1803.] 
The ftorm now lifts the raging wave, 
Now bates old ocean’s. inmoft cave ; 
Nor Hell’s grim jaws more horrors breathe, 
Than mark the yawning gulf beneath, 
«¢ Ah, me!? (the wretched mourner cries, 
And lifts to Heaven her itreaming eyes ;) 
“¢ How rafh the boons that mortals crave ! 
Ah, fhould the gods have heard my pray’r, 
And fhould Leander’s lucklefs ftar 
Have urg’d- him on the faithlefs wave ; 
Each wary bird that haunts the flood 
Now homewards plies its airy road 5’ 
Each lab’ring veffel fpeeds its way, 
And haftens to the fhelt’ring bay. 
«< And, ah! too fure, the youth, unfcar’d, 
Still dares the path fo often dar’d 5 
Still yields to Love’s impatient {way ; 
For, as he left this confcious tow’r, 
He {wore by ev’ry facred pow’r— 
And death alone obftructs his way. 
And now his vig’rous.arm in vain - 
Repells the fury of the main 5 
He breafts in vain the dafhing wave, 
And finds, alas! a wat’ry grave. 
*¢ Invidious pow’r, thy placid mien 
Was meant thy fell intent to fcreen ; 
Not glofiy mirror fhone fo gay. 
Thy waves in falfe repofe were laid, 
Till, on thy fmiling furface fped, 
Leander urg’d his vent’rous way 5 
And now, upon thy bofom tofs’d, 
Ere half the ftormy flood be crofs’d, 
Thou whelm’ft him in thy ruthlefs deep, 
And leav’ft defpairing love to weep!” 
And ftill the ftorm’s increafing roar 
Refounds from either rocky fhore, 
And each rude billow braves the fky. 
The oak-ribb’d bark contends in vain 
To ftem the fury of the main; 
No aid the pilot’s arts fupply. 
And lo! the torch, whofe wonted light 
So oft had cheer’d the lover’s night, 
Now quench’d, withdraws its friendly ray, - 
And horrof holds unbounded {way. 
To Venus now the haplefs fair 
Prefers the vow of foft defpair, 
And calls her pitying aid divine ; 
To ev’ry Wind a vitim vows, 
A wanton fteer, whofe ftately brows 
- With golden horns refplendent fhine. 
Each goddefs of the dark profound, 
Each pow’r on high Olympus crown’d, 
Memoirs of Mr. Fackfan, of Exeter. 
139 
The wretched fuppliant affails, | 
To quell the fury of the gales. 
«* And thou, divineft Leucothe, © 
Whom oft, upon the fhorelefs fea, 
The ftorm-beat mariner implores 5 
Who oft, propitious to his pray’r, ; 
Haft fmooth’d the wave and ftill’d the ir, 
O.hear me from thy coral bow’rs! 
And bear my love thy facred veil, 
Whofe power can footh the angry gale, 
Each terror of the deep can charm, 
And nerve the {wimmer’s flacken’d-arm.” 
And ftraight the wild winds fofter blow, 
And fair Aurora’s ruddy glow 
Again proclaims the new-born day. 
The fea refumes its wonted bed, 
Each blaft in ftill repofe is laid, 
And morning {miles, and all is gaya 
Soft roll the lucid waves along, 
And gently break the rocks among 5 
In playful lapfe the ftrand explore, 
And waft a pallid corfe to fhore. 
°Tis he, who ftit! his promife keeps, 
Tho’ wrapt in Death’s cold arms he fleeps 3 
And quick the well-known form fhe view’d, 
Nor one fad plaint efcap’d the fair, 
Nor dimm’d her eye one fingle tear, 
But loft in torpid woe fhe ftood. 
And now the fatal deep fhe eyes, — 
Now gazes on the vaulted fkies 5 
And now her kindling cheeks declare 
The tranfient flufh of wild defpair. 
«© Ye Gods! (fhe cries) I own your fway ; 
Your dreaded might ye thus difplay ! 
Nor vows nor tears fhall mercy find! 
In youth’s foft prime my courfe is {ped ; 
Yet many a flow’r my path has fpread, 
And {weet the lot tiat fate aflign’d. 
While living, to thy pow’r divine, 
Thefe hands, O Venus, deck’d thy fhrine; 
Thy willing vidtim now I prove, 
The vi&tim of almighty Love.” 
She fpoke, and lo! the madd’ning fair, 
Her robes all flutt’ring in the air, 
Plung’d headlong in the clofing wave: 
The wave each hallow’d corfe fuftains ; 
And, rifing from his deep domains, 
The God himfelf fupplies their grave. 
And now, exulting in his prey, 
He gladfome fpeeds his eddying way, 
And thriftlefs from his urn he pours 
His clear and never-ceafing ftores. 
Berlin, Fuly, 1803. B. BERESFORD. 
“MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
ee 
MEMOIRS of the late MR, JACKSON, of 
EXETER, communicated by DR. BUSBY. 
HE mufical world has lately ful- 
tained a confiderable lofs im the 
death of the late Mr. William Jackfon, 
of Exeter ; a gentleman long and juftly 
admired, not only for his high profeffional 
merits, but for his various ufeful and or- 
namental acquirements, companionable 
qualifications, and truly amiable charac- 
ter. Judging that fuch particulars of this 
oe aes genile- 
