Rev. James Hurdis

Much of thy semblance, COWPER, do we trace,
Much of thy tender and attractive air,
In moral Hurdis, though with equal grace
He thy poetic mantle might not wear.
Of GAINSBOROUGH thus — whose pencil lent a charm
That vies with nature in her rustic state—
Dupont preserv'd a glow; and Hoppner, warm
With love for REYNOLDS, gave his tints a date
Beyond their own recording. — Now the prey
All, all, of death! — the pupils, like their peers,
Set in dim night: and though but halos they
Of orbs that still may shine for numerous years,
Yet was their lustre such, it leaves a sigh
That they are like to fade from thankless memory.