PARODY OF A TRANSLATION

FROM THE MEDEA OF EURIPIDES.

ERR shall they not, who resolute explore
Times gloomy backward with judicious eyes;
And, scanning right the practices of yore,
Shall deem our hoar progenitors unwise.

They to the dome where Smoke with curling play
Announc'd the dinner to the regions round,
Summon'd the singer blythe, and harper gay,
And aided wine with dulcet-streaming sound.

The better use of notes, or sweet or shrill,
By quiv'ring string or modulated wind;
Trumpet or lyre-to their harsh bosoms chill
Admission ne'er had sought, or could not find.

Oh! send them to the sullen mansions dun,
Her baleful eyes where Sorrow rolls around;
Where gloom-enamour'd Mischief loves to dwell,
And Murder, all blood-bolter'd, schemes the
wound.

When cates luxuriant pile the spacious dish,
And purple nectar glads the festive hour;

The guest, without a want, without a wish,
Can yield no room to musick's soothing pow'r.

TRANSLATION

Of the Two First Stanzas of the Song "Rio verde, Rio verde," printed in Bishop PERCY'S Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

AN IMPROMPTU.

GLASSY water, glassy water,

Down whose current, clear and strong,
Chiefs confus'd in mutual slaughter,

Moor and Christian roll along.

IMITATION OF THE STYLE OF ****,

HERMIT hoar, in solemn cell
Wearing out life's evening grey,
Strike thy bosom, sage, and tell
What is bliss, and which the way.

Thus I spoke, and speaking sigh'd,
Scarce repress'd the starting tear,
When the hoary sage reply'd,

Come, my lad, and drink some beer.

BURLESQUE

OF THE FOLLOWING LINES OF LOPEZ DE VEGA.

AN IMPROMPTU.

SE acquien los leones vence
Vence una muger hermosa

O el de flaco averguençe

O ella di ser mas furiosa.

If the man who turnips cries,
Cry not when his father dies,
'Tis a proof that he had rather
Have a turnip than his father.

TRANSLATION

OF THE FOLLOWING LINES AT THE END OF BARETTI'S EASY PHRASEOLOGY. AN IMPROMPTU.

VIVA Viva la padrona!

'Tutta bella, e tutta buona,
La padrona è un angiolella
Tutta buona e tutta bella;
Tutta bella e tutta buona;
Viva! viva la padrona!

LONG may live my lovely Hetty!
Always young, and always pretty;
Always pretty, always young,
Live my lovely Hetty long!

Always young, and always pretty,

my lovely Hetty!

IMPROVISO TRANSLATION

OF THE FOLLOWING DISTICH ON THE DUKE OF MODENA'S RUNNING AWAY FROM THE

COMET IN 1742 OR 1743.

SE al venir vostro i principi se n' vanno
Deh venga ogni dìdurate un anno.
Ir at your coming princes disappear,
Comets! come ev'ry day

and stay a year.

IMPROVISO TRANSLATION

OF THE FOLLOWING LINES OF M. BENSERADE

A SON LIT.

THEATRE des ris, et des pleurs,
Lit! où je nais, et où je meurs,
Tu nous fais voir comment voisins
Sont nos plaisirs, et nos chagrins.
In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,
And born in bed, in bed we die;
The near approach a bed may show
Of human bliss to human woe.

EPITAPH FOR MR. HOGARTH.

THE hand of him here torpid lies,
That drew th' essential form of grace;
Here clos'd in death th' attentive eyes,
That saw the manners in the face.

TRANSLATION

OF THE FOLLOWING LINES WRITTEN UNDER A PRINT
REPRESENTING PERSONS SKAITING.

SUR un mince chrystal l'hyver conduit leurs pas,
Le précipice est sous la glace:

Telle est de nos plaisirs la legere surface:
Glissez, mortels; n'appuyez pas.

O'ER ice the rapid skaiter flies,

With sport above, and death below;
Where mischief lurks in gay disguise,
Thus lightly touch and quickly go.

IMPROMPTU TRANSLATION

OF THE SAME.

O'ER crackling ice, o'er gulphs profound,
With nimble glide the skaiters play;
O'er treach'rous Pleasure's flow'ry ground
Thus lightly skim, and haste away.

TO MRS. THRALE,

ON HER COMPLETING HER THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR.

AN IMPROMPTU.

OFT in danger, yet alive,
We are come to thirty-five;
Long may better years arrive,
Better years than thirty-five!
Could philosophers contrive
Life to stop at thirty-five,

Time his hours should never drive

O'er the bounds of thirty-five.