builds up the Shocks; And, confcious, glancing oft this Way and that His fated Eye, feels his Heart heave with Joy.
The Gleaners Spread around, and here and there, Spike after Spike, their sparing Harvest pick, Be not too narrow, Hufbandmen! but fling From the full Sheaf, with charitable Stealth, The liberal Handful. Think, ob! grateful, think! How good the God of Harveft is to you; Who pours Abundance o'er your flowing Fields; While thefe unhappy Partners of your Kind Wide-bover round you, like the Fowls of Heav'n, And afk their humble Dole. The various Turns Of Fortune ponder; that your Sons may want What now with hard Reluctance, faint, ye give. Autumn, ver. 174.
The next to the Almighty, a Prayer worthy
FATHER of Light and Life! thou Good fupreme! Q teach me what is good! teach me thyself! Save me from Folly, Vanity, and Vice,
From every low Purfuit! and feed my Soul With Knowledge, confcious Peace, and Virtue pure, Sacred, fubftantial, never-fading Bliss!
The laft I fhall produce, is his Address to Infidels concerning the Soul of the great Sir ISAAC NEWTON, departed
AND you, ye hopeless gloomy-minded Tribe! You who, unconscious of thofe nobler Flights That reach impatient at immortal Life, Against the prime endearing Privilege Of Being dare contend, fay, can a Soul
Of fuch extenfive, deep, tremendous Powers, Enlarging fill, be but a finer Breath Of Spirits dancing thro' their Tubes a while, And then for ever loft in vacant Air!
EST by my laft, you should think I wander too far from my Author, I now re
LONGINUS in SECTION XVII. fays that Figures and Sublimity stand mutually in need of each other, and hints that it is not the bare Ufe of Figures that can cause Sublimity in Stile, but the proper Management of them. Becaufe Figures may be imperfect various ways
FIGURES, unnatʼral, fenfelefs, too-fine-fpun, Over-adorn'd, affected, copious, shun.
IN SECTION XVIII. he treats of EROTESIS, or Interrogation, a Figure very useful to fix the Attention of our Auditors.
Mr. THOMSON has very Sublime Ones.
Thus he afcribes the various Instinct in Animals to Divine Providence
WHAT is this MIGHTY BREATH, ye Curious, say, Which, in a Language rather felt than heard,
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