ANSWER

TO

STANZAS ADDRESSED TO LADY HESKETH,

BY MISS CATHARINE FANSHAWE,

IN RETURNING A POEM OF MR. COWPER'S, LENT TO HER ON

CONDITION SHE SHOULD NEITHER SHOW IT, NOR TAKE A
COPY.

1793.
To be remember'd thus is fame,

And in the first degree ;
And did the few like her the same,

The press might sleep for me.
So Homer, in the memory stored

Of many a Grecian belle,
Was once preserved-a richer hoard,

But never lodged so well.

TO THE

SPANISH ADMIRAL COUNT GRAVINA, ON HIS TRANSLATING THE AUTHOR'S SONG ON A ROSE

INTO ITALIAN VERSE.

1793.
My rose, Gravina, blooms anew;

And steep'd not now in rain,
But in Castalian streams by you,

Will never fade again.

ON FLAXMAN'S PENELOPE.

SEPT. 1793.

The suitors sinn'd, but with a fair excuse,
Whom all this elegance might well seduce ;
Nor can our censure on the husband fall,
Who, for a wife so lovely, slew them all.

ON RECEIVING

HEYNE'S VIRGIL FROM MR. HAYLEY.

Oct. 1793. I should have deem'd it once an effort vain To sweeten more sweet Maro's matchless strain, But from that error now behold me free, Since I received him as a gift from thee.

TO MARY.

AUTUMN OF 1793.

The twentieth year is well nigh past,
Since first our sky was overcast ; -
Ah would that this might be the last !

My Mary!
Thy spirits have a fainter flow,
I see thee daily weaker grow ;-
’T was my distress that brought thee low,

My Mary!
Thy needles, once a shining store,
For my sake restless heretofore,
Now rust disused, and shine no more,

My Mary!
For though thou gladly wouldst fulfil
The same kind office for me still,
Thy sight now seconds not thy will,

My Mary!
But well thou play'dst the housewife's part,
And all thy threads with magic art
Have wound themselves about this heart,

My Mary!
Thy indistinct expressions seem
Like language utter'd in a dream;
Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme,

My Mary!

Thy silver locks, once auburn bright,
Are still more lovely in my sight
Than golden beams of orient light,

My Mary! For could I view nor them nor thee, What sight worth seeing could I see ? The sun would rise in vain for me,

My Mary! Partakers of thy sad decline, Thy hands their little force resign; Yet gently prest, press gently mine,

My Mary! Such feebleness of limbs thou provest, That now at every step thou movest Upheld by two, yet still thou lovest,

My Mary! And still to love, though prest with ill, In wintry age to feel no chill, With me is to be lovely still,

My Mary! But ah ! by constant heed I know, How oft the sadness that I show, Transforms thy smiles to looks of woe,

My Mary! And should my future lot be cast With much resemblance of the past, Thy worn-out heart will break at last,

My Mary!

THE CAST-AWAY.

MARCH 20, 1799. OBSCUREST night involved the sky,

The Atlantic billows roar’d, When such a destined wretch as I,

Wash'd headlong from on board, Of friends, of hope, of all bereft, His floating home for ever left.

No braver chief could Albion boast

Than he, with whom he went, Nor ever ship left Albion's coast

With warmer wishes sent.
He loved them both, but both in vain,
Nor him beheld, nor her again.
Not long beneath the whelming brine,

Expert to swim, he lay;
Nor soon he felt his strength decline,

Or courage die away;
But waged with death a lasting strife,
Supported by despair of life.
He shouted: nor his friends had fail'd

To check the vessel's course,
But so the furious blast prevailid,

That pitiless perforce,
They left their outcast mate behind,
And scudded still before the wind.
Some succour yet they could afford;

And, such as storms allow,
The cask, the coop, the floated cord,

Delay'd not to bestow.
But he (they knew) nor ship nor shore,
Whate'er they gave, should visit more.
Nor, cruel as it seem'd, could he

Their haste himself condemn,
Aware that flight, in such a sea,

Alone could rescue them;
Yet bitter felt it still to die
Deserted, and his friends so nigh.
He long survives, who lives an hour

In ocean, self-upheld;
And so long he, with unspent power,

His destiny repell’d;
And ever, as the minutes flew,
Entreated help, or cried—“Adieu !"
At length, his transient respite past,

His comrades, who before

Had heard his voice in every blast,

Could catch the sound no more :
For then, by toil subdued, he drank
The stifling wave, and then he sank.
No poet wept him; but the page

Of narrative sincere,
That tells his name, his worth, his age,

Is wet with Anson's tear :
And tears by bards or heroes shed
Alike immortalize the dead.
I therefore purpose not, or dream,

Descanting on his fate,
To give the melancholy theme

A more enduring date :
But misery still delights to trace
Its semblance in another's case.
No voice divine the storm allay'd,

No light propitious shone,
When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,

We perish’d, each alone.
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelm'd in deeper gulfs than he.

A RIDDLE. I am just two and two, I am warm, I am cold, And the parent of numbers that cannot be told. I am lawful, unlawful—a duty, a fault, I am often sold dear, good for nothing when bought; An extraordinary boon, and a matter of course, And yielded with pleasure when taken by force.

ANSWER. FROM THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, VOL. LXXVI. P. 1224.

A RIDDLE by Cowper

Made me swear like a trooper ;
But my anger, alas ! was in vain;