POEMS.
BY
THE REV. GEORGE CRABBE, LL.B.
Qui sonat, ingenti qui nomine pulsat Olympum;
Mæöniumque senem Romano provocat ore:
Forsitan illius nemoris latuisset in umbrâ
Quod canit, et sterili tantum cantâsset avenâ
Ignotus populi; si Mæcenate careret.
Paneg. ad Pisones, Lucan.
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THIRD EDITION.
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London:
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PRINTED FOR J. HATCHARD,
BOOKSELLER TO HER MAJESTY, OPPOSITE ALBANY,
PICCADILLY.
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1808.
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Brettell & Co. Printers,
Marshall-Street, Golden-Square.
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Dedication.
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TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
HENRY-RICHARD FOX,
L O R D H O L L A N D,
OF HOLLAND, IN LINCOLNSHIRE;
LORD HOLLAND, OF FOXLEY;
AND
FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.
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MY LORD;
That the longest Poem in this Collection was honoured by the notice ofyour Lordship’s Right Honourable and ever-valued Relation, Mr. Fox; thatit should be the last which engaged his attention; and that some partsof it were marked with his approbation; are circumstances productive ofbetter hopes of{vi} ultimate success, than I had dared to entertain beforeI was gratified with a knowledge of them: And the hope thus raised,leads me to ask permission that I may dedicate this Book to yourLordship, to whom that truly great and greatly lamented Personage was sonearly allied in family, so closely bound in affection, and in whosemind presides the same critical taste which he exerted to the delight ofall who heard him. He doubtless united with his unequalled abilities, afund of good-nature; and this possibly led him to speak favourably of,and give satisfaction to writers, with whose productions he might not beentirely satisfied; nor must I allow myself to suppose his desire ofobliging was withholden, when he honoured any effort of mine with hisapprobation: But, my Lord, as there was discrimination in the opinion hegave; as he did not veil indifference for insipid mediocrity ofcomposition under any general expression of cool approval; I allowmyself to draw a favourable conclusion from the verdict of One who hadthe superiority of intellect few would dispute, which he made mani{vii}festby a force of eloquence peculiar to himself; whose excellent judgement,no one of his friends found cause to distrust, and whose acknowledgedcandour no enemy had the temerity to deny.
With such encouragement, I present my Book to your Lordship: the Accountof the Life and Writings of Lopez de Vega, has taught me what I am toexpect; I there perceive how your Lordship can write, and am theretaught how you can judge of writers: