Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/102

54 both to Mr. Pope and Mr. Parnell himself to bring it to this perfection." Upon the whole, this poem will fully justify the assertion of Hume, at least that part of it that regards our poet. "It is sufficient to run over Cowley once; but Parnell, after the fiftieth reading, is as fresh as the first."

Of the three songs which follow, Goldsmith says that two of them were written upon the Lady whom he afterwards married. There appears some reason to suppose that the first, "When thy beauty appears," was composed by Pope; for it is mentioned as his by Lord Peterborough, in a letter to Mrs. Howard.

The Anacreontic, "When Spring came on with fresh delight," is said to be a translation from the French. Goldsmith thinks that it is better than the original. The well known song that follows it, "Gay Bacchus liking Estcourt's wine," is a translation of a poem by Augurellus.

Parnell, in his translation, applied the characters to some of his friends; no mention is made in Pope's edition, of its being a translation: indeed the latter part is entirely Parnell's.

The "Fairy Tale" must rank among the most successful of our poet's productions; the language