Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Poetry.
POETRY.
TIIE BEGGAR . BY STEWART LEWIS , private in ihe Southern Regiment of Fcncihtes .
Y rich , to whom indulgent heaven /_ share of earth ' s best gifts lias given , Commiserate ihe poor ' All ! sooth ( he rgourof their fate , And cease to frown wiih brow elate , Nor spurn them from your door . Oil ! think , while round the sumpt'ousboarl , With viands richprofusely stor'd
, , Of them that know no home ! ' Some slender pittance deign to throw , ' 'Twill tend to mitigate their woe , And heav ' n will bless your dome . For who can tell ( from Fate ' s dark womb ) What strange vicissitudes may come , What ills mav on us burst ? To-
ghest soars , may downward reel , Ancl humbly press the dust . Such was thy fate , Palemon good ; On Tay ' s green banks thv villa stood , Well known losons of Grief : The wretched here forgot to weep , Here Misery ' s , moan was lull'd asleep , And Want soon found relief .
O ' er ills , that means could not avert , His gen ' rous philanthropic heart Pour'd forth the cender sigh : He lov'd to wipe the widou'd tear , And modestmerit . up to rear ,. And still the orphan ' s cry . He own'd the florks on many . a hill , And lowing herds his vallies fill ,
' His wine and oil increas'd . ' If bliss was ever found on earth , If virtue ever gave it birth , Palemon sure was bless'd . But mundane bliss is insincere , How fleeting are our pleasures here ! How soon our hopes decay I As transient as the meteor's leam
g , Unstable as the solar beam That on the waters play . A murrain swept Palemon ' s vales , Arot spread ruin o ' er his hills , . A blight destroy' *! his grain ; The Lord that own'd the fair domains ( A cruel tyrant of the plains !) Seiz'd all that did remain .
Ah ! S ad reverse I the man who fed •!¦ lie hungry , and the naked clad , . . is fore'd , by Heav ' n ' s decree , i o quit ;; is lov'd paternal home , in quest of daily bread to roam , When turn'd of Egbty-tbm . ¦
' vol ., x , xk
How did it pain his liberal mind , Such cold ingratitude to find Amongst his neighb ' iing swains With broken heart , he ' left the north , And southward strav'd across the Forth , And reach'd fair Tiviot ' s plains .
Hecember ' s winds did fiercely blow , Arid thick descended drifting snow On his devoted head : < His thin grey locks' wav'd in the breeze , ' ¦ . v'hile trembling shook his feeble knees , With cold benumb'd and dead . When , just upon the verge of night , ;' - mansion fair attracts his sight , Tiviot flood
Near ' s winding . O ' erconie with toil , and sore oppress'd , his praver he humbly thus address'd , * While at the door he stood : ' Keen blows the blast , intense the cold , And I , alas ! am weak and old—Oh ! pity my grey hairs ! Permit me ' neatli roof to stay
your , And screen me till returning day—May heav ' n so hear your pray'rs !» ' Be gone I thou canst not here abide !' A proud imperious menial cry'd , By birth a beggar ' s son : ' My master suffers none like thee To scape from stacks or prism : free-So quickly get thee gone !'
His voice alarm'd the gentle Squire , Where , near a blazing parlour fire , He loll'd in mighty state . His hounds he call'd , the hounds obey , And furious rush'd upon their prey , And hunt him from the gate I !! Where slept thy lightnings , gracious [ Heaven i Are crimes like these to be forgiv ' n ? Dost thou permit such deeds ? Each Angel blush'd that saw the scene , Disorder'd were their locks
serene—They wept , and hid their heads . Palemon , friendless , poor , forlorn , By blood-train'd dogs inhuman torn , Is forced to depart : With tottering step lie onward goes , 'Till Death , in pity to his woes , Transfix'd him with his dart . Amongst the snow he fainting fell .
' Farewell , base world , a long farewell 1 " Indignantly he cry'd : ' Life ' s weary pilgrimage is o'er , My soul ascends to Heaven ' s bright shore . ' He clos'd his eyes , and died . Fort-George , Feb . 13 th , 179 8 . K . B . The preceding Poem is founded upon a literal fact that happened in December , 1795 , which the author read in one . of the public papers ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Poetry.
POETRY.
TIIE BEGGAR . BY STEWART LEWIS , private in ihe Southern Regiment of Fcncihtes .
Y rich , to whom indulgent heaven /_ share of earth ' s best gifts lias given , Commiserate ihe poor ' All ! sooth ( he rgourof their fate , And cease to frown wiih brow elate , Nor spurn them from your door . Oil ! think , while round the sumpt'ousboarl , With viands richprofusely stor'd
, , Of them that know no home ! ' Some slender pittance deign to throw , ' 'Twill tend to mitigate their woe , And heav ' n will bless your dome . For who can tell ( from Fate ' s dark womb ) What strange vicissitudes may come , What ills mav on us burst ? To-
ghest soars , may downward reel , Ancl humbly press the dust . Such was thy fate , Palemon good ; On Tay ' s green banks thv villa stood , Well known losons of Grief : The wretched here forgot to weep , Here Misery ' s , moan was lull'd asleep , And Want soon found relief .
O ' er ills , that means could not avert , His gen ' rous philanthropic heart Pour'd forth the cender sigh : He lov'd to wipe the widou'd tear , And modestmerit . up to rear ,. And still the orphan ' s cry . He own'd the florks on many . a hill , And lowing herds his vallies fill ,
' His wine and oil increas'd . ' If bliss was ever found on earth , If virtue ever gave it birth , Palemon sure was bless'd . But mundane bliss is insincere , How fleeting are our pleasures here ! How soon our hopes decay I As transient as the meteor's leam
g , Unstable as the solar beam That on the waters play . A murrain swept Palemon ' s vales , Arot spread ruin o ' er his hills , . A blight destroy' *! his grain ; The Lord that own'd the fair domains ( A cruel tyrant of the plains !) Seiz'd all that did remain .
Ah ! S ad reverse I the man who fed •!¦ lie hungry , and the naked clad , . . is fore'd , by Heav ' n ' s decree , i o quit ;; is lov'd paternal home , in quest of daily bread to roam , When turn'd of Egbty-tbm . ¦
' vol ., x , xk
How did it pain his liberal mind , Such cold ingratitude to find Amongst his neighb ' iing swains With broken heart , he ' left the north , And southward strav'd across the Forth , And reach'd fair Tiviot ' s plains .
Hecember ' s winds did fiercely blow , Arid thick descended drifting snow On his devoted head : < His thin grey locks' wav'd in the breeze , ' ¦ . v'hile trembling shook his feeble knees , With cold benumb'd and dead . When , just upon the verge of night , ;' - mansion fair attracts his sight , Tiviot flood
Near ' s winding . O ' erconie with toil , and sore oppress'd , his praver he humbly thus address'd , * While at the door he stood : ' Keen blows the blast , intense the cold , And I , alas ! am weak and old—Oh ! pity my grey hairs ! Permit me ' neatli roof to stay
your , And screen me till returning day—May heav ' n so hear your pray'rs !» ' Be gone I thou canst not here abide !' A proud imperious menial cry'd , By birth a beggar ' s son : ' My master suffers none like thee To scape from stacks or prism : free-So quickly get thee gone !'
His voice alarm'd the gentle Squire , Where , near a blazing parlour fire , He loll'd in mighty state . His hounds he call'd , the hounds obey , And furious rush'd upon their prey , And hunt him from the gate I !! Where slept thy lightnings , gracious [ Heaven i Are crimes like these to be forgiv ' n ? Dost thou permit such deeds ? Each Angel blush'd that saw the scene , Disorder'd were their locks
serene—They wept , and hid their heads . Palemon , friendless , poor , forlorn , By blood-train'd dogs inhuman torn , Is forced to depart : With tottering step lie onward goes , 'Till Death , in pity to his woes , Transfix'd him with his dart . Amongst the snow he fainting fell .
' Farewell , base world , a long farewell 1 " Indignantly he cry'd : ' Life ' s weary pilgrimage is o'er , My soul ascends to Heaven ' s bright shore . ' He clos'd his eyes , and died . Fort-George , Feb . 13 th , 179 8 . K . B . The preceding Poem is founded upon a literal fact that happened in December , 1795 , which the author read in one . of the public papers ,