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The Poetical Works of George Crabbe, With His Letters and Journals, and His Life, by His Son [g. Crabbe].
The Poetical Works of George Crabbe With His Letters and Journals and His Life by His Son - g. Crabbe Author:George Crabbe General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1840 Original Publisher: Murray Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select f... more »rom more than a million books for free. Excerpt: THE BOROUGH. LETTER XXII. PETER GRIMES, (i) Old Peter Grimes made fishing his employ, His wife he cabin'd with him and his boy, And seem'd that life laborious to enjoy: To town came quiet Peter with his fish, And had of all a civil word and wish. He left his trade upon the Sabbath-day, And took young Peter in his hand to pray : But soon the stubborn boy from care broke loose, At first refused, then added his abuse : His father's love he scorn'd, his power defied, But being drunk, wept sorely when he died. (1) [The original of Peter Grimes was an old fisherman of Aldborough, while Mr. Crabbe was practising there as a surgeon. He had a succession of apprentices from London, and a certain sum with each. As, the boys all disappeared under circumstances of strong suspicion, the man was warned by some of the principal inhabitants, that if another followed in like manner, he should certainly be charged with murder.) Yes! then he wept, and to his mind there came Much of his conduct, and he felt the shame, -- How he had oft the good old man reviled, And never paid the duty of a child; How, when the father in his Bible read, He in contempt and anger left the shed: " It is the word of life," the parent cried; -- " This is the life itself," the boy replied,. And while old Peter in amazement stood, Gave the hot spirit to his boiling blood: -- How he, with oath and furious speech, began To prove his freedom and assert the man; And when the parent check'd his impious rage, How he had cursed the tyranny of age, -- Nay, once had dealt the sacrilegious blow On his bare head, and...« less