POEMS OF CHARLES GRAHAM, 1778
"Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose and Verse" by Charles Graham of Penrith, Cumberland, was published in Kendal in 1778 (although a number of individual pieces had first been printed in local newspapers, etc.). Here is a list of all the poem titles in the collection, with page numbers, accompanied by the first two lines of each poem.
Eulogium on the Dignity of Verse | 3 |
Come, gentle muse! in pleasing strains rehearse Th' enchanting magic of immortal verse! | 3 |
Invocation to Spring | 5 |
Come, gentle spring, sweet blooming goddess come, On gentle gales, thrice welcome! urge thy way, | 5 |
Ode to Spring | 6 |
Now winter's chilling blasts are o'er, And spring exerts her genial power | 6 |
The Contrast: an Ode | 9 |
When nature first with vivifying heat, Bid virgin earth a fruitful mother grow; | 9 |
Ode to June | 12 |
Sweet May with all her blooming charms, is past, Fled like a meteor, from th' astonish'd eye; | 12 |
Midsummer-Day: a Pastoral Poem | 14 |
The month of fair VENUS is fled, MAIA has quitted the scene; | 14 |
Parridel's Complaint, or the Laudable Resolution A Pastoral in Imitation of Shenstone | 18 |
Ye shepherds so chearful and gay, Who wanton it over the plains; | 18 |
The Forlorn Shepherd: a Pastoral | 21 |
How blest were thy moments, how soft did they glide, The seasons how sweet did they pass? | 21 |
A Retrospect | 26 |
To pleasing shades and scenes of flow'ry joy, My fond romantic soul will often rove, | 26 |
The Disconsolate Shepherdess: a Pastoral | 27 |
No nymph e'er enjoyed a more tranquil retreat, Than fortune bestow'd to my lot; | 27 |
An Elegy on the Death of an Only Son Who Died at Four Years of Age | 31 |
Cease, cease my friend, 'tis impious thus to grieve, Exert the man, when gloomy thoughts invade, | 31 |
Verses Occasioned by the Death of a Son Who Was Born on the Twenty Fourth of June | 34 |
His birth auspicious, (tho' his fate severe) FLORA for him her flow'ry carpet spread | 34 |
Autumnal Reflections | 35 |
Past are the pleasing months of summer's reign, When I with pleasure rov'd the meads among; | 35 |
A Soliloquy on the Late Dr. William Dodd | 37 |
And is he gone? has unrelenting death Snatch'd from our eyes, the soother of our woes? | 37 |
To T.W.- A Poetical Epistle; Reciting the Substance of an Evening's Conversation With a Friend | 41 |
Whilst thou, in softest notes, thy pipe attun'd, Serenely blest in thy belov'd retreat | 41 |
Hay-making: a Poem, Addressed to a Friend | 43 |
The muse who late essay'd in lofty strains, The greatness of creative power to sing | 43 |
The Apple-Dumpling: a Poem [published in the Town & Country Magazine as by "Pygmalion"] | 46 |
Let others sing of battle's loud allarms, Of conq'ring heroes and defeated bands; | 46 |
Reflections on the Motto "Know Thyself" | 48 |
The Greek says, "know thyself" hard task indeed! A task the wisest never yet has learnt. | 48 |
Written Extempore Under the Drawing of a Wounded Heart, Presented to Delia | 52 |
Dear charmer view thy victim's bleeding heart, With speed extract the fatal-pointed dart! | 52 |
The Politic Parson, an Epigram | 52 |
As Hodge and the vicar themselves did regale, (One Sunday in lent) o'er a tankard of ale | 52 |
Epigram (a Sociable One) | 53 |
A priest the lawyer thus addrest, "The cares of this world fill thy breast, | 53 |
Epigram | 54 |
Says Tom "about reading you make a great squall! I'll read SHAKESPEAR's plays, with the best of 'em all." | 54 |
On John Wesley's Address to the Americans | 54 |
O strange reverse! shall WESLEY stand display'd? Shall blooming laurels crown his hoary head? | 54 |
A Pastoral Dialogue | 55 |
{HE:} Come tell me, dear PHILLIS, come tell me I pray, Must DAMON e'er hope for your love; | 55 |
On Mr. Shenstone's Pastoral Writings | 56 |
Ye nymphs from PARNASSUS descend, Contribute your aid to my verse, | 56 |
Autumn | 57 |
The sweets of Spring no more the sense regale, Nor Summer's glories captivate the eye; | 57 |
To a Friend in America: a Poetical Epistle | 58 |
With heart felt joy thy lines I did receive (The only solace, absent friends can give) | 58 |
The Politician and the Moralist: a Tale | 60 |
Well, honest WILFRID! what's the news? Does HANCOCK still our terms refuse? | 60 |
A Storm of Snow | 63 |
December's blasts have spent their keenest rage, Now JANUS ushers in the instant year; | 63 |
A Pastoral Dialogue in the Cumberland Dialect | 65 |
{GWORDY:}What WILL! how dosta honest lad? How's aw at heam? how's BETTY, how is dad? [full text online at Spenser and the Tradition website] | 65 |
The Poet's Remonstrance to Apollo | 71 |
To thee, O Father of the tuneful throng, A pensive bard presents his doleful song. | 71 |
Part of the First Book of TELEMACHUS [translation] | 73 |
In silent grief CALYPSO pensive sat, And mourn'd in tears ULYSSES' hapless fate: | 73 |
VENUS and CUPID Vanquish'd by MINERVA [translation from 4th book of Telemachus] | 79 |
Meantime high hov'ring in the buxom air, I saw love's queen in all her charms appear | 79 |
Extempore Verses Presented to a Young Lady | 80 |
Not thee bright PHOEBUS, nor the sacred nine Do I invoke to aid this verse of mine, | 80 |
A Description of AMPHITRITE Drawn in Her Chariot... [translation from 4th book of Cambray's Telemachus] | 82 |
The ocean now displays a glorious sight And smiles beneath the goddess AMPHITRITE, | 82 |
The Story of Carazan [translation from The Adventurer] | 84 |
In wealthy BAGDAT (ASIA's pride and boast, Fraught with the product of each neighb'ring coast) | 84 |
The Transformation of Mentor [translation from last book of Cambray's Telemachus] | 91 |
Thus MENTOR clos'd his speech- when soon as done, ITHACA's prince, impatient to be gone, | 91 |