193

A CARD OF INVITATION,

TO THE

REV. J. J. CONYBEARE, A. M.

ANGLO-SAXON PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

Ad quæ si properas gaudia, cum tuâ
Velox merce veni: non ego te meis
Immunem meditor tingere poculis,

Plenâ dives ut in domo.

HORAT. od. xii. lib. 4.

I.

IF pickled Pilchards, clouted cream,

Dory, or Mullet, be a theme

For a Professor's ear;

If there's a charm in smuggled wines
For one who proudly quaffs and dines

With noble lords and rich divines

At Christ-Church half the year:

II.

Then welcome, Conybeare; for thou

Canst ease the heart, and smooth the brow,

That mock Lenæan art.

K

Nurs'd in one soil we flourish'd both,
Like brother saplins of a growth,

That spread their meeting arms, as loath
In riper age to part.

III.

Alike, but with unequal pace,

One classic path we lov'd to trace;

Each breast one soul inform❜d:

Joint minstrels of the selfsame rhyme, We've trimm'd our taper from the chime Of midnight to the matin prime,

With mutual rapture warm'd.

IV.

The maze of Fancy to pursue

Thy Genius lent the ready clew;

Or if I sketch'd the line,

Thy master hand reform'd the thought,
Thy pencil to perfection wrought,

As when Creation sprung from nought

And felt the shock divine.

ས.

Then come. In truth it ill beseems
Thee to be scouring rusty themes:

To grace a brighter sphere,

Thy sterling wit from Attic store,
Howe'er alloy'd with Gothic lore,

Has purg'd the dross, but left the ore
To sparkle still more clear.

VI.

Not that in these Damnonian mines

Aught with a rival lustre shines;

Or claims a kindred verse:

So, to be candid, come or not:
But should'st thou visit my poor cot,
That thou may'st duly pay thy shot,
"Put money in thy purse."

VII.

Think'st thou gratuitous to share
My lodging, and my dainty fare?

Go seek a wealthier host:

Let gen'rous Chancellors afford

To Delegates the costly board;

Here would'st thou feast, the reckoning's scor'd,
And thou must bear the cost.

VIII.

For Pilchards,* Hollybots, and Cream,
Three quires of prose; of verse a ream,
For fire and habitation :

Item, for smuggled Port, a tome

Filch'd from Old Bodley's musty dome;

For Capons, Knights and Squires of Rome ;+
For Sauce, a Dedication.

* The provincial name for Plaice.

+ Octavian, Emperor of Rome; a Romance abridged from a MS. in the Bodleian Library, and dedicated to the Author by the learned and ingenious Friend, who is the subject of the present Invitation.

WRITTEN ON AN ISLET IN NEWICK

PARK.

ΠΑΝΙ. ΦΙΛΟΣΠΗΛΥΓΓΙ. ΚΑΙ. ΟΥΡΕΟΦΟΙΤΑCI. ΝΥΜΦΑΙΟ.

KAI. CATYPOIC. IEPAICT'. ENAON. AMAAPTACI.

To you, ye Mountain Nymphs and Sylvan Maids,

And Pan, the Monarch of these haunted shades.

I.

SAY, Genii of the rural isle,

Where Art, to mimick Nature's smile

In miniature profuse,

Bids the luxuriant osiers grow,

And lilies from the stream below

Drink their essential juice:

II.

There, emblem of Marcello's doom,

The Cystus sheds his early bloom

Ere half the germs unfold; Laburnum there, with graceful flow, Affects the drooping guise of woe,

And weeps a shower of gold:*

* Alluding to the French name, Pluie d'or.