ODE TO MR. WRIGHT OF DERBY.
BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ.
CHICHESTER: PRINTED BY DENNETT JAQUES. M.DCC.LXXXIII.
ODE, &c.
Away! ye sweet, but trivial Forms,
That from the placid pencil rise,
When playful art the landscape warms
With Italy's unclouded skies!
Stay, vanity! nor yet demand
Thy portrait from the painter's hand!
Nor ask thou, indolence, to aid thy dream,
The soft illusion of the mimic stream,
That twinkles to thy sight with Cynthia's trembling beam!
Be thine, my friend, a nobler task!
Beside thy vacant easil see
Guests, who, with claims superior, ask
New miracles of art from thee:
Valour, who mocks unequal strife,
And clemency, whose smile is life!
"Wright! let thy skill (this radiant pair exclaim)
"Give to our view our favorite scene of Fame,
"Where Britain's Genius blaz'd in glory's brightest flame."
Celestial ministers! ye speak
To no dull agent sloth-opprest,
Who coldly hears, in spirit weak,
Heroic virtue's high behest:
Behold! tho' envy strives to foil
The Artist bent on public toil,
Behold! his flames terrific lustre shed;
His naval blaze mounts from it's billowy bed;
And Calpe proudly rears her war-illumin'd head.
In gorgeous pomp for ever shine
Bright monument of Britain's force!
Tho' doom'd to feel her fame decline
In ill-starr'd war's o'erwhelming course,
Tho' Europe's envirous realms unite
To crush her, in unequal fight,
Her genius, deeply stung with generous shame,
On this exulting rock array'd in flame
Equals her ancient feats, and vindicates her name.
How fiercely British valor pours
The deluge of destructive fire,
Which o'er that watery Babel roars,
Bidding the baffled host retire,
And leave their fall'n, to yield their breath
In different pangs of double death!
Ye shall not perish: no! ye hapless brave,
Reckless of peril thro' the fiery wave
See! British mercy steers, each prostrate foe to save.
Ye gallant chiefs, whose deeds proclaim
The genuine hero's feeling soul,
Elliot, and Curtis, with whose name
Honor enrich'd his radiant roll,
Blest is your fate; nor blest alone,
That rescued foes your virtues own,
That Britain triumphs in your filial worth:
Blest in the period of your glory's birth,
When art can bid it live to decorate the earth!
Alas! what deeds, where virtue reign'd,
Have in oblivious darkness died,
When painting, by the Goths enchain'd,
No life-securing tints supplied!
Of all thy powers, enchanting art,
Thou deemest this the dearest part,
To guard the rights of valour, and afford
Surviving lustre to the hero's sword:
For this, heroic Greece thy martial charms ador'd.
Rival of Greece, in arms, in arts,
Tho' deem'd in her declining days,
Britain yet boasts unnumber'd hearts,
Who keenly pant for public praise:
Her battles yet are firmly fought
By Chiefs with Spartan courage fraught:
Her Painters with Athenian zeal unite
To trace the glories of the prosp'rous fight,
And gild th' embattel'd scene with art's immortal light.
Tho' many a hand may well portray
The rushing war's infuriate shock,
Proud Calpe bids thee, Wright, display
The terrors of her blazing rock:
The burning bulks of baffled Spain,
From thee she claims, nor claims in vain,
Thou mighty master of the mimic flame,
Whose peerless pencil, with peculiar aim,
Has form'd of lasting fire the basis of thy fame.
Just in thy praise, thy country's voice
Loudly asserts thy signal power:
In this reward may'st thou rejoice,
In modest labour's silent hour,
Far from those seats, where envious leagues,
And dark cabals, and base intrigues
Exclude meek merit from his proper home;
Where art, whom Royalty forbade to roam,
Against thy talents clos'd her self-dishonor'd dome.
When partial pride, and mean neglect,
The nerves of injur'd genius gall,
What kindly spells of keen effect
His energy of heart recall?
Perchance there is no spell so strong
As friendship's sympathetic song:
By fancy link'd in a fraternal band,
Artist and Bard in sweet alliance stand;
They suffer equal wounds, and mutual aid demand.
Go then, to slighted worth devote
Thy willing verse, my fearless muse!
Haply thy free and friendly note
Some joyous ardor may infuse
In fibres, that severely smart
From potent Envy's poison'd dart:
Thro' Wright's warm breast bid tides of vigor roll,
Guard him from meek depression's chill controul,
And rouse him to exert each sinew of his soul!
FINIS.