Downward they move, a melancholy band,

Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand.
Contented toil, and hospitable care,

And kind connubial tenderness, are there;
And piety with wishes plac'd above,
And steady loyalty, and faithful love.
And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid,
Still first to fly where sensual joys invade;
Unfit in these degenerate times of shame,
To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame;
Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried,
My shame in crowds, my solitary pride.
Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so;
Thou guide, by which the nobler arts excel,
Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well!
Farewell, and O where'er thy voice be tried,
On Torno's cliffs, or Pambamarca's side,'
Whether where equinoctial fervours glow,
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow,
Still let thy voice, prevailing over time,
Redress the rigours of the inclement clime;
Aid slighted truth with thy persuasive strain ;
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain ;
Teach him, that states of native strength possest,
Though very poor, may still be very blest ;
That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As ocean sweeps the labour'd mole away;
While self-dependent power can time defy,
As rocks resist the billows and the sky."

The river Tornea falls into the Gulf of Bothnia. near Quito.

Pambamarca is a mountain

"Dr. Johnson favoured me, at the same time, by marking the lines which he furnished to Goldsmith's "Deserted Village,' which are only the last four.”— BOSWELL by CROYar, p. 174

THE HAUNCH OF VENISON.

A POETICAL EPISTLE

то

LORD CLARE.

177).

"The Haunch of Venison," written it is believed in 1771, was first published in 1776, two years after Goldsmith's death. It is here printed from the second edition, 1776, containing ten additional lines and numerous emendations, said to be taken from the last transcript of its author.

The Lord Clare to whom this poem is addressed was Robert Nugent of Carlanstown, Westmeath, created, 1766, Viscount Clare, and, in 1776, Earl Nugent. He died at Dublin in 1788, and was buried at Gosfield, in Essex. He was a poet, and a stanza from his Ode to Pulteney has been quoted by Gibbon in his character of Brutus :-

"What! tho' the good, the brave, the wise,
With adverse force undaunted rise

To break th' eternal doom;

Though Cato liv'd, tho' Tully spoke,

Though Brutus dealt the god-like stroke,

Yet perished fated Rome."

He was thrice married; was a big, jovial, voluptuous Irishman, with a loud voice, a strong Irish accent, and a ready though coarse wit.

THE HAUNCH OF VENISON.

THANKS, my Lord, for your Venison; for finer or fatter, Never rang'd in a forest, or smok'd in a platter:

The Haunch was a picture for painters to study,―

The fat was so white, and the lean was so ruddy;'

Though my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting,

To spoil such a delicate picture by eating:

I had thoughts in my chambers to place it in view,
To be shown to my friends as a piece of virtù ;
As in some Irish houses, where things are so-so,
One gammon of bacon hangs up for a show ;-.
But, for eating a rasher of what they take pride in,
They'd as soon think of eating the pan it is fried in."
But hold-let me pause-Don't I hear you pronounce,
This tale of the bacon a damnable bounce?

Well! suppose it a bounce-sure a poet may try,
By a bounce now and then, to get courage to fly.
But, my Lord, it's no bounce: I protest in my turn,
It's a truth-and your lordship may ask Mr. Byrne.'

To go on with my tale-as I gaz'd on the Haunch, I thought of a friend that was trusty and staunch,

"The white was so white, and the red was so ruddy."-First edition. "There is scarcely a cottage in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland, that is not hung round with these marks of hospitality; and which often makes the owner better contented with hunger, since he has it in his power to be luxurious when he thinks proper. A piece of beef hung up there, is considered as an

elegant piece of furniture, which, though seldom touched, at least argues the possessor's opulence and ease.”—History of Animated Nature, vol. iii. p. 9.

3 Lord Clare's nephew.