ODE ON THE DEATH OF MR. THOMSON BY WILLIAM COLLINS. TO GEORGE LYTTELTON, ESQ., THIS ODE IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. ADVERTISEMENT. THE scene of the following stanzas is supposed to lie on the Thames near Richmond. IN yonder grave a Druid lies Where slowly winds the stealing wave! In yon deep bed of whisp'ring reeds * His airy harp shall now be laid, Then maids and youths shall linger here, To hear the woodland pilgrim's knell. Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore When Thames in summer wreaths is drest, And oft suspend the dashing oar To bid his gentle spirit rest! The harp of Eolus, of which see a description in the "Castle of Indolence." And oft as Ease and Health retire To breezy lawn, or forest deep, But thou, who own'st that earthy bed, Yet lives there one, whose heedless eye But thou, lorn stream, whose sullen tide And see, the fairy valleys fade, Dun night has veil'd the solemn view! The genial meads assign'd to bless Long, long, thy stone, and pointed clay, *Richmond church. NOTES BY THE EDITOR. A.-Page xiv. The rural Scenes of his Boyhood. THE Earl of Buchan says, "Thomson passed his infancy and early youth in the picturesque and pastoral country of Teviotdale in Scotland; which is full of the elements of natural beauty,-wood, water, eminence, and rock, with intermixture of rich and beautiful meadows. The horizon was bounded by the Cheviot, a land of song and of heroic achievement; and the venerable ruins of Jedburgh, Dryburgh, Kelso, and Melrose, were at hand to add suitable impressions to the whole. Every thing undoubtedly conspired to attune the genius of Thomson to sentiment and song. 'He ask'd no more than simple Nature gave: He loved the mountains, and enjoy'd their storms. No false desires, no pride-created wants, Disturb'd the peaceful current of his time, And through the restless, ever-tortured mazę Of pleasure and ambition, bid it rage.' "It is believed, that at Dryburgh, with Mr. Haliburton of New-Mains, a friend of his father, he first tuned bis Doric reed to which he alludes in his 'Autumn :' Wash'd lovely from the Tweed, (pure parent stream,) When he went to reside near Barnet, the gentle undulations of the surrounding country formed a striking contrast to the bold and mountainous district in which he had spent his boyish days; and after having been a resident there, in Lord Binning's family, about four months, he expressed his feelings in these emphatic words :-" This country I am in is not very entertaining : no variety but that of woods, and d them we have in abundance. But where is the living stream, the airy mountain, and the hanging rock, with twenty other things that elegantly please the lover of nature?" B.-Page xv. Thomson's early poetical Productions. A FEW of these juvenile pieces, after having passed through the annual fiery ordeal, have come down to our times in a collected form, and with all the marks of authenticity. After the publication of his "Winter" in 1726, Thomson became a great favourite with Lord George Graham, the third son of the first Duke of Montrose, and is said to have assisted Mr. Mallet for a short time in his education. In the confidence of early friendship, and at his Lordship's solicitation, he transcribed into a book as many of his early poems as he could recollect, and made a present of them to this young nobleman, who considered the collection a great treasure. It descended to his son as a precious heir-loom; and the manner in which it came into the hands of Mr. Goodhugh, many years ago, is here given by himself, in a communication to one of the public journals :- "A miscellaneous collection of the early productions of Mr. James Thomson's juvenile Muse is now in the possession of Mr. Goodhugh, 39, Crawford-street, Portmansquare; and, what renders them of greater interest, they are said to have been copied by the bard himself. The curious relic is stated to have been given by Mr. Thomson to Lord [George] Graham, when upon a visit at his house. It was given, about a year since, to Mr. Goodhugh, by an elderly lady of fortune, Miss Graham, who is grand-daughter to that Lord Graham,—the manuscript having descended into her hands from her father and her brother. The manuscript carries with it internal marks of its antiquity. His biographer, treating of his boyish efforts, states that 'the Rev. Mr. Riccarton, a man of uncommon penetration and good taste, had very early discovered, through the rudeness of young Thomson's puerile essays, a fund of genius well deserving culture and encouragement.' It is probable that among the early productions of his Muse, thus preserved, are the identical pieces which created that impression, and led to the thorough cultivation of a talent that so fully and brilliantly verified the predictions of his partial friends. What stamps these poetical effusions with the strongest traits of being genuine and original, is the occasional poverty and meagreness of thought and expression which they display. It seems that a copy of some of Mr. Thomson's early pieces had fallen into the hands of certain gentlemen, who took up such an unfavourable opinion of his pretensions as a poet, on account of their inaccuracies, that their prejudices led them to under-rate those matchless beauties which burst upon the world when the first of his 'Seasons' was published. "Corrections appear as if made by the author. The local scenery, persons, manners, and dress, described in these pieces, are all Scottish; and, considering the very respectable channel through which this valuable relic has reached the hands of its present owner, there exists no tenable ground whereby to question or deny their authenticity. "The pieces of poetry are twenty-five in number; of which the following is a catalogue:-1. Upon Beauty.-2. Pastoral betwixt David, Thirsis, and the Angel Gabriel, on the Birth of our Saviour.-3. Verses to his Mistress on receiving a Flower from her.-4. Psalm civ. paraphrased.— 5. The yielding Maid.-6. Upon Marlefield.-7. Complaint of the Miseries of this Life.-8. A Poetical Epistle to Sir William Bennet.-9. Upon May.-10. Upon the Hoop.11. A Hymn to God's Power.-12. A Pastoral between Damon and Celia parting.-13. A Morning in the Country.-14. A Pastoral upon the Death of Mr. William Ruddell.-15. Description of Ten o'Clock at Night in the Town.-16. The Fable of the sick Kite and its Dame.17. Upon Mrs. Elizabeth Bennet.-18. A Pastoral Entertainment described.--19. Upon Happiness.-20. An Elegy upon Parting.-21. Fable of a Hawk and Nightingale.— 22. Upon the Sparkler.-23. A Song.-24. Dialogue in Praise of the Pastoral Life.--25. An Elegy. |